The U.K., Part I

My 3 weeks working in Germany sadly came to an end. I met up with a friend from the states and traveled around the UK before heading home. Our first destination was York. We spent a wonderful 2 days wandering around the streets of York.









There is a wool shop in York - it had a selection of Noro, Debbie Bliss, some sock yarn, some Wendy's, etc. The staff was friendly.



We then headed to Edinburgh. This was the view from our B&B.



We took a tour of the highlands with the obligatory stop at Loch Ness - and no, I didn't see anything unusual in the water.







Next stop – WOOLFEST!









I was pretty restrained at Woolfest - I mainly looked for local yarn or yarn I can't find in any of my LYS.








I was a brave soul – I drove our rental from Edinburgh to Cockermouth, Cumbria, then from Cumbria to the drop off point outside of London. We only had a car for our time going to and from the Lake District. Public transport in that area seemed a bit sketchy. If anyone has any hints using public transportation to get to the Lake District, please leave a comment. I did get used to driving on the left side of the road pretty quickly. In fact, it was a bit strange to come home and drive on the right side of the road.

The Lake District is gorgeous! This was the view from our B&B.



The view from the road on the way out of Cumbria.





There is a wool shop in Cockermouth. I can't give you a review of it as it was closed when we went past.



My dream is to return to Edinburgh and the Lake District one day. GORGEOUS areas!

Next stop - London!

Copenhagen - Part II

When it started to rain on Saturday, I headed to the Nationalmuseet. There is no admission to the museum and is well worth the visit. I was able to see about 1/3 of the collections before the museum closed. There were many displays that had fiber-related information.













On Sunday, the weather could not have been better - I spent the day walking around town.

Nyhavn canal.





Amalienborg Plads - the royal palace.



The Marble Church.





The little mermaid.



Kastellet -I believe it is the oldest military base still in use – it has been in use since 1663.





Rosenborg Slot – this was a “summer house” – now it’s museum and treasury holding the Danish Royal jewels.



The weather was gorgeous for my return trip as I headed back to Germany to start my last week of work.



To be continued…

Copenhagen - The Fibre Tour

During my second weekend in Germany, I headed to Copenhagen. It was about a nine hour train ride - one way. I didn't realize that the train runs right onto the ferry.



I was surprised to see sailboats on the water, considering the weather.



It rained most of Saturday and I spent the morning and early afternoon on a fibre tour of Copenhagen yarn shops. The first place I went to was Wilfert’s, located at Gammel Kongevej 102. This shop was not far from my hotel. It’s a comparatively small shop but with interesting stock and helpful staff. Look for the items which are their own label yarn.



I bought some of their own label of cashmere.



Then I headed to Uldstedet, located at Fiolstraede 13







This was a wonderful shop - the largest of all the shops I visited. This is the place to get Hanne Falkengerg kids. They carry a lot of stock that one can find in the states. However, they also have a whole wall of yarn produced in Denmark - a lot of it was beautiful laceweight.



If one is looking for fiber from the region this is the shop.



The next shop I headed to is called Strikkeboden, located at Krystalgade 16.






I had a fun time rummaging through their sale baskets. I couldn’t resist these - less than 2 Euro a skein. (Of course I bought more than two skeins.)



I also got a couple of skeins of this for a specific project for friend.



The last shop I visited was Summerfuglen, located at Vandkunsten 3







where I picked up a few of these



and these.





After Summerfulgen, I went to lunch here - which is located right on the corner by Summerfulgen.



I had the best burger I’ve ever had anywhere. And since 5 weeks had passed since I left home, I was hungry for some typical american food but NOT from a fast food place. Look at what they bring you with the burger – each is filled with a different condiment.



Another popular item, which I regrettably restrained myself from ordering, was a shake. This place seemed to be popular with the locals - I didn't hear anyone speaking English. I can highly recommend this place after a day of yarn shop sightseeing!

The weather continued to get worse that afternoon, so I decided to get out of the rain and headed to the Nationalmuseet (National Museum).

To be continued…