That, my friend, is the extent to which my fluency in Norwegian will go. That and perhaps, ‘Tak’. It’s embarrassing really, when I can already speak French and Japanese, it’s a wonder why I didn’t make more of an effort to speak Norwegian while I was in Oslo. I think it was mostly to do with the fact that the Norwegians already speak excellent English, therefore why should I insult/bore/inflict upon them my poor attempt at Norwegian?!
Oslo Strikke Festival 2017
A festival of yarn and crafts, was held in October at the famous Norwegian Folk Museum. An excellent venue for holding such an event. Not too large, but adequate enough to hold a fair number of stalls. Classes and workshops took place in outbuildings a short walk away from the main hall. And when you want to take a breather from all that yarn (not possible, I know), you can go out and visit the exhibitions and its real-life historical villages, buildings and homes.
I made the most of it and took a Scandinavian Weaving Workshop held by the lovely Gunn Kristin Halvorsen from www.scandinavianweaving.etsy.com. Although the whole workshop was being taught purely in Norwegian, I didn’t have any trouble following the instructions – after all, craft in any language is still craft!
I noticed how considerably colder it was compared to London. This meant that I needed something more substantial than the merino hat and mitts I was wearing. So, I bought some yarn and quickly knitted a hat and mitts combo – you know, like you do!
I went with a view to experiencing Scandinavian yarn and culture in the 5 short days I was there and I was particularly impressed by their transport systems! Norwegian yarns are very similar to our Scottish breed yarns – they appear scratchy, but are very light in weight. I was told that they soften up considerably once washed too, so I am really looking forward to diving into these beauties (below)!
Here’s a pic of my entire haul:
On The Subject of Mitts…
Newly launched is my Kitty Whiskers fingerless mitts pattern, written for the Addi Express 22-pin. This is a fun pattern that enlists the use of 2 colour yarns where one overlays the other and features a cute ‘braiding’ technique that look almost like kitty whiskers! 😻
Coupon code
Get 25% OFF – use coupon code: kitty. Offer ends 30th November 2017, midnight GMT. Buy it here: https://www.ravelry.com/redeem/jimiknits?code=kitty
JimiKnits... and other bits. 