Knitting in London / Pletenje v Londonu

Making coices / Odločanje

… unfortunately, I haven’t knit in London. Even though – on my visit to this exciting city two weeks ago - I did visit a couple of yarn shops – you know… Just to have a peek at what they are selling. And to get some inspiration. And also just to feel a bit of the knitting world outside of Slovenia.

I checked the suggestions on Ravelry about where to go and visited these four shops:

Loop my favourite kniting shop in London ;)) It embodies everything that in my opinion a knitting shop should have or be: it’s in the middle of nice, not overly stylish but lively and old street (passage, actually), it’s filled with lovely yarns in all colours and shapes, displayed in a very inspiring way, hanging from hooks, sitting on a table, neatly arranged on shelves. There’s also a nice selection of other knitting supplies (buttons, ribbons, needles) and everything is sweetened with a combination of old/vintage furniture, nice pictures, lovely old lamps… If you want to visit one knitting shop in London – let it be Loop :)

All the Fun of the Fair was my second choice – again, a very nice shop, located in Soho. Not so much of a choice of yarns as Loop, but if you don’t have too much time, it’s conviniently located in the ‘center’ of London, close to undergroun stations. And beside yarn and knitting supplies, lovely buttons, ribbons and tin boxes, they also sell books and socks, hats, teapot-cozies.

I knit London was more of a “functional” knitting shop – similar shops could be found everywhere in Europe, I guess. They have a lot of yarn in stock, also a good selection of knitting books and needles and two tables for knitting groups. I was lucky to be there when there were five ladies kniting and chatting about English politics and that was very cute :)

If you are after Rowan yarns and books, then just head stright to Liberty. You can spend a lot of time in this beautiful department store buying or just being inspired by all the items they have in there, and on the third floor – besides (I guess) all the Rowan yarns and books there’s also a nice selection of crafting add-ons: buttons, ribbons, needles, books, pins, boxes of all sorts and shapes… And if you’re like me, you’ll have to have a peek in the carpet department which is on the same floor.

This time I did not knit in London. But I surely got a lot of ideas for many kniting and not knitting projects and that’s what matters :)

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… na žalost v Londonu nisem pletla. Sem pa v tem čudovitem mestu, kjer sem bila pred skoraj dvema tednoma, obiskala nekaj trgovin za pletenje. Toliko, da pokukam na njihove police. Da morda dobim kakšno novo idejo. In seveda, da občutim malo pletiljskega sveta izven Slovenije.

Na Ravelryju sem preverila, kaj svetujejo Londončanke in obiskala štiri trgovine:

Loop – moja najljubša pletiljska prodajalna (nasploh, doslej)! Mislim, da ima vse, kar bi po mojem tovrstna prodajalna morala imeti – nahaja se v lepi, stari ulici, kjer je polno antikvariatov in zanimivih prodajalnic. Na zalogi imajo ogromno zanimivih prej, ki so razstavljene na najbolj ljubke načine – obešene na kavlje, nagrmadene na mize, lepo zložene na police in v omare. Poleg tega pa še cela vrsta dodatkov, kot so pletilke, gumbi, knjige, trakci taki in drugačni… Vse pospravljeno v košarice, škatlice in nadvse lepo razstavljeno na policah in predalnikih, kupljenih na kakem bolšjem trgu ali podedovanih od babice. Skratka – zelo domačen občutek, prodajalna pa se razteza čez dve nadstropji. Če boste v Londonu želeli obiskati le eno prodajalno, kjer boste cedili svoje pletiljske sline, naj bo to Loop.

In če nimate časa za pot do Islingtona, kjer se Loop nahaja? Potem je druga najboljša izbira po moji oceni All the Fun of the Fair  - prodajalnica v Sohu. Izbira ni tako široka kot v Loopu, je pa prodajalna ljubko opremljena, poleg prej za pletenje pa ponujajo dodatke (gumbke, trakce, pletilke, …), knjige in celo nekaj pletenih izdelkov, to je kap, šalov, nogavic in grelčkov za čajnike.

I Knit London je po moji oceni precej “funkcionalna” prodajalna – ne osredotoča se na to, da bi ugajala, pač pa poskuša ponuditi čimširšo izbiro prej, pletilk, knjig – skratka prava zakladnica pletiljskih potrebščin. Prodajalka ni bila posebej prepričljiva, je pa zato druščina pletilj, ki je sedela za veliko mizo in debatirala o angleški politiki, znala svetovati, katere pletilke najti na kateri polici.

Če želite kupiti Rowanovo prejo ali knjige / revije, potem se napotite v Liberty, veleblagovnico, ki je le streljaj od Oxford Streeta. Poleg tega, da boste uživali v prekrasnem ambientu in izbranih izdelkih, ki so tu naprodaj, boste v tretjem nadstropju našli tudi veliko zanimivih dodatkov za pletenje, kvačkanje, šivanje in ostale ustvarjalne podvige. Ter seveda vse Rowanove preje in kataloge.

Kot rečeno v uvodu, tokrat v Londonu nisem pletla – sem pa dobila veliko zamisli in zagona za naslednje projekte :)

 

Loop :)

 

Loop :)

 

All the Fun of The Fair

 

 

I Knit London

 

I.Must.Cast.On. / Moram nasnuti.

Surely, you know the feeling of a steadily growing desire for a new project. It could be that you already have a project on the needles but it  started to bore you just a little bit. Or maybe you saw a model that you can’t get out of your mind. Or –  there’s a new yarn waiting in the drawer and you’ve just had a perfect idea what it will become. Or… This list could go on forever.

We’ll I’ve had such an itch since about two months ago when I received New England Knits, a lovely book with beautiful photographs and some interesting patterns. I fell in love with Windsor warmer (Ravelry link)  and was looking for all sorts of excuses not to start working on it.
But – I gave in a couple of days ago and I am almost done! This makes me increadibly satisfied with myself, for some reason. 
The pattern is simple, easy to remember and I am using loveliest Aplaca yarn in ‘old rose’ colourway. Bought at Klika Klika of course ;)

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Prav gotovo poznate občutek, ko počasi raste želja za novim pletiljskim izzivom, pa čeprav imate na pletilkah že nekaj v delu. Mogoče je trenutni projekt postal enostavno … dolgočasen. Mogoče ste videli nek nov vzorec, ki bi ga na vsak način želeli preizkusiti? Mogoče pa je vzrok le to, da vas v predalu čaka nova preja, za katero že točno veste, kaj bo iz nje nastalo… Mogoče… no – ta seznam bi lahko bil kar precej dolg, aneda?

Moram priznati, da sem imelo tako srbečico v prstih že dva meseca. Vse odkar sem dobila knjigo ‘New England Knits‘, prav zares. Knjižica je ljubka, ima krasne fotografije in nekaj nadvse zanimivih modelov. ‘Windsor warmer‘ (link na Ravelry), šal, pleten ‘vodoravno’, mi je bil takoj všeč. Nadvse. Ampak – lista razlogov, zakaj se ga ne bi lotila, je bila kar dolga.

No, končno sem se le vdala. In sem nadvse zadovoljna sama s seboj, navkljub temu, da jopica za mojo (skoraj) petletnico stoji nedokončana v košu.
Vzorec je enostaven in hitro zapomnljiv. Uporabila sem čudovito mehko Alpaka prejo, temno roza barve, seveda kupljeno pri Kliki.

Windsor Warmer

Lines of blue / Modre črte

We’ve had such a nice weekend, I just have to start this post with a declaration of my love for the geography of the space we live in. Living in Slovenia makes our lives so diverse, opens so many opportunities and enables us to enjoy so many different cultures and landscapes that there are times we can get really ecstatic about it. Of course, there are also many times when we get so run down by the things I am not going to mention right now in order not to spoil the good start of this post. :)

We’ve spent this weekend in Istra (in Rabac, actually) and had the greatest of times. Weather was nice, beaches were picture perfect, the sea was so clear you could see the tiniest of fish swimming in it, the air was filled with the smell of pine trees and the girls were in their best behaviour. What more could one get (in Croatia)?
What we got was an apartment from the 80′s, something that on a grey day equals horror, but in the picture perfect circumstances just described – we saw as a reminder of the days passed, a souvenir from the past, a time capsule you could enter from the present. Shabby drawer of the tiny ‘module-kitchen’ was filled with white plates. All of them had the same pattern  (actually, calling it a pattern is a bit pretentious, since it’s just a) (dark) blue line on the edge of a plate. In our home this line is lovingly reffered to as ‘Jadrolinija line’- a signature line of chinaware that would be used (we guess) on all the boats sailing along the Adriatic coast in the 80′s (mostly belonging to Jadrolinija company).  
Plates with blue line were also used in all (most) cafeterias: form factories to schools to hospitals and cheap restaurants.

In the apartment we stayed at we had three different types of plate – all with blue line, just one would classify as a Jadrolinija line. Do you know which one?

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Za nami je prekrasen vikend – tako čudovit, da moram izraziti vse navdušenje nad geografijo prostora v katerem živimo. Življenje v Sloveniji nam omogoča toliko raznolikih izkušenj – tako kultur kot narave, da smo občasno enostavno popolnoma prevzeti nad vsem, kar se nam tu (lahko) zgodi. Včasih smo tudi prevzeti nad negativnimi zadevami, ki se tu dogajajo, ampak o tem ne bi, da ne pokavrim dobrega začetka tega pisanja :)

Ta vikend smo preživeli na morju v Istri, v Rabcu natančno. Joj, kako je bilo čudovito – toplo vreme, prekrasne plaže in morje tako čisto, da si lahko videl čisto drobne črne ribice plavati s teboj. Borovci so dišali, punci sta se lepo obnašali, kaj lepšega bi se ti še lahko zgodilo?

Nam se je zgodil apartma iz osemdesetih – nekaj, kar je lahko sinonim za popolno grozo, ampak glede na opisane okoliščine smo se odločili, da ga sprejmemo kot opomnik minulih dni, spominek iz preteklosti, časovno kapsulo, v katero smo še lahko vstopili. V mini kuhinji je bila ponošena omarica napolnjena z belimi krožniki (različnimi, seveda). Vsi pa so imeli enak motiv – motiv modre črte, ki ga v naši družini ljubkovalno kličemo ‘Jadrolinija vzorec’, pač skladno z dejstvom da so vam na takih krožnikih postregli na kateremkoli trajektu, ki je plul ob jadranski obali. Gotovo se jih še spomnite, saj so bili podobni krožniki uporabljani tudi v mezah, bolnišnicah in kakšnih samopostrežnih restavracijah. Verjetno so še kje v uporabi?

Kaj mislite, kateri od prikazanih treh ima pravo ‘Jadrolinija’ črto?

Blue lines / Modre crte

Summer / Poletje

Summer is ripe. We are just waiting for it to fall down like a pear from a branch and burst its sweet juices on the ground. And the sound of it means – the autumn is here. I know – given the tempreatures you think I am crazy, but if you look around really, really carefully, you’ll notice it too. First hints of autumn. Here’s some images of our lovely summer.

Poletje je dozorelo. Čakamo le, da bo kot zrela hruška čofnilo na tla in razpršilo svoje sladke sokove naokrog.  Ta zvok, padajočih dišečih hrušk pa pomeni samo eno – napoved jeseni. Morda se v tej vročini zdi neumestno, pa vendar – če res odprete oči, jih boste zagledali. Prvi znanilci jeseni so med nami. Danes pa – nekaj fotografij našega prelepega poletja.

Aren't they waiting for us? / A ne čakajo nas?

Everybody rests. / Vsi počivamo.

 

Tea for me. Profiterol too. Istanbul for everybody! / Čaj zame, Profiterol tudi. Istanbul za vse!

Simply Turkey. Simply good food. / Enostavnost v Turčji. Enostavno dobra hrana.

 

Polka dots and dragonflies. Love them both. / Pikice in kačji pastirji. Oboje imam rada.

 

Istria. Old streets, stone and sun. Ahhh./ Istra. Stare ulice, kamen in sonce. Ahhhh.

 

Fish are swimming on the wall. Istria, again. / Ribe plavajo na steni. V Istri, seveda.

Plants everywhere. Viva plants! / Rastline povsod. Naj živijo rastline!

News :)

I haven’t been posting for some time, now. It’s not that I haven’t thought of my blog or you, my fellow bloggers and readers, it’s just that I’ve been pretty occupied with… Well, with something that has been on my mind for a long time and finally I took the courage to do it.

So, as of today, I am the proud owner of on-line store, named Klika Klika which is selling – you can probably guess – yarn. Currently I stash Drops yarns which I think we all have been missing and wishing for in this part of Europe. So, come in, have a look :)

http://www.klika-klika.si

 

Currently it’s Slovenian only, but I am already working on setting up international version as well. However, I can already ship to countries outside of Slovenia, if you find you need something.

And as of today I’ll try to post in Slovenian also.