Adventures in Yarn Land

Wolle Rodel

Inside the store

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Since I travel so much with my job, I've decided to blog about my recent trips to different yarn shops that I've visited. I was in Frankfurt, Germany this month so and wanted to tell you about two little shops that I found.
 

The first shop is Wolle Rodel and is located off the Konstabler-Wache train stop along the Frebgass  Pedestrian Promenade  at the corner of Einbahnstrabe & Tongesgasse. They carry their own label of yarns that are comparable in quality to some name brand companies but offer them at very reasonable prices. They carry a nice selection of sock yarn, merino, wool, mohair, cotton and acrylic. They also have a small selection of roving yarns and sell a small selection of trendy yarns. Right now they have a nice selection of ruffle & lace ruffle yarn. They also have a small selection of  buttons and an extensive collection of needles.  Wolle Rodel sells a version of Harmony needles by Knitpicks.com. Their's fit all of my knitpick cables, look exactly the same but are sold under the name of Knit Pro. You can also buy cables there and they are offered in some unique lengths. I purchased a few that were very short and use them for stitch holders. If you shop there, don't forget to bring your metric conversion chart as all their needles are sold in metric sizes and they don't really know American needle size conversions. Two ladies in the shop are fairly proficient in English if you have any basic questions. They also have pattern support for their yarns but of course they are in German. I love to browse this shop every season because they always have unique garments and accessories that I rarely see in the US. Most of them are very simple in design and inspire me to knit my own version.

Since this store is a chain you can find them in other cities through out Germany. I visited a Wolle Rodel in Munich that was larger than this store and they also carried a large selection of beads and jewelry findings.

Inside view of the shop

The second shop is located further down the pedestrian walkway and is called Lana. OMG!! The owner has some beautiful one of a kind pieces on display using all kinds of fiber. The shop is tiny and located in an area where all the designer stores are. ( You know you're close to the shop when you see the Ferragamo store on the left corner.)  They carry a small collection of name brands like Noro, Lang and Rowan. Although the selection was small, she had some beautiful colors. She also spoke some English and allowed me to photograph her store. I spotted a nice collection of pattern leaflets she had stored in a shelf, but I'm sure they were in German. Believe me, I come prepared with my own patterns whenever I'm shopping for yarn overseas.

Now if you're in Germany and just can't make it to these shops, the department store Karstadt has a yarn department. Some stores have larger spaces than others but you can always rely on them for a nice selection of Regia sock yarn, Katia yarn, knitting tools and fantastic buttons. The buttons are loose and contained in plastic tubes. Match the letters on the tube to the letters on the chart to figure out the price per button.

Carmen's Sparkly Leggwarmers

Carmen's Sparkly Leggwarmers

by

Donna Williamson

Materials: 1 skein of Caron Simply Soft Party (164 yards)
                  US size 6 dpns or long circs (for magic loop)
                  US size 8 dpns or long circs

Gauge:  18sts = 4 in. size US 8 needle


These fit an average 3yr old to 10 yr. old depending on the length you knit for the child's leg.

Cast on 48 sts using smaller needles. Join and knit 2, purl 2 ribbing. Repeat this round 7 times for a total of 8 rounds. ( If using dpn's divide the sts equally amongst the needles)

Start the next round using larger needle.
 Cont. in 2x2 ribbing for 3 more rounds.
On the next round (K2, P2,  K2tog leave sts on the left hand needle, insert rhn beween first and second st of the k2tog sts, K the first st. dropping both sts of the lhn, P2) Repeat around 5 times more.

These 4 rows create the pattern. Repeat 4 row pattern until piece measures 10 in ( or desired length) from the c/o row.

Change to smaller needles and k2,p2 ribbing for 8 rounds. Bind off in pattern.

These legwarmers were inspired by my niece who loves to dance and loves all things sparkly. To all my dancers... may you be light on your feet and have a song in your heart.

Ravelry Inspired Fetch my Cowl

www.ravelry.com/people/knitsta/posts

Materials:

2 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (90 meters per skein)

Size US 8 circular needle (16 inch)

Cable needle or spare size US 8 DPN

Gauge: 22 sts = 4 inches using 4x1 rib st.

C/O 105 sts. Join and knit 1 round

Round 2: Begin pattern, *K4, P1; repeat from * to complete round. 

Repeat this round 3 times more for a total of 4 rounds.

Round 6:  *C4B, P1; repeat from * to complete the round

Repeat the last 5 rounds 3 times more (4 cable twists)

Cont knitting in 4x1 rib until piece measures a total of 6 inches from the beg of cast on edge.

Next round: *K2,M1,K2,M1,P1; repeat from * to end of round (147 sts)

Next Round:  *C6B,P1; repeat from * to end of round

Next Round:  K6,P1; repeat from until round is complete

Repeat the last round 4 times

Next round: Picot bind off. *B/O 6 sts, sl st on the rhn onto lhn, c/o 1 st (using knitted c/o  method) b/o 1 st, repeat from * until all sts are bound off.

K  knit

P  purl

C4B

C6B

Lhn  left hand needle

Rhn   right hand needle

C/O  cast on

B/O   bind off

M1   make 1 by lifting the horizontal st. between the needles from front to back. Place it on the left hand needle, knit the st through the back loop.

4x1 rib   Knit 4 sts, purl 1 stitch

Fetch My Cowl

I'd like to share my "Fetching Fingerless Mitts" inspired cowl pattern. I knit this cowl for a friend's birthday using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. I only had about 3 skeins left over from another project and this cowl and the mitts were the perfect solution to use up my leftover stash. My friend is a very clever lady and not only did she see it to be useful as a neck warmer but also wears it as at hat. She puts the narrow end over her ears allowing the flaired end to stand up and kinda flop over. She can get away with that and not look ridiculous. I don't know if I could carry it off as well as she does! Love your style, girlfriend : )!

Adventures in the blogging world

Nov. 22, 2010

OK, so here I am jumping into the internet world of blogging. Since knitting is my passion I've decided that I should write about it. It's been with me since I was about 10 years old, knitting with pencils. Me and my bff, Sheila would knit headbands during recess at school. Can't remember if any of them were ever finished. I do remember them looking awfully dirty from the lead of the pencils we used. Thank goodness the skill stuck with me and I moved on to the wonderful aluminum needles that could be purchased at the local 5 & dime. Ha, ha most of you don't remember those! Yes, I'm a bonafide baby boomer and 5 & dimes existed when I was a kid.