Back from Norway

 I got back Thursday night, so today was the third day of putting stuff away, laundry, ironing, hacking back the garden and catching up on paperwork.  I have downloaded 3,000 photos from my phone but haven't gone through them yet.  I'm sure there are a lot of duplicates to whittle out and also a lot of failures - my eye would be seeing beautiful coastline through the grey overcast day and my smartphone was seeing dark silhouettes against a brighter sky.  Plus the inevitable photos of my feet, my finger, my boarding pass etc. to get rid of.  It is nice to be home again, see DH, talk to DS, visit my craft room, and gloat over my Norway loot.  Also nice to wear clothes that weren't in my suitcase.  The best thing is I have missed the latest UK heatwave - it was up to 35C for several days while I was away, meanwhile I was enjoying 13C-15C and overcast drizzle which I am more than happy with.  It was a great trip, albeit very expensive, and I can definitely see myself going back again.

I managed to visit around a dozen knitting shops, but was relatively restrained in what I bought due to being realistic about my knitting speed and lack of space in my case.  I got two books about the lovely Selbu designs for mittens, and some Rauma wool to knit a pair from each.  The white book is in English, the black booklet is in Norwegian so I'll have to use Google Translate.  I also got a kit for a third pair of Selbu mittens in Hilesvag wool featuring the typical Norwegian star/Selbu Rose pattern.  My last purchase was a kit for a cute pair of socks with Norwegian houses on them.

Garnhuset yarn shop in Trondheim, just one of the many enormous yarn shops I came across during the holiday. (the crowd is lining up for a Pokemon release at the next store along).

I didn't get much fabric, although quilting is definitely a thing in Norway. I went to a couple of sewing/quilting shops in Trondheim.  Quiltegarden was a beautifully laid out and well curated shop with lovely displays.  But it was all recognisable brands like Moda, Laundry Basket, ByAnnie bag patterns, and of course Tilda.  But Tilda not any cheaper as her fabric is all printed abroad then imported back into Norway. I asked the owner if there was any Norwegian fabric but she said no, they have a few designers but they don't produce fabric, too expensive.  Prices in the shop were similar to the UK at c £20-22 per metre. 

 However I did find some light canvas fabric printed with Norwegian motifs at the other shop in Trondheim, Abbys Textiler.  I found the cute spool tin at a knitting shop, and the cross-stitch motif runner and placemat was on sale at a home interiors shop in Oslo.

I added a zip to the placemat and turned it into a simple pouch. It was nice to be back at the sewing machine.

And of course I got some tourist tat: a teatowel, little tray, a mug, some fridge magnets, postcards and a fleece lined cute tourist hat that I was glad to have in Roros, when it was unexpectedly 5C with added windchill.

I found this postcard in a knitting shop.

And I saw so many beautiful textiles on display in tourist shops, museums, recreated interiors in open air museums, etc.  Norwegian sweaters on sale were typically machine knit unless they were in a yarn store, and very expensive: starting from £250 and going up to over £600.

Sami Hats in a museum display

The bunad is the traditional Norwegian folk costume based on historical rural clothing, worn by men and women and still very popular today. It features rich hand-embroidery, high-quality wool or linen, and custom silver or gold jewelry. The Husfliden shops in many Norwegian cities specialise in creating these works of art, and also sell the materials for them. I wasn't there at a festival time so I didn't see anyone in the wild wearing a bunad apart from museum staff, but I saw several on display in Husfliden or in museums.

I mentioned that I had started knitting the Norwegian Star Beanie by Sandra Jager on the trip, this is how far I had got by the time I came home, and I just finished it this morning so it is currently blocking.  There is something wrong with the third chart for the crown decreases, like many others listed on the projects page I just had to wing it.

I also took along a magazine kit from CrossStitcher magazine because it made me think of colourful Norwegian houses, but I didn't get a lot done on it.

It's good to be back!