The predictable kind of souvenirs (if you’re a knitter)!

Well you didn’t think I’d come back from my holiday in Slovenia without something knitting related did you? 😉

As Sarah from woodlandknitter said: ‘What, no yarn?’

She knows me too well!

In fact, on our journey from the airport to the hotel we spotted a yarn shop which was still open even though it was late on a Saturday evening – cue many jokes about desperate knitters nipping out to get their late night fix of yarn! To non – knitters this might seem funny, but personally I don’t think it takes much of a leap in imagination for this to be plausible. I mean, how often have you thought at about 11pm at night ‘Oh, I’ve just had the best idea of what to knit with this yarn!’ or ‘Wow, this pattern on Ravelry is amazing! I wonder if I’ve got anything in my stash for that? and before you know it, it’s midnight and you’re buried under a pile of yarn.  

Or is that just me?  *blushes*

Obviously I could not leave this little gem unexplored, so a few days later I went to investigate. Despite being tiny and also stocking sewing, embroidery and dressmaking supplies there was a surprisingly large selection of yarns, thanks to a quite ingenious three layered set of shelves full of yarn, where you could slide the front and middle layers away (rather like a yarn filled sliding door) to reveal yet more yarn in the layer behind (I want one 😉 ).

I did try my best to resist temptation, but there’s only so long a girl can withstand the intense gravitational pull of nice yarn (this is obviously an under researched scientific phenomenon) and eventually I gave in to it (but I was quite restrained – yes really).

I restricted myself to just three balls (told you I was good ;)), two balls of this lovely soft merino 4ply:

….. and one ball of this interesting lace weight which shades from pink through to blue and emerald green:

You have to look down the middle of the ball to see all the colours properly (a good tip if you’re choosing self striping yarns and want to know how the colours will turn out but can’t look at the yarn knitted up) but aren’t they pretty?

I can’t wait to choose a project to use these on that will remind me of my trip 🙂 every time I wear it.

Do you like to bring yarn back from holiday? Have you ever found a lovely yarn shop in an unexpected place?

Lottie x

The best kind of souvenirs

I’ve recently got back from a lovely holiday in a beautiful country I’ve not visited before, Slovenia.

As usual with holidays, there is a temptation to bring back all sorts of themed tat, just because you want a souvenir of your trip, but as anyone who has bought a key ring/giant pencil/eraser/pencil sharpener/novelty hat etc can tell you, once you return home you wonder why you bought something as classy as a kiss-me-quick hat from Blackpool and where on earth you’ll put that straw donkey!

But I still like to bring something home as a reminder of my trip, so I try to look for something that I like on it’s own merits, not just because it was the least worst item in the gift shop. I have a silver pendant that I bought in Italy which I wear almost every day, and although I’m fairly sure that I could have bought something similar elsewhere, I bought it because I liked it and every time I wear it it reminds me of my trip. Sometimes this approach means that there isn’t really anything that I want, but this time I found some really beautiful local crafts that I just had to share with you.

We stayed in Bled, a town on the edge of the lake of the same name, surrounded by the Julian Alps. On our first day in Bled, I spotted a few covered stalls in a little tree covered space near the lake. Taking a closer look, I discovered it was a craft fair which took place every weekend. There were lots of beautiful crafts on display, all sold by those who had made them and I spent quite a while looking at each stall, trying to decide what I could fit in my suitcase!

Eventually I settled for two rather different pendants:

The top one in the picture is hand carved from plum wood and has the most incredible coppery colour when it catches the light because it is sanded so smooth that it almost gleams!

The second pendant is handmade glass and is an amazing blue colour that I just can’t capture in a photograph. I will probably buy a silver chain to wear it on, as the cord it came with has findings (clasp etc) which my stupid skin tends to be allergic to, so I’ve not worn this yet, but I look forward to it!

A couple of days after we arrived, we came across a jewellers which amongst other things had the most beautiful and finely detailed silver filigree that I have ever seen. There were so many stunning delicate designs that it was hard to choose just one, but eventually after much deliberation I settled for these butterfly earrings.

The earrings were handmade to a traditional design by the lady who owns the shop, who told us that filigree is a dying art in Slovenia and that she is the last of her family who can make it. They are tiny (about 1cm across) and so incredibly detailed that I cannot imagine how many hours they would take to make. I’ve worn these almost constantly since I bought them so I can already tell that they will be a favourite for years to come and a constant reminder of my visit.

Last but not least is another traditionally influenced piece, this little wooden bowl:

While at first glance this may seem fairly unremarkable, a closer look reveals a lovely folk art style pattern painted on the side:

The flowers are carnations, the national flower of Slovenia and I love the simple style of painting against the smooth wood. Surprisingly I found this in a gift shop next to the church of Saint Martin in a part of Bled called Grad (which means castle), but on this occasion I was pleasantly surprised to find that the majority of the items in the shop were handmade locally, including knitted socks, silver jewellery and intricate bobbin lace. It seemed that crafts are more valued in Slovenia than in Britain, but whether this is because the economy in places like Bled is reliant on tourism is hard to say (the craft market, for example only runs in the summer when Bled is at it’s busiest).

There were lots more interesting and inspiring things in Slovenia which I’ll show you another time!

What’s the best (or worst) souvenir you’ve ever brought back from holiday?

Lottie xx