Wolle und polyamid

Another work trip - this time to Stuttgart - and guess what? Who's this with their nose pressed up against the window of a yarn shop? I'll come clean here - I had done a little research before I got there and marked one or two on a map for the first evening. Wolle & Tee is a rather cute looking little shop that I found only a few minutes' walk from my hotel. Sadly it was closed - by the time I had chance to go on the prowl, it was about 6.30pm and too late for the little independent shops.


Mind you, I was rather peturbed to see the example below in the other window of Wolle & Tee; no matter how much you hate finishing and no matter how bad you think you are - surely you would never stoop to putting this item in the window?!


Perhaps they are being ironic? But by the look of the colours of the sweater, I fear not. Perhaps it was just as well that it was closed otherwise I might have felt pressured into buying something gaudy and unnecessary. I already have gaudy and unnecessary in spades at home.


Just around the corner; Wolle Rodel. Large shop selling yarn and needlecraft supplies - just closing as I arrived. I did manage to come back the following lunchtime and had a good snoop around, but I didn't buy anything! I think it was the colours that put me off - there was plenty of yarn of many many colours - sock yarn by the sackful; cotton; merino; acrylic even - they have no fear of acrylic in Germany. Let's cut the snobbery and admit that it does outlast everything else. Not good news for landfill sites, but if you manage to knit something you love in acrylic, you'll never have to face it wearing out!

So what DID I buy? I made it into the nearby Karstadt department store and bought two skeins of el-cheapo sock wool. A nice subtle striping yarn, difficult to find subtlety among all the Regia and the like. At the risk of being controversial I will state here and now that I really don't like the majority of the self-striping sock yarns. Most of the colour combinations just don't do it for me, and those ones that are supposed to come out stripy and spotty? YEUCH! I was rather taken by Patricia's modest dark blues, greens and reds - I liked her unashamed mix of 40% wool, 40% 'polyacryl' and 20% 'polyamid' - and most of all I loved her price - 1.95 Euros per 50g. A grand total of £2.65 for a pair of socks!