Dear Pointy Sisters - Here are a few of the pictures of Norwegian yarn shops. All of the interiors are shops in Bergen; on the cruise we were not usually in town when the stores were open. (11 to 5 if you are lucky!) There was one exception-- a shop in Stamsund that was open at 8 p.m. I bought yarn there just to show my appreciation of keeping longer hours. The second picture from the top and the bottom picture are taken in my favorite Bergen knitting store. It's called Pinnsvin Design and it has lots of Hanna Falkenberg kits. They are on top of the shelf in the second photo. The web site has an English translation; check it out.

One of my favorite discoveries was that at least one department store sells yarn in Bergen. There was not a lot of variety, but they sold worsted-weight wool (not superwash) for 9 kr. which is about $1.50, and for most of my visit it was 20% off. The other yarns were not such a bargain, but a lot were less expensive than in any LYS in the U.S. There were good selections of wools (no surprise there) but also other fibers and some novelty yarns.

There is a picture of my purchases on my last post. They include worsted-weight and bulky wool for felting, pale yellow cotton/acrylic blend tape yarn, chartreuse mohair blend, and the Hanne Falkenberg kit for DaCapo. I plan to make cat beds with the bulky wool, and a sleeveless pullover with the cotton tape yarn.

The only disappointment with yarn shopping in Norway was the poor selection of sock yarns. I saw no hand painted sock yarns, and little variety. Most stores had a few skeins of Regia, and solid superwash wool in fingering weight, but nothing that rocked. One can buy great wool socks in Norway, however, at the store without spending a fortune.

Next time I'll share the adventures of the sock. Keep knitting and reading and don't get oppresed by the heat.

Ellen