Royal mail and yarn splash

The Finnish postal services must be wondering what this invasion of blue sacks from Royal Mail to all parts of the country is about. Well, one of them was for me.


And this is what was in it:


I make no claim whatsoever to originality as this offer by Rowan has been attracting a lot of orders from the Finnish blogosphere. These are my first Rowan books, and they are lovely indeed. Not hot off the press, but then I'm also hopelessly behind everyone else with all my other projects ... That's just me, a little slow, I am.

Now on to my yarn shopping in Helsinki last week. I've become very single-minded in my shopping lately. When I shop in Helsinki I have two things on the agenda: yarn stores and the Academic bookstore. Clothes shopping, what's that?

I first made my way to Menita Outlet in Soukka, where some of the yarn was still in bags on its way to the shelves. They had a nice selection with most of the standard teetee yarns as well as Red Heart and some other middle-priced stuff. But I was saving myself (and my money) for the downtown Menita shop so I only bought a couple of Addi circulars here (in picture below).

My next stop was Vihreä vyyhti where I got this ball of cotton blend sock yarn:


For a pair of stripey summer socks? I'm not even sure I like the color but I want to try a cotton sock yarn so this is for test purposes (again ...)

And so it was time for the lovely little Menita on Korkeavuorenkatu. I love this shop, and yet I'm always struck by major indecision when I go here. Too many colors, too many choices, too many temptations ... But I tried to stay focused this time and only buy what I actually came here for. That didn't stop me drooling over the Rowan shelf, of course, and I was already carrying a ball of Wool cotton (for test purposes, you know) to the counter when I came to my senses. There's enough yarn for test purposes in my stash already. Anyway, I got myself some Wetterhoff Silvia wool/silk blend for an unspecified future lace project:


I also got this bunch of balls that I hope will one day turn into Green Gable:


And these two balls for swatching for Eunny's Deep V Argyle vest:


And from the Academic Bookstore? Well, I got this. I'm thinking it will help me become a better clothes shopper, for times ahead when I've worn my clothes to rags and will be forced to head for the ladies department rather than Menita. But until then, I'm perfectly happy to just read about it while I knit.