Goodbye UK - My LYS & Woolly Wormhead
Well, my stash of fabric, yarn and all things crafty has been packed into a huge shipping container and, along with the rest of our worldly belongings, is already on its way to New Zealand. I can't quite take it in. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of sorting, packing and cleaning and in five days we're boarding a plane and leaving the UK.
I've already said lots of goodbyes, but today I said a sad goodbye to The Sheep Shop and its lovely owner Sarah. Isn't it a dear shop? Sarah fills it to the brim with delicious yarn, and gorgeous displays and the community that she has created is warm, friendly and enthusiastic. I just love it.
But, today wasn't just any ordinary Saturday morning. I was lucky enough to nab a spot at a class run by hat designer extraordinaire Woolly Wormhead. I know, awesome right?!
Woolly's class was all about decreases and increases and she talked to us about a ton of different methods of decreasing and increasing in her hat patterns. Do you know how exciting it is to meet someone absolutely passionate about knitting techniques? Very exciting. Woolly just loves her stuff and boy does she know a lot. I learnt heaps and can't wait to try out some of her ideas. We did get to knit wee swatches during the class to see how a range of decreases and increases looked (although I did a terrific amount of nattering and only managed to finish one swatch) and Woolly leapt around the table helping each of us with our questions and confusions.
And, as if that wasn't fascinating enough for a knitting nerd like me, we also got to try on a bunch of her fabulous hat samples and she helped us work out what suits us and why. I was pretty surprised (and relieved) to find that quite a few hats worked on my newly cropped hair (look out for some Woolly Wormhead patterns popping up on Truly Myrtle next (New Zealand) winter) and I was totally inspired by Woolly's use of colour and how well she manages to match yarn and pattern. Clever lady.
In fact, I bought her latest book while I was there: Playful Woolly Toppers. I'm particularly taken with Selkie, Morea, Beelore and Labyrinth - expect to see some on the heads of the Myrtle kids!
In the meantime, it's time to say goodbye to the UK. I've got five days so I'm planning five posts. If, like me, you're prone to tears, you might like to grab some tissues.