Nunoya

No words. Just photos of this incredible fabric shop. Hidden in between the small streets near the cathedral. Filled with fabric treasures that got my wallet down on its knees begging for mercy.

No mercy were given.

Fabrics were bought. A promice was uttered.

- I’ll be back.

Spanish baby knit inspiration

It’s crazy times around here, and I need myself some blog reading time. Now. So many things to share and so little time. Before I wish you a great week end, let me show you these beautiful baby knits from the Spanish knitting magazine “Tricotar”.

After leaving Barcelona for Costa Brava, I found a kiosk selling magazines. Rows and rows of embroidery, cross-stitch AND knitting magazines. I loved the classic knits in this Tricotar magazine so that’s the one that came with me home from the shelf. To my funny surprise – we established life’s many coincidences in last post didn’t we? – Inside the magazine was an interview with Laia from Lanarium!

I love these classic pastels and less-is -more designs. I also loooove the bright colours in the beach dress. No more babies for me, but it’s a good thing I have friends that still need baby knits.

Wish you all a splendid week end!

Llanarium

Did you visit Alicia’s blog? Well today, I’ll share some pictures of Llanarium the yarn shop she took me to. If you are planning to visit Barcelona in the near future, I recommend a visit to this cosy little yarn shop in the middle of Barcelona’s huff and buzz’ - OK so I just invented those words, but you know what I mean, right?

Right next to Placa Catalunya in a narrow side street, you find Llanarium and its very sweet owner Laia (which is expecting her first baby). This is where Alicia took me after our initial “hellos”, and “how fun to finally meet you”! And I loved it.

There I also discovered that as much as this blog world is big, it is also small. It turns out that some of the other knitter aficionados in the shop had read the (then) most current post about my visit to Pickles (without knowing it was my blog). When they saw me walking in with the Pickles bag they were a bit surprised and began explaining how they had just read about that shop in a blog… When showing us which blog they had seen it in, it turned out…It was Life in Yonder. Life’s coincidences.

While they talked about the yarn, I took pictures and looked at all the yarn- wonder in Llanarium.

At Llanarium I also met Esther who was knitting herself a featherweight cardigan with Schachenmayr select yarn. I have read a lot about featherweight cardigan when it was a big hit on Ravelry, but never seen one in real life. Now I understand its popularity. I love the shape of it. It is a perfect summer cardigan. In fact, I loved Esther’s version of it so much that I bought the same yarn to knit one. You can see her finished cardigan on Ravelry.

The photos I took does not give this shop or the nice people in it justice, but if you have time, look at this short video presentation of the shop that captures the feeling you get inside. A warm welcoming knit place. When you do so, take a notice of the man with the spectacles. His name in Josep Mestres and he is a crochet master. He makes the most elegant and feminine crocheted designs I have ever seen. Oh, if only I had Audrey Hepburn’s body…

Have a nice week end! I'm going to use the week end to read about the knitters get together at the wool factory in Sjølingstad. One day I'll go there too. I hope.

Leather shopping in Barcelona

This spring, when I first got the idea of making leather tags with initials on I began searching on internet for shops that would ship tools to Norway. To my surprise, the tools were not as highly priced as I first had imagined. However, once I added the shipping, which was much more pricy than I could ever imagine, I postponed the whole project.

Then some time before leaving for my mum alone vacation in September I began searching for leather shops in Barcelona. After hours of searching on the net, I found a shop that looked promising, wrote down the address and crossed my fingers that they would have what I needed.

I reserved an entire day just to find the place, which was unnecessary since it’s quite easy to find once you have the address. After a walk through the city there it was. A beautiful old store, with tall heavy doors, dark wooden furniture, marked by wear and tear during I don’t know how many decades.

It looks old, smells old and I can just imagine how this shop must have thrived in it’s glorious days, when most people still made their own belts, bags, coin holders, purses and everything else beautiful that can be made out of leather.

Just as I entered the shop I tried to take a photo of a row of old suitcase locks, which I shouldn’t have done… Because seconds after, a petite lady with short hair and strict eyes behind thin glasses came out of nowhere and told me that it was strictly forbidden to take photos (she looked like the kind of lady you would want to be very obedient to). And right that moment I saw the sign that said “No photography!” Yay, for making good first impressions!

Fortunately, the same lady asked me if she could be of any help, and she could. After I explained what I wanted to make she found several different tools for me to choose from. She also showed me the different types of leathers they had.

My favourite discovery was a big box of leather scraps in all kinds of colours sold by the weight. I chose my tools and as she weighed the leather, I asked the leather shop lady if she would please let me take a photo while she was weighing the leather. To my luck, she tilted her head to one side, broke out in a big smile and said in a patiently and forgiving voice, “OK then, go ahead, and take your photo” (“Venga, vaaale, haz tu foto”). So there you have it, the hands of the leather shop lady, which was a cute softy after all. She made my day.

In case you want to visit, the address of this beautiful leather and tools shop in Barcelona is:

Comercial de Guarnicionería SL
Passeig de Picasso 14
08003 Barcelona

Pool afternoons

No explanation needed, right? Just lots of fun, fun, fun.

Beach living

After our days in Barcelona, we drove up to Costa Brava where we spent lazy beach days. Dipping in the water, scuba diving, playing Uno in the shade of the Parasol, strolling along the beach walk and taking in all the beautiful scenery...

Family days in Barcelona

We spent ten days in Barcelona with my family in law. Astrid struggled with speaking Spanish and not being able to express herself, as she wanted.



Luckily, you can do many activities without words, which still says a million things.



Like playing “La Oca” (the Goose) with iaia (grandmother in Catalan)



Like learning how to make orange juice



Like playing at the playground with her cousin Martina...



...and eating watermelon



Like watching her little brother bond with iaio (grandfather in Catalan)



and like playing cards in the park with her friend Ariadna