It would be remiss of me to talk about today’s trip to a craft shop without mentioning its absolutely beautiful surroundings. Today we’re going to take a trip to Split, in the Dalmatia region of Croatia and probably one of the most effortlessly beautiful places I have ever been.
As an embroiderer, it’s often difficult to find shops that stock more exciting thread than just the standard DMC/Anchor floss ranges. It can even be difficult to find places that stock embroidery-suitable fabrics that are more exciting than 14 count Aida in white. This is why it’s always so exciting to find a place like The London Bead Co., which while formally being a shop for all things small and shiny, has one of the most beautiful thread collections I’ve ever seen. I think only Old World Designs comes close!
One of the nice things about being in Switzerland, as well as the beautiful scenery, perfect trains and wonderful cheese, is the number of Bernina stores dotted about the place. Some of them are in surprising places, it often feels like you’ll see one in every small village, but they are usually excellent haberdasheries as well as sewing machine technology wonderlands.
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I’ve been very much enjoying the number of textile-themed narrative non-fiction books being published lately. From Kassia St Clair’s brilliant offerings, The Golden Thread and The Secret Lives of Colour, through to the exceptional Threads of Life and the still interesting but not entirely my cup of tea, Knitlandia.
I’ve been debating for a while when would be a good time to publish several of my posts that have been languishing from trips I took back when international travel was still a routine part of my job. As things tentatively start to open up, in those countries at least, perhaps now is a good time to give some airtime to two truly excellent fabric stores in Italy.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links meaning if you make any purchases via these links, I receive a small commission that contributes to the running costs of the blog. However, any recommendations and opinions in this review are my own. For more information, please click here.
A book about knitting in the New York Times Bestseller list? Apparently not as outrageous as it sounds. Welcome to ‘Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World’, Clara Parkes’s collection of tales of knitting conventions and events across the world.
When I heard there was going to be a special exhibition on orchids at Kew Gardens, I knew this was an exhibition I would happily make an effort to see. For those of you not familiar with Kew, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site home to over 50 000 plants and has one of the most diverse plant collections in the world. For the embroiderers, it is a beautiful botanical garden situated nearby Hampton Court palace if you want to sneak some stitching!
I am very, very tired. I think my optimism from the new year and finding some more time to do nice, creative things has well and truly run out already and we are just arriving in March! Not a good sign!
I’ve ventured far out of my way to visit craft shops before, some of which were rather off the beaten track, but I’m not sure any have proved quite as impossible to get to Zürcher Stadler. This isn’t so much because it is in the middle of nowhere, or because the sat-nav can’t find it, but because the road network leading to the place has a strategically placed no entry sign that seems to make it impossible to enter the estate where the shop is. I won’t say how we overcame that particular obstacle but plan your visit and route in advanced.
Happy 2020 everyone, may the new year bring you lots of great ideas, fabulous materials and the time to put them all together! As is traditional for this time of the year, let’s have a look back over some of the last year and set out some overly ambitious goals for the year.
