Vienna calling...

From one beautiful city viewed mostly in torrential rain to another... I spent last weekend in Vienna, the capital of Austria and former capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today it's mostly about sitting in elegant surroundings and eating cake, as far as I can tell. I was there because my husband was at a precious metal conference, and although I was on holiday, I did attend various functions involving metals types (they do mostly know how to have a good time, if you can keep conversation off the platinum price, and on another occasion we got not only Edelweiss and the Blue Danube, but also a Falco tribute act - he had 3 songs, who knew?). And by doing to had a stroke of enormous luck, for upon arrival at the restaurant where my husband was hosting a dinner on Saturday night, what did I spot but a very Viennese-ly exquisite looking yarn shop right next door?

Next day was Sunday (which I spent very happily watching these chaps), but on returning on Monday morning (husband safely stowed at the conference, listening to metals chat) I discovered I was luckier than I thought, for Wollewien (Vienna wool) had in fact opened just a week before.

 

 

It's located on what's effectively the ground floor of the Greek orthodox church next door (the other side from the restaurant), hence the Romanesque arches & decorative flourishes.

 

The shop sells what seemed to me to be the full range of Lang yarns plus pattern books (not hugely widely available in the UK, so a real treat) plus a good number of Rowan yarns (less exciting for me, but probably more exotic if you're Viennnese). They also had a really wide range of pretty yarns in the shop's own brand, which provided me with a great opportunity to test out my understanding of German words for different fibres ("Baumwolle" - tree wool - i.e. cotton - was a favourite of mine at school).

 

The shop is simply but stylishy laid out, with wavy shelving echoing the herringbone floor.

 

 

The shop lettering also had a nice Viennese Secessionist/Jugendstil flavour to it, though printing it on wine bottles does not help my habit of spelling Wien (Vienna) as Wein (wine).

 



 

As well as looking beautiful, the shop had lots of nice practical touches, For instance, as well as having sample garments, each yarn had a knitted swatch hanging from the shelf next to it.

 

 

The only gaps in the display... the three colours of Lang Asia I selected as my souvenir of Vienna, hopefully enough for a Jugendstil inspired cowl and mitts design, along the lines of the Seville set in the not so distant future.

 

 



Had a lovely chat with the proprietor, who came onto my facebook page later that morning to say Gruss Gott, and off I went into the rain with my 3 balls of Asia, plus some of their own Zakynthos yarn, made from recycled jeans cotton. It was tricky to make a selection from their own wide range, all named after Greek islands (presumably in a nod to the Greeks next door - the restaurant is also the Griechenbeisl, though the food is traditionally Austrian. And where, I must add, we were treated extremely well on Saturday), but BA's luggage restrictions helped to keep my souvenir shopping in check!

 

 

Now of course I could hardly complete a post about Vienna without a picture of some cake in elegant surroundings, so here's the genuine Sachertorte being consumed (by my husband), along with some Sacher Cuvee, in the Blue Bar at the Sacher Hotel.

 

 



A walk around Edinburgh, and a new jumper pattern

Around this time last year, I took a very short trip to one of the best cities in the world, Edinburgh. The fact I put it in that category is all the more remarkable given every time I go there it rains, and when it rains in Scotland, it doesn't muck about. Visiting Edinburgh, even for a short break, I have to take in 3 things - a great meal (Tom Kitchin's restaurant, this time & last), a pint in one of Rebus's favourite pubs (only managed the Cafe Royal, this time, didn't make it to the Ox) and a dram or two at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. All of which can fortunately be done indoors!

Anyway, the morning after our dinner at Kitchin, the rain lifted for long enough for a little pilgrimage over to Marchmont. Marchmont had 2 attractions - firstly, it is the (fictional) home of the aforementioned Inspector Rebus, and secondly, it's the home of Be Inspired Fibres which I had been assured by no less a knitting authority than Karie Westermann was very much worth the trip out of the city centre.

So we proceeded first along the Royal Mile, where even the road names make us feel at home - and it's actually spelled correctly:

My Talboys Wrap is doing a good warming job in the photo...

Turning off in the direction of Marchmont, we were then pleased to stumble across this:

Then this chap (and no, David isn't touching the nose).

 

 

The next stop, rather appropriately, was to buy some excellent sparkly Scottie dog Christmas cards in the Shelter stop, then on past the university (where Pollock Halls of Residence reminded me of long ago, when I ran a Pet Shop Boys fanzine & had readers there), across a green sward and into the austere tenements of Marchmont, where I found my way to Rebus's flat.

So, tourism over, I attended to the serious business of shopping for yarn. Be Inspired Fibres is an absolute gem, brimming with stuff I had actually never seen before, and knowledgeably and friendlily run by Mei. And oh, the fibres! Yak! Mink!! Copper!!! The shop received the ultimate accolade from David: "a knitting shop even I enjoyed" (he was especially taken with the Habu metal yarns)

Having indulged myself with the minky-coppery end of things, I had to buy some proper Scottish yarn, and so I found my way to Shilasdair. Their yarns are dyed in colours inspired by the Scottish landscape and, being a devotee of green, I couldn't resist a jumper-sized amount in a colour called Uig Sea Green.

And so, in the nearly a year since, I designed a sweater to suit the yarn, with a simple, wavy lace pattern like the green sea breaking on the shores of the Isle of Skye. Completely seamless, it comes in standard and curvy fit, to give a flattering silhouette to all kinds of figures. I've called it Marchmont Sweater

And the windswept beach it's photographed on... sorry, it's not Skye, or even Edinburgh, but the other end of the country in Whitstable, Kent (though it was doing its best to emulate Edinburgh's weather...).

Photography by David, & tech edited by Michelle Hazell.