Strik og snak!

Yes, I was so looking forward to a break from my Danish classes - to have my evenings back again and to have more time to eat dinner and wind down with the children at the end of the day. I had no idea that I would miss my twice weekly routine of closing the door on the domestic chaos of bathtime and bedtime, hopping on my bike down to Studieskolen and the challenge of grappling with the wonderful Danish language. But it turns out that I do! I've been moping around and, dare I say it, twiddling my thumbs! Until my new neighbour asked me if I wanted to join her at a knitting cafe in Norrebrø.

I haven't done any knitting in a long time. Both my mother and my mother-in-law are accomplished knitters and so the children are the very lucky recipients of beautifully handknit clothes. My last attempt at manipulating the two needles to my will was a blanket I started for my daughter made up of knitted squares (24 of them) that I made but that I promptly unravelled defeated when I couldn't sew them together to my satisfaction. The balls of yarn have sat in the corner of my bedroom taunting me and there have been a couple of evenings, when I've seriously flirted with the idea of braving the whole knitting debacle again. This invitation to the knitting cafe was my chance. I grabbed the bag of yarn and jumped on my bike.

This was one of the most pleasant evenings I have had in Copenhagen. The group of knitters meet in the cafe at Norrebrøhallen and is organised by Maibrit Nielsen, the lovely lady behind the online yarn shop Frøken Strik. Its a pop-up knit cafe really - they meet every Tuesday at 19.00. There seems to be a bit of a craze for knitting socks at the moment as those around me (including my neighbour) were braving the whole 5 needles thing. I remained content with a mere two needles, between 8 and 20 stitches and a large glass of red wine. Feeling all fingers and twisted yarn and awkward with my conspicuous English style of holding my knitting (yes, apparently, it is just us who hold one needle under the arm!), I was welcomed into the group and put at ease. These knitters are an inspiration:  I sat next to Katrine, a pattern designer from Good Life Knitting and so when I asked about a particular stitch, not only did she demonstrate how to do it, she explained why it had to be done that way for the desired effect on the pattern!

My neighbour and I had so much fun. As we found our knitting stride, we were reluctant to stop the needles clicking - and we were the last to leave (a good 30 minutes after everyone else!).

I may have unravelled my work a couple of times as I lost track of the stitches mid conversation (I was trying to chat in Danish!) but my knitting and I have reached a truce - it is the start of renewed and beautiful friendship. Tusind tak Frøken Strik - vi ses på tirsdag!