Today because the weather was lousy we drove over the St. Gotthard pass and into canton Ticino, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland.

Right in the very north of the canton we took the Ritom Bahn, the steepest funicular railway (over 88 degrees!) up from Piotta to Piora. Not for the faint -hearted. I’m still amazed that the little train gets up the 800m climb.

That’s one of the joys of hiking in Switzerland. More often than not, there is a little railway or a cable car to save you the slog up from the valley.

One of the other joys is that the paths are so well marked.

I guess they have to be. One false move in fog and you could fall off a mountain. People do every year. On the whole though, the mountain trails are easy to follow and marked with red and white stripes every few yards to keep you on the straight and narrow.

Despite not quite perfect weather and the odd sprinkling of rain, the views were, as always in this beautiful country, simply magnificent.

This was one of the best….the Capanna Cadagno SAC mountain hut….and lunch! There’s a huge network of huts in the Alps – you can stay overnight, grab a coffee or lunch or just hang out and keep dry till the rain stops!

We aren’t taking gourmet cuisine, but it will fill you up and keep you warm. This was polenta with lentils and sausage. A HUGE portion!

We decided to take the old St Gatthard pass home – incredibly the road is still  cobbled for a lot of the distance and woe betide if you take a false move….not much in the way of barriers to save you. Mr Motorbike seemed to fancy himself as James Bond screeching round the hairpin bends in my trusty Mini….enough said!

We did however, meet this on the way.

The old St. Gotthard Post Coach on its way south.

I’m so lucky to live here. It’s quite a country!

Helen

1) A 12 mile training run up hill and down dale – thankfully rain-free as the predicted torrential downpour was over. Several hundred metres climb and several hundred descent. Slow and steady and accompanied by Mr Motorbike (who outdid himself) for part of the way. Hot and tiring, but nothing actually hurts and it’s lovely in the woods….and I did come home and have a little nap!

2) Knitting  a second Giotto sock, which is oh so fiddly and on oh so teeny tiny needles, when I’m raring to get going on Soay…in purple….and try out i-cord in the flesh….

3) A bar of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk is sitting in the fridge and I’m rationing myself to a row a day to make it last (at least until the children come home, when anything remaining will disappear, as if by magic!).

I’m not sure if I’m quite normal putting myself through all this. I guess there is method in all the madness and there is something in each of them that I really enjoy.

So…willpower or pleasure? Or really a little bit of both?

Helen

Mission: to investigate all the yarn possibilities in central Zürich

Participants: Mel and Helen…on a mission

We set out to visit the 5 shops that I’d tracked down on the internet, only one of which I’d ever been to before, and also I planned to show Mel the amazing button shop in the Niederdorf (old town).

Shop 1: Vilfil (Kreuzstrasse 39) – billed as the biggest and best in the city. Not in an area that I frequent very often, so although I had a hazy idea that it was there and I think I’ve even driven past it, I’d never been inside (I’m ashamed to say). Unfortunately a final check on the web yesterday morning alerted me to the fact that the shop was closed for its 2 week summer holiday. So strike that one.

Shop 2: Hand-Art (Neumarkt 10) – this was the shop I had already been to. Small and a little old-fashioned, but well stocked, although really only with the well-known brands that everyone has here – lots of Lana Grossa and Lang. Don’t get me wrong, both of these are really nice yarn producers and Lana Grossa in particular strikes me as really good value for money and is lovely to knit with. But hand-dyed, interesting yarns? No siree. Not here. But the shop was fairly bustling with nice middle-aged ladies and seems to be doing well.

I weakened a little and bought these:

Purple Lana Grossa Merino, which I’m going to use to make a Soay cardigan, and turquoise heather Lang Donegal together with the shop’s own patten for a longer loose cardigan with cabling in the fitted top part. Both gorgeous yarns, but so far I can’t make head nor tail of the pattern I bought – the pattern is typed all but for the cabling pattern, which is handwritten, illegible and photocopied badly. A little disappointing really, but at least I can go back and pester the shop lady until I understand what I’m doing.

Shop 3 : Roosens button shop (Napfgasse 5) – nooooooo – another one on holiday and closed for 2 weeks. Strike number 2.

At this point, exhausted from our endeavours we adjourned to the nearby Cafe Schober for a little R & R, but through inhuman strength managed to avoid the patisseries…..

We did however entertain the other customers by sitting out front and having our very own Blue Peter moment – as Mel, complete with swatch she had made earlier, introduced me to the mysteries of knitting i-cord. I-cord, for those of you who don’t know it, gives the most delightful finish and I’m going to need to know how to do it when I embark on Soay. Now I know – and am enchanted by it. Another one of those really brilliant little gems of technique that you come across occasionally in knitting. How have I knitted for so long without knowing how to do this? And does I-cord really stand for idiot cord? I hope not, I think it’s sheer genius cord!

Isn’t this a lovely little swatch? – what’s more it’s in the yarn that Mel made her Soay cardigan in – which looks fabulous!

I’m not sure that Schobers has really seen the like before….but what the heck…I guess we are of an age when it’s almost alright to be a little eccentric in public!

We then resumed our mission:

4) Shop 4: La Maglia (Oberdorfstrasse 3) – categorically does not exist. There is a toyshop in its place, which I think has been there for really quite a long time. Why therefore is La Maglia still in all the city listings? It’s a mystery to me. Strike 4.

5) Shop 5: Zaubernuss (Augustinergasse No.8 ) – this shop at least exists, but quite how, by merit of a small basket of brightly coloured mohair in one corner  it can call itself a wool shop is beyond me. Strike 5.

6) Shop 6 : Unnamed shop near Stauffacher (and to my shame I forgot to write down either the name or the address once we had found it) – woohooo- a wool shop that actually exists. We almost fell over in our euphoria, but quickly pulled ourselves together when we realized that they carried exactly the same sock as Hand-Art, but a lot less of it. But hey, what the heck, it exists and we found it!!

All in all….well we had a lovely time, I bought wool, I learned to do i-cord, so it wasn’t a write off. Of course Vilfil may turn out to be an absolute gem when it’s actually open, but otherwise, it was a bit of a paltry showing for Switzerland’s biggest city. Or does anyone out there know something we don’t?

Helen

I’ve just finished sewing the buttons on Otello. It’s all done and considering I had initially written off the wool as being horrible, I actually really like it!

The pattern is Otello by Louisa Harding from her book, Cardigans and the yarn is Lamb’s Pride Bulky (85% wool and 15% mohair) in colour M225 Elderberry Wine, which is a lovely name for a yarn colour. It’s going to be very, very cosy, so I’m all set for the winter!

This is a great pattern for a bulky wool, because it actually feels – and is- quite fitted so I don’t feel like a big, bulky sack of potatoes in it!

This yarn took up A LOT of space in my stash, so it’s lovely to have it all used up!

Helen

And the winner of this week’s giveaway is….

Jane

who would like to take a walking tour of England and visit old houses and gardens like Sissinghurst.

Sissinghurst is on my list of places to visit too Jane! Well done on winning!

Thanks to all of you who took part!

Helen