I have a friend, let's call her Jacqui, and she always shares with me anything crafty she thinks I might be interested in. Back in August she shared a Purl Soho email about a 'new' 50-year-old linen yarn Linblomman and as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted it. Yes, I wanted it, I didn't need it, I just wanted it. I actually sent Jacqui an email asking her to stop sending me scrummy stuff to look at, it's just too much temptation.
Five weeks on I still wanted that embroidery yarn and in my book that's no longer a whim to be ignored, but a wish to be acted upon. Purl Soho have been out of stock for a few weeks but after having brunch today in Noho with my besties Em and Amy I took a chance and nipped into the store.
I couldn't believe my luck, the Purl Soho staff were putting sales labels on newly arrived boxes in front of me as I asked tentatively about its availability. It was obviously meant to be so I bought one box of each of the three colourways: Neon; Pastel; and Flora & Fauna.
The story behind this linen yarn is that it was made in the 1960s in Sweden, the factory closed down and the yarn, hidden away in a haberdashery stock room, has been rediscovered fairly recently. It is just as beautiful and strong now as it was then.
Linblomman (Swedish: The Flax Flower) is distributed by Linladan (Swedish: flax barn)
Wondering where you can get this yarn in the US? There 's only two US stockists:
Purl Soho - in store, NYC and online (read about one of my visits to Purl Soho here); and
Bolt, Portland, OR - in store (read about my visit to Bolt here).
UK stockists are listed here on the Linladan website and if you're lucky enough to be attending The Knitting & Stitching Show
at Ally Pally next week, Linladan will be there too.
So what am I going to do with my beautiful linen threads?
Admire them?
Stroke them?
Stash them away for another fifty years?
No ... I'm going to use them.
Remember those Dropcloth Samplers designed by my friend Rebecca Ringquist that I bought in Bolt, Portland (a Linblomman supplier, how did I miss these yarns in the store that day???!!!)? Well, I'm taking the samplers and yarns on a plane journey with me next week when I head back to Britain to celebrate my daughter Flicky's 21st birthday. I don't know what I'm more excited about, seeing some of my kids or using my newest crafty acquisitions ;D
And Jacqui, keep sharing those crafty temptations, you're absolutely right, why should you suffer alone?!!! x
Clicking on an image will take you to a new page of crafty goodness :)
Disclosure:
This post contains Amazon and Craftsy affiliate links for which I am paid compensation on click-through purchases (at no additional cost to you). Otherwise, the post is for informational purposes only and all opinions are my own.
Copyright:
