MuKnits on Safari - the Hunt for the Wollmeise

Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm doesn't feature in most Travel Guides to Germany. I could only find it in one of my guides to Bayern, and then it was only a single paragraph. But this small town, just half an hour by train from Munich, with a population of under 25 000 is a Mecca for wool lovers and devout knitters. Pfaffenhofen is the home of Wollmeise, a wonderful, hand dyed wool. And this wool is only available at this one store in Bayern, a few craft markets and - if you're very lucky and very quick - from her online store once every few weeks.

This week has been Sale Week at Wollmeise, so an intrepid group from the MuKnits Sunday S&B decided to head out for a day trip. Armed with wool, needles, lots of cash and a calculator, we set out from Munich Hauptbahnhof just after lunch on Wednesday. It must have been an amusing sight to others on the train - 9 women and 1 man, knitting together as we sped through the German countryside.

At the store, we were greeted with the sight of SO MUCH WOOL! Shelves and more shelves and baskets all bulging with colourful wooly goodness. So much wool and colour it was almost overwhelming. Some headed straight for the Lace yarn, others for the 100% Merino. A short while later, we took advantage of Claudia's generously sized shopping bags and started collecting. Except for Pernille, who had captured the lace skein of her dreams, and was sitting in a corner petting it!

Later, we sat outside and I practiced my German on some very patient visitors from Köln. We knitted for a while, had coffee and delicious chocolates with wicked fillings. And then, all of a sudden, it was time to leave.

So we set out for home, 10 of us with many shopping bags between us. I don't think we totalled it all up - I'm sure we'll do a rough count next Sunday - but we all came home with at least one new stash aquisition. We again attracted attention on the train home - a young boy seemed quite fascinated with what we were all doing. As we knitted our way back, eager to finish Works-in-Progress so we could start ASAP on the new stuff.

Crazy knitters on the train!

And we made it safely

The wonderful striped awning - with seats outside for knitting, coffee and cake for added stamina!


Look at all that Yarny Goodness!


Even the bathroom is worth visiting!

My Haul!