Kninja Knitter

This is a somewhat non-knitting post, though there are some knitting-adjacent elements to it. I’m geeking out at this moment having just purchased my ticket to take the Warner Brothers Studio Tour (London) – The Making of Harry Potter as part of my next adventure! My full adventure begins in ten weeks, as I fly to London for two weeks of fun around the United Kingdom and Ireland.

And as much as I’ve been planning for all that fun for about a year, I’ve already made a deposit on my next adventure which is a South American cruise hosted by knitwear designer Laura Nelkin! That trip begins in Buenos Aires and sails around the southern tip (Cape Horn) and concludes in Santiago, Chile. The package includes two fiber-related excursions.

But back to this year’s adventure! When I was flying home from my grand vacation in New Zealand, I started planning my “next trip,” and decided that the U.K. and Ireland would be next off my bucket list. But then the economy and work situation suspended my grand plans for an indeterminate period of time. And then COVID happened.

Fortunately my work situation changed, improving my financial standing significantly. In 2021 I signed up for a trip to Israel because the opportunity presented itself. Sadly, the trip was cancelled due to lack of interest, but that spurred me to look into other tour options. In the past, my big land-based trips were self-planned and arranged. While I wanted to visit other parts of England (I’m looking at you, Cornwall) that are not included in the tour I’m taking, it’s nice to have so much of the “work” already done.

That’s not to say I won’t be doing my own wandering. There’s a fair amount of “free” time throughout the tour, and I opted for additional time at the beginning, arriving in London a couple days before the main tour group, allowing me to add an excursion to Salisbury and Stonehenge on my birthday as well as the aforementioned Harry Potter tour. I might manage to meet up with one or more coworkers in London, too, but that remains to be seen.

From London, we board a train to get up to Edinburgh (Scotland). Aside from the tour, I know at least one of my to-dos there will be visiting Ginger Twist Studio, a local yarn shop I’ve heard about for a number of years. Other LYS stops will be added to my list, but until I know where we’ll be staying, I’m holding off on the specific research. From Scotland, we head southwest, staying in Liverpool one night, and then we’ll be ferried to Dublin.

In Dublin, I will be collecting a pint that’s been owed to me for a few years, lol. I work with a couple Dubliners, so I let them both know about my visit. We’re spending two nights there before venturing southwest to Blarney and County Kerry. The tour wraps with a visit to the Cliffs of Moher and then returning to Dublin.

The biggest question is: how many photographs will I take throughout the adventure? Any guesses?

I’ve shared the high level tour map, in case you’re interested, and since photos make blog posts more interesting, obviously.

I also need to figure out what knitting projects will accompany me on the adventure. There’s sure to be a pair of Desert Vista Dyeworks socks. The rest remains to be seen. This afternoon I’ll be mapping out my plans for the next few months, keeping the trip in mind.

Knit on. 🧶