I arrived in Bonn, Germany just over two weeks ago now. This small town is really beautiful, full of European styling in its architecture, and populated by a lot of easygoing, mild-mannered people whose day-to-day lives seem to be filled with wandering around aimlessly, shopping, drinking beer on patios (but not getting rowdy drunk like you see in North America – not as much anyway), and kids. Having gotten used to the nearly free-from-children city of Toronto, it’s almost shocking to see so many young families with babies in their arms or in carriages, and toddlers running around everywhere. Each couple has at least two. Apparently there is some sort of baby bonus or something, which encourages people to procreate. In light of this, I find it amusing just how many lingerie shops adorn the cute, cobble-stone lined streets here as well – it’s almost like they’re in cahoots with the government to encourage baby-making.
In my time here, I’ve come across two yarn shops. As far as I can tell from KnitMap.com and Google Maps, these are the only two knitting shops in Bonn, though it’s possible I’ve missed other shops that do sell yarn amongst other things.
Wolle Rödel
Located at Bonngasse 9, 53111 in downtown Bonn, this is the first yarn shop I came across here. It’s small, cute and organised well for such a small space. I was immediately drawn to a couple of drawers displaying small, shiny balls of microfibre yarn in deliciously bright colours – with a SALE sign next to them, marking them as available for €0.95 (even after conversion, that’s still only $1.31 CAD, which is pretty amazing). I immediately grabbed a ball of this brilliant turquoise colour which, for anyone who knows me, should come as no surprise. I also picked up two balls of the black in that same yarn, thinking that might be enough to make some cute small item. Total? $3.93 CAD, NO TAX, thankyouverymuch. Not bad, considering you can’t get a single ball for less than that (and it would be the crappiest yarn you’ve ever touched) back in Toronto.
Later, I browsed the Ravelry database for a pattern with which I could use my new microfibre yarn. I immediately fell in love with the, coincidentally, German-only pattern for this Asymmetrisches Top from Verena Knitting, Sommer 2009 (which I ordered from the Verena Stricken website, and which came 2 days later). Sadly, I couldn’t find the pattern in English, so now I have to harrass the poor German knitters on Ravelry for help throughout the enitre pattern. I hope I don’t get in trouble for essentially posting the entire thing online as I ask for help 
But seriously, someone should have translated the pattern into English by now! I DID buy the German magazine, which to be honest, is completely useless to me at this point. Thankfully, someone has pointed me to this dictionary of German-English knitting terms, so perhaps that will be of some use.
After obtaining the pattern, I realised I needed 3 more balls of this yarn in order to be able to knit up the smallest size available. I went back to the store, fully intending on making the top out of the blue colour, and using the black as the accents along the top and the middle of it. However, when I returned, their entire stock of this microfibre yarn had been emptied out into a large bin in the front of the store, and I frantically searched for my beloved, shiny turquoise. I found ONE ball of it left, and not in the same dye lot as the original one I’d bought. My heart sank, but I was grateful to at least have found this one ball – I can, therefore, knit the top in black, and use the blue as the accent. Not what I really wanted to do, but at this point, there wasn’t much of a choice. For the price of the yarn, I didn’t want to have to search for it elsewhere and end up paying $5 a ball. I can swallow the minor disappointment. Just goes to show, when you find a yarn you love for a price that can’t be beat – snatch it all up then and there, don’t wait a week!
In any case, I’ve rambled on a long way from the topic of the Wolle Rödel store – it’s small, cute, well-organised and filled with lots of brightly coloured, varied types of yarns you may or may not find in your local yarn shop back home. Definitely go check it out if you’re ever in Bonn. Maybe they’ll have something on sale for super cheap!
Lana Grossa
A few days after finding the Wolle Rödel store, I did a search on Google for other yarn shops in the area. The only other one that I could find was this Lana Grossa store, located at Friedrichstr. 22, 53111, also in downtown Bonn. Only a few steps (but a couple of windy streets) away from Wolle Rödel.
Fully intending to enter the store and browse for a while, and with the desire to inquire about the Verena Stricken, Sommer 2009 issue (hoping they’d have it in store, so I wouldn’t have to order online), I entered this store on the first morning I found myself without my much more German-language-competant partner, hoping to show off my own language skills. I walked in and noted that there was no one in the store. This suited me just fine – I much prefer browsing small shops without the pressure of sales associates staring down my back, waiting for me to pocket some small item. I walked along one wall, when a tall, stern woman emerged from the back room. “Right,” I thought, “of course – she probably has a camera back there watching customers who come in and out, to make sure no one steals. That’s fine.” But as she emerged, she made strong eye contact and said “Guten tag” in a very serious manner. My inner little girl immediately shrank from her commanding presence and I sputtered “Allo!” at her, and she looked at me questioningly. I said, “Spre…cken… zee… English?” “Eine bissen. What do you want?” I’m sure she caught the relief on my face as she continued to stare sternly at me. My weak stutter continued. “I’m looking for the magazine, Verena Knitting, Summer 2009 – do you have it?” “Verena… Knitting?” I nodded. “No.” A slight tug began to pull at one side of her face. “Okay… thank you!” I turned around and practically ran out the door, waves of embarrassment about how terribly I handled that interaction flowing over me as I tried to pretend like I wasn’t interested in the rest of the store.
Horrible! I want to go back and browse some more, but I’m terrified the woman will be there again and worse – that she’ll remember me! I don’t know, perhaps in a few weeks I’ll go back and take a look around. Perhaps by then she’ll have forgotten the nervous, silly little girl standing in front of her asking for a German knitting magazine when she can barely speak German herself.
From what I did see of the store, however, their stock seemed to be a little less brightly coloured, a little bit older and dustier, and mostly oriented towards winter knitting, rather than a variety of light to heavy yarn weights, appropriate for all seasons. However, I don’t want to be unfair to the store when I didn’t really have a chance to fully explore it. I shall post again when I’ve had a better look around at their wares.
Visit the Lana Grossa, Bonn, website
[June 29, 2011 Edit: I've since returned to the Lana Grossa store here twice in the past 3 weeks. My first impressions were completely incorrect - they have a huge stock of new, summer yarns, many of them organic, all of them just absolutely beautiful. They had a sign in their store up to last week for sure, that said "30% off!" - that's right, 30%! That is a HUGE discount - and it applied to all the yarn in the front of the store. There was a small shelf in the back it did not apply to, and I believe those were winter yarns, probably newer stock. I spent a lot of cash there - they have yet, as they explained to me, to get a phone line installed for taking card transactions. I also don't know if the sale is still on. I daren't return, for fear of spending even more hefty sums of cash, when we must save the rest of what we have for the trip to Greece. All in all, it seems a bright, friendly place with beautiful yarns to explore. I really do love the Lana Grossa line. Definitely go check them out!]
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