I’m finding it a little hard to know what approach to take, when writing about my trip to New Zealand. How much should of the holiday part to put in, including photos of scenery, or should I stick to knitting related bits? Do I really want to put up silly mug shots of me standing in front of yarn shops? Is it going to look like I’m just showing off, posting all the pics of the yarn I bought? Is this post going to be useful for future travellers? Is Blogger going to freak at all the images? Should I cover preparations for the trip as well? Should I break it down into smaller posts – and do I divide them by subject or sections of the journey – or keep it as one big one?

Who’d have thought holiday reportage could be so complicated? It shouldn’t be, and this is just a blog, so I’m going to just dive in and see where it takes me.

Before I left I did a fair bit of research, searching the yellow pages website. I can tell you now this was much too limiting. I ran into craft and tourist shops selling yarn that never came up in a search on the site. The Ashford site has a list of stores selling their products that alerted me to more shopping options, and other yarn companies might do the same, which might be a better way to locate yarn.

I also consulted the Kiwi Crafting Ravely Group, which taught me something new about yarn shopping in foreign countries. Take such advice with a grain of salt. The stores the locals find boring may not be so to overseas visitors. The Knit World shops were referred to with some disdain on the forum, but I was impressed by them. Still, most yarn in them was New Zealand or Australian product, which was probably too familiar and unexciting to locals, who may be longing for something more exotic.

I packed just one project for the trip: plain socks in nice yarn that would be easy to knit while in transit. No other project would be necessary, I figured, because I also planned to knit a knee rug as I travelled, buying a ball of yarn for it every place I travelled to (and could find a yarn store). Just in case this wasn’t enough, I took three printed patterns and the required needles for small accessories: a hat and two headbands. I did end up knitting the hat, so I’m glad I did.

When packing I was ruthless, culling so I’d have lots of room for yarn. I have an expandable section on my suitcase, which I hoped to use – and did. I packed zip lock bags so I could squash air out of the yarn and my clothing to fit more in. I also planned to buy a carry bag if I needed more – and did, though I probably could have filled the gaps in the beau’s bag instead. Posting yarn home was a last resort, I decided. It had cost a fortune to post excess yarn from the UK and waiting three months for it had been excruciating!

When buying yarn, I kept my stash manifesto in mind, remembering to buy enough yarn for a project rather that one or two balls. I didn’t have to worry about the obligation to buy something once I entered a shop because I could buy one ball for the knee rug. I also avoided yarn I could get at home, sticking almost exclusively to local yarn manufacturers. Supporting locals and reducing carbon cost, and all that.

It didn’t take long before Holiday Yarn Magnetism, an effect we first noticed in the UK, started to take effect and we began to just stumble upon yarn or yarn stores without meaning to. The best example of this was realising the motel room in Picton we were staying in was right on top of a craft store selling yarn (but it was never open when we were there).

Overall I found New Zealand to be a great destination for yarn shopping. There were plenty of shops with good reputations that I never got to, and I could easily have bought a lot more at the ones I did reach!

More on where we went and what I bought next post.