Finding Yarn in Beijing

May 26, 2013May 10, 2016 | Verónica

Work has pretty much consumed my life. I haven’t had time to knit, read or blog. There have been some very exciting developments though. I am at the starting point of a three-month stint in Beijing. The husband and the boys have been very supportive but I miss them, and it’s only been a week! The plan is for them to visit in mid-June. I hope to know my way around better by then.

On my first weekend here, I ventured over to the Silk Market. The old market has been modernized with each vendor occupying a glass-walled store inside the building. There are aisles and aisles of leather bags, shoes, watches, silk scarves, electronics, pearls, costume jewelry, and the regular assortment of Chinese bric-a-brac. The most important part of the Silk Market experience is the haggling. No matter how high the starting price of an item, go as low as you can and be firm. They won’t sell it to you if they’re not making money off of it.

I have really enjoyed the food. I found a great dumpling restaurant nearby called Dintaifung. You can watch the chefs shaping the dough through a window. Each dumpling is filled with your choice of pork, shrimp, or vegetables and each holds a pocket of delicious broth inside.

I’ve also become fond of these sautéed bitter greens and bamboo shoots.

My next priority was scoping out yarn stores. In my search for yarn, I decided to brave the subway system. I had seen YouTube videos of the Beijing subway rush hour – mobs of people squeezing into the cars. Thankfully it was Sunday, and negotiating the subway system turned out to be fairly straightforward.

I exited the subway at the Dengshikou exit. Initially I walked the wrong way but a kind soul pointed me in the right direction. The Wansha Cashmere store is located off of Dongdan North Street, about three blocks north of Jinbao Street. The address is 14-2 Dengshikou Street. The store isn’t very large and you sort of have to be looking for it. Inside, it was stocked floor to ceiling with yarn. They carry wool, cashmere, mohair, cotton, camel and novelty yarns.

The women were very helpful and let me browse to my heart’s content and even snap a few photos.

Here are my purchases. First, a large hank of cotton yarn. I really liked the green speckled look. It sort of reminds me of a robin’s egg except in green. The price was determined by weighing the yarn on a scale.

I also picked up these bright balls of wool yarn. Some are 50 gram and some are 100 gram balls.

This set of knitting needles cost me 10 yuan or about $1.50 US.

All in all, it was a good first weekend in Beijing. Hopefully I’ll find time to do some knitting soon.

Among the Azaleas

March 22, 2013April 18, 2014 | Verónica

Believe it or not, Spring is almost here. Every March, the Azalea Trail takes Houstonians on a tour of homes whose gardens overflow with pink and white azaleas. Luckily, the former owners of our home planted a few azalea bushes in the backyard.

The sunny weather prompted the husband and I to make a quick trip to Austin, just the two of us. You know it’s love because our first stop was Hill Country Weavers, my favorite Austin yarn shop. The place had expanded since I was last there with an additional two rooms overflowing with yarn. I picked up these lovelies – 300 meters each of 67% silk, 23% kid mohair, 10% nylon yarn by Hand Maiden. It is hand dyed in Canada.

Here’s a glimpse of it catching some rays among the azaleas.

I honed in on this pattern from Malabrigo Book 3. The pattern calls for Malabrigo sock yarn with a gauge of 24 stitches over 4 inches. The gauge for the Hand Maiden yarn is 20 stitches over 4 inches. This should result in a larger shawl which is what I would like. I’ll definitely knit a gauge swatch before casting on.

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Here is one more view of those colorful azaleas. And there are still buds waiting to bloom.

Dew Drops Cowl in Orange

March 3, 2013 | Verónica

Ever since the new year, like many of my fellow knitters, I’ve wanted to reduce the size of my stash. I purchased this lovely orange skein at a fiber festival a couple of years ago because I was intrigued by the color. It’s from Brooks Farm Yarn in Lancaster, Texas. “Ellie” was marked down in the widows and orphans bin – the place where leftover skeins go to retire. It’s 4 ounces, 400 yards of a lustrous 50% Fine Wool, 50% Silk Slub.

I used the Dew Drop Cowl pattern which is available as a free Ravelry download. Here it is blocking.

Down here in Texas, it gets cold and occasionally freezes but not for long. I wanted a cowl that would keep me warm without burning me up. This airy pattern was just right. Bear is back to model the cowl for us.

Here is a close-up. I like that the yarn was spun to have thick and thin sections. It gives the cowl an interesting texture.

Bear is keeping watch over my work in progress, a large knit blanket. I keep it tucked away in this large tote from 31 Gifts. The tote bag was only $5 with my other purchases! I love those big grommets. I pull my needles through them to keep my stitches from falling off.

It’s been a bit chilly here in Texas. Perfect weather for my orange cowl. Now, back to that blanket.

Frogging

February 1, 2013 | Verónica

After returning from a trip to Toronto a few years back, my husband presented me with this humongous hank of luscious kid mohair. It’s 450 meters of beautifully soft lime green yarn from Fleece Artist. I wound it into this gigantic ball of fluff.

I started knitting a drop stitch shrug from a pattern book called Parisienne by Colinette. It’s the one called Montmartre.

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I was almost half way done when I put it down … a couple of years ago. Here’s part of the sleeve.

I could not figure out where I left off and the pattern is rather convoluted due to the increases. Plus, from where I stopped, I needed to start decreasing in pattern and completely forgot my sequencing, despite my margin notes.

These two smaller yarn balls are the unravelled evidence of my procrastination.

My very own Scandinavian yarn crawl

January 10, 2013May 10, 2016 | Verónica

Before our trip to Copenhagen, I dreamt of yarn stores on every corner. I compiled a list of stores to visit determined to find yarn that was “Made in Denmark.” Here is a recap of my very own Scandinavian yarn crawl.

Ulstedet, Vendersgade 3: The website for this yarn store beckoned with knit and crochet shawl kits, yarn and notions. When we showed up at the address, it simply wasn’t there. Strike 1.

Strikkeboden, Krystalgade 16: We found this yarn store on a pretty corner very close to the Round Tower, a 17th century astronomical observatory. It’s quite tiny but full of yarn in cubbies on the wall, in baskets and in window displays. Unfortunately, I was greeted by a very surly woman who seemed disturbed that a customer would actually enter the store. She practically barked, “can I help you.” I scanned the store, turned around and left. Strike 2.

Sommerfuglen, Vandkunsten 3: Sommerfuglen is located close to city hall and is bursting with yarn from floor to ceiling. It was a busy morning with many customers coming and going. The sales ladies were busy but very helpful. One sales lady explained that most of the fibers are imported since Denmark does not itself have many fiber-producing animals but some yarns are either spun or dyed or both in Denmark. I picked up this nice wool/silk blend. I thought it fitting to take a photo of it in Denmark. Home run!

Bette Design, Klosterstræde 20: I read about this yarn store on several blogs and set out to find it. It was very close to the Church of the Holy Spirit off Strøget, a wide pedestrian shopping street. We found the location, it even had a pretty sign hanging over the entrance, but the store was empty. By the ladder and bare walls, it may have been unoccupied recently. Strike 3.

Our next yarn forage took us to Malmö, Sweden. We rode a train over the 10 mile Øresund bridge connecting Copenhagen to Sweden’s third largest city.

Garn David Hall, Jörgen Ankersgatan 12: We found this store tucked away on a side street near the center of Malmö. Alas, it was closed. All I could do was stare at the fluffy yarn through the window. Strike 1.

Princess Garn, Lundbergsgatan 4: We walked a long way in search of Princess Yarn but it was not to be. We found the address but there was no yarn and no store. Strike 2.

Irmas Hus, Kalendegatan 21: Third time’s the charm. Irmas Hus is not a yarn store. It seems that it used to be and also carried fine fabrics. They had a wall full of little boxes filled with buttons. They now specialize in clothes but in the middle of a sale table, sitting in a couple of bins, I spotted yarn. These giant hanks are hand-dyed by a woman who lives outside of Malmö. And to make it even sweeter, the sale was a two for one! I picked up these two hanks of hand-dyed merino wool. Another home run!