Outside the 5th Ring Road

August 2, 2013May 10, 2016 | Verónica

In my ongoing quest to find yarn in Beijing, I tried another market recommended by the Beijing Guild. Maofangcheng is also known as the Fabric Market. From what I read, you can have wool and cashmere coats tailor made from any fabric shop inside the five-story building.

The first task was getting there. The market is located on the Northeastern side of the city just outside the 5th Ring Road, far from where I am staying.

It was well worth the trip. Among the five floors of wool, cashmere and silk fabrics, were almost two full floors of yarn shops. Two — floors — of — yarn. I only took a couple of photographs. All you have to do is imagine walls of yarn in store after store after store.

These cones are wrapped in fine thin threads of cashmere.

My first purchase was in Store #205 where I picked up this colorful wool and mohair blend. So festive!

Fashion Wool - 66% Wool, 34% Mohair (Store #205) — Fashion Wool – 66% Wool, 34% Mohair (Store #205)

I also could not resist these lovely purples.

Ricignole Mohair - 66% Wool, 34% Mohair (Store #205) — Ricignole Mohair – 66% Wool, 34% Mohair (Store #205)

In Store #315, I picked up five balls of this luscious cerulean blue yarn.

Wool 40%, Mohair 30%, 亚克力 30% (Store #315)

Next I found this jewel-toned mohair in Store #323.

Xiao Mohair - Kid Mohair 45%, Viscose 30%, Anti-Pilling 25% (Store #323) — Xiao Mohair – Kid Mohair 45%, Viscose 30%, Anti-Pilling 25% (Store #323)

I fell in love with this orange cotton and cashmere blend. It reminds me of creamsicles!

My last purchase was this amazingly soft cotton and cashmere blend that one of the ladies was using to knit a shawl.

I took this partial cake of unknown yardage. It is made up of 11 thinly spun threads.

As I was getting ready to leave, I decided to pick up a couple of crochet hooks.

I spent a total of ¥280 or about $46. Now how am I going to get all this yarn home?

Tangled String

April 6, 2013 | Verónica

This is how my latest knitting project started.

Admittedly, I was a bit distracted watching the last episodes of The Walking Dead.

I did eventually end up with this nice ball of yarn. It’s Sakkie by Plymouth Yarn, 40% kid mohair, 40% superwash merino, 20% nylon.

I truly am trying to knit my way through my yarn stash.

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.

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.

On My Spindle

June 19, 2012June 20, 2012 | Verónica

Remember the soft aquas and blues of the hand-dyed Silky Cashmerino I found in San Antonio?

It spins up very nicely.

Even though I wasn’t nearly done with the batch of blues, I could not resist this when I saw it.

It’s fittingly called “Fire and Ice” and this 4 ounce batt was prepared by my friends over at the Wooden Spinner. It’s made of merino, mohair, Angelina, Firestar and silk. Here’s a closer shot.