Family fun

Here’s a photo of my family on Mother’s Day. My patient husband is holding older daughter on his shoulder as they push younger daughter together on the swing.  The photo is taken in one of the many gorgeous play grounds in Hong Kong.  This park is one of our favourites, despite the fact that there are often biting midges that leave incredibly itchy welts. I had scolded my daughters for incessant scratching of their bites, until I found myself at work bleeding at my desk.  I had dug a hole in my hand after a touch of absent minded scratching. 

Mother’s Day was good, especially given that I don’t believe in the institution at all. I am deeply suspicious of the manufactured “Hallmark” holidays that seem to require people to purchase superfluous small electrical goods. I got a two and a half hour sleep-in (thank-you my lovely husband), two hand made mother’s day cards, and the eating of substantial amounts of Chinese vegetables by both small children without gagging or other protests.  For those of you that are interested, I have minimal enthusiasm for other shared holidays - apart from a completely secular appreciation of Christmas (which still should have a “de minimus” approach to present giving).  I am much more enthusiastic about birthdays and anniversaries, and our anniversary is next week. Of course, I totally ruined that by giving birth to younger daughter the next day, so we might escape to Thailand in late June to celebrate 8 years of marriage.

Younger daughter’s socks are finished, but you will need to take my word for it. The finished product has been seen by some Hong Kong stitch’n'bitchers. I’ve been busy photographing Addi knitting needles - the latest addition to the store! I’ve also been designing Ravelry ads, and 4th birthday party invitations (younger daughter). I’m busy dyeing yarn, and knitting dead simple socks out of yarn dyed by the girls with easter egg dye (post to follow). 

NB edited for clarity following my husband’s critique.

France report

So we went to France - we had a week in a village in Provence, and a week in Paris. In Provence (apart from other activities), we visited the Anny Blatt factory store.  It was fun, and I did make a purchase, but I wouldn’t recommend driving a massive distance out of your way to get there. It is however, very close (well half an hour’s drive) to Chateauneuf-du-Pape, so if you have relatives, or say a husband with interest in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, you could soften them up with some wine tasting, and then shop to your heart’s content. It was a little bit unusual from the Australian / Hong Kong / US yarn shopping perspective. 

The sign above reads “Thanks for not touching the skeins”, and fondling was quite discouraged. There was no sock yarn on display, the assistant referred me to some plain yarn which could conceivably be used for a sock after I enquired “Avez-Vous des laines pour les chaussettes”, but the yarn was not super wash. The assistant also expressed concern that I would be knitting with “tres fine” yarn. Lace knitters should not expect to find anything of interest on the lace weight front.

I did see the sign below, which reads “100% Cashmere, 10 euro per skein”, and got interested (and I touched them and all…) 

I ended up buying 6 balls of Anny Blatt pure cashmere, and even knit my husband another cashmere hat, despite his other disappearing in mysterious circumstances. 

Anny Blatt factory store: 33 rte Ste Cécile 84830 Serignan du Comtat (just outside Orange).

We then went to Paris, and as much as I love Paris, this was not our most successful trip. Younger daughter woke up on the second night vomiting, and then the fourth and sixth nights were spent with older daughter out-vomiting younger daughter ten-fold. I did visit two shops, and bought yarn at the second. The photo below shows older daughter outside Coudre-broder-tricoter (15 Boulevard des Batignolles, Paris 75008). She is wearing another hat knitted by me to the Veronik Avery pattern in Classic Knits (links to follow). It still rides up! 

About the first, the shop is lovely from the outside, but they only sell Pingouin yarns, and apparently (or so I was told in the store) all Pingouin yarns contain acrylic. I did buy a much needed set of row counters.

The second shop was lovely. Le Comptoir (Knit Map details) is a tiny shop, but the selection is impeccable. I bought some Noro Cashmere Island to make a striped scarf for myself this time. I also slipped and picked up some Regia silk 6 ply (I love, love, love Regia silk), and “helped” my mother buy some more Regia Kaffe Fasset sock yarn. All in all, a worthwhile outing. 

Le Comptoir: 26 Rue Cadet Paris, Ile-de-France 75009  

Is symmetry important in socks?

Yesterday, I thought that I was going to finish younger daughter’s socks.  I had a lot of errands to run, including a trip to the Trade and Industry Department in Mong Kok (there is a lot of bureaucracy involved in importing and exporting yarn in Hong Kong). The trip to Mong Kok requires a journey on the Hong Kong MTR, which is Hong Kong’s fabulous clean, underground rail system.  I had been busy on the second sock and had not compared it to its sibling for a while, but brought them both along for the trip.  By my reckoning (based solely on “look and feel”, not measurement or comparison), I was getting close the the toe decreases on the second sock.

I was planning to count the rows on the first sock after the gusset decreases, so that second sock would have the same number of rows before beginning the toe decreases. I was sitting on the train, when I noticed that the socks did not really look similar. In fact, the line of gusset decreases on the second sock was a lot longer than on the first sock.

 

I looked at the socks, and was perplexed (and they are the same socks - the photo was taken with a different camera). I had the same number of stitches around the foot, I’d picked up the same number of stitches along the heel flap, but I was faced with this much longer row of decreases. I inspected the first sock and second sock again, and noticed that I hadn’t done any of the short rows to turn the heel on second sock!

I’m using every ounce of my strength, not to shove the socks somewhere dark, never to be seen again. I’m going to rely on this blog post to keep me honest. I will frog the second sock back to the heel flap, and complete them properly, this week.  Feel free to post any comments you see fit to keep me motivated.

On another note, are other wordpress.com bloggers having real trouble posting photos after the latest update? It has been frustrating me no end, and is delaying the France posts.

I’m back

This is a brief post. We’ve had a house full of visitors since we got back from France, and I’ve had a literal metric tonne of yarn arriving.  I have several unblogged projects, and several unblogged yarn shop visits in France (we visited the Anny Blatt factory store, and a gorgeous little Paris yarn shop…) 

What I can offer you is this - one sock, yarn dyed by me for my younger daughter, from Yarn Workshop (that’s my outfit if you haven’t guessed). The yarn was a factory sample that was dyed the most unattractive shades of brown, yellow and orange.  It took a bit of work to overdye the yarn, but I got there in the end.

 

Pattern: “A Classic Sock Pattern” in Folk Socks by Nancy Bush in size Child (shoe sizes 8 - 13).  I actually followed the pattern for the toe as written!

This sock is slightly large, but given the speed of growth of younger daughter’s feet, it will last for about 10 minutes. She loves the sock, and keeps nagging me to finish the other one.  I’ve been busy with swatches, and shipping and import documentation, but a pair should occur soon.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to catch up with my Hong Kong knitting buddies some time soon.  I’ve missed you!

A bit disappointed

I finished Isabella (Ravelry link) on Friday night, and it is just barely okay.  I will wear it around the house,  but do not think that it is very flattering.  It is made out of 50% cashmere/50% merino from Colourmart, so that will probably ensure around the house wear. The view from the back is the best.  It is even more “meh” from the front.

It does not have enough shaping, even though I changed to a smaller needle size for the waist area (a 3.5 mm needle).  The pattern, from the Debbie Bliss book, Rialto, obviously looks very different on the model, and I should have realised that there was something wrong with the pattern when there was no mention of a closure.  In the photos above, it is held closed with a kilt pin, and will need several hefty press studs to stay closed.  It looks like nothing at all left open.  I think that I will also need to stabilise the collar with crochet, as told by the Yarn Harlot.

The yarn is fantastic, but needed a very thorough washing to get rid of all the spinning oil. I put it in a very hot (water heater hot) sink with a fair squirt of dish washing liquid for half an hour, and then washed the vest in a machine gentle cycle (ie. more vigorous than the wool cycle) at 40  degrees Celsius, and put it in dryer for 10 minutes to get it to fluff up.

 

Project details

Pattern Isabella from Debbie Bliss Rialto, size large

Yarn  Colourmart DK merino/cashmere Ocean Moon, about 400 grams

Needles  Addi Turbos size 3.5, 4  and 4.5 mm and a pair of 5 mm bamboo needles

Alterations I slipped the first stitch of each row purl wise, and knitted the last stitch of every row. I changed to the 3.5 mm needles for the middle third of the torso in an attempt to introduce some waist shaping. Much more was required to fit my figure.

After this disappointment, I turned out the following hat yesterday and this morning.  It is a “shop sample” for Yarn Workshop, and is also going to be used by my husband on the forthcoming trip to Europe.  It is my own basic hat pattern, and I’ll write it up if anyone is interested. It uses Grafton , our yak/wool blend, and is designed to be small enough to be shoved in a pocket if the weather heats up. The pooling is due to my rather inexpert dyeing, but I’m telling myself that it looks like camouflage. My husband loves it, so I’m happy that it worked out. The yarn is very easy to work with, and knits up nicely on 3.5mm needles.

 

We have yarn!

Last night I finally received delivery of our 50% yak/ 50% wool sport weight blend (to be known as Grafton) and our super smooth 55% silk /45% wool laceweight yarn (to be known as Killara). Today, I have been busy washing skeins, confirming yardage and photographing the yarns. Killara is super smooth, its been spun using a fully worsted technique, and has a fantastic drape, and is super soft. The Grafton has a terrific loft for a sportweight, and feels like a cashmere blend after washing.  Tonight (Hong Kong time) they will be listed on Ebay. In the pictures below you can see the yarns before washing (with spinning oils in) on the left, and after washing on the right.

 

The Killara is the yarn on top, while the beautiful soft Grafton is below. I’m going to be dyeing tomorrow morning, and will have more shots to show how they take up the dye.

 

Finished Madder Ribbed Socks

 

These socks are destined for my maternal grandmother. She taught me how to knit in (I presume) the usual Estonian style. Funnily enough, people in Hong Kong have commented that my knitting technique is like some of the local Hong Kong knit-bloggers. My grandmother has had several strokes, and suffers from dementia as a result.  It is not like Alzheimer’s dementia, she has clouds of lucidity, but frequently gets fiction (eg TV shows) confused with actual events. She continues to remember me, and other family members.  One way to communicate with her quite successfully is to discuss knitting.  When were in Australia recently, I showed her these socks in progress, and she was intrigued by the Magic Loop process. It felt good to connect with her through an activity shared across generations.

They needed a good wash before being sent to my grandmother, having been to Shanghai, Sydney and Singapore, and having had white wine and coffee spilt on them while being made. I followed the pattern faithfully, because I am trying to learn some different sock techniques, and figure that I could do worse than learn from Nancy Bush.

Project Details

Pattern: Madder Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks

Yarn: Yarn Workshop  75%wool / 25%nylon yarn dyed by me.  Dyeing details here.

Needles: 2.5mm Addi Turbos, using Magic Loop

Modifications: Leg made 1 inch longer because I was on the plane to Sydney without a tape measure, and they were too long when I checked where you should start the heel.

Comments:  I am not crazy about the pointed toe. It doesn’t seem to be a great match for my foot, but the socks are a little big for me, so maybe they will look better on my grandmother.

Otherwise, an exceedingly easy project, and very good handbag knitting. I had to trek all over Hong Kong today, and even though I’m on the boring bit of Juno Regina, its too challenging to knit on public transport. I obviously need to cast on another pair of boring socks! I’ve just overdyed some sample wool/nylon/bamboo yarn a pinkish/purpley colour, and had better churn out the socks promised to younger daughter.

 

Never-ending stole

I’ve liked Juno Regina since the fist time that I saw it in Knitty, and was looking for a store sample for our Merino Laceweight, and merrily cast on.  I didn’t check gauge, because it is a stole, but got a fabric that I was happy with the recommended 3.5mm needles. The yarn was dyed by me, and then overdyed using my super easy overdying technique described on the store blog.   I found the tricky bits of the stole went quite quickly, and were a useful device to deter me from having a glass of wine with dinner. I was excited to finish them and then looked at the pattern and read these words:

“Work Rows 11-12 of Chart 4 for approx. 42 inches.”

That cooled my ardour. The gauge is 7 rows per inch, there are 89 stitches in each row, that’s only 26,166 stitches until I get to another interesting bit! The question is, how long will this take me? I really, really want to wear this scarf in France in 2 weeks time.

Its hard to stay focused when there is new yarn in the stash, and beautiful new patterns being thrown my way.  Wouldn’t it be easier to just cast on a Lace Ribbon?

I love it, and the brown cashmere blend purchased in Guangzhou is calling me. Oh, wait. I did the same calculation on it, and it takes 36,040 stitches.  I’ll stick with Juno Regina for the time being.

Speaking of the brown cashmere blend, here are the yarns purchased in Guangzhou.

Won’t the brown make a beautiful Lace Ribbon? In other news, I’ve finished my Madder Rib socks for my grandmother, and they will be blocked by tomorrow. I’m also nearly finished Isabella, and am just working on the collar. More finished objects soon!

Advanced yarn shopping

A while back, one of my knitting mates, Lynn, suggested a day trip to Guangzhou to look for yarn.  Guangzhou is about a 2 hour train trip from Hong Kong, and is the center of the the Pearl River garment manufacturing; thus probably the center of garment manufacturing for the world.  Our fellow knitter, and teacher extraordinaire, Yam thought that the trip seemed like fun and decided to join us.  We had no addresses to speak of, only the address of the China Fabrics and Accessories Center advertised on the bus in the photo above, the knowledge that there was knitting yarn to be found in Guangzhou, and a fluent Mandarin speaker in Lynn.  I am sure that I had a conversation with Maryann where she told me that she had found cashmere in a Guangzhou fabric market, but I forgot to get the address from her.

Anyhow, we exited Guangzhou railway station (where there is NO tourist information) and deftly dodged a tout who told us that the wholesale fabric market was “very far” and that Guangzhou was “very big” and that it would cost 250 renminbi to take us there, and we tried our luck with a metered taxi.  You would need the address written in Chinese for the  taxi - we took ours from this website.  27 renminbi later, we were dropped in the middle of fabric and notions nirvana. I have wandered around the garment district in New York, and spent hours in Sham Shui Po in Hong Kong, and this district is massive in comparison.  The problem that we faced was in trying to track down the yarn.  While we were wandering around a bewildering array of lace stalls, Lynn asked a man where we could buy hand knitting yarn. He told her that we needed to go somewhere else, and that a further taxi trip was required. He did write down the address of the district with the hand knitting yarn.

The next taxi drove us to the back blocks somewhere, to an industrial estate that looked exceedingly unpromising.  Dirty, dusty and full of industrial sewing machine shops, and insulation retailers.  The taxi driver suggested (ably translated by Lynn) that he drive us around to see if any yarn could be found.  We couldn’t see yarn, but spotted a knitter, and Lynn asked her where we should go.  The knitter pointed, and said “over there is the best place in Guangzhou to buy yarn”. We said good-bye to the taxi and found this shop.

 

Boxes of yarn! Mostly gorgeous, soft, nice yarn. Some cashmere blends! We then looked around from there and realised there were about 30 stalls all selling yarn. There were sacks of novelty yarn around the place.

There were a few stalls selling knitting needles, but there were all the kind typically used in China, huge long double pointed needles.

This is not a place to go if you need a “full service” yarn shopping experience.  No English at all was spoken. All shops seemed to require that you purchase a whole box of yarn in any colour (typically 400 or 500 grams). Most yarns were not labelled in English, and if they were, the labels were not necessarily helpful.  This was my favorite:

I suppose that you could use this yarn to knit a hat to prevent the CIA from reading your thoughts?

Its the kind of place where people park their bike in the middle of the stalls, and a woman who was assisting us literally thew an empty soy milk container over her shoulder when she was finished with it.

The flooring was made from packing crates and cardboard, and I was perplexed about how they packed up the stalls every night. Of course, we all bought yarn. I got some gorgeous pale blue laceweight, some chocolate brown cashmere/merino blend with the most amazing sheen, and some navy merino yarn. Given the number of pictures already in this post, I’ll save them for another day.

If you want to visit, print off the business cards below (clicking on the picture will bring up a full size link), and hand them to a taxi driver in Guangzhou.  The return trip to the main railway station was under 30 renminbi.  Maybe one of my readers who can also read Chinese will be able to identify the most useful business cards?

It was a fabulous day. Lynn’s Mandarin abilities were amazing, as were Yam’s fibre identification skills.  We had a lovely local meal together afterwards, and knitted on the train on both directions.

Yarn in Shanghai

I went to  Shanghai to find yarn; not just for my stash, but also for Yarn Workshop. Luckily, I found lots of yarns for Yarn Workshop, and hope to have the new yarns and blends available in the next few months.  One of the things that I am learning about the yarn business is that there is a significant wait between sourcing a yarn, and receiving it for sale on to my customers.

On the retail side, I visited Heng Yuan Xiang (who are not one of my suppliers).  Heng Yuan Xiang is apparently a Shanghai yarn institution, and their main store is located on Nanjing Rd in Shanghai to the east of the pedestrian area. Their yarn is a beautiful quality - very soft, smooth, and definitely something that I would want rubbing against my neck. In the shop, the yarn is presented in boxes, almost like rows of chocolate boxes.

Of course, I purchased some yarn, and got my own box of delights. They are all pure merino, and vary in weight from a light fingering, to a laceweight. They are all extremely inexpensive by Western standards.

 

I seem to be very keen on red yarn at present. If you are visiting Shanghai and have the slightest interest in knitting, I highly recommend a visit.  The store details are below (clicking on the picture will open another bigger image for printing), and I would print them out to give to your taxi driver, or a friendly Chinese reader who can mark it on a map for you. Heng Yuan Xiang are an Olympic sponsor, and the outside of the shop is covered in signage for the Beijing Olympics. No-one in the store spoke English, so some charades were required. The pure wool yarns (and most seemed to be pure wool) were marked with a Woolmark logo.

  

Apart from yarn sourcing, and shopping, I visited Century Park in Shanghai.  It wasn’t mentioned in most of the tourist information on Shanghai; but it is well worth a walk if you are staying in the Pudong area. If you are travelling with small children, it would be worth a detour.  It is a large park with plenty of space for kids to run around, and even a small amusement park. It has a variety of beautiful gardens that were coming alive in the early Spring sunshine.

 I had lots of fun taking photos of the blossoms, and had some luck capturing the frantic activity of the bees that were making the most of the flowers.

 

The gardens weren’t all traditional flowers - someone had planted beds of plants that looked like pink cabbage or lettuce (anyone know their real name?). Their colours looked amazing in the sunshine.