Moving, moving

This is the actual state of our living room at present. We haven’t packed up my office yet, and I am holed up in here trying to ignore the chaos around me.  We are on the move within Hong Kong, to a place with a back yard! While the back yarn would be considered tiny by Australian, or US standards, it will make a big difference to our life style.  You might even get to see some grass in knitting shots.   I have no knitting to show – I have a pair of socks in need of kitchener stitch, another Estonian baby blanket with ends galore, and a not quite completed baby hat of my own design. Following the reaction to the Voltaire scarf, I might be encouraged to encouraged to write up more of the ideas percolating in my head.

On knitting related topics, I have sent off my application for the Nordic Knitting Conference in Seattle next year, and am incredibly excited about going to my first knitting conference.  Chances are that I will be going by myself, so am keen for yarn shopping tips in Vancouver and Seattle; and would also love to know a good place to stay near the Nordic Heritage Museum.

I am not a good mover. While other people seem to find reorganising soothing, for me it is demoralising. The contemplation of the move makes me steadily more anxious.  This week, I have had no fun, and have had to blow off all activities that were not directly related to the move, or the business.  Of course, we had timed the move to coincide with the launch of the new web site for Yarn Workshop, and I am still working on that site to get it functioning predictably.   Walking has helped me keep my sanity together, and I will leave you with a picture that I took yesterday on my walk. Hong Kong has some amazing walks!

Voltaire Scarf Pattern!

I’ve written up the Voltaire Scarf pattern, and it is available here.  Please let me know (gently) if you find any errors. I am finally beginning to conquer the killer cold that has had my family in its claws.

Lots of yarn in Bangkok

But not much that I was looking for…. I found two shops in Thailand; Big Knit Cafe and Zawa Knitting.  Luckily, they are almost across the road from each other, on Sukhumvit 49; but unfortunately,  I only got to visit Big Knit Cafe.  I had done some research prior to getting to Bangkok about the location of yarn shops, and had found a way to get to Big Knit Cafe. Of couse, I didn’t realise that Zawa Knitting was almost immediately across the road, until I was in a taxi with an irritable family, speeding away from both yarn shops. I am informed by my Bangkok spies that Zawa Knitting carries Knitpicks needles, but I know nothing else about their stock.

First off, Big Knit Cafe has an ideal lay out for a local yarn shop. There are plenty of comfortable couches, and a huge working table in the middle of the room, where there was a teacher who was assisting people. The staff were friendly and helpful, and I was allowed to fondle the yarn. It would be a dream come true to have this kind of LYS in Hong Kong.

The range of yarn was very European, with an emphasis on novelty yarn… The cafe was also decorated with novelty yarn – see the photo below! The food in the cafe was excellent, and my husband declared the coffee the best he had in Thailand.  I was looking for Thai silk yarns, having read a reference to them on Ravelry. There were no Thai yarns, sock yarns, silk yarns or lace weight yarns. I did pick up some Lana Grossa Qui (colour 202) at a price that seems comparable with the European prices. I think that it is destined to be a Felicity hat. They also seemed to have the full range of the Zara yarns, which is always a good thing in my book.

There were lots of hand knit items for sale, and they all appeared to be beautifully knitted. I am not sure who buys it all, given that Bangkok has a tropical climate.

The knitting needles were not out on display, but they appeared to have Addi needles, and well as bamboo needles.

Of course, there are attractions galore in Thailand apart from the knitting. I think that a lot of crafting energy is probably diverted into the amazing things that the Thai do with food, and flowers. The flowers below were at a very simple market in Phuket, and at first glance you would not notice that the lotus flowers have each been indiviually trimmed with the outer petals folded back.

These bracelets were for sale at the flower market in Bangkok, and a tiny representation of the huge range of beautiful flower bracelets and other works available. They also smelt amazing! Unfortunately, we went to the flower market on our last day in Bangkok. On our next trip, I fully intend to be at the flower market on day 1 to decorate our hotel room.

 

 Zawa Knitting: 49 Sukhumvit 49, Bangkok

Big Knit Cafe: 88 Sukhumvit 49, Bangkok

Nearest Bangkok Sky Train stop: Thong Lo – but it is a good 15 minute walk over dubious/non-existent footpaths from there – not recommended if you are dragging reluctant 4 and 5 year old children. We took a taxi (fare about US $1.50) for the reverse trip.

I should also mention that I was absolutely elated with the US election result – and that the much requested Voltaire pattern is being drafted, and should be up tomorrow. I’ve had a week of very low productivity due to a heavy cold.

Voltaire scarf and Koolhaas hat

So, I have been knitting, if not blogging.  Above is a store sample for Yarn Workshop, an faithful rendition of Koolhaas, made out of Yarn Workshop Bellingen.  I loved working with the yarn, and I love how the cables “sproing” out of the purls. I indavertently made the men’s size because I misread the pattern, and it is a bit too big for me, but is still wearable.  It has been pouring with rain in Hong Kong the last couple of days, so you will have to make do with an indoor shot.

The scarf below is inspired by a shop in Hong Kong called Zadig & Voltaire (which is apparently French).   It is in an expensive mall, and while some of the clothes are absurd (a fine cashmere pullover decorated with an intarsia motif of a pot leaf, superimposed with a skull?), there are others which would take my fancy, but for the price.  I noticed a gorgeous cashmere scarf for my husband, but decided to reverse engineer it when I saw the price, only US $425! Instead I dipped into the stash and used under 150 grams of Colourmart 2/7nM (a227/a136) 100% cashmere ($US 36 or under!).  Blogless Yam and I  went to the store and very closely inspected it, and agreed that there was some kind of baby cable coupled with a garter rib.  I went to my Barbara Walker, and swatched a little.

One of the things that had attracted me to the scarf was that it looked good from both sides, despite not being conventionally “reversible”. The photo below shows the reverse side of the baby cables. The scarf lies flat and still drapes nicely.  The cashmere feels absolutely amazing once washed. I have swatch photos that show how the cashmere bloomed, but they need to be downloaded (oops). All the knitters in my stitch’n'bitch group were “oohing” and “aahing ” over its softness.  All in all, the scarf took me about 2 weeks, and it has been well received, with its first outing on Saturday night when we went to see the Wallabies lose at the Bledisloe Cup.

Forthcoming posts: where to find yarn in Bangkok!

P.S. For my US readers, please vote (ideally for Obama!). The rest of the world does not get to vote, but it affects us too!