Home from China

I arrived back in the US from China yesterday and home to Funkstown today. You can see my finished vacation project on the Lacy Cabled Scoop blog. I also got 1.5 socks done.

It was so fun to see women knitting in China, which enhanced a feeling of connection to people I did not know. Knitting is so cool that way.

The one non-sweater project I saw being created were these slippers. The women who created these were at a shopping area at the foot of the walk up the mountain to the "Ghost Shrine" on the Yangtze. I love the decorative increase!

On our last day in Shanghai, we were at a market and it seemed all the women were knitting, at least the ones who weren't chatting on their cell phones. All projects we see are from the bottom up circular sweaters knit on long dpns.

When we went downtown in Shanghai in the afternoon, Rose spotted yarn at the back of a shop. It was all wool and cashmere, mostly fine gauge. I bought this set of dpns as they were like the ones I saw the women using. Cost=$5, length=14". The 100 g ball of yarn, a nice wool, was $2.

Knitting in China

The other day we were in a small park in Xi'an and saw a woman knitting. Not the first we've seen, but we approached her and "talked". She was knitting with four VERY LONG dpns, which appeared to be homemade. She was making a sweater with recycled wool. The dpns were 0 or 1 size. Every knitter we have seen is knitting in this fashion - using dpns to do circular knitting.

Meanwhile, Mom, Rose and I knit when on the bus or boat during down time. Our fellow travelers must find this amusing/interesting as several have taken pictures of us!

Greetings from China

Today Rose and I climbed to the top of a very high hill--walking the Great Wall outside Beijing. Awesome and profound. I have never imagined myself being there, much less walking on the wall. It's very beautiful, one of those "see forever" vistas. 1075 steps up, then back down.

Yesterday we visited the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, and the Summer Palace in Beijing. Tomorrow we are up early and take a plane to Xi'an where we will see the Terra Cotta Warriors, have a "Dumpling Dinner" and go to some kind of cultural show. A long day.

There are a couple of other knitters in our small group of 25. That doesn't include Mom (she's working on Lacy Cabled Scoop) , Rose, and me. We spend some time on the bus going from one place to another, so the knitting is perfect to pass the time.

Cable Hat "Bebe"

I knit the Cable Hat pattern using Fixation with the number of stitches used for the worsted weight in the pattern. The Fixation showed off the stitches fabulously and I was thrilled when I had a 4 month old model enter the shop. The hat looks much better on a child than on a ball of yarn!

Wine and knitting go together

With the Y2Knit shop, I have the benefit of being able to see all kinds of cool projects that customers are working on and finish. For 2007, I'm creating a gallery of finished projects to inspire us all. Check out the wine bottle bag knit, embroidered and felted by Hope Light.

Hope came upon the grapes by accident. She was rolling bits of mohair in her hand and realized she was creating grapes! This sits on the side table in her dining room. Don't you think everyone should have one?

A bottle of wine delivered with this bag would certainly elevate the hostess gift to new levels.

Social Knitting February 23

Social Knitting meets 10-12 in the morning and 7-9 in the evening. The morning group tends to be knitters who are retired, not working or have a day off. On this day, someone remarked that everyone came some distance--Frederick, Shepherdstown and Martinsburg.

Kathy McClung is a fairly prolific knitter. She has worn this lovely sweater a couple of times lately--it's soft and warm during these cold winter days. Kathy knit the sweater last year in a sweater class.

Sandy D'Onofrio is a sock knitting maniac! This week, she tried this sock with a spiral stitch. There's no heel or defined toe so the sock can be rotated to reduce repeated wear in one place. I like that idea as I am tired of darning socks!

A take away from today's Social Knitting: check under your seat cushions when you need to find stitch markers!

I recommend attending Social Knitting for great restaurant reviews.

Stuffed Cat

I couldn't resist sharing this pic of Abigail. She loves containers and really wants to sleep in this one, which usually is holding a small knitting project. She can't stay in it long - it's just too cramped, but she does try it out about once a day. I guess its kind of like those pants we've outgrown--maybe this time they'll fit!