So, I've Been a Bit MIA These Days

Whine, whine, whine, do you really want to read about my pain issues?

If I'm not posting, it's either due to traveling, or due to pain, or life and its other distractions--I'm sure you know how it is.

I think sometime between Thanksgiving and the winter holidays, I went out with my friends for lunch, yarn and chocolate shopping in Nyack. We finally got around to checking out Knitting Nation, and we all walked away with a purchase we were happy with.  I debated heavily on my purchase, but snapped it up due to the sheer yardage, even if the shade was a bit on the drab/faded out side, what a steal! A sweater's volume of yarn for $25. (The yarn is now with a friend, who is an indie yarn dyer, and I'm excited to see what magic she has worked with this yarn.)

 

Anyway, in January, we visited family in India, with a side trip of about three days to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong was great, and everything I expected it to be, and then some. Disorienting, delicious, crowded, and then some.

And of course, I managed a trip to a LYS while there. I decided that Google maps said the shop was a 15 minute walk from my hotel, and when the Maharajah laid down for his nap, I disappeared. I figured, conservatively, if Google maps said it'd take 15 minutes, for ME, it'd take twice that, and I figured on returning to the hotel within an hour.  TWO hours later, I traipsed back in, and he was still snoozing.  

Hong Kong is great, and in one aspect in particular it reminded me of our last trip to Paris, when we were looking for the small lane that the laundromat was located on--all the little side streets don't appear to be on the map!

Considering my doctor's orders are NOT to walk more than 15-20 minutes at a clip--I was starting to fear I was in crisis when as it neared one hour, I hadn't found the shop.  

I persevered, and found what was a high rise building that was mixed use, and had some retail shops on the ground floor--and the shop was upstairs somewhere. And I finally did find it.

Yoko Labs is what felt like a very tiny space. Maybe 20 ft x 20 ft max. All the yarn (acrylic) were in bundles from the manufacturer, nothing was out to touch, and the place was redolent of moth balls.  There was a full array of Japanese crochet (and knit, I'm sure) books, but hey, I have Kinokuniya close to home, so this was not an advantage---now if there were CHINESE or MACANESE books? I would have snapped one up as a keep sake.

There was a small area with a table and chairs, and every last seat was occupied, so I could not even sit for a few minutes to rest.

There was a small array of clover and some Tulip hooks (not the ones with the soft grip handles) and I decided I was going to reward myself with a hook as a souvenir before making the trek back to the hotel.

 Our trip to India follows a set plan that doesn't deviate much from visit to visit. It's mostly family oriented, time visiting relatives, going shopping, eating home cooked food, going to temple. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.  

I brought along enough yarn to knock out a sweater for the Maharajah's cousin who lives in the US, and was using the pattern for the Cap It Off Topper; however, I don't think I made the calculation for difference in yarn type (see also: previous blog post about making yarn substitutions). I think I did make a slight alteration, or went with the smallest size of the pattern, but I worried the entire time it'd be too big for its recipient.

About two days before our last day, we happened to be out to lunch with relatives, and in the center of Madras, and I saw a sign for Parry's Corner--and I didn't assert myself. I don't want to be demanding, but I really need to get better about being more assertive, as in this instance, it wouldn't have been too much out of the way to go there, so I could check out any yarn, notions, and fabric. Oh well, perhaps something for us to do next time we are out there--something for our 2019 visit.

So the day before our last day, I finally asserted myself, and wanted to go to a shop to get buttons. And rather than take me out with him, my brother-in-law went out of his way to do things the DIFFICULT way. First, he spoke with the neighbor who is a seamstress, about where to buy buttons, as I described, "functional but also fancy--not just drab buttons, but something fancy." And again, rather than take me with him, he drove there, snapped photos of buttons that met my criteria, DROVE BACK HOME, showed me the photos, then DROVE BACK TO THE SHOP to make the purchase.  The buttons on the right are the ones I picked, and the ones on the left are the blingy-er ones he insisted on getting too. I suspect since I said the buttons were for a sweater for their beloved cousin, perhaps that was much more the motivator than if it were just ME wanting the buttons.

I never did what I wanted to do while in India, which is to say, I never finished it while in India, which is what I wanted. To start and finish it there, as a true souvenir of my time there. Oh well.
 

 Anyway, at some other point in time, once I came home from India, I was in the dollar store and encountered these eight skeins, and I picked them up while there. Even if it's just nondescript acrylic, the yardage was a good value. The color was bright and cheery, and I did what I do always now when buying yarn: I bought enough for a sweater.

And I decided that I was going to attempt the Perennial Peasant Blouse by Margaret Hubert, as I had been eyeing it for a while, and the construction is interesting enough.

And I don't trust that I have enough yardage, so I'm working a band in the midriff of the remaining yarn from the teal sweater I finally finished up for the cousin. And here she is, cute as a button, wearing this sweater... or I should say, the sweater is wearing HER!

 (For now) Here endeth the update-th.