Being "Knit-Picky"

 

 

 

 

I learned how to knit last winter and I'm truly hooked! I love it! However, the wholesale market that sells absolutely fabulous yarn is located on the other side of town. It typically takes about an hour to get there and then you have to spend time looking for what you want.

As the months have gone by, I've gotten to know one seller pretty well. I'm planning on making a scarf for our local grandmother for Chinese New Year, so I decided to head out for a "quick" trip to the yarn market. I snapped some pictures as well.

The first photo is cashmere yarn. Nicely packaged. I think that's supposed to be enough to make a sweater, but I'm not sure. The nice thing about these shops is that the shopkeepers will all tell you what you need. And they are pretty honest about it as well.

The second photo is the alpaca wool yarns that I absolutely love! I really enjoy working with them and have made several scarves. I'm working on a vest for Michael (a little over halfway done) from a yellow/white/blue/green yarn similar to what's in the photo.

The third photo is rabbit yarn. This is the most expensive yarn in the market. It is incredibly soft. I was going to use it to make the scarf, but this yarn really looks much better in a shawl or sweater. I passed it up. Just not enough "pizazz" for what I wanted.

The last photo is what I chose -- cashmere mink! (The photo looks like a ferret, though!) It is also very soft and gives a slight "halo" effect to the finished product. This particular manufacturer puts in a slight sparkle thread in with the yarn, giving your knitted item a degree of elegance. I chose the deep burgundy color with the tiniest bit of purple that is to the left of the green color in the photo.

Best part? The price! I've seen this seller sell this yarn for 65 yuan per package. She sold it to me for 30 yuan. That's a little less than $5 US. I'll post photos of the scarf as it progresses along.

(I was very focused today . . . went to the yarn market, went directly to this seller and bought the yarn and then went to another seller who had a different yarn I needed for a different project and then promptly left. I was with a friend and I was quite pleased with how focused we were . . . no window shopping today!)