While I haven’t yet accumulated two large rubbermaid bins full of yarn here (that sort of stash takes time) I am at risk of buying more than I need. In addition to the 3 yarn stores near my apartment, I have been alerted to the well-hidden presence of a yarn market somewhere in the South of the city. Some of my friends were appalled when I mentioned the possibility of raccoon yarn there. As always though, my goal is to buy only the yarn I need for a specific project, and to finish that project before moving on to the next.
I fail.
I'm currently in the middle of sleeve #1.
The green coat is currently stalled, though I’ve made significant progress on it. My time goal for that project was to have it finished before we move up to Shangri-la. I have just under 2 weeks before that happens, so it would still be possible. I like to think I have a fairly good excuse for setting it aside temporarily, though. I was wracking my brain to think of a gift for the woman who has been tutoring me in Tibetan, and it finally dawned on me to crochet something for her. She knits beautifully, so my standards were high. 
I found a pattern I liked for a wrap, and modified it as I always do. I found some bright turquoise yarn labeled “milk cotton” and bought 5 balls. Further research has revealed that Rowan sells a yarn by the same name, though my 5 balls cost less than one ball of the brand name. I assume it’s the same manufacturer. If you get a chance to pet this yarn, I recommend it.
See those tiny globs of yarn? I'll have to use them for edging.
With low price comes the possibility of inherent shittiness, unfortunately. Why yarn manufacturers think it’s ok to knot yarn ends together in the middle of the ball is absolutely beyond my comprehension. Why it would even have to happen 4 TIMES in a single 50-gram ball is confusing and maddening. That 1-meter piece of yarn that the winder broke? Toss it. Do not tie it to a 2-meter piece and a 3-meter piece and hide in in the middle of a ball.
Anyway, I completely pulled out and re-wound another ball, and it is fine. I think I’ll just plan to do that with the others as well. This pattern works up fast, which is good since I’ve had to pull it out twice now. I can’t wait to see if she likes it better than the chocolate I brought with me one day.
While chatting with my mom from an internet cafe the other day (I’ll get to that later) I told her that I lived about a block and a half away from 2 very dangerous things. This was intended to play on her fears for 30 seconds or so before I revealed that these 2 things are a yarn shop and a tailor with some beautiful coats on display. I am a mean daughter 
I went through the patterns I had scanned before leaving, and wrote down the requirements for 2 of them. After much awkward pointing, nervous laughter, and the shop owner assuming I could read Chinese, I walked out with 8 balls of green fuzzy yarn. All I could tell from the label was that it’s a 50-50 mix of 2 fibers, and weighs 50 grams. My intention was mohair, but I bought angora blended with something synthetic. Apparently the hubs’ vocabulary does not extend to synthetic fibers.
So I’ve begun making an angora coat, and in that respect I’m lucky to have a 30-hour train ride coming up at the end of our Lunar New Year vacation.
The first few rows of the coat.
In other news, I’m having trouble getting my little linux netbook connected to the internet in our apartment. I’m currently limited to John’s computer, stinky net bars with wonky keyboards, or coffee shops with wireless. I can only access blocked sites when I’m using my own computer, so those of you waiting for a response from me on Facebook will have to wait. It’s probably best that I haven’t been able to post anything for a few days, since I probably would have gone into detail about my 2-cipro, 4-pepto illness that is thankfully resolved.
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