Taobao Yarn Store Review: Lian Gongfang

Products
I initially came across Lian Gongfang when I was interested in finding Shetland wool on Taobao. This shop had some, in the form of mill ends, in stock, so I bought quite a bit. Unfortunately they had only one color, a very warm green with flecks of gold and orange in it, which doesn't suit me at all, but darn it, I will make a sweater out of it anyway. I kept an eye on the shop and found they sell lots of Italian (and other) mill ends of various qualities, as well as commercial handknitting yarns from the UK (Rowan, Kingcole, Jaeger), U.S. (Knitpicks, and for a while they had a few skeins of Madelinetosh in stock), Europe (Lang, Lanas Stop, BBB), and Japan (Olympus, Puppy). Finally, they carry a small selection of domestic commercial yarns, namely, Li Shi, Jiuse Lu, and Pecore.

I did manage to make a hat with the Shetland. Striped with Noro and some other scraps.

I mostly stick with the mill ends and have purchased lovely wool/alpaca blends, pure alpaca, wool/cashmere blends, tweedy wools, pure silk (ironically, this is apparently a rare find in China), cotton ribbon yarns, cotton/linen blends, raimie, alpaca/linen blends, and so on. Some of the mill ends they sell are Cariaggi, Filpucci, Filati Cardati, Novetex, Nardi Filati, and so on. Occasionally the yarn label with the mill name will be pictured; other times it's just a mystery. If I can see a label I'll usually do some sleuthing on Google to see what additional information I can find out about the yarn.



One of my favorite pullovers was knit with this fingering weight 70/30 baby alpaca/wool blend from an Italian mill that sadly is no longer in stock. It is so soft and gets softer with wear.

I generally run a bleach test on all animal-protein yarns I purchase and only once have I found a description from this shop to be off, with the yarn below, actually -- it was listed as 100% wool, but further digging revealed it contains some nylon.



Prices
A bit steeper than comparable Taobao shops, but usually I don't mind paying the extra because I know that I'm getting something good. I was a bit irked when I bought the tweed yarn above for RMB9 per 50g and then spotted it at another one of my favorite shops for RMB5 per 50g. On the other hand, I also scored a deal during a holiday sale on the discontinued (and apparently much sought-after) Jaeger Chamonix for RMB26 per 50g (I bought sweater quantities in two colors, based on the words of wisdom of yarn whisperer Clara Parkes. And my sweater quantities cost about 1/3rd of her estimated $135).

Free shipping deals are rare. There is supposed to be some kind of token discount scheme, but it rarely seems to apply to my orders.

They did send me this synthetic blend once when I hit a certain RMB amount.

Navigation and Descriptions
One of the first things I noticed about this shop when I first discovered it, indeed, one of the things that very much attracted me to the shop, is that alongside the usual categories of fiber type, it also lists yarn weights in English -- lace, fingering, DK, aran, and bulky. I've not seen this on any other Taobao shop.

The yarn descriptions are usually very detailed, with fiber content, yarn weight, suggested needle size, suggested quantity for various types of projects, etc. all spelled out. The photographs are also generally excellent, with several clear shots of each yarn and quite often swatches with the number of plies and needle size indicated as well. Here's an example. I haven't had any drastic surprises with colors from this shop, either (and yes, I have had some pretty big surprises from other shops).

  

Summer pullover knit from the cotton linen yarn pictured above.

Service
Just sufficient, no extras. For instance, unlike many sellers this shop never throws in trinkets like stitch markers for hitting a certain RMB amount, and they do not wind together plies -- all they will do is wind into separate cakes so that you can knit with multiple strands (knitting from four cakes isn't that much fun, though). I placed an order during the 11.11 shopping day madness to take advantage of the Chamonix promotion, and they forgot to send all of the imported yarns in my package. It took a bit of chatting back and forth between the seller and me to finally sort it out, and they sent the missing yarns out the next day (I was hoping they'd throw in some extra for the mishap but no such luck). Additionally, I was once charged shipping when they were advertising a free shipping promotion.

Alpaca/linen blend.

Shipping time is reasonable; I haven't noticed it being particularly faster or slower than average. The packing is fine, but unexceptional.

I've also noticed that in the year or so I've been shopping with Lian Gongfang, its Taobao rating status has increased from diamond to crown. I guess I'm not the only fan!

Filpucci Lhasa, a laceweight single ply blend of wool and cashmere.

Summary
Pros

• Consistently high-quality products
• Clear photos and detailed descriptions of products, frequently with swatches of the yarn
• Very easy-to-navigate shop (products arranged by fiber, by weight, by country, and by type)

100% baby alpaca.

Cons

• Pricier than most Taobao shops
• Very infrequent discounts or free shipping offers
• Very limited selection of notions (80cm bamboo and metal circulars, and some crochet hooks)
• No extras thrown in
• Unwilling to wind plies together

Dreaming by Novetex, a Macau mill. The colorway is called Chutney, which appeals to me. It's a wool/cashmere/nylon blend, worsted weight single ply.

Taobao yarn store review: MIC MIC

I've been intending to write up a blog post highlighting my favorite Taobao yarn sellers for a while now, but then I decided why not just write up a short review for each of my favorite shops? So I'm going to start with my current absolute favorite, MIC MIC.

First, some photos of recent purchases I've made from this shop:

Pure merino from a mill based in Uruguay called Solana Yarns. Chunky weight, 120m per 100g. Very soft, nice heathery gray color. Planning to use this for a re-gauged Warm Wishes cardigan. 

Pure lambswool, very fine (NM 3/36). I asked the seller to wind four plies together to make a sport weight. 

Products 
This shop sells "外货" (for overseas markets) mill end yarns. I interpret that as meaning leftovers from industrial garment production. The garment manufacturing occurs in China, but a good many of the yarns do seem to come from overseas, most commonly from Italy but more recently I've purchased yarns made in Uruguay. The origin of most yarns is not specified. The shop carries a range of qualities, from cashmere at the high end and on through merino wool, wool and silk blends, pure silks, cottons, cotton and wool blends, and plenty of synthetics at the low end. Many of the high-end yarns are very, very fine (cobweb weight), but there are some heavier (fingering up to chunky) pure wool yarns usually available.

Stock rotates fairly quickly at this shop, which means there's something new to see (and lust after) every few weeks or so, but it also means that yarns sell out quickly, and once they're gone, there's no getting more (so make sure to order enough for your project).

Prices
The price is among the lowest I've seen for this quality of yarn on Taobao, which is why it's my favorite store at the moment. The synthetic yarns usually start at around RMB3 per 50g, and the cashmere is around RMB40 per 50g. Pure wool or wool blends usually range from around RMB4 to RMB10 per 50g, depending on the quality and the blend.

Navigation and Descriptions
Navigation is quite simple: categories on the left-hand navigation bar are broken down by fiber content (silk, wool, cotton, linen) or by yarn texture (boucle, thick and thin, fluffy, ribbon yarn, etc.) Generally the product description contains the yarn weight (either expressed as a description, such as "heavy" or "fine" or as an NM or 支 number, so you can calculate the meterage per gram), the shop's recommended needle size(s), the suggested quantity required for an "average" woman's pullover, a sweater coat, or a scarf. It will also include the price per 50g and usually some brief words about the feel of the yarn (whether or not it can be worn next to the skin). Finally there will be a photo of each colorway available, usually of the yarn on the cone or in the hank. Occasionally there is a photo of a knitted swatch. I've found the colors in the photos to be generally pretty accurate.

Service
This shop is one of the handful I've found willing to wind multiple plies onto the cone (lots of other shops are willing to wind separate cakes, but that's about it). As you can see, most yarns come on cones, but some of the bulky and superbulky yarns come as hanks or balls. The receipt included in the package indicates the exact amount that is on the cone, and usually they wind a few grams extra onto the cone, which is nice. They also provide free gifts with most purchases, like stitch markers, bamboo needles, steel crochet hooks, darning needles, or plastic or wooden buttons.

70/30 silk/cashmere blend. Super silky and drapey. Again I asked the seller to wind several plies together to make a heavier weight.

Summary
Pros

• Low prices
• New products posted regularly
• Reasonably clear descriptions and photos
• Photos generally seem to be color accurate
• Fast shipping, frequently free shipping deals if you spend a certain amount
• Yarn almost always wound onto cones
• Amount precisely stated on receipt, and usually they "top up" your cone
• Will wind together multiple plies at your request
• Free gifts with most orders

Cons

• Information on origin or brand of yarn is usually unavailable -- the only times I've been able to track this down is when I've ordered a sufficient quantity (more than 500g) of one yarn for it to come on the original cone from the mill, and then there will be a sticker with identifying information. But for smaller quantities, the Taobao shop will wind it onto a new cone.
• That also means that occasionally the fiber content as listed is not completely accurate (for instance, a yarn that was listed as 90% wool turned out to be 20% nylon, according to information I was able to find online and also my home bleach test).
• When it's gone, it's gone
• Color selection is very limited -- many yarns have only one or two colors available, and most frequently there are a lot of neutral shades like grays, beiges, black, brown
• Yarn occasionally has musty odor, probably due to long-term storage in humid conditions
• Any other cons I can think of would really apply to yarn shopping on Taobao in general, which is a post for another day!

Color combinations: _____ + neutral

Here are some combinations I've been playing around with recently for projects I'm planning:

neon + neutral

mint + grays

neutral + neutral

WIP pic!

P.S. I finished the ombre cowl from my last post and have been wearing it the past two days. I should probably block it but I don't want to take it off!

In defense of numerous WIPs

My Traveling Companion Shawl. I actually love the way this is coming out, but the lace takes a bit of concentration, so I generally don't carry it around with me or work on it when distracted by other things (which is most of my knitting time). Going has been slow. But I plan to finish by spring, so I can wear it. 

Every now and then I like to do some Ravelry project-page housekeeping. This involves changing the status of projects that are actually finished but have been lingering in WIP mode, deleting projects I'm never actually going to get around to, etc. Today I counted up the number of WIPs listed on my Ravelry page and noticed it's at 131. One hundred and thirty-one! OK, to be fair, that includes two "projects" that were created for photos of my yarn stash (for the Flash Your Stash thread, back in 2010 or so, when I could fit it all on my couch. I wouldn't dare drag my considerably larger stash out for a photo op now) and one to keep links to photos of commercially made sweaters that I like. And then there are probably about 10 to 20 projects that I've created a project page for but haven't actually cast on, so technically those aren't WIPs. Yet. 

Organix Tee. Started as a test knit two or three years ago. I knit most of it on the transpacific flight after a visit home. Somehow my gauge changed during the process and I ended up with a top that is about 4" too big around. I like the oversized look but the shoulders are clearly too big here. I just haven't had the heart to tear it out, although that's probably what's going to happen. 

So that leaves about 110 projects that I've started and left unfinished. Some are being worked on regularly. Many are stuffed into the box of shame in my storage room, likely destined to be frogged or given away in their half-completed state to my knitting/crocheting friends to salvage the yarn from. About four or five are stuffed into the "do these next" box that's at the top of the stack of boxes in the storage room. 

Ombre Cowl. This is just a dumb WIP. It's a small project with relatively mindless knitting, and I really love the yarns, the color, and how it's turning out. I have no excuse for this one, and right now would be the perfect time to wear it. So I'd better chop chop.

People often write about WIPs and casting on new projects before they've finished old ones as a bad thing. Personally, I'm pretty OK with keeping lots of WIPs. For me, the three major problems with many WIPs are:

• I need a set of needles for every WIP, or I have to spend a lot of time transferring stitches onto waste yarn or stitch holders
• I might lose track of what part of the pattern I was one or what needle size I was using
• The clutter WIPs create (it's much harder to stuff them neatly into a box than it is to store untouched skeins and cakes of yarn in a box)

For issue 1, I just own lots of needles, and because there are at least five yarn shops within a mile radius of my apartment (plus one at my bus-transfer point on days I go to work) that sell needles for about 4 yuan apiece (and on Taobao they're half that price), I am in the (bad?) habit of just buying needles whenever the size I need is occupied by a WIP.

Beatnik Pullover. Another sweater I'd love to be wearing this season, but guess what? It's only got 2/3rds of a body done. Still gotta do sleeves and finishing after that. The cables on this one are fairly complex and require attention. I hope the yarn isn't too itchy when it's all said and done. I love the color and the little weird tweed-like flecks. I started this in 2010 and it grows a few inches every winter before it goes into hibernation for the rest of the year.

Issue 2 is taken care of by Ravelry's excellent project-notes functionality. I am usually quite diligent about recording what yarn I have and in what quantity, what needle size(s) I'm using for a particular project, and so forth. I generally print my patterns and take notes as to where I am if necessary -- on many projects it's easy enough to figure out where I am.

I haven't solved issue 3, apart from buying and crocheting several large containers to store WIPs in. Each one gets placed into a sealable plastic bag (to keep out the moths) with the remaining yarn needed to complete the project as well as the printout of the pattern. The bags are then stored in one of my baskets. Or, you know, littered all over the couch and the floor next to the couch.

Caramel. I like the design of this sweater, called "blanket-style," a lot. But I am not sure about the yarn -- it was a relatively early purchase, and that dark blue/black marl has a fairly high acrylic content. But the whole fabric drapes fairly nicely and feels soft enough. This was sitting with only half the body done for a few years until I pulled it out a couple months ago and finished the body off. Now I'm slowly trudging through the sleeves, my least favorite part. I decided I'd finish it in time for our upcoming trip, which means I have about two weeks left. Good thing there's no finishing work on this one. Just gotta slog through those sleeves.

I guess one final issue with lots of WIPs is that my taste, style, or size might change. But I try not to knit garments that are too trendy, and my clothing size has not fluctuated more than one size since I was in high school (half my life ago!), so I feel relatively safe there too. 

Velvet Morning. Another long journey. I acquired the main color in 2010 or 2011 but couldn't find suitable contrast yarns until this past summer when I was at home. So the ribbing was sitting there patiently until this fall when I started the colorwork. I finished the body a month or so ago, finally, and now I'm trying to work up the courage to do those stranded sleeves, which will need to be set in. There's also a loooong ribbed collar I've got to do and then seam. But mostly I'm afraid of those sleeves. The worst part is I'm not in love with my color selection. 

The main reason I've always felt justified in keeping so many WIPs is that most of life is about maintaining structure and sticking to deadlines (especially for those, like me, who do freelance work) that I allow myself this guilt-free pleasure of casting on whatever I want regardless of whatever other knitting projects await my attention.

I think this is my oldest WIP. It's the first garment I ever cast on for, and ... it's still not done! Honestly I don't even know where it is. I apparently created the Ravelry project page in July 2010, so I probably cast it on well before that.

P.S. It's been a really long time, I know. One of my small new year's resolutions is to take better care of this blog.

A few free "hidden gems" on Ravelry (free knitting patterns)

A few years ago, I browsed Ravelry's newly added patterns feed on a daily basis. At that time there would be a few pages to skim through, and most were not of much interest to me. However, opening the pages of the patterns that appealed to me ended up being a big time-suck, and heaven forbid I missed a day of browsing -- I would have to catch up the next day, and eventually I realized that if I were going to try to do more productive things in my day, I would have to give up this little hobby.

Now Ravelry has implemented a few features on the patterns homepage that allow me to get a nice little dose of new patterns without spending the time to browse through all of the new patterns. "Your Pattern Highlights" shows a selection of new patterns based on your Ravelry preferences (i.e., favorite designs, designers, patterns "liked" by other users with apparently similar taste, etc.), and "Hot Right Now" showcases the most looked-at patterns recently. The default is to show the top five patterns, but I just discovered that the list can be expanded to show 20. Great!

But occasionally, I still come across patterns that don't appear on either of these lists, usually either by viewing my friends' feed of recently added photos, or by browsing patterns for a particular weight yarn. When I run a pattern search, I usually sort by "most projects," but occasionally I'll sort by "recently added to Ravelry" just so that I'm not looking at all the same patterns all the time.

It was in this way that I came across these few free gems today, while searching for a pattern for these yarns:

Pure cotton ripple yarn, from Taobao seller 幽思品兰香

Shishang silk protein/wool blend from Taobao seller 燕子_时尚坊

All of them went into my queue immediately:

Smoky Earl Grey 
I love the look of these boxy, dropped-sleeve pullovers, in the vein of Tweedy---Stripey. This one is more cropped and in a slightly lighter weight yarn than the latter.

Recto Verso
This is a button-back short-sleeve cardigan in "lacy" garter stitch (basically, a "condo" stitch, where two different needle sizes are used) knit at a very loose gauge. I really love the look of loose-knit garter stitch, especially in a summery yarn, like cotton.

(Actually, even in wool it's good. Witness my Skappelgenseren. And my dumbbells.)

I found the Recto Verso designer has a number of fabulous, simple patterns (more chubby garter stitch!) for free, in French and English -- and this one is not yet on Ravelry (link opens PDF) but I found it on her blog and love it, too (French only but the schematic is pretty clear and with a bit of Google Translate magic I reckon I can figure it out).

Finally, I came across the Web site for Järbo Garn, which seems to be a Swedish yarn company with a similar setup to Drops Yarn in that they release a bunch of patterns every season to accompany their yarns. Unlike Drops patterns, the Jarbo patterns seem to be mostly in Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian, with the occasional Finnish, German, or French translation thrown in, but again, Google Translate is pretty powerful, especially with the simpler designs. There is an English-language framework for the site, though, so navigating it is not a problem.

Bonus: When I expanded my "Hot Right Now" list to the top 20, I came across this other free gem, a summery lacey shawl -- I think it'll be perfect for this hot pink ribbon yarn that'll be left over as soon as I finish my Doris Chan Lacy Top Cardigan.

Italian mill end yarn "Earth" from my favorite Taobao shop, 很胖的胖子

Ravelers: Will you vote for my sock, please?

As I mentioned a few days ago, I recently completed a pattern test for a lovely toe-up cabled sock, and now my project photo is in a contest. There's a skein of Malabrigo sock yarn at stake here, so if any of you who are reading this are on Ravelry and want to help that skein become mine ... head over to the Trappings and Trinkets contest thread to show your love. Thanks!

(And yes, there has just been a major earthquake in Sichuan. Everybody in Chengdu seems fine, but we're waiting for more information from the rural areas near the epicenter in Ya'an and, for those of you who are interested, we're keeping track of information here.)

The magic of short DPNs

When I learned to knit in the round, all I had were DPNs. Not just any DPNs, but massive wooden dowels that had been sharpened to a point at either end and only very lightly sanded down. These kinds of needles are usually given away for free with the purchase of a 250g or so cake of chunky acrylic or novelty yarn, sold all over the city but particularly in little shops near universities, as soon as the weather starts to cool off in the autumn. The cakes (and corresponding free needles) are perfect for the occasional knitter who wants to make a scarf -- and as there is an idea in China that if you knit your boyfriend a scarf, you've "caught" him, this activity is particularly popular among female university students.

I'm not a university student, but I was once a new knitter, and these cakes of yarn are affordable, attractive, and much more accessible than the yarn that the "real" knitters buy, which is sold by the pound and more often than not is very fine.

All that is to say, I had amassed a collection of those crude wooden DPNs meant for one-time scarf use because every time I purchased a cake, I got a pair for free. I had all sizes from 7mm to 12mm, and only once did I find a seller who had them in the "small" size of 6mm. I got four of those.

So I was all ready to start knitting in the round. But trying to knit a hat, which is about 20" in circumference, on three splintery wooden needles, each of which measures 14" in length, proved to be too challenging a task.

Eventually I learned about, and acquired, circular needles, in both 32" and 16" lengths, as well as nice, smooth, 25cm/8" (I think) DPNs, both in stainless steel and bamboo.

The bottom half of these sleeves are knit flat, in garter stitch, just the way I like it. But do you see the tops of those sleeves? Short DPNs, to the rescue! To-be-released Bloc Pullover by Kathleen Dames in Applelaine Apple Pie (lavender) and some wonderfully soft alpaca/wool blend mill ends purchased from one my two favorite Taobao shops.

Those met all of my knitting needs for a while, but then I started knitting sweaters, and the sleeves were always a drag, especially toward the wrist, when the tube grew ever smaller.

All that faffing about, sliding stitches from one end of the DPN to the other, or even worse, pulling the length of the cable through while magic looping just wasn't doing it for me. For the most part, I avoided socks, leg warmers, arm warmers -- anything usually knit in a small tube, and especially when those tubes came in pairs.

Thanks to my short DPNs, I am now happily knitting away on socks. But doing the same sock twice is still proving to be a challenge. Left: Hedera by Cookie A in Patons Kroy. Right: Unisox by Nicole Montgomery in Regia Monaco Color.

And then I had a thought -- maybe I just needed some shorter DPNs. For months I searched Taobao for short DPNs. There were tons of DPNs on there, but only "short" (25cm, which I already had, and weren't short enough for my purposes) and "long" (40cm), which I have absolutely no interest in. (I knit Continental style whereas most Chinese knitters seem to knit lever style, and thus the long length can effectively rest between their thumb and forefinger. Interestingly, these super-long DPNs are quite scarce in other parts of the world, and I occasionally see posts on Ravelry asking where they can be found. The answer is China). I saw that the sets of 5" DPNs were available from Chinese sellers all over Ebay, so I redoubled my Taobao searching efforts, trying all the search terms I could think of that might lead me to the prize, but to no avail.

Finally, one day, while I was searching for a silk/wool blend to stripe into my Rondeur sweater, I came across this shop, which carried the 13cm DPNs I'd spent so much time looking for. They also carried circulars in hard-to-find extra-long lengths. Hallelujah! I immediately put in an order for a set of the DPNs. 

While perusing the craft section of a local bookstore, I found this book of top-down sweater patterns. The original is Japanese. I will be getting lots of use out of my DPNs when I knit all those in-the-round sleeves!

 They arrived not too long after, and I've been happily knitting away with them since, as you can see in the above photos. For RMB60 (approx. USD10) for 13 sets of needles, five per set, in sizes 2.25mm through 5mm, I think it was quite a deal. I confess, I'm still lusting after a set of Karbonz for the smaller sizes, though, because I'm terrified these tiny bamboo needles will just snap on me one day as I'm working on a sock. Besides, the Karbonz are beautiful. 

Bonus eye candy: I purchased these Clover "Amure" (I guess that's the "Japanese" version of Amour) hooks at the same time. Between the Addi Click set I bought in February in Germany, my DPNs, and these hooks, I'm clearly in tool-upgrade mode. I do a lot of crocheting in the hot seasons, and I noticed that when I crochet for hours on end, the cheap metal hooks start hurting my hands. I have some inexpensive plastic-handled hooks as well, but the heads are falling out on some. I really wanted the Tulip Etimo Rose limited edition set, but that was more than double the price of the Clover Amours, and I would have to buy the whole set rather than pick and choose the sizes I wanted. Anyway the Amours seemed to have just as good reviews, and they're colorful too (just not pink). Pictured with them is a book of top-down crochet patterns, also originally published in Japanese, found during the same bookstore trip.

More adventures with yarn

I was suddenly compelled to start blogging again, mostly because I want to jabber on about knitting, and I know very few people in real life anymore who want to listen to that. I can tell by the glazed-over expression on most of my friends' eyes that it's time to stop.

Sari silk yarn from Nepal, toted over by a girl I know. She brought huge bags over, and everybody I know who is even remotely interested in yarn has some. It looks pretty, but I still haven't figured out anything to knit with it in the three years I've had it. Maybe it should just stay in a ball, looking pretty.

So here I go, for all of you and none of you. I'm currently in the middle of three test knits -- a lacy pullover in black linen, a cabled toe-up sock (very near completion), and a pair of fingerless mitts (just restarted in this yarn, not this pattern). And since I bound off one sweater that I was testing today, well, that meant casting on two more. In addition to the one I cast on in anticipation of binding off the first. Yes, folks -- I am a three-for-one knitter. That explains why about 30 percent of the projects on my Ravelry profile are WIPs. I reckon I shouldn't mention the shrug and the mesh pullover I cast on a couple weeks ago and have already lost a lot of interest in. I'm blaming the sudden weather change, at least for my lack of interest in that boucle shrug. Oh yeah. And then there's the summer cardigan I'm knitting for the current China Knitters Group KAL. That one should be a quickie, though, and is weather appropriate for at least the next few months.

This is the sweater I finished today -- a simple colorblocked pullover. The gray is an alpaca/wool blend I purchased online from Shanghai, and the lilac (is that the name of this color?) is a souvenir skein of hand-dyed sock yarn I purchased in Toronto last summer.

Next in my queue: Picking up my Plain and Simple Pullover that I started as a KAL with the China Knitters Group on Ravelry two autumns ago. It's in Colourmart merino that I received in a swap from a British knitter, and the yarn is really lovely to work with. However, I'm concerned about my gauge. I started it when I didn't know all that much about gauge, and I believe that yarn is meant to be DK whereas the pattern gauge is 28 st = 4" on light fingering weight yarn. According to my Ravelry notes I was getting gauge, but I'm wondering if the fabric is going to be too stiff. I recall that I washed my swatch, so the bloom characteristic of mill end yarns should be accounted for. I guess I'll have to pull it out of its carefully sealed fake Ziploc and inspect. The other reservation I have with this pattern now, years after casting on, is the sleeves. Cap sleeves really do not do my broad shoulders any favors. So I've been browsing the projects page for this pattern and noticed a project with full sleeves that had been added on by picking up the stitches around the armholes. That might be an option for me, and I might do well to do the sleeves in the gray I was using for the stripes; I have plenty of that.  

Future queue: I'd like to work up something like this Billy B Tank, but probably in not quite as heavy yarn. I would also modify the straps to be thinner and make the whole thing longer -- crop tops are not so flattering on my short torso. I like the loose-gauge look of this pattern as well as the use of several yarns, and the reverse stockinette. Looks like a good way to use up some odds and ends of cotton that I have, perhaps by holding several strands together.

The year in knitting

Though I technically "learned" how to knit in 2001 (a friend from middle school taught me one day when we got together on a late summer day before my second year of college), I didn't do much, apart from a few ugly scarves, until one day in late 2009, when I picked up my needles and have barely been able to put them down since then.

Needles(s) to say (bah-doom ... ching!), most of the knitting techniques in my arsenal have been picked up in the past year. While I picked up the very basic skills at the end of last year (knitting in the round, ribbing, seed stitch, etc.), I'd say this year I've tried most of the techniques that an intermediate knitter should know:

Basic cabling
-Cabling without a cable needle
-Basic lace
-Several shawl constructions
-Laceweight yarn (just started my first laceweight shawl)
-Two-color stranded knitting
-Stranded knitting with two hands (extremely slow)
-Entrelac
-Short rows
-Long-tail cast on
-Provisional cast on
-Tubular cast on
-Three-needle bind off
-Kitchener stitch
-Simple steeking (with unprofessional results)
-Picking up stitches
-Felting (not very successful since washing machines here have no hot hookup)
-Top-down raglan construction
-Bottom-up raglan construction
-Basic garment shaping
-Understanding yarn weights and gauge

I still have yet to try:
-Intarsia
-Double knitting
-Three-color stranded knitting
-Complicated lace
-Complicated cables
-Socks
-Gloves

But most importantly I don't have the experience to be able to predict when something will work or won't, so much of my experimental knitting (i.e., when I try to stray from a pattern) is completely on a trial-and-error basis. And I definitely don't have the control over most of the above techniques to incorporate them into my own design, unfortunately.

And, with some nudging from a friend, I've expanded my crochet skills beyond single, double, and triple, but I'd still call myself a beginner crocheter. I'm afraid to try any of those complex and lacy Doris Chan patterns, although I have a few in my Ravelry queue. I feel there's not a very clear "intermediate" level of crochet; the patterns seem to jump straight from easy to experienced.

Well, there's always next year. And the year after that, and that ...

Coordinating colors: purple

I've added far more purple to my wardrobe as of late than I probably should have. The round glasses were one thing, but then there was the cheap sweater dress from Hong Kong, and now, my two latest additions, a purple crocheted convertible shrug/stole and a purple shawlette with lacy border. Both of these last two items were pattern tests via Ravelry, and, for some reason, dark purple -- plum? -- yarn is what I came up with.

The problem is, I don't love purple. It's not that it doesn't flatter me -- I think it's all right, or at least better than other colors, like beige, orange, yellow, and brown, but I find it hard to wear because I feel like it clashes with most of the other colors I do wear -- cyan, magenta, black, white (yes, you can see growing up in a printed-matter-oriented household has had far-reaching effects on me). Last year, I've also been on a gray kick, which helps. Gray and purple go well together.

Purple and white, contrary to what I thought a week ago, is not where it's at.

But yesterday I found a combination that's perfect for the time of year, works well together, and allows me to wear a color that really isn't the best for me, according to my self-administered seasonal color analysis: Mustard and purple. Perfection. And because the mustard was in the form of opaque tights that I've been lusting after for nearly a year but just couldn't bring myself to lay 80 kuai (~$12) on at Uniqlo (finally spotted them at Trust Mart of all places for 25 kuai, w00t), they were on my legs, not near my face, and therefore not making me appear washed out and pale (heaven forbid!)

And the color scheme designer agrees with my assessment. (That's a fun tool to play around with if you're ever stuck for what colors to put together for, say, a design, or an outfit.)

For more on color analysis, see Wikipedia's rather extensive entry on the topic.