Yarn Hunting in Kuyshu

It has been almost a month since I came back from Kuyshu. I wanted to post sooner but lately I've been involved with my kids' studies. We had a great get away during Chinese New Year holidays over there, despite the cold weather. Yarn hunting wasn't so abundant as I expected. I found very few yarn shops during my visit. First stop was Yuzawaya in Fukuoka. It's located in the district of Tenjin on the 6th floor of a department store named Mina (if I'm not mistaken). Not comparable with its store in Tokyo at all. There weren't many yarns that I would like to bring home. A lot of the yarn stock weren't sufficient to knit a long sleeve cardigan (very few stock left out. I believe there was a sale going on just a few days before leaving little yarn for me. Sigh...Here is a little tour of the shop. The buttons selection were amazing. Unfortunately, no time to dedicate to these colorful rainbow display.
In a way, it's good that I don't sew. It would be heavy to bring some samples of these fabrics home.
Not satisfied enough with Yuzawaya, I decided to ask around about more yarn shops. And finally found this little shop nearby. It's a small shop with a high end selection, mostly Italian yarns. I didn't find any yarn to buy. They were too expensive.
I was lucky that I found couple knitting magazines that were just released on the day. And they happen to be my favorite titles. :)
As we travelled further south to Oita, where DH wanted to refresh his memories of the old town he had worked before. It's a smaller city, things haven't changed much after more than 10 years, as I recall. Walking around the downtown area, I spotted this yarn shop. Looked nice with the sale bins but so sad only acrylic yarn, the ones to knit dishcloths or some mohair yarn. I only got some Clover bamboo straight needles to complete my collection. I have now a complete set of clover bamboo straight needles in Japanese size ( except size 1, not much of a possibility to use super thin needles) ) and they have the size mark in the top. Some of my needles bought previously only had the mark on the shaft (? the long part) and it's almost invisible after constant use.
Well, in a way it was good that I didn't get to buy much yarn. Something that I realized when I got home and looked at my yarn stash. The ones I got last year in Japan are still untouched.
At least I got two packs of merino wool from Yuzawaya. The wine color I got 13. It should be enough for a long sleeve sweater. The beige only had a pack of 10 available. Perhaps will suit a vest.
I finally bought the embroidery scissors. Having seen it previously in Keito dama magazines ads. I had wished to own one for a while. It's just too expensive for a small scissor ( about $36) . The store only had one in stock, so that helped me to decide quickly though I still think it's too costly for a tiny scissor. Spotted some nice bamboo buttons that followed me home. I also bought 3 very pretty mother-of-pearl flower shaped buttons but unfortunately I lost them.
The best part of my trip was a night stay at Yufuin Hot Spring. We stayed at this traditional style hotel that was very relaxing. I had the chance to soak myself in the Onsen 3 times. It was just so wonderful. The spring water leaves your skin so smooth and silky feeling. And to make you feel even more relaxed, the supper is served in your own room. Next photos were taken on a little stroll at the main street in Yufuin. It's so interesting, they had shops with animal theme, like cat, dog, owl and even a bee shop!
And if you are feeling hungry to see the cake shop ( bottom right photo) , you'll need a second closer look because they are instead mini towels rolled as cake forms. Didn't find any yarn shop but spotted some hand knitted gloves.
Not much knitting going on in my corner. I think I stopped knitting for too long. I feel that my hands are feeling all rusted. At least, I have a scarf and a hat to show in this post.
I like this hat very much, except that I pulled the string, to close the top, too tightly. Thus, yielding this big lump on the top. Otherwise, I like the cabling border. It gives that special touch to the hat.
Both the scarf and hat were knitted using Diadomina yarn. The patterns are from this book.

Lately, I 've been distracted by my Keito dama and World Knitting collection. Somehow, they never cease my enthusiasm to look at the designs over and over again. I 'm looking for inspirations to bring my knitting mood back. I don't think I could have enough of these magazines in my lifetime. I decided that I will start to buy less of other titles that I keep bringing home wherever I go to the book shop. Well that sounds to be an old story but at least I am getting conscious about it! ;)

Lastly, some knitting magazines that DH got at Liberty in London for me. I had just requested the new Rowan but he found the other two magazines at a bookstore. I couldn't think of what yarn to ask him to buy when he called from Liberty. Do you think I am suffering some kind of yarn withdraw lately? There are three designs that I want to knit from this Rowan, Astral (that has been already started in my needles), Geno and Purity . ( The designs can be seen here) I hope I can finish my wips ( almost ufos). That should bring up my knitting mood level back to normal. Let's hope so!

Yarn hunting in Europe part II- Switzerland

Blogger finally allowed me to post without "eating up " my photos. Today must be my lucky day!
Continuing my yarn hunting - part II in Switzerland.

First day in Zurich we visited a couple museums, explored the old town that consisted of many narrow and winding streets, full of antique shops, small boutiques, cafes, etc. Some of the old houses were dated back to 14th century. We strolled down the famous 'Bahnhofstrasse', known as one of the most beautiful shopping streets in Europe. Very nostalgic and romantic area.

We stopped at the tourism office to get directions and attractions information as we would be soon heading to Lucerne. I had an inquiry as well and you know what it's! Forgetting about my shyness, because when I think about yarn I completely seem to forget about it. :) I approached the old lady from the information desk regarding yarn shops. She took a glance at me over her glasses and said " Yarn shop? This craft ( knitting) is almost extinct these days. She took another good look at me. I felt that I was from the dinousar era . Then, she slipped off a little map out and circled an area around the famous street of Zurich that we had just strolled by momentarily ago. I heard the name of a department store Manor and DH soon remembered about seen it before ( great husband with great memories?) ;) I was a little embarrassed to leave the counter because once I turned my back , I saw this huge queue behind me. Perhaps we spent a little longer in our turn. And asking about yarn shops didn't sound too important, at least to these other people.
And this was my next stop,

Manor department store , 4th floor

This was a great shop, with a good selection of yarns. They carried Anny Blatt, Lang and their own Home brand. The Spring yarns were out and I could even take advantage of the cotton yarn on sale. The colors were not so distinctive to me, specially that I have a good stash at home in many colors. So I ended up choosing this light orange color ( All the tones are lighter than in the photo) . But the rest were regular price. The white ones are 50% cotton- 50% silk, the Home Brand and my favorite buy was Anny Blatt 100% cotton in this grey blue color. The colorful crochet threads are for my sister.

Later, on the same street I found this window display in a pharmacy?? I wonder what was the purpose of the knitting display? "Knitting is good for health" or "Healing with knitting"? Interesting, right?

On our way to Lucerne we stopped in a small city, Zug. In their small downtown, you could see a stunning view. With the morning fog it was just gorgeous! Indeed, this was my favorite spot.

Did you see me in that photo (left bottom) ? I felt like in heaven. It was sure true because it was so peaceful and enchanting to walk in that area. It felt even more like it was a dream when DH surprised me with this finding!

There was just one negative aspect about this store. It was closed for lunch!! Being already satisfied with my yarn hunting from the previous day in Zurich, I supposedly could not expect for more. There were still another 50 minutes before they would reopen for business. So trying not to show my disappointment, I told the guys that it was all right ( we had to head to Lucerne) and that a few photos for my blog would be sufficient!

Ooooh, the yarns looked like candy, don't you think so? This shop was filled with better quality stock than the other stores I had visited. I spotted lots of Lang brand and magazines inside!

So, I tried to console myself for the bad luck and tell myself that I had being fortunate enough to have found the other stores. Then someone ( my younger son) loudly announced that he was hungry!! The next thing I heard was DH laughing. He told to the boys that this plan would fit mom perfectly! I can only say that my guys are the greatest! And you know what was next after lunch...

A better look at the rainbow candies! So yummy, I wanted them all! Such an interesting display. You could see all the selection and pat a ball without fears that the yarns would fall all over.

In the photo below, there are rows of zippers but i didn't buy any. There was no time to think about future cardigans that would need zippers at times like these.

Could not walk out empty hands, right? I chose Fuchsia merino yarn from Lang, some sock yarn and a few balls of silk mohair. Found couple knitted lacy doily and tablecloth magazines. Too intricate for me to knit but it's so nice to just look at the pictures. This is the type of magazine you leave by your bedside so that you can have sweet knitting dreams! ;)

The lady from this shop was extremely nice and well mannered. It was a pleasure to visit her shop. Just wished that I had more time to chat with her and talk about her knittings. All the samples in the display were her work.
Once she learned that we were on our way to Lucerne, she gave me the address of another branch that carried sale stock.
This shop was located in the old downtown of Lucerne at a walking distance from our hotel.

Unfortunately the sale selection weren't the yarns that I liked. I had the feelings that this one was going to be my last shop. It was my last chance to get some blue cotton yarn-Lang Golf ( forget to take a photo).

My younger son soon came to look for me with a business card in his hands. He was holding a yarn shop address that he had found nearby. Oh he joked in selling it to me, knowing that mom wouldn't be able to resist it! At time like this, you think they are your little angels!

It wasn't just an ordinary yarn shop as they carried souvenirs as well. There were a good stock of Italian yarns and magazines. I didn't buy anything because I was starting to be realistic about the little space left in my luggage. After all you need to show some resistance to your kids, right?
And with that I finished my yarn hunting in Switzerland. We still had a weekend to enjoy and sightseeing around the city. We visited mount Pilatus with an extraordinary view. Can you spy a knitting lady?

And last but not least, we visited the "The Dying Lion of Lucerne". It was carved in memory to the Swiss that had died in the French Revolution. In fact, Mark Twain called it "the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world."

On our way back to Zurich, we had lunch in a French border city but it was Sunday , so no yarn hunting! Will be on my future list of places to visit.
In case, you're wondering about my real knitting activities. I have been knitting , though not a lot these days. Just have been busy and not being able to concentrate. Besides my Flower Basket shawl, I am working on two more projects that I will show next time.

Yarn hunting in Europe Part I - Germany

This is a long post packed with photos and narratives of my yarn hunting adventures in Europe. I had such a great time there that I wanted to keep this post as a diary for myself. And as you know me, I don't seen to be able to keep things short. I have a tendency to deviate from my main subjects as well. ;) So be patient and I will share my yarn hunting experiences. By the way, I decided to just cover Germany first. This post is really huge. :D

I spent long hours in the skies during the month of February. In the other hand, also spent good hours in earth thinking about what to knit in the plane! ;) And often, have to pack a project at very last minute. For some reason, I find it very hard to prepare wips to go.
Here is a preview of my in-flight entertainment,

It's my Flower Basket shawl using HYX yarn in double strand. I actually started it in Hokkaido and continued to work on my flights to Europe. I am very pleased with this project so far. The knitted fabric is so soft and the double strand is not causing me any problem.

Just three days after we returned from Japan we travelled to Europe. We ( kids and I ) travelled apart from DH because there were no more seats available in our flight for him. Besides DH had some business work to take care first. Then the plan was that I was going to be on my own in Stuttgart ( without DH for 3 days, meeting him on the 4th day). Leaving little hopes for yarn hunting on those days. As you can imagine, it's a bit hard to visit yarn shops with two teenager boys. So what can a knitting lady do on a foreign country without speaking a word in Deutsch? Take them to car museums, like Porsche and Mercedes.

The Mercedes-Benz museum was pretty interesting , had antique models, racing gears, trucks and basically all sorts of vehicles and plenty of historical facts around the exposition. So I felt better that at least I was covering my duties with some cultural sites.

On the following day, we decided to visit downtown . I couldn't help but to ask at the hotel reception about yarn shops. Although, they can speak English, our basic words of yarn and knitting weren't in their vocabulary. I had to take my shyness away and mimic some knitting motions and showing off my sweater to be understood. :D I didn't get a confirmed location , just a small hope that a department store could carry some"wolle". Not bad, at least there was some hope.

Once in the downtown area ( Main station - Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof), I soon detected a craft store but alas no yarn. However, next door, there was a small magazine stand. With my trained vision to spot knitting things I soon found some local knitting magazines. Never mind that they were all in Deutsch. There were some charts that I thought I could figure them out in some sort of way later. I told myself that they would be my souvenirs from Germany, since my hope for yarn was already diminuished by the first failed attempt. I collected two knitting magazines for myself and three crochet for my Sis.

In a second thought, the vast display of these publications gave me vital signs for the existence of yarn shops! I was lucky that the owner was able to confirm that there was yarn next door in the basement level.

Galleria Kaufhof -basement level

There was a large selection of Regia yarn. I decided to buy some even though I don't knit socks. Well, It doesn't hurt to have some in the stash!

Being more confident that I knew the words "wolle" and "stricken", I was able to to ask the saleslady for another shop,

Karstadt department store, in the basement

This store looks very similar to the first one. Even the fixtures are the same, makes me think that they are from the same company. Did you see the sale table? Most of items where on acrylic , novelty or strange colors yarn . I tried to keep in mind,that I didn't want volume but more quality. With that in mind, I was very careful not to fall into temptations. Got a glance at their fabric and buttons section. There were just too many shapes and colors to choose from. I didn't buy any, time was running fast , so were the boys' patience.

While window shopping in the area and waiting for the kids that were browsing in a sports shop, I was day dreaming about the possibility to find a store with more sophisticated yarn. So surprised I was to have bumped into this one,

Sparkling surprises come when you least expect it! ;) This was a nice yarn shop, packed with more selective yarn. I browsed the place quickly since I was worried that the boys would not find me. Had I told them that I would be waiting outside the sports shop. I decided that I had to find them first in order to look the little treasures in a nicer way. Though, the boys let me spent some time I still didn't buy much . There weren't enough stock on the yarn I had selected. But these were the substitute, stripped yarn in cheerful tones. A style that I don't have in my stash.

Not bad, right? Three yarn shops in only one day! ;)

There was one more shop nearby that I found the next day, more in a remote area that was a quilting shop. I always keep my hope and looking inside from the window I spotted some yarn bins. I carried away a pack of Royal Tweed from Filatura Di Crosa in Indigo blue.

On the third day, DH surprised us with an earlier rescue, I mean arrival. ;) We didn't do much for the rest of the day. Just resting and relaxing around the city for our new destination. The following day, we headed to the airport to pick up our rental car. We prefer to travel on our own without joining tours since we don't like the packed scheduled often offered in tour packages. Though there are some cons on this choice as we have to find our way, check the main attractions, the expenses are higher as well. But this allows me to look for yarn shops as well! ;)

On our way to Zurich, we visited two castles Bebenhausen and Hohenzollern.

I really enjoyed the stops on these castles, they were impressive, packed with hidden passages. We had a great time visiting them, specially Hohenzollern, located on a high hill with an amazing view. The castle guide was also so knowledgeable, he gave a good presentation of the castle along with rich historical content to us and the boys were very attentive in the subject. See, less guiltiness in spending time in the yarn shops in Stuttgart.

Stay tuned ......Coming soon, yarn hunting in Europe Part II - Switzerland. ;)