Web Epilogue

Come to think of it, my Charlotte's Web is the size of a shoulder wrap rather than a shawl. But I like it like that as this is a good size to use on the bus to keep myself warm from the sometime very cold air-con. Thanks to all your compliments on Charlotte! Please feel free to use the same colours. It is the Painted Lady colourway from the Threadbear guys. And Laurie, the colours are, in the order of knitting: P822, P521, P441, P130 and P611.

Mary Beth asked what my mother thought of my Charlotte's Web. She has that traditional Chinese tendency to reply in a vague way when she's not so sure, sometimes even asking a question back as in this case. Her reply was "Do you need this for your work wadrobe?". However, she was very happy with the pink dress for Chung Yi when she saw it on the video we played back for our parents. My father, on the other hand, had a more 'positive' note. We were all airing it in the common corridor when a neighbour wandered by to see the commotion. He proudly told her that I made it, you know it's something for the neck when it gets cold in Hong Kong, he said to her. And knowing my parents, and reading between the lines, that's already an approval and it made me so contented. When we returned from our outing, all the pins were taken out and the shawl is neatly folded by my dad. That's what I call family support.

Actually, I bought some yarn from Singapore. I went to Spotlight hoping to find some Patons Grace cotton yarn. They carry mostly Australian (correct me if I'm wrong) brands like Patons, Cleckheaton and Panda. One would imagine that in tropical Singapore, there should be a greater selection of cotton yarns. Instead there are no cotton yarns for knitting only some very fine one for crocheting. Most of the knitting yarns are acrylics and some cold weather yarns and even eyelash. The Cleckheaton Angora Supreme (70% Lambswool and 30% Angora) caught my eyes and I don't recall seeing yarns with angora content in Hong Kong so I bought 5 balls in cream colour. Each ball is 139m long and the recommendation on tha ball band says 7 balls are enough for a lady's long-sleeve sweater. Not bad. An initial idea is to knit the Perfect Pie Shawl from Weekend Knitting. Any suggestions?

As my mother has her own crafty pursuit (she loves to sew), she approves of my stashing. She was here in Hong Kong last July when I gave birth to Chung Yi. On the way back from my check-up, we stopped by a yarn store and chanced upon a pack of 10 Rowan Denim! Now, Rowan is rare in Hong Kong and to find a pack of Rowan Denim on clearance at less than US$25 is even rarer. As I'm the indecisive kind of person, my mum told me to grab it as she said she herself has a sizable stash of sewing material. I'm glad I did. Now I can embark on knitting Delta from the Denim People next. I'll swatch soon.

Comments

[Margene]

Your Charlotte is just beautiful! And what fun...more yarn. We really do love this stuff, don't we! LOL

[kormew]

I really love the colours of your Charlotte, and you're so lucky with your Rowan find! I've only ever seen being sold here in Canada for about CDN$8-9 per ball >_<

On another note, I do believe that Patons is a Canadian company.

[Mary Beth]

Is it a Chinese tendency for a mother to answer with a question? I can just hear my Mom doing the same thing! "Is that something you will wear when you take the children to school?" She would admire it and then suggest that perhaps I could make good money by making and selling some. :) My dad would also be quietly supportive. I bet that Rowan Denim has quite a story to tell - $25 USD for 10 balls? So glad you didn't pass that up!

[marjorie]

welcome back Siow Chin, I agree that Chinese parents tend to be this way. My mom's kind of vague too when it comes to my knitting and although my dad praises about my FOs, he not very happy with my big stash at home...