I Found Yarn!

Thanks to Jen who left directions in the comments on my last post, I was able to find a yarn store in Korea! Actually, she left instructions to find two stores, but I only got to one.


I had the last couple of days off work because the kids had midterms and there was no reason for me to be there. They don't have midterms or tests for my classes, so they school gave me the days off. My friend Tiffany and I decided to take a little trip up to Insa-Dong to one of the yarn shops. We had no difficulty finding our way there, and I even picked up a few little gifts for people back home for Christmas. We'll also be going back that way again at some point (not sure when yet), so I'll be going to the yarn shop again as well.



As I said, Tiffany and I went to Insa-Dong yesterday. We left around 10:15 or so and caught the 11:20 train. On the way, after about a half hour, we broke out the knitting. Tiffany wanted me to teach her how to knit, so we figured this was the perfect opportunity so we both brought yarn and needles. You see, Tiffany already knew a little because at some point in the past she attempted to teach herself. Here she is knitting away on her scarf (she is doing the same pattern I'm working on). Her yarn is a blend of wool and acrylic and is thick; she's also using 10 mm needles, so her project will go fast. At the point the picture was taken, I think she had probably done about 10 or so rows. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of how much she had accomplised by the time we were nearly back to the train station in Yesan. She got a lot done, and she's doing fantastic. I should also say that the train ride to Seoul takes about two hours there and two to get back, so we had nearly four hours of knitting.


Here's a picture of my growing scarf. I have now finished one ball of yarn and just started the second ball. In the picture I put a pack of the DPNs I bought for scale. I guess it's not that good for indicating since I had to take the picture a little far away in order to capture the whole thing. I don't even have a ruler to measure it either, so I can't tell you how long it is. I've decided that two balls should probably be enough for the entire scarf, but once I finish the second one (or get relatively close to finished the second ball), I'll decide then if it needs a little more or not. If not, the third ball is destined to become a hat of some sort.


So, I found some sock yarn at the yarn shop we visited. It was a little on the expensive side (probably because it was imported) and normally I wouldn't have probably bought it from there. I also bought some DPNs which were a little more than I would have liked, but I was feeling the call to knit socks and well, bought them. Anyway, the yarn is Koigu KPPPM but I'm not sure of what the colour is because I don't see it written anywhere. The number written down on the tag is P117328 but I haven't any idea if that is the colour number or not. The picture is pretty accurate, though in real life the yarn is a little darker than in the picture.

Here's a close up of the yarn. I took the picture beside the open window thinking I might get the colours a little more accurate. It looks a lot brighter in the picture than in reality though. There were a lot of beautiful colourways at this shop and I had a hard time trying to decide what to go with. My first reaction was to grab some purple shades, but then I thought I would try to expand my horizons and go with a colourway I probably wouldn't normally choose. I do like it though (otherwise I wouldn't have bought it), and can't wait to see how it looks all knitted up. I haven't decided on a pattern yet, but I've been thinking about trying the Monkey Socks pattern since I've heard lots of great things about it, and seen awesome sock pictures of the pattern. I just hope I have enough yarn and don't run out (each skein...or is it hank...has 50g/175yds/160m), and the needles I got are 2.7 mm - weird size - though I do have some of my DPNs from home; just need to check the size of those needles. Anyway, I'll look into the pattern and make my decision and let you know in a later post.

But, for now I'd better head off and work on my lesson plan for next week. I think I'm going to do the topic of Thanksgiving since this is the Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. Thanksgiving is on Monday though. So, I would like to wish all Canadians out there a Happy Thanksgiving!!