In order to live happily  in Mexico, I believe you need to be flexible.

• Can’t find sage when you want to make Thanksgiving stuffing?  Buy Hierbas Finas and make do.
• Can’t find lemons?  Use lime, or orange, or grapefruit, and discover how good and different it is.
• Can’t find peanut butter that you like?  Grind your own or use Nutella.
• Can’t find clothing that suits your figure?  Have a seamstress clone something you own and love.
• Can’t find something – a birdcage – chia seed – heavy weight oilcloth – skip the phone book and just ask a (non-busy) vendor at the mercado.

Here’s an example of my latest adjustment.  I wanted to knit a dress for my granddaughter using some chunky yarn that her mother had bought for me to use.  I had a dress pattern that called for a gauge of 8 stitches and 12 rounds over 4″ using size 17 circular needles. I have size 15 circular needles, nothing larger. My gauge with the size 15 needles was 12 stitches and 15 rounds over 4″.  If I followed the pattern as written the dress would end up much smaller than desired.   No larger needles could be found in town.  I have size 17 straight needles but that would mean reworking the whole pattern to be knitted in pieces.  So I decided to knit the dress in a larger size, which will increase the number of stitches and should make up for the smaller needles.  Does that make sense?

Anyhow, this is not an ideal way to deal with the situation but other than searching for a different pattern,  I think it should work out.  When I used to live in the US I would run out on my lunch hour and buy the needles I needed without even a thought. Here, there is a lot of preparation and adjustment usually needed when doing any project.

One thing I should mention, though. In the picture above you’ll see the most recent issue of Interweave Knits, which I subscribe to and is delivered dependably to my door by the postman.  Now, if I could only figure out some work-arounds for some of the yarns and needles called for in its patterns!

- For any Mexico knitters reading this, I have just set up a group at Ravelry that I am hoping can help us share resources and help each other!  The link is in the left menu bar below the blogroll.