Comments on: You need to be flexible…

By: Nancy

Nancy — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:16:37 +0000

Jenna,

Sorry that I didn’t get back to you before, for some reason your message got sent to my spam box and since we went on a trip to Morelia I hadn’t checked it. You are probably even home by now! So sorry! If not, I hope you checked Soriana and some of the mercerias downtown. There isn’t much selection but it would probably do for what you need. Sorry again for my tardy reply.

By: Jenna

Jenna — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:30:27 +0000

Nancy, I’m in Mazatlan for the week and learned to knit on the flight down from a nice lady who sat next to me. (i’ve tatted and done bobbin lace…but no knitting until now). I was lucky to find a “starter kit” in the airport…as i didn’t have time to run to the craft store before i departed! Even luckier to sit next to someone who could teach me!

Alas, it is only my second day here and i am running out of yarn! I know the selection will be thin, but can you direct me to the *best* chance for yarn in Mazatlan? I’m staying at the Inn at Mazatlan, so the closer to here the better. I was thinking of trying the closest major supermarket perhaps….

I found out i was pregnant last week (yay!) so i’d love some place that has yarn for babies…but I’ll take anything just so i can keep practicing until i get home and can get to a craft store.

thanks so much!

By: Nancy

Nancy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:49:05 +0000

IslaGringo, I’m sure Christine didn’t mean anything by her comment! Many people might not know that about men and handcrafts. I really love the knitting and have always been interested in spinning, but I would probably want to be a helper to someone before I accumulated tools, etc. Do you spin any more?

By: islagringo

islagringo — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:25:54 +0000

Christine: As a male knitter, crocheter, spinner and weaver, I really take offense at your comment. Do some research. The hand craft arts were originally reserved for the upper class men and you had to be a member of a specific guild to participate. Knitter and other handcraft arts only crossed over into the world of women when it became a utilitarian task, ie. mittens, hats. Until then it was strictly an art form reserved for men. And Nancy, you can spin more than just wool. Hemp, bamboo, angora, cashmere, silk. llama, actually any fiber coated animal will do. Even camel and musk ox! Just saying.

By: Zoe

Zoe — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:04:36 +0000

Hold on there, girl…it is ONLY four! ‘-) Actually one of them would be lovely…like cashmere….nah, think I will pass.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:52:23 +0000

Gary, You are too funny!

Zoe, I think maybe you should start first, since you have 5 dogs and I just have two!

By: Zoe

Zoe — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:20:01 +0000

I just finished a novel wherein the knitter, who opened a store called Spinning Forward, spins animal fur…there you go, Nancy, now no excuses for not weaving! (Oh, suuuure, Zoe)

By: Gary Denness

Gary Denness — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:12:14 +0000

When I saw the title of the post I nodded my head furiously. Indeed you do need to be flexible. Riding on a microbus in rush hour in DF when you’re 6 foot 3 inches is like taking a painful yoga class.

Then I realised you meant a different sort of flexible

By: Nancy

Nancy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:30:14 +0000

Judy, Yes, I’m a member of Ravelry (love it!) and get lots of ideas and help from the site. There aren’t any groups in my area, maybe I will try to get one going. But I have never run in to anyone here in Maz who knits (except Susan, who was only here for 5 weeks!)

Chrissy, I believe the ability to make do is one of those pioneer woman traits, and I pride myself on being able to figure a work around for anything. Sounds like you can, too!

Leslie, Flexibility and patience, for sure! There aren’t any yarn stores in Mazatlan. A few mercerias carry a bit of yarn (like a dozen balls) and same thing in a couple of the big supermarkets. No one has any inventory of needles, a couple of places had a few but they were random sizes. Lots of crochet hooks here, and all the yarn is either cotton or acrylic. The only real old-time yarn art here is Huichol, which really uses string.

Isla Gringo, I was really mad at myself this summer because I didn’t take a list of needles with me when I went north. And then I always think that I’ll go to Crochet when I’m in Mexico City and sometimes we get too busy to go there. But I think my work around will work.

Christine, You need to live in a place with wool fiber available, and that’s not here. I know central Mexico and Oaxaca have more of a yarn history than here.

Billie, Maybe you could just buy a couple of sets of needles and some yarn and see if you still enjoy it. Especially heading into winter I can imagine you sitting by your fireplace knitting. And you could actually use a vest or sweater sometimes, right? One of my challenges is that you NEVER need a sweater here in Mazatlan. If you need any patterns or books I have lots as pdf’s or I can send you some links to good online sources…

By: Billie

Billie — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:01:12 +0000

Your work around solution makes perfect sense to me. All this talk about knitting is making me kick myself for getting rid of my knitting stuff when we moved down fulltime. In the last few years in the states I didn’t knit a lot and I thought I would not knit at all here but you are making me want to pick up the needles again.