"Mu Qin Jie You Lai"

("The Mothers' Day" in Mandarin, according to Laura's lesson plan for last week!)

We had a thunderstorm in the morning, but it was just a bit of rain by the time we went out.  We went to California Pizza Kitchen in Times Square for lunch and then -- admire my cunning plan! -- walked around the corner to look for this --

New Style Yarn Co., at their current location in 1/F 87 Percival Street in Causeway Bay.  We had a little trouble finding it, as not only do many of the shops neglect to put their numbers on the door or window (this is universal -- why??), but I wasn't expecting from the phone book address, which didn't have the "1/F", that the shop might be upstairs.  I should know this by now, after two months in Hong Kong, shouldn't I!  Well, David spotted the staircase (just behind the bicycle in the photo) with "New Style Yarn Co." painted in large, friendly letters on every other step, and there it was.

There were half-a-dozen or so women knitting and chatting away around a big table in the middle of the little shop, and David sat on the girls while I browsed for a while, then told the smiling shoplady that I'd come back another day without the children, and we went out again.

(I am on something of a quest to find the Hong Kong yarn shops listed here at WoolWorks.  It's a ten-year-old list, but so far a number of them are still around.  I'll email WoolWorks an update at the end of the summer.)

Meandering up the streets afterwards we came upon, by happy coincidence,

Paris Cotton Singlets Co. Ltd., at 13 Pak Sha Road, also in Causeway Bay.  A strange combination of knitting wools and men's sport shirts, the shirts available for browsing and the wools -- a little bit of a lot of things, Rowan, Jaeger, Japanese and Italian brands -- packed safely away in plastic bags behind the counter.  I did buy two balls of merino/acrylic, tentatively for socks.  It was a bit awkward, with the three salesmen all looking at me expectantly, as though perhaps I should already know what I want and simply point to it immediately.  I may go back and browse the Rowan and Jaeger books, though -- it really would be a lot easier if I already had a pattern in mind....

So this -- not counting the spaghetti-sauce chins, the wet umbrellas, the thunder fears, and the fight over the pink plate at breakfast -- was what I got for Mother's Day, along with some very sweet smiles and kisses.

Comments

[yuvi]

Those Mother's Day present looks so sweet, you must be proud of your kids ;).
Anyway, I understand how annoying it could be when the salesman just expect you to know exactly what you want to buy. I hate it the most when I'm looking for yarn and the saleswoman follows me around telling me the price of each yarn I touch even though it's clearly written there. Makes me just want to get our of there as fast as possible.

[marjorie]

I've also visited New Style and Paris this past Saturday with 2 of my knitting friends ;) There's another yarn shop in Causeway Bay called Tailor&Alteration. Have you been there yet?

[Sylvia]

I lived in HK in the 90's (also with young kids), and totally remember the Paris Cotton Singlets shop. Problem was that all the grannys crowding the store knew exactly what they wanted, and weren't shy about getting served! Where are you living -- can't figure out the angle from where you are photographing. Is it Pokfulam?

[Jeanne]

No, it's smack in the middle of the island. It's outside of the traditional districts, so the mapmakers can't decide what to call it. I've seen "Central Island" (which is a little confusing, I guess, with "Central" being so well-known) and "Tai Tam" now and then, but most just leave it blank.

Actually, in the two times I've been to Paris Cotton Singlets, there has been not another customer in the shop, so all the salesmen simply stared at me. At least the second time, I had a purpose for being there! I think I will make a "Rowan/Jaeger Wish List" next time, and just hand it over and let them get on with it.