Chinese Craft Goodies

My friend took me to the paper goods market in Shanghai, which has craft and party supplies, plus undies and stockings, and yarn. It was on four floors and the stalls were packed. This is a place for the locals, so it wasn't a place with a wide range of bargaining (unlike the tourist fake goods markets). Regardless, the prices were fabulous. The photo is of a lantern and decoration booth at the entrance of the market.

I bought three sets of these (one for my mom, one for me and one for my friend's mom). I think they cost 20RMB, which is about $3 US for 3 sets of DPNs and 3 circulars. (Oops, the double points are upside down, but I loved the fact that the circulars came with a Chinese needle sizer.)

Just look at all these knitting needles, for a song. I didn't buy the bamboo double points because they were so long. I say if you're knitting something that big, try a circular. . .


I paid 20 RMB, $3 US, for six balls of yarn. It said *wool* on it in English, so I thought it might be worth a try.

I helped my friend pick out some cashmere for her mother. It was a box of 6 or 9 balls and cost about $30US, so I figured for that price it has to be the real thing.

Here's a sweater that's knit from the same cashmere. It was so soft, but the yarn was a much smaller gauge than what we knit with in the U.S. I told my friend to suggest her mom try doubling it, if it's too tiny. There were some small spools of different yarn included in the kit, so I think that's what the ribbing is made out of in the photo.

A Chinese amigurumi book I picked up at the supermarket. I wonder if the Chinese use the word *amigurumi* since it's a Japanese word? I haven't had time to look at it, but I'm hoping it's mostly charts and diagrams so I can use it.

I picked up these cross stitch and softy kits at the paper goods market. I think they were also about 20 RMB each, so $3 US. The little monkey kit contains felt, but I haven't opened it to inspect it yet. The vendor in the booth was making an adorable hamburger out of felt, so I got to see one partially finished. Very cute things.

I think the craft market was my favorite part of the trip (either that or the grocery store). My friend isn't a knitter, so she needed some help getting some gifts for her mother. I can't tell you how many bags of googly eyes, fuzzy puff balls, chenille sticks, etc. there were. The expat ladies come to this market to get goodies for their kids birthday parties and classroom craft projects. Wish I had taken more photos! The sheer quantity was amazing.