Travel Planning

After the knot exhibition in 2019 in Japan we popped over to Seoul for a few days (4 days, but 2 of them travel days, so really 2). In any case, in my estimation, the trip was too short and I've been pulling for a re-/proper visit. To bolster my case, I promised that we would spend no more than 2 days at Dongdaemun out of a 2 week trip.

Travel articles, travel blogs, and YouTube videos gave us an itinerary of Seoul, Busan, and Jeju. One of the articles mentioned so many things that I suggested we expand the trip by a week so that it would not feel so cramped and rushed.

The trip would let me visit with knot-friend Baeky (배키) who loves knot books, perhaps as much as I do. This gave me the opportunity to gift her some of my duplicate book collection. While some of the duplicates are the result of faulty memory or shopping accidents, some of them are from when I had delusions of being a shopkeeper. Gifting some of my failed shop stock to a new home where they'd be appreciated is the best outcome.

Of course, I am not all about virtuous decluttering, I also asked Baeky about my quest for a dahoeteul, although I was trying to start small(er?) with cardboard braiding stand and/or paper cup braiding stand. I figured that these sellers might not have a physical store and I might need to order to a Korean address with enough time for snail mail fulfillment and fuss. With Baeky's help, I was able to find the paper cup creator (who unfortunately didn't have any in stock but is planning to make more(??)). But she did have some ceramic vase dahoeteul (her Instagram) and a physical store. After some negotiation about braiding stands, tassel making stands, and such; I had a second knotty destination for the itinerary. Note that if you order from "Tea Party Room" (다회규방), the braiding weights are made to order and need around a week if you're planning to pick them up.

Now, I also had a second target for book gifting. While my joke/suggestion about bartering books for braiding stand parts fell on deaf ears, I did not care. Since the knot exhibition in 2019, I have been on a mission to get Koreans involved in The Braid Society. I figured that giving a Korean braider some kumihimo books would be a great step in encouraging some international awareness and communication.

The "Tea Party Room" is in Suwon, a city around an hour outside of Seoul, accessible directly by transit. The shop itself is down a small spiral staircase. In Suwon is the Hwaseong Fortress the most interesting (?) part being the Temporary Palace.

Getting Around in South Korea

I'm going to preface this section with the caveat that I am (in general) an able-bodied person. I have a few arthritic (adjacent?) joints but other than being an unfit sedentary type, don't actually have any real mobility issues. I did, however, spend nigh 10 years wrangling strollers and a walker-dependent parent simultaneously. So, while I have stopped swaying and rocking the shopping carts when standing at the checkout, I do spend background processing time on "how would I get everyone into that shop/restaurant/etc."

South Korea (more properly, the Republic of Korea [RoK]) has way more pedestrian rumble strips than I have noticed anywhere else in the world. I usually think of them as used almost exclusively at the edge of rail-based transit platforms. Occasionally, newer urban sidewalks will have them on the curb ramps. They're everywhere in RoK. Here is a section in front of the elevator call buttons in a hotel. Combined with RoK's fondness for textured pavement, the little wheels on my spinner luggage were perhaps more of a detriment than a plus while walking with luggage.

When you're in the transit system, there are several things on infinite loop on the screens there. Two of them are "special seats for the elderly and mobility impaired" and "special seats for pregnant people". I don't remember any buses that didn't have access at the front that didn't have stairs, but most of the back exits were flat, so it may be that wheelchair/stroller access is through the back. I didn't ride many buses so I could be wrong. I did ride the trains a lot. The stations are often mazes, but accessibility is patchy at best. The elevators are hard to find and, I believe, not available at every station. You can't expect escalators much and sometimes you have to climb/descend stairs to get to the escalators. Admittedly, I was a tourist and didn't know my way around, but more than once I saw (presumably local) parents juggling infants while hauling strollers up and down long flights of stairs. Special seats for the pregnant, but no help for the new parent wrangling kids.

Access on transit is not the only issue. Many shops and restaurants are on second floors or basements with the only access being stairs from street level. The cultural villages are often built on hillsides so the roads/walkways are steep and textured and stairs are everywhere.

Conversely, RoK is not afraid of public seating. Benches are easy to find outdoors and in. Public bathrooms are plentiful and clean. Toilet paper supplies are occasionally odd with a central supply for the whole bathroom rather than toilet paper in each stall. If you're at a restaurant and see a big roll of toilet paper under the sign that tells you the code/location of the bathroom that's your clue to take some of that toilet paper with you before you head to the bathroom. Tourist attractions like a nature walk or waterfall will be cheap to get into and have bathrooms for you to use at the gate and depending on topography inside the park as well. The shops in the tourist attractions don't gouge the ill-prepared tourists either. Drinks at a shop halfway up a mountain cost the same as it would at the convenience stores in town.

Note also that RoK very rarely has public garbage cans (I only ever saw any in the biggest non-market style malls). Officially, you can return your trash to the place from which you originally bought the product... if you're still there. In general, though, if you're buying something from a different shop, they will take your trash from another store. Other than that, plan to hold on to your empties and wrappers until you get to a bathroom or back to your hotel room.

Craft shopping in Seoul

My main target in Seoul was going to be Dongdaemun Market which is a long city block of shops and malls. On one side of the boulevard is finished clothes (Pyounghwa Fashion Market): shirts, dresses, underwear, hats, jackets, etc. For the most part, I ignored that side of the street. On the other side is the wholesale to the public raw materials as it were. It is called the unhelpfully generic Dongdaemun Shopping Complex (동대문 종합시장). It is a cluster of 4 buildings with bridges inside such that the distinction between the buildings is sort of moot. The ground floor is a mixture of lace and fabric. Most of the floors 2-4 are fabric but the 5th floor is beads, jewelry making, and string. The 6th floor has fairly wide selection of restaurants to keep you fueled.

While most store front type of places will take credit cards, there are many shops, even in the Shopping Complex (DSC), that only take cash. The ones that do take credit cards will often offer a discount (10% from one) if you have cash, so it's up to you how much cash you want to walk around with. Note also that it's closed on Sunday and watch out for holidays.

String shopping

During that Korean visit in 2019, I bought oval shoelace type string with contrast edging without aglets. I tried it out after I got home, and fell in love. It was cheaper, of course, than shoelaces and came in uninterrupted length. I soon realized that I wanted more and since I had taken their business card and managed to not lose it I contacted them not much later intending to order in bulk, but no response. Now I had kept their business card all these years and they show up on Naver Maps, so on this trip I had to check. When I went there this time, however, with a sample to show them they said they didn't make/sell that cord anymore. 😭

Of course, I scanned DSC's many decorative cord sellers and the non-DSC shops down the street who have both decorative cord and practical ropes. No one had my edged oval cord (actually, much later, I did find one but they were selling (at least to me) for $2/yd which is a bit spendy).

Up on the 5th floor in stalls 5010-5012 is the Kyoung Lim Co. (경림상사) which had a spectacular display of cordage including what I believe to be maedeup cord, although on their website so far I have only found polyester cord vs rayon in the maedeup style. In any case, while picking out string to order, I showed my sample to ask if they had any similar style of cord. They had some that was rectangular rather than oval in cross-section and made of something cotton-like, so too rough. The seller mentioned that they had a factory and could make something like if I wanted to order. I took their business card and filed that information away.

Our trip itinerary took us from Seoul, to Jeju, Busan, and back to Seoul. When we got back I decided to discuss costs with Kyoung Lim. It was quite reasonable and they would be able use a more suitable material in the colours I wanted. I had thought that we'd negotiate weave, materials, and colours and then when their production schedule had space they'd make my cord in a month or two and then ship it to me in Canada. That wasn't their plan. They wanted to make my cord and give it to me before I left. When I suggested that they could send me my string by mail they made faces and said that postage is soooo expensive. If I had any notion that this would be the procedure, I would have started the process much earlier in the trip. This was Thursday and I was leaving on Tuesday, plus Monday was a holiday. It came down to what time on Tuesday we were leaving (dinner time, so we could come to DSC in the morning to pick up my order). By the next day they had made a sample and sent me photos which I approved. Madness, but the good kind. 🥸🥰

Hanbok

Unlike my string manufacture experience, I had an actual plan for possibly ordering a custom hanbok. The DSC and at the other end of the Dongdaemun area is Gwangjang Market (광장시장). Gwangjang has many shops with ready made hanbok (also used), so if you're a standard size you could be in luck. I was going to talk to some hanbok tailors, get measured so that they'd have time to make my hanbok while we were in Jeju and Busan, then I could pick up my custom order when we came back. Now, it's not like I have many times/places to wear a hanbok (or any formal garments, really) so price was definitely an object. I did only talk cost with one tailor so I might have found someone in my price range, but I am also full of hubris (despite definitely being a rank beginner sewist) and confronted with rolls and rolls of fabric I decided that I would make my own.

Another nexus of hanbok activity and shopping is Insadong, officially part of Jongno (see books), specifically Insadong-gil, the focal street for hanbok, modern and traditional, calligraphy supplies, name stamp makers, art, and tourist friendly crafts. There are many side streets to explore with more crafts, tchotchkes, and food.

Not so much a side street, Ssamzi-gil is a larger mall that spirals a bit above the other buildings in Insadong-gil. To me it is a modernization of the traditional markets with little enclosed shops vs open front stalls. The shops also appear to be run by younger people with a more modern edge or a modern riff on traditional crafts and garments. Quite a few shops here run workshops if you'd rather make your own. It feels somewhat pricier and trendier than some of the more traditional offerings nearby.

In my memory, Bukchon Hanok Village was effectively a side street part of Insadong, but it's definitely nearby. The area cannot decide if it wants to be a tourist area or not with many signs informing you in a reproving tone that this is a residential area so keep your voices down and don't block people trying to live in their neighbourhood, and mind the curfew. Still there are many hanbok rental places, restaurants, and shops. The area is hilly and many of the public facing establishments are up stairs with no provisions for accessibility so keep that in mind.

In Bukchon is the Donglim Knot Museum/Workshop. The space is tiny and does not seem to offer what cannot be found elsewhere in more accessible locations.

Books

Now, I don't read Korean anymore than I read Japanese or Chinese. That doesn't stop me from visiting bookstores whereever I travel. A little research told us that the flagship stores for most of the bookstore chains were in Jongno. I was looking for books about maedeup (매듭), bojagi (보자기), and hanbok (한복). A combination of finding the craft section to scan the shelves and looking up various keywords (sometimes what I'm looking for is deemed cultural and not shelved with the rest of the crafts) on the self-serve kiosks help me find books to buy.

Yarn Shops

As previously noted, I was trying to keep the craft shopping isolated to Dongdaemun, but I didn't have a complete personality transplant. So when I came across a mentioning of Sevy Haus, a large yarn shop, I had to put it on the want-to-go list. While the whole thing is 7 floors, only 3 are shop and the rest is lounge. They mostly carry their own branded yarns and a light smattering of other. They also carry needles and accessories but their overall stock was not in the density and variety I have come to expect from Asian stores.

Other yarn craft supply sources around town include entirely random small shops sprinkled about including in the transit malls plus a few in the traditional markets. Most mostly carry plastic chenille yarn that you might use to make a dish scrubby. No idea why that's so popular or if it's just popular right now (2026). Daiso's are more plentiful in RoK than North America and have better stock in general. That said, bigger Daiso's are more likely to have better crafting supply stock.

Craft shopping in Jeju

Jeju is RoK's Hawaii, a tropical-ish island. Many K-dramas are set there and in preparation we started watching Welcome to Samdal-ri but never finished it. I was pulling for Jeju to be amazing because we need a substitute for Hawaii and Mexico is probably not it.

A slight negative is that Jeju's geography is such that we had to rent a car while there. Unlike the rest of RoK we could not rely on transit for all our transportation needs which is our preference.

After we landed and got our car we headed straight for the Traditional Five-Day Market. It's huge and mostly fresh food of the grocery variety rather than cooked. There were clothing, tools, flowers, and even bunnies (dwarf breeds, so pets?). Not much handcrafted, though. Not far from our hotel (south side of the island) was the Seogwipo Maeil Olle Market (서귀포매일올레시장), which is permanent and open every day. While there were raw material foods (mostly seafood), there was tonnes of cooked food for the tourists to sample. There were also clothing and bed linens, toys and souvenirs, but not much in the way of handcrafts although there were 2 small yarn shops.

We also managed to get to the Seogwipo Five-Day Market but it's smaller than the other 2 we had been to and wasn't memorable from a food or crafty perspective (an entire market on Jeju and no orange juice vendor?!?).

I only heard of Sorangjang after we came home, so I cannot vouch for how much handcrafted things to see that they have. Apparently they are open on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of the month, so I'm not sure if the timing would have worked out in any case.

The craftiest market on Jeju is then the Dongmun Market (동문시장). Dongmun is open daily and is also a night market which means that some of the food stalls don't open until supper time. Much of the market is what I'd call a covered arcade, but in the middle, there's a part that is an actual enclosed building and that section is full of clothing, hanbok, and fabric. It was here that I got some ramie. "Regular" and Hasan/Mosi ramie. Cash-only here.

Touristiness

On my bucket list to visit is the Giant's Causeway and it turns out that Jeju has similar geologic formations. While not as big an identity marker as oranges on Jeju, basalt is also a significant advertising feature. My biggest problem with the basalt columns on Jeju, though, is that we could see them from a distance, but we could not walk on them (that I could see/find?). Is that also the case in Ireland???

Among other things, there were formal 3 (4?) waterfall parks plus a volcanic caldera to see on the island. All were well organized, nicely maintained, and economical to visit. The terrain requires an able body to navigate as it is all stairs (and a lot of them!) and no gondolas or other transportation assistance. The views were nice, although that was all that was available. There was no getting in/under the waterfalls, that I recall.

There is both a chocolate museum and a chocolate "land" on Jeju. We only went to the museum which had lots of information and informative displays but not enough interactive displays as it were. Don't show me a chocolate fountain with a sign that says "don't eat"! 🤣 Sure, there was a gift shop with some nice chocolates made in the museum, also classes to take, but I want less genteel decorum from a chocolate "experience" and moar tastiness. 😇

You cannot miss Jeju's obsession with oranges, when you go. The local hallabong is an especially sweet variety of mandarin/satsuma orange with a vaguely gourd-like shape. It is only though a significant application of will-power that I escaped the island without an orange hat, although I did buy an orange hair clip. 🍊🎀 This is not to say that a lot of orange juice and ice cream was not consumed.

Craft shopping in Busan

While wandering around Busan, I came across the yarn shop Jinseon Mimosa (진선미모사) entirely by happenstance and serendipity. It is a well stocked 2 storey shop with good variety of yarn, tools, and patterns. Totally worth seeking out.

While not a shop, textile enthusiasts should consider the Asean Cultural House. I was lucky to go when the Weaving Hands, Women's Time: Textile Traditions in ASEAN exhibit was being shown (on until Aug 30, 2026) and it was wonderful (also, admission is free).

Traditional Markets

Haeundae Market is a small market, close to the beach, and mostly food. Gukje Market (국제시장) is much larger with food both cooked and fresh, clothing, lights, tools, and sundry. Hanbok and hanbok supplies (eg. fabric) can be found on the second floor.

The Gamcheon Culture Village (감천문화마을) is a former residential area from the 1920s built on a mountain side that has been renovated into a retail/artist colony type of place. You can take a bus to the top but there is no avoiding some steep road sections and stairs to access many of the shops, galleries, and restaurants. There are actual artists and artisans to be found here. There are also shops that were clearly stocked from Alibaba/Aliexpress suppliers, although many of them are much nicer than the simpliest most bargain basement offerings.

There are quite a few hanbok experience rental establishments here. The question I didn't ask was if there are return facilities at the bottom of the village or if you need to either just browse nearby or climb back to the top to return your rental.

Apparently, there are also art villages to be seen as well, although we did not know about these.

Touristiness

There are 3 skywalks in Busan plus a suspension bridge which has a metal mesh type walkway vs glass, but I imagine that that won't make any difference if you've got any issues with height. Conversely it's a nicely scenic place with somewhat more stairs than the skywalks. You do have to pay for admission here, whereas the skywalks are free. We accessed it via a gonola. I remember seeing a path involving a lot of stairs below us, so you might be able to "just" walk there. Right by the gondola access is the Songdo Cloud Walk which is much lower down and free.

Taking you to the Cheongsapo Daritdol Observatory, skywalk, is the Haeundae Beach Train a short little touristy train (although it might not feel so short if you were walking the whole way?).

In Seoul we went to Jongno for the big bookstore chain flagship shops. In Busan, we had seen a "Book Alley" on the maps and had to go there. Book Alley is deeply confusing in that I could not figure out who would be the audience and how would you ever find anything? Firstly, unsurprisingly, you will not find much in the way of new books here. The books on offer seem to be mostly remaindered stock? None of the shops seemed to have any sort of theme. There is a huge spectrum of organization level for the stalls from books nicely shelved face out, to bales of books stacked such that you could not physically enter the space.

What to do next time

The spouse was speculating that we had seen all there is to see in RoK and we'd not be coming back and so he need not put any more effort into learning Hangeul than he already had. When asked what my guestimate on the odds of our return might be, I said "High." My reasoning/hope is that there will be more international knot culture exhibitions. If/when there are, RoK is certainly going to be one of the venues. It's been a while, but I'm going to blame COVID and politics that I am not privy to and hope that more will eventually be organized.

Travel Planning

Planning for a vacation in February, the spouse wanted to go somewhere warm and relaxing. Ever since I saw Crazy Rich Asians, I've wanted to visit Singapore and there's a place that's warm all year 'round. Two birds, one stone, right?

Other than the movie, I had also seen a video about ecologially-minded architecture in Singapore which sounded interesting even if I don't normally pay any attention to architecture. At that point, that was all I really knew and was willing to go to the warm place and look at interesting buildings; relaxing, I can do relaxing!

The web research then began, he looked at "things to do in Singapore" and I looked at fabric shopping in Singapore. We were both soon very keen to go to Singapore. A local Singaporean, YouTuber DashingHeights does an excellent job describing the Hawker (food) Culture, plus other attractions like the various zoos and such.

With the main destination settled, the next question was how to get there. It's a long flight, so does one want to fly there directly or add a stop to break up the flight? I was pulling for a stop in Taiwan because I wanted to go string shopping 😇, plus if we timed it right we could experience Lunar New Year in a place where it's a really big deal (apparently they celebrate in Singapore, but not to the point that the place shuts down for two weeks). After much flight shopping and research, we discovered that if we stopped in Japan for a few days, the flight (with JAL) was actually cheaper than if we flew direct. The savings would sort of cover the cost of hotel in Japan, depending on the hotel we picked. Oh noes, Br'er Fox, don't throw me into the briar patch!

My keeper of a sweetie, then booked hotels close to my shopping itineraries, which in the case of Singapore was Chinatown and for Japan was close to Nippori Station.

Craft shopping in Singapore

Furama City Centre was an excellent home base for our stay, being across the big street from Chinatown Point mall (Daiso, convenience stores, tonnes of food choices, connected to transit) and next to People's Park Centre mall.

People's Park Centre mall

People's Park Centre mall has 2 excellent general crafting stores and a bunch of beading shops. To my recollection, all the mentioned shops took credit cards.

Golden Dragon Store

of the two general crafting shops in this mall, I would head to Golden Dragon first if I was looking for tools. Both are better than any Michaels in a quarter of the space.

Shino Beads

across the hall from Golden Dragon is Shino Beads, charms and plastic beads galore.

Beads and Crafts

around the corner from Golden Dragon is Beads and Crafts, similar to Shino but with more seed beads.

Koi Ming

out in the atrium part of the building and down a floor (or two?) is Koi Ming with more crystal.

Mix and Match

next to Koi Ming is Mix and Match with more findings and some semi-precious strands.

SMH Craft

at the opposite end of the mall, facing the atrium and up a floor from the Golden Dragon is SMH Craft. Also a general crafts store but with more fabric, fun trim, and other raw materials.

People's Park Complex mall

People's Park Complex mall is right next door to the People's Park Centre, so if you get them confused you won't be far off. Almost the entire 2nd floor is fabric shops. Some specialize in batik, linen, wool, silk, bridal, etc. They don't all open and close at the same time so check before going. Also, there's a significant number of cash-only shops so be prepared.

Lye Nai Shiong

this is your first stop if you're after any sewing tools or notions.

Brighton Accessories House

Brighton, confusingly, occupies significant amounts of the hallway plus several adjoining stalls. Fabulous selection at great prices with friendly service. Credit cards accepted.

Mui Huay #03-1142

up a floor from the bulk of the fabric stores is Mui Huay, a lovely button store with an magnificent selection of iron-on applique patches. Cash only.

Arab Street

After the People's Park pair your next stop should be Arab Street, a couple of blocks of which are lined with fabric and crafting shops.

Molkan Fabrics

I picked up a beautiful batik and some lovely Thai (??) silk, here.

Alibaba Textiles

You know when you go to your favourite auntie's house and complement something and she gives it to you? It was like that here except that I kept saying about this gorgeous lace that I had complemented that I had nowhere to wear such a thing. Sitting in front of a computer, day after day, getting carpal tunnel should not be done in lace and silk! But the price kept dropping (I honestly was not trying to haggle) until I had to buy it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Also picked up some batik and ikat.

Gim Joo Textiles

Attentive service here, too. Picked up some rainbow chiffon.

Digvijay Sequins

So shiny! Sequins and trim. I picked up some Swarovski crystal rivoli buttons.

Textile Centre mall

A 6 min walk from Arab Street (according to Google Maps) is the Textile Centre, along the way is the main store of Sin Hin Chuan Kee. The first time we went to the Centre, pretty much everything was closed. I don't remember if it was because of proximity to New Year or day of the week or time of day. The second time we went, more was open but lots was still closed. I got the impression that the shops here are more set up for wholesale transactions. But then, maybe I am a silly tourist who wasn't paying attention.

Sin Hin Chuan Kee

Ribbons galore plus some fun iron-on applique patches. Also, at last, Chinese knotting cord in larger sizes on spools. Alas, anything but red must be custom ordered. 😭 According to Google, there is also a Sin Hin Chuan Kee in the Textile Centre itself, specializing in zippers.

Sungai Industrial

Straps, webbing, buckles, and clips. What I think of as bag findings.

Mustafa Centre

The Mustafa Centre is like if AliExpress was a real physical place. It is stuffed to the gills with what seems like just about everything. Down in Basement 1 (there are 2) is the fabric area. It is very tightly packed so if you use mobility aids, have a stroller or rolling luggage, you will have problems. Bolts are not labeled with prices or fibre content. I asked the clerk what fibre content the material I was interested in was, and was told it was "satin". *sigh* I bought it anyhoo but still haven't flame-tested it yet. Pre-packaged lengths or finished pieces for scarves, sarongs, shawls, and sari accessories are also in this area. The Centre is said to be open 24hrs, so that's an advantage over the many little shops with occasionally whimsical operating hours.

Memo's Art House

Memo's Art House is a yarn shop and quite the distance from all the fabric shops, but still easily accessible by transit. It was a lovely shop and big enough to be worth the trip, imho. I was also concerned, as someone allergic to wool, about what there would be there for me. There was plenty of cotton and acrylic yarns. In fact, the wool selection was quite small.

Spotlight

As I understand it, Spotlight is Australia's answer to Michaels/Joanne's. It is a big box store in an environment where that's very rare. More than half of space is devoted to home wares like bedding and waste paper baskets, Ikea without the furniture. The crafting materials are all (?) pre-packaged and more expensive than you'd like unless they're on sale, but cover a wide range of hobbies.

Kinokuniya Bookstore

When I went to Singapore, I was hoping to pick up some books in Chinese, since Chinese is one of Singapore's official languages, so that I wouldn't have to special order from my local bookstore and wait 3 months for fulfillment. My research turned up a lengthy list of shops to try, but I was sadly disappointed. The Chinese bookstores in Singapore all seem to be solely educational. They range from kids' picture books to college competency test prep. None of the six shops I visited had anything in the way of crafting books. 😢

Kinokuniya in Singapore, however, had a very nice selection of diy and crafting books in English and Japanese. They also had a reasonable selection of Chinese books but not much in the way of diy and crafting. That said, as of February 2025 it looked like they were still building out their stock. Also, they were happy to order for me but the 2 week fulfillment estimate was too long for this tourist.

Craft shopping in Tokyo

If there's one thing they like to do in Japan, it's specialize. They have whole islands full of rabbits, cats, and art. So it is that they have Nippori Fabric Town and the as yet unamed and without marketing committee bead district in Asakusa-bashi (浅草橋), among others.

Nippori Fabric Town

Nippori Fabric Town is a tourist attraction and it knows it. There are location specific maps translated into various languages, banners on the street, and permanent signage in the transit stations guiding you to its wonders. It is centred on a single street, extending several blocks from one transit station to another.

The fabric shopping on the street is not diluted by restaurants, and the map does not show much in way of food sources nearby, so I brought water and a snack from convenience stores near transit and chose to view it as a weight loss opportunity. For those choosing to make a day of it, Tomato's home dec shop had public bathrooms that don't require you to purchase something before using. I'm assuming that at least some of Tomato's other shops may also have public use facilities.

While Nippori is a dizzying array of fabric, trim, beads, leather, and more, a careful examination of the store names reveals that there are fewer different vendors than you might think. Tomato alone has six shops in separate buildings. They are not alone in having multiple shops in Nippori although most, like Tomato, have different themes for each shop.

Starting with the 800lb gorilla, Tomato's main building has 5 floors of fabric including a discount section, but right next door is the discount specific shop. Bolt after roll of fabric for ¥100/m! There are some higher rates as well in the shop, if I recall correctly. It's spectacular and tempting, but what's disappointing is that there is no fibre content on anything. You'd think that in the stores from which these sale items come from, they had been clearly marked for fibre content, so why has this information now been removed? How does it benefit Tomato to have customers standing there rubbing fabric between their slightly grubby fingers trying to decide if this bolt is polyester, cotton, or rayon if they could have left that infomation which they already had on the bolts?

Some of my other highlights include E & Son's Mont Decor shop which was full of sparkling and gorgeous ribbons and trim (cash only), Tomato's DIY bookshop, And Leather, Furikake beads and trim, and a few shops that specialized in natural fibres.

One of the first shops you'll see from the Nippori Station side of the area is a second hand kimono shop. I was on the lookout for kimono/yukuta fabric but was disappointed in that regard at Nippori. I know, now, that I missed some specialty shops on the far end of the area, and the big (?) one Mihama was closed for all the days I was there. 😭

Second hand kimonos and accessories

Many of us have heard about Japan's unwanted kimono problem with the annecdotal figure of 500 tonnes of kimonos being sent to land fill each year. Since I could not find an actual source for that number, I'm going to look at it with some skepticism. Having said that, used/"vintage" kimonos are a thing. Youtube's Tokyo Lens directs us to the packed touristy area of Asakusa which has new, used and kimono rental/experience as well as accessory shops (eg. kanzashi hair ornaments).

Various online guides will also suggest general second-hand shops like Book-Off and Hard-Off but if your timing works out, don't forget the various flea markets . I had excellent luck with the Tokyo City Flea Market, scoring a stack of fun obis for ¥500 each.

Bead Town

Not as famous but twice as sparkly is the not-yet-a-thing, Asakubashi "Bead Town". In a 1-2 block radius around Asakubashi Station is a large number of bead shops, some with multiple storefronts. The big ones include Parts Club, Kiwa Beads, and Miyuki Factory. Down the smaller side street, keep an eye out for Genuine's multiple shops for semi-precious strands and the unhelpfully named "Art" with some less common offerings.

Unlike Nippori, there are lots of restaurants in the area to keep you fueled.

Chain Shops

Japan has a surprising number of crafting franchises, all of which are much better than Michaels is or Joanne's ever was. Some shops are free-standing, some are stores in malls, and some are fully integrated into department stores. It can get very confusing when you are following directions but expecting a storefront. At least you can be sure that you can use your credit card at these shops. 😅 My favourites include: Okadaya, Yuzawaya, and ABC Craft.

Having made that crack about credit cards, there is one thing of note at Okadaya flagship store which always trips me up. Their credit card machine gives you a scrambled keypad with no letters for typing in your PIN. If you remember your PIN based on letters that are on a typical keypad OR are using muscle memory for where the numbers should be, you'll be in trouble. I have never seen this security feature anywhere else, but there it's a thing.

The last chain store of note is Tokyu Hands, which is less a craft store and more a maker store (tools, wood, screws and nails, solder, etc). Having said that, Tokyu Hands has changed in the decades since I first visited Japan. For one, they have rebranded as just "Hands" vs "Tokyu Hands". For two, they are becoming less of a crafting/maker store and more of a travel/home stuff store. It is extremely disappointing, but at least their flagship store in Shibuya (for now?) is still a worth a visit for the DIY fan.

Bookstores

My must-see bookstore in Tokyo is Kinukuniya. As an added bonus, their flagship store is in Shinjuku walking distance from Okadaya's flagship store. Speaking of which, each of the chain stores mentioned above tend to have good collections of more current crafty books and mooks.

Even in English, I have found that browsing physical used bookstores to be mostly a waste of time. The sole exception being the new/used combo at Powell's in Portland. Online collections work so much better. 🥺 The problem is even worse in a language I don't really read, so the aforementioned Book-Offs and second-hand book zone in Jinbōchō are mostly an unsuccessful slog for me, but if anyone knows of a second-hand shop that specializes in craft books, be sure to let me know!

What to do next time

Singapore is a joyfully multicultural place with four languages on most signage (English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil) with an excellent public transit system (as is the case in all the Asian places we have been?) and clean, safe streets. The food is fantastic, the zoos and gardens are fun, and the shopping is amazing. Singapore is a city-state and so for us, it seems that we've seen all there is to see?

I managed to miss some chunks of Nippori, plus one of the stores I was most interested to visit was closed, so I'll need to go back and fill in those holes. I would like to revisit some of the second-hand kimono stores when I'm less overwhelmed (and perhaps with a project in mind?) for something other than obis.

Laurie covered prehistory up to the Egyptian dynasties.  Part two will be in October.

Show and Tell:

I'm mixing the show and tell in with the material Laurie showed us in her presentation, due to laziness.  It is left as an exercise to the reader to decide which objects illustrated the history of beads and which are merely things members brought to share.  Mouse-over the image to see a short description and click for a bigger image.

From Polymer Clay Polyzine, way back in 2004, they're peeling the the shiny, holograph-y layer of a CD off and adhering it to polymer clay.  Wild, no?  It's not like there's a shortage of used CDs or DVDs here'bouts.

http://www.pcpolyzine.com/2004april/barettetute.htm

(via)

Needlework

Cross Stitch Charts from photos

My Photo Stitch a free service that takes photos you upload and gives you a cross stitch chart using (last I checked) DMC colours

Knots

Turk's Head Cord length calculator

http://turkshead.50webs.org/

Turk's Head Knot designer

http://data.oreilly.com/jallwine/knots/

Globe Knot Core Calculator

http://khww.net/gkcc.php

Kumihimo Braiding

8 strand kongo gumi colour planner

http://www.lythastudios.com/123bead/kumiplanner.html

16 strand kongo gumi colour planner

http://craftdesignonline.com/kumihimo/

A colour planner for the 7-loop Spanish finger loop braid

http://www.islandlife.heliohost.org/cgi-bin/fingertips.pl

Weaving

Card weaving design planner. Online or downloadable.

http://www.theloomybin.com/cw/

Design weave structures and colour compositions for handweaving.

http://www.theloomybin.com/loom/

Lace

Lace: knitted lace designer

http://www.unikatissima.de/shop/?page_id=494

You’ll notice that I didn’t start with Michaels because it is my unverified belief that they price all their products to give them a healthy profit even when using the regularly available 40% off coupon. In my humble (and unverified) opinion, this makes them evil so I try to give my business elsewhere whenever I can. But for $10, I thought, I can call them and check. That’s what phones are for, right?

After determining that there was no shop component on their websites to check prices, I found a phone number and called them up. Their voice menu lead me through hours and such until I got to the “talk to a person” option and picked it. The phone is allowed to ring 3 or 4 times before you are bounced back into the menu. I picked “talk to a person” 4-5 times before giving up. Later in the day I tried again with the same result. Today I tried again. This time I only had to pick “talk to a person” twice before I got an actual person. They took my request and presumably went somewhere to check, putting me on hold. Now, I was reading my RSS feeds and nattering with my offspring, home from school due to a cold, while listening to the hold soundtrack. This is to say I was distracted and not paying attention. When I realized that I had been on hold for over 40 minutes, I hung up.

Big thumbs down, Michaels. Opus, local shop that you are, I should have supported you from the beginning.

The instructions warn the reader that you should have acquired the basics of yarn spinning on a wheel elsewhere and dive right into unconventional shenanigans.

I love the idea of spinnning. I remember learning the theory of spinning around about grade 4 and tearing tissues into strips and spinning little paper cords with my hands when bored, but I am allergic to wool, that mainstay of hand spinning, so I’m unlikely to make much direct use of this book. I remember, when first picking it up, thinking that maybe the fabric spinning part might be useful to me but even that includes wool. About halfway through, I was thinking that I’d finish the book and then either sell it or donate it to a library, but I’m not sure I want to let it go. The book fairly oozes creativity. It exemplifies thinking outside the box. For now, at least, I’m going to hang onto it and show it to the kids if they get down on some project that’s a little too rigid or formal.

Books mentioned in this post:

Friday, March 26th (10-8) Saturday, March 27th (10-5), 2010 AgRec Building Abbotsford Exhibition Park Grounds, 32470 Haida Drive, Abbotsford, BC http://www.fibreswest.com/

Now, there used to be a show called Fibrefest International that was held close to the same place (the Tradex, I think) and apparently there still will be (see http://www.mail-archive.com/fibernet@yahoogroups.com/msg09426.html) I would point you at their website, but it looks like someone missed the domain name renewal and squatters got it. I thought that the two shows were related, maybe run by the same people, but now I’m not sure anymore. Certainly the same subject matter is being covered, although no live animals at this one to the disappointment of the offspring.

When I told my mom yesterday where I was planning to go today, she was totally game to come (and most welcome company for the journey (for me trips of longer than about 20 mins are long generally to be avoided when possible) there and back). Especially since mom has a smallish hybrid versus our (theoretically efficient, but…) family minivan. The offspring were polled as to their interest in coming. Gameboy, as expected, had no interest. Just as well as he had homework. Junior totally wanted to come even though I warned her that live animals were only a possibility and not a promise. Tiger surprisingly didn’t want to come. As we were leaving I heard her asking to play WoW. Fine, be that way. 8)

The trip went smoothly, as might be expected at midday on a Saturday. Entry fee was more than yesterday’s bead show, but at least Junior was free and they offered the seniors rate to my mom outright. Seeing the short person with us, they mentioned the drop-in workshop for kids of all ages (felted beads, $6) which we went and had a look at before signing her up for. I checked in at the end of each row and got through the entire show but for one row before she lost interest/finished her necklace.

The show took up at most half of the floorspace in the AgRec building. The BC Gem Show (didn’t it used to be the Rock and Gem show?) coming up in 2 weeks has historically taken up the entire floorspace. Fibrefest International used to take up the entire floorspace at the Tradex. Still, there were more than enough vendors to clear out my wallet.

As per my usual pattern, I moved methodically up one row and back checking end rows only to the width of each perpendicular row. Seeing a niddy noddy for around $19, I decided that it was time to get one (although I did get the materials for building one with PVC pipe, but never did build it). Shopping around I found one for $16.95 or something like that, but indecision over how big a niddy noddy I really needed (or do I really need one at all?) combined with a line at the till make me abandon the idea. I still love looking at tools, and I would love to try cord making on a spinning wheel, but you don’t buy something like a spinning wheel to try a goofy experiment. I did rent the guild’s rental wheel for a while many moons ago, but for the month (or two?) that I had it, I never got around to trying my experiment. All the more reason not to buy such a thing, although I am totally trying to get DH to build me one of these. 8)

Which leaves yarn (no, despite being a Weavers and Spinners Guild member for… 7(?) years, I neither weave nor spin). First up was some blue/green sari silk yarn from The Silk Tree for $6. I had previously spotted some glorious blue/purple “shibori ribbon” from Total Texture kinda like this but still folded and beautiful blue on top and royal purple on the bottom, intense colour throughout. The price card and fallen down and under something else, so a nearby price sheet which turned out to be for something else entirely ($5 things) covered the fact that this ribbon was in fact $20/m. For a pretty thing that I had no idea what I was going to do with it… too steep.

I then picked up a skein of Seduce (shiny!) and a skein of Origami (the texture, the colourfulness of it all! must learn to use sewing machine to embellish cords!!) from Stitches.

Lastly, I got 2 balls of bambu 7. One solid black, and one variegated black and white. I want to try to make something like an ikat braid. We’ll see how the repeats line up.

Mom didn’t get anything except some sheep buttons for Junior. She was disappointed that there were no live animals, but happy with her buttons.

Picked up some fliers for 2010 Fibre Week at Olds College, Olds, AB (June 25-July 2) and Interlacement a symposium celebrating the guild’s 75th anniversary at Capilano University, North Vancouver, BC (May 17-23, 2010).

Gas was 13 cents cheaper per litre out in Abbotsford than Vancouver/Burnaby, so we topped off the tank and headed home just in time to pickup Tiger and get the girls to their dance class. When I got to the rec centre, I discovered that the Middle Eastern Dance Association was having their Grande Bazaar. Tempting, but after all the entrance fees I had been paying lately, plus the fact that I’m not dancing anymore (but, but: shiny, jingly, colourful pretties!) I decided against. Maybe I’ll change my mind and go tomorrow. Maybe I’ll take up belly dancing again…?

Next up:

BC GEM SHOW April 9, 10 & 11, 2010 Ag-Rec Building, Central Fraser Valley Fairgrounds, 32470 - Haida Drive, Abbotsford, British Columbia.

* Friday: 10:00am - 8:00pm
* Saturday: 10:00am - 6:00pm
* Sunday: 10:00am - 6:00pm

Admission: Adults - $6.00, Students (6 - 17) - $2.00, Under 6 (accompanied by an adult) - Free

See you there!

In any case, today I went to the Canadian Bead Oasis Show, Vancouver 2010 MARCH 26-28 2010 Empire Landmark Hotel Lower Level, Coal Harbour Room 1400 Robson St. Vancouver BC Canada

SHOW HOURS Friday noon - 8pm Saturday 10am - 6pm Sunday 11am - 5pm http://www.oasisshows.com/Vancouver/2010/

Went Friday noon-ish. No problems finding street parking (meters).

I went just for the vendor room, because that’s the kinda gal I am. $6 to get in for one day, $10 for all weekend (Ah! I just checked the website to verify that, and noticed that seniors are $3. I thought about that when I was paying (for me and mom) but didn’t say anything. Could have saved $3. sigh)

It was small as these things go. Whole Bead which will be a month later has historically been more than twice as big (although not based on the current list on the site).

I started off reasonably well behaved resolving to scan the room first and price compare before buying until I came across an adorable lampworked glass sheep by Jan Parada of Killer Beeds. Things kinda went downhill self-control-wise from there. Next up, some partially frosted onyx disc beads, appealing to my sophisticated monochromatic self, from Universal Gems and Beads. I’m pretty sure Samrat doesn’t remember that I had a booth right next to his 3 (4?) years ago at the Fraser Valley Bead Show.

Moving methodically around the room, next I came to Bedrock Supply Ltd. and got a Eurotool metal hole punch plier (what’s sad about that link is that Eurotool itself only has PDF catalog pages, and Bedrock themselves have no picture for those particular pliers, sigh) I imagine hammering the ends of wire, punching holes in the paddle ends and then attaching dangles…

Turning around, I scanned NLM Glass Arts where I thought: I don’t need regular beads, I have lots… Hey! Size 3/0 beads! The holes must be at last 2.5mm, maybe even 3!! The cord I could fit through there, and then there’s this other project I’m thinking of and these other beads would be nice and … Well, you know how it goes.

Lastly, I went back to ACC Bead where my magpie self picked up some blingtastic rhinestone balls and spacers.

Tomorrow, FIBRES WEST. See ya there! 8)

Friday, March 26th (10-8) Saturday, March 27th (10-5), 2010 AgRec Building Abbotsford Exhibition Park Grounds, 32470 Haida Drive, Abbotsford, BC http://www.fibreswest.com/

Firstly, I’m allergic to wool, so I knit with cotton, rayon and the like, plus acrylic and other artificial fibres that don’t mimic wool too closely because I’ve gotten an allergic reaction off of some of those as well. sigh Anyhow, good quality (non-dishcloth quality) cotton isn’t cheap. I estimated the cost of this blanket at $500 easy. Way more if you count the yarn I bought when I was in the store getting yarn for the blanket. 8)

So, Tiger watched me knit this blanket for years and years. Eventually she decided she wanted to try knitting too. I had visions of little chubby fists clutching sharpened sticks go running around the room and disaster following so I put this off for a long time, but somewhere around late 4 I gave it a go. As might be expected she quickly lost interest and there was no running around with sharpened sticks (yay!). Off and on over the years we tried knitting and there was never enough attention span to learn the skill until she joined the knitting club at school (the benefits of peer pressure?).

Now, knitting is a skill that I acquired pretty much in parallel with that blanket. I remember trying somewhere in my tween era and failing dismally, but crochet was always something I could do. Thus in my mind crochet is easier than knitting and quick to pick up.

A couple of years back (when Tiger was 8 or so), when amigurumi was picking up steam I figured my cute-loving offspring would enjoy this movement and I should be able to teach the skills she needed to participate. bzzt! No luck there.

I tried again later with a Klutz Crochet book/kit in the hopes that the author had some insight into teaching children that I didn’t. This also didn’t work.

For a while now I’ve been thinking it’s me. Something prevents me from sharing my knowledge, especially with my kids. For some cosmically unjust reason I need to pay other people to give my kids the skills I should be able to freely share. But then, at least in this case, I had a breakthrough. I had just discovered Prudence Mapstone’s (free form knitting and crochet (scrumbling) pioneer/evangelist) new blog. Now, as anyone trying to learn a new skill will tell you, it’s disheartening to attempt something and not end up with something even close to what is in the picture. But with scrumbling, there is no wrong way to do it. You could never point to anything and say “that’s an error” or “that was a mistake” it all just adds more texture. So, I went and dug out my The Crochet Workbook and Jan Messent’s Wool ‘n Magic (Search Press Classics) and showed her the pretty pictures.

“See how cool it all is?” “Anything you do is fine!” “There’s no way to make a mistake.” And it worked. She DCs like gangbusters now and occasionally breaks into a fringy bit on whim. I showed her ruffles and she’s experimenting with those too.

She pointed out that her 2 siblings (7 and 5) don’t have their baby blankets yet. sigh I mentioned that I was thinking of scrumbling their blankets and have a few patches so far and she’s offered to help. 8) Maybe we can finish them before anyone else turns 10. 8)