A quick trip report

Yes, here I am in China again. This time, since I'm here for quite some time, I thought it would be a good idea to try and post a few updates from here. Generally, being in China means being indoors. I go from the hotel, to the factory, to the hotel. There's little opportunity to explore since I'm generally working all day and it's really not safe for a woman to wander around at night. That being said, here's my office:



Note there are a lot of things to drink on the table. See the green cans? It's beer. First of all, why they'd think that I want to drink all day beats the heck out of me. Second - it's been sitting in a warm room all day! Even less incentive.

If you were to stop by, you'd see this:



yep, that's me - typing away crazily while fighting off jet lag. There are those darned warm beers again. What's that? You're wondering what's outside the window? Ah, let me oblidge you:



Factories. Lots of factories. Probably filled with people that look a lot like me, typing away at emails, and fighting off jet lag. Sound familiar? This particular part of China is actually quite modern - and quite clean. There are "shanty towns" that I drive past on the way in every day, but they're mostly hidden behind the riot of foliage that just loves this hot, humid, wet climate. The jungle would dearly love to have this area back ...

I've also said that there is an upside to being over here - quality knitting time. Here's what happened on the flight over:



This is a Tuscany shawl from Amy Singers "No Sheep For You" book. I've almost finished 13 repeats of the pattern and I've still got a TON of yarn left over. This is being knit in Hand Maiden Sea Silk - one of the 150g skeins, of course. This is what I'm talking about:



Dude - there's acres of shawl still in that ball! I'm betting that I'll get 17 repeats out of this baby (Grumperina would have done the math, but alas, no scale) before the ball gives out. It'll be rather huge, me thinks. Should be done this weekend - or sooner if I get really sick of it. I do still have socks to knit.

It's the treadmill for me tonight - and 8 grueling miles. I hate the treadmill so much that I refuse to take a picture. Then again, maybe I'll take one next week - just to show you all what a torture device really looks like.