I have been on many business trips since the beginning of this year, and one of the most memorable was to Taiwan. I had never been there before even though I felt that it is very close, so I could visit anytime. It’s a bit similar to how people in Kyoto have surprisingly never been to Kiyomizu-dera Temple.
When I was a child, Taiwan was one of the countries I was quite familiar with since my father often went there on business, and his Taiwanese work colleagues and their relatives came to visit our house. During my school years, I always had more Taiwanese tea at home than green tea, and although I couldn't make good green tea, I knew how to brew oolong tea. I thought I could go to Taiwan anytime, but somehow here I am at my age never having been.
I had always heard that handicrafts are very popular in Taiwan, but it seems that knitting has really taken off in the past few years, and finally a yarn festival started there last year. One of the key players in this is Ting of Ting Knitting Studio, the yarn store we visited this time during our trip to Taiwan.
Ting’s yarn store is very lovely, and I have been following her on Instagram for a few years now. It’s amazing how she knits a lot of samples and posts videos showing them being worn. When I received an inquiry about selling in Wanderlust Linen in her shop, I said yes, even though we don't actually sell wholesale. Taiwan is hot and the climate is perfect for working with linen yarns. I had wanted to visit Taiwan and Ting's yarn store, so it was like a godsend for me.
That said, last year we really didn’t have any stock of the linen yarn, and it was only this year that we were finally able to make the deal happen. In any case, I had a strong desire to visit to Taiwan, so I was determined to do a pop-up as soon as Wanderlust Linen hit the shelves.
And so it was that this visit to Taiwan (Taipei) finally came to fruition. I was the one who decided to go, but I all I did was the visiting part. amirisu has a Taiwanese staff member, Mei, a buyer, so she did all the planning, booking reservations, and guiding during the visit. Thank you!
Next time I will introduce the places we visited.