yarn store in osaka

i found out about another yarn store in osaka: avril. from what i can figure out, it’s in the daimaru in shinsaibashi. i’ll have to check it out next time i am in the area.

my first sock is done, i just need to kitchener stitch the toe (which ok i have been putting off because the first time i tried it it didn’t come out right so i had to undo it). and on the second sock i am at the point where i have to start shaping the heel. so they are coming along quite nicely and i am starting to think of what to make next. i want to make some toe up socks. or maybe a top down sweater? something easy that i can knit on the plane on the way to australia in a couple of weeks.

which reminds me, i should also start looking for yarn stores in sydney. so far i have only found tapestry craft.

social change

i just listened to a podcast about kiva, a webased non-profit that allows the average person to make micro loans to the working poor in developing countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Ecuador, etc. basically it makes it possible for the average person like you or i to make a real change in the world. i think the concept is incredibly cool. kudos to them for implementing such a great idea.

stamp

yesterday we went on an adventure to the hyogo museum of ceramic art. getting there turned out to be quite the adventure and after finding ourselves on a train going in the opposite direction of where we needed to go, we got off at the next stop, which was this stop Sanda. i spotted this stamp and stamped my little moleskine notebook that i always carry around. these stamps can be found in train stations and popular attractions such as musems and other sightseeing spots, and each stamp has a special design for each particular location. i think collecting these stamps is a popular hobby.

as far as the museum went, we never actually made it to the actual museum! we did find some kind of pottery compound though that is next to the museum and spent the afternoon making pottery. they are supposed to mail our pieces to us, so i guess i’ll see the results in about 2 months.

and as far as my socks are coming along, the first sock is ready for the toe decrease, and in anticipation of spending a fair bit of time knitting on the train on the way to the pottery museum i actually cast on for the next sock. unfortunately i spent about 80% of my time on the train and waiting at various points while we got lost etc. de-tangling the yarn because i couldn’t find the start of the skein. this happens to me about 50% of the time when i start something from a new skein, i really need to learn if there is some kind of system to it.

connected

yesterday i found some time to work on my socks and finished the heel flap. after that point i wasn’t sure what the next step was. i wasn’t near a computer to check knitty, but being really keen to keep working on my socks i tried to access the knitty site via my cell phone’s web browser. the main page loaded but unfortunately, the socks 101 page wouldn’t. and then i had to stop knitting anyway. wouldn’t it be great if we could look up patterns from our cell phones? then you’d never have to worry if you forgot the pattern when you went to buy yarn, or weren’t sure what to do next. anyway, i finished turning the heel last night once i got home and now i am in the home stretch, just gonna finish the foot and toes. hopefully it will go quickly.

zee sock

so i was able to pick up a set of bamboo circular needles today. unfortunately, in the mean time being on double pointed needles and getting carried around in my bag kind of made a mess of things so i had to frog a good inch. but i guess it’s ok because i’m finding that knitting magic loop style is way easier and better than with those too long double pointeds so it’ll go quicker now (i hope). the circulars also make it a lot easier to knit on the subway.

knitting style

i taught myself how to knit one year over christmas break when i was in univeristy. i taught myself from a knitting book for kids i borrowed from the library. the book was for kids and just made everything really simple. so i had no idea that there were multiple ways to knit (english & continental) for the longest time. then a year or so later, my roomate had her mom teach her how to knit and her mom taught her continental. all i saw was how my friend was doing it different from me and i tried to emulate her, but kept reverting back to my own way. anyway, thanks to the book i picked up last week on knitting (Teach Yourself Visually Knitting), i realized that i knit english style and purl continental style. weird! so while i’ve been knitting my socks, i’ve made a conscious effort to knit continental and i’m happy to say that it’s working, more or less. it’s starting to feel more natural and i feel like it’s faster too.

tomorrow i’m going to try to buy some circular needles coz i’ve decided my longish double pointed needles from the hundred yen shop are just too long for using on the crowded subway. they make my knitting look like a very pointy and very dangerous death star of some sort!

craftyness

first picture is the pretty origami paper i bought last week at tokyu hands. except i haven’t made anything with it yet. i think i will end up making little paper kimonos to put on cards. and maybe some boxes. i really like the way the little boxes came out. i made them in (uglier) cheap paper i bought to try first. i also made a monkey but after that completely lost interest. for some reason if it involves “pasting” separate sheets together, i don’t find it so interesting.

i think it’s neat to make something out of 1 sheet of paper, strictly folding it it, and having it turn out to be some intricate yet recognizable shape. once pasting together a bunch of relatively simple shapes is in order, i find it boring. and unfortunately i didn’t look at the book i bought quite closely enough before buying it, but most of the interesting looking projects are actually a number of simple shapes pasted together. such as the moneky, which is 3 separate shapes. so my interest in origami has waned and on to knitting we go.

today was grey and rainy, perfect weather to hole up at home and do some knitting. first order was to gather supplies to start making my first pair of socks. first i went to the hundred yen shop (dollar store) and bought a couple of sets of bamboo double pointed needles. then i went to union wool to find some yarn to make socks and was ever so delighted to find some regia sock yarn, on sale too! so i bought a couple of skeins.

i started knitting the first sock, with help from socks 101 and socks 101 on knitty while watching what the bleep do we know.

white day

today is white day. here in japan on valentine’s day, it’s women who give men chocolates and things on valentines day. so white day is when it’s women’s turns to receive chocolates and things. so today the boy bought me this cake for white day. he said the cake shop was very busy, full of japanese men buying cakes. it was so busy they were almost going to run out of cakes! anyway, yay cake. i love the cakes in japan. they come in perfect little individual sized portions and look so exquisitely delicious. and of course they taste delicious too!

snowboarding in Nagano

at the end of february a friend and i went snowboarding in Hakuba, Nagano for a couple of days. here is a video i shot with my pentax optio w10 of us going down a run.

it was pretty cool to be sitting at the top of a run and doing up our bindings while overlooking rice fields down in the valley below.

went to Shukugawa

today i got a haircut. and it’s not post-worthy because the last time i got a haircut was over six months ago when i was in the philippines. no, it’s post-worthy because it was a surprisingly ‘japanese’ experience. the whole routine of getting your hair washed before the cut? well yes i sat on the usual chair that leans way back so your head can go over the sink, except this special japanese chair also gave a back massage at the same time! and then after getting lathered up and waiting for the few minutes for it to infuse or whatever special shampoo is supposed to, there was the hot (and soothing!) compress or whatever they slid under my neck. and while the stylist assistant washed my hair she put a square of tissue over my face. i’m not sure what the purpose was, whether to protect my face from stray splashes of water or to give me some ‘privacy’? but seriously: so japanese! it was great.