Saturday 30 November 2013

Cats and Magazines

Friday was a pretty good day for me. It all started with my first ever visit to a cat cafe.
Cat Cafe Tokyo
I arrived about 10 minutes after opening and it was still breakfast time.
Cat Cafe Tokyo
When I go again (when, not if) I will make it a little later as anyone who knows cats knows that they do not want to be stroked while eating and that after eating they just want to have a wash. The one little guy I'd spotted online and particularly wanted to look at was this one.
Cat Cafe Tokyo
He hasn't got his ears down in anger - he's one of those cornish type cats who have folded down ears which I've never seen in real life before. So cute! But he was clearly not in the best of moods and took himself up to the highest possible perch and this is all I saw of him after that.
Cat Cafe Tokyo
The place was very clean but with lots of toys and sleeping places for the cats. This is where folded-ears was - right at the top.
Cat Cafe Tokyo
I positioned myself on the heated carpet (like an electric blanket but a carpet which are apparently quite coming in homes where carpeting is really unusual) and these two settled near me.
Cat Cafe Tokyo
I mainly stroked the brown one who got more and more elongated as she got more and more relaxed.
Cat Cafe Tokyo
Her buddy wasn't terribly friendly until the owner (who all the cats adored and who clearly adored all of them) came over to brush her. She rolled on her back and...
Cat Cafe Tokyo
...then she just stayed like that! So adorable! She was quite happy for any of us to come and stroke her incredibly soft tummy and as for her pinkest nose and paws...squee!
White Cat Montage
Initially being there was quite bizarre and freaky but as my hour came to an end (I could have stayed longer but thought that was enough for a first trip) I felt much more comfortable.
Cat Montage 2

After such excitement I thought I'd spend the afternoon curled up with a craft magazine and found a place nearby called Libro. Ladies with a penchant for japanese craft books and magazines may want to sit down.
Knitting and Crochet:
Craft Books 1
Sewing and Patchwork:
Craft Books
"Japanese Crafts":
Craft Books
That wasn't the whole selection either. There were so many more on every topic you can imagine. I went home with just one which I thought was amazingly strong willed of me.

Thursday 28 November 2013

Black Tie Boogie - More of a Wiggle

Hello! Thank you for visiting today as part of the hop or welcome back for regular visitors. Today is the last day of the Black Tie Boogie so thanks to XX for organising everything. You can see the full schedule here.

For those not familiar with my back story, suffice to say I move to Japan 10 days ago for my husband's work and am currently a first time housewife living in a tiny temporary flat near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. I've yet to visit the fabric district here but have been to a couple of craft shops and am looking forward to developing a more in depth knowledge of others in the near future!

My offering for the hop is only part complete. I am currently without a sewing machine so while I've used fusible webbing to layout my appliqué on some linen, apologies that I haven't yet had a chance to add the machine embroidered embellishment I plan on.
Untitled
Cluck! I used these free templates as a basis and added two cats.
Applique coasters in progress
These are going to be coasters in our new home so I need to make sure they are finished by the 14th which is (fingers crossed) when we move in.

As I've only just arrived here I can't really offer a giveaway but I hope you'll visit the others taking part today:


Wednesday 27 November 2013

Crochet for a New Home

Our first choice flat has fallen through but we have an alternative that is looking good so far. This is the outside.
our new home
There is a fairly busy road one block away but as often happens in Tokyo, once you get even that short distance from the road the noise is barely audible. I have taken measurements for curtains and intend to get started on those as soon as I have a sewing machine handy. I'll be heading to the fabric district for all that.

I had a very pleasant few hours in Okadaya - an amazing craft shop over 4 floors - and came home with some yarn for my replacement babette type blanket.
wool
Ten different colours of this lovely 100% wool which I think must be Japanese although the brand is "spectre modem" - I've yet to check it on Ravelry. It's a light aran and machine washable. I've sketched out a plan and combinations of colours.
crochet workspace
I've done a series of small squares and started this bigger one.
crochet in progress
I'm using the babette pattern for the squares as far as I can remember it.

I am heading for an outing this afternoon but have yet to decide where to go. Pooch is not keen on museums but does like gardens so I think it'll be one of the former. I had a visit to the most amazing pound shop you've ever seen the other day which had quite a few other goggle eyed westerners in it. (Actually a 100 Yen shop although with tax everything is Y105. £1 is about Y150 so it's really less than a pound.) I will be going back once the move in date is confirmed as it had lovely kitchen things which will do us very nicely. I must take some photos on my next visit and share them with you!

Sunday 24 November 2013

Tokyo Update

When I first said I was coming here a lot of people talked about how odd some Japanese ways of life seem to us. I have always been clear that I don't want to point and laugh because there's probably a good reason for a lot of them, but then I saw these 'traffic cones'.
pink rabbit traffic cones
I really can't see why they are pink rabbits, but then the Japanese do definitely seem to love to turn everything into a character. As I said in my last post, all the shops have their own creature/sprite type thing and lots of everyday items have bears or pandas or cats on them - not that I'm complaining about the latter. Even Father Christmas is caricatured.
Thinking Woman's Father Christmas
This one saw him as a kind of professor while there were others of him in different guises.

Today being Monday Pooch's official first week started this morning and over the weekend we came across this window display of his game.
Pooch with PES or 'Winning Eleven'
Pro Evolution Soccer is called 'Winning Eleven' in Japan. Meanwhile our boxes that were shipped by air arrived yesterday - on a Sunday in a 2-hour timed slot which is amazingly efficient - and so I have the few craft supplies I packed which has meant I've been able to get on with the bloghop I'm in on Friday at last. Talk about leaving it to the last minute! I thought about pulling out several times but was determined to fulfil the requirements. The theme is chickens and we need some coasters so...I'll reveal what I've made on Friday! Meanwhile you can see what others have made using this timetable:

November 19
November 20
November 21
                                          Pigtales and Quilts ~ Happy Birthday Thearica !

November 22
November 25
November 26
November 27
November 28