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
 

Friday 22 November 2013

Welcome to Tokyo!

To my amazement and shock, we are actually living in Tokyo.
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I was working until the Friday and we left on Tuesday so there was really no time to think about what it was going to be like or plan what i was going to do when I arrived. Pooch of course started work the morning after we arrived - poor thing - but that left me as a sudden housewife with everything that gave my day structure taken away in the blink of a 12 hour plane journey. Bit Freaky. However, we have a lovely lady helping us with the transition who dropped Pooch off at work (after taking us to register as Aliens) and then showed me around the area before taking me to the supermarket to pick up some basics. I was very grateful for this since buying things like vegetable oil when the labels are all in Japanese would have been a bit of a gamble without her. I have since been shopping a couple of times by myself and have got to know the neighbourhood around our temporary flat quite well. This is our road.
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It is all, naturally, a little bit different to what I'm used to but I'm getting used to it. Characters play a large part in most shop windows and some have physical representations of their icons or of something more traditional like the lucky cat - my favourite! This one is outside a photography shop on the corner.
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There is less cross over between shops so you get shops just selling cigarettes for example and others just selling alcohol. I have no idea what the World Liquor System is.
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And space is at a premium. Everywhere. The solutions to this vary from supermarket aisles so narrow you have to go down them sideways to things like this - a petrol station.
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You may have noticed you can't see any pumps on the ground and that is because there aren't any. Look up though and you'll see them dangling down by the smaller Eneos sign. They are lowered to you once you have parked. Parking itself is at a premium so a lot of places have multi-story parking by which I mean you park on the ground floor and a mechanism then stacks your car on top of another one with just an inch or two between them. You get a ticket and when you scan the paid ticket later the mechanism trundles your car back to you. This was a huge skyscraper so large it had a ring road inside it which had a version of this parking.
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You park your car in the perspex bay and it trundles into the wall cavity on rails. It gets whisked below the building somewhere and I mean b.e.l.o.w. Most of these large buildings have 4 basement levels so I can only guess how far down the cars are kept. All to minimise the space they take up.

This temporary flat was provided by the company so is a little small - like a studio flat - but has the benefit of being very central. We are about 6 minutes walk from the Imperial Palace Gardens. I tootled up there yesterday and visited the Craft Gallery which was wonderful but I'll save that for another time. The walk there showed the pressures of space with wooded walks surrounded by major roads.
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The rest of Tokyo is nowhere near as leafy as this but there are small parks spread around and you are usually protected from the noise of the traffic, even if it is still visible.
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We went house hunting yesterday and struck gold on our second viewing - just as well since our first had polished concrete walls and was like someone's garage - and about the same size. So we may well be living in an area called Hiroo (pronounced h'i-roh) after this first month. Today we are going shopping for mobile phones and possibly a bank account for me. I get to choose my debit card colour from 32 different options. Next week I plan to make my first craft foray although the craft gods have been smiling on me - there is button shop about 2 minutes walk away. I have yet to visit but have stood outside and oogled several times. A love of buttons goes beyond language barriers.


Sunday 3 November 2013

The Rainbow Sphere

Finally finished this EPP beauty. The pattern is from Geta's Quilting Studio.
Sphere patchwork
You can see the mess of packing around it. I've almost finished attaching it to where it was being finished for. I might have a pic of that before I go. Meanwhile a close up.
Sphere patchwork close up
It could definitely do with an iron but the iron's gone. Ah well.

The rest of my free time is spent packing or saying goodbye to people. But I do find a few moments for aimless patchwork. Results so far...
Miniature hexagons
No idea what I'll do with them. Pretty though.
Minature hexagons close up

The flights are now booked for the 19th so I'm on a countdown. Bit odd but will be good to get there and start setting up a new craft lair!

Sunday 27 October 2013

Mending

All this getting ready to leave the country means I can no longer avoid my mending pile. It either gets mended or its out! After a recent session I was struck at the different approaches I'd taken. The first was on a dress I only wear for work.

I managed to catch my shoulder on a coat rack of all things and ripped two neat holes in the jersey fabric. I would have ironed some mending fabric to the back had the lining not been left intact. Hence my slightly bunched up but kind of not noticeable mend.
Mending
The second one was on the front of a t-shirt I onky wear "off duty". The hole is to the left of my belly button and of course I could have gone for a subtle fix but then there is all this aimless patchwork i've been doing lately.
Mending with patchwork
I darned the hole first, naturally, before appliqueing the hexagon over the top.



Meanwhile it looks like we will be flying on the 19th. Im working until the 15th and everything we're transporting gets collected that day so that leaves me just evenings and next Saturday so finish my packing and clearing. God. In the meantime the aimless patchwork continues...

Sunday 20 October 2013

Knitting, Sewing, Shoes On Ebay

These are the kind of bargains you hope you'll find when you look for something you really want.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/littlelixie/m.html


Quilting patterns, screen printing kit, knitting machine, swift, ball winder, pattern books, bag handles and more, all starting at 99p.

Friday 18 October 2013

Aimless Patchwork

In between working full-time, applying for visas-certificates-godknowswhatelse, clearing the flat of everything I'm not taking, ebaying or donating that lot, packing up what I am taking, eating and sleeping, I have been doing pointless patchwork.
Aimless patchwork
I don't know what I'm making. All I know is that those hexagons are 1/3". It is the only thing I do at the moment that doesn't require decisions.

I may be a bit behind with communicating with people. Sorry about that but it's been a tough few weeks and it won't be over til we get to Tokyo, and then it'll be a different kind of busy!

One thing - I'm giving away back copies of Interweave Knits on Ravelry.

Monday 14 October 2013

First Knitting Lesson and Stockings

While helping my sister move I took some time out to introduce Jasmine to her future. 
Jasmine and lixie
She isn't quite coordinated enough for the process but give it a few months and I'm sure she'll be churning out dishcloths like a natural. 

This weekend saw lots more preparation for the move to Tokyo plus these finally got finished. 
Patchwork Christmas Stockings
Not their best angle - better like this:
Patchwork Christmas Stockings
There we have the first 3 for my sister, her husband and Jasmine, the next two for Deb and Sean, the next two for Mum and Rob and the last two for Pooch and I. Plus I already have the presents to fill all of them! (I hope.) I thought I had better get it done before I moved. 
Patchwork Christmas Stockings
I'm really happy with them! 

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Pigtail Hat

I was ogling various version of hats that make babies look like they have elaborate hairstyles. They all seemed to cost a lot though so I decided I could do it myself. I used a free 6-12 months crochet beanie pattern and added pigtails.
Jasmine and mum
That is Jasmine with my Mum, Nana, looking very cheerful. I spent a lot of the weekend entertaining her which was pretty good. My sister was moving house and with my back I'm not much good at lifting so I tended to focus on her and the dog. Once grandad had finished the lifting he had a go.
Jasmine and rob
They both seemed similarly focussed on why Sir Prancealot's feet were crackling although Rob bravely held back from chewing on them.

My main reason for being there, other than dog and baby duties, was to add blackout lining to the curtains. Needless to say within a minute of starting to sew the needle broke and it being my mum's machine I didn't have a spare.

Me: When did you last change the needle?
Mum: They need changing?

Mind you, I didn't know that til I was about 25.

Work today saw a new addition to my Harassment Log. The boys consider it a sign of great achievement to get a mention in it now.
Harassment log
When I mention the harassment log most people assume I'm making it up but this stuff actually does happen in the office. The boys have asked for a copy of it to remind them of me after I go.

Sunday 29 September 2013

The Clearout Continues

There are now 23 lots of fabric and craft related goods on ebay. All start at 99p so grab yourself a bargain.

In between wading through fabric like J-Lo waded through Anaconda country I have finally managed to secure these little suckers.
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I was going to go with little pearl ones but then these, which were on a vintage Woolworths card, seemed to call to me.
Autumn jasmine with Buttons
I am rather pleased with this, even though those buttonholes were a little unevenly spaced ahem, and the demure nature of it. Of course that all goes out the window with the Minx Mini.
Jasmine Minx with buttons
Red and purple sequin stripes are hardly subtle so I thought I might as well make the buttons interesting.
Sunflower Buttons

I would have to say I am rather enjoying actually using my stash instead of saving it for some mystical 'special' project.
all projects are special
Of course with the wool it probably helps that I've hardly got any anymore. I was torn when designing a little christmas cardigan for Jasmine. Should I use what I had - not the most christmassy colours - or actually buy some? I decided to use what I had. I also think that if I use green buttons with one red one it will be reminiscent of a christmas pudding!
Let It Snow Intarsia

Saturday 28 September 2013

A Little Challenge

Since life is fairly full at the moment I have resisted signing up for any new swaps or a-longs. Or I had until yesterday when I saw Marci Girl talking about the one-block-wonder quilt along.
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It is being run by Quilter in the Closet and is a very low key one. I have wanted to try this technique since I saw this one at the Festival of Quilts.
Out of Africa by Janet Boult
I think it was my favourite one overall.
from Out of Africa by Janet Boult
So now I 'just' need to choose my fabric and start cutting. I want to avoid buying any new fabric so I might end up making a very small quilt top if I can only find a fat quarter in something suitable!

Friday 27 September 2013

Read My Cake

Wedding cake
Yes, it is true. I got married yesterday morning! The boys at work think it is truly rock and roll to take a few hours off work to get married and then go back to work afterwards. I did make sure I had a good wedding cake though. Not that Pooch had any. Within about 2 minutes of cutting the first slice this was all that was left.
Untitled
That goo you can see oozing out there is dulche de leche. Uhuh. You know how good that bad boy tasted. Beas of Bloomsbury did me truly proud. Plus huge thanks to Rachel who came along as one of our witnesses (and therefore one of our two guests) who took the official wedding photo.
Wedding photo
Those are my bridal jeans right there. Pooch's were purple.

So now the visa process can begin properly and we might at some point have a proper moving date. Meanwhile I have another batch of craft bits to put on ebay. It won't be as large as when I sold all my yarn but it should still be worth an online rummage. I'll post here when I get it all listed.

Sunday 15 September 2013

Pin It Real Good

Yay! I love these blog hops! I am definitely going to continue taking part in them when we're living in Tokyo. In the meantime...
Thanks to Madame Samm, Hop Hostess Kristen and all for making this one happen! I actually won a prize at the end of the last bloghop - the Hexi one - so I am feeling very happy!

I had been using the same pin cushion for aaaaaaages - a 6 petal flower one - before making a batch of jar-head ones (I've been watching a lot of JAG and have gone all military!) and then of course I added Wonky the mouse to my collection as part of the Hexi Hop. Here they are:
Patchwork Pincushions 2
But for this bloghop I had lots of ideas and things I wanted to try so I ended up making another three! First up a little dresden flower using japanese fabric scraps - one to take to Tokyo! This is only my second dresden - my first was as part of the dresden bloghop! I like using these hops to learn a new technique. Which is what I did with my attempt at scrappy sashiko. I explained my thinking behind this here. I added a loop to this one so I have a better chance to not losing it! Then finally there is the folded one. Details of how I'd change my method next time here too. Here are my happy trio.
Patchwork Pincushions
I think my favourite is this one:
Dresden Pin Cushion
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So there we go! No giveaway this time but my pattern for this little pouch to be made from four 5" charm squares is still available.
charm
Enjoy!

Now please go and visit all my Pin Cushion buddies for today on the hop...

Tiny Clothes and Stockings

The great thing about knitting for babies is how quickly the little things fly off the needles. Behold! 'Jasmine the Minx' and the more demure 'Autumn Jasmine'.
Jasmine the Minx Cardigan
Autumn Cardigan
Neither have buttons yet. For someone who adores buttons so much I seem to have a terrible time sewing them on to clothes. I am thinking some little wired pearl ones for the Autumn cardi and some big red or purple ones on the Minx. Patterns are both free and are Autumn Leaves and the Easy Baby Cardigan which I've made before. On this one I put the fastenings over to one side and made them loops instead of ties.

In between knitting I have also been doing a little sewing. My Christmas stockings are gradually moving on!
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I was going to outline the initials with Clover mini bias tape in silver but it was too darn fiddly. I went with bondaweb and zig zag using some nice shiny silver thread.
applique initial P
My one is the only one I've made up so far and I've yet to add lining and the all important hanging loop.
stocking in progress
After all, what else would you attach it to the mantlepiece with?!