Where Inspiration Comes From

羽子板 連獅子, a photo by Garyou on Flickr.

The photo shows hagoita, a battledore, I saw at the Shimbashi-Embujo Theatre tonight. It was the last day of Januay Performance, so I went there. I don't usually go see plays on weekdays. It was special.

Hagoita is fundamentally used to hit a very small wood ball with feather, like a badminton racket hits a shuttlecock. Some hagoita are for display and they are very decorative. This is one of the decorative ones.
Moreover, this is so huge. Ordinary hagoita is larger than a table tennis racket and a little shorter than a badminton racket. This hagoita is almost as tall as an adult man.

Every time I go see plays, I'm inspired a lot. I want to tat something like a flower circles on a wall in a play, I want to knit something like checker-board pattern in kimono a character wear, and so on.

Kind of Origami

麻布かりんとの袋で作つたぽち袋, a photo by Garyou on Flickr.

One of my colleagues gave us karintoh, sweet crunchy snacks, the other day. They were put in the cute paper bags made with washi, Japanese paper.
I couldn't throw them away. I kept them and today I made pochi-bukuro with them.
Pochi-bukuro is a small envelope. We usually put some money in it and give to someone. It used to be a manner to roll money up with paper when you give money. That manner become old-fashined but still exists. You sometimes just use an envelope, sometimes use pochi-bukuro.
You can buy them at stationary stores. You can also make them with coloured paper, origami or chiyogami. I sometimes keep pretty wrapping paper and make pochi-bukuro with it. It's so fun.

What to Tat

Tatted Scarf, a photo by Garyou on Flickr.

It's snowing tonight. Before that it rained a lot so it won't be enough snow to make a snowman in the morning.

It is so cold and I'm working on my large project, a swirl jacket called Forest Fiesta.
At the same time, I want to tat something large as I've mentioned here several times.

I already got thread, I have shuttles, all right. All I have to do is starting.

The photo above is a scarf I made 5 years ago. It is the one and only large tatted scarf I made so far.

I love to tat something small such as motifs, bookmarks and so on, but I actually don't know what to do with them. Do you need so much bookmarks? I don't think so.
Tatting something large would make my tatting mojo satisfied and hopefully I can use it.



Via Flickr:
77 motifs
motif designed by FUJITO Teiko
Finished on 9 December 2007

Colour Revolution

Blue is my favourite colour. I remember I chose something blue instead of red when I was five years old. I also remember I was told "Why don't you take red one? You're a girl." at that time.
I did like red and pink when I was much younger. I preferred red sweater when I was three or four. I was not satisfied with the navy blue one that my mother made me put on. But as far as I can remember, that's the last time I preferred red stuff to blue. Ever since then, blue is the colour for me.

Knitting made some changes on my taste on colour.
The more I knit, the more colours I become to like.
Now I love autumn colourways so much.
I never thought of knitting with yellow yarn at all. I don't hesitate using yellow yarn now.

Knitting, crochet and tatting surely made my life more colourful than ever.

Oh, another thing is kabuki play, of course.
I went to see one tonight. It was fantastic.

Time, Time, Time

Another work week starts again and I'm already out of time for handcraft. It's 21:32 now and I'm still in a bus. I haven't had my supper yet. Should I skip it since it is late already? Or what.
Anyway, I must go to bed by midnight. No time for impulse actions.
I know that. I just can't resist them.

Above is what I wrote on the bus on the way home.
I've managed to knit for about half an hour. Well done, I think.
Sorry for all the complaint I made. It would be gone in a while.

Nothing New

I haven't started knitting a large stuff. 5 Jan. was the first day of work this year and I didn't enough time to do my handworks.

That doesn't sound quite right. Did I really run out of time? Didn't I waste my precious time?

Yes and no.
My boss thinks the company pays you for your time, not your work nor your attention. So I have to stay at the office even if I have no work to do. Well that's not right. My boss wouldn't care if I'm working or just killing my time at the office.

You can't choose your boss, so I have to deal with it.

I've been annoyed with that fact so I'm not feeling like to do anything.

Fortunately, we have three day-offs. I'm thinking of starting a new project this weekend.

By the way, I went to see kabuki today again. It was also fantastic.


I also made the New Year visit to Senso-ji Temple.

For Handcraft

I'm reading _Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play_ now. Once in a while, I pick up a book on time-management.
Do I want to achieve a lot in my work and finish house chores as quick as possible?
Well, yes, actually. But those are not the reasons to read time-management books.
All I want is more time to knit, tat, crochet, and spin.

The book I'm reading is mostly same as other books on same theme.
Try to minimize what you do.
Stop procrastination.
Keep in mind what you really want to achieve.

Every time I read this kind of book, I swear I won't read another one again. They are not so different. It's waste of time.
But, it might be something to improve my handcraft time, I think, and here I go again.

Maybe I should stop reading it and start my handcraft project.

Oh, by the way, I also need time to go see plays, especially kabuki and bunraku.
Today, I went to see one. It was oh so fabulous!

It's Getting Tougher Than Expected

But, fortunately, Metropolitan Tokyo is free from exposure.

I had to take a day-off today because the trains I take were out of service.

Tomorrow, I have to go to work no matter what happens. My boss told me so when I called.

I hope the trains would be in service.

Just as Ordinary

I'm doing fine. Do a bit of knitting, a bit of tatting, a bit of spinning, and a bit of crochet, and all.
I may face some difficulty, but I'm sure I'll be fine.
The photos bellow are what I've done recently.

The Colour of My Rainbow

Your rainbow is strongly shaded blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is says about you: You are a tranquil person. You appreciate friends who get along with one another. You share hobbies with friends and like trying to fit into their routines.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

Mmmh, a bit strange. The last part doesn't sound like me.

Knitting Mojo is Back!

At least it seems so to me.
I've been knitting a Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl for my friend with Cherry Tree Hills Super Sock Potluck. Feather and fan pattern is one of my favourite lacy pattern, but I'm not very good at knitting it. Maybe because of k2tog.
I've just finished knitting it yesterday and been not able to stop knitting since then.
There's a one different thing than usual. I'm knitting UFOs that I haven't picked them up for a long time.
I want to knit something new such as Mojo socks Clover Leaf Scarf.
Not now.
I have to finish my Baktus scarf and an Old Shale Cowl.

Mojo is back.

Struggling against Apathy

I went to a craft fair on the end of May. It is held in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture and it's one of the largest and most popular craft fairs in this country. It was my first time to go there.
I bought a tenugui ( a kind of long handkerchief, about a yard long), two bags of cashmere web, and a skein of silk yarn from Avril (you may know it as Habu).

I'm suffering from not-feel-like-to-do-anything feeling for almost half a year. I've done some knitting, crochet, tatting, and spinning, but none makes me feel happier as before. Even going to see kabuki doesn't attract me. How sad.
I've been prohibited by myself to write or say it, but it is time to be honest a bit.
I'm not going to stop doing them. I feel so just because I'm always lack of sleep.

Anyway, now I have some cashmere with me and I want to spin it with long draw method using a supported spindle. I believe that would give me soft and nice yarn. I tend to twist too much.
So, I just pick up my Tabachek Tibetan spindle and started spinning gray merino top. It's so beautiful, and also so soft and fun to spinning with.
Yeah, I still feel fun.

Iroiro Enhancement

I've watched a TV programme featuring a 100-year-old lady making small blankets for persons who are good to her.
First, she knits garter stitch motifs, 10 cm x 10 cm (4 inch x 4 inch, approx.) wide. Then, I assume she sews them together. At last, she adds crochet embellishment as an edging. Most of them are shell stitch edgings. It is a little smaller than an ordinary baby blanket, but large enough to cover adult laps and knees.
Her blanket is always checkerboard pattern and her sense of colour is quite unique. She insists on colours she uses very much.

It seemed to me that she's just begun knitting and crochet. Her hands are unstable while working and that doesn't seem due to her age. And a narrator said something like "she wanted to take advantage of her years and years of sewing experience," and "she has made 30 blankets in these two years."

Still, her stash is enormous for a small blanket knitter. She has several cardboard boxes full of skeins of yarn. In the programme, one of her daughters sent her another cardboard box full of balls of yarn.
Wow, how many blankets is she going to make?

If you have small stash, your choice of colour numbers would be limited. But if you have big stash.... well, maybe there'd be no "enough stash", but still, your choice would be less limited.
Her persistence on colours requires that much stash. So I think.

Now, is it ok for me to enhance my stash, then?

Something White

These days, I enjoy tatting with colourful threads. But once in a while, I desperately want to use white thread for lace.

My favourite shuttle is GR-8 shuttle. When I ordered it, I also bought a book, _Tatting the GR-8 Self-Closing Mock Ring_. It doesn't have colour pages, but the patterns in that book are so colourful. Most of them require two or more colours. This book was inspiring and still is.
Ever since I read the book, I've been rather a colourful tatter than a white one. Now I'm working with Iris's Beatrice in a kind of Lime and Violet colourway. It is beautiful and I love that.
But, suddenly I want to tat something white. White, traditional and dainty. That kind of lace.
I don't have a particular pattern in mind, so it would be just a whim and forgotten.
Now, back to Beatrice, lime and violet.

Life is Too Short to Untangle Yarn

And I mean it.

Oh, how I hate skeins! Skeins, skeins, skeins!
Here comes John Cleese in my mind. "I hate it! Oh, I hate it! I hate it!"

Well, I do have a ball winder and a swift. Even if I use them, once in a while, I end up with a messed up skein.
Why? I don't know.

This morning, again, I had to deal with a skein of yarn, ClassicElite's Alpaca Sox.
It is wonderful yarn. I really love it.
Still it came here as a skein.

I know some shops offer service winding up yarn into a ball or two.
I heared skein makes yarn relaxed and that is good for yarn. And I believe it.
So, I wind yarn up just before I start to knit.

Anyway, I finished winding the yarn up and it is over. It took me more than an hour. What a waste of time! Life is too short to do the things like that. There's no time, you know.

By the way, I'm going to knit socks for my father with Alpaca Sox. I searched for the pattern in Ravelry and queued so many sock patterns. I make a queue not to forget. If I really want to knit (or crochet) that pattern, immediately I cast on or start crochetting.
Ravelry queue is more or less a memo to me.

Oh, I'm "Chihiro" at Ravelry.

At Home

Beethoven's Variation on Dickey
Originally uploaded by Garyou.

In winter, I put on something I made every day.
I'm not a sweater-knitter, so usually I put on a hat, a cowl or a scarf or both, and a pair of fingerless gloves, mittens, or gloves when I go out. At the office, it is too cold or too warm. So it depends, but my cowl is almost always with me while I'm working. I often have soar throat. That's why.

What do I wear at home, then?
A dickey is a must. As written, my throat always hurts. Even in the middle of summer. Air conditioning must be a cause, but I'm not sure. Maybe the air ventilation of the office is not very good.
Anyway, my throat is somewhat sensitive. To protect it, I definitely need a dickey. Not a scarf, not a cowl (well, a cowl is a good choice, though), but a dickey at home.

And a pair of socks. Handknitted, of course.
The first thing I do when I get home from work is taking the socks off. These socks are not handcrafted. One of my faults is make a hole in the sock so easily and shortly. I'd really love to wear socks I made to work, but I don't. I don't want to darn my sock every night.
After taking my outdoor socks off, I put my handknitted socks immediately. They really make me feel relaxed and warm. So cosy. I've never thought handcraftd socks give me such comfort.

My dickey also makes me feel better. I'll never forget how I felt so good when I wore a dickey at the first time. It was so soothing. And you can put it on without thinking what to wear. Well, you need to think when you go out or you care about your outfit, but in that case, you just knit a lot of dickey. Some of them might fit your today's clothes.

Now my concern is what to wear when it gets warmer. Knit, tat, or crochet something really light and really making me feel cool? That's not a very bad idea. I still want to knit with wool yarn right now, though.

Got it

I've been mentally inactive. That's all.
I haven't done much of knitting, crochet, tatting, nor spinning lately. More precisely, since last week.
It was a bit scary to me that I wasn't able to write anything at all. My last entries are just like writings of elementary school pupil. Well, not only my latest entires, I know that.

There is a problem. When I'm menatlly inactive, I tend to become addicted to shopping. At the beginning of this month, I was pretty happy with my stash and didn't want to enhance it at all. I used yarns, threads, and fiber from my stash and I was very imaginative just to looked through them.
But not anymore.
I want everything I see. How can I afford them, anyway?

Oh well, I have to wait several more days to get over with this mental inactiveness. It is hard to go along with it, though. It's tough. But somehow I have always been able to muddle through. That's life.

Summer, Almost

It's getting warmer and warmer everyday. Actually, it's not warm. It's hot!!!
That means, the season of wool will soon be over. Maybe it's already been over.

I've started spinning last September. Is it possible to spin wool during summer? I'm afraid I can't stand that.

So, already I've got some silk. I'm thinking of spinning it with Turkish spindle.

Still Suffering from an Accident

I still felt dizzy this morning. In the afternoon, I felt a bit better. I just felt strange around that time.
But now, I'm suffering from a severe headache. It's something like twitching ache. I'm badly thirsty and don't want to knit, tat, crochet nor spin at all.

This morning, there was another injury accident on the same line. This time, I came to know that before I got on the train. I just chose other line and got to the office.
We have too many injury accidents by trains these days. I went to school by same bus and train I take to the office now, but when I was a highschool student, there were few accidents. For three years, I have hardly had hard time with the train accidents. The biggest problem I encountered at that time was an earthquake intensity 4 and all the trains were stopped. We had a long-distance running race on that day and were all too tired.

Well, I'd better go to bed right away.

No Yarn, No Fiber, No Thread

I'm just exhausted. I've been stuck in commute train for 105 minutes. One of the train went before us hit someone and we've all been stuck in messy crowded train. The train stopped compeletly for 30 mintues, or, at least the conductor said so. And usually I'm on board for a little more than 30 minutes.
The conductor told us not to get out of the train. It was so crowded and I was pushed from all sides. There is a passanger who leaned on others. How cruel!
I felt four times that I couldn't stand it anymore. I felt so dizzy. It was cold because the air-conditioning were running, but I broke out in a nervous sweat several times.
I thought of getting off at the next station, but I didn't. The next train would be much more crowded and I would miss the bus if I was too late.

I still feel dizzy. I hope I will not get cramps in my legs while I'm sleeping.