Healthy egoism

Here's my new partner. Yes. My bike.

(The one next to mine is my daughter's.)

Thousands, no, tens or hundreds of thousands of mothers who have small children in Japan does her daily running-around on bikes like this, on busy streets like.... (I tried to find a good pic on the net to show how our neighborhood street looks like, but failed. I think this movie comes close enough. First 20 second or so is inside the Kyoto Univ. campus, but after that the camera comes out on the streets.)

When we came back to Japan, my daughter was already 4 years old, weighed about 15 kg (33 lb). Before Japanese kids grow up to that size, they are usually well adapted to be carried around on mom's bikes. My daughter was not. And I was not fully confident about the safety, me myself have not ever be carried on my mother's bicycle, neither. And my neighborhood has everything within 15 minutes' walk. Grocery stores, post office, banks, doctor's office, kindergarten, play parks, subway & railway station, bus stops, you name it.

So, I happily postponed purchasing my bicycle "until the time comes."

My daughter appealed to me again and again how faster and happier she can go to the kindergarten if only I buy a bike with big carrier on the back and carry her. Like her friends' mothers do.

I just kept saying no. I wasn't sure I can safely give a big girl like her a ride. All these walking to and back from the kindergarten makes our legs stronger, and we can have a lot of fun along the way, like poking the ice on a very cold winter day, like doing word games (almost always shiritori).

Now, the time has come.

My daughter wished for a bicycle last Christmas, and the wish came true. Her bike had those small supportive wheels, and her riding speed didn't go too far faster than my walking/light jogging. This summer, she suddenly decided to get rid of the support (I am very sure it's related to witnessing her friend's riding technique.) and had achieved it. Now she rides faster, farther and oftener. I needed some technological support to keep on safely chasing her around.

I went to a good bicycle shop (on foot, of course) and talked with the bike-loving guy there for almost half an hour. We agreed that;

1) I don't need a child-carrier. (I waited for two full years just to avoid that.)

2) I don't need an electric bike. (It's just too heavy to put up on the upper rack at the apartment bike space.)

3) I ride inside Kyoto city area, which has busy streets and lots of narrow streets crossing each other, that I need a bike that stops and starts easily, hence, smaller wheels.

4) I like it "sporty". (More than a quarter on my "follow" list on twitter are pro bike racers.)

5) I have a good supportive bike store (which I was in at the moment) very close by.

His recommendation, and my choice, is Pulmino made by Gios. (HP doesn't have it listed on their "bikes" page. Maybe it's only for exports to Asia.) My first Italian vehicle in my life.

I needed a front carrier basket, but they didn't have a matching blue one. I would have plain metal one but then, my artist daughter said firmly, "NO, mom, this green one is much, much cuter."

We tried it on my light blue bike, and surprisingly, the color went along so pretty.

Thank goodness, for her artistic sense.

And, she named my bike, too. It's a boy, and his name is Gino.

I'm so happy she has good linguistic sense, too.

Summary of this Summer

I had intended to post to this blog AT LEAST once a month. It's a shame I skipped September, and didn't noticed that until today.

Anyway.

I got some knittings done.

Pattern; Ishbel by Ysolda Teague, in Whimsical Little Knits, mine is an autographed copy, gift from my dear knitting friend.

Yarn; Dainihon-KeitoUniversal HI STAR (lace weight), colorway 135, 55 g , which used be in my mother's stash and adopted by me (very happily).

I think this yarn is at least 30 years old, and surprisingly in good condition.

Needles; JP 5 (3.6 mm) 60 cm (24 in) bamboo circular needles

I made this shawl in this delicate grey yarn right as a preyer for my husband's grandmother, passed away in June (in this post). I finished it before her "49-days service" and gave it to my mother-in-law.

During the hottest-in-100-years summer this year, I could hardly touch my wools. My hands reached for some cotton, and for the first time in my life, stainless yarn.

This test piece scarf is made from Avril stainless-silk(grey, thinner one - naturally) and cotton (pale green) yarns, double stranded. I brought it around to everywhere because the pattern is piece'o'cake-y easy and memorable, and the yarns are only one skein (small cone, actually) each. This pic was taken when I went to a baseball game with my daughter.

On the contrary to my first plan (just take a look how this stainless yarn behaves and move on to next project), this 20-stitches wide scarf took forever to knit - and actually, not yet to finish.

reason 1);The cotton yarn feels like paper, which itself is not so bad, but needs a little care to pick up with the needles.

reason 2);The stainless yarn began to tangle badly after my careless tugs at 80% progress.

reason 3);I was busy to teach sawing to my 6-years old daughter.

This, is her first sawing swatch. I taught knitting before and she liked it, but holding two needles is a little bit too much for her little hands. Sawing needs only one tiny needle to manipulate. She LOVES sawing now.

During the summer break, she made several "pockets" and "mini-bags", and embroidered this bag;

See the stitches?

Blue line shows the ocean, and the yellow circle above is the sun. (by the stitch artist)

Yellow "pocket" is "to put in various small stuffs - train ticket, hair ties, and candies!"

I love this little crafter/artist in my family.

While she was at it, I made these (and the bag on pics above, for the record);

A new smock, and

a humongous hair-accessory.

She wants to be strong and cute like Cure-Sunshine.

Now, having a couple of weeks of autumn-ly weather, I'm back to my wools. Between the meetings and organizing a seminar on 10/30 with kindergarten PTA pals, my little non-toe socks projects are being done.

Little by little, one by one, as always.

Nice'n'slow

These couple of months, I'm trying to lose some weight, not really so successfully. Maybe I set my target too far away, to achieve too slowly (lose 8 kg = 17.6 lb until next spring, means, one kilogram per month). Maybe I'm taking the way too ineffective (No meal replacements, No fasting, No non-anything like non-carb/non-oil diet).

Or, maybe it's my life.

I have a six-year old, healthy and active girl to whom I want to show that "Life is good." It's very important to eat right, and, eat with joy. It's OK to have ice cream. It's perfectly OK to have doughnuts. Unless you're having too much of them (sigh.)

So far, my daughter is picking up good eating habit (fresh fruits after the bath) and good shopper's literacy ("Mom, I'll have this yogurt 'cause it says 4.2g of protein, which is the most in this shelf."). Doing oh-so good. As of today, she's about 21 kg and 113 cm (46.3 lb and 44.5 in). Right in the middle of the growth chart.

As her parents, my husband and I want her to keep on growing, keep on putting healthy weight. I heard some of her classmates at kindergarten talking of "getting too heavy on thighs" and it's so unhealthy of a six-year old. We want to and need to set a good model for her.

Problem is, we are both overweight.

My husband is doing pretty good. He walks to a farther train station, about 3 kilometers, most of weekdays. On weekends, he goes to driving range and once a month, goes out to golf. Or takes that active six-year-old to a nearby playground. He eats less carbs than his feeling wants. He has lost more than 6 kg since January. It's about halfway to his target weight.

Me? Uh. Lost mere 1kg in 2.5 month. It's still a long, long way to my target weight.

I bought a new pair of walking/running shoes. I never say "No" to my daughter when she wants to go to playground as long as we don't have any weather/air-pollution condition to stop us. I am keeping this policy for about a year already, but the major change recently is, I don't take my knitting to the playground any more. I do stretch, light exercise and jog instead. This seriously affects my productivity (.. or not really..), but I feel my metabolism is getting improved. Just feeling. It doesn't show, oh boy, it's so frustrating.

I eat smaller than before. Just I don't cut anything. I eat three times a day, and when I feel too hot, I even eat popsicles. Every time we eat, I talk with my daughter about what food does for us. Some food, like chicken breast and lean beef, make us muscle-er. Some, like doughnut, make us happy and energized. But they could make us chubby if we eat them too much.

I would try walking and jogging more if I don't need to take her with me everywhere I go (Summer break!). I would try harder diet regimen if I don't need to eat with her. And I would lose weight more effectively.

But, without her, I wouldn't have tried to live healthier, to live longer.

I feel OK not so successful about weight problem right now. It's not the number shown on the scales today. It's about my health twenty years later.

Because if my daughter becomes a mother at the same age as me, I'll be seventy years old when I hold my first grandchild. I'll have to be a very healthy old-ish lady to have lots of fun.

About the productivity, I would be able to knit more if I live longer.

Mittens and more (The one with a lot of links)

Since I gave up knitting Watermelon Cardigan, I now have 4,287 yards in total (minus half a 4-yr sized sleeve, but it's usable, too, in need), 13 colors of Knit Picks Palette.

This amount of yarn can be a burden. Or a joy.

It's simply a joy for me. Naturally.

One of my favorite knit designers, spillyjane uses Knit Picks Palette a lot. I did a quick pattern research, and found 23 mittens and socks of her design with Palette. So far, only a couple of them (Swedish fish and Willistead) are on my queue. My Palette stash is very heavy on greens and purples because, before Watermelon, I tried Tulip socks as a practice piece (sad over-preparation.) I don't have a lot of vivid colors such as orange and red. But I have a good amount of accent/background colors such as two balls of black and more than one and a half balls of white.

I thought I am out of my stranded colorwork phase, but, apparently, I'm still in there. My favorite designers list on Ravelry (SpillyJane, Kathleen Taylor, Nanette Blanchard, Eunny Jang, Tuulia Salmela ...) tells me so.

Let it go.

My daughter has turned to six years old. I still remember the blue clear sky I saw from the hospital room window just before the delivery. She came to this world in the full blast of Texas sun (of course the room was ACed, though).

This year, our home baker (my husband) was not available (just couldn't make the day off, didn't have to stay extra-time on his daughter's birthday. Not so bad deal as a Japanese office worker.) He, got a piece of artisan from a patisserie nearby his office.

(Am I a paranoia to edit the pic to erase her name on the chocolate plate? Maybe. Maybe not.)

The cake was only 12cm in diameter, so we figured out it's the right size for us, family of three to clear it up on one sitting. It was good. VERY good cake, with a perfect balance of sweetness, bitterness and fruitiness. It was moist, delicate and light.

But still, my husband is determined to bake his own for his daughter next year. His baking is, a sort of, like my knitting. He does it for himself and for the family who appreciates it.

On her 6th birthday, I made up my mind on a difficult issue in my stash/WIP.

It's my Watermelon Cardigan project. I fell in love with it, My daughter saw the picture and said "Cute." I got the pattern and all the yarn I need for the largest size (JUST in case I am not so quick) and made half a sleeve. Then, it started to seem... she doesn't like melons as food. She says it's "too sweet" or "not sweet enough" every time I give a piece for her. She "doesn't like the softness."

A while ago, I asked her if she wants the cardigan, and she said no, she'd rather want a slice of knitted watermelon toy.

Even after it was clear that I can't make the cardi for her anymore, I couldn't do anything on my Ravelry project page or the yarn. Until yesterday, when I noticed that she almost outgrew the largest size in the pattern.

It's over. I'll let it go. The yarn could have a better way to go than a overdued, grown-out sized, not-finished-at-all-even-one-sleeve cardigan. Sad. But a good dicision, I guess. (sob)

Now, it's time to hit Ravelry pattern search. (grin)

lace issue

About a month ago, I read this post on YarnHarlot's blog. Since then, I have been thinking about what makes a lace knitting a lace knitting.

In one sentence, for me, it goes this way;

To knit lace, you have to take care of what you going to have.

When I make a yarn-over, it creates; 1) a hole, and, 2) one stitch width of space.

When I make a ssk (or sl-k-po, whatever) or k2tog, it creates; 1) a bump, and, 2) one stitch less width of space.

If I want don't want to change the width of my project but want to have a series of decorative holes, I need to make the same numbers of ssks and k2togs combined as the yos. If I want to change the width to make it grow or shrink triangularly, I need to make more or less ssks and k2togs, at the same rate on both sides of the project. I need to keep track of those, mindfully or mindlessly, and systematically.

A hole-y fabric produced by too-thick-for-the-yarn needles lacks those works of mind. I can see the beauty of holes of that meshy project (whew, I spelled it correctly. Didn't double "s".) , I can't call it a lace.

It's like a garden. I could grow (by just not pulling) whatever seeds the birds scattered in my backyard (uh... pots on the balcony) and find whatever weeds coming up as beautiful as the most expensive orchid plant on e-bay. But it's not gardening. If I want to "garden", I should plan and make it materialize (at least, should try to make it happen). Even if the flower doesn't bloom in a color on the package, even if the only thing I harvest is one dried-up fruit of strawberry, that's gardening.

Seeding yos and k2togs sophisticatedly, and harvesting those (when purling through the WS) carefully with love, you can have a beautiful lace piece.

Summer. It's for gardening, and lace.

Living through

My husband's grandmother, Chiyoka oba-chan, (Gramma Chiyoka) passed away two weeks ago.

She lived a long life - Survived the Great Kanto Earthquake, lost her husband in the World War II, lost a son by an accident during climbing. Had three sons (lost one), six grandchildren (three boys, three girls) and four great-grandchildren (two boys, two girls).

I only met pretty long after she moved in to live with her third (youngest) son (my father-in-law). Only she and I were in the "could you pass me the soy sauce?" league when the family have deep-fried fish for dinner (the other family members likes Worcestershire sauce over soy.)

The funeral was a sad but peaceful one. Families, relatives, friends gathered together and remembered a great lady. All the people there remembered her saying "Thank you." a lot, her smile, and her good appetite. (I remember her happily eating "just a half" of a slice of toast AFTER eating whole bowl of ra-men noodle for lunch. I think she was 85 years old or so at the time.)

We miss her so much.

Before going to her funeral, I finished this pair of non-toe socks.

Pattern; Falling in Love by Anni Design (link is to Ravelry page)

Yarn; Patons Purple Heather 4ply, originally was in my mom's stash

Needles; KnitPicks Harmony DPNs US 1 1/2 (2.5mm)

What are these? Socks without toes? Leg warmers with heels? or Ankle warmers? Anyway, these are Christmas present #1 of 2010. For one of my friends at PTA. The room where our paper works and meetings happen is on the ground floor of the kindergarten chapel (built 80 years ago and made of wood). It is easy to imagine how cold it would be once the summer heat is gone. And I somewhat can't wait that weather.

After that, I casted on Ishbel by Ysolda Teague (in Whimsical Little Knits, which was sent as a part of Janet's care package - Thanks again, Janet!) with light grey lace weight. This yarn was in my mom's stash, too (- hey, I'm doing good on stash-busting!).

This Ishbel shawl is a personal prayer for Gramma Chiyoka. While I knit it, I think of her.