Running around

Finally. Finally, I got a time to sit down and write here. Write, about this;

The care package from Janet, that is. I received these goodies (and some more for my husband) about a month ago, briefly thanked her over twitter and just got caught by a swarm of meetings.

I am assigned to a board member of the parents' association at my daughter's kindergarten. Well, I think I am supposed to use the word "chosen", but that oh-no-inescapable feeling I got when I picked up the phone call from the teacher... I won't say I don't feel honored. But....

Anyway, with an exception during holidays (Golden Week, from the end of April to the first week of May, when we visited my husband's family), not a single week has passed without meeting with other board members (four of us, including me). It's a joy to work with these wonderful ladies - I'm already thinking of Christmas presents for each of them - but a huge portion of my mental power and time have to go outside my house.

And, I had to visit new Avril store at Sanjo, Kyoto, of course.

The store moved one floor above of old place and got a bigger space. My daughter and I had a wonderful time with my newly-met friends from Holland. As usual, I was overwhelmed by the variety and beauty of their yarn and bought only a couple of hair-tie kits.

It's an awful excuse, I know, but I just couldn't find time for the blog.

But again, this doesn't mean I don't have any time to enjoy the gift. Thank you, Janet - I think I'm going into a "lace phase" this spring / summer.

My plain leaf scarf got a blocking today.

I think I'm going to have less time with blog this year, but not so less time with knitting. Some of meetings shall allow me to have some extra knitting time. Hopefully.

Spring has come, at last.

We had a pretty cold March this year. Had snow twice, even on 30th.

I was so glad to have a light but warm pullover, and wore it every day under my micro-fleece parka from UNIQLO. Yes, I got some pilling around the hip and underarms. That's wool.

Morning temperature stayed low even after cherry blossom season has begun. Thanks to that, we had one of the best cherry blossom seasons in years.

And, my daughter and I found out that ankle warmers are great to wear. Whenever a little more warmth than a pair of wool socks and leggings are needed, they are perfect.

They are small, so, knitting-wise, it's a good opportunity for a challenge. No heels, no fingers nor thumbs, just a tube. Can be knit in any weight of yarn.

Using just two balls of Noro-ish color, 50% acrylic 50% wool worsted yarn (260JPY per 40g/80m ball) and several hours of mindless work, I got these.

A pair for my daughter, another for me.

As Yarn Harlot says, legwarmers must be back. If you doubt, start with anklewarmers.

Just cast on as many stitches as you need for your mittens/socks, knit 4-5 inches of tube. That's it. If you want a pair that match each other, repeat once more. Or not. Not a big deal as non-matching pair of socks.

Kitty, kitty, knitty kitten

I, can't be more proud of myself right now.

I have finished this, my "Raspberry Chocolate Kitten" pullover ;

Pattern; Colette Pullover by Veronik Avery, Interweave Knits 2007 Winter.

Yarn; 8 balls (1 oz. = 28 g, 100m per ball) of Patons Purple Heather in colorway 75 (brown), and 5.6 skeins (50 g per skein) of Osaka TOA Prism in red. Both were in my mother's stash (now mine), and at least 30 years old. I strongly believe both yarns are discontinued.

Needles; US 3 (body and sleeves) and US 2 (cuffs, collar and plackets) circular and DPNs (Clover Takumi bamboo US 3 circs and KnitPicks Harmony circs and DPNs US 3 & 2)

It took about a year for me to complete. I am extremely satisfied by what I have achieved.

Yes, I made a mistake which I finally decided to live with.

(between the second and third kitten rows below BO/CO for steek, I skipped one row in red. )

But cutting my first steeks for a garment and picking up collars were fun.

And I found beautiful buttons.

All in all, I had an unbelievably good experience knitting from a magazine pattern, using my mom's yarn and actually FINISH it.

I am still too excited to describe all my feelings about it. I just love this sweater. It's light (weighs less than 500g) and warm. It needs to be handwashed, and it deserves to be done so.

When I grow up...

When my daughter (5 years old) is asked "what do you want to be when you grow up?", she answers "A professional baseball player." These days however, she says she thinks it would be very nice if she can marry to one of her classmates (I'll keep it anonymous). But another girl in her class wants to marry him, too. Uh-oh.

The other day, on the way home from the kindergarten, my daughter said,

"Mom, I want to be an angel. I want to help the God's work."

(We talk in Japanese, by the way. )

Since Christmas, she must have been thinking a lot about angels.

So I answered, "Well, my dear, I'm afraid it's going to be really hard for me and Dad to see you if you become an angel. We are going to miss our little girl so much."

Daughter; "Hmm."

Me; "Besides, there are a lot of other ways to help the God, by making people happy, by doing your job."

Daughter; "Hmm. ... A-ha! Like a soccer player?"

Me; "Soccer player? .... Y.. Yeah, exactly! You can make the team supporter very happy when you win a game."

Apparently, she is thinking a lot about her job opportunity.

Anyway, it looks that the last thing she wants to be when she grow up is an office worker who is bound to her own cubicle/desk only.

The way I think right

I bought this bag at H.E.B. grocery store by the Market Street in The Woodlands, TX. It's made by the women in developing countries and sold at "fair price" to support them. I just liked the color, fabric, and the size (though now I feel it's a bit too small) of the bag, and felt the happiness that I can buy it. I used and used and used the bag so the shoulder strap finally started to break apart.

Now, if buying these bags really help the fellow women, I should just throw it away and buy a new one so I can do my share of helping more, shouldn't I?

But, the body of the bag is still good enough for everyday use. I don't want to trash it.

The torn fabric of the shoulder strap reminded me of a small tip about productivity.

When you find a small paper clip on the floor of your office, don't pick it up - your wage during doing so is higher than the cost of one small paper clip.

I don't want to live like that. I would rather pick up all the paper clips on the entire floor and make a funny hedgehog out of them.

I patched the strap. Doing so doesn't pay to the women who makes bags, but I feel more connected to them.

So, this is my "paper-clip picking" project. I have a couple more.

My husband wore this cotton shirts out. He gave it to me "to use whatever way you like" - cut into wipe cloth, clean the bathroom, whatever.

So, I patched it.

Now I got a soft, nice spring coat / work shirt.

Next? I'm going to frog my daughter's fit-perfectly-last-year-but-now-it-is-way-too-small socks and reknit pairs for her again. One frogged, two more to go.

Best part is, that my daughter wanted me to do so.

2010

My resolution for 2009 wasn't so ambitious, but a little too much for me. This year, I will concentrate only on ... losing weight.

No, it's not a joke.

As the first step, I signed up for an online (on-cell-phone, more precisely) fitness program. It costs me only 210 yen per month, but it's not free. I think paying money (how little it is) gives me a good motivation not to drop out. I can do yoga or Pilates right here in my living room, right at the moment I got 5 minutes before picking up my daughter. I got no excuse not to do any workout.

For knitting, I decided to make NO plan this year. I'll knit anything I want, at any pace I'm comfortable with. I'll make no promise to anyone, including myself, to make something.

Only exception is to plan and attend once-a-month meeting with Kansai Knitters Meetup Group in Kyoto.

In short, "think small" is my motto for this year. Yes, I want smaller me.

Santa, santa

I have found a good Santa Clause ornament.

It was on a pretty expensive side for its size, but we think it will make us remember that it was the year my daughter played "Little Star" for the kindergarten Nativity Play.

And, as a knitter, I couldn't resist to make this;

He kind of looks like my ob/gyn doctor in the US. I thinks it's because he is wearing a mustache, not a beard.

First thing I made for my tree this year, though, was a pretty pom-pom Santa on an amigurumi book. I changed it to simplify the pattern a little so I can make it only the yarns I had in hand, and ended up...

on a creature like this. I don't think he looks like Santa, but really really like him.

I used a pom-pom maker from Clover (the 65mm & 85mm combo one). I wasn't a pom-pom supporter until I tried it. Now? I can't wait to make a new pom-pom (or two) for my daughter's pink hat which lost one because it was made too sloppy.

I profess my belief in Santa. Really. I believe that he exists and is giving away toys to children all over the world.

Or, why we adults keep on buying toys for children at this time of the year?

This year, my husband and I are getting a bicycle (blue, with Hello Kitty on it) for my daughter. We are having so much fun playing the roles of Santa's agent.

Merry Christmas, to y'all!