MOONSTITCHES

More to see...

Second batch is up.

Hope you'll enjoy!

Quilt Festival

The first batch of photos is up.

Bedtime. Good Night.

Beret Trap

Isn't this the cutest little thing you can put on top of a beret? I love it.

This is the Tweed Beret from Interweave Knits, Winter 2006. I skipped the red version and went straight to the misty grey, which the magazine recommended for "days when you're feeling serious". Germans always feel serious... see?!

The tweed I used  looks nice but ITCHES, so I made a second one, using two strands of fingering weight charcoal merino yarn and some black/white sock wool I had at hand... I made the section beneath the decrease rounds longer and knitted a turning round of purled stitches and a hem facing like the Hourglass Sweater has.
That version caught my sweet girl's attention but also itches. So I am making a third one, using an alpaca blend.
And a fourth one in pink merino, as requested.

Till later!

Slow Me, Fast Food

Trying to continue posting before sinking completely into hibernation...

While I very much like the clear sight in winter - the snow covered nearby mountains look so great! - I can't wait  for spring and even more for summer with its high temperature and exhausting humidity. Currently I feel like living in a refrigerator, it's so chilly at home and dark, too. I saw people with short sleeves and bare feet on some blogs, enjoying their cozy homes while there was snow outside the houses... unthinkable here around. Houses are normally so poorly insulated, it really gets cold in winter.  I am not ready for a kotatsu yet, just wrapping myself up in blankets and shawls, waiting for spring - getting slow.

Above a ishiyaki imo, a hot, sweet potato, baked on stones, a winter speciality. Mine came from the supermarket and was eaten right from the paper bag, cut on the ironing board because that was the nearest table-like thing when I wanted to eat the potato after returning home, hungry and in a hurry. Slow people always have to hurry.  Traditionally the potatoes are sold from little trucks that are driving through the streets, playing the well-known yaki imo song.

Last week went different from what I thought and so I only got the chance to go to see the quilts on Saturday, the last day of the show. Happy coincidence, Jennifer, who had been to the show earlier, went back to the exhibition on Saturday, too and we ran into each other. All that chatting with her sabotaged my mission to take as much photos as possible... so sorry for that, but it really was fun to meet her. Of course I still took a load of pictures and will upload them this night.

Thank you all so very much for the many, many compliments about the Hourglass Sweater!!! I was a bit surprised to get such a reaction, after all it was a simple, unexciting sweater that has been knitted a lot of times.  So, thank you for paying so much attention to my craftings and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment, that's very nice of you.

A word about the label since a few of you had been asking how I made it: I used a piece of linen that I reinforced with iron on web, that's working well to avoid too much fraying when being washed. Using fabric ink (heat fix) I stamped with my custom-made MOONSTITCHES stamp and that never used rubber stamp with the plum motif I once bought for making New Year's cards and never used... very happy that I could put that one to good use eventually.

 

Comfy Hourglass

The Hourglass Sweater, finally finished. Five times to be exact. The yoke apparently was so much fun, I ripped it four times to get it the way I had in mind. Not too high, not too low, neither with unequal numbers of stitches for the sleeves, nor ugly loose, baggy-ish... So many things can go wrong. Eventually it went just the way I was happy with. The yarn, Longchamp MISTY, colourway 2201 did not complain at all about all that ripping and reknitting, which was great to see. I like the subtle stripes and also the thin-thick-ish texture of the fabric. Funny effect on the sleeves.
After knitting body and sleeves I had to consult more experienced knitters at ravelry about how to bring it all together on one long needle, the same difficulties I experienced last time making the sweater...

I used thicker yarn than last time, made it one size larger (chest 104 cm) to have a sweater to wear over something, like a blouse or so. Also I made the body longer and for the yoke I added 5 additional decrease rounds, ending up with a yoke 18.5 cm high instead of 16.5 cm. And I switched to a thinner needle for knitting the yoke. My impatience to finish the sweater made me knit too fast, the stitches got rather loose, so I went down from 4.5 mm to 3.9 mm which worked well.

Early plum blossoms in the park inspired me to use a plummy stamp to create a cute label. A label I had in mind all along but hadn't thought of adding anything to MOONSTITCHES.

And while speaking about cute plum blossoms...

The tea I am currently drinking... one most special New Year's edition from LUPICIA, in a golden tin, flavoured with shiso and beans. Very interesting. Very Japanese. When I first came to Japan I would flee whenever I smelled shiso, the same with nori, now I LOVE both... eight years under the Japanese sun...

This was my last Hourglass Sweater, next I'd like to try a cardigan, maybe with some cables, If I dare so. I think I'll make first contact with cables knitting myself a Tudora, Katrin's is so lovely and the pattern does not look too difficult. I noticed over at ravelry there are 185 projects listed for the Tudora, and it is in 467 queues... quite popular! I love, by the way, checking out patterns at ravelry, so great to see how  everything looks on actual people!
I am knitting a hat right now, accidentally felted one of my crocheted ones and needed a new one. So maybe at the weekend I can start with cables.

Until tomorrow!

Nothing New

Just in other colours. Birthday Christmas present (took me from September until December to send it, so a Christmas present it became...) for my sister. I was looking for a more homogeneous, somewhat muted yet fresh version. The yarn: Koigu KPPPM, colourways P610 and P511L.

She says she likes it. And, best of all, she took up knitting again after many years of not knitting. Makes me smile. Her too, I hope.

This was my third Chevron Scarf (Last Minute Knitted Gifts, Joelle Hoverson) and I think that was it, at least for a while, although I still have a lot of Koigu and also STR in my stash. Might try to actually knit socks with that yarn... some day.

On my Flickr account you find a photo of two Chevron Scarves I took for having a direct comparison of scarves knitted of STR and KPPPM. How much scarf is to be expected using only two skeins of Koigu (150 cm), how far do you get with two skeins of BMFA Socks That Rock mediumweight (too far, I stopped at around 215 cm, 242 g, 70 g remaining)?  Maybe somebody finds this information helpful when considering which yarn to use.
I prefer the Koigu because the knitted fabric almost feels like cotton, very nice to wear around the neck.

I will keep posting finished objects this week as I am equipped with some more time and in a mood of clearing, much needed clearing to start afresh.

See you!

Edited to add information about the yarn's colourways.

Scarlett goes random#5

To continue the series of random bits about me, let me tell you, although almost eight years living in Japan, I never ate at Yoshinoya's although I always was interested in going there. Just didn't happen.

Happy Monday to you!

Quilt Show

Just a quick one to tell you this has just started and of course I'll be going. Yet it is quite likely she might be going earlier, meaning: pictures from the show might appear on her Flickr account first. I am quite excited about the show and can't wait to get there.

Little Red Riding Hood meets Dear Jane®... E9, Quilt Jail, 35 pieces. Handsewn, of course, because I love slow crafting. I really do. Maybe this is because I am such a snail in real life... handpiecing just meets my natural pace.

Have a great weekend!

First Day of the Year

16 days into the new year already, not written a single post, 627 unread posts of you on my Bloglines, unanswered emails piling up, unwritten posts about my craftings, too... There will be no big resolutions regarding me getting a better (organised) person this year as I really am not the kind of girl that sticks to any great plans, so I  guess the best thing to do is to start just somewhere.

On New Year's Day we went, just like last year (love traditions!), to a nearby shrine to exchange Dagny's  Hamaya, a lucky charm in form of an arrow (sold at the shrine for 1500 Yen) that is supposed to ward off all evil and attract good luck during the year. Not so easy to break with such a new found tradition... one wouldn't risk misfortune by not getting a new arrow, right?

We love going to that shrine on New Year's Day because there is a little, very informal matsuri going on. Lots of food, games for the children (like catching fish with a paper net - which we don't do but it's adding to the good mood at those festivals anyway), cotton candy, people sitting by the fire, eating and drinking.
More photos here.

By the number of posts you all have been writing already I assume you had a great start into the new year and are bursting with crafty energy?!
Silently I have been doing some knitting and sewing, too, I'll do my best to get this tired old blog updated so you can all see how I spent my (not so much) time during the holidays.
Time to catch up.
Take care!