MOONSTITCHES

Strickjacke

First of all, let me thank you for your incredible response. You are too good. And I am feeling bad because I said I would get back to you after the last posting and didn't. Especially if your are waiting for an email... please accept my apologies. At the moment we are all just suffering under the humid heat that finally set in, need so much time for all that has to be done, and in the evening I am too tired to think and write and instead just knit away and relax. We don't use air condition because we think it's so silly to cool down a place that's barely insulated, such a waste of energy, also eyes get dry and hurt. So it's really hot at home and I need so much time for everything because I feel so exhausted. What helps is to write down a list of little tasks, switch on some music that sets the right rhythm to stay in motion and work on that list in units of 30 minutes... If you have some great tips to get things done, please tell me.

The cardigan. Knitted, yes, but also a cardigan for knitting, therefore I called it Strickjacke - literally translated it would be something like knitting jacket like hiking boots or sleeping bag. I am knitting a lot in public, as I said before, throughout the year. Our winters here in the Kanto plain aren't very cold and nice sweater or cardigan are sufficient for most days.
And a cozy cardigan with short sleeves that don't interfere with your knitting sounded like a perfect idea to me. I liked the DROPS pattern 109-8 from the new Fall and Winter Collection 2008 as it was, but quickly imagined a version with short sleeves, just long enough to keep my arms warm.

The yarn I got only days before the pattern came out. It's Puppy Diffusion Alpaca Roving in a very nice heathery grey, soft, heavy, warm and shedding like mad. Courtenay of raptwithfiber had been warning me... the long alpaca hairs were all over the place once I started knitting. Time will tell if the shedding will stop at some point. I think it already got less, now that the yarn got knitted.

Once again I was happy about being on ravelry, because there I recently discovered Courtenay's gorgeous Buttony (here the ravelry link, knitted in a yarn I was coveting for months... found it in early spring, on sale at Yuzawaya, it looked beautiful, felt nice, but I wasn't sure how it would hold up... looked as if it would felt and pill quickly. So when I saw Courtenay's sweater I asked her about the yarn and she said it was fine. Besides the shedding. So I finally got that yarn. And I think it is fine, indeed.

Besides the sleeves I obviously did change, I did graft the hood instead of sewing which the pattern called for. Therefore I ended knitting the hood with 2 1/2 rows of garter stitch before kitchener stitching the halves together. With a half row of garter stitch a gap of stockinette stitch is avoided. Still some kind of seam is obvious. yet it is smooth and much nicer than an actual seam, I think.
The sleeves' length is a little bit on the boring side but it is decidedly above the elbow, so it seems like a good length to be short but also warm.

I would have liked a different hood, not such a pointy one but a round shaped, something I'd like to learn when doing a hooded sweater again, some day.

It was funny to knit with such a bulky yarn, I couldn't knit quickly, 7mm needles feel cumbersome to me. But despite of it it's so great how fast a piece is growing when using bulky yarn.

All in all I am quite happy how my Strickjacke turned out, an easy to folloe, simple pattern resulting in a simple cardigan.

So much for today.
Stay well and take good care of yourself!

PS: The next cardigan is already on the needles, I am making a Forecast in plain red merino.

Organic with a little bit of Plastic

Enough time for a quick posting about my latest knitting before picking up my daughter from kindergarten...

The cardigan I am working on has become too big of a project to be carried around and knitted while standing under a Ginkgo tree on the playground. So yesterday I quickly grabbed some Hamanaka Sonomono (just as it is, organic, not coloured alpaca yarn, wrote down the pattern for the Cashmere Neckwarmer of which there are plenty of beautiful and inspiring versions to be seen on ravelry... the neck warmer wasn't even on my queue... I saw quite pretty versions just yesterday morning (when I was supposed to be blogging) and suddenly wanted one. This is how ravelry works for me. And why this is apparently becoming a knitting blog...

Almost completely knitted while waiting under the tree...and a challenge to model it while there is summer in Japan.

I loved the stitch pattern a lot, it's going so quickly and looking so nice. The yarn... love it! Last winter I had been making a beret from it that got frogged, so I am really happy it found its way into a satisfying project eventually.

The closure, not as the pattern describes. I had this slice of bamboo I once found in a park just after the park's bamboo fences got renewed. It was all covered with mud but under that it seemed to be quite interesting. (I will later look for photos of those fences and add it to my Flickr stream.) I liked the shape of the piece and thought of making something of it... or maybe just use it as pendant on a leather strip or some linen thread.
Yesterday it became a closure for my neckwarmer. I used a plastic snap button and *shush* my hot glue pistol and then attached all to the fabric just where it seemed to belong. Well, and once it's closed you don't see the plastic snap button or think of hot glue. And I still call it my Organic (neckwarmer).

Take care! Must hurry.

Wooden Finds

Hi there!
I tried to post yesterday but ran out of time in the morning... tried again in the evening because this morning I finally, finally wanted to start writing emails again... I must be the slowest person on earth, yet extremely quick to distract from whatever I am attempting to do... I wonder if I should write a note right now and put it in front of me... "Do post about your wooden finds now!"... I do. .... So I wrote the note and wish I could lock out myself of ravelry for the next hour, because that is where the devil is (besides my kitchen sink and the laundry basket which never seem to be empty since WEEKS)... and responding to your comments and emails I must save for the evening, otherwise I'll never get back to more regular blogging.

So, for a long time I didn't share any of my findings here in Japan... but I constantly stumble over nice things in thrift stores, which are called risaikuru (recycle) shops here.

My favourite corner in the nearby thrift store is the 10 Yen table. 10 Yen are about 6 Euro Cents or 9 US Cents... I really don't know why often the most cutest items get onto that table... like this here:

Or these...a little pricey ;) because each figure was 10 Yen, but still...

Or this... so lovely!

Well, and besides recycle shops the garbage on the streets is always a good source...

Once it was cleaned thoroughly (never forget there are lots of cockroaches living in this country, too) and the surface nourished a little, it was looking just fine.

I want to close this report on my wooden findings with a photo of buttons. New buttons for a new cardigan I am working on.

The cardigan-to-be is knitted after that DROPS pattern, using a wool/alpaca roving and almost finished. I really was bitten by the knitting bug.

More about the cardigan once I have finished it.

Hope you are doing well!

Artful Blogging, now for real

 

All things happen eventually and so my copy of Artful Blogging arrived about two weeks ago and today I am finally sharing it with you... my dearest cardigan friends ;) (Still not over your amazing response!!! Thank you so much. This is extremely motivating and I am on the verge of trying to knit something much more challenging than I usually dare, but more about it when I actually start with it)

I also made this scarf. 

The yarn, a typical impulse purchase, one ball only because it just looked so pretty. Rested in my stash for about a year, because I couldn't think of making anything from it that wasn't totally superfluous. An odd placemat to satisfy my need for fondling scratchy surfaces?
The simple, garter stitch scarf turned out to be a possibility. Quite wearable.

I am not crazy for Noro, somehow it just doesn't speak to me. I like its rustic character and wouldn't mind finding vegetable matter in it while knitting. What I don't like that much is that when making something from it I wouldn't be responsible for those odd, colour changes. Noro would. Knitting with Noro is like sewing a quilt with charm packs, no matter how disturbing the colour combinations in one skein of Noro are. No offence to anybody who enjoys doing so, it's just not my thing.
However, I like how this scarf turned out.

I should mention that in fact I didn't find any knots or grass in my  skein of Blossom  (Noro, discontinued).

As for Artful Blogging (new issue coming soon!), the whole magazine looks really good. Inspiring. Tons of photos and interesting stories. If I wouldn't have a blog already, I truly would have started one the day I saw the issue. I am glad having had the chance to be part of it and will keep my copy to impress my grandchildren one day... ;)

Larger photos over there...

Take care!

Blogs featured in Artful Blogging, Summer 2008

Stonesoup
It's A Whimsical Life
Zoranaland
The Ribboned Crown
Small Creations
My Creative Soul
Something Sublime
The Pastoral Dollmaker
Holly Doodle Designs
Kimberly Hurst Photography
Bella Pink Cafe
Sagworks
Scrum Dilly Dilly
Simple Sparrow
From the Inside Out
La Fee Coriandre
Secret Notebooks - Wild Pages
Elsita
R2Art Studio
Rodrigvitz Style 

Mixed Media Monday
WHIPUP
ONE World - ONE Heart

Edit: I had to come back for adding the links to the blogs and sites that are being featured in the current issue of Artful Blogging... sorry for publishing the unfinished posting, there just wasn't enough time earlier today.

Edit#2: Here I am again... After reading your first comments on this posting I am feeling a bit more comfortable writing about MOONSTITCHES being featured in a magazine... I am really not good in promoting myself and don't talk much about the things I do. And make mosaics of photos in case I think it's just too much to show them all... I am feeling confident enough now to exchange the mosaic I have been posting earlier with the actual photos. Thank you.

74-26 in a Haze

My first Hourglass Sweater did grace me with not less than nine left over balls of Diasilkombrer which I was not so happy with anyway. Given that it needed only six balls of that yarn in the first place (I sure bought enough yarn to not run out of it), I felt really bad about that part of my stash.

The problem with the yarn was that it quickly, after just a few times of wearing the sweater, looked misty or hazy. It also pilled quite diligently. About three weeks ago I thought (while thinking about my stash - you do that too, don't you?!) why not put the Diasilkombrer in a pretty haze deliberately, knitting it two stranded with some super fluffy mohair like the Hamanaka Parfait I used for the border of my Fancy Kerchief?

I did a swatch right away and was very happy with the result. Clearly a way to rescue two yarns from my stash at the same time!
As for the Parfait I should say that while I love this yarn for borders or accents when crocheting (in combination with some straight and honest unfluffy rustic wool), I clearly do not like mohair in general. I did have four balls of the Parfait because I once thought I would use it for a lace shawl, but as it seems one of the things I feel most uncomfortable with is knitting lace with light, fluffy mohair.

I then looked for a pattern on DROPS and settled on 74-26 because it looked as it would be roomy enough for my not so thin arms. Et voila! It was the right pattern. I did knit myself a nice, little cardigan. So happy and excited about it! I changed the neckline a bit, made the cardigan in size M and am quite content with all the haze around me. The Diasilkombrer seems well protected and also a bit hidden and I really like the colours together.

The shell buttons are from some piece of clothing I have been throwing out about 15 years ago, perfect size and shade, all minty-purple-shimmering...

I couldn't be happier about this cardigan!

Oh, and I start to get used to that new composer here on Typepad.

Thanks for reading!

Center and a Border

This new look of the compose editor here on Typepad keeps disturbing me, seriously disturbing. I guess I would have got used to it if I'd be posting more often but as things are, it doesn't feel like being at home. So, better come here more often to adept...

The new quilt in my life... I have been working on it.

Not much to say about it... Liberty, leaves, lots of tiny flowers, white. All from stash. hence the different shades of white fabric...
The center block was comfort zone, I did what I like to do, making lots of tiny stitches by hand while appliqueing. But then came the border... machine piecing, which I really am not used to. Never conquered it although having tried often... Anita's great instructions led me, step by step, to the finished border. The result looks just fine, but machine piecing still feels like walking blindfolded to me. It is so strange not to sew on lines like I do when hand sewing my Popstars or the Jane feat. Rotkaeppchen blocks... until the final seam I was not convinced to end up with a decent result.
The reason for this mistrust in what I was doing simply is that I normally don't work precisely, I just go with the flow and react to things, build in bumps, don't plan too much - as long as I don't sew on lines, which is pretty much like paint by numbers.

Sewing this first border was quite a challenge for me. I guess I must work on precise cutting to be able to trust myself more when it comes to sewing.

Also I must work on keeping focus. This might save me from having a stiff neck in the future... Didn't I say I would work on my quilts I oh so urgently wanted to finish?! I got sidetracked, again, started knitting a cardigan two weeks ago... finished it yesterday (obviously could focus on that project, at least!). Now that that project is off the needles, I will return to quilting my Liberty Leaves. I really would like to see them finished and on my bed.

Hope you are all well!

Back soon with the cardigan.

Prendre la Liberté

Prendre la Liberté is what I did last week. And I am not just talking Liberty here, actually I finally, after a long time of not crafting on a daily basis (aside from knitting which I do everyday while being on the kindergarten's playground) I enjoyed one whole week of cutting, machine piecing, hand sewing and quilting, planning more quilts, making sketches... I am now dealing with what has been neglecting during this fabulous week, but I think it was worth it. At the beginning of the week I finally took the plunge and started quilting the Liberty Leaves. It'll be a rather dense quilting, so it takes some time till all is done.

While working on the leaves I was thinking that this quilt was supposed to be a quick one which had been started as a simple, machine pieced quilt that could be finished almost instantly... while working on my Pop Stars (which I planned to finish during the first half of 2008)... Seems I find myself in a sort of patchwork spiral because on Friday last week I had the brilliant idea of squeezing in a simple, machine pieced quilt that could be finished almost instantly... this time, however, I am pretty certain I will succeed... but let's see where we are at the end of the month ;)

I took the scraps that were left over after cutting the leaves from those striped sheets, cut small squares, cut strips of solids I had in my stash and made Courthouse Steps blocks in a Denyse Schmidt's What a Bunch of Squares manner. This block really is a quick one and so I had my twelve blocks done in a day. It's a pretty uninspired project but I love simple blocks like the Courthouse Steps or Log Cabin and never get tired of them. And as I said, that one shall really be a quick quilt.

And if I wasn't busy enough, over the weekend I started another quilt... a rather slow natured one, yes, another one of those, because I love accumulating long term quilt projects which make me worry if I will be living long enough to finish them...

It will be the center of my Medallion Quilt. Again I am using leftovers from the Liberty Leaves, seems a bit unoriginal and you may already be fed up with all those tiny flowers, but I feel good using up all those scraps and no doubt it will turn out pretty. So? Why not.

And speaking of scraps: the lovely Kristine of Townmouse recently sent me a wonderful selection of precious Liberty bits... *sigh* Once again, Kristine, thank you so much for this generous and inspiring gift! And you, dear readers, be prepared for more tiny flowers projects...
And while we're at it, I would like to finally introduce this adorable guy we got about two years ago. Of course I have been thanking Alison before, but I always intended to blog about him, so, eventually, after all this time, here he is!

And because this blog is for taking record of my all my crafty endeavours... some nicely bedded owls I made a few months ago for an exchange of sweets with Josie over at mr. monkeysuit (oh, what a cute picnic they just had!)

The end.

Have a nice day!

Artful Blogging

Or the lack thereof... A little kindergarten related business around two weeks ago and I found myself unable to start blogging again. Quite rusty these days... Some of you wrote to me about discovering MOONSTITCHES in Artful Blogging (scroll down), so nice of you to drop me a line! I haven't yet answered you all (fully blown writer's blockage), so let me send you a quick Thank You right now! I always hoped my copy of the issue would arrive some day and I actually had something exciting to blog about, but no, it didn't show up - and I was doomed to keep silent. Lame excuse to abandon this place, I know.

The magazine still is not here, but anyway, it seems to be a lucky for me (had a bird droppings experience earlier the day) and the blog, here are the things I have been making lately.

A market bag. Cut in February when I read about Jennifer's Daikon Ultimatum. There was no pattern, I just tried to get as much as possible out of my little piece of KIVET (MARIMEKKO). Exposed selvedge, naturally. At the bottom it is constructed like a simple paper bag which I did because a common bottom would have stolen too much of the precious selvedge. So happy to have been sewing this WIP finally.

Also I made a smock that has been lingering around here in a cut out state for almost as long as the bag. For that I used a pattern from Swany Kamakura which I got about two years ago when I purchased these. Hmmmm... there are a lot of beautiful fabrics on my shelves which never got used. Too bad.

I altered the pattern, made a different closure, thought a little more colour would be suiting this rather pale Lecien (Birds - My Folklore) I had on stash.

Hope you are all well!

Quilt WIP, ninth part

I am a little scared of preparing the sandwich in order to quilt it. Because I am not... ready for quilting. The top is, the back, too, and I have made a large enough piece of batting. I's my first large quilt, so naturally I am not too certain it will go smoothly. Then I still haven't decided which pattern would suit. So, I rather sit here, showing you the latest developments of the quilt instead of bringing it forward.

From strips I had left over after making the leaves, a 16 cm wide, long row was pieced, bringing two parts of backing fabric together. The quilt measures about 135 cm x 227 cm, so I had to piece the back to make it wide enough. The backing fabric's colour is something like this, called indignant over there, which I cannot quite see though, calm is what comes to my mind when looking at it. As a reoccurring element the dots are making their appearance on the back, too, but that's all. Quite simple.

Hope you'll be having a lovely day!

Back from that other planet...

... called Golden Week. I don't remember any Golden Week with such bad weather like this year (as far we here in the Kanto area are concerned). Rain, too chilly, unsteady or not enough wind for the giant kites... Of course the sun came out again when everybody had to go back to work, really too bad.
So, with the child back to the kindergarten and the husband out of the house again as well, this blogging girl is resuming course, too. Hi!

Here a few photos from the day we went to see the kites...

Very much longed for kakigori (shaved ice) season has kicked off.

A kite.

Back with new photos of the leaves quilt soon!