pinku

Swap Housekeeping

I want everyone to be as lucky as I am. Look at what I received from Stacey.

A bazillion hair ties in my fav colours and practical colours too! Cherry hair clips - cherries are SO me!! and the best ever pink and white dice earrings (bottom of the pic) wrapped up so prettily in a white box personalized just for me. I AM LUCKY. Now I remember why I love participating in swaps.

me sporting those cute hair clips (don't know what's up with that pasty face!)

HOWEVER, I know some of you have NOT received anything from your secret swap partner. Sorry I haven't replied to your emails yet, but I am tyring to organize my inbox - it's craziness in there. I apologize that it has taken me this long to get around to taking care of this matter. I will send out a group email to everyone today (or tomorrow). I have heard from a number of people apologizing that they haven't sent their stuff out yet, so I will contact their partners ASAP. Please email me if you still haven't sent out your package or received yours - thanks!!

Official OSW Club Member

I joined the club. You've seen a bunch already, but here's my OSW.

Pattern: need I say... OSW from Glampyre Yarn: 2 and a bit skeins of Rowan Cotton Tape in Dusk Gauge: 17 to 18 sts/4inches, so I ended up making a size bigger than I needed Needles: I think I used US size 9 denise needles and then I used about a US 5 or 6 for the ribbing. Sorry about my lack of certainty on the details here, but I've never been very good at keeping track of knitting details - that's probably why I'll never design!! I love how the cotton tape worked out and considering I only had these three skeins lying around - it was a perfect fit for the yarn.

Here's the back:

and a close-up of the sleeve:

BUT wait, I have another finished object to show you.....well, kind of. Here is a haphazard photo (taken at our Tokyo SNB solstice knitting night) of my striped knee-high sock that I finished during our trip to the US - there's nothing like nearly 30 hours of flying time to finish a knee-high sock....well, one anyway. I have cast on for the next one. Thanks so much for the yarn (Cascade Fixation), Nipper - I LOVE THESE SOCKS!! They were of course inspired by the socks in the first SNB book, but I knit this one from the toe up.

And to cap off this 'full of photos' Wednesday, here's a lowlight pic of us knitting by candlelight last night. Well, I never pulled my needles out, but everyone else did. Considering I stayed up until 2am the previous night finishing my OSW, I figured I had covered my knitting time anyway.

Frogging and Winding

I was using my ball winder the other morning to organize my stash a little. I had made some legwarmers, but never finished them so they got frogged. Darin thought it looked cool, so he took some video and turned it into this!!

I am nearly finished with my OSW. I am using stash yarn (which is very exciting) - actually some Rowan Cotton Tape in a discontinued blue - however it seems that I may even break into my third skein - hmmm. Halfway through I realized my gauge was a little off so I decided to make a size larger and now I am worried it'll be too big - gah! Guess we'll find out soon.

We are having a special SNB tomorrow to celebrate the summer solstice. We'll be knitting by candlelight (hope I don't go blind - ha!) in Yoyogi park from 7pm. There'll be food stalls, live music and a lot of candlelight. See map below for meeting location (made by Taeko).

One-Skein Wonder

Nah, I haven't made one yet, but a bunch of girls are making some very cute ones. I am now convinced that I need to make one too. However, I was pretty sure that there was no money left in my paypal account, and my credit card is officially off-limits for at least another couple of weeks (after crazy shopping spree in the US). I logged into my paypal account and guess what - the balance was $3.84 and the one-skein wonder pattern costs $3.75 - WOOHOO! So you know what I'll be knitting in the next week. My 9 cent paypal balance also means that I'll be selling some more Japanese knitting books on Ebay over the next month or so, so stay tuned.

In other knitting news, I have finished one colourful striped knee-high sock and will be casting on for the matching one today (just finished casting on and have nearly finished the toe) - hooray! And I just have to attach Iris's sleeves and I'll be able to take some photos!!

I leave you with some cute photos - the theme is green!!

********LATE BREAKING NEWS********

Darin (my talented husband) has gone and gotten himself a blog with comments and everything - check it out!

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Mr Carrot in NYC

Louie - the cat in Milwaukee I managed NOT to kill or even harm (thank god!)

cutest girl ever (daughter of a friend)

More about Noo York

So I just went and added all the necessary links to my New York post, so you can find out where we ate, the famous people we saw, where we went, who we visited, who I met, etc.

Quick link here.

I really need to be working right now, but my latest translation is a bunch of IT stuff and it's killing my braincells and creativity faster than I'd like (the jet lag doesn't help either).

So for further procrastination, here are the yarn stores I visited in the US during my trip:

The Yarn Company in New York - I was warned about this store and how bad the service is, but Mindy told me about their yarn sale so I just had to go. Here I bought some koigu (of course) and some Manos Cotton Stria in a dark fuschia - so pretty. A couple of staff seemed nice enough, but the lady at the register was indifferent to me spending a crapload of money there - shame!

Downtown Yarns - this was a small, but cute store in the East Village in New York. I went with Kay and Stephanie and had a grand ol' time fondling a bunch of yarns that I'd heard of but never touched. Feeling guilty about my previous yarn purchases, I bought nothing.

Knit NY - I just popped in here quickly as I was in the area so to speak. Not much was going on and it's kind of out of the way. My recommendation is to just go straight to the Point.

Purl Soho - I made it to this supercute but TINY yarn store in Soho on our second last day in NYC. It seemed chatty and very friendly. I couldn't resist and bought yarn here.....

The Point - When the NYC knit girls told me they were having their meetup the day after Teva's book launch I didn't think I could make it, but Darin convinced me to pop in anway. I am SO glad he did because all of you girls are really really really great (I know that you all weren't at the Point but I did meet you all at Teva's book launch. If I forgot anyone I'm sorry...had to add a lot of reallys). I think I like The Point the best - it's in a great location in the West Village, it's airy, you can drink a latte and stare at pretty yarn in wire baskets on the wall.

I wanted to but didn't make it to School Products, Seaport, etc. You can really only do so much yarn shopping. It really is so much cheaper to buy yarn on the Internet.

In SF, I only went to Artfibers. I think I touched every yarn there. Unfortunately after eating $13 sandwiches (we didn't know they cost that much - doh!) at the 2nd ave deli in NYC and successful thrift store shopping in Milwaukee, I had no money left to buy any of their delicious yarn.

Will update my galleries with ALL of our photos soon. Yet to come are updates on SF, the Napa Valley and being shown around the Coppola winery and the Coppola guesthouse by the extremely funny and friendly Porous Walker who is currently working here - I am soooooo jealous.

I leave you with Darin's panorama of the Salvation Army thrift store in Milwaukee

Pinngurl

I interupt the USA 2005 trip commentary, to introduce an exciting new crafty site, Pinngurl, produced and run by Pinn, THE craftiest member of the Tokyo SNB. This girl is seriously talented and very creative.

You must check out her Monster in a Teacup pincushions!!!!

Here's Pinn and her fiancee, Ken - congrats girl, you rock!

Episode 2: Meet the Parents

The Bendalls are back safe and sound in Tokes albeit slightly beaten up by so much flying, jet lag and the after effects of spicy South Indian food (gets me every bloody time). I have so many emails to type, photos to organize, work to do, so I may be a little slow in contacting everyone I need to contact. I also need to follow up on the pinku secret hair accessories swap. First I have a story for you.

That's actually a picture of us in Milwaukee where I met my father-in-law and his wife for the very first time. Have you ever seen that movie, 'Meet the Parents' where everything that could go wrong does go wrong when poor ol' Ben Stiller meets his fiancee's parents? Well, I pretty much did a Ben Stiller when I was in Milwaukee. What did I do, you ask?

I broke my in-laws toilet less than 24 hours after meeting them for the first time. Here's the proof:

Read the extended post for all the gory details....

Episode I: NYC

We have two days left in NYC and the thought makes us sad. We love the diversity of the city, the food, the people, and if it was spring all year round - we'd totally move here, seriously. The weather has been almost perfect. So here's a very brief photo recap of things we've seen and done and the people we've met.

p.s. For some reason I cannot insert any links, so they will be coming later.... This is also an image heavy post, so click the link down the bottom for the extended version!!

We met the locals in Queens.

Secret Pal 5

I filled this out last week, but set my blog so that it will post on June 1. Hopefully all of the secret pals will have been sent out by then. Hi secret pal if you are reading this!!!

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?

Um, well I live in Japan so I don't have access to any of those yarns, but I guess that I don't knit with 100% acryllic for wearables, but it's ok to make accessories, toys, etc. I do love natural fibres though.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?

I don't spin because my apartment is too small, but I'd like to get into it one day. I love to crochet and learnt to do that before knitting, but now I definitely knit more than crochet.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)

I found out recently that I am kind of allergic to cats, but that's it. You're not going to send me a cat are you??

4. How long have you been knitting?

Well I learnt when I was a kiddie, but it never really stuck. I definitely crocheted more back then. I seriously took up knitting at the end of 2003.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

yes. I have an Amazon Japan wishlist.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

Hmmm, I love most essential oils - lavender, eucalyptus, tea tree, jasmine. I have always liked White Musk from the Body Shop and wore that in high school. Recently I have been walking into the Body Shop just to spray it on me, but I don't own a bottle as I never really wear perfume. I love scented hand creams and moisturizers like this one, and all those body butters. I especially like the smell of coconut sunscreen.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?

Yes, but I am not a big dessert person. I like Cadbury Fruit and Nut chocolate and actually any chocolate with nuts or raisins mixed in. I LOVE wine gums and other jube type lollies.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?

I used to be big into making calendars - sort of a montage type thing where I would use magazines and whatever else was lying around to make the pics for each month. I have also recently tried making stuff out of felt, and would love to learn how to sew and reconstruct clothing.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

Hmm, I listen to a lot of different kinds of music. Right now I am really into Dolly Parton, Le Tigre, Peaches, Chicks on Speed (I love that Eurotrash Girl song), Yo La Tengo, and Turbonegro.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

I do love pink, but look better in red I feel. I love bright colours (yellow, blue, etc) for tights and shoes. Lately I've been into the gold/silver thing, but feel it waning. I avoid light natural tones, pastels, and white.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

Married. no pets (unfortunately)

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)

For me, Darin and our families to be happy, healthy and to never have to worry about money too much. It'd also be cool to have a really satisfying job and work for myself rather than a big corporation.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?

I really love Koigu, handpainted yarns from Uruguay, and soft cotton/cotton mixes. I would really love to try some of the bamboo yarn from southwest trading.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

The only real fibre I have hated so far would have to be fancy yarn with lots of little bits so that when you knit you can't see any stitches and any boucle yarn.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?

Using stash for projects.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

I love Rebecca patterns, but only have two issues - the most recent spring/summer one and the one before that I think. I recently realized though that I truly love knitting summer tops. I rarely wear big, bulky knits and find it hard to store them in little Japanese apartments. I also LOVE knitting socks.

17. What are you knitting right now?

Some small presents. I'm finishing up the Iris shrug from Rowan 35 in merino wool from handpainted yarn. Next on my sticks will be knee-high multi-coloured socks and the chevron tank from the current rebecca.

18. What do you think about ponchos?

I crocheted the Lola poncho from Rowan 35, but I never wear it. I hate how it restricts the movement of my arms, so I think I will rip it out and do it again, but adjust the pattern so it finishes above my elbows. I think ponchos are cute, but I haven't had to deal with the poncho obsession like in the US.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?

circular

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

bamboo mostly. I love clover needles and short bamboo double points for socks. I also own denise needles which are handy but mostly good with larger guage projects.

21. Are you a sock knitter?

yes, I love socks, but have only knitted about three or four pairs.

22. How did you learn to knit?

From a book.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?

about a year old I guess. I started a Debbie Bliss pullover for my nephew, but I got bored and never even finished the back of the project. It is going to be ripped.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?

I like unicorns.

25. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas for sure.

26. Is there anything that you collect?

not really except for an insane amount of yarn and other craft supplies and knitting mags

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

none.

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?

I would actually love to have a copy of the 'Vogue Knitting Quick Reference Book', 'Socks, socks, socks', 'Simple socks: plain and fancy' by Priscilla A Gibson, and Cat Bordi's book 'Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles', and 'Vintage Knits', and of course Teva Durham's Loop D Loop, but I have will my dirty little hands on that one by the time this post is up on the web!!!!