Aloha for Now

Not so much time to write today, as packing and getting ready to travel dominated almost everything I did today.

The next time you hear from me, I will be here:



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We anticipate quite an adventure ahead of us, with 9 hours on airplanes combined with a rambunctious child.  But compared to when we set off without children, we are traveling amazingly light.  Amazing how having to one new person in our lives gets us to be less concerned about the little stuff and more concerned about making sure that we can entertain her on the plane.

The beach house we are renting is situated on the west end of Anini Beach and is sheltered by a lovely reef system which keeps the shore mellow and baby-friendly.  And it's big enough for grandparents to share in the visit.  My mom and dad will be spending some quality time with us on this trip and I can hardly wait for Zosia to have such an extended visit time with them.

Lotus now has pink edgings on both cuffs, but, still needs sleeves sewn in and the edging around the crochet border on the body of the sweater.  She's been tucked into my suitcase and will be what I work on when I get to the island... I just can't imagine trying to focus on that kind of project while on an airplane with a toddler. 

As per usual, we have found a place with a broadband connection, so I hope that I will be able to share some of our vacation photos with you while we are there.

To all in the US, a happy 4th of July weekend to you.  To all others, may you have a lovely weekend to kick off July! 

Japanese Crochet Books, Part II

Not surprisingly, thoughts about Lotus bring me back to my new stash of crochet inspiration.  This book (titled Crochet Accessories in English ISBN4-277-43080-5) is an interesting collection of crocheted jewelry (including necklaces, earrings and rings), scarves, and bracelets and charms.  Much of it I can't imagine wearing, but I can imagine using some of the foundation shapes for the beads, vegetables (yes! almost like tiny tiny amigurumi), fruits and flowers in other pieces.  

This is, perhaps, my favorite piece.  A cord of tiny flowers (it is modeled as a neck lace -- most of these flowers are probably not much larger than a quarter) in a riot of spring colors.  Done slightly larger, and with the right outfit, I could imagine it as a belt.  So much work in those little flowers, I can't imagine making it (well, maybe I can, but only over a long period of time), but I find it very inspirational.  A little garden path to wear around your neck or waist.

I think of these as crochet "dream catchers" suspended into necklace form.  This piece is probably one of the most "traditional crochet" looking pieces in the book, but I think it still feels quite fresh and wearable. Any one of those motifs, done singly, could be made into a simple choker (how the circles are so circular is somewhat mysterious to me -- I suspect there might be a small hoop that is crocheted around). 

This book has another surprising aspect -- at least it is surprising if you look at the photography done for most US craft books -- the models are diverse in both age and origins (though all are women) and none of them is overly polished or stylized.  It got my attention in a good way.

The instructions in this book are somewhat harder to follow than in the first book I talked about -- while the stitches are drawn using the standard symbols, there is no real explanation of what stitches they are except in Japanese, so you might need another reference to help you with this.  Also, the crochet and construction steps are separated.  For instance, the motifs in the second necklace are described in one area and the assembly process much farther on.  But this makes it easier to use the motifs in whatever context you might want, even if you do have to puzzle a bit more to get to the pieces as shown.

Compared to the Crochet Doliy book, I think I am more likely to use this book for inspiration than I am to crochet anything from it.  Unlike most knit accessories books I have come across, however, there are actually things I would wear were I to actually find the time to make them.  Some of the pieces are more whimsical than my wardrobe could bear, but many of them are interestingly constructed, well thought out and much more jewelry like than you might think crochet can be!

And speaking of crochet.... the first of Lotus sleeves got her pink edging last night.  I feel like I am moving at a glacial pace right at the moment. When I first saw the little pink edging on the model garment in the magazine, I was somewhat suspicious of it, but now that I see it in place, I quite like it!

In my last post, I neglected to metion which interchangeable crochet hook kit I got.  It is nothing fancy -- the kit is made by Boye and is called "Interchangeable Head Crochet Set".  I got mine at JoAnn's (I would link to it, but I don't see it in the online store).  It comes with 14 steel heads ranging in size from US 1 to US 14 (i.e. from tiny to really really really tiny), a handle and a case to hold all the parts.  It's an all metal set, but I have some foamy finger protectors that can slide over the handle to provide some cushioning.  I think it will be perfect for traveling with.  And if you wait for when they have one of their 40-50% off coupons you could pick the set up for $15-$20 bucks.

Lotus, All Laced Up

Japanese Crochet Books, Part I

My office has moved from Chicago to Arlington Heights. While I am still adjusting to this transition I was pleased to discover when we first looked at the space, that the building we were considering renting in was across the street from Mitsuwa, a large Japanese market that includes a reasonably sized bookstore.

I'm a newcomer to Japanese craft books, but the more of them I see, the more inspired I get.  The first time I visited this store, it was clear that knitting was a big theme of many of the books.  But on this trip, if number of books represented is any evidence, crochet is taking off big with Japanese crafters.  The crochet edging on Lotus has gotten me thinking more and more about how the craft can be used. I realized that I'm not really interested in crocheting garments, but I am interested in housewares and accessories.  And I found three books that really knocked my socks off.   Since I wanted to share a few pictures of the contents, I'm going to divide my "review" of these books into three parts.

The first book that I picked up and really got me inspired was this one, subtitled in English "Crochet Lace Doily" (ISBN 978-4-529-04590).  Frankly, doily patterns were just about the last thing I thought I'd be inspired by, until I started paging through the book and saw some very contemporary lacy doily stylings in some very contemporary contexts.  While there are some more traditional patterns, these definitely aren't what you'd expect to find on your grandmother's dresser.

This doily would show itself extremely well around Danish modern furniture.  All the color comes from the use of variagated thread.  It would be easy to imagine a set of these used as fancy dress up placemats for a special occasion as well.

This is one of my absolute favorite designs in the book -- styled for use as a curtain.  I could see this hanging in my kitchen window and I think it would pair well with the stainless steel and granite in our modern looking kitchen.    This one is definitely on my "want to try" list.

While I didn't take any photos of the pattern pages (I don't want to do harm to anyone's copy right) I will say that I don't think you need to know any Japanese to work from them.  Instead of written out instructions, these patterns are illustrated using the standard symbols that you see in Interweave Crochet and other US crochet publications -- and the back contains a complete pictoral dictionary of the crochet stitches.  The illustrations are excellent, so with this book in hand, you probably wouldn't need to tote around another book, if, you, like me, are still working on building your crochet stitch memory banks up.

I've been thinking about how I want to travel light on my coming vacation.  This book, a couple of small crochet hooks and some fine cotton thread could be a perfect recipe for that.

Dreaming of Color

While I am working my way through the last of a forest of cream colored stitches, hoping that I can will my way through the last very long row of the crochet border of Lotus and still have time to get the sweater assembled before leaving on my island vacation, I am dreaming of a little color.

I am not quite finished with my first Vesper sock, but that could not stop me from finding a bit more to add to my stash.  The lovely pinks, purples and yellow of the appropriately named "Jelly Bean" colorway will become stripey warm leggings for a little girl, come fall.  Simple tubes with ribbed openings, I know the colors will delight her.

The mini-skein kit is destined to be another pair for me, but configured differently.  After taking these pictures, I was struck by how well these 4 colorways go together.  I can't tell you why I think so, but I think Julia's got incredible color sense.  I can easily imagine how these striping yarns will play together.

Perhaps they will come to the island along with me?  I am just beginning the process of thinking about what projects I will bring along.  My goal is to travel light, knowing that I always over estimate how much I am motivated to work on while I am listening to the waves roll in.