pinku

Spring......Autumn???

My mind is so confused. For the past six or seven years I have been living in the Northern Hemisphere which means that September is a month of cooler weather and more importantly - exciting new knitting patterns and the urge to knit re-emerges.

However now we live in the Southern Hemisphere and it is getting warmer. Don't get me wrong I am definitely not complaining and this way I can still enjoy all the knitting excitement the NH has to offer in the Spring sunshine of the SH.

I've been knitting quite a bit, but I can't seem to finish anything except for a pair of socks for Jake (see sleeping pic below), which he will finally wear and everytime we put them on - he says 'mama' because he knows I made them for him - cute!! I've cast on for the Vine Yoke Cardigan, the Mountain View cardigan and in a moment of madness (or excitement) I also cast on for a Japanese vest pattern that I've wanted to knit for ages. I have very little to show though for all that activity.

 

I am sure you need no motivation to get knitting (thanks ravelry) but if you do check out the new Petite Purls - that girls cheerleading skirt is the cutest. I don't know how Brandy does it with a newborn AND an toddler!!

 

And there are a couple of new Japanese knitting books that look super cute - thanks to the amazing internet I can browse through them just as if I was in Kichijoji Yuzawaya (sigh - I miss you).

 

Click here to browse the book!!

 

Click here to browse the above book!

I feel remiss that I have not written a Jake update is so long...I would do it now but I think I'll save it for his SECOND birthday next month - two years old already - that's ridiculous!! He's very much a two year old now - I can tell by how often he says no and by the force with which he says it!!

Here he is with the t-shirt Darin designed for Threadless as the background

Casting on....

for reals this time. I mean it.

After a very long hiatus of knitting for myself I am casting on for Ysolda's Vine Yoke Cardigan in the new Fall Twist Collective. I'm serious. I mean it. How cute is this cardigan and I particularly love Ysolda's description of the pattern:

Reasonably mindless, with just enough lace and short rows to be interesting, it’s ideal to pick up and put down, simple enough to knit at the end of a tiring day, perfect to fit into busy life. The end result is flattering and easy to wear and should fit just as naturally into your life and wardrobe.

Ms Gusset

Last week before I went to Brisbane I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to help out a new friend with her very exciting new sock yarn business. She needed a hand preparing her sock yarn for its trip to Portland to attend the Sock Summit. I'm so jealous. Yes it is a four day kind of conference dedicated to knitting socks - can you believe it??!

Anyway if you are lucky enough to be attending the Sock Summit, please take the time to search out Ms Gusset Yarn and say hi to Kylie - oh and I can guarantee you that you will not be able to choose just one colour of Ms Gusset sock yarn. Kylie has a very special (and secret) dyeing technique that creates fabulous results - of course the shades of pink were my favourite!! The yarn is Australian merino which makes it super soft but it also contains 20% nylon for hardwearing socks. If you find any skeins which are tied a little tight, that is probably because of me, but by the end of my three days of helping out I had mastered my skeining technique...

You can preview some of Ms Gusset's amazing hand dyed yarn here.

Sunny days

Last week Jake and I went to my hometown of Brisbane for a surprise visit or should I say last minute visit - it is a two hour flight from Melbourne which makes it much closer than when we were in Tokyo. Brisbane is sub-tropical and even though the Melbourne winter hasn't been nearly as cold as I expected, it is still much colder than Brisbane. It does get cold in the morning and at night but it is usually over 20 during the day - and did I mention how sunny it is there?? The sun truly blinded me as we got off the plane!! The quality/brightness of sunshine there is brilliant.

 

The main reason for our visit was to celebrate my nephew's 10th birthday. It is so cliched to say it, but I remember when he was Jake's age and we played with the torch under the blanket together....he is still as sweet as ever {most of the time :)} but now life is about his rigorous sport schedule, video games. lego and tech decks (baby skateboards).

 

This delicious icecream cake was made by my older brother!!

The cooking talent in my family doesn't end there - my sister also made about a million different cupcakes for three different birthday events.

 

Jake and the other toddlers present enjoyed them very much!!

 

 

And the cooking talent doesn't end there - my dad also whipped up his famous strawberry flans - I was VERY excited. It has been many years since I had one of these.

 

Jake got in some good bonding time with everyone. Here he is with my dad.

 

And with his cousin Jack - the birthday boy (sporting his brand new converse sneakers!!)

Happy Birthday Jack!!

Mending bee

Wow has it really been nearly three months since my last post. Not surprising really since we've been in a bit of a state of flux and we only got settled with reliable internet less than two months ago. We are slowly but surely finding our feet in our new home of Melbourne and lucky for us we had a few friends here already and especially lucky for me, I had a couple of great crafty internet friends that I couldn't wait to meet.

One of them recently held a mending bee at her lovely home and I was lucky enough to attend. I took along six garments that needed some form of repair and came home four or five hours later with six repaired items - it didn't take four hours to repair them but if you add in talking and eating it all adds up. What a great day! Thanks so much for hosting Erin and letting us play in your craft room!!

 

 

 

 

 

From a land down under....

If you didn't already know - we are all in Australia now. Actually we've been here for five weeks. However things are far from settled or normal. Darin is working in Melbourne and Jake and I are spending some great time catching up with my family in Brisbane. We are currently looking for a place to live in Melbourne in the inner northern suburbs....and are not having much luck yet. It's a lot tougher than I imagined with 10 to 20 people turning up to every inspection - lots of competition. I feel like it shouldn't be this hard to find a place to live...

Jake with our boxes in Japan before they were sent

Anyway apart from that Jake and I have been enjoying baby chinos and lots of good coffee at outdoor cafes, lots of parks, art galleries, museums, beaches and other lots of fun stuff. We made the right decision to move, but I'll feel a whole lot better once we have a semi-permanent place to rest our heads, so if you know anyone with a place to rent or sublet in Melbourne, please let me know.

Jake and I in our empty apartment

Our boxes arrive from Japan soon which means I'll have all of my craft supplies and that is very exciting. Am hoping that I'll be a lot more productive now that I'm not working (for now at least). I do hope to keep blogging but I'm sure it'll be a little intermittent for a while. We are all good though so I just wanted to let you know!!

Jake and his daddy on Easter Saturday - reunited after a month (Palm Beach,  Queensland)