Joy of Intention was a new class taught by Alena Hennessy. She paints with lots of nature-inspired motifs, tranquil and feminine. She is such a sweetheart and totally cute.We started out by relaxing outdoors with some exercise and sketches, focusing on intentions and what brings us joy and so on. Then we moved back to the studio. When I started working on my piece, I had completely forgotten about the “intentions” I sketched. I am not sure how my piece ended up being a ship sailing out. Perhaps it was a subliminal thing.The thing is, I am not very good at creating something out of elaborate “intentions”. I just draw something that comes to my mind. All in all, I am pretty satisfied with…
knitting and slow life in Kyoto
Posts from the “8. Craft” Category
Today, at last, I am still awake after 9PM. I can post some photos from my classes at Squam Lake Workshops at last.My absolute favorite is Susy’s class (but all of the classes are my favorite…so many great teachers this year). She gave each of us an old cigar box and we decorated them free-style. I was eager to learn her style, so I decided not to cover my box too much, following her example. I also tried to experiment with different types of papers and ink she provided. SO. MUCH. FUN.I did bring the paper with “TOKYO” logo on it. That purple guided my color scheme for this project. The box is actually not done yet, and I intend to draw something over. …
The pair of mittens are done. Probably my first “completed” mitten project. The beauty of SHELTER yarn kept me pretty motivated (although it took me 0.7 year). It’s hard to see, but I ended up using both round and star shaped spangles.
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 8. Craft
Finished my name tag for the upcoming Squam Art Workshop. I didn’t really plan on specific design, the whole thing came along on its own. I am not very good at embroidery, so it’s messy I know, but that gives it a character. Apart from 2 evenings in Chicago, my sweet friends will let me stay at their places. My nomadic 2 weeks will begin in just 7 days! Excitement is boiling quietly just under my skin.Abandoning my work for 2 weeks makes me feel guilty on one part, makes me a bit nervous about what would people think. But I really need this trip. Last year, I went to SAW for the first time. It was truly a life-changing experience for me. For…
As promised, more wooley splashes for you.You see, the colors are so pretty.通い始めた染織工房の宿題です。全部草木染めの羊毛。奇麗でしょ？ これをほぐして（下の写真、右がほぐしたところ。死にそうに時間がかかる）、 梳かして丸めると（一番下の写真の道具を使います。ヘアブラシのお化けみたいなの）、こんなふわふわの棒状になります。 スピンドルで紡いで、 糸に。ぶっとい。ちょっと太くなりすぎました。他の色はもっと細くしなきゃ。でも、この不揃い感は機械じゃ作れない。 時間がスゴいかかるので、わたしなんでこんなことしてるんだろう、、、と思うんだけど、なんだかね、いいんですよ。この材料から作る感じ。秋になったら、羊毛を染めるのも教えてもらえる予定。楽しみだな。
Pin cushions are so important. They are your most trusted company in every creative journey. I wonder how I have survived the past few years without one. My old companion was a patchwork made by my aunt, with lots of shiny pins and needles. But somehow I lost it perhaps when my parents moved, and I have been searching for it since then. OK, it was time to give up on finding it. Time to move on. I also lost a bag of my favorite colored pencils and can’t find it anywhere either.But I couldn’t just buy something. Last one was hand made, and it had set the expectation high. It has to be something special. I dug up a yarn that I had…
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 8. Craft
Finally finished! I am soaking this tunic in warm water. Pattern: Frost Thread by Veera Välimäki (her project page)Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Mare (sprinkle of blue and brown in dark navy)Needles: 4mm and 3.5mm circular needle and DPNs I have been test knitting from the beginning, but I think I am the last to finish. On some days, I only had time to knit a few rows. It was a long journey but worth every stitch along the way. The neckline is so beautiful. I made sleeves an inch longer. (Thought about making them much longer, but that would compromise the balance of this design.) Two buttons at the bottom hem to wear it in two ways. Details of the shoulder. It…
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 8. Craft
最近毎日ブログを書いている気がするので、今日はクイックに。まだこれから本を読んだりと忙しい（今日残り３０分！）。ちなみに数日前、ブログ第５００番目のポスト到達しました！パンパカパーン。とはいえ、ここに引っ越す前のブログ、自営業時代のブログ、まあなんだかんだ８〜９年くらいやっているので、もう５００番というものでも無いんですけどね。 I am going to be quick today, for I have been posting almost daily these days. I still have to read and get ready for bed… so busy!By the way, the number of my blog posts reached 500th a few days ago. Feels like a lot. Although, this is not my first blog, so if I total everything I have written, it’s long past 800 by now, I imagine. 今日から染織の工房に通い始めました！前から吉祥寺にある織り工房や羊毛工房などに行ってみてはいましたが、あまり自分にフィットした感じではなかった。羊毛工房はどうもセンスが。。。一方織り工房は自分の好きな糸が使えないので、それも不満。神楽坂のどん詰まりあたりにあるViale、先生のセンスがステキなのです。草木染めなのに透き通ったカラフルな色味が大好きで、ここで習いたい、と即決。待ちに待った初日が今日でした。初回はまず、羊毛を解して梳かして紡ぐ作業から。前に吉祥寺で習ってやったことはあったけど、全然違いました。なんせ、草木染めされた羊毛が奇麗！！また詳しくは今度〜。 Anyway, I started taking a dying / weaving class!I have tried spinning and weaving at many different schools, but none of them was appealing to me, in terms of their tastes and the school’s structure.This school that I found in Kagurazaka area called Viale, they have so many beautiful things that make me…
良いものを作るには、そのひと手間が大事なんです。 子供の頃は、その手間をかなり惜しんでいたように思います。だから出来上がるものの質にムラがあった。 でも思うに、それは子供だから大人だから、ではなくて、技の熟練度合いなんでしょう。完成するのがやっとのころは、完成に近くなると息が抜けてしまって、最後の詰めができない。洋服を作っても最後糸の始末を適当にして、変なところから糸が解れてきたり。編物を始めた頃は、最後の仕上げというものを面倒で省いていました。仕上げをちゃんとするようになって、やっと、箪笥から取り出す度に頬擦りしても良いかな、と思う出来映え。 To make something beautiful, that extra work is important. When I was a girl, I didn’t have the patience to go the extra mile.So the completed hand work were sometimes good, sometimes miserable failures. But come to think of it, it is nothing to do with youth or maturity of age, but more to do with maturity of your craftsmanship. When you are barely learned, you tend to exhaust your energy at near completion, no will nor energy left for adding some final touches.When I started to knit, I didn’t do blocking after finish knitting. (Blocking means you soak the finished object and pin it to dry.) Since I finally learned how to properly do blocking, I began to create knitted…
I went back home to see my mom for the weekend. She doesn’t have cable TV so I always get bored in the evening, and always end up doing some projects. This time, I picked up her dress-making book, and drawn a customized base pattern. This base pattern will be used as a starting point for any pattern making, for a more professional-level fitting. It took me well over 5 hours to do the calculation and draw the pattern from scratch. Now, I am ready to make my own dresses. 週末久方ぶりに実家に帰りました。実家に帰るとケーブルテレビも本もDVDもないので夜非常にヒマで、手芸の本を引っ張りだしてきては何かやってしまいます。今回は洋裁の本を引っ張りだしてきて、自分の原型型紙を作りました。上級の洋裁の本になると、この原型からデザインに応じた型紙を引きます。なので、これが無いと何にも作れない。簡単な洋裁の本に付録している型紙を切るのでは、実は既製服を買うのと変わらないのです。本とにらめっこして数時間。計算を始めて線を引き始めてから４、５時間。ややこしいので、根気が無いと作れないものだと実感。これでやっと、自分に合わせた洋服作りができます。 実家に帰ったら、九州の田舎から送られてきていた数々の食品たちを発見。梅も庭の樹から収穫したという梅干し（シソも）。畑で小麦を育てて作った小麦粉（買った小麦粉と比べて断然美味しいらしい。漂白していないからかな）。山で育てて炭火で干した椎茸。朝は蜂を育てて収穫したハチミツをパンに塗って。九州は本当に穰かなところと思う。 My mom’s uncle has sent her several home-grown food, and I fully enjoyed them. Flour was made from his home-grown wheat. So is dried mushroom. My aunt also keeps bees, and harvests…
Sparkles*United 