こんな日が来るとは想像していなかった。というもののひとつが、「山と渓谷」を読むこと。 もちろん私だって、昔からこの雑誌の存在は知っています。山登りとは、嘗ては暑苦しい山男たちの世界で、そのあと最近では薄茶色のグラデーションに身を包んだ年配のご夫婦の世界で。というイメージ。 もちろん、「山ガール」という言葉は良く聞くようになりましたが、あんまり実感がなく。と思っていました。 One of many things that I thought I would never do – is reading this famous magazine for mountain climbers in Japan. The magazine is quite famous so I had known about it all my life. But the words “climbing and trekking” always reminded me of sweaty mountaineers or, more recently, retired hikers wearing all brownish clothes. But hiking and trekking have become quite popular and common in Japan among younger women. I just thought I would never get to that myself. 「今年はハイキングに行こう」と思いついてから本屋さんを徘徊していたら、なんとなく目についたのがこの本。山登りが趣味の女性たちが自分のウェアや道具を大公開！という本。といっても、モデルやスタイリストの方々なので、全部がお洒落。見れば見るほど山道具の世界にハマってしまいました。今では、わたしのバイブルというほど。何が好きかと言われると、それは山ウェアの独特な色合わせなのか。それとも、ハイテクとローテクの微妙な混ざり具合なのか。男っぽさと女っぽさの匙加減なのか。ゴアテックスのジャケットに、手作りの皮の登山靴。ハイテクTシャツに木彫りのカップ。手編みの靴下。 山と渓谷社からは、Hutteという女性向けのムックも出ています。つい、入手。 Once I decided to start hiking, I started looking around for books (typical me). Found this book – a styling book for girls who love trekking. People contributing to the book are models and fashion stylists, so…
knitting and slow life in Kyoto
Posts from the “**ENGLISH**” Category
Last bit of Kussharo Lake photos from the trip.
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 10. Travel
二日目は屈斜路湖沿いのペンションへ。今年も「ガストホフぱぴりお」に泊まりました。ご飯がおいしく、温泉に入れて、値段も手頃。ご夫婦がとても優しく接してくださいます。露天風呂はワイルドですごいです。行ったら分かります（笑）外はマイナス１５度のなか、暑いお風呂に入るのは最高！This is the second B&B I stayed at, right along Kussharo Lake. I love the Christmassy atmosphere there. It looks sunny, but this day was really the coldest day. My hand-knit hat, which I rarely wear in Tokyo because it’s too warm, felt very thin and frail. But, it was beautiful. この日は一番寒くて、多分昼間のこのときマイナス１０度。東京では暑くてなかなか被れない私の手編みの帽子が薄っぺらく感じられました。風が通って頭が寒い！ でも湖は本当に奇麗。 屈斜路湖畔、砂湯付近では温泉が湧いています。下は、足湯。でも靴下を脱ぐ勇気が出ません。一瞬で凍り付く。In this area along Kussharo Lake, there are hot spring coming out everywhere. This is a foot bath, but I could not gather courage to take off my socks in minus 10 degrees C. People feed swans, so they are pretty friendly to photographers. This girl kept following me. 寒そう！良く我慢できるなあ。The swans looked so so cold.そしてこの屈斜路湖のネッシー。誰が作ろうと言ったのか。 日没前はひたすら湖の写真を撮る。 The next day, early in the morning, the mist from hot spring was frozen on…
既に「去年」になってしまいましたが、この冬も道東に行ってまいりました。１年前は網走から釧路へ、そして小樽へという経路だったのですが、今回は「もう道東だけでいいな」という境地に至り、釧路から屈斜路湖を経て中標津へ。結構狭い範囲で5日間過ごしてきました。 I visited Hokkaido, the northern-most island of Japan, for my pre-Christmas vacation. This year, I stayed only in the east area, where the land is relatively flat, with less snow and less population. Wildlife and many lakes decorate the land like spots on a deer’s back. Even though you are practically deprived of free movement during the winter time there, I found the area very attractive. I feel the land is pulling me like a powerful magnet… I can’t figure out why. 1日目は、たんちょう釧路空港からバスで釧路市内へ。便数が少ないので到着にあわせてバスが出発していて、本当に便利。暖房の効き過ぎで拷問のようなバスに乗って、釧路駅へ到着しました。クリスマス前だったので大学生らしき若者の帰省姿や、わたしのように季節はずれに旅行をしているファミリーなどもいましたが、この時期ビジネスマンらしき人が結構いたのに驚き。釧路は一応「街」だけど、ぜーんぜん何もないんですよ。アメリカの地方の街を思い出します。街の中心を歩いている人も少ないし、銀行だけやたら立派だし、道幅が異様に広くて。私は電気屋さんを探して歩き回り、魚市場に行って勝手丼を食べて、一応釧路は見た気分になりました。乗り継ぎの2時間をそれで使いきり、いい感じで釧網線に乗り込みました。摩周駅まで2時間。釧路駅のような大きな駅に到着した電車が1両なのに、やっぱり驚く。 After arriving at Kushiro airport, I took a bus into a city and had lunch at a fish market. Even though it’s a major city in the region, the central station was deserted and I was the only non-local person…
I am a hat knitter this winter. I’ve made 4 so far, two of them are gifted, one kept, one still on the needles. 4 hat projects are in queue. I don’t seem to be able to maintain my concentration long enough to knit a sweater these days. Hats are perfect, I only have to remember which row I am at. No “left body” or “right body”, no “I’ve increased 3 times so far” to remember. This green beret was gifted to my dear friend and colleague. Design is from Ysolda. I’ve made several projects of her design, but this one is my absolute favorite.I loved it so much that I made another one in white almost right away. The below, Christopher hat by…
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 8. Craft
Happy new year everyone!May 2012 be the year you will find a courage to take a step forward <3 The word above is more to myself. I was always wondering why I am not the person I dreamt to become. When will I become the one? And the answer is “never”…unless, I decide to take the step forward. I want to be more athletic. I want to eat better. I want to spend more time with the extended members of my family and to travel more. I want to spend more time on my private projects than my job. I want to take a year off from my job, and in order to do that I want to save more. We have to stop…
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 2. Diary
Hi dear friends! It’s been a while since I last posted here. Those of you who are on Facebook should know that I am still alive – yes, I am. It’s been just so busy both at work and at home, that I hardly had time to think about what to write. Besides, something is wrong with my camera that I cannot upload photos. I am trying to make it a rule to add at least one photo. So here it is – if you remember about my weekly weaving lessons, this is how it ended up. The first project – a scarf – has finally been done. It’s pretty colorful and cute, which makes me thrilled. It is 100% hand made. My teacher…
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 8. Craft
My friends and I took a weekend trip to Ikaho hot spring area. My camera quickly went out of battery unfortunately, but I managed to capture some reds and yellows and blues. Went to watch Moneyball on Monday. I’ve read the book years ago, but the movie still felt extremely good. I have been quite busy these days with plans and strategies, so the story was kind of perfect.I am super excited today because a friend of mine decided to join me for the Hokkaido trip in December. I have been telling about my plan to everyone, and finally succeeded in recruiting!
I know it’s totally crazy but I am thinking about going back to the deserted and frozen land in the north during my winter break. I wish I had a second house there.This year, I thought about driving a bit, because you can’t really go anywhere without driving in the region. Last year my movement was limited to the immediate surroundings of the hotels. But when I was surfing on the Internet about driving tips in winter in the region, all the comments were saying “DON’T DRIVE. DON’T TRY TO KILL ANYONE”. OK. I guess I have to give up on the idea of skating on the ice with a rental car.So I will probably be walking in the snow, canoeing in the freezing…
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 10. Travel
I am a scarf knitter these days. I haven’t knitted a single sweater since September, even though the weather is becoming wooly week by week. Sweater knitting requires a strong will, good memory, persistence, and a lot of time. Not for me, right now. But what I can tell you is that I am a better knitter these days. I can’t say since when, but I became comfortable knitting something without a pattern, like, just pick a good yarn and swatch and calculate and start knitting. This is really new to me. This feeling of discovery is kind of like when I was still studying English. Learning something is like climbing giant steps. You try and try and try, then one day you find…
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 8. Craft
Sparkles*United 