Back from Squam Art Workshop and then Chicago. Last night. My mind is still swirling and incoherent. I borrowed bunch of books from the library, took lots of photos, baked, browsing through recorded TV programs, cleaning up, cutting papers, since this morning. I am all over the place.I need more time to organize my newly acquired memories into order. Upon returning to work from tomorrow, I have a feeling that this phrase is going to be my mantra for the next few months: “You cannot understand the world by dissecting it.”It’s a title of the above book, written by a Japanese molecular biologist. The title caught my eye because, ironically, I am working on a series of customer segmentation projects for over an year…
knitting and slow life in Kyoto
Posts from the “**ENGLISH**” Category
If you ever travel from the States to Japan, wondering “Oh, what should I get for Meri?”, please just drop by your nearest supermarket and get me a couple of Jiffy boxes. It only costs you $2 or so. While I was living in the States, I used to get Jiffy every week and made myself muffins. What is good about Jiffy is that it only costs 59 cents (which now equals about 45 yen!) and will get you 6 muffins, in less than 20 minutes. You don’t even have to whip your egg, just mix an egg and milk. You can never ever go wrong with Jiffy. It is just simply impossible. Of course, you can forget to put an egg, then it…
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 2. Diary
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
One of my colleagues says, he doesn’t take any vacation because his kids are still babies and they can’t go anywhere to travel. (Um, all the more reasons to take vacation and help your wife…)Why so many men stay in the office, not necessarily working hard but keeping the appearance as such, to escape from home? (My colleagues work hard, I know, but still.)Office is not your hiding place. If you don’t want to go home, find a hobby or friends. It is really annoying for someone who has a life, like myself. Especially when your boss evaluates you based on how long you worked.Also, I don’t have a wife to cook for me, so I have to go home early and cook myself. …
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 5. Thought
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…
I regard my blog as a record of my journey. These are sort of a personal record, more directed to myself. Truth be told, the most avid reader of my blog is myself. I love reading what I had written in the past. I keep all the notebooks and scrap pieces of paper that I have scribbled on, since at very young an age. Some of them are truly, embarrassingly ridiculous, while most of them feel right for me. Once a friend told me, while looking at my paintings, that “Oh, you draw what you really like”. According to her, (and I am sure she has more expert knowledge on this because she went to the top art school in Japan,) some people create…
I have been on high and low spirits this month, which leaves me a lot to talk about, I imagine. Last month, I was in “OMG I am so bored pls help me out of here” stage, struggled a bit, pondered on a few job offers, ended up declining and being rejected, then it’s August. All of a sudden, there are too much to absorb, way too much, that I need an outlet. That’s why I am posting so much these days. When I get busy at work, my brain got more active that my creative energy also increased. Frustration of being forced to do excessive amount of input drives me to create something in a short window of time before going to sleep.…
Categories: **ENGLISH**, 2. Diary
近頃気が付いたのですが、ミシンが新たに仲間入りした自宅は丸ごとアトリエそのもの。どこを振り返っても毛糸が、本が、布の切れ端が（つまり、散らかっているのですが。。。）。この頃、家に居るのが一番ワクワクして、仕事中も家に帰りたくなる。ちなみに巨大なペンダントライトは、来客が来る度に「邪魔！」と邪見にされます。 確かにあと５cmくらい上げた方が良いかもしれないけど、ペンダントライトとは食卓に低く下げるものなのだよ。下は昨日の写真ですが、ピンクションやビーズ、お針箱を取り出して、手袋を仕上げているところ。 I realized, a few days ago, that eversince a sewing machine joined, my apartment became an atelier, the entire part of it. I see yarn, books, cameras, pieces of fabric everywhere. I pick up something in my bedroom, bring it over and start working on it. I am always so excited at home, that even while at work, I feel like going home.Below is a photo from last night. I had put out some beads, spangles and needles to finish up a pair of mittens. どっちのスパンコールが良いかな。Choosing a right spangle shape. 夜はこんな感じ。Looks like this in the evening. それから、最近なんだかNauticalなものに惹かれます。家が海辺のコテージみたいになって来たからだと思う。今日もOcean Unionで錨のかたちのブローチを買いました。
今日は仕事で横浜だったうえ、少し早く終わったので、同僚とランドマークタワーの展望台に登り２周くらいして散々楽しみました。そのあと彼らと別れ、海ぎわ目指して散歩。 気持ち良かった！暫く行っていない間にまた遊歩道など奇麗になって、益々魅力的になったなあと思いました。それにしても、本当に散歩日和。 There was a training session for my work in Yokohama today. Yokohama is a big seaport just an hour south of Tokyo, but between Tokyo and Yokohama the urban area sprawls continuously, so it is hard to say whether these two are really two separate cities. But the atmosphere is definitely different.It was such a breezy beautiful day, a perfect day for a long walk. I went up the Landmark Tower with colleagues after the session, then set out for a walk on my own. It was a blast.
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。
Sparkles*United 