Stitches

Posted on August 29, 2010

One more post, then I’ll stop.

I have been knitting so many projects these days, so it took me longer to finish something to show to you. Here are some recent wins!

Project: Pogona by Westknits (Stephen West)

Yarn: Colormart Extra Fine Merino (DK), about 480 yards

Needles: US size 6 or 7 (sorry I forgot)

Raveled Here

The pattern is just ingenious. When caped around your shoulders, the shawl looks just triangular, but it’s actually pentagonal. I finally learned how to use my blocking wire…!

I love it, I am going to knit the pattern again.
The yarn is from Colourmart, a yarn shop in UK. They sell industrial yarns/threads very inexpensively. Some of the materials are leftovers from Lolo Piana or other luxury fashion brands… which make me SO HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO KNIT MYSELF!

Pattern: Emmaline by Jennifer Wood

Yarn: Pierrot Yarns Ami Cotton (Bulky) in Kahki (about 380 yards)

Needles: US 9

Raveled Here

OK, SORRY, it’s my very cluttered bathroom. But I love this pull, and I wear it all the time.

Great free pattern!

Pattern: Dawn by Kim Hargreaves

Yarn: Rowan Calmer in beige, about 780 yards (4.4 balls)

Needles: US 5 & 6

Glad I finished this before the summer ends. I bought perfect and pretty gold buttons to go with this cardigan, so as to mitigate the dullness of this color.

I know many Japanese people tend to knit with beige and whitish colors, and I wonder why… Beige is a very tricky color for Asian skin. It has to be a perfect shade and tone of beige to make you look presentable, and every one of us has slightly different skin tone, which makes it even harder for us to choose.

Many people wear trench coats in beige or brownish colors in Japan, only to make their face look muddy and bad complexion.

I think, in this case, I barely picked the right shade of beige, and I am going to wear it.

I bought these buttons in the neighborhood shop which I mentioned before… the tiny papa-mama shop. Like I said, nobody goes there so the whole selection of semi-antique buttons are saved for me!!! Yes!

Have a great week, everyone :)

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 8. Craft

Cultural Exchange

Posted on August 29, 2010

Adventure

Posted on August 29, 2010

As I wrote before, I had a friend coming over from France. She stayed with me for a few nights, and we had so much fun together. Because I met her through a knitting community, we had lots of common interests, and it’s fun to talk with her.

Here is the only shot I got from our little adventure to the famous fish market. I heard it’s a popular tourist spot, so I wanted to show the place to her, but gosh, it was hot even in the very early morning, smelled fishy (of course), and so busy… I was wearing to go to work afterwards, so I felt completely out of place.
But the sushi we had there was fantastic (thank you, L, for treating me).

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 2. Diary

Movies

Posted on August 29, 2010

Well, tonight both Ade and Melissa got kicked out (please see the previous post) right before the season finale, and I am literally disappointed. But I will be strong, be ready for a new week to start.

I’ve watched some films recently so here they are:

A-Team:
I know, it’s just another stupid Hollywood film, but I really wanted to watch it because 3 of the starring actors were my favorites. I am really glad I did! It’s shallow, yes, but so much fun!

The Blind Side:
Heard that Sandra Bullock won an Oscar with this film. Based on a true story, a rich southern woman adopted a homeless kid off the street, and he became a pro football player. People’s hearts were so warm and caring, characters great, and I absolutely loved it!

Invictus:
The film is also based on a true story, about South African rugby team winning the World Cup right after Nelson Mandela was elected as their president. I had no idea how great a man he is. The word “Great” cannot even describe the man. Loved it.

Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus:
I really wanted to watch this when it was still in theaters, but I missed it. The last film with Heath Ledger, and he was brilliant. Because he passed away while filming this project, Johnny Depp and 2 other actors replaced the un-filmed parts. We lost a great actor at so young an age… I didn’t care when River Phoenix passed away, but I still miss Heath Ledger.
The film was very interesting and beautiful. Wonderful execution.

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 3. Film

Beautiful Dance

Posted on August 28, 2010

This is a routine from last week’s So You Think You Can Dance (they are running Season 5 in Japan right now), by top 8 dancers Ade and Melissa. It’s my favorite summer time show, when American Idol is over.

It is hard to imagine a dance with a theme “a woman fighting breast cancer”. You’ve got to watch it with your own eyes to understand.

I cried, not because all the judges are crying, but because I thought about my aunt, how she has been struggling, and how she may be feeling so alone and without someone who supports her, like Ade did in this dance.

Ade and Melissa are my all-time favorite couple this season.

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 5. Thought

Glass study

Posted on August 15, 2010

This green glass bottle is from my mom’s old home up on a mountain in Western Japan. Until over 40 years ago, her family had tons of these and used it for housekeeping stuffs (perhaps for making their own saki?). But it was so common that nobody paid any heed and the bottles were abandoned in the back yards, from where my mom picked up one. Wish they still have these, but unfortunately no.

I cut out the hen in the green glass some years ago. Mom kept it and put it in a glass.

This gold/amber glass pot is from Okinawa (I am not so sure) which my grandpa bought as a souvenir before I was born.

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 8. Craft

Birds

Posted on August 15, 2010

A beauty salon in my parent’s neighborhood is full of birdy stuffs which I absolutely love. The last photo is the neighborhood – so green and pretty.

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 2. Diary

Summer

Posted on August 15, 2010

I went back to my parent’ place for my 3 days weekend / summer vacation, and spent a very crafty weekend! I picked the easiest pattern out of my favorite dress-making book – ソーイング・トーク.

The fabric is from Kamakura Swany: http://swany.jp/ They have great selection of fine quality fabric, and most of them are pretty inexpensive.

It’s cut biased, so even the fabric is cotton/linen, the dress is pretty stretchy.

I lined neck and arm holes with biased tape (or whatever called in English…). I did it for the first time in almost 20 years, so it was quite a work. I used to make my own clothes when I was in high school, but haven’t done it ever since.

Not sure if people do this in other countries, but my mom taught me how to mark the lines with threads and stitches, like this. The dress fits me perfectly! Although the dress is very simple, it took me a full day…. phew.

With a small piece of soft gauze (double sided, one side stripes, the other side plaid), I made a simple scarf for summer. I cut up 100cm x 50cm fabric into 4 pieces, sew them back together in 25 x 200cm scarf. My mom gave me a ribbon to hide where I joined the pieces, and when I looked closer, the ribbon says “Wedgewood”! But I used it anyway.

Categories: **ENGLISH**, 8. Craft

Clarke

Posted on August 9, 2010

「幼年期の終わり」― と、小説のタイトルを小見出しに使うことも考えたのですが、Clarkeの綴り方が大好きで、タイトルに付けたかった。

人生で一番密度の高い読書をしていたのは、稲城（東京都）に住んでいた小5~中1の3年間。しかも特に小5~6（11~12歳）の2年間に読んだのはすごい量だった気がします。わたしが「図書館が好きだから」という理由で父親が図書館の近所に一家の引っ越し先を見つけてくれて、事実、足繁く通っていました。
今でも(小説コーナーの）書棚のレイアウトと、どこにどの本があったかを記憶しているほど。行く度にすべての書棚をくまなく眺めて「なにか新しい本は加わっていないか」「今までピンと来なかったけど自分が成長したことによって興味が湧いてきた本はないか」、探索していました。

SFでもディック、ハインライン、その他タイトルも著者も思い出せない多数のシリーズを読みましたが、一度も開いたことのなかったのがアーサー・C・クラークです。冒険小説的要素も恋愛もない、純粋なSF、宇宙人、といったものが全く琴線に触れず、何十冊もある彼の著作はすべて素通りしていました。何故突然読み出したかというと、この特集。

Esquireが廃刊になった際、まだ書店にあったバックナンバーを大人買いしてキープしてあったSF特集。2008年のもので、クラークが亡くなった直ぐ後に作られたもののようです。雑誌は手元に暫くあってディックや若手SF作家の記事は既に読んであったのですが、ここでもクラークの偉業を語る特集は飛ばしていました。興味のなさが伺える。。。（笑）　先週、なんとなく読み返してみたらすごく面白かったのです。
子供の頃から、クラークの科学的知見の緻密さについては何となく知っていましたが、宇宙開発の一端を担う技術革新にクラークの発見・発明がいくつもあることには驚きました。それよりも興味を惹かれたのは、50年前、70年前の世の中が未来の技術をどう見ていたか、ということ。それを読んでみたくてクラークの作品を図書館で入手しました。
特集記事で必読の5作品、とされていたのは以下のもの。

「渇きの海」
「都市と星」
「楽園の泉」
「宇宙のランデヴー」
「2001年宇宙の旅」
そして、「幼年期の終り」は“別格”だそう。

いま、別格から読んでいます。まだ3分の1程度しか読了していませんが、面白い。もう、とても。
1953年に「20年後の世界とその後」として書かれた本作品、社会の状況や物事・技術の描写がまったく古くなく、ちょっと空恐ろしい感じさえ受けます。
読み終わったらまたレビューするかもしれません。

おっと、さっきニュースで「宇宙エレベータ」の技術を競う世界大会が千葉で行われたという様子が紹介されていました（！）。ロケットの代わりにエレベータで宇宙に行くというこの構想、なんと発案者はクラーク。でもニュースではその話はしていませんでしたが。

ちょうど彼の作品を読み始めたときにこのニュース。真剣に取り組んでいる人がいることに驚きひとしお。

Categories: **日本語**, 4. Book

Dreaming of..

Posted on August 2, 2010

I feel ashamed but confess that, I dreamed about me dating Syler (from TV series Heroes), knowing that he was a psycho killer. Crazy, gosh, I know.
But in any case, I like the actor, Zach. He played Spock in Star Treck, and he was so much like Spock. I guess I shouldn’t have watched Star Treck so many times over the weekend.
I wish I dream of something more sensible and romantic.. *sigh*

恩田陸さんの『ライオンハート』を読みました。最近苦労してWeb Analyticsなどの本を英語で読んでいるせいか、日本語でしかも小説だとすいすい読めてしまって、あっという間でした。エリザベスとエドワードが何度も生まれ変わりながらその度に出会う、不思議な物語。５枚の絵画から着想を得てストーリーを組み立ててあって、絵の中に世界観が広がる様は「真珠の耳飾りの少女」を着想にトレイシー・シュヴァリエが書いた小説のよう。ふんわりとしているのにディテールにも凝っていて、不思議な読了感でした。エリザベスとエドワードの二人も、別な人生で出会ったシーンを繰り返し夢に見ます。
結構好き。

Categories: **ENGLISH**, **日本語**, 2. Diary