Love the crafty Japan

I‘m　lucky to be in a city that`s not too big but has plenty of yarn stores at my disposal. So far, I`ve found 3 yarn shops that are VERY knitter friendly. Lots of great deals, especially on discontinued yarn lines and out of season yarn (i.e. 50g balls of decent wool yarn for 150 yen apiece (just over $1US). I have even found some great knitting books.

The best part of Japanese knitting and crochet books is that they most have the patterns charted out for you. No need to know Japanese, just check the stitche guide at the back of the book and see step by step pictures for everything you need to know. There`s even a book of great summer hats that I have started in on. I`m working my way through a crocheted linen cloche with a stylish fold in it to give it an unusual shape.

I`ve found my knitter`s paradise. Thank you, yarn gods, for sending me here.

Alive in Japan!

I`m alive, and I found an internet cafe!

I`ve been in Fukuyama for 2 weeks now, and I think I`ve found my way around quite well. I know where to get cheap movies, American CDs, and books. Oh yeah, and this town is full of GREAT craft shops. I need two hands to count all the places I`ve been to that have rooms packed with great yarn. Imagine getting a 50g ball of nice all wool yarn for less than $2. Yeah, it`s like that. I think my knitting will be just fine here.

Next I need to get a basic beginner book in Japanese so I can decipher all those juicy Japanese yarn terms. I`ve got a book that is partially bilingual. It explains Norwegian knitting techiniques in English and Japanese, but the instructions for the projects are in Japanese only. And they use metric, which I`m not too up on.

Anyways, yay Japan!

Prepping for the exodus

I've sailed past the "move all my stuff out of Indiana" to the "pack it all into suitcases" phase of my journey to Japan. Also, I found out where I'll be living, the lovely city of Fukuyama in Hiroshima prefect! I'll be living a few blocks from the shinkansen station. Right now I'm visiting Mom's side of the family in the place that is probably least like the one I'm headed to, rural Iowa. Yes, we are a mighty German farming people.

Seeing all of the belonging I'm going to have with me in Japan makes me realize that I don't have a lot of room left for yarn and knitting supplies. It's going to be as extreme a yarn diet as can be. I'm thinking if I finish the IK Nantucket Jacket I'm working on, I can bring enough yarn for two sweaters and a few odd balls for hats and whatnot.

This reminds me I'm being a poor knitting blogger and posting next to no yarn porn in this thing. Pics will be forthcoming as soon as I'm reunited with my digital camera.

Trying to get through the next two weeks

It's no fun here. We've hit the one month mark until I leave for Japan, and I still don't feel like I've got my ducks in a row. My financial situation with my credit cards and student loans need to be straightened out, which could probably be helped by declaring bankruptcy. That and my room is still packed with excess yarn, lots of books, and all of my craft supplies, and a lot of that is getting donated or sold. I suppose an international move is a good way to cut down your stash. There was a lot of acrylic yarn that I inherited from friends and my crocheting grandmother, so that will all be freed to frolic with Indiana's female prison population. Thank goodness someone realized that knitting and crocheting are good emotional therapies.

With all the distractions, I've done next to no knitting aside from the bit waiting through the previews before Hot Fuzz (Hilarious movie, see it now before Spiderman 3 knocks it out of the theaters). I suppose I'll have to kill a lot of time in the two weeks I'll be back in IL before I go. I foresee my many unfinished projects being wrapped up. And there is that really nice yarn shop in my hometown with the awesome clearance section...

In sadder news, my car died on me Saturday. Fortunately is was just the starter motor, and I got it replaced for a reasonable amount. I still have to sell my trusty Buick so I can afford the plane ticket to Osaka. Anyone need a reliable car for less than a grand?

Kicking around a few ideas in my head

There are two things that are haunting my imagination. One is a very crafty tool belt that holds everything you need in a hands-free way. It's sketched out and awaiting the cutting and sewing stages. I'm waiting on a paycheck and a day off to raid the fabric store.

The other is how to pack every one of my knitting belongings into a suitcase and take it with me to Japan.

I just found out today that I've been accepted by Nova to teach English at one of their schools in Japan. I don't know where I'll be teaching or exactly when I'm leaving, but I'm already giddy with excitement and nervous anticipation. Will I do a good job? What will my Nova roommates be like? Will I be able to afford my crazy yarn habits?

It's time for me to purge most of my earthly possessions and figure out what it is that I really need...


and how I'm going to get all of my knitting books across the Pacific.

Just enough kink

I have to admit that I compulsively purchase something whenever I go into a bookstore. It doesn't matter where they are, if they're a chain or independent, or what their selection is like. It takes all of my willpower NOT to buy something. Last time I walked into a bookstore, I walked out with Domiknitrix: Whip Your Knitting into Shape.

I had browsed through it before, and this last time I was checking out Nikol Lohr's Naughty Needles. For me, the choice was obvious. Naughty Needles goes straight for the kink. It doesn't shy away from what it purports to be. It embraces kinky subculture.

Not Domiknitrix. It's about mastering knitting, and the author takes a serious look at how to make your knitting work. To be honest, I'm sick of seeing books that spend half of their thickness explaining the most rudimentary of knitting techniques. I wish the industry could figure out that that phase is passed (besides, Debbie Stoller's books cover technique well enough that I see no need to recommend other books to beginners). Despite that, this book's approach to educating the unexperienced knitter is refreshing. Her "Knitting Principles: Eight Rules to Knit By" is straightforward and sums up all knitters really need to care about, with an emphasis on planning with swatches and knowing knitting not just mindlessly going on.

Her patterns are attractive and simple. Aside from the yet-to-be-Internet-published pattern, Elfin Bride/Gothlet, each pattern is elegant in its execution and achievable for even the most novice of knitters. Her Swizzle vest is my personal favorite, and it's a pattern that even the newest of knitters could tackle as her first major FO.

All in all, it's a great book with great pictures and good graphic illustrations.

Get it. Master it. Love it.

The virgin post

I'm starting this blog to document my love of knitting, crochet, and other forms of crafting. The plan is to share my crafts with the internet and give my two cents on publications concerning crafts. I've been knitting for 2 and a half years, and my first book was the infamous Stitch 'n Bitch by Debbie Stoller. This was about the same time I discovered Bust magazine (co-founded by Ms. Stoller).

My take on SnB is that it's a great beginner book especially for the younger set of knitters. It's got great diagrams and pictures, projects to introduce you to each stage of your knitting skills, and a sense of humor and geek-like excitement about the craft. This was my earliest reference book to knitting techniques, and I took Stoller's personal recommendations for other knitting books and magazines to build my knitting library. Consequently I plan on sharing my reviews of that library with you.