Tinkering Elizabeth I Pullover

Some years ago, I did yarn swap with an accomplished knitter in Switzerland and acquired beautiful Camel Dunedin yarns. I knitted Elizabeth of York with some of them. I loved the way Dunedin shows off stitch pattern. If I were to classify this yarn, I would place it between fingering and sports weight, or almost sports weight but not quite as thick. Its texture is spongy and similar to Gems Merino. I would probably use it as a substitute for Dunedin.

With the remaining Dunedin, I decided to knit Elizabeth I Pullover, which I knew required some tinkering. I heard it is too large overall and the neck opening is too wide, in particular. I decided to make this pullover more fitted with zero or very scant ease all around. For that, 5 stitches were taken out at each side of the bodice. At the same time, I did not want to modify the beautiful center V-shaped design. In order to maintain the design, I decreased the number of stitches reduced along the raglan shaping. Note that these changes made on bodice pieces do not change the number of stitches along the top. So far so good. Next task was to make sleeves narrower. I decided that the raglan shaping for the sleeves do not need to match that of the bodice, and I took out 8 stitches at the center of each sleeves. I felt that reducing the neckband length by total of 16 stitches might not be sufficient and added a dart at the top of sleeves, reducing further 12 stitches for each sleeve, with the total of 40 stitches removed from the neckband. The photo below shows the center dart on the sleeve.



Note to self: I may have been better off matching the raglan shaping of the sleeves to that of the bodice, and increasing the center dart depth so that 16 stitches were removed at the center top, with 30 stitches in total decreased along the neckband.

This pullover is very elegant and relatively quick to knit. I would knit it again happily.

La Alhambra Pullover

This pullover reminds me of La Alhambra with pillars and ceilings adorned heavily with arabesque paneling. We visited Granada, Spain, two years ago and I finally got to visit La Alhambra. What a feast for senses! It is a spectacular place visually, of course, but the sounds of water running through the palace and the aroma of flowers and trees. I would love to visit again and again. Perhaps, I should have chosen ivory yarns for the pullover.



The pattern is from Couture Knit no. 8 by Shida Hitomi shown above, which I got last summer in Japan. I saw this pullover first time in Ms. Shida's book of
250 knitting patterns a few years ago and I’ve been longing to knit it ever since. Mine is knitted with Rowan Pure Wool DK in Dahlia, which of course is not the original yarn.

As you can see, I changed the collar so that the cable patterns continue from the body, and that it stays off of my neck. I just ignored the neck shaping, kept knitting with cable patterns slightly modified, and cast off when the length I wanted was achieved.

Trial and Error

This seems to be the way I accomplish a good result.





Addendum: I just learned that the pattern is available in German from here for free. Let me know if you want my English translation. I don't think it is accurate, but it worked okay with me.

It was Aran Pullover for me

I saw Katrin's crossed front pullover last year. I love the color, the design, and the whole thing. I had to knit one myself. She kindly purchased a copy of the magazine for me. With Babel Fish as my guide, I tackled this German pattern. As I was not sure if I can wear a green funky top, I started knitting one in my usual color. Things were going rather well for a while and I finished it as well.



This short aran pullover with crossed front bands was knitted with Knit Picks' Andean Silk, and it was meant for me. However, it became quite obvious it was going to be too small for me. I could have ripped the whole thing and re-knit it for a larger size, but I opted to finish as was. I have two DDs and figured one of them can wear it now or later. So, here it is on my DD1. She looks pretty good in it.




I really liked knitting with Andean Silk. It is not rough against the skin and DDs agreed that they have no trouble wearing on their bare skin. Something I need to remember for future projects.

Now that I know how bands and the side panels fit, I began knitting for mine. I ordered a heavier yarn. This time, I am using WEBS’ Sugarloaf. I love this yarn! Springy and spongy texture and feel very soft. Another yarns kids would not mind. Being the second version, I did change the pattern here and there. Instead of casting off reverse stockinet stitches along the back neckline, I added 1 by 1 ribbing before casting off.



Two more sleeves to go!

Something New

To me, that is. Through a Japanese blogger, I learned of an exhibit by Britt-Marie Christoffersson held in Tokyo. Here are some more photos posted by another blogger. Looks so much fun to knit those fabrics. I am very envious of those who took classes.

ps. From the second link above, I learned that the instruction material used in the class is available. It is rather expensive, though.

Cardigan for Father

I had this idea of knitting a cardigan for my father for his 50th anniversary when I was knitting Mother’s shawl and saw this Rowan book for men. Martin Storey’s Reverse Stripe Sweater got my attention. I love stripes but never tried reverse stripes. Using Rowan Felted Tweed in this pattern makes even more interesting fabric. The only problem is Father hates pullovers as they mess up his hair, and he does not wear brown colors. I bought Midnight and several other colors of FT and started knitting samples for him to choose from. Father likes navy blue as I remembered. Together with Midnight, I decided on Treacle as the secondary main color. For the accent I chose dark red, mustard, and orange and let him select one. The color sequence was adjusted slightly so that the accent color is between dark brown Treacle, instead of Midnight. The sample I made is shown below in the order from the left. In case he misunderstand that the purl side is the wrong side, I sewed the samples on a piece of paper, and mailed them off to Japan.



According to my sister who watched my father made the decision, the orange one was out immediately. He was unsure between the remaining two, but the notion that ‘red’ is for young people got the better of him and he decided on mustard yellow. Personally, I would have enjoyed knitting orange version best.

Knitting this cardigan went rather smoothly. First the back and then I moved onto sleeves. Once they were finished, I assembled pieces and tried it on my DH to determine the location of the V-neck. Remembering that Father has a bit of belly, I added two to three inches extra to the front.




One detail shot of front bands.



I use back buttons on knitted cardigans in order to prevent over stretching of the fabric under buttons. Also, note the locations of buttons relative to holes. Do you notice that they are not right in the middle of the hole? They are almost at the top of the holes. When placed in the middle, the left front tends to hang lower than the right as the left front slides down until it is supported by buttons. In a sewing book, you learn how buttons and button holes are positioned relative to each other, and that’s how I know.

Herringbone Hat à la May

This pattern is written for the finished crown circumference of 24” (for a person with head circumference of 23”) only. For a smaller size, adjustments are required. When you find errors, please let me know.

What you need:
- Classic Elite Beatrice, 4 balls (actually 3 balls and a few more yards). Yarn spec of Beatrice is 63 yards/ 50 gm ball, gauge 4 stitches = 1" on #10 1/2 needles, and heavy worsted weight. For a smaller size, 3 balls are enough.
- Knitting needles in size 5.5mm.
- Tapestry needle for seaming.

Herringbone pattern:
- Row 1 (WS): Repeat [purl 2 stitches together, before taking stitches off of the left needle, purl the first stitch again] until one stitch left on the left needle, purl 1.
- Row 2 (RS): Repeat [slip 1 stitch knit-wise, knit 1, pick up the slipped stitch with the left needle and knit it] until one stitch left on the left needle, knit 1.

Gauge: In herringbone pattern, 24 stitches by 20 rows for a 4” square.

For finished crown circumference of 24” (for a person with head circumference of 23”)
Side crown: Lace cast on 145 stitches. Repeat row 1 and row 2 9 times, with the total of 18 rows.

Top of the crown:
Row 19 (WS) - Repeat [pattern 6 stitches, p2tog twice] until 5 stitches remain, pattern 4 stitch, p1. 117 stitches remain. Notice, p2tog must be repeated in a row so as not to disturb the herringbone pattern.
Row 20 and all the even numbered rows for the top of the crown - knit as Row 2.
Row 21 - Repeat [pattern 14 stitches, p2tog twice, pattern 16 stitches, p2tog twice] three times, pattern 2 stitches, p1. 105 stitches remain.
Row 23 - Repeat [pattern 12 stitches, p2tog twice, pattern 14 stitches, p2tog twice] three times, pattern 2 stitches, p1. 93 stitches remain.
Row 25 - Repeat [pattern 10 stitches, p2tog twice, pattern 12 stitches, p2tog twice] three times, pattern 2 stitches, p1. 81 stitches remain.
Row 27 - Repeat [pattern 8 stitches, p2tog twice, pattern 10 stitches, p2tog twice] three times, pattern 2 stitches, p1. 69 stitches remain.
Row 29 - Repeat [pattern 6 stitches, p2tog twice, pattern 8 stitches, p2tog twice] three times, pattern 2 stitches, p1. 57 stitches remain.
Row 31 - Repeat [pattern 4 stitches, p2tog twice, pattern 6 stitches, p2tog twice] three times, pattern 2 stitches, p1. 45 stitches remain.
Row 33 - Repeat [pattern 2 stitches, p2tog twice, pattern 4 stitches, p2tog twice] three times, pattern 2 stitches, p1. 33 stitches remain.
Row 34 - K2tog until the last stitch, k1. 17 stitches remain.
Cut the yarn, leaving about 20” hanging for seaming.
Pull the yarn through the remaining 17 stitches and tighten. At this point, you can start seaming and check the size, but do not cut the remaining yarn. Before start knitting the brim, you will need to undo seaming for about 1 to 2 inches so that the brim can be knitted flat. When seaming, pick up the vertexes of herringbone pattern, abutting the sides together.

Brim:
Pick up 145 stitches from the bottom of the crown with right side facing.
Knit as Row 1 (WS) - Purl patterned stitches.
Row 2 (RS) - Repeat [pattern 20 stitches as Row 2 of the crown, yo] 7 times, pattern 5 stitches (152 stitches)
Row 3 (WS) and all the WS rows - Repeat [purl patterned stitches to yo, add one stitch by picking up a bar of the previous row] until the last yo, add one stitch by picking up a bar of the previous row, purl patterned stitches to the end. Notice that two stitches are added at yo in order to maintain the herringbone pattern. 159 stitches on the needle.
Row 4 - Purl pattern 10 stitches, yo, repeat [pattern 22 stitches, yo] 6 times, pattern 17 stitches (166 stitches)
Row 5 - Repeat Row 3 (173 stitches)
Row 6 - Repeat [purl pattern 20 stitches, yo] 8 times, pattern 13 stitches. (181 stitches)
Row 7 - Repeat Row 3 (189 stitches)
Cast off - Facing RS, ssk, repeat [ssk, cast off] until one stitch remain, cast off the last stitch together with the stitch on the right needle.

Seam the hat.

Circular Shawl by Shida Hitomi

A friend of mine has asked me to translate texts on a pattern by Shida Hitomi. It is an almost circular shawl from Ms. Shida's recent book "Couture Knits vol. 12".

Yarn spec (It is available on page 34 of the book. It is the fifth one from the top): Extra fine merino 50%, nylon 50%, about 200 m per 40 g ball, recommended needle size 5 to 6 (in Japanese sizing), gauge is 22-24 stitches by 33-35 rows.

Yarn requirement: 4 balls (about 800 m)

Needles: Japanese size 7 knitting needles and size 4/0 crochet hook.

Finished diameter: 53.5 cm

Knitting instructions:
- Make a circle and pick up 15 stitches by repeating knit 1, yarn over.
- Follow the chart on page 60 and knit 28 rows. There will be 74 stitches on the needles. Note that the blank squares indicate no stitches (in other instructions, they are for purl stitches).
- Next, follow the bottom chart on page 61 and knit 42 rows. On Row 1, the number of stitches are increased to 170, and on Row 42, 195 stitches should be on the needles.
- Follow the middle chart for 16 rows. There are no increases.
- Follow the top chart for 62 rows. On Row 1, the number of stitches are increased to 387, and on Row 62, 531 stitches should be on the needles.
- Using crochet hook, single crochet over the first 6 stitches, and repeat [6 chain stitches, single crochet over the next 5 stitches] all around the shawl. Over the straight edges, pick up yarns one stitch inside of the edge and repeat the pattern for 24.5 times. For the second row, single crochet all the way.

Little Things

Over the holiday we made a few little things, I mean my DD1 and I. She whipped up two knitted ornament sweaters from Berroco’s Minutia pattern, and gave them out to her friend and a friend of DD2. She was so fast in wrapping them up that I had time to take photos of one of them only. The other one was in green and also had some cables in the front. This was her first cable experience and she loved it. She did a great job!



I did this knitted bunny from Heart String Fiber Arts website for my DD2 who loves bunnies. She's been asking for a stuffed bunny for quite some time and I had some leftover angora yarn in pale pink. Just a perfect last minute gift for her. The yarn is 100% angora, btw.

Lastly, a cloth doll I made for DD2’s birthday several weeks ago. It is from one of the craft books we bought in Japan. We walked into a craft chain store called Hobbyra-Hobbyre in Nagoya and saw Nina dolls. Of course, DDs fell in love and we bought the book and a few fabrics, including Liberty of London prints. Can you see what Nina is knitting?

Hat Crazy

Happy New Year to you all!

I've been knitting hats since my last major project was completed. Two scrappy hats were the first ones, followed by herringbone cloche/hat, cabled hats, and just completed berets. I have not established a habit of blogging regularly and just kept on knitting. So, this post will be rather long, I am afraid.



The herringbone cloche in Vogue Knitting Caps and Hats Two is something I wanted to knit for a few years. Its shape and stitch pattern appealed to me. It uses this neat stitch which is also used in My So-called Scarf and I knitted it last January. I thought it would be nice to have a matching hat. The only issue was that the pattern is written for size 20" only while my head is 23" plus. Besides, I hate snug hats. Also, the original pattern calls for Koigu Kersti in DK weight while I wanted to use Manos del Uruguay which is heavy worsted weight.

I started a test version with leftover Classic Elite Beatrice which happens to be heavy worsted weight. I followed the pattern with some gauge adjustments using 5.5 mm needles and aimed for 24" circumference. I did three sections for the crown as directed. Seaming these sections required thinking however. In the photo of the book, you see a vertical line along the seam which definitely does not belong to the herringbone pattern. As you can see below, in my cloche, it is less visible. It was achieved by just picking up the vertexes.



The Beatrice yarn was so bouncy and I loved the firmness of the finished hat. I wore it just about everyday, until I lost it on a cab. How stupid could I be? I just left it on the seat. I was so sad and was lamenting about it for a few days, wondering how I could recover from the loss. Well, I just bought more of the same yarn in different colors.

In the meantime, I’ve knitted another herringbone hat with Manos. This time, I knitted the crown as one flat piece. I love this version much better than the first. So, when Beatrice yarns arrive, I will be knitting the second version.



By the way, I found out that I don’t like the matching hat and scarf set, at least not with multi colored Manos.


Next hats are designed by a fellow Knitsmith, Thea. The pattern is available for free here.



When I saw her first baby version, I fell in love with the style. In a short while, she did adult versions, Woven and Cabled! I thought the patterns could work for my head and face shape which require a brim. I made it a bit larger than Thea’s original pattern and it really turned out nice, so nice that my DD1 decided it has to be hers. To be honest, she looks better in it than I. Big sister’s new hat leads to her little sister’s new hat usually. So, here they are in new hats. BTW, I used gold Roman coin buttons from my button collection.





The last project of 2007 was Rowan free pattern, Gemma Beret, for DDs. Have you felt Brushed Suri from Blue Sky Alpaca? If you have not, go to your LYS and touch it. It is heavenly, just as soft as clouds look in autumn sky. It looks like a regular mohair yarn which might feel scratchy to some people. The look is really deceiving. This is probably the softest yarn I’ve ever felt. I needed less than one skein for the beret which was knitted with the specified needles but with fewer numbers of stitches cast on. My DDs are very pleased with it.

The Legends of the Shetland Seas Shawl

As you can see, Mother’s shawl is finally blocked and finished. This was my first time blocking any knitted items with wires. The method worked so beautifully. All the irregularities are gone and the shawl looks truly magnificent. The only difficulty was to find a large enough space to spread this thing out. It measures 72” long and 25” wide even though the pattern says the width is 18”. No wonder I used up more yarn than expected. No matter. Mother will be happy with more fuzzy warmth around her.

Here is the end panel.


And the center panel.


I had to use four large bath towels underneath the shawl when blocking. Even then, my comforter was kind of damp when all was finished. My DH says I should have used a plastic sheet under the towels. Looks like I need to go to a garden center when I knit this beauty next time.



Next is Father’s cardigan. Their gold anniversary is in March and I should have enough time for a cardigan.

Scrappy Hats and Cowl

I’ve been knitting this pattern called Scrappy Hat by Folknits multiple times this year. The pattern was available on their website for free early this year, but I am unable to find it now. So far, I’ve knitted three of them. First one was knitted with Noro Silk Garden 245, 2 balls, with 4.5mm needles. I cast on 65 stitches for my large head, about 23". I used up the two balls completely and it looked just fine as a hat initially. However, Silk Garden became very soft rather quickly and the hat became too large. It is now turned into a wonderful cowl.



Second one was done with Noro Silk Garden Lite 2027, 2 and 1/4 balls, with 4 mm needles. I saw a version knitted by a Knitsmith, Nancy, and I fell in love. The colors in 2027 are just gorgeous and I had to do one myself. I cast on 90 stitches and did 174 rows, or 29 repeats of 6 pattern rows. When turned up once, it is a rather slouchy hat, while turned up twice, it is a regular hat as photographed below. I am afraid this one may become slouchy no matter what. BTW, the color 2027 is discontinued now and I am so glad that I picked up some more balls for a matching scarf or another hat. In order to prevent stretching out, I’m thinking of knitting it with a strand of firm yarn, such as Kidsilk Haze.



The third one is knitted with Noro Kureyon 148, again discontinued, 2.5 balls. I used 4.5 mm needles and cast on 70 stitches. This is one of the Kureyon colors I just adore. It has all my favorite shades, chocolate, raspberry, toffee, etc. As Kureyon is more stable and bouncier than Silk Garden, I hope it will keep the original dimension. I did 27 repeats of 6 pattern rows, and it is turned up once only.



Addendum: A fellow Knitsmith member, Amber, pointed me to Scrappy hat pattern. Thank you, Amber!

Rowan 42 Iceland

The Shetland shawl for my mother was finished sometime ago, but still waiting to be blocked. I just need a few hours to myself in the bedroom to complete the task, but I have not gotten time to do that yet. Soon, I hope. In the mean time, I cast on for a pullover from Rowan 42, Iceland. It has very wide three-quarter length sleeves. It knit up very fast with bulky yarns and 7mm needles.



Halfway through the project, I almost ripped the whole thing. It did not look large enough to me. When measured flat, the top piece had the right dimension. Yet, it looked so small. There was no way it would stretch down to below waist, I thought. My DH suggested that I finish it as it was, and if it turns out to be too small, knit another one. Well, it was the right advice and I am so glad to have listened to him. The knitted fabric turned out to be so elastic that it did reach the length I wanted.

So, here I am very pleased with the finished garment. I used only 7 balls of the yarn.

New book by Shimada Toshiyuki

Yesterday, I received two knitting books by Mr. Shimada, one of which was recently published and contains 14 garments previously introduced in Keito Dama without patterns, plus 10 new designs. (Link to the new book)

Here is one of the garments I was hoping to get patterns for some day since 2004. I happened to have a right yarn for this project, too.



Also, the recent issue of Keito Dama has Shida Hitomi listed in the contents page three times! It's been ordered but I won't receive it until December. Boo Hoo! (See the contents in Japanese)

Added: In case you want to order the book from YesAsia, here is the link!

Link to Errata: I just learned that there are errors in Mr. Shimada's new book, and they are corrected here. BTW, the book is indicated to have sold out on Nihon Vogue web page. Not to worry, though, as they are re-printing. Also, follow this link to find out if other publications by Nihon Vogue have errors.

A little project for distraction

I am getting a little tired of knitting the border for the LSS shawl. It is beautiful and I am so close to the end, but I am not that eager to finish. It is time to get something new going.

I’ve had this one skein of Louet Gems Merino Pearl, fingering weight, for many months. It was originally purchased to test its appropriateness for Aberlady. The yarn failed the test: it was too strongly plied and the fabric was not as soft as I thought it should be for the design. So, it stayed in my yarn basket untouched. I loved the color of the yarn too much to just put it away. It is bright pink/fuchsia. I’ve been wondering what I could possibly make with one skein of this pink yarn? Then, I saw a blog post by Ishi-san. Aha! That’s what I thought. And, here it is, my Wabenschal scarf. I’ve been wishing to have a skinny scarf in solid color for some time, and this was just the perfect thing.



I made it narrower than the original pattern to achieve enough length. It is not cumbersome as other scarves I own, yet kept me warm all day today. I used to love thick and bulky scarves, but looks like I will be knitting skinnier ones this winter.

Shawl, Twin Set, and Something New

The main panel of the shawl is done and I am working on the edging. One of my knitting friends at the Knitsmith Claire gave me the red crochet ball bag shown above. It is just the perfect thing for my lace yarn. Thanks Claire!

I could not resist pinning the lace fabric on my ironing board.



I've finished DD2's tank top to match with her cardigan sometime ago. Here is how they are put together.



The tank top is based on a Katia pattern from last summer, slightly modified.



Here is the beginning of my new project. I bought this gorgeous yarn, Schachenmayr Diva in grey, from my LYS on sale sometime ago. It is a blend of wool and polyamide and I have 7 balls.



I have been swatching this ribbon yarn quite some time, started with simple stockinet stitches which I thought was boring, and moved onto various lace stitches, most of which were way too elaborate. In the end, I settled for garter stitches. But, I need some fun stitches, like yarn over, ssk or k2tog. So, what you see in the top section of the swatch is what I will be using. It was adopted from my old project and I changed it slightly. We shall see how it turns out.

New Pattern Magic

The second volume of Pattern Magic by Ms. Tomoko Nakamichi will be out on November 11th.

Update: Yes Asia has the book listed here for non-US order and here for US order.

What I look forward to when I visit Japan

No knitting or sewing contents today. Just about foods!!

There are many good and great Japanese restaurants in the U.S., but nothing compares to those you grew up with. I love to visit Nawate Douri in Matsumoto. It is a small section along Metoba river which is lined with small shops. I always visit there at least a couple of times when I visit my parents. Just stroll along the river with hand-made osenbei and taiyaki. Very simple and pleasant moment I always look forward to. For more excitement, my sister and her husband always have some new restaurants for us to try. This summer we went to Ayu Tei restaurant. My brother-in-law is a friend of the chef and they treated us with such abundant delicacies. We could hardly finish all the dishes served. I actually don’t remember how many courses there were. What impressed me most was a sashimi salad. I would go there anytime. We had pictures taken with the chef, Uchiyama-san, and his assistant, miss pirate.





We did not have a chance this time, but we love to visit Pamplona, yes, Spanish restaurant in Matsumoto area. They have paella, of course, but also black rice, which is cooked with squid ink. Absolutely delicious. Apparently, there is a meat shop in Japan producing sobrasada for some years now, not to mention jamon and chorizo, and they had them at the restaurant. Being from Spain, my DH tried the sobrasada. He said it was quite good.

Last but not least, we always visit Abura-Ya Chinese restaurant. It is a small shop but always busy. My DDs talk about it all the time, dreaming of going back there.

I am sure there are many more places I should be visiting. For one, I need to go to Sakura-ya where they serve only eels, that’s it.

Well, I am writing this entry at night and I’d better stop. Or else, I will need to snack on something.

Lace Shawl by Hazel Carter

During my vacation in Japan, I knitted Hazel Carter's Legends of the Shetland Seas shawl with Lisa Souza hand dyed lace yarn in Sea Foam. Both the pattern and the yarn are just lovely. Actually, I saw the same shawl knit by my longtime internet knitting friend Laura one day this summer and I just fell in love with it. She brought with her many gorgeous afghans and lace shawls, but this Shetland shawl really caught my eyes. Her version was in darker color, called Wild Things, evoking dark stormy seas in northern Europe. I was going to knit it in the same color for myself initially. Then, I realized that my parents will be celebrating their gold anniversary soon. I thought the light sea foam color would be lovely on my mother whose hair is white. I still have a long way to go before I can start the edging as I am still on the center section.

Coming back home, I had to quickly seam up pieces to finish Belén’s cardigan. The pattern is from Phildar Enfants Printemps Été 2007 and the yarns used are Katia’s Sonrisa. We love narrow bands on the sleeves and cute flower buttons.



The back view.



And, Phildar version

More Japanese Books

We were on vacation in Japan for a few weeks and visited Nagoya and Matsumoto. Besides seeing my relatives, what I love to do over there is to go to markets and eat those morsels which are not readily available in the U.S. and to purchase craft books.

Here is a partial list of what I brought back: Four knitting books including Keito Dama Fall 2007, and Couture Knits no. 12 by Shida Hitomi. I also picked up Shida Hitomi's Couture Knits no. 8 and a back issue of SeKaINo Amimono from 2000, both of which are out of print now. I am quite excited about Ms. Shida's no. 8. There is one pullover in it with gorgeous cable design I must knit. I have yarns for it waiting for cooler days. Most of the designs from her no. 12 are knitted with fabulous and complex pattern stitches and simple garment designs, but there are a few which show new directions. It seems that my list of knitting projects gets longer every season.

I bought some sewing patterns books, including a book on skirts by Yoshiko Tsukii, on dresses and blouses by the same author, a fascinating book by Natsuno Hiraiwa, and Dress Up - Dress Down Simple Chic by Machiko Kayaki. The last book by Ms. Kayaki reminds me of a book I bought last year by Yuri Kaneko, which contains retro style garments.

There are few more books on other crafts I brought back with me. I will show them to you later.

With all these books, I thought my luggage might burst. Besides the increased weight of our luggage, there was another issue in returning home. The night before we were leaving Matsumoto, a relatively large typhoon hit Japan. Many railways were experiencing cancellations and delays, including JR Chuo line which we were going to take on the following day. Of course, our train was cancelled following morning and by the time we arrived at the Nagoya airport, we had only 45 minutes before our plane took off. I don’t know if it was this anxiety and nervousness but we had such a hard time overcoming jet lag this time. We were absolutely sleepy by 6 pm for a week! Things are back to normal and I just began to knit again.

Added: I just fond out that you can see more work by Ms. Hiraiwa here.