Matsubayashi (松林) Part 2

The holiday season is right around the corner and every year, Hubs comes up with a new and ingenious way to make me a Christmas tree (we have since given up on killing live tress to have/enjoy an actual Christmas tree).🎄This year, Hubs brilliant idea is that I knit one.😳 He thinks that if I knit another bigger Winter Fir like tree really loosely, he could try using one of our fairy lights in it for our "tree" this year.

 

So, with my Denise 12.0 & 15.0mm needles and my Lion Brand Fettuccini & the remnant of my Reynolds Icelandic Lopi yarns, I based my tree on the Booble Fir pattern, by casting on 48 sts and doing the following:  

Rounds 1-4 knit (4 rows)
Round 6 *k2tog, k12, ssk, rep from * around: 42 sts
Rounds 7-10 knit (4 rows) (switched to Denise 15.0mm needles on Row 9)
Round 11 *k2tog, k10, ssk, rep from * around: 36 sts
Rounds 12-17 knit (5 rows)
Round 18 *k2tog, k8, ssk, rep from * around: 30 sts
Rounds 19-23  knit (5 rows)
Round 24 *k2tog, k6, ssk, rep  from * around: 24 sts
Rounds 25-27 knit (3 rows)
Round 28 *k2tog, k4, ssk, rep from * around: 18 sts
Rounds 29-30 knit (2 rows)
Round 31 *k2tog, k2, ssk, rep from * around: 12 sts
Rounds 32 knit
Round 33 *k2tog, ssk, rep from * around: 6 sts
Bind off.

Here's how it turned out:

I must say, I really struggled with this tree. 😖😳😱😭😔 Using the Fettuccini yarn was really hard on my hands and it took me several cast ons to finally get the right size.  I was definitely having a goldilocks moment with it: it was too big, then still too big, then maybe a bit too small before I finally got it just right.🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ I had just enough Fettuccini to get about halfway through the tree; then I finally switched to the Lopi yarn and it got much easier to knit. I had to modify the top portion because it was starting to look a bit wonky and wasn't matching the bottom portion.  Overall, I think it came out ... ok ... it looks more like a mountain than a tree (or more accurately, a funny looking hat than even a mountain or tree!😳😱🤦‍♀️) and I'm not sure if I really like it ...🤔😳😔

 

Upon sleeping on it, I decided that I really, really didn't like it and wanted to frog it so I could redo the base of the tree by having a smaller base (of 42 sts), and to use only my Denise 15.0mm needles as well start with a seed stitch pattern (instead of just knit) (to prevent all that curling so it stops looking more like a funky hat and more like a tree/mountain).

 

However, we decided to deck out the house first and found that we didn't need another tree.😳😱🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️ (I  had a ceramic tree that the light finally died and Hubs managed to repurpose that tree where he made it even better than the original!😳😱😁🎉🥳👍🙌🎄) So, with that, I simply frogged everything and gave up on this version of a tree (at least for this year).🤷‍♀️😔☃️

I Love Yarn Day 2025 & Catching Up

It's been a while since I've posted anything so, let's catch up!  What have I been doing?

 

 Well, to be frank, I haven't been doing much since my last post when I made my ぽちゃぽちゃのチキ. I was working on a crochet bug (a post on that may be forthcoming if I can ever actually finish it!😳😱😔🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🙇‍♀️) but that ended up stalling since I was being indecisive as well as had some "stuffing" issues.😔🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

 

Then I got sucked up in the whirlwind of some computer issues and was cleaning things up as well as considering what system(s) I wanted to use in the future (aka getting off the Google train). I started looking into different systems and realized how difficult it would be to move off Blogger (the system I'm using to write this post).  I had found a way to say my old blogs but no way of figuring out how to keep posting, migrating everything over and keeping everything together.😱😔😭 And as I was saving my old blogs, I realized that I had completely missed!! I Love Yarn Day this year (it was on October 11, 2025).😱😔😭🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️How could I have possibly missed this date??😱😔😭🤦‍♀️

 

I realized that I've officially been out of work for a little over a year now 🙌🎉🎊🥳🥰 and, while I've been extremely grateful and super happy to not be working, I have not been nearly as productive with my knitting as I had hoped I'd be. It seemed that I had a little spurt of productivity then I just ... petered out. 😔😳😱😭🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🙇‍♀️ It made me realize how burnt out I really was - not just from working but overall as a whole. When I think about it, I didn't realize that I was that burnt out; I just thought that once I'd stop working I would have so much (more) free time to do all the things I want to do. While in many instances that is true, it's also true that I have finally been able to slow down as well. This means: sleeping more (or more often - think naps!😉😁🥰); having more time to cook for Hubs when he's tired or just doesn't have the energy to do so; puttering around the house, cleaning things up around the house (things that have just been sitting around forever) - both physically and electronically (I'm amazed at all the electronic "junk" I've accumulated over the years - definitely trying to be less of an electronic hoarder!); reading more; watching a lot Japanese anime (something I haven't done in years); finally getting around to giving water colouring a try. All these "tasks" take time ... apparently A LOT of time!😳😱 So much time that I haven't had time (or the drive) to knit; I've found that I'm a one task kind of gal - I can either read or knit; watch anime or read; crochet or knit or water colour; catch up on bills and emails from friends and family or do something else. I can't seem to do more than one (1) type of task at a time nor have the self-discipline to split my time up either (the day just zips by and next thing I know, it's three (3) o'clock AM!).😔😳😱😭🤦‍♀️🙇‍♀️I suspect that this is the case (for me) because now, I actually have the luxury of time. While it's been slightly distressing that I haven't been knitting (or whipping through my stash as I had hoped), I can't even begin to explain how less stressed I am; how I feel like I can actually be a better spouse and friend to Hubs and my friends and family. And, I think because of that, perhaps, I don't feel so driven to "hurry up" and get my knitting or crochet projects done. I now have time.

 

Although I hope, as the weather cools down, my knitting mojo will come back; at least I've been daydreaming about knitting (more) now (I wasn't even been doing that before). I do miss knitting ... it's weird to have idle hands; but, since we're still not going out very often, my hands are not often idle (can't be watching Japanese anime and knitting at the same time - I need to be reading those subtitles and can't "see" my knitting at the same time!😔😳🤭🤭🤭). However, I think things will be changing as I think Hubs may be ready to get back into the outside world as he's also had a chance to rest (he retired a few months ago so, we've been spending even more time together (and as such, taking up more of my time!😉😁🥰)). So, if we'll be venturing out, I definitely need to make sure I have a project on me in case there's some idle car time ... 

 

I wonder what's in store for me as the year closes out ... 🤔🤔🤔

Coffee Sleeve

My poor Hubs.  He wanted to show me that he could actually make his own coffee sleeve and wanted me to "remind" him how to cast-on and knit on DPNs.  So, since we had something that already fit what he wanted the sleeve for, I looked it over and tried to figure out what I did since it was for something I made when I first started knitting.  Here's what I think he needed to do for his sleeve:

1. Cast on 36 sts, dividing evenly over 4 DPNs and join in the round.

2. Knit for 10 rows.

3. Cast off.

But ... this never happened so, I'm wrapping up to post to close it out!😋

Mitten Garland Advent Calendar

I was perusing around the web and found this website (back in 2021!😳😱).  It was so cute and inspiring that I thought that I'd give this a try.  It seemed easy enough (and small) and it just took three (3) colours.  However, five (5!) years have gone by since I saw this cute project and I've actually used up all of my polyester yarns (the ones I had intended to use for this project). Alas, this project clearly wasn't going to happen. 😳😱😔😭🤦‍♀️I think another (big) reason why this project simply "sat" in my queue was that I didn't have anyone who'd really appreciate/want something like this. So I've decided to wrap up this post to have closure on a project that will most likely never happen ... 😔😳 Who knows ... maybe one day, I'll meet someone who will inspire me to make a mitten advent calendar for him/her.🤷‍♀️🤔🍀🐰🎄

ぽちゃぽちゃのチキ (Pocha Pocha no Chiki)

I still have some polyester yarn and one of my living room throw pillow covers is finally falling apart.  So, that meant that I now have to "recover" it with something else.  Since I am fully enamored with my Emotional Support Chickens, I decided that I would use up the rest of my Mystery Fuchsia yarn (as well as repurpose the yarn from my Modern Art Sweater) to make a mid-sized chiki for the living room.  And here's how it went:

First of all, I had to take apart my Modern Art Sweater. I spent an hour (maybe more!) trying to find the woven ends of the sleeves and the bottom but to no avail, I couldn't find it (apparently, my super power is to weave ends in so well that I will never be able to find it again😳😱🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️).  I was finally forced to cut somewhere along the edges so I could unravel my sweater to reuse the yarn! 😔😤😠😖😳😱😭🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🙇‍♀️ What has taken me a month to make was taken apart in a matter of an hour or so:

Then, using my Chiaogoo 6.5mm (10.5 US) needles and Mystery Fushia yarn (held doubled), here's how my new ぽちゃぽちゃのチキ (Pocha Pocha no Chiki) went:

On Day 1, I started the first wing using my 6.5mm needles and then measured it against my 快適 千喜 (Kaiteki Chiki) and 分厚い チキ(Buatsui Chiki). It was slightly larger then my 快適 千喜 (Kaiteki Chiki) and much smaller then my 分厚い チキ(Buatsui Chiki) but, the fabric felt really dense.😔😳🙇‍♀️ So, I decided to try the other wing using my Chiagoo 8mm (US11) needles and found that it was a softer fabric and only slightly larger. 

This is what it looks like using the 6.5mm needles

This is what it looks like using the 8.0mm needles

This is the size difference with the 6.5mm "wings" on top

So, I decided to redo my original wing with the larger 8.0mm needle size. To join the "wings", I didn't bind off each wing; instead, I used an improvised 3-needle bind of so there wasn't much of an "edge":

On Day 2, I finished the rest of the body (less the beak and comb):

On Day 3, I finished the beak and comb as well as started seaming parts of it:

All that was left to do was tp put in the eyes as well as to finish seaming and stuffing it (I found that I need to put in the eyes first before stuffing then seaming it up); at first, I had tried to embroider the eyes but it came our hideously. Then, I decided that I would just put in button eyes but none of my buttons seemed to match or was "right" as eyes.😔🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️ So, I asked my MIL to see if she'd let me raid her button stash and lo and behold!🎉🥳🙌, she had the perfect button eyes for it. After sewing the eyes on, stuffing it was another hurdle. As a reminder, the initial intent was to essentially replace a throw pillow that we were using in the living room. But once I put in the old pillow, I realized that it wasn't going to fill up the chicken enough.😔😱🙇‍♀️🤦‍♀️ So, I repurposed my 黄色肩巾 (Ki Iro Hire) 黄色いカーディガン (Ki Iro Kadigan), Taiyo no Hikari Seetaa (太陽の光 セーター - Sunshine Sweater) & the inserts for my Watashi no Neko Uwabaki ( 私 の 猫 上履き) for additional stuffing; additionally, remember my Giri no Haha no Tabi (義理 の 母 の 足袋) (aka Tabi Monogatari for Giri no Haha no Tabi's the original, v30, 34-38)? I also repurposed all of those socks as stuffing as well.😁🥰🙌 And despite using all of that plus all of the leftover Mystery Fuchsia yarn, I still needed to add some poly fill to it to smooth it out and to fill put the tail "wings". Here's how it turned out:

And here's how it looks like next to its sibling chikis:

I know, I know .. ぽちゃぽちゃのチキ (Pocha Pocha no Chiki) seems bigger than 分厚い チキ(Buatsui Chiki) but 分厚い チキ(Buatsui Chiki) has been extensively used as my reading pillow and its stuffing had settled down so it's not as fluffy as it was when I  had originally stuffed it.😔🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️ I know that given some time, ぽちゃぽちゃのチキ (Pocha Pocha no Chiki) will also settle down and shrink a bit from the smushing it'll receive.😉🤭😊🥰

Adventures in Crochet: Lalylala's Beetles, Bugs, and Butterflies: Part 2a (FOLLOW-UP/UP-DATE: Ayame's Graduation Trinket: Tentou Mushi (天道虫) & Arimaki (アリマキ) と Katatsumuri (かたつむり))

UP-DATE:  As I mostly finished my other two (2) mini projects, I determined that I needed 15 pairs of 6mm eyes & 5 pairs of 5mm eyes. So, I finally placed my ordered it on Etsy; it finally came in so, here's the completed Arimaki (アリマキ):

Boy, the antennae and the legs were a pain to put in with all those tiny knots!😳😱😔🤦‍♀️It has me rethinking about making a small swarm of them ... if I do, some of the future ones may be missing antennae and legs!🤔😏🤭

And, Katatsumuri (かたつむり):

Its shell:

Note: I was planning on finishing the shell prior to putting in the eyes but realized that I would need to cut the yarn for the Old Lace colour and as I wasn't ready to do that until I stuffed both Katatsumuri (かたつむり) and Tentou Mushi (天道虫) so, I didn't finish it until after I put in the eyes and finished the bodies of both of these insects.

It's "hat":

And here it is in its full glory:

I also finished the Tentou Mushi (天道虫). Boy! Making the band to connect the wings was the most challenging part (it took me a few days to figure it out but I did it!!)🙌🎉🎊🥳:

And, here she is in her full glory: 

And if she needs to be hung on a bag, I  made a clip for her:

I hope Hubby's niece likes it.🤞🙂

Adventures in Crochet: Lalylala's Beetles, Bugs, and Butterflies: Part 1a (Ayame's Graduation Trinket: Tentou Mushi (天道虫))

Back in the day when I graduated high school (eons and eons ago), one of Hubby's aunts had given me a super cute mini stuffed animals that could clip onto my gown and/or lei. It was utterly adorable. 🥰💕😍

Now that Hubby's niece is going to be graduating next year (I know, I know ... it's next year?! but .. I need to do this in advance because who knows how long this might actually take me! 😳😱😔 especially since I have a very rudimentary concept of crochet and I still haven't finished the original insect I started two (2!!!) years ago!), I wanted to give her something similar to attach to the lei I'm also making for her. So, since I had purchased Lalylala's Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies and it had so many cute creatures in it, I decided that I would make her the Tentou Mushi (天道虫) (aka the ladybug) (plus it's in her high school's colours - win-win!🙌🎉🎊👍🥳). Here's how it went:

First, I had to make the head and as such, had to (re-)learn how to start crocheting with a magic loop. Once I overcame that, it was quick to finish the head. I did realize that I needed to make sure I had a starting/ending marker otherwise, I would mindlessly go round and round and round, never quite knowing where I started or needed to end.😳🤷‍♀️😱😔🤦‍♀️

Next up was the transition to the body. Here's where I struggled a bit (Remember! I'm not very crochet literate nor am able to fully understand what I'm exactly doing!😳🤷‍♀️😱😔🤦‍♀️). At this stage in my crochet adventure, I was just happy that I could just get the exact/same number of stitches required in the pattern so far!😳😱😔 So, I spent a few hours on Ravelry trying to figure out how to post something in the forum for this pattern (then finally posting a forum question); then spent a few more hours on Google to figure out what these two (2) mysterious instructions (that stumped me) meant, how to do it and why one would provide instructions like this. I finally figured it out as well as received a response on my forum.🥰🎉🎊👍🥳 So, I was able to complete most of the body (since I haven't purchased any eyes for this yet, I had to stop the body at the last two (2) rows so that I could insert the safety eyes and stuff it before actually finishing it off).🙌🎉🎊👍🥳

In the meantime, I've been agonizing over what types of eyes to purchase.😳😱😔🤦‍♀️ Initially, I was thinking about getting glass eyes but found that they are incredibly expensive; so, I started to cave and consider getting plastic safety eyes and fell into a whole 'nother rabbit hole there!😳😱😔 (I wanted to stay away from plastic and I'm trying to avoid purchasing things directly from the "evil horseman" (aka Amazon); plus I had no idea what safety eyes entailed nor how to use them!😳😱😭🤦‍♀️😔 So there was a huge learning curve to get over and I haven't actually used them yet!😳😱🤦‍♀️😔) After spending weeks!! (yes, you read that right - weeks!!) mulling (and agonizing) over this, I finally was able to narrow down my search for these dang safety eyes. It was a good thing that I finished the head and body so that I could confirm if I really wanted to get 5mm eyes (as suggested in the pattern) or some other sized eyes. After going through my test eyes (remember all that yarn I bought in June 2022 then the positionable eyes in August 2022? - it's finally paying off!🥰🎉🎊👍🥳 I'm using them!!👍🥳), I realized that the recommended eye size seemed a bit too small and that 6mm eyes would fit better. However, as I was trying to determine how many pairs of eyes to get, I realized that there are two (2) other insects in the book that may or may not fit these eyes (they seemed smaller) so, I decided to put a pause on this project to work on them first so that I can make sure how many pairs of eyes (and what sizes) I really need (the price point and cost to ship them to me is ridiculous!).😳😱😔

In the meantime, I did finish the hat.🎉🎊👍🥳 But, after putting it on the head, it seems abnormally large. Since I can't really stuff the head yet (pending those dang eyes😳😱😔🤦‍♀️), I also can't finish the hat to add antennae (or determine if I need to rip it out and redo it on a smaller hook size). So, now, everything's on hold until I can really figure out what sized eyes I really need and how many of them I need to get (due to pricing and shipping costs, it's much more efficient if I just get every pair of eyes I need up front rather than buy just one pair at a time or as needed 😔.)
Here's what I have so far:

Now, all I have to do is determine how many eyes to get and where to get them from!🤔

Adventures in Crochet: Lalylala's Beetles, Bugs, and Butterflies Part 2 (Arimaki (アリマキ) と Katatsumuri (かたつむり))

This is going to be a totally disjointed blog as I started projects from Lalylala's Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies (and have pending blog posts about them) but have not finished them yet (for some reason or another)) so, if you're wondering about the Title and why it says it's a Part 2 but you haven't seen the original yet, this is is why!🤭😁🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

So what is this post about? It's about two (2! - yes, count 'em 2!) insects that I managed to finish (enough of) rather quickly from this book. And it was important that I finish them (enough) first before going back to finish my other two (2) pending projects from this book/pattern maker (as well as these insects) because of "the eyes". As you'll read in my other two (2) posts, I have been "stuck" with these projects because of my inability to determine what type and size eyes I needed for them (no more just trying to use my button collection because the smallest button I have is too big for these projects!😳😱😭🤦‍♀️)

So here's the hold-ups to help me move forward on finishing all the insects from this book & pattern maker. First up:

Arimaki (アリマキ) (aka Aphid(s)):

I wanted to see how this turned out since it looked much smaller than the other insects so, I only made one and here's how it went:

I mostly finished it (it's missing the last row and it's antennae & legs) as I just wanted to see what sized eyes I'd need. Overall, it was pretty easy to make and came out quite larger than I expected.  However, I  think it needs smaller eyes than the Tentou Mushi (天道虫); I  think 5mm eyes are needed (vs the 6mm eyes that seems to "fit" better on the Tentou Mushi (天道虫)). Here's how it looks (with test eyes):

Next up: Katatsumuri (かたつむり) (aka Snail):

This was the next insect that looked like it was on the smaller side (and had significantly different instructions than the others); so, I wanted to make sure I got the right (hopefully same!🤞🍀) sized eyes for it. Here's how it went:

For the most part, it wasn't too bad to make. Overall, this was my least favorite "insect" to make as you had to make it in pieces rather than in the round so it was a bit fiddly. As I  was making it, it started to make me doubt if I did the head right on the Tentou Mushi (天道虫) since Katatsumuri's (かたつむり) head seemed so much bigger.  In the end, it was the same size.😌😳 That also meant that the eyes would be the same size.🙌🥳 Here's what it looks like:

I think I'm ready to move forward to buy these dang eyes and to wrap up all of my pending projects!.🙌🥳

What Have I Been Doing?

As I stated in my previous blog, I've completely lost my knitting mojo.😳😱😭🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🙇‍♀️😔 I had started (for what I had hoped) a project that would spark joy (a pair of socks for myself) but, it turned out to be a lesson in frustration (my vanilla pattern that has always worked was not working with the sock yarn I had bought.😡😤😠😖😳😱😭🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🙇‍♀️😔 So, it sat, stuffed in a corner in my bedroom never to see the light of day.

Instead, I've been reading voraciously (literally a book a day) and found that I simply couldn't knit because I've been too busy reading. Then midway through my book binges, I decided that I would try to take a break from reading to see if my knitting would pick up. Instead, I then began to binge on anime and j-dramas and found that since I needed to read the subtitles, it was simply too hard to knit and "watch TV" at the same time.😳🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️😔 Then, I started to have book withdrawals and couldn't handle not having a book to read at night.😳😱🤦‍♀️😔 So, my book reading picked up again.🤦‍♀️😁🥰

However, I also started to pick up my water colour painting (again); since I had quit my job, I wanted to send water coloured ornaments to my family on the mainland this year and I really needed to work on my water colour skills (it's dismal at best😳🤦‍♀️😔). I also wanted to finish my water colour birds art installation (I started it last Spring!).😳🤦‍♀️😔 And, guess what?! I actually (partially) finished and put it up:

It's partially done because I realized that what I have isn't enough to fill both my living room and bedroom (I didn't even have enough for my living room to begin with😳😔🤦‍♀️🙇‍♀️; at least I had enough for my bedroom🥰). But, I had purchased a heat gun and a glue gun which will help me make making additional birds so much easier.🙌🎉🎊🥳 And, now, I'm back in the business of making more of my "flock".

Then, I was perusing Instagram and noticed that graduation season was coming around. I started to look around as Hub's niece was going to graduate next year and I had seen a super cool fabric lei that I was contemplating about learning how to make it. (Due to my lack of knitting mojo, I wanted to start this now to ensure that she'd have something by next year!😳😔). As I was brain storming with my MIL about it, I realized that making a fabric lei was a no-go for me.  Instead, I decided to fall back on an old staple: straw yarn leis. But, I also wanted to give her a little something extra. I had purchased a crochet book of all these cute little bugs and thought: What if I made one for her? And then, B-A-M! The crochet bug (literally) caught me! 🙌🎉🎊🥳 I took down all the yarn I bought for this (book) project (I bought all the yarn back from 2022!😳😔), cracked open the book again and just started it (after all, crochet isn't my thing; it could very well take me a full year to make one of these bugs!😳😔🤦‍♀️). Low and behold, it took me two (2) days to mostly finish the body and I could've finished the whole thing if I wasn't having a dilemma about what type of eyes (and what size eyes) to put on the dang thing! 😳😔😱🤦‍♀️😱🤦‍♀️😱🤦‍♀️ (more on this in another (soon to be!🤞🍀🐰) blog!)

But, I'm feeling my creativity coming back and working on these small crochet projects (as well as my water colour painting) is showing me progress! 🙌🎉🎊🥳🥰 I'm hoping that as I wrap up these projects, it'll spur my knitting back into action so that I'll be knitting again.  It's actually quite lonely not having anything to knit. I've been supplementing the "emptiness" with reading but it's not the same. Even crocheting is not the same as knitting (and while I don't hate crocheting as much as I used to, I don't exactly love it either - the only reason why I'm even doing it is because I really, really love the bugs I'm making! 🥰)

So, this is my current state of affairs. Hopefully, I'll wrap up my crochet projects, finish my flock and ornaments for the year and my knitting mojo will be back!🤞🤞🤞🍀🐰🍀🐰🍀🐰

Knit in Public Day 2025

Last week was Knit in Public Day and I completely missed it.😳😱😭🤦‍♀️😔 In fact, even if I had remembered it, I would've missed it anyways because ... I haven't been knitting! 😳😱😭🤦‍♀️😔 I had started a project back in March and had gotten stuck so, I've simply abandoned it (for now).  This is currently the sad state of my knitting affairs ... 😭🤦‍♀️😔

However, I've recently been inspired to (finally complete another non-knitting (but it's a craft!) project so, I'm hoping that this will help inspire me back to my knitting.🤔🤞🍀🐰🧶

UPDATE: Giri no Haha no Tabi (義理 の 母 の 足袋) (aka Tabi Monogatari for Giri no Haha no Tabi's the original, v30, 34-38)

Remember when I had gone on a sock making binge for my MIL? Well, due to her Parkinson's, she now has feet sensitivities and has returned the socks to me to reuse/inspect. So, here's my sock updates:

The Blue Moon Yarn Squishy Sock:

While it was a really soft sock, it didn't wear well since it was too soft:

 

See those heel holes?😱

Even with my MIL's darning, it just didn't hold up.😳😱😖😔

 

Next up, the Knitting Fever Painted Desert:

While it's supposed to be a sock yarn, it totally didn't hold up at all: 

This one even seemed to go down the foot!😱

Even with my MIL's darning, it just didn't hold up.😳😱😖😔

Now, the Noro Taiyo Sock:

While the original Tabi sock I made her seemed fine, I think she hardly wore it because the other "regular" sock I made her looks like this:

Look at those holes?!😱😳

I can also see why she didn't care for them as much as they are much stiffer socks than all of the other socks so, not as much as a favored sock.😖🤦‍♀️😔

Next is Neighborhood Fiber's Organic Studio Sock & Austermann Step :

Interestingly enough, it was Neighborhood Fiber's Organic Studio Sock that had worn through:

I was impressed how the Austermann Step heel seemed firmly intact.  However, like the other three (3) socks above, it does seem like it's worth saving these socks. 😔😥

Next is the Berroco Sock Yarn:

At first, it seemed to have survived being whole.  However, upon further inspection, I found a small hole in the heel:

So, it actually didn't wear as well as it initially looked like (and as shown, it looks well worn):

So, out of the seven (7) pairs of socks that she really loved, it seems like these two (2) seems to be the only survivors with no holes: Lana Gatto Socks & Wisdom Yarn Pix Socks

It seems like she wore the Lana Gatto Socks a lot more than the Wisdom Yarn Pix socks so, it's hard to say how well the Wisdom Yarn Pix socks would've really held up.🤷‍♀️

 

Overall, I hope she had enjoyed the socks while she could wear them as clearly, they did their jobs and looks like they were well worn.🤞❤️🥰🧦

Nasu Poochi (茄 ポーチ)

Hubby wanted a combination of adice bag & dice tray but he couldn't find anything that really suited his needs.  So, I decided that I would try to make one for him.  Using my Chiaogoo 4.5mm (US 7) needles and my Caron Plum Perfect yarn, here's how I made it:

Using this pattern as a guide, knit until I had a total of 96 sts for the base of the bag.

Purl 1 row.

Seed Stitch for 4.5cm (2 5/8 inches) (10 rows).

Purl 1 row.

Cat's Eye Lace (from Up, Down, All Around Stitchtionary bt Wndy Bernard) for 6cm (2.5 inches) (12 rows/3 repeats).

P1, K1 for 1 row.

Bind off.

Change to 3.5mm (US4) needles and create a 3 st i-cord for 70cm (27.75 inches) (151 rounds), weave it through the top lace "holes" to cinch the bag, and sew "ends" together to create an infinity loop.

Make another the base bottom and stitch it to the inside the base to provide more structure as the original bottom was not thick enough.

 

And, here's what it looks like:

Thoughts about this project:

Oh my god ... I thought this would be a quick and easy (one (1) day) project but, noooo ... I was sooo wrong!😳😱😖🤦‍♀️ I had to go through three (3!) patterns plus my own iteration of how I thought I could make the base in order to figure out how to make the base of the bag/tray.😳😖🤦‍♀️ My initial "guesstimate" and the first two (2) patterns kept puckering up in the center so it looked more like a boob than a flat bottom!😖😳😱🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️😭😭😭 It took me four (4!) tries before it sunk in that my cast on simply didn't have enough stitches and I needed to cast on more stitches and simply sew up the center hole, rather than cast on with less stitches and not have a hole (because that was what was causing it to pucker up!).😖🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ But, I did figure it out (finally)!😁🎉🥳🙌 After making the base, making up the rest of the bag was easy.🎉🥳🙌 And now, Hubby has a custom dice bag & tray!🎉🥳🙌👍

Ika (烏賊)

I went to the library today and borrowed a book called Knit Wit by Katie Boyette; I was perusing through it and simply fell in love with her Squid pattern and simply HAD TO make it.  With my Chiaogoo US8 (5.0mm) needles and Caron Plum Perfect yarn, here's how it went: In general, I followed the pattern with just a few small tweaks (& corrections to the pattern):

 

For the body, you need to knit 17 rows after the final increase (or else the head will seem way too small); then after the final decrease, I decreased another 6 sts, knit 1 row, decreased another 6 sts, knit 2 rows then increased 12 stitches and knit 1 more row to set up for the leg portion.  

 

For the legs, I pretty much followed the pattern except for the 3rd repeat, it says to KFB but it's suppose to be Ktog and for the first, third and fifth legs, I decreased one more time before binding off and for the second, fourth, and sixth legs, I knit 2 more rows then decrease one more time before binding off. 

 

For the fins, the instructions provided seemed too small for my Ika (烏賊) so, I messed around and here's how I made my fins:

Cast on 6 sts and join in the round.

K2, M1, K2, M1, K2 (8 sts)

Knit 2 rows

K3, M1, K2, M1, K3 (10 sts)

Knit 3 rows

K4, M1, K2, M1, K4 (12 sts)

Knit 3 rows

K5, M1, K2, M1, K5 (14 sts)

Knit 3 rows

K4, K2tog, K2, SSK, K4 (12 sts)

Knit 3 rows

K3, K2tog, K2, SSK, K3 (10 sts)

Knit 3 rows

K2, K2tog, K2, SSK, K2 (8 sts)

Knit 2 rows

K1, K2tog, K2, SSK, K1 (6 sts)

Bind off

For the tentacles, since my Ika (烏賊) was just not quite like the one in the book, I had to modify this as well.  So, I did a 4 st icord instead and doubled the tail portion as follows:

KFB 4x (8 sts)

K

K1, KFB, K4, KFB, K1 (10 sts)

K 4 rows

K1, K2tog, K4, SSK, K1 (8 sts)

K

K1, K2tog, K2, SSK, K1 (6 sts)

K

K1, K2tog, SSK, K1 (4 sts)

K

K2tog, SSK (2 sts)

Bind off.

 

And here's what it looks like finished:

Braided Rug

Remember when I had made a pair of zooris for myself and Hubby?  Well, the rope I used for the frame was simply too hard and over time, the zoori itself was very uncomfortable. 😔😭😖 So, it sinply sat in my closet with the rest of my zoori material until I could figure out a better frame.  Now that I had some free time, I was looking over my zoori stash.  I actually have quite a bit of material.  If memory serves me correctly, I think I had initially envisioned make a pair of zoori for everyone in my family (for both sides).  But seeing that my frame wasn't very comfortable and I haven't been able to find anything comparable, it now seemed like a far fetched idea to make something most of my family wouldn't want to use (heck, even we didn't want to use it!😖🤦‍♀️).  So, I thought: what if I braided a frame "rope"??🤔🤔🤔 And then proceeded to do so.  Once I made 2 frames, I coiled it up into the frame shape and stepped on it.  It was actually quite soft and almost the right feel as the rope I was looking for.😱🥳 Then I mulled over how I wanted to actually weave the body.  Typically, you just use the material to weave but I had found that it just felt too thin.  So, since I was on a braiding kick, I decided that I would also braid a small length to see how that would feel as part of the bottom. Once I had my sample length, I just placed both the frame and the sample length over each other and discovered that it was quite soft and squishy.😳👍 However, I was still mulling over if I really wanted a pair of zoori, especially now that I wasn't working anymore.  Did I really need it??🤔🤔🤔 After some discussion with Hubby (and, having him step on the braids), I suggested that I make a braided rug for under our futons (we have a bunch of blankets under them right now for some additional cushioning) as I thought it would be a better use of the materials and we'd still have something useful out of it.  He said that was a good idea and it'd allow me to learn something new.👍😊

So, I borrowed the only two (2) books I could find at the library (How to Make Braided Rugs by Sally Clarke Carty and The Braided Rug Book by Norma M. Sturges) and started my journey.  Interestingly enough, it seemed very basic and there wasn't much to it (it is afterall, an old handicraft).  I could even be fancy and try to do a pattern. Since I was still figuring out how to make one, I decided that the most challenging thing I'd like to tackle is just making sure the colours were matching enough and that I would be able to actually make the rug.

I took out all of my material, deconstructed our zooris (& washed the matetials), and proceeded to make colour & fabric type piles in the living room.  I sorted everything out by colour & print (I kept all the same print together in the pile). I couldn't decide if I really wanted to mix it all up or if I should just do it the lazy way and just make it light to dark (or vice versa).  Hubs came out to check out the explosion in the living room and suggested that I should make it easy for myself, keep all the same prints/fabrics together and go from light to dark.  So that what I did and here's how it turned out:

All in all, it took me two (2) days to braid everything together so, it wasn't so bad.  It also helped that I wasn't trying to make something super big - just whatever it came out to be using what I had.  I'm happy about how the colours turned out.🥰🥳  While actually braiding it wasn't too hard, there were times it felt like it was never ending (why?! were some of them cut into soooo many short pieces?!!!😱😖😳🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️) as I needed to keep "connecting" some of the fabrics but overall, it wasn't a terrible ordeal. 😥  

However, it took me four (4) days to actually sew it together. It was initially so hard to sew it together! 😱😭😖😵‍💫🤦‍♀️ It didn't help that I was trying to sew it on the floor and used the wrong type of needle to sew it up with for most of the black portion. I finally gave in and used a much larger needle when I finally got to the brown portion so, it got a little easier from there. Since I struggled with the black portion, I actually was so achy and sore from all that intense hand sewing (I was sewing it on the floor), it took me two (2!!😱😭😖😵‍💫🤦‍♀️) days to recuperate before I could even think about getting back to it again. And, even at that, it took me another week or so before buckling down to try again. On the second day, I moved to the table so while it was still slow going, it was much easier to sew; I finished the red & orange colours. On the third day, I finished the tan & blue-green colors but found my thumbs to be very sore as sewing through the knitted polyester material was really tough.😔😖😥 On the fourth day, I powered through the remaining cream, white & blue colours. And, here it is, in its full sewn glory:

As a whole, it seems pretty "cushiony" and hopefully it'll work well under our futons.🤞🙏  If it doesn't pan out (like our zooris 😳🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️), I'll just donate it since maybe someone out there could use a rug.

All The Flowers - The Reformation (aka Tabi Monogatari v55)

Remember back in March 2023, I had made a pair of All The Flowers socks for myself. The socks had initially fit but after washing it a few times, it shrunk.😳😱😭🤦‍♀️ So, I decided that I'd reknit it using larger needles as well as knitting it inside out in hopes that it would fit normally like my other socks. Also, I saw this sock pattern and yarn kit which I really wanted but before I started on that sock, I wanted to be sure that I wouldn't need to reknit it later!😳😁🤞 This was also why I wanted to reknit this sock as it would be my "practice" sock.

So, I ripped out my socks down to where the pattern started (Row 17), rewound the yarn and using my Chiaogoo US4 needles, I started again following the pattern repeat 4 more times, maintaining 28 sts for 48 rows).

I finally got to my heels; since my standard Fish Lips Kiss Heel method fits me well, I decided to use that for my remake as well, following the same changes I had initially done on my original sock:

Row 66: 

Right side: K the "top" portion, start the heel on the "bottom" portion.

Left side: start the heel as you're already on the "bottom" portion.

 

Row 66-106: Follow the Fish Lips Kiss Heel method until you have 9 twin stitch (ts) knits & purls sts on each side and 10 regular sts.

Left

Right

Then it was finally time to finish up the leg portion: I continued to follow the pattern repeat 4 more times, maintaining 28 sts (still using my Chiaogoo US4 needles) and finished off the cuffs by using a 1x1 ribbing for 5 rows. Then switched to US 2 needles to bind off using Jenny's stretchy bind off.

Oddly, the second time around with this sock was not nearly as harrowing as the first time and making it was significantly faster than the first time (I finished it (sporadically) in five (5) days).  It helped that I didn't really need to figure anything out and that I was much more familiar with the pattern this time around.👍😁 And, to top it off, despite using a significantly larger needle size throughout the majority of the sock, I only needed just a little extra yarn from the original sock.😳😱🎉👍 Although I'm still not loving the colour combination (it's still muddy coloured😖🤦‍♀️), it does look better now and is fitting much better now (no longer a struggle session to putting on my sock).👍🥳🙌🎉 Hopefully, it'll stay that way once I wash it again.🤞🙏🍀