Month: May 2018
Crushing hard!
I’ve been back from Japan for about 10 days now, and I gotta tell you, I miss it so bad 
Everything from the sights and the sounds, the food, the feel of the air, the atmosphere, the people; I think I really crushed hard on Japan during those two short weeks and now that I’m back it’s really hitting me in the feels! Nevertheless though, I’ve been pretty busy here, at work and at home, as I slowly readjust to my everyday life.
What I want to share with you all today is a little project that I couldn’t share with you before leaving for Japan, and that would be this little cute Camilla baby Blanket.
You see, one of my Japanese penpals, Eriko, is currently pregnant and since she was kind enough to spend two days showing me around Kyoto and Osaka, I wanted to bring her a little something special for her little-one-to-be. So a couple weeks before my trip, I started this cutie little blanket for her using the three skeins of Brown Sheep’s Cotton Fleece that I had on hand. Since I don’t know whether the baby is a boy or a girl, I figured a neutral blueish gray would be fine.
Since I’ve already bought the Camilla Pullover pattern in the past, I did not buy the actual Camilla Blanket pattern but instead used the instructions for the fan pattern from the pullover that I first converted to RS/WS instructions, repeated 4 times and added a garter stitch border on the top, bottom and edges.
The finished blanket is about stroller size, measuring about 30″X32″. Since I was using a Worsted weight yarn instead of Aran, I worked the blanket on 5 mm needles instead of the recommended 6.5 mm. I don’t work very often with needles over 4 mm, so I took advantage of this opportunity to try the Kollage square needle that I had received as a sample a couple years back but never got a chance to use. Although I was a bit skeptical at first, I must admit that I was actually quite pleased by the grip and the feel of those square needles, and it felt very natural to use. Actually, I enjoyed working with it so much I think I might seriously consider getting them in other sizes, or maybe even by the interchangeable set.
All the details, save for the actual fan motif, can be found on my project page so feel free to check it over if you’re interested.
Never been so happy to be jet lagged!
Guys, I’m excited to tell you that I just came back from a wonderful, exciting and very fulfilling two week trip to Japan! I still can’t believe it! I had been dreaming of this trip for YEARS, and it finally happened!
Although the plane trip there and back was dreadful and plagued with multiple problems and delays, this trip was worth each and every second of it, and more.
First, I briefly visited Fukuoka then headed to Hiroshima and Miyajima Island, then spent three nights in Kansai where I explored Kyoto and Osaka, followed by quick two days in Hakone taking full advantage of then onsen and mountains and finally headed to Tokyo for a packed week, including the spending some time at the Sanja Matsuri.
I cannot even begin to tell you guys how amazing this trip really was, but what made it even more special is actually all the wonderful people I met along the way. Here’s a quick shout out to my two penpals, Eriko and Misa, who were kind enough to dedicate some of their time to show me around their area and put up with my terribly limited japanese! And also to other fellow travellers I was lucky enough to spend some time with (Bernard, Isabel, Phaedra, Ben, Joana, Steve – I will remember all of you, let’s definitely meet again somewhere!), and lasty to all the kind hearted japanese people that I met on the way, and who decided to reach out to me (ゆこさん, あまのさん, くまちゃんとみんな！本当にありがとうございました！).
I was even lucky enough to run into my very favorite YouTuber, a kind soul and wonderful human being called Norm, who’s the heart and soul behind the Tokyo Lens channel (if you don’t know him, definitely check it out!)
Of course, I have MANY fiber related things to share in regards of this trip but this post is already long enough, so I’ll save that for another time.
And guys, I still have so much more to share with all of you so stay tuned because I have some very exciting projects coming up that I think (and hope!) you’ll be interested in.
Crafty Effie 