Felted Boxes

I knit these boxes and filled it up with cookies and candy for Cutie's Kindergarten teachers as Christmas gifts. The pattern is from the Mason Dixon book. The yarn is Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky, the same as the one skein felted bags. Cutie decided the pink one should go to Miss J and the green one is for Miss S!

Happy belated birthday, sis!

I got a lot done in the past week. I finally gifted my felted one skein bags, with a cute ceramic rice bowl and a box of strawberry Pocky!
And I baked a marble cake with my new Kouglof mold from my beloved cuoca.com, another recipe from Tania's book. And I sent out a belated birthday present to my sister. This is the Shifting Sands pattern by Grumperina. 4 balls of Rowan All Seasons Cotton Cassis, including the fringe, with only a little bit leftover, knit in Japanese size 10 bamboo Clover circulars. It's the same yarn I used for the Red Scarf Project 2007. I sent both of them out on Monday via air mail, so it should arrive this weekend or early next week.

I've been tagged!

I think I got tagged by Anonyknits while I was knitting by the beach in Tangalle, Sri Lanka.

RULES: "Each player of this game starts with the "6 weird things about you." People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog."

So, here I go, even though I am very very late:

Six Weird Things About Tokyo Knitter

1. In Japanese, the term “knitting” is a word that covers both “straight needle knitting” (knitting) and “hook needle knitting” (crocheting), so until I discovered the world of knitting blogs and knitting in English last year, I was completely unaware that English speakers differentiate so much between knitting and crocheting. I know how to crochet but have never attempted a whole project, just to make cords or trimmings for my knitting projects. But I think I may try some crocheting projects from the One Skein book this year.

2. When I was pregnant with my DS, I was disappointed that I didn’t have any bizarre food cravings. I was actually looking forward to finding out what I would beg my DH to go hunt for: pickles and chocolate chip ice cream at 2 a.m.? Or would I hate my favorite foods, or suddenly love Natto? But nothing like that happened. Bummer.

3. Last year, I tried out eyelash perm, and I liked it. I didn’t think I was vain enough to spend 3,000 yen ($25) on just eyelashes, but it is not bad for 2 months of not having to curl my eyelashes and skipping mascara most of the time. And the world seems clearer. I was kind of shocking to discover that when your eyelashes are all perfectly curled and out of your way, you can see better, without a grayish fog on the rim of your vision!

4. During college, I went on a long vacation in Thailand with my girlfriends for spring break. One night, we took a break from Pad Thai, Tom Yum Goon, and coconut ice cream and went to an Italian restaurant in Phuket. We shared everything, and everybody ate the same thing. But the next morning, I was the only one with with extreme abdominal pain. My first and only time I got on an ambulance, and the first time to stay in an hospital over night was in Thailand for food poisoning.

5. When I went to school in the U.S. (most of elementary school and senior high), I made straight A’s and was a top student. But in junior high in Tokyo, I was an obnoxious teenager who never paid attention to my English teachers (poor things) because I despised their bad accents, and barely passed my math classes since I didn’t study much. So I know how it feels to be both the teacher’s pet and a delinquent.

6. I hate math, accounting, numbers, and taxes, even though I used to be in investment banking, and still sit behind a desk in a finance-related job. Last weekend, I saw a hand knit baby sweater in a very very very easy pattern, in a nice, soft organic cotton yarn with a price tag of over 9,000 yen ($75), and it made me wonder if I can knit for money. I sooo admire people who make a living out of what they love to do.

I think that, after about 30 or 35, it is hard to find something weird about yourself, since you are so used to being you, and you don't care that much about how weird you are anymore. I had to read several other blogs with this meme thing, and then racked my brain to come up with 6 things. And these 6 aren't THAT weird. But it was kind of fun, so I guess my first meme was kind of interesting.

I’m tagging disdressed, smoking hot needles, splityarn, a strikke, fluffbuff, and tricoquelicot. Sorry!