Souvenirs from Japan

Hi knitters,

A few months ago I went to Tokyo, Japan and had a pleasant vacation there.  It was summer and of course nobody was wearing knits of wool.  Anyhow, I went to Kichijoji and shop in a mega craft store called Yazawaya.  And here is the official website of the store: http://www.yuzawaya.co.jp/

You can find not only knitting and crochet stuff, but fabrics, buttons and even books.  However, the proportion for animono is rather small.  I could not even find needles of one brand in all sizes.

Still, I found something very interesting like this one.

This is actually a Tunisian crochet hook with a clip and string that are used as attachment.  I have not tried the set.  

Below is a crochet hook of the brand Misasa.  Made in Japan and made of wood from India.  I tested it by crocheting some simple double stitch and it worked quite well.  The weight is much lighter than I had expected.  It's a Japanese size 7 hook.  And as you can see, it's a beautiful design.  Hopefully I can spend some time crocheting.

Well, as I was short of travelling expense, I did not buy any yarn.  Still, I managed to spend almost two hours there browsing around.  There're some used books for sale as well.  Anyhow, next time when I go to Japan, I would like to check out another yarn store.  If you have any tips for me or recommendation, please feel free to comment.

Happy knitting and crocheting

My fav color and my first sweater

Hello knitters,

I'm so excited to tell you that I've just finished my first sweater that is made out of the Cascade 220 wool yarn bought from Nine Rubies.  

The pattern I followed is called "Sea Shells", included in Heirloom baby knits by Deborah Newton. It's a popular book on Amazon mainly due to the baby picture in the cover. hahaha.  The patterns in this book is all for intermediate knitters too. 

Let's talk about the pattern.
Difficulty level? I would give 3 stars out of 5.  Fun level? 4 out of 5 in my opinion.  

Anyway, it's perfect for first-time sweater knitter.  The techniques required are for intermediate crafters.  Therefore, it's NOT for absolute newbie. (Be patient, my dear newbies)

The reason I choose a baby sweater is simply because "I just wanna get the basic concept of combining pieces into an entire knits.  If my work have turned out to be a disaster, I would not have wasted too many skeins of yarn.  Also, there are many many cute patterns out in the world.  Never done with knitting them.

Sea Shells is combined of 4 pieces: front, back, left sleeve and right sleeve.

The knitting part is not 

Warning for first-time sweater knitter:
READ THE WHOLE PATTERN CAREFULLY!

Isn't it a motto for every single knitters? Yes, it is.  But if you don't obey this golden rule, I'm sure your work will end up a mess.  

Anyway, I just wanna share my joy as a sweater knitter with you all.  Will talk about more about Cascade 220 next time.

HAPPY KNITTING

Op. 11 Hat Pattern

Yo Ho Knitters,

I'm so kind I finally finish this cute hat with an very interest pattern.  

The one you see in the picture is actually no. 2 of it.  I did something differently with the top, and ended up knitting with 3 balls of yarn.   Still, it was not very satisfying.   So I just kept it subtle and started it all over again.  

If you are a fast knitter, you can probably finish this hat within a day.  Learning from my own experience, I would recommend you to count the number of stitches for every row.  I know it's annoying.  But trust me.  It definitely worth spending the time.  

Skills needed for knitting Op. 11 hat are: knit, purl, psso, M1, k2tog, yo, sl 1, knitting in round, cast on, bind off.  I will soon do a tutorial for psso for your convenience.  

Although this hat knitted with Bobby Blue color, Op. 11 is suitable for both boy and girl.  

Op. 11 hat pattern is now available on Ravelry and Etsy.  

HAPPY KNITTING

K2tog = Knit two stitches together

Hi Knitters

K2tog is the abbreviaiton for 'knit 2 stitches together'.  Doing K2tog results in decreasing a stitch in a row.  For example, if you do K2tog twice for a row that has 10 stitches in it.  In the next row, you will only have 8 stitches.

In this YouTube following video, I will demonstrate how to do K2tog.

In Japanese, K2tog is also refered as 左上二目一度　(hitari-ue-futa-me-ichi-do).  It implies that K2tog is better used to decrease the number of stitch on the left side of the knit.  Well, let's look at the end result.  Pay attention to the direction the stitch leans on.

In English, we have the short form for knitting 2 stitches together.  In Japanese graph, which is quite commonly used in other countries too, a graph like this is used.

K2tog is the easiest way to decrease the number of stitch.  If there is not specific requirement for other method, K2tog is always my choice.

Knowing how to do K2tog enable us to do A LOT....
Including decrease the stitches in Op. 8 Scarflet.

Anyway, I filmed three tutorials in a row.  Will post the other two very soon.

HAPPY KNITTING

Slip Stitch

Hi Knitters,

Two days ago I uploaded a tutorial on YouTube.  It's about how to do a 'slip stitch'.  There are several variations of the slip stitch: some with further instruction and some just say 'slip stitch'.   This technique discussed here is the later one.  

1. Put the yarn in back as you knit.
2. Insert the right needle into the stitch purlwise: from bottom to up.
3. Remove the stitch from left needle to right needle.

It is in fact a very easy and useful technique.  Learning this technique enables you to knit Op. 7 hat.

Thanks for watching and reading.  Will upload more tutorials in the future.

HAPPY KNITTING