Monday Morning Star Count - 75 Hexagons

I’ve been basting new hexagons this week and have a total of 75 now for my new little bag project.  I don’t know how many I need, but I’ll probably do about 100 or so, then stitch them together to see if that’s enough. If not, I’ll make some more.

 

I’m still working on the quilt, and will be for quite a while, I think.  Linking up with Life Under Quilts.

Needlequest Kogin 29 June

The Needlequest topic for June is line, as a design element.  Since it’s the end of June already, I won’t be able to finish this project this month, but I’ll continue with it.   So far, I’ve stitched one entire skein of kogin thread (18 meters).  I have four more, but that might not be enough.

 

 

To find out more about kogin, including kogin patterns and projects, check out Caro-Rose Creations.  To find out more about Needlequest, check out Sew in Love.

Walking to the Garden

When Ted’s here, we go to the garden in the car.  When he’s not, I walk. The plants need to be watered and weeds need to be pulled, even when Ted is out of town.  It takes me about 40 minutes each way, so it cuts into my stitching time, but it's not so bad.  Walking is good exercise and I get to practice my kanji by looking for characters I recognize. I also get to see interesting things, like a girl riding a unicycle, Jizo’s new clothes and flowers in bloom.  I really don’t mind the walk.

After Japanese Class - Starting the Candle Mat

The little stitch group after Japanese class decided they wanted to make a bigger project and chose this felt candle mat from projects I finished.

 

Last week we went to Kayariya to choose and buy materials.  I would have liked to take some pictures of this process but no photos are allowed in the store.  They were amazed by Kanariya and I think they will be back.

This week after class, three of the five met and cut out the mat and circles and started stitching the small circles to the big circles.

 

Stitching wasn’t the only discussion topic and it was probably pretty funny for someone listening in – with Chinese, Japanese, and English spoken. One of our group members speaks all of these languages (and more) so she was stitcher and translator. We will continue next week.

The Japanese Game

Ted bought this game at the second hand store.  The box top looks like 2-6 players can play, but we don’t know the rules.  No directions came with it.  Maybe it’s something like Scrabble.  It has lots of wooden blocks with the hiragana characters on one side and a picture of something starting with that character on the other.  It also has some blocks with a shape on one side and yes, no, or thank you on the other.

 

Does anyone know how to play or where I can find out?  Arigato gozaimasu!

2014 Smalls SAL - Reversible Acorn Fob

My completed small this month is this reversible acorn fob, stitched on perforated paper using the Montenegrin stitch and the two sided cross stitch.

 

 

This was a guild project a long time ago.  I did the little practice stitching at the meeting, but never worked the project, until now.  I think it turned out very cute. 
I’m linking up to Stitching Lotus’ Smalls Stitch a Long.

Ted's Away

Ted’s been away this week – first at a conference in Tokyo, now on a rock climbing trip with students in Nagano.  He’s sent a few photos and it looks like he’s having a good time.

 

Before he left, he gave me this panda fan (purchased at the hyaku en store), just in case it gets hot in Hokkaido. So far I haven't needed to use it.

 

Friday afternoon my friend Alicia and I worked on a photo album.  Another friend, Vicky, joined us after her work day and we all had dinner at the Indian restaurant, then attended a cello-piano concert at the university.  The cellist is my upstairs neighbor and a university music professor. 

 

 

Saturday, Vicky and I continued stitching on our ornaments. They will look nice on our trees, come December, don’t you think?

Monday Morning Star Count - A New Project

The quilting continues…

 

I love my quilt, but it is no longer portable.  I’ve started a new project. It’s going to be a little bag, but I don’t have all the details worked out yet.  I’ve chosen these fabrics and so far I have 21 hexagons basted.

 

Linking up with Life Under Quilts.

Needlequest - Kogin 22 June

The Needlequest topic for June is line, as a design element.  I worked on my kogin project several days this week, but it’s a slow stitching process.  The pattern is beginning to emerge and I like how it is looking.

 

To find out more about kogin, including kogin patterns and projects, check out Caro-Rose Creations.  To find out more about Needlequest, check out Sew in Love.

A4 Paper Size

Coming from the United States, I thought letter size paper (8.5 x 11 inches) was the most common paper size.  I was surprised to find out that the A4 size (8.3 x 11.7 inches) common in Japan is also the most common in the world!  The 8.5x11 inch letter size is only the standard in the US and Canada.

In the 1920's, Dr. Porstmann of Germany published a document proposing a standard for paper which would later change the world. Dr. Porstmann's theory quickly became DIN approved, which is a standard in Germany meaning 'Deutsches Institut für Normung'. In English, DIN translates as 'German Institute for Standardization'.

A4 became a standard in the late 1970's. However, even though the standards were introduced in the early 20th century, it took more than 50 years for the standard to be recognized worldwide.

The Stitched Gardens

Progress is being made on the other stitchers' knot gardens.  I love how they are choosing their own colors and threads and stitches.

 

I worked on my kogin bag this week, so no progress on my garden.

Ted's Kayak Class Trip to Lake Shikotsu

The twelve students in Ted’s kayak class are all in my Outdoor Life English class.  I love seeing what else they do.  Even though it was drizzly and the high temperature for the weekend was only about 55 degrees F, they all had a good time.

You can see photos from last year's trip to this beautiful lake here.