Sewing on the Horizon?

ISBN: 4579110520




ISBN: 4579110978



Some exciting Japanese craft books came in the mail two days ago from YesAsia (see link on the side). Two are sewing books and the third is a crochet book. I recently spent a fortune repairing and replacing some parts on my beloved Pfaff sewing machine that my mother had bought me when I was a teen, so I thought I'd get inspired by purchasing these two beautiful books to get me back into the sewing mode. I adore the sheer simplicity of the patterns which help to show off some beautiful fabric and to emphasize lovely details like smocking and pleats.


ISBN: 4391622572



I wasn't super impressed by Ha-Na's small things of crochet book, but I did like the cloche and the cute round coin purses.

For those of you interested in ordering Japanese craft books online, it is way cheaper than going to the Japanese bookstore at Yaohan (upstairs) in Richmond. It's a big savings to get free shipping, which YesAsia offers if you spend $39US (and aren't you tempted with the US exchange so low these days @ 2 to 4%?) in Canada and $25US in the United States! My first experience ordering Japanese craft books was through Amazon Japan (who also offers good prices on their books), but I spent $20US just for shipping alone for three books. I've been very happy with YesAsia, as they've been good with communication when they haven't been able to fulfill part of an order and allowed me to make up the order with another selection to qualify for free shipping.

Summer So Far....

As we approach the end of July, I thought I'd post some of our summer fun pics so far.. Those Flickr toys are so much more fun to use than Photoshop!

1. Treats at Kits Beach(centre), 2. Strathcona Community Garden, 3. Looking Back, 4. Street Party on Commercial Drive, 5. Robson Park, 6. Spectator Ryan at Soccer Camp, 7. Freezies with the Boys, 8. Car-free Day, 9. Feeding Ducks at Trout Lake, 10. Goalie at Soccer Camp, 11. Riding Tadem @ Family Pl., 12. Ryan @ Fam. Pl., 13. Family Pl. Biking

Sock Update

One sock down and another to go..... which has finally been started. Whew...and I didn't even have to lock myself in the van on a negotiated two hour break from the family to do so, as I did for the first sock! Lovely striping, don't ya' think? And speaking of socks, the new Fall Interweave Knits issue includes quite a few interesting sock patterns. I quite like the William Street Socks, which happens to be a free web pattern! Click here to see a preview of all the patterns. Eunny Jang's Tangled Yoke Cardigan is gorgeous too!

Happy 1st Blogiversary to Me!

My little blog has given me:

656 visits
953 page views
new like-minded friends and contacts
an opportunity to document my fibery interests
an opportunity to record some daily life with family
a wonderful sense of accomplishment
a whole lot of instant gratification
and a creative outlet

Ahoy, thar Matey!

We've been havin' some swashbuckling fun celebrating D's big 5th birthday this past long weekend, which is why there has been no knitting in sight. D got a pirate-themed birthday this year complete with message-in-a-bottle invitations, pirate-themed games, a treasure hunt, a homemade pirate pinata, costumes, a Pirates of the Carribean cake, and a pirate song with a jig. We had family and friends, old and new to D, all squish into our modest sized home, which was arranged as best we could to maximize space. In the end, the party ended up taking place throughout the entire house, back deck, and garden area. Shiver me timbers! We were super thrilled and grateful to have had some great weather which also helped us spread the party activities out of doors.

For anyone out there planning a birthday party, I highly recommend a themed party. One amazing site from where I got a lot of great ideas was this one. Click on the Winner's Circle to read about award-winning party ideas. I just couldn't stop reading about all the imaginative, detailed ideas that others have come up with for their own parties. I had never planned a themed party before, and ended up being completed engrossed in the theme. I must admit, there was a lot of obsessive work involved, but all the planning paid off in the end. I had enthusiastic participation in all the games and everyone had a lot of fun, which included all the parents who attended. The only person who did not participate in any of the games, unfortunately, was R. The party seemed to have interfered with his usual naptime. Nevertheless, there were lots of compliments all around.



Happy 5th Birthday D! We can't believe our first baby is already getting ready for Kindergarten. Here's a comparison of what D looked like a year ago versus today.



Above is a thank-you card that I'm currently working on for our guests who attended the party. Sorry, I couldn't get it any bigger for you. I'm still just learning how to work with Photoshop.