pinncushion

My first break up letter

2010-05-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

CNN, I'm terribly disappointed in you. All this time I've heard from others that you were shallow sensationalist gossip peddlers and I dismissed those views for years because I enjoyed your reports. But today after living through the real situation and seeing with my own eyes what really happened and then to see you and your so called "reporters" dishing out biased half truths to the international public time and time again. You make me sick. I came here to see if there is anything decent that you can offer and, lo and behold! The main story I see on the front page about Thailand is a stale day old interview with... wait for it... a motorcycle taxi driver. About how he narrowly escaped death. How quaint. Not about the arson, not about the collapsed buildings, not about the smoldering ruins of Bangkok. I expected more of you. So this is it CNN. I am now an ex-viewer because I seriously can not trust you to tell me the truth anymore. And that's what we all look for in a news channel, The Truth not entertainment which is the only thing you seem capable of distributing now.
(I took the time to sign up to send this post because I really need to call you out, but trust me all the e-mails or newsletters you're going to send me from now on will be promptly DELETED)

Eep.

2009-09-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

The new issue of Thailand's Elle Decor came out today. And I'm in it. Eeeeep. They came and interviewed me last month but somehow I didn't wrap my head around the notion that I would actually be in the book. Yeah, somehow I believed that they would come all the way out here, photograph me and a bunch of my work and just drop the whole deal on a whim. Now that I bought the book there is a whole page with my picture on it complete with interview and the name of this blog. O.M.G must update blog with some kind of crafty goodness before folks who buy the book check this blog out and see all my random rantings and ravings. O.M.G. Oh. My. God.

Seeing dots

2009-08-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

Mari's new dress. It's really floaty and very simple. I finished it after months of hibernation.

BIG smile!

Looking out over the Chao Phraya.

shattering

2009-08-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

I finally broke down and talked to the Mr. about all the shit we're in money, distance, my inability to trust him to take care of us etc. It was hard. I pride myself on being able to take care of me with out anyone's help, so it was tough saying that I needed him to be here or at least be there for me as much as he can even if he's all the way over in Japan.

I feel like we haven't talked for so long. I feel like I've only just now been able to let go and tell him everything. Even though I've always believed in being honest to one' partner about everything in a relationship, the distance and the sheer amount of other problems prevented me from talking to him. I always thought he might not be able to handle it somehow. Like it would only trouble him more because he's by himself, far from home. Stupid stupid stupid. I know. The worst part is that I knew all along. It turned out that honesty, as always, is the best way to go.

We finally connected after so many weeks of just mumbling hellos through skype. I finally felt a crack in my armor. A trickle of feelings I thought I no longer had in me. Do you remember the bit about how the frost melted and winter crept away from Narnia? It felt just like that.

I think we're on the right path.

Gathering my thoughts.

2009-08-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who have commented and e-mailed me. Rock bottom is not so bad. It's scary admitting that you've arrived there but once you have time to look around and try to find your footing it isn't as bad as one would think. There are some bits of sky to be seen, even from here.

This week I managed to finish a dress I was making for Mari which had been hibernating for months. We then took a walk to the river together and I took some pics of her. I'll post it soon. It's a really simple wrap dress, but I've just been so busy with work and home that I didn't have the time or concentration to finish it.

Work has been good. I finished all my paper work on time for the end of the term and we now have one delicious week of vacation ahead of us. Today was the last working day of this term and we cleaned out the classroom and organised. I got to spend most of the day making primary colored stuff out of recycled cardboard boxes, paper tubes, construction paper, and colored tape. It was so satisfying. It's strange how simple crafts like this fills you with simple happiness. I don't think I ever got over the crafting-with-house-hold-stuff addiction I picked up reading highlights back in the 80's. I made a colored pencil holder from left over toilet paper tubes and I organised all the posters for the boards and put them in old cardboard boxes wrapped up and illustrated.

There are still moments when I still need to breath in to a brown paper bag, and moments when I still don't know what the next step will be. But I'm finding warm and happy bits here too,strange rocky bottom that it is

rock bottom

2009-08-16T07:31:00.000-07:00

My life has hit rock bottom.Let's just say I'm in a lot of trouble. But I'm trying to dig my way out.

dig

dig

dig

See you when I reach the other side.

Changes.

2009-01-28T06:38:00.000-08:00

So, I've been MIA for a while. We've had some hard times these last few months and I've been really worked up about money, I tend to shut down when I'm depressed so I sort of stopped writing. I was struggling and struggling to make ends meet and save enough money for my insurance. I got screwed over pretty badly by said insurance and a few other financial mishaps :S But finally I got a break. A pretty big one too. I applied for a job and I got it!!

I applied for a job teaching English at an alternative education school. I was thinking of sending Mari there when she starts kindergarten but we just don't have the $$$ So while I was looking for work I checked out their website and there was an opening, I jumped to send my resume and after a few days of tests and observations I'm in!! WOOT!! I now have a stable income! And a secure job! This is such a blessing.

Other reasons this job rocks:
-They have a weekly farmer's market in the school area with fresh organic vegs and eggs.
-They have daycare service for staff member's children for only about $60 a month! Right in the school so I can walk over and check on Mari whenever I have time.
- $15 a month covers our breakfast and lunch at the school cafeteria every working day.
- This school has their own recycling center and composting program, almost all of their waste is recycled.
- The school is in a large woody area and encourage the children to learn outside the classroom, a lot of nature based activity that's soo important to me.
- Now that I teach here Mari can go to this school for only 20% of the full price. Which means I can definitely send her here.
- The other teachers seem really cool.

I could go on and on. I'm just so happy. Right now I'm really busy moving my stuff to my dad's condominium which is near the school so I'm excited about having my own space again too. It's such a HUGE change, but a really good one!

Making Christmas

2008-12-19T06:31:00.000-08:00

So. As promised here is the instructions for making a Christmas tree from plastic bags:

You'll need:
Lots of bags. LOTS
Strong wire
Wire cutter and pliers
String
Scissors

1.Bend the wire and shape in to the tree trunk with 4 legs. The legs help support the tree when you add the "pine needles" and it gets all heavy. This is illustrated in picture 1. This is how I did it but after I've finished I realize it may be easier if I made a spiral structure instead like in figure 2 or 3. This makes the tree stronger and less likely to sag. If you made it according to picture 1 you will have to add branches. I added 8 sets of branches with 4 branch in each set.

2. Now that you have your tree frame you will need to fluff up your tree. Grab as many plastic bags as you can and start making some plastic strings.

Press your plastic bag flat, and fold up like this:
Now, cut off the bottom and the handle.

You will be left with a wide plastic tube shape. cut down along one side so you have one flat plastic sheet. Roll this sheet up tight and cut up like you would a sushi roll.
You'll end up with lots of plastic strips.

3. Make lots and lots of pom poms from the plastic strips and tie them to your tree's branches. Make enough to cover all the wire.

4. Decorate and add lights!

Now you have a plastic tree that can be used again and again and way less plastic bags.

I think I need help.

2008-12-09T05:42:00.000-08:00

My little sis sent me an invite to poupee girl and I am now addicted.
I spent almost all day today searching for cute little dresses for my poppet. I couldn't leave her nekkid, she looks just like me! It's like sweet cartoony wide eyed crack, I swear.

Click that link at your own risk dude, if you find you can't leave don't say i didn't warn you. (and if you join, friend me!)

I just wanna dance!!

2008-12-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

Untitled from pinn on Vimeo.

Sunday drive

2008-12-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

A day out driving with Mari and my two favorite odd fellows. We drove along the back roads of BKK, fed the fishes, and had afternoon tea by the river.

Thai Santa!!

The sun setting over the temple of dawn.

Tis the Season

2008-12-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

I made myself finish the Christmas tree today. So, some pics:

This is the result of lots of wire bending, plastic bag cutting and pom pom making and I absolutely love it. I decided to make this year's tree from recycled plastic bags and raided our stash. The super market we go to has white bags with red letters which resulted in a sweet candy cane effect for the entire tree.

This is a close up of the snow man garland me and the Mr. picked up in Shimo-kita zawa. We spent a perfect day there one christmas walking around and being absolutely in love, I was pregnant with Mari at the time, but didn't know it yet.

Rocker chic doll that I made for mari and a bunny I received from Minato-san of Tokyo's Rowan shop.

Some of my favorite earrings used as ornaments. The red monkey is from Naughty Secretary's club. I hearts it.

And happily Mari hearts her Christmas tree. Happy Holidays!
(We don't have any idea what to put at the top of the tree yet. Any suggestions?)

Tired.

2008-11-30T05:44:00.000-08:00

I'd been volunteering with TAT (tourism authority of Thailand) to help foreigners who are stuck here. We give out information and help them book in to the government acomondated hotels and stuff. It makes me so angry that some of these people are just stuck here and their airlines won't respond, no one picking up the phone. The confusion and frustration is just icing on this big mess of a cake :( Today I met someone who's here with his family and they had paid for 3 nights in the Novotel Suvanabhum and now they've run out of money. They can't even afford a cab to Pattaya to get on the military plane. I tried to find free ride for them but they can't confirm until the 2nd Dec. Meh. It makes me so fuckin mad and helpless. I hope everyone makes it home safely.

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

2008-11-29T07:04:00.000-08:00

Mari has started sleeping (almost) through the night with out me having to go in to nurse her anymore. She used to go to sleep at 7-8 ish and wake again several times to nurse before I went to bed at 10-11 ish. But lately she's been sleeping all the way through until I join her in bed, when she'll feel me get in and scoot over to nurse. I have a feeling that if we didn't co-sleep she would probably sleep through to morning. Also, she likes to ride in her stroller now, she used to SCREAMMM when ever I try to put her in it. She's becoming much more confident and doesn't need her mommy to be with her so much anymore. It's happened so quickly, almost over night with no change of behavior on my part she just seemed to decide she's ok with stuff now. :S My baby's becoming a toddler. It is indeed bittersweet.

"I'm all grown now."

mini craft

2008-11-25T21:26:00.000-08:00

I made this little barrette today. I've been seeing a lot of fascinators on etsy recently and since I'm completely broke this month I decided to make my own. Plus, I wanted something a bit less flamboyant. So, I have this hat that was given to me by a very nice old dame. It was a pillbox style hat completely covered with feathers but it was badly smushed and had lost all it's shape. A few feathers from this old hat, a barrette, fabric, a vintage button and some glue= retro cuteness.

What's your dessert island top 5 knitting pattern?

2008-11-17T22:31:00.001-08:00

Anyone who has ever watched or read Nick Hornby's High Fidelity will remember the main character Rob and his store with the musical moron twins, Dick and Barry. When a close friend tried to get me to translate High Fidelity in to Thai during my freshman year in college those two characters and that store somehow stuck with me long after I finished reading the book. At first I thought it was because they were amusing but nope, the reason for the connection has nothing to do with amusement at all. Quite the opposite.

Yesterday was my first time to a proper yarn store in a long loong time. Big Knit is a gorgeous, spacious shop full of lovely delicious yarn and cute stylish staff members who are happy to help you pick the out the right yarn and start you out on your knitting path. Most customers are new knitters and the staff were very patiently teaching them the ropes. The cakes are to die for. I went in and was lost in a haze of yarn induced ecstasy then my friend picked out some yarn and I started teaching her how to knit. That's when I realized that no matter how adorable this shop is I would never fit in here. I belong with Dick and Barry in Championship Vinyl.

That's the connection. Like those two dudes I am misfortunate enough to be obsessed with something that normal people see as a hobby. We know that for all the weird random knowledge we have accumulated, most of the time we just come off as a bit odd. See, when you become obsessive to the point of losing sleep about something that's supposed to be done for fun, there's a couple of words begining with the letter L that can be used to describe you. And that realization inspires some kind of strange and misguided elitist attitude. If I had opened a knitting shop it would have been a yarny version of that small record shop Camden. I could just imagine it.
A tiny cramped yarn shop manned by a couple of yarn snobs and stocked with discontinued yarn, hand dyed hand spun stuff, or weird fiber blends.

Customer: Do you have any Fun Fur?
Shop assistant A: Yes, of course.
C: Can I have it?
S.A.: No, I'm sorry but you can't.
C: Why not?
S.A.: Because it's acrylic crap that's why not. Do we look like the sort of shop that sells fucking fun fur, eh? Now be off with you and don't waste our time.
C: Fuck you!

Yep. Fun crowd.

So. If you are ever in town and like knitting, pretty yarn, nice people, and good food, by all means stop by Big Knit on Sukhumvit 49. It really is a great yarn store and knitting location. If you like obscure knitting information, knit bitching, and pattern dissection then maybe you can drop by and see me. Or maybe if you're lucky you may even catch me at Big Knit again, trying to act cool and relaxed, trying to blend in with normal folks and have a life.

Properly kicked.

2008-11-16T06:59:00.000-08:00

Today our house keeper told me she thinks I do nothing all day. Shock. It was indeed a shaming moment. Yes, someone else besides myself noticed my lack of activity. Work has been kinda slow since the end of October. I export handicrafts and we aren't selling like we used to. The company is starting to feel the pinch and I'm worried about our financial security. I've been toying with ideas for other means of income, maybe some translation work, maybe start my own shop... but I've been putting it aside. By day I have to look after Mari and at night I really want to work on my knitting or a new book beckons. But yeah, turns out it was glaringly obvious that I am doing nothing in my free time except being free. Guess I needed that kick in the bum.

LYS

2008-11-15T18:15:00.000-08:00

I think I may have found my potential LYS. Big Knit on Sukhumvit 49. Actually, I've known about Big Knit for awhile but I didn't have time to go with a baby on my hands. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it, but secretly I think it's because I know if I go I'm going to buy buy buy and won't be able to stop, hence setting myself and said baby up for a life of poverty.) But a dear friend recently asked me to teach her to knit and she needs yarn and so I looked up Big Knit on the net and My. God. What have I been missing! I want to be there yesterday. I'm heading there tomorrow and it seems like such a long time to wait. My first yarn store visit in over a year, it's been too long. I will report back.

creeping back.

2008-11-15T05:31:00.000-08:00

Ok. So, I've been avoiding this blog. I sorta fell out of the wagon at the beginning of October when work became busy and now I've come crawling back. Yep. Let's see what's been up.

-The Mr. had been here for a month. He's gone back now and we miss him muchly. The month was over so fast. But we got in some nice restful stay at home days.

-Mari is running around and becoming quite a bright albeit willful little thing. She's started throwing tantrums already and seriously, any slight little thing sets her off. Even worse than the tantrum is my mom will give me with "that look" and if I fail to assert my authority (read: spanking Mari or at least verbally admonishing her.) She will laugh rather derisively and remark about how Mari has won. And she laughs when Mari hurts herself too. This is really heartbreaking for me. I can't understand how someone's pain can amuse you, especially if that someone is a one year old who has just caught her finger in a drawer. She will literally stand over her and laugh while Mari sits on the floor wailing and bewildered. I had to scoop my crying baby up and tell my mom to stop laughing and never laugh in her face again when she is in pain. Good god, woman.

-I've started on my Christmas crafting. This year I'm making a tree from scratch. We have our little yarn tree that I made years ago in Tokyo but with little Mari running around I wanted something that wouldn't topple so easily or have so many pointy wire. Also, I wanted something that we would be able to hang lights and ornaments on. So I'm making a new one using wire and re-cycled plastic bags. I took a pic of the bare wire tree and it looked pretty good. I've got a good feeling about this one. Unfortunately we've been very good about bringing our own cloth bags to the supermarket that we don't have enough bags for me to finish the project, so it's on hold until we collect more bags.

Rain's end.

2008-09-22T01:37:00.001-07:00

That's what this season is called in Thai. The rains are beginning to let up and we are entering for what passes for winter in these here parts. I miss the pumpkins, goblins, and ghosts of my childhood Autumns in NY, and I miss the hot baked potatoes, chestnuts, and fall fashion of my Autumns in Tokyo, but I decided this year I'm going to go out and look for what Autumn means in Bangkok. We live so disconnected from the seasons in this city and it's a shame. What's in season? What are the plants doing? what's the earth doing? I have no idea. But I'm going to go find out.

Other things I'm doing:
-Learning to drive. Which is nerve wracking, bizarre, and so so Thai. It deserves it's own entire entry.
-Counting down the days till the Mr. arrives for a month long visit. Only 19 more days!
-Psst! I'm also on twitter now. I'm dumplingrrl there.

We're all in this together.

2008-09-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

Please take a bit of time to visit this site and donate if you can.

Lori is a single mom battling ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and chronic Lyme disease. She faces the loss of her home to foreclosure within days because she's too sick to work.

In September 2007 Lori mysteriously lost the ability to move her feet. The paralysis later spread to her legs and arms. Lori is now confined to a hospital bed and is dependent upon a Bi-Pap breathing machine. Lori is only 44, and she is determined to fight this disease and we're determined to help her do it in any way possible.

Help Lori keep her promise to her son. Help Lori keep her home and ensure that Jack has the security of a roof over his head, even when his mother is too sick to sleep there with him.

smock

2008-08-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

When I was very small I used to love flipping through my aunt's dress pattern books. This is one of my favorites.

It's called "Stitch House: Infant wear by direct cutting" was printed in 1984, was translated from Japanese and is most likely out of print. The back cover reads:

"This simplicity is unrivaled, Mom's sort of excited. You just leave markings directly on the fabric, cut parts apart with scissors and machine them together, that's all. Whether you intend to or not, any of these can be finished in a day. That's direct cutting."

Yes, mom's sort of excited alright. Why I heart this book:
-Cute retro Japanese drawings
-Japlish scattered through out the book. One page reads 'It's all right that you're naughty, but give some thoughts to clothes I made myself. Mom.'
-The clothes are really easy to make and you don't even have to make a pattern.

I used to love this book so much that the first page bears my squiggly childish hand writing stating ownership. Now the book has been passed on to me and I make things for Mari from it.

Soo.. I thought I'd share some of the designs with you all. It's really good for beginners or people who don't have much time. Perfect for mommy crafting. And I needed some motivation to keep updating my blog. So from now on every week I'll try to post a project I made from this book ok?

This week:

I was inspired by a picture of the darling snack smocks on moving hands blog and decided I must make a smock for Mari. I remembered the little smock pattern in the Stitch house book and dug it up. I then simplified it a bit so I could use some of my old t-shirts. Here's the finished product:

This is the original pattern:

Here's my modifications:
-I used old t-shirts, so I just cut straight from armpit to arm pit and discarded the top bit resulting in a tube of fabric with a raw edge on top and a hemmed bottom. I cut the back opening straight up the back of the tube, turning the tube in to one long rectangle. I then turned the top edge down and stitched it in place to create a long tunnel along the top edge, cut out the sleeves according to the pattern and threaded a ribbon though the tunnel running along the top edge.
-Using an old t-shirt means no hemming involved.
-T-shirts don't unravel so I didn't hem the sleeves either.
-No pockets because Mari doesn't use them yet, but they could easily be made using the left over sleeve bits.

So yeah, very very simple. I managed to make one in about ten minutes while Mari was busy pulling books off the shelves!

(*disclaimer bit: I'm posting stuff from the Stitch House book because I assume that this book is out of print and I think the patterns are too good to keep to myself. An internet search for this book turned up nothing, but if you are the author/publisher / or anyone else who owns or worked on this publication and you want me to pull this down or anything mail me and I will do so immediately.)

mommy crafts

2008-08-19T05:49:00.000-07:00

Psst!! I've joined a web board that my friend Kat from pinkurocks.com created. It's called Mama crafty and if you have a little one or are planning to, or just want to join in on the conversation please sign up!

As for me, I have been quite the busy crafter for the last week. I made some dolls for Mari's B-day using the ruby doll pattern from one red robin.

I used odds and ends from my kimono scrap bag and such. I really love how much I have hoarded up. The Mr. says I am a pack rat and I guess I am. A very happy one too.

It's the first time Mari has appreciated anything I made her (she was too youg before). She was asleep when I finished the dolls, when she woke up to nurse I brought them in to the bed thinking I'll surprise her the next morning when she wakes up. As she nursed I made a doll 'kiss' the back of her head good night and she immediately stopped nursing, pulled off and looked at the doll. She then gave me the widest smile and sat up and pulled each doll up for closer inspection.

Have you ever seen such a happy little face?

I don't think I can ever stop making her stuff now.

This time last year.

2008-08-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

You were only a few hours old. Learning to breathe, learning to see. I was recovering from a major operation, learning to turn over, to sit up again in spite of the pain. We've come a long way. Amazing that in just a year so much can happen. I would love to write something eloquent that'll express all I feel for you, but as you know I'm very poor with words. Will it do to say that my heart nearly explodes every time I see your face light up? I'm the luckiest mama on earth to have your head to smell as I drift off to sleep. (Seriously, is there some sort of drug in baby hair? Cause I think I'm addicted to sniffing you.) I love to put my nose right near your mouth when you cry so I can catch those baby scented puffs of air.

You're getting so independent now. You've become quite a brave little girl, not afraid to take the next leap. You always knew exactly what you wanted and how it should be done, even when you were wee. At about 4 months you wanted to sit up from lying on your back like us adults, no turning on to tummy and pushing up for you! And you did it too. My little girl never settled. Now you're walking (stiffly) and climbing like a monkey! It's crazy fast. I look forward to (and at the same time dread )your approaching toddler years.

It's been quite a year hasn't it? Thank you for every step you've taken on this road with me. Thank you for letting me carry you next to my heart for so long.

And although you are a big one year old girl who doesn't have to count her age in months anymore, although you will be off riding with the fast crowd on your tricycle
real soon, know that when you're tired and when you need a hand to stroke your back while you sleep, you will still be my sweet little babe.

Goodnight honey.

Happy birthday.

I love you.

Bragging rights.

2008-06-21T06:09:00.000-07:00

I know some people claim their child started preparing for college since like kindergarten? Well I have here a picture that proves Mari has started preparing for her college days at the tender age of 10 months.

"Keg party at the moontower tonight, be there."

Greetings from the land of counterpane.

2008-06-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

Mari has been sick on and off for a month now. First it was fever during a trip up north, then diarrhea from the antibiotics, then a runny nose, then a mysterious rash, now last night she spiked a fever of 104! A trip to the hospital and a blood test later it turns out to be a common cold. Some baby tylenol, antibiotics, and lots of rest and her fever's almost gone.

I'm absolutely exhausted. Lots of doubts about your abilities and judgements as a parent surface during those long sleepless nights with a feverish baby. I've had the advantage of being able to raise her exactly the way I want (Stay at home, Exclusively breastfeed until 6 months, Co-sleeping, Child wearing, Cloth diapering, the list goes on and on.) But along with that privilege comes the responsibility of knowing that I'm also solely responsible when things go wrong. Every step taken off the well trodden path of common child care practices come up to light. Ah well, it's smallish price to pay I guess.

Watching your child with an illness is sort of like washing the dishes with gloves on. You see the water you can almost feel your hands get wet and yet, you still have dry hands. Watching Mari scratch a rash on her leg or toss and turn during a fever, I get this feeling that somehow I should be feeling the itch or the fever too. It's almost unnatural that I can't feel her pain physically, just a bare ghost of it in my mind.

We've been spending most days in warm, snuggly, nursing type activities. Lots of cuddles and carrying. She's sleeping peacefully now. Knock on wood that this is it for now.

Standing tall

2008-04-21T05:34:00.000-07:00

standing from pinn on Vimeo.

Or at least, pulling to standing!

spun

2008-04-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

Some pics of my first cotton yarn.

On the spindle.

The charkha, disassembled so I don't injure myself walking in to it.

lightbulb: ON!

2008-04-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

Holy hell! It's all finally clicking! The yarn I'm getting is all thick and thin and ugly as hell but at least it's yarn! And I'm spinning! Actually spinning cotton! I never thought I'd ever get it! (shamefully enough I've been avoiding spinning cotton for years because I'm scared of the short fibers. meep.) But Yay!! Yay for trying things out! I'll take a pic for y'all tomorrow ok?

Things not to do in this heat.

2008-04-03T07:37:00.000-07:00

Do not follow the link in your e-mail to the spin-off mag page. Because you know what that leads to? It leads to you breaking out your stash of spain merino in the 32 degree heat that's what. But that's what I did. And, ooh, the stuff I found there! The effect of twisting in plying (intriguing!!) Wraps per inch (Hmmm. Want to know more...) and Cables: Demystifying the mysterious yarn, gotta read that! All this talk of YARN And ways that they twist! I can feel the fibers spinning, sliding through my hands already! And so that's why there's several spinning contraptions strewn about my room. And truth be told, I'm glad to be spinning again. The smell of wool and the quiet whrrrr whrrr of my wheel has indeed been missed.

I know spinning wool in Thailand is insane, believe me, I do. But I had no choice. I tried using the Mr's Charkha to spin some of his cotton poonis first, but I suck at cotton. The strands are just too short. They slip right through my hands before I can get the twist into them. A pile of fluffy discarded cotton was building up pretty quickly around me. I had to bring out my wheel to remind myself that I can spin. Just not cotton apparently. Does anyone who spins cotton have any advice for me? Because honestly I don't know what the hell I'm going to do with all the merino wool I'll wind up spinning otherwise.

(On a rather weird note, every picture I managed to find of a Charkha spinner the person seems to be rail thin. I found a clip of Ghandi spinning, the guy on this page is thin and The Mr. who is skinny as a pole seems to have no trouble at all spinning with it either. Hmmm.. can I blame my ample figure for my spinning suckiness? Please?)

Home

2008-03-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

It's well in to the dry season here in Thailand. A dry hot wind is making this old house creak and groan tonight. It's a good house to be in in this hot humid weather, windows all around to let in the wind, and high ceilings so the air can circulate. My grandfather built this house and 5 generations have walked it's rooms so far. I've never written down how much I love this house with it's ancient shutters and teakwood floors polished with generations of footsteps. Everywhere I go I know that this house is waiting for me with it's ageless shadows, waiting for me to come home.

Mini Bikini

2008-03-04T06:50:00.001-08:00

Mari's bikini, originally uploaded by dumplingrrl.

Forgive the ratty couch sofa. We're going to the beach this month and I wanted to make Mari something to wear while she lounges by the pool. I had a bit of cotton yarn left over so I decided to make her an itty bitty bikini. This sassy little number features and triangular granny square top and stretchy knit bottoms. Great for lying around on the beach or nursing by the pool. Alas, it is not poop proof.

Mini Bikini

Yarn: Any worsted weight cotton yarn. 2 colors.
Gauge: 16 st. to 4 inch
Hook: 6/0 in Japan size (I’m not so sure how that works out in US size though. It measures about 3mm)
Needle: US no. 5
It's sized for a six month old baby. To make it bigger use bigger yarn and hook/needle and add a few st to the cast on for the bottom, dec to only maybe 15 st and inc until it covers your babe's but. It's knitted flat so you can try it on as you go along.)

Bikini Top.

Using Main color Ch 3. sl st into first ch to make loop.

Rnd 1: ch 3, 2 dc in to center loop, ch 2, (3 dc in to center loop, 2 ch) rep once more. Join with sl st to last chain on first ch column.

Rnd 2: sl st to first 2 ch space. Ch 3. 2 dc into the 2 ch space. Ch 2. 3 dc in to same 2 ch space. Ch 1. (3 dc in to the next 2 ch space. Ch 2. 3 dc into same 2 ch space. Ch 1) rep once. Join with sl st to top of first chain column.

Rnd 3: sl st to next ch 2 space. Change to contrast color. work 3 sc in to ch 2 space. (Sc in to each st until next ch 2 space, work 3 sc in to ch 2 space) Repeat once. Sc to end of rnd. sl st to join.

Rnd 4: (Sc, dc, sc in to next st. sl st in to next st) repeat until you’ve edged 2 sides of the triangle. (About 10 scallops.)
Break yarn and bind off.

Now I sl st back to the middle of the last scallop and chain st a cord of about 10 in. (This is just a long string of chain stitches.)

Make another one like the first but instead of making a chain cord break the yarn leaving a 6 in. tail. Use the tail to sew the new triangle to the last one. Attach the yarn to the right bottom edge of second triangle and chain a 10 in. cord. Break yarn

Attach the yarn to the top of one triangle and chain a neck chain. Try it on and check if it’s the right length. Attach to top of other triangle. Weave in ends.

Bikini bottom

(This is knitted to provide stretch and then edged with crochet. It’s started from the front and decreased for the crotch area and increased for the back. Then the crochet edge is worked for back and then you come back and do the front edge.)
Using Main color CO 20.
Row 1: k2, p to 2 st from end, k2
Row 2: k2, k2tog, k to 4 st from end, k2tog through back loop, k2
Repeat last 2 rows until 10 st left on needle.
Finish on wrong side.
Next row: k to end.
Next row: k2, p to 2 st from end, k2
Continue until piece measures 6 in. finish on wrong side.
Next row: k2, inc1, k to 2 st from end, inc1, k2
Next row: k2, p to 2 st from end, k2
Continue until 34 st on needle. Finish on wrong side.

Hold with right side facing you. Change to Contrast color and using crochet hook sc into each st on needle. When you get to the end make a chain cord that measures 10 in. break yarn and weave in end.

Make a 10 in. chain cord. Hold the piece with right side facing you. Attach the cord to the beginning of the last row of sc. (Sc, dc, sc in to next st. sl st in to next st) repeat to end. Break off yarn and weave in ends.

Repeat for the front edge. Hold with right side facing you. Using contrast color and crochet hook sc in to each st of the CO edge. When you get to the end make a chain cord that measures 10 in. break yarn and weave in end.

Make a 10 in. chain cord. Hold the piece with right side facing you. Attach the cord to the beginning of the last row of sc. (Sc, dc, sc in to next st. sl st in to next st) repeat to end. Break off yarn and weave in ends.

How things work out.

2008-02-28T07:26:00.000-08:00

I tried giving Mari some finger food today before her usual breakfast of pureed veg. A nice plate of sliced steamed carrots, pumpkin and some banana. She smeared all the pumpkin in to her clothes and sort of chucked the carrots around a bit and then picked up and tried to eat her plate. Yep. Then she smeared what was left of the pumpkin all over my clothes. Maybe the cooked veggies are a bit too slippery for her. I watched as she tried to grip the carrot but it kept slipping through her hands and she quickly became upset. So we settled down with a bowl of pumpkin puree and she was happy again.

Baby girl sure loves her food and will SCREAM if you try to take it away from her. Just like her mama.

NOM NOM NOM

2008-02-27T08:03:00.000-08:00

That is the sound of my baby eating my food stuff. Today Mari snatched a piece of my lunch and proceeded to self feed herself the crust of my sandwich. You should have seen her stuffing her (tiny, adorable) face! Here I was mashing up her purees, making sure every bit of lump was gone and it turns out she's just as happy snacking on real live bread like a regular non-infant human being. I'm looking in to baby led weaning now but it's just ocurred to me, if BLW really is the way for me and Mari then haven't I just shelled out quite a bit of money for the hand grinder, baby food book, and feeding spoon... all that money, for nothing? (it's not that pricey but cash is kinda tight at the moment)

...

Trying not to think of it too much.

half a year.

2008-02-16T07:02:00.000-08:00

I've just finished clearing out Mari's little closet. A tiny little newborn sized onesie was hidden at the bottom of it, and her old mitts and socks. It seems like she barely had time to wear them before she outgrew them. It's always bitter sweet clearing away her old clothes. I don't know how many times I'll be changing her wardrobe. Will it always tug at my heart? Another size outgrown, another step away from mama...

She turned 6 months old yesterday. A chunky, lively little girl with a mind of her own. She loves arching her back allll the way over and looking at the world upside down. When she's mad she stamps her little feet in vexation. Loves eating. And, this is so sweet, when I hold her up in front facing away from me she'll lean her head back and give me huge sloppy open mouthed kisses. I feel like my heart will burst sometimes.

Work is breaking my back. Juggling Mari and work is hard even if I'm working at home. Being apart from the Mr. all the time is really lonely. Sometimes I wish we can fast forward to a time when we are all together as a family but then I look at that tiny gumdrop face and I just wish time would stand still so I can kiss her, hold her, nurse her just a little bit longer.

knowing you, not knowing you.

2008-01-30T04:59:00.000-08:00

First off I really want to thank sagepixie for her comment on my blog post about child birth. It really means a lot to me, thankyou.

Today I was thinking about a blogger whose blog I check occasionally who is having problems with her pregnancy and I almost cried in to my cereal. That's when I realised how much I'm linked to people on the net. I have people I've known over years online, I've met some really close friends online, I worry about the health of people I've never even met and sometimes when I see something I immediately think of a certain online friend that i know would just love it. Being online has really taken me out of myself, opened up my life. It makes us bigger tah we usually are. And inspite of all the shit that's going on in the world right now, I'm really glad I'm born in a time when we are able to do that.

Expanding horizons.

2008-01-23T04:46:00.000-08:00

I've joined the six sox knit-along group. Yes, and I am busy knitting the in my shoe sock. It's a clever little sock pattern and just right for hot humid BKK. I've already learned two new techniques: The la-link la-rink inc, and the magic cast on from knitty.com. I'm so excited! I've never done a knit-along before and it's fun fun fun. Yep, people in my house walked down to see me sitting in front of my computer, clutching a ball of yarn and needles nursing my obsessive little hobby like the knitting nerd that I am. Must resist urge to show off un-finished knitting to non-knitters who will look at me and slowly. back. away.

Sugar free

2008-01-20T06:30:00.000-08:00

I don't like asking for help. That's one of my bad habits. I like to act like things don't bother me when they do. I sometimes say I'm ok when I'm not. Maybe it's because I was brought up to not cause a stink, to smile and say 'It's alright, I'm ok!' Rather than get everyone troubled over something. I could actually feel myself snapping shut when someone asks me how I am during a rough patch in my life. I hate telling people I'm struggling. But I have a feeling that I should train myself out of this habit sooner or later. So, I'm going to try to be as honest as possible on this blog. At least get it out somewhere for a start, then maybe I can apply it to real life.

So here goes:
- Remember when I gave birth to Mari? Well my birth experience was not perfect, it did not go as I expected, but it wasn't the end of the world either. But the truth is, I'm more upset over it then I've been letting on. Yeah, she's out and healthy and THANK THE HEAVENS for that, still some parts of the whole experience left a bad bad taste in my mouth. First off, I feel like the doctors could not or would not give me the support I needed to deliver normally. I feel like they were all pushing for a C/S. Three doctors saying the same thing. Shaving me and sticking an IV in me as soon as I walked in to the delivery unit was not so nice either. Not to mention that NO FOOD thing. I feel like if they'd let me have food then maybe I would have had the strength to keep pushing. The thing was I've never done this before, I don't know what would be dangerous what would put Mari in danger or me in danger. None of the doctors there were willing to support my choice to give birth naturally and as a first time mom, that's some pretty high odds stacked against you getting it done your way. I don't know why I'm re-thinking the whole thing, it's just that I've had this nagging little thought in the back of my head since the delivery and if I don't voice it I don't know when, if, it will ever go away. I keep justifying it, thinking that the people at the hospital were so nice to me the whole time I was there. But the thing is, they would be nice to you wouldn't they? You just payed them to cut your stomache open. Meh. The incision still hurts from time to time, less now than before. But still. It kinda stings.

Trashy trashy

2008-01-19T06:03:00.000-08:00

I'm watching trash TV with my sister. I can not focus...

OK. Here's some new pics of Mari instead of the serious entry I planned to write.

Ooh! And just look how big she's getting.
Here's her at 1 month:

At 2 months:

And now at 5 months!:

Thud.

2008-01-17T21:34:00.000-08:00

^ That's the sound of me falling off the wagon. The posting-regularly-wagon. But I'm climbing back on board. So. First, some random things:

-Mari is now 5 months old. She wakes up at 4-5 in the morning everyday and hits me repeatedly with her hurty little fists to wake me up. Then when I don't she will complain loudly "WHOOOO!" she goes, "AhhhhhMEM!!". Non stop till I obey her and get my lazy mummy butt out of bed.
-I'm swamped in work.
-I ate moldy Tacos yesterday. Yuck. Bright side: I do not have mold allergy.
-I want to sign with Mari but i forget every damn time. I get in to bed at night and go "Doh! I did not sign once today."

Little madame is complaining. Gotta go.

Maybe you should just get a sign that says " TOURIST "

2007-12-13T05:23:00.001-08:00

DSC06574, originally uploaded by dumplingrrl.

We're heading up to Chiang Mai for a few days since the Mr. will be in town for some business. Don't you love the hat Mari picked out for the occasion? Oh, ok ok. It's a dorky hat that looks so adorably dorky on her, and we picked it out, not her poor thing. Anyways, it'll be my first time traveling with her and I'm a bit nervous but I'm also excited to be seeing the Mr, again after he's been away for over 2 months.

Hey Mr. we miss you!!

Mother tongue.

2007-12-10T05:31:00.000-08:00

I've begun to notice that my ability to read or write Thai is slowly deteriorating. It may be because I use written Thai so little in my everyday life. It's pretty strange to think that I might be losing my own language. I can speak it just fine but if I read I feel like I have to try a bit harder to understand than I would if it were in English.

Thai was my first language but when I was 6-7 I moved to NY for 4 years and subsequently forgot almost everything. I had to re-learn it when we moved back, I was about 11 then. It's a really hard language to learn because it's a tonal language and I had a very hard time training my ears to here the tones again. And don't even get me started on the god damn spelling! We have letters that are actually silent. Then why the hell do we put them there!? Because it's always been there. (And that says a whole lot about how the education system treats outdated things here.)

Yeesh. Just thinking about how hard it was to learn it the second time round is going to scare me enough to brush up on my skills.

Your little white face is my moon.

2007-12-09T05:13:00.000-08:00

Mari laughed for the first time yesterday. A really loud 'Huh huh huh'sound. It was just wonderful. I will tell you, there is no sound in the world like a baby's first laugh, I can't describe it and I am just so lucky to have heard it. She was quite surprised by the sound herself and looked quite bewildered for a second or so.

This is now one of my favourite memories.

All this AND I cook!

2007-12-06T06:37:00.000-08:00

I'm soo tired. I saw something on the news the other day about a Japanese man who died from over-work. Well, now I know the Mr. isn't the only Japanese work-a-holic. If I suddenly disappear you all can be sure that I had a heart attack from trying to match his pace.

When that happens please have a nap in my memory.

Behind the wheels.

2007-12-04T06:30:00.000-08:00

It turns out moving a whole vehicle isn't so hard. I still can't believe how easy it is to move a whole car. I mean, it's sort of like the driving dreams I used to have where I feel like I'm moving the car by sheer force of will :S Anyway, I got in to the driver's seat and my friend K sat clutching the hand brakes while I drove in circles round a vacant lot v e r y s l o o o w l y y y. . . And a few old men sat watching from next to the parking lot no doubt betting on when the chic will drive right in to the nearby garbage pile or one of the HUGE moving trucks parked nearby.

I was forbidden from stepping on the accelerater.

Hm.... All in all, twas pretty much fun.

Gotta go feed the munchkin. Good night all.

Mari doesn't like you.

2007-12-03T05:37:00.001-08:00

DSC06448, originally uploaded by dumplingrrl.

I just love her mushy little face on this one. The Mr. has requested that I update more often. Yes, honey. Sorry for slacking off :P I've been thinking about trying to post more anyway..

Random stuff that's been going on:

-I'm about to learn how to drive. Up until now I didn't think I needed to drive, but getting around Thailand by taxi pisses me the fuck off. So I guess I better learn to do it myself. (as always)

-Some kids think it's fun to light firecrackers around our house to get our dog to bark. And ring our doorbell constantly. They're just kids but are really annoying and it makes me feel petty and mean for hating on them. I know I should be a kinder/better person now that I'm a mom, but I'm not. I want to hunt them down and punch their oily little pre-teen faces in.

-Mari on the other hand, is just melting my heart. She's almost 6 kilos now. She always wakes up in the best little mood. She'll smile and laugh. But she insists on staying on my arms all. day. long. Mom says I've throughly spoilt her. Oh well, she'll be a baby for only such a short while. I don't mind holding her at all. It all seems to go by so fast, she's already trying to turn over on her own!

I'd write more, but I gotta save something for my next post, eh?

emerging from the fog

2007-09-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

I've been lost in some kind of maternal fog since Mari came about a month ago. It's been a whirlwind of feeding, changing, bathing, cuddling and getting stuff done. My head is still spinning. I finally have a moment to use the computer so I'm going to make this a quick update:
-Mari has gained 1 kilo, she loves walks in the garden, cuddling with her dad, and Jackson Browne's music. She has real stinky neck cheese :)
-I am finally one kilo below my prepregnancy weight and can fit in to my old jeans. (Vain, I know but YAY!!! anyway) I think the weight I lost might be my brain though, I feel like it's missing.
-We can not stop kissing, holding, playing with Mari. My mom swears I'm spoiling her rotten.
-Mari decided at around 2 weeks that she would rather sleep with us in our bed. She cries when we put her down in her crib and immediately settles down when we bring her to ours'. I really love co-sleeping with her though. I think she's decided her crib is her 'changing room' because that's become it's main purpose. She becomes quite indignant when she wakes up to find she's been left to snooze there.

Here are some pics folks:

Oh, and I am still crafting. Mostly mindless zombie knitting but hey, it's pretty relaxing! Anything I can knit while nursing is game. Right now it's the pinwheel baby blanket using Bouton D'or Medina. It's a viscose/wool blend and is very pretty:

Mari.

2007-08-19T20:18:00.000-07:00

Well, she's here. My own little girl :) Mari Wangsai born on August 15th 2007 at 5:35 pm. A total surprise popping out at 37 weeks. I was caught completely un-prepared. She's so tiny, 2.5 kilo and 48 cm long with a darling apple dumpling face. She has lots of fine black hair, sharp little nails that she scratches me with and a tiny little bud of a mouth. I'm completely in love. Here's her birth story:

At 6 pm. the day after my 37 week exam I started having irregular contractions, they became pretty regular at about 10 pm. coming once every 5 min. It was so early I actually thought it was false labour and went to bed, tried to sleep through them until at 8 am. I called the hospital and they had me come in immediately. Turns out I was 1 cm. dilated and 75% effaced. Went to the delivery room and laboured there till 5 pm. The doctor came in and checked me, it turns out I hadn't made any progress at all and her head wasn't engaged. They decided that it was probably because my pelvis was too small for her to fit through and advised me to have a C-section. I really didn't want one, but I was worried about her, I don't know how much stress she was under during the long labour, so I agreed. It turns out that the C-section wasn't as bad as I thought. Kinda like watching an episode of ER... Anyway, the epidural blocked out any feeling in my lower body so I had no idea the doctor was actually lifting her out. I thought they were still looking for her when I heard her whimper, then cry and the doctor was saying she's a girl. I just laughed out loud! I was so happy to have her here and it was so unreal that they have actually lifted a real live living human being out of my body. I remember thinking 'Now we are two.' Me and Mari have been occupying the same space for so long having her out of my body felt like a huge step.

After that was the long road to recovery. I'm really glad the hospital here is so pro-breast feeding. It was really hard learning how to feed her, I'm not sure I could have done it with out all the advice I recieved. She's a very good feeder and has a very good appetite, but in the beginning it hurt so much. Like someone pinching your nipple over, and over, and over again. But I'm really glad I'm able to breatfeed her. I look at her poo and feel like, yeah, that's my breast milk right there :D

I'll try to post pictures when I have time again( God knows when that will be, it's been all Mari 24/7 since we got home.) The Mr. has been wonderful, I couldn't have hoped for a better partner through all this. He's been very patient and attentive during my recovery from the C-section, and he's just so in love with Mari. I think he's used up all the memory chips we have taking her pictures! Anyways, pics later. I promise. Right now I have to go get some sleep before the little miss wakes up for her next feed.

Losing my religion.

2007-08-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

I went to re-new my ID card the other day. Had to change from Miss to Mrs. since me and the Mr. are now officially married by Thai law, and I decided to change my religious status too. I used to be Buddhist but had stopped believing for more than 6 years now. I never really identified with the Theravadi Buddhism that's pre-dominant in Thailand anyway, so I didn't want it written on my ID that I do. Simple enough, I didn't expect to be turned in to 'the woman with no soul' at the city office.
Here's what happened.

I went in, got in line, had my photo taken, blah blah blah... Then the staff person asked for my blood type and religion. I told her B and to leave my religion as a blank, she said ok. On to the next que.

The woman who checked my info looked at my blank religion and said:
Her: You don't have a religion!?
Me: Yeah, can we leave that as a blank?
Her: But how can you not have a religion? Don't you believe in anything?
Me: I'm still looking around... (Thought:It's none of your business anyway!)
Her: What was your religion before?
Me: Buddhist.
Her: And now?
Me: Nothing. I'm still looking.
Her: Why aren't you Buddhist anymore?! (Voice getting louder and higher)
Me: I stopped believing in Buddhism...
Her: Hey! Hey! She doesn't have a religion! (Shouting to the person in the next stall)
What about your parents!? What do they have to say about this!
Me:....

I can't believe she actually started asking about what my parents thought. To a woman almost 30 years old, Married, heavily pregnant, what would that say about me if I still had to ask my parents for permission about my faith. I opened my mouth to tell her my father had passed away, and my mom didn't mind what I believed, but I just couldn't waste anymore words. I just shook my head. At that moment the person next to her told her 'It's ok for her not to have a religion, it's not important info.' So with no back up she just started going on about how the ID didn't look complete and so on and cranked out my card.

LADY, WOULD IT BE COMPLETE IF I LIED ON IT?! WOULD IT?!

sheesh...

7/8/07

2007-08-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

It's my birthday today. I'm 27, officially. 26 was a rollercoaster of extreme ups and downs, so I'm hoping 27 will be a smoother ride.

Plans for the day:
-Doctor's appointment, to check up on lil' red and see how s/he's doing.
-Home, a bit of laundry, maybe some crafting.
-Dinner out with the Mr.? We'll see about that one, I haven't decided on a good place yet.

Well, here's to what I hope will be a calm, mellow, happy year.

*Hmm.. The post goes up as 6 Aug. Must be the time zone difference, for the record, it's already 7 Aug here in BKK.

Joy!!

2007-07-21T17:58:00.000-07:00

I FINALLY FINISHED THE BAG ORDER!!!!

No more teeny tiny bits of bag to sew in place, no more teensy weensy little stitches and finally some time to knit!! Yay!!

Here's some pics of the bags:

Here they are pre-cloth pom pom. I don't have any completely finished pics yet coz the Mr. took my camera to Chiangrai, so I'll just say that this is the photo I took when I was soo close to finally finishing I could almost taste it.

Now, aside from sewing (and more sewing...) I've been baby sitting this lil' devil:

And I do believe I'm satrting to understand his language...

And this is a pair of felt booties for little red (The baby's belly name)

See more of these babies here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bittybooties/

Undercover

2007-06-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

I've finished the baby blanket. An order came in for some small change purses due next month meaning I needed to finish up my current projects so the quilt was done yesterday. I just cut out the back fabric (hot pink really soft cotton flannel) and the quilt batting. Layer it with the right side out and the batting sandwiched in between and tacked all that together. Then I sewed a border around all four sides and quilted the whole thing and it was finished! The quilting was very simply done just quilted along the borders of each square so in all it took just a day. Yay!

Sling thing

2007-06-29T20:11:00.001-07:00

I bought a length of fancy printed cloth to make this sling since I was in Tokyo. It was a designer's print, I can't seem to recall here name... Amy something... but the print is REALLY cute and I finally dragged out the fabric and made up this baby sling. Here's some pictures of my dog Taka test driving the sling. He's around 6 kilos and he didn't feel heavy at all. But then he would only stay in the sling for maybe 5 minutes at a time so I'm not sure if I'll be saying the same thing after half a day of lugging baby Red around...

balls of string

2007-06-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

I was in the stationary store the other day and they had some strings with really cute wrappings.

I really love these Thai/Chinese packagings. They're usually printed on really primitive printing machines using these LOUD colours. They have a style all their own. They were about 15 baht a ball so I bought 2. I didn't really know what to make with them but thought I'd figure something out.

I knitted up a small sample and it knitted up pretty well creating a sort of candy cane stripey pattern. The fabric was firm and not scratchy. So I decided to try a hat pattern I'd been waiting to knit from Erica Knight's Baby Bloom book.

The little earflap hat. I added some scrap yarn I had left over from my natural dyeing class, and a wee bit of blue washi yarn, and it was quite pretty. The reddish pink is cochineal at 50%, the brown is walnut hull, yellow is jackfruit bark at 50% or 100% and mordanted with alum (I'm not sure, need to check my dye log to be sure.) Green is... I think some kind of fresh leaf, but extracted using the alkaline method so it's really really bright green. I didn't dye this green, a classmate gave it to me as a sample.

Yeah, when there's not a yarn shop in sight you just have to make do. I'll see what other things I can find to knit with.

Layout

2007-06-21T17:11:00.000-07:00

Something was begging to be started yesterday. I didn't feel like making more diapers, I'll admit it: I'm a project juggler. I have to have at least two big projects up in the air or I loose steam. I can't go on pounding out diapers, I needed something a bit different for a few days and then I'll go back to making those lil poopers.

So I dug around in my drawer of scraps and pulled out some black silk I had left over from making a jacket and a bunch of scrap kimono cloth I squirreled away. Actually, I'm a huge kimono scrap hoarder. I buy little bits of 100 yen scraps and use them for crafting, they're cheap and you wind up with so many cute little patterns. But these were the ones I loved the most. These were the pieces I hid away and dreamt up projects I would someday use them in, the ones I pulled out to drool over when I had time. They aren't expensive or anything but something about the patterns on each one had a special appeal for me. I've finally found a project for them.

I arranged and re-arranged them on a tabletop, this took like half a day. And this is the result:

A baby quilt.

I pinned them down,ironed and hand stitched them in place with a plain ol' running stitch and right now I'm going to applique them in place with black thread. After that the quilting.

Here's another pic that isn't so blurry. But the layout isn't the one I ended up using.

Diaper update

2007-06-18T17:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some finished pics of the cloth diapers.

This is a diaper folded up and ready to go.

Pic of leg detail, the elastic creates a sort of border that helps the poop or pee stay in.

These are the ones I've finished.

Up to my ears...

2007-06-12T18:02:00.000-07:00

in diapers. I need to make at least 12 diapers in sizes newborn, small, and large. That's the least I need, if I wanted to be more realistic I'd make 24 in each size, but I'd rather fool myself and remain sane. I've cut out all the tiny little newborn size diapers and their lining, and their soakers.

I got these patterns from mama bird's free diaper pattern at http://www.geocities.com/rew4birth/Diapers.html I think they work pretty well. I'm using the Mr.'s old t-shirt for material so it's almost all organic cotton and is soo soft. I managed to sew up and finish a few yesterday, pics of that coming soon.

(Come to think about it, I'm glad I started writing this blog again, it keeps me from shoving these tiny lil' monsters in people's faces and going 'LOOK LOOK aren't they CUUUUTE?! and they're so TEEENY!!!' yeah, they're cute, they're a lot of work, but I don't want my family to kick me out yet.)

As for unpacking and moving in, here is how the shelf looks now. My room is almost rid of the damn paper boxes. Yay!

Well, so much for good intentions...

2007-06-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

I gotta say, I've been meaning to add to this blog for a long long while but I kept putting it off. Why? Because I was moving, and pregnant. Yep. I've recently moved back to Bangkok from Tokyo. The first few months of the pregnancy were very, um sleepy? I don't know how to explain it, but those of you who have been pregnant will probably understand. I just was really unmotivated and felt like sleeping all. the. time. Top that off with the class exhibition I was having at Tokyo Textile and I just fell right off the blog wagon.

Fast forward to today. I'm seven months along with a whole room of stuff I can't find places for. But we're about halfway settled in and I'm finding I have more time so I figured I'd give this blog thing another shot. I still want this to be a kind of log book for all my crafting endeavors. so to start off I'm going to put up a pic of how my crafting stuff look like now:

I'm having a hard time just looking at it. The other half of the room is a mess as well. I'm thinking about sewing up some big bin-like bags to store all the yarn in and take it from there. Let's see if posting it up here keeps me motivated.

I got a blog!

2006-12-29T03:04:00.000-08:00

That makes me finally a blogger!

Hi everyone. Guess I should give a bit of info about myself. I'm a crafter living in Tokyo with my husband. Most of my days are spent working on some sort of craft or other. Twice a month I have natural dyeing class and once a month I take a knitting class. Both of which are in Japanese and remind me that my language skills are still very very poor. I want to document my life and works here in Tokyo on these here pages. That's about it I guess.