Let's make happy
Archive for April, 2007
Kurafuto
Apr 30th
To finish up my gushy Japan posts (at least for a while), I have to feature some crafty goodness. Some of these items may turn into presents, so if you’re my mother-in-law, STOP READING NOW. Everyone else, enjoy!
Craft shops in Japan are a little harder to find than you might expect. But when you find them, watch out. The famous Yuzawaya in Kamata (southern Tokyo) is virtually its own town, comprised of 11 buildings and a giant Knitting Ram clock.
Every town should be so lucky.
I also discovered a new crafting store in Nagoya’s Sakae shopping district, which I imagine is like the Fifth Avenue of Cleveland, whatever that might be.
Now for some show-and-tell:
A set of adorable “Animal Complex” fabric – five sweet little swatches. Now is really the time to take up sewing.
Crafty, semi-evil-looking bunnies. Note the one full-bodied bunny in the bottom left corner. Score!
Giraffe, baby chick, and bullet train patches.
A nuigurumi kitty kit that I will make. Believe it or not, this will be my first felt toy. Hope I’m ready to make it in Japanese. Results soon, hopefully.
And my personal favorite:
This ribbon reminds us how proud we should be of our accomplishments in sitting. Of course, if most of my (non-English-speaking) Japanese friends were to tell you what this ribbon reads, it would be a different story entirely.
And now that it’s really springtime, I should probably go out and do something in New York.
Kacha-kacha
Apr 28th
… is the glorious sound of the crank being turned in a capsule toy machine. Much to my delight, there are whole stores dedicated to these humble contraptions in Japan. Kind of like a present-day automat for obsessive plastic toy collectors.
We fortuitously happened upon this tiny kacha-kacha store in Shibuya last week. It was just big enough for a few dozen capsule machines, a change machine, and one guy behind a curtain who read manga and handed out plastic bags to anyone who asked. (I asked.)
It was absolutely packed with kacha-kachas, each pregnant with glistening capsules containing a different series of toy.
The store included an entire collection of Hello Kitty goods, which came in their own special Hello Kitty capsules. Awww….
Some “gets”:
Kapibara-san was everywhere, of course. This little cell phone strap bobble is about as big as the tip of my pinky finger.
Characters from the series Robin and his 100 Friends from Pansonworks. (Robin is on the left.) At this time, there are only 7 of Robin’s friends that you can collect. Maybe more will come? Oh, and I just realized that the bases can be connected together – cool!
This wrinkled mushroom is a Nintendo DS case. My husband’s pretty excited about it.
And these sweet little Unazuki nesting dolls from Rainbow Spice are my favorites at 300 yen for one set. Now I’m kicking myself for just getting 2 of the 4 sets! Notice the very nice printing.
Kacha-kacha-kacha-kacha-kacha-kacha-kacha….
Grass in the Round
Apr 27th
Former Inmate of The Seattle Knitting Asylum blog (cute name!) has modified my grass pattern for a knitted-in-the-round version. The results are basically the same, but there’s a lot less sewing up!
Beware the Playing Cards
Apr 25th
I really thought that the U.S. was the most litigious country in the world, but this deck of playing cards has convinced me otherwise.
This is an extra card that came with a deck of plastic Angel brand playing cards that we bought in Okinawa to while away the non-beach hours. In its entirety, it reads:
Warning
Before you begin playing with these cards, be sure to read this.
- Please do not use these cards for anything besides playing with the cards themselves.
- Please do not throw the cards, or engage in any other reckless play with them. They will cause injury if they hit the eyes or body.
I checked with a trusted Japanese friend, and she confirmed that this is not a joke. Now, I haven’t bought a deck of cards in a while, but I do believe this is an unprecedented degree of insanity.
Also, this is an especially creepy Joker:
We’re returning to New York today, much to my dismay, but I have so many Japan photos that I’ll probably keep posting about it for a bit more.
A Bright Red Pepto!
Apr 25th
Thank you so much to Miki, who has just test knitted Pepto the Elephant – in red!
Miki was a great tester – she put much thought into her comments on the pattern, and she added some clever touches like the variegated yarn for the ears and the funny little tail.
Aren’t these photos the cutest?
You can see more of Miki’s creative photos of her cherry-red Pepto on her blog.
Thanks to Miki’s help, the pattern for Pepto will soon be available in the Mochimochi Land shop!
Miki’s fun photos reminded me to encourage people to upload photos to the Mochimochi Friends Flickr group. If you’ve knitted a toy from a Mochimochi Land pattern, please share your results!
