sewing project – handbag

 

This fabric is one of my favorite ones that I shopped in downtown Toronto.  (Designer’s Fabric Center)

It’s not cheap though, but, I was willing buy it just because I want to use it to make a handbag for myself, and may be a little garment for Erika. (not for selling this time.) 

This bag’s pattern is from a Japanese template (by Clover.)

 

another view of the bag

 

 

The template thing is just so handy and I can trace them directly to the fabric.
I can make as many bags as I want to by using the same template.

And there are a-h (total 8 styles) different bag styles in one plastic template..

so, what’s it?

 

Go HERE to take a look, I bought the template from this online store.

COOL, right?

This store ships the products directly from Japan, and the good thing is that it’s quite fast the shipping and the packaging is nice.

More Japanese patterns books in my destash!

Check it out, I put more used Japanese pattern books on my destash items.

(the Dog’s patterns are mainly for sewing, not knitting.)

 

They are all in very good condition (like new!), and some of them are wrapped with plastic cover as well.

If you are interested in any of those, let me know by leaving comments on the destash page, or email me @

lillian dot yanyan dot wong at gmail dot com

Interesting Japanese pattern book

I seldom recommend Japanese pattern book here, because I don’t know any Japanese…. and since this is an English blog, it’s weird to introduce Japanese book here. But I really want to share this book, because it has English translation in it.

I think most experienced knitters may already know how to knit entrelac, or any kind of Nordic knitting. However, to me, this is quite new (I knew how to do the entrelac but not the other ones.)

It’s a book teaching you how to knit “Nordic Knitting” : ten fabulous techniques from 5 countries.

1) Finland : Tapestry Crochet in Korsnas , Fur tape.

2) Denmark : Domno Strikke, I cord

3) Sweden Naverstickning (similar to Entrelac), Estonia, Estonian spiral

4) Norway: Crown, Tubular Stitch, bead knitting

Sample page of the book inside:

It has step by step instructions for each techniques, and the projects are really fabulous. They really move me to pick up the sticks and start!

I can’t wait to start the projects inside, but, I still have some projects on hand, I better finish them off first.

I bought this book from the online store (Taiwan book store), you might able to find this book in YesAsia.com as well.

Japanese Knitting Calculator

This is a gift from my aunt, she bought it in our local yarn store (operated by Chinese, location: Warden and Steeles, inside the plaza.) I don’t know about the price, because it’s gift, it’s not polite to ask how much it is. But, I can guess that it shouldn’t be cheap though.

This machine is really helpful and useful if you like to knit with Japanese patterns.

First of all, as we all know that Japanese patterns only shown in ‘one-size’ , if you want a bigger size, it’s hard to adjust the chart by calculating by hand. So, this machine will help you to make the adjustments. Just type in your tension (how many stitches and row for 10 cm.) and then it will show you when, how often to make decreases and increases. It’s very powerful.

I didn’t use it yet, because I am not knitting any Japanese pattern recently, but, I will use it soon once I’ve idea what to knit.
This machine is shown in Japanese only. The shop lady said that they used to have an English version for the menu, however, they don’t do that anymore in the past few years. SO, all instructions in the booklet are in Japanese.
I don’t know how to read, but the shop lady was very kind and showed me some basic skills on how to use it.

With the booklet inside, it should be quite easy to use, because the instructions are illustrated with diagrams.

Thanks, Auntie Elsa , I love this little calculator, it’s very helpful. I can knit more Japanese patterns in the future and I can adjust the garment to fit myself perfectly.

 

ETA (April 2009) : the store lady actually gave me a copy of an English version instruction, it’s so much better that I have no problem to use the calculator.  

Richmore Yarn

Here is a picture of Richmore Yarn, where is it from? It’s made in Japan, but I’ve got this as a gift from my mom. She just went to HK in the past 2 weeks, and she found that there was a store on sale for selected yarn. She knows that I love beautiful yarn, and she bought these for me.
However, because it’s sale item, they only have 3 balls with this colorway.
What can I do with it?

The tension for this yarn:23 stitches, 14 rows for 10 cm.
weight: 40g, (about 170m)
Needle size suggestion: 3.5mm
It’s 92% 綿 cotton ,and 8% ポリエステル polyester

I love the color combination, it’s very SPRING like.

Projects that I might consider with these 3 balls:
1) A simple cardigan for baby
2) A simple scarf, or shawl for myself
3) A tank top (not sure if Iwill have enough yarn for that, probably I need to mix with other yarn)
Any good suggestion??

Some people might be interested in buying Japanese Yarn, Any online store selling this brand or other Japanese Brands? Yeah, I did find some of them, in the following, I am going to list out some online stores which carry these beautiful yarn:

http://www.manoayarns.com/index.htm

This store carries Hamanaka and Richmore Yarn.

http://www.threadsandmore.com.au/categories.asp?cID=1

This store carries “Hamanaka” yarn.

http://www.showersofflowers.com/shop/index.php?action=category&id=1&subid=71

This store carries Richmore Yarn.