not-so-wild flowers

Posted on April 23, 2005 by mariko

I tried to go see the wildflowers, but the weather was iffy, and the flowers decided to take a break (well, they kind of started tapering off a couple weeks ago). The landscape was still beautiful, though.

shell creek 2.JPG

And now I have a question for you New Englanders. Megan (yes, cancer-fighting Megan) is going to be in Vermont and New Hampshire in a week. She wants to know about any highlights in the area. What should she eat (yes, I will tell her about LA Burdick)? What should she see? What should she do? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Posted in General | 24 Comments

crafty book isbn

Posted on April 21, 2005 by mariko

The genius Hillary had the excellent idea to post the ISBN numbers for Japanese crafty books. She also has great information about where and how to order any of these. Others have followed suit, and you can go here to see who they are.
Anyway, some of these are repeats of others, but eh, you can handle that, right? So here we go!

CB bag and pouch.bmp

Bags and pouches: 4-8347-2235-x

CB chirimen.bmp

Chirimen: 4-529-04086-0

CB gift wrap.bmp

Japanese gift wrapping: 4-415-01806-8

CB crochet.bmp

Spring and Summer Crochet Knits: 4-277-11373-7 (actually, I am would like to sell this. I don’t crochet! If you’re interested, drop me a note. I’ll sell it for $10 plus shipping, so $14 total in the US)

CB girly knit.bmp

The one and only Girly Knit: 4-277-11349-4 (the purple mohair flowery vest in my gallery is from this collection)

CB hello kitty.bmp

Hello Kitty: 4-387-00041-4

CB his and hers.bmp

His & Hers: 4-529-03584-0 (the cabley t-shirt I made recently is from this collection)

CB kussy.bmp

Kussy Knits: 4-529-03859-9

CB little stuff.bmp

Little knits (scarves and such): 4-277-17178-8

CB skirts.bmp

Pretty skirts (sewing book): 4-579-10949-x

CB tawashi.bmp

Tawashi/scrubbies: 4-8347-6294-7

CB teami daisuki.bmp

I Love Knitting: 4-408-62691-0

I have Alison to thank for a good chunk of these books!

Posted in other crafting | 8 Comments

the legendary pink cookie

Posted on April 20, 2005 by mariko

Okay, the blog police busted me for being flaky on posts, so here ya go.
Once upon a time, in a very unlikely place (Spokane, WA), I discovered the most delectable cookie ev-uh. It was big, melt-in-your-mouth buttery, dense, and best of all? It was generously smeared with pink frosting. My friends Jonathan and Taya (henceforth known as the Slabs) and I used to scour the coffee shops of Spokane in search of these elusive pink cookies. We finally figured out the source: The Rocket Bakery.
This all transpired more than a decade ago, but the memories of those pink cookies lived on. I wrote to Bon Appetit magazine, hoping they might be able to coerce the recipe out of the Rocket Bakery; I wrote directly to the Rocket Bakery, pleading with them to share the recipe; I CALLED the bakery. I got NOTHING. So then last weekend my friend John traveled to Spokane. I told him he should try the pink cookie. Being the mentally unstable wonderfully generous friend that he is, he bought a stack of the cookies and overnighted them to me.

pink cookie.JPG

I was worried that the cookie would not live up to my memories, but that concern was dispelled after the first bite. It tasted exactly as I remembered. Now if I could only get the dang recipe!

Posted in candy/chocolate | 20 Comments

crafty books galore

Posted on April 17, 2005 by mariko

We had a fun but quick trip to the Bay Area. Peter got his boat fix and got to test drive a Dodge Sprinter, and I got to see some old friends (including cancer-fighting Megan, who is looking very good these days) and eat some Japanese food. We made it to Kinokuniya Books in San Jose, but I felt a little frantic and rushed in there. I ended up with three books, none of them knitting books!

kinokuniya books.JPG

The one on the left has a bunch of purses and pouches and other goodies. It is the same book that Amy of Angry Chicken recently purchased. She has some great photos of the book on her blog here.
The book on the right is all about gift wrapping. If you don’t know, the Japanese are a little, shall we say, obsessed with wrapping. Oftentimes the wrapping on a package is more elaborate and sophisticated than the contents. Even if you buy some little 40 cent trinket, you will get a nice little package for it. Here is one page from the book. It displays the various ways of wrapping a box!
kinokuniya wrapping.JPG
The book in the center is all about chirimen, a type of Japanese silk fabric that I have long adored. I would love to be able to make some of these things, but I don’t think I have the patience. They are all done by hand. Check out this cute purse!
kinokuniya chirimen.JPG

Posted in other crafting | 11 Comments

sharpie mania

Posted on April 14, 2005 by mariko

Yes, yes, I KNOW I have previously declared my love for Sharpies, but hello, they keep outdoing themselves! Look what I found today!

sharpies mini.JPG
MINI SHARPIES

Good, no? And after my mini Sharpie high I got an incredible package of Japan goodies from Jan and Molly. Seriously, the package was so good that I had to stop halfway through and go take a rest before finishing! I can’t even show it all to you because, well, I don’t want to make you all feel terribly jealous and sad. Here’s a peek at a couple of things, like this fabby fabric:
nihon fab.JPG
And this delightful bag!
nihon kaban.JPG
I’ll be carrying that bag around Friday and Saturday during our pilgrimage to the Bay Area (it’s time for the boat show). I’ll be in Berkeley and Oakland and SF Friday, then San Jose for a bit on Saturday. If you see the bag attached to a crazy-looking Asian, that’s probably me. Say hello!

Posted in General | 24 Comments

supereggplant delivers

Posted on April 13, 2005 by mariko

A couple of you asked about the long skirt pattern in the Seventeen magazine. Here is the pattern:
17 long skirt pattern.JPG
Here are the numbers, clockwise from the upper left-hand corner, in case you can’t see them in the photo:
11″ foldline
Waist 16″
17″
32″ (drawstring)
6″
Skirt bottom 38″
44″
The drawstring is 3″ wide and the tab is 3″ wide and 6″ on the left and 9″ on the right.
Here are the instructions: Use 1/2″ seam allowances. For the long skirt you need about 2 1/2 yards of fabric. Fold fabric crosswise, right sides together, and cut out all pieces as shown. Cut through fold at waist. Sew side seams, leaving a 9″ placket opening. Trim tab off front skirt piece; whipstitch around edge of tab on back piece. Press all seams open and whipstitch placket seam allowance to skirt. For drawstring casing, fold down and press 1/4″ edge at waist. Fold down again to top of tab and stitch along bottom of casing. Fold drawstring lengthwise, seam one side and one end and use a large safety pin to reverse. Stitch other end and thread through casing. Hem skirt. (If fabric has a directional pattern, don’t fold. Cut the two lengths apart and reverse one before cutting, so front and back patterns run the same way.)
I don’t know, the directions are a bit confusing to me, but hopefully some of you can figure them out!

Posted in sewing | 5 Comments

to be 17 again

Posted on April 12, 2005 by mariko

Check out this great magazine I was gifted!
17 cover.JPG
It’s from 1973 and has all sorts of crafty instructions. Here are some lovely long skirts you can sew:
17 long skirts.JPG
How about some knit halter tops?
17 knit halter.JPG
And my personal favorite–a cycling suit. Yup, nothing says “wick away” like a knit unitard.
17 knit suit.JPG

Posted in knitting | 23 Comments

drinking and typing

Posted on April 12, 2005 by mariko

I spilled water all ovoer my keyboard yesterday and ruined it. Now I am using my backup keyboard, which is not ergonomic. It’s making my wrists hurt!
Anyway, today is my insane brother‘s birthday. Please go wish him a happy birthday if you have a chance!

Posted in General | 8 Comments

ride the cotton wave

Posted on April 11, 2005 by mariko

I found some Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (80% cotton/20% wool) in cherry moon in my stash, so I started the springy wavy scarf with it.
cotton wave.JPG
The colors are a little off in the photo. I am making it narrower than the pattern instructs. The waves don’t pop as much as they do with the wool, so maybe I should call this the rippley scarf?

Posted in knitting | 3 Comments

office space

Posted on April 10, 2005 by mariko

I scored a great Steelcase metal desk and an accompanying table at a rummage sale.
metal desk.JPG
The thing is in good shape. It is super heavy, and I am kind of a wimp, so I had to go next door and ask the neighbor kid to help us heft it into the house. It was more of an ordeal than we (and especially he) had anticipated (we have very narrow doors). I gave him four cans of pop for his trouble. Anyway, now I have two huge desks in my teeny little office. Right now there’s stuff spread all over the place. I think that rather than dealing with it, though, I’m going to go eat some more pistachio cake and get ready for Desperate Housewives.

Posted in General | 12 Comments