Shame on me for not posting very much last year. I started out pretty strong then fizzled around mid Feb. It kind of bummed me out because I do love my blogs and I did have quite a bit to say last year. It just seems that I was going with what was more convenient like Instagram and tumblr. Oh well, hopefully I can keep some of it up for a little bit longer this time.
I’m starting on another major doll knit that requires loads of swatching and planning and it reminded me that I did not post about one of the large projects from last year. I was going through a silent Japanese movie kick when inspiration hit. While watching Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Chorus (東京の合唱) I spotted a onesie of sorts worn by a very young Hideo Sugawara. It was a cute little one piece tank top style shorts set with stripes around the torso. So cute that I wanted to knit one… especially after making the YoSD onesies a year earlier.
I aimed bigger this time and decided that Seiji was going to be the model for this one. After loads of planning I decided to make it short sleeved instead of straps and to have it button down the center front. Here was the results of hours of knitting

It’s knitted in one piece, in the round from the bottom up. I used Jamieson and Smith 2 ply lace weight for the main color and red Habu cashmere lace for the stripes. Who would wear such a thing other than a little boy being forced by his mother?! It was honestly a fun piece to make. I entered it into the MD Sheep and Wool festival fiber show and it won third in the dolls and bear category. It also received some really lovely comments from the judges. I was incredible happy about this.

This year I’m going back to fair isle, Scandinavian, and Icelandic designs. Seiji is my first victim. I wanted to make him a xmas sweater of sorts but things were a bit busy the later part of the year and the planning out has been a bit time consuming. I think I’ve finally narrowed down a few fair isle motifs but now I have to do the hard part and make a sweater around it. I’ll post more about that in the next couple of days.

Dragged a few of the boys out to have them model a few sweaters for an etsy order that I hope to make this week (waiting for the photos at the moment). I was shocked to see how many sweaters I had actually knitted for Ota. For some reason I wasn’t really keep track and just kept knitting along. I was in a bit of a panic when chaos was going on until I saw the pile of sweaters I need to finish and tag… then it just got overwhelming. Sold quite a few thankfully but there are some left over from the show. Again, Daisuke in pants cracks me up and Hito in that striped sweater<3. That boy is the biggest problem when it comes to me letting those sweaters go. Pfffff… he has too many.

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I seriously love this boy and love this sculpt (he needs to be shown off more). Before getting Seiji I swore I wanted Schultz twins… not sure if Seiji (or Aki for that matter) would be willing to make room for another but I would seriously like at least one more of these cute boys either for my current group or for the other I’m planning out now. By the way, Seiji is modeling one of the new kilt pins I’ll have at Neko con in two weekends. Here is a shot of the two types I’ll have on hand: More»

Seiji: Owwww… Beau-kun. That really hurt!
Captain: …. so sorry…

And the story continues… More»

…pardon my little PS frou frou’ing aka: pretending to know what I’m doing(not).

I’m still alive and well. Took a vacation of sorts (I really hate summer). Just to keep everyone up to date, I added two new boys to the group of boys (see above). Now there is nine (though reading the blog you would think I only had two to start off O_o). Dolpa was fantastic (I have photos I swear). Otakon was a blast but seriously wiped me out. I’m getting the hint that as I get older I need more sleep to function. In between it all were some fun meets.

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