Hand-Sewing or Machine-Sewing?

Somehow I refused to use a sewing machine in the last a couple of years for some reasons even though I had one.  When I was in my early 20's, I often sew up things by the sewing machine.  It was just so fast!!  On the other hand, once it gets jammed, it takes time to remove the threads from the materials depending on how horrible it is...  That point I hated using it.

From this April, my daughter started her kindergarten and the school required lots of handmade stuff before the new season started.   It took a quite long time to sew her goods by hand  even though it was fun.  Yeah, I said "it was fun" but it became frustrating to sew lots by the deadline.  Anyway, I finished everything  by the end of March.

Now I don't "HAVE TO" sew things but I want to make lots of things for my kids and some household goods.  For that purpose, a sewing machine is super necessary.  Finally I gave up on sewing only by hand and use a sewing machine depending on what I sew and the materials.

Here is the new sewing machine!  It's very simple so that it's not computerized at all.  However, it's so comfortable to use this.  The machine is called Emerald 118 originally from Europe.

It came in the cute red box!

Now, I'm so into sewing and this machine!

The First Snow and Miso Making

It snowed today!!  It was the first snow in this winter and snowed a lot!  It must have been 10cm.
So, we basically stayed home and made some miso for this year.

This is my 3rd year to make miso at home.  People usually make miso in Jan or Feb for the year and so do we!  We already ordered 5 kg of soybeans and 4 kg of koji and had them delivered the other day.  We saved them for today since I knew it would be a bad weather.
 

Take a look at the amount of soybeans and koji!

There are 2kg of rice-made koji and 2kg of wheat-made koji, and 5kg of soybeans.  I left 1kg of soybeans for making soy milk.


Soybeans are soaked in water overnight, and boiled them in a pressure-cooker for 15mins. Then, they are mashed.

Salt and koji are mixed well in a bowl.

Then, I mixed mashed soybeans and the koji mixture together and place them in a clean pot.  It needs to be rested at least for 4 months.

Now I can't wait for the miso!!

Happy New Year 2013!! And a Free Knitting Pattern

Hello,everyone! How did you spend your vacation? Went on a trip? Had a big party at home? Or spent nice quiet time?
We had a little busy days. My parents-in-law spent one night so that I cooked some speciality food for New Years. My kids were happy to meet their grandparents!
Then, we spent two nights at my parents' house, and had great meals.
I love new year holidays since we all get together and eat good food. It is like Thanksgiving in the States. Families get together and eat good food, right?

Today I love to share my pattern with you. These gloves fit 2-3 year olds. It's an easy work.


You'll need;

a circular needle     size 5 or 6 (either size is fine as long as you can obtain the gage.)

yarn (I used some leftover yarn.)

gauge     11sts x 17rows (stockinet)

Instruction

1) CO 32sts
2) 1x1 rib and knit in round.
3) keep knitting until 4cm from the beginning.
4) change to stockinet.  knit another 5cm

Leave a thumb
5) leave 6sts on a different needle and rest them.  26sts left
6) continue knitting for another 4cm.  total 12cm from the beg.

Decrease rows
7) (ssk, k9, k2tog) repeat.  18sts left
8) (ssk, k5, k2tog) repeat.  14sts left
9) (ssk, k3, k2tog) repeat.  10sts left
10) (ssk, k1, k2tog) repeat.  6sts left
11) (slip 2sts together, k1, put the 2sts over the k1, k2tog) repeat.  2sts left
12) break yarn and bind off.

Thumb
1) 6sts and pick up 6sts from the body.  12sts
2) knit stockinet in rnd for 4cm.
3) (ssk, k2, k2tog) rpt.  10sts  left
4) repeat 3) for 3 times.  4sts left
5) break yarn.

Knit one more.

Enjoy knitting and have a great year!!

by Sweet Snow Flakes

All rights reserved.

For echino Lovers

echino fabric always attracts me at a store. Needless to say the designs are cute. Very cute. They make me feel energetic. The combination of color usage and motifs makes the fabric perfect. Are you interested in the fabric? You can go to Purl SOHO now.

Today, I made a kid's apron out of echino fabric! Again! I mean "again." About a year ago, I made an apron with echino but a different design. This is the post you might want to check out! However, it became old so that I decided to make another one. How do you like the fabric? Isn't it cute?  My 3 year-old daughter keeps saying "tweet tweet apron!" I have some fabric left, so I'd like to make something else.  If I have enough time,  I'd love to share the pattern online later.

Done! The Yukata is Ready!

I've just finished this yukata a couple of days ago. This fabric was bought last summer and had been kept until this summer. I just didn't think I would finish it during the summer, so I kept it until this year. If you are interested, check out the old post here. Yes, summer is here! I am ready to sew and wear yukata!!! It is of course hand-sewn! It took one and a half months to finish because I only had an hour or so every day. After all the children go to bed and finish up the housekeeping, I can spend my time on sewing. Also I think I am a slow sewer. 

Before you start sewing, it is important to match the patterns. With matching, the kimono will look great; however, without matching the main motif might come on your back or even worse, the motif might be cut in half! Ouch! Decide which motif to come to the front, back or sleeves. Once you decide, it is time to cut the fabric!

After cutting up the fabric, it's time to mark and sew. This is the sleeve.

Time to start!

Curve a corner!

I would wear this yukata to the festival in the end of July, but I couldn't finish it. The next festival I could go was in the middle of August, and I finally finish it one day before the festival.  I was so happy!

 Which obi do you like? a reversible yellow obi(hakata)

a reversible blue obi(hakata)

a red obi

a black obi

Can't pick!
Next time I'd like to try combinations of the yukata and Nagoya obis for kimono.

A New Vest for My Little Boy

Yay! Summer is here! We don't need a jacket anymore here in the Tokyo area. It's been a while since I posted last time because my baby keeps me busy, and also I often bake bread at home these days. Now, my son will be almost 7 months old and he can turn. He loves to move around but can't move much yet. I need to watch him more carefully not to touch anything dangerous or not to go anywhere I don' want him to go.

Anyway, this is my second vest from "Last-minute Gifts" that I knitted. The yarns are used some of my stash yarns. It's wool and cute green color for a boy.

I know it's summer but I wanted to knit a vest. Well, it didn't have to be a vest but I just had enough yarns for a vest. Also, I thought it would be nice to knit something in advance just in case I don't have time to knit anything in the fall. It'll be good for around 1-year-old boy and hopefully it won't be too small for him. I want him to grow bigger but not too much at the same time!! hehe Now, what should I make next?

The Bagel Day

My son turned 3 months old last week. He can now drink breast milk better than before. He saves my time now so that I can spend my time on more house keeping and so on. At night he sleeps longer so that he saves my sleeping time as well. Yay, I feel more energetic! Today I baked raisin bagels while my kids were sleeping in the afternoon. Lots of busy moms in the world think the same way as me, don't you think?

Recently my husband craves for any bread! Since we have rice for breakfasts and dinners, and he brings his o-bento with rice every day, he never has bread on weekday. On the other hand, my daughter and I often have some bread for lunch. He is craving for breadddd! So, a rainy cold day like today was great day for baking some for him.

Hmmm...what should I bake? That's the question. It has to be something easy and healthy. Oh, and it shouldn't take long and much ingredients. Then bagels comes into my mind.

I added a lot of raisins. The bagels were smaller than they were supposed to be. What was se wrong with it? Probably I didn't shape well. I should have stretch the dough to make a ring, i guess. Hmmm... But it tasted good! my husband also liked the bagels.

The next day was raining again. It even rained harder, so I baked bagels again!! The weather was a good excuse for me to bake.

I think it turned out better this time. These were a sesame flavor. When they came out from the oven, the flavor of roasted sesame caught everyone's attentions. Yummmm! What a productive day it was!