What I love in teaching Crochet…

I’ve been teaching crochet at home and at a craft store for quite a while now.

What I love in teaching crochet is that my students can be anyone and I get to know so many different people! My youngest students are 7 years-old, and the oldest is 84 years-old!! I have both male and female students, and they came from varieties places on the earth!! It’s so fun to get to know new people 🙂

She’s started trying a new hobby in her mid-80’s. So energetic!

Many of them, who come to my place are those who never crocheted before but always wanted to give it a try. So, I teach from the very basic, starting from how to hold tools, make basic stitches, read patterns and symbols (sometimes both in English and Japanese)…

 

The very first stitch we’ll have to master is “chain stitch” and kids really have fun making a long chain!!

Girls in 3rd-4th grades can make their own hair accessories with this crafting. We’ve made scrunchy and hair bows. I love it 🙂

 

One new grand-mom has recently finished making her first crochet work for her new-born grand-son!! I was so happy to spend pleasant time with her 🙂

 

The most popular projects so far is this flower mat.

 

Now, 3 of my students are working one the same flower mat project, (and there are so many who want to try later) and I can’t wait to see the finished work! 😀

 

Maybe it’s your turn to try crocheting? If you want to join us, please let me know 🙂

Summer is almost over and the yarn season is coming…!! 😀

What's in the box?

One day, a big box arrived at home.

 

Hmm… what’s inside?? Let’s have a look!!

 

Hmm??!

 

Something is coming out!!!!!

 

Wow… the box completely opened!! Scary!! Is it something dangerous?

 

… Something came out?

 

… Ears?!!

 

… Face?!!

 

TOTORO!!! Ah, Totoro says hi 🙂

 

And from me, too 😀 lol

 

I couldn’t resist playing with this huge box!! lol

This is my way of celebrating the Totoro’s popularity in Japan! I’ve read a news that they have broadcasted Totoro on TV for 14 times for the past 26 years since the movie was out and it’s still got an audience rating of 19.4%!! I’ve also watched it again very recently and I think it’s really fantastic!!

 

What I’ve got actually in this box is a sewing machine!!

I need to learn how to sew now 🙂 There are so many things to keep myself busy 😀 ♪♪

Smells yummy! And some monsters came…!!

I did a baking party with two young moms 🙂 I showed how to knead the dough and they did pretty well while also taking care of their babies. Hmm, moms always have multiple tasks to do… they are great!!!

 

TA-DA!!!! We successfully baked melon breads with chocolate chips as well as cookies with macadamia nuts!! 🙂 We all did a good job!! While baking them, they were smelling so good and the entire house smelled like a bakery shop. Yummy!!

 

The nice smell attracted not only us but also some creatures…!!! Can you guess??  It was the creature who loved cookies a lot… Oh well, it was a baby cookie monster 😀

 

“Me want cookie!” “Me eat cookie!” “Give me more cookies!”

 

“Why? Why are you eating cookies alone? Can I join you?” His best friend , Elmo, has joined him now.

 

Cookie monster was very kind so that he shared his cookies. Nom nom nom…

 

“Oh, this cookie is so yummy!!” Elmo looks so happy 🙂 Is Cookie monster a little bit jealous now?

 

Both of the cute little monsters enjoy cookies. “Hmmm… yummy!! There are nothing better than cookies!!”

 

A while after, Elmo was stuffed. She wasn’t interested in cookies anymore. You know Elmo is always curious about everything!! Yes! Curiosity is good 🙂

 

So the blue monster was left alone…

 

“Give me high five!!”

 

The little Elmo girl loves doing “high five”.

 

“Yeah!!!” Seems like this is the best thing to do right after eating cookies… 🙂

 

“Can I switch to be Elmo now?? That looks fun!!”

 

“Sure, you can use mine!! Here you are.” Oh, she is also very kind!! 🙂

 

“Hmmm…I think I should be Cookie monster! I shouldn’t be Elmo! I want to take off this cap!” He tries to take off the cap.

 

“Oops!!” He couldn’t take it off…

 

“Did you see that? Oh I’m shy!” His smile is so cute 😀

 

The two little monsters played happily together 🙂

 

I had so much fun 🙂 I had great breads and cookies, and I finally met two cute monsters 😀

 

Maybe those who want to see those cute monsters are now thinking about baking something yummy?? Enjoy your foods and smile a lot ♡

A Cute Marine Style Fashion

The easy-to-follow crochet pattern for this pretty cotton summer hat is now available on Craftsy and Etsy!! If you are interested in, please come visit my shop below 🙂

 

 

Especially in summer, I like a marine style fashion. So, I had been thinking about the marine style sun hat for quite some time. I thought I would definitely go for a striped hat, but it took time for me to figure out how to make a nice seamless surface with more than one color. Then, I wanted to put an anchor logo somewhere on the hat, but it also took time for me to think about the pattern. After seeing those things together, I thought I would need some more colors, so I chose three colors to decorate the hat -white, navy and red!! Then the hat came out quite nice 😀 (Or is that only me who think so?)

My friend told me that those three colors reminded her of the American Flag. Oh, it’s also good to celebrate the upcoming July 4th then 😀

My friend’s daughter wear the sun hat really nicely!! She is really fashionable and her fashion really goes well with the sun hat 😀  ♡
I think I would love to wear the same kind of fashion with her 😀 I just love this style including the hat ♡

She is a really good model, and also she is a wonderful photographer! 😀

The little cute photographer runs everywhere to capture nice photos with her camera!!

Oh, she loves flowers 😀

She also likes trains! She also waves her hand to a train 🙂 I will be happy if I see her from the train!!

Now the little photographer has to go back home after working a lot!! So, she has her pretty backpack on her back… ♡ How lovely!!
I just like her a lot 🙂 ♡ Thanks for smiling and thanks for calling my name with your lovely voice ♡♡♡

A Small Cute Photographer :)

The easy-to-follow crochet pattern for this pretty cotton summer hat is now available on Craftsy and Etsy!! If you are interested in, please come visit my shop below 🙂

 

 

 

The other day, I made a summer hat with cotton yarns. It came out pretty, and I put a pink lace tape to decorate the hat.

I wanted to give it to my friend’s daughter, so I wanted to decorate it how she would like it. My friend told me that her daughter loved yellow, so I decided to add some yellow color.

Then, I thought it would be nice to add more colors, and this is how the hat is now!! We can’t see the pink tape anymore… but I like it so much 😀

Now, a little cutie wears the hat. How cute!!! I’m so happy to see my hat worn by the others!! But it was a bit big for her… maybe she will be able to wear it for another 5 years or so… 😀

We went out to a park to play and she took my camera and turned out to be a great photographer!! It’s interesting to see how kids see the world!!

So, these amazing photos of the cutie are taken by her mom with her camera!! She has a great eye for making great photographs of her daughter 🙂 Moms are great!!

Let’s go out a lot this summer 😀

2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil!!!

The 2014 FIFA World Cup is coming!! It starts on June 12, and we will see which country win the game on July 13. Are you excited to follow the game? I’m normally not the soccer person, but my husband is so into it, (I’ve lately learned the word “soccer widow”, and I might will be one of them… lol) and I think I will watch some of the games with him 🙂 It will be fun!! Also, I’ve heard this year’s World Cup in Brazil would be their 20th FIFA World Cup, so it is something really special! 🙂

I made a pretty beanie with the Brazilian color, yellow and green. This year’s World Cup logo is also made with “yellow and green”, so it will show that you are into the World Cup 😀

 

Oh, I would love to see somebody wearing this beanie and watching soccer with their parents!! That would be really cute ♡

Here, I have a news 😀

I’ve opened an Etsy shop last night 🙂

I hope many people will stop by at my shop ♡

 

Please feel free to ask me any questions if you have some 😀

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Laughing is the best calorie burner!!!

 

How often do you laugh?? Are you laughing a lot?

I’m spending lots of my time in working on crochet or cooking by myself, so I’m sometimes realizing how much I miss laughing during the day… But I actually laugh a lot when my husband is back home, when I’m teaching/learning cooking with others or when I’m with my lovely friends. Laughing is so important; it enriches your emotion and it also burns calories!! I think laughter brings happiness in your life and laughter is a very important factor to make people more appealing or beautiful!!

I’m considering making my husband laugh a lot as one of my important lifetime role. He works really hard, so I need to do something stupid/funny so as to reduce his stress 🙂 (I don’t do much outside the house though…lol)

 

So, here you are…

 

 

 

 

This creepy photo of myself has actually helped some of my friends laugh a lot!!

I’ll be flattered if it works the same to you 🙂

 

By the way, have you already realized who the cute rabbit is?? This is CONY from LINE.

I can’t live without this SNS service now. With this, I can send texts or cute stickers like this rabbit timely to my friends, or I can even call my family and friends all over the world for free 🙂

 

My friends, laugh a lot, relieve your stress and be more beautiful 😉

The world is beautiful and so are you ♡

 

 

Welcome to our world :D

How small and how cute a newborn baby is …!!!

One of my best friends has delivered a baby!! Congratulations!!! I visited her soon after she gave birth to him, and it was almost my first time to see a newborn baby. So, I was so excited to see the small beautiful creature!!!

A few days ago, I visited them again. It’s already been a month since he came to the world. He looked a lot bigger than the last time and I gave him the Jiji beanie this time 😀 Maybe the cap is still a little bit big for him, but I’m sure he’ll wear it perfectly soon ♡♡

He was either sleeping or sucking at his mom’s breast when I visited him.

My friend, his mom, told me that she had been spending almost 8 hours a day just to feed him!! It takes her about 1 hour to feed him and to burp him, and he cries almost every 3 hours for the milk… oh… how tough the mom’s job is…!!!

I thought sharing the fact with my husband was really important. So, soon after coming back from her house, I told my husband what I had heard at her place. I hope he will share the work when we have babies sometime in the future… 😀

I couldn’t believe how soft his skin was, how adorable he was (even his feet was adorable!!) and how small he was!! Sleep well and be a good boy, my dear 😉 ♡♡♡

I can’t wait to go out often with the mommy and her little one 🙂

I will be always there when you need me, my lovely friend ♡♡♡

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A Big Angel Smile in Pink

I have a lot of nice neighbors with kids. In the evening, when it gets a little less hot, they always come out and play around with the other kids.

Kids are genius in terms of making friends and adapting to a new environment and culture. They get new friends very soon. They master multiple languages at once, so I see some children speaking in two or more different languages (English and their parents’ languages).

I wish I had those abilities… !! Anyway, just wishing is not enough. We always need a first step to achieve a goal, no matter how big it is 😀

When I moved to this apartment, I met one neighbor and he told me that his wife just gave birth to a baby girl. I thought it would be very nice to make her a baby cap. It took me some time, but I finally saw her outside and she gave me a huge cute smile to me !!! She is already 5 month old… Time flies!!

How cute she is!! How big smile she has!! I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls and a smile is the most important factor to make girls look beautiful!! So, please always keep smiling 🙂 ♡

Handmade time!! My First Tutorial to My Knotty Friends :)

I thought you would be interested in making beanies by yourselves. So, as a first project of my crochet tutorial, I’ve picked up Hello Kitty beanie which I’ve already uploaded in the previous blog. If you like it, please feel free to make one by yourself 🙂 I will also be happy to see your works once they are done!! Then, let’s get started 🙂

◆Materials◆

Worsted Weight Yarn (Medium 4)

• White: CARON SIMPLY SOFT (WHITE)
• Red: BERNAT Satin (CRIMSON)
• Black: CARON SIMPLY SOFT (BLACK)
• Yellow: Sugar’n Cream (YELLOW)

Size G(4mm) Crochet Hook
Size H(5mm) Crochet Hook
Yarn Needle

◆Size◆

If you follow the instruction below, it will probably fit for 1 year old baby. But everyone uses a different tense when we crochet, so the outcome might be in a different size. If you want something bigger, you can just add an increase row and some even rows. I strongly recommend to check before stepping forward to the even rows (in this instruction, it’s at the end of Row7) if it fits the head size. You can always adjust the size as you like 🙂

◆Pattern◆

*** It’s easier to start every row with 2 chains and end each row with a slip stitch since you will see where you started the row which you are working on. If you take this method, please don’t forget to count this 2 chains as 1 hdc. (So, you need to skip 1 “hdc” in the instruction below, starting from Row 2.)

*** I like the seamless surface, so in this tutorial, I take this method. You just have to keep going, but it may be difficult to see where you started the row. So, it’s better to use a safety pin at the first stitch of each row.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

◇Step 1: Face with Size H hook, White yarn◇

1. Row 1 : Make a double magic ring (magic loop). Ch 2, and 7 hdc in the magic ring. (8 hdc*)
   • An easy tutorial on magic ring is introduced here: “How to make double magic ring”
   • You will count Ch 2 at the beginning of the row as 1 stitch
2. Row 2 : 2 hdc in each stitch around (16 hdc)
3. Row 3 : 2 hdc in the 1st stitch, hdc in the next stitch around (24 hdc)
4. Row 4 : 2 hdc in the 1st stitch, hdc in the next 2 stitch around (32 hdc)
5. Row 5 : 2 hdc in the 1st stitch, hdc in the next 3 stitch around (40 hdc)
6. Row 6 : 2 hdc in the 1st stitch, hdc in the next 4 stitch around (48 hdc)
7. Row 7 : 2 hdc in the 1st stitch, hdc in the next 5 stitch around (56 hdc)
   • You may adjust the size here.
8. Row 8-16 : hdc in each stitch (56 hdc)

 

◇Step 2: Ears with Size H hook, White yarn◇

1. Row 1 : Make a double magic ring (magic loop). Ch 2, and 5 hdc in the magic ring. (6 hdc*)
   • An easy tutorial on magic ring is introduced here: “How to make double magic ring”
   • You will count Ch 2 at the beginning of the row as 1 stitch
2. Row 2 : 2 hdc in the 1st stitch, hdc in the next stitch around (9 hdc)
3. Row 3 : 2 hdc in the 1st stitch, hdc in the next 2 stitch around (12 hdc)
4. Row 4 : 2 hdc in the 1st stitch, hdc in the next 3 stitch around (15 hdc)
5. Row 5 : 2 hdc in the 1st stitch, hdc in the next 4 stitch around (18 hdc)
6. Row 6 : 2 hdc in the 1st stitch, hdc in the next 5 stitch around (21 hdc)
7. Cut the yarn long (around 10″) for sewing purpose.
8. You will make two of these ears and sew on the face with the yarn you left.

 

◇Step 3: Eyes with Size G hook, Black yarn◇

1. Row 1 : Chain 4
2. Row 2 : Sc in the 2nd stitch from the hook. 1sc, 3sc, then 1sc in the following 2 stitch. Finish with slip stitch at the 1st stitch of the row.
3. Cut the yarn long (around 5″) for sewing purpose.
4. You will make two of these eyes and sew on the face vertically.

 

◇Step 4: Nose with Size G hook, Yellow yarn◇

1. Row 1 : Chain 4
2. Row 2 : Sc in the 2nd stitch from the hook. 1sc, 3sc, then 1sc in the following 2 stitch. Finish with slip stitch at the 1st stitch of the row.
3. Cut the yarn long (around 5″) for sewing purpose.
4. You will sew the nose on the face horizontally.

 

◇Step 5: Whiskers with Yarn Needle, Black yarn◇

1. Embroider whiskers with a yarn needle just as you like. You can adjust the length and angles of them, which will make a difference of the expression of the Kitty.

 

◇Step 6: Bow with Size G hook, Red yarn◇
*I posted a tutorial on making a bow in the other article. I introduced very much in detail with step-by-step photos. So, please check the instruction.

Here is the title of the article:  Here Summer Comes!! Ponytail With A Pretty Bow??

◇◇Make oblong & Center ring

◇◇Put together

Insert the oblong into the center ring and sew not to move around. Then, sew it onto the right side of the ear (from your view point).

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

♡♡♡ Thank you so much if you follow the instruction all the way till here. ♡♡♡

Now it’s done!!! I hope you liked how I made Hello Kitty!!
If you find some difficulties to understand some parts, please just leave a comment!! Enjoy making “lovely handmade things” by yourself 🙂

A Symbol of GIRL

What character do you think is the symbol of girl??

I would say… Hello Kitty 🙂

When I was little (about 20 years ago… wow time flies!!), I was not really a “Kitty girl”, but she was already very popular. I can still see lots of Hello Kitty everywhere even here in California!! I’ve got really amazed by her popularity 😀 Do you know that wherever you visit in Japan, you can find regional Hello Kitty goods!! (We call them “Gotochi Kitty-chan”.) I have many friends who like to correct these goods!! So, if you like Hello Kitty and if you have a chance to visit Japan, why don’t you try to find and collect the Gotochi Kitty goods??

Hello Kitty’s weight is same with 3 apples and her height is same with 5 apples!! Wow. I’m not sure how many apples I need to describe my weight… I wouldn’t like to think about it… 😦

I think my stuffed cow is now satisfied with Miss. Pretty!!

What would you do if you could use magic?

If you could use magic, what would you like to do?? Kiki from “Kiki’s Delivery Service” made her cat, Jiji, speak with her. I’m not a cat person, but still I imagine that it would be nice to communicate with them by words!! When I was young, my image of the foreign countries were exactly like what they showed in this film. I love the scenery of the film and the songs!! I hope many of you will enjoy watching this movie!!

Here is as usual, my new beanie with my cow.

I’ll give this baby cap to my friend. I hope her baby will learn how to speak very soon! I can’t wait to talk to the baby !! 😀

Curiosity is good

After Cookie Monster, I couldn’t resist making Elmo!! How do you think of him? 🙂

Here is as usual the cap on my stuffed cow. You know Elmo is really curious about everything. As we grow up older, we may tend not to ask often… In my case, if the topic seems difficult, then I easily give up to know more in detail… Maybe I should behave as Elmo does!!

I can’t wait to see cute babies wear them with big smiles 😀 Boys and girls!! Be curious as Elmo is 🙂

A cookie on your head?

I love Cookie Monster the best in Sesame Street!! So, the first project of my character beanie from this series is Cookie Monster 🙂

I watched it when I was young, but I don’t remember the details at all… But we have lots of the character goods sold in a shop, so he is very familiar to me. Especially, I’m a huge fan of sweets (chocolates and cookies), so he has something common with me 🙂

I like his fluffy hairs, so I’ve tried to present them 🙂 It worked!!

Here is how my little boy wears it 🙂 My cow has never eaten cookies, but it seems like he is feeling like to have one as well!!! Happy sweets time ♡♡♡

Totoro Beanie

♪♪Tonari no (My neighbor) To to ro Totoro, To to ro Totoro♪♪

Have you ever watched “My neighbor Totoro”?? I cannot think of Totoro without singing this song in my mind. Hmm, I just love this song and this movie!! I think there may be nobody who doesn’t love this film once you watch it. You know that the famous film director Akira Kurosawa loved it and he even counted it as one of his favorite films. According to a survey, this film is the most popular film in all the Studio Ghibli‘s products.

I’ve made this Totoro beanie to fit on me. So, when it comes to my stuffed cow… oops, he looks like he’s got a completely new face :p Do you think my little boy still looks nice like this??

Here is Totoro on my head… and he’s staring at you…!! Wow, he is a bit scary…!!

I like this cap, so I’ve worn it when I went out by bike yesterday. Then, I noticed that people were staring at me (or Totoro) from cars!!! Oh, I felt a little bit embarrassed… But I could see that some children looked excited to see this unique cap, so I was quite happy in the end 🙂

Be something unique and keep smiling!!! That will influence people around you, and then, everybody will start smiling and you all will be happy together♡ If you find it difficult to smile always, then why don’t you put this beanie on you? Totoro will smile to the others instead of you 🙂 I hope our lives will be full of smily faces and full of happiness!!