Saturday 17 April 2010

Cozy cozy not so little star

On an impulse last year I bought a large amount of variegated green wool on the internet. It was originally delivered to some other building in my block (this happens regularly, mail is a hit-or-miss thing in my neighbourhood, for a week I had mail for some other foreigner who lives nowhere near me sitting in my box before it magically disappeared, another time I waited in vain multiple times over a week for a parcel that was delivered to just about every other building, according to the impressive collection of "we tried to deliver but..." forms pasted onto it... )

...

anyways... right, so mail somewhat iffy...

The yarn finally arrived on my doorstop via a rather confused construction worker from the office nextdoor. He apologized for opening the parcel and admitted to being confused why they were being sent yarn! I wasn't so sure when I first got it all myself either, and kicking myself for impulse purchases shoved it to the back of a cupboard and forgot about it. As I realized just how much of my very limited cupboard space it was taking up I pulled the yarn out and got started on a lap blanket for myself. I didn't like the first pattern I tried, but fell in love with a quirky star-shaped blanket pattern I found on Ravelry. I worked on the pattern on and off throughout the summer and early fall, ending up continuing long after the pattern instructed me to bind off. I finished knitting in November and it kept my toes somewhat warm as I finished off my thesis. It just wasn't as warm as I had hoped, however, so I bought a large piece of green fleece and lined my blanket with a double layer of fleece - suffice to say it is VERY warm and cozy now, and I'm still using it in the evening when I sit at the computer.

(sorry for the poor quality of pictures this time around!)


6 comments:

  1. Ooh, I like it! Cute shape and the wool looks nice too.

    That's mad about your post though! Are the buildings numbered weirdly or something?

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  2. Love the colour and it is really original not being the standard square/rectangle.

    I had many parcels sent back home when I was working at the English school. the postman asked me oneday to write everyones name on the letterboxes so they knew who lived where and to stop 'complaints'. (there were 15 of us!) I think that worked.

    The scarey thing is that you don't know what has been 'lost'.

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  3. That is such a neat shape! I love the hand-sewing on the fleece side. Did I tell you I was thinking of buying myself a sewing machine for my 40th birthday? Now I'm glad I didn't, since I won't be here next year. But I think I will do it when I come back from Berlin, because I want to pick up sewing again. You can then send me your requests...
    love and hugs,
    Cath

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  4. Umebossy - there are a number of buildings with the same address, and there is no actual sign on my building with the name of the building. But, I think more than that the postman is old and forgetful - he doesn't remember which building is which and doesn't seem to bother or care about the details!

    Achan - I'm the only foreigner in the building. The rest are mostly older Japanese men. There are a few other women and younger guys in the neighbouring buildings. Our last names are on the mailboxes. But none of that seems to matter...


    And, I love the colour of the blanket too! The shape is what drew me to it - its a little quirky and is great for tucking around my knees or for curling up under on a cold day.

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  5. Cath - thanks for the offer! You can't actually see the stitching on the knitted side, but it does make the edging pop which I really like. I was a bit embarrassed by the poor quality of my stitches, but I figure it isn't going to be looked at on a regular basis and stitching through four layers of fleece and a layer of knit is tougher than it sounds with a darning needle! ;)

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  6. I think the stitching looks hand-done, so very nice! If I get that sewing machine next fall, the next time I make you something, hopefully it won't be full of holes! :-)
    love, C

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