It's In The Bag

One of the most intriguing aspects of the Japanese is their endearing ability to make something out of nothing. Well, almost nothing. What other culture could have invented the Corn Flake Sundae (corn flakes, whipped cream, maraschino cherry); karaoke (microphone, tin ear); and the subject of today's post: the furoshiki (square cloth)?

Furoshiki literally means bath (furo) spread (shiki). The term was coined in the Edo period (1615-1868) when public baths became popular. Patrons arrived at the bath house with a change of clothes and other essentials, tidily wrapped in a furoshiki. The cloth was then spread on the floor, giving the bather a personal space on which to change clothes.

More recently, furoshiki have evolved into a package-wrapping art form. The concept and execution are quintessentially Japanese--space-efficient, ecologically sound, totally practical, and exquisitely elegant.

I purchased several instruction manuals on my last trip, and I especially recommend this one. For some inscrutable reason, the directions are in both Japanese and English, and the wrap jobs are just exquisite.





Although these wrappings look complicated, they are actually easy to do, requiring only the ability to make a square knot. And frankly, a granny knot seems to work just as well, although the ties might not look quite symmetrical.

Today's post will show you how to make two quick knitting bags and the most sought-after container in the galaxy: a watermelon holder. You know you need one. Go ahead, snicker. But the next time you go to the market and wrestle with an awkward, slippery, round, heavy watermelon, you'll remember I Told You So.

All you need for this lesson is a square cloth. Obviously, the larger the cloth, the more it can hold.

Let's start with the watermelon holder, which, by the way, can actually hold knitting, a bowling ball, or some frolicking chipmunks.

Place your watermelon (or pile of chipmunks) towards the back of the furoshiki.


Tie the two back corners together with a square knot. Notice the hole behind the knot. You will be using this in a minute.







Pull the front two corners through the hole.


Lift them up...



...Twist them...


...And tie them together with another square knot.


You're done!

Here's a slightly more complicated bag.

Start by tying an overhand knot in each corner of the furoshiki.



Tie two of the knotted corners together. And then tie the other two knotted corners together.


You're done!


If you want to, you can pass one handle through the other, like this:


Finally, I'll show you how to make a bag with real handles. In this case, I used a set of plastic circles. You can buy these on eBay or get them from a shop like SpinBlessing.


Pull two corners front to back through one handle.


Bring the corners around to the front and tie them in a knot.


Do the same with the other two corners.



You're done! Here's what the open bag looks like:


I love these bags for two reasons: first, when not in use, they occupy little space, and second, you can tailor the size of the bag to its contents. And, of course, when people admire your knitting bag, you can tell them you make it in under two minutes.

Avril Acquisitions

We have finally returned from our Asian excursion, although Roy and I (plus 400 other passengers and crew) haven't quite gotten over our ride home. Harry, bored to tears with the movie offerings and tired of juggling sushi appetizers, somehow squished himself under the cockpit door. Who knew that a wide-bodied jet could execute an Immelman, a barrel roll, and a high yo-yo, all within the space of a minute?

The pilot apologized for the momentary "turbulence," while Harry sauntered back into the cabin with a self-satisfied smirk. I am certain that the other passengers had no idea why a flight attendant spent the remainder of the flight running up and down the aisle with a rolled-up Wall Street Journal.

Several people were anxious to see what I acquired in Japan, so I carefully took photos of the items purchased at Avril. During the past year, I've been buying most of my yarn undyed, so I am afraid the following photos are a bit bland.

This yarn is a new offering from Avril, and so should appear at Habu soon. It's a cabled 30% silk, 70% wool worsted weight. I have no idea what I will do with it, but it was irresistibly soft and squooshy.


This lovely 9/1 laceweight is also 30% silk, 70% wool. Nice for a heavy-ish shawl.


I purchased 6000 yards of this luscious stuff--60% wool, 20% cashmere, 20% silk. It's a 52/2 weight and just begs to become a complex Shetland. Perhaps I will finally knit the Unst shawl with it.


Several readers wrote and asked me where to buy the Hamanaka Parfait with which I knit the Hyrna shawl. Alas, it is not sold outside of Japan, however, Avril carries the undyed equivalent: 60% mohair, 40% silk. It's well worth seeking out and dying yourself, as it is much softer and silkier than Kidsilk Haze and clones thereof.


And as long as I am boring you to tears with white lace yarn, here's a mystery skein of soft Chinese wool obtained via trade with Natural State Knitter. The skein is enormous, but I won't know how huge until it's weighed and measured. The label is colorful, but gives me no clue about meterage or weight.


I wasn't wowed with this year's Japanese knitting books, which seemed to feature simple, bulky knits and really weird crocheted thingies. The Fall, 2008 Keito Dama, however, contained several lovely patterns, so I scooped it up.



Alas, there is no pattern for this sweet bear, but it may inspire some of you to create your own variation.


Although the knitting books were bland, I did find several exciting off-knitting-topic books that will feature in another blog post. Stay tuned!

Adorable (But Not Knitting)

I found these in a strange little Japanese book called Wonderland. Not much else in the book worth mentioning, but I thought perhaps someone could figure out how to make these sweet, little snails. The technique looks like crochet to me.

Food Knit

I know my neighbor will read this post and think to herself: Some people have too much time on their hands....

The rest of us will goggle at this publication and wonder how on earth did she do that?

This book is composed entirely of knitted food photos. Sounds sort of stupid, but I am not talking about crude stuffed bananas or your basic felted oranges. These confections are works of art.

A little sushi appetizer...

A fish dinner...

Some Japanese fruits...

A good, old American cheeseburger...

And a mind-boggling tour de force.

The back of the book offers a few simple instructions for making cookies and strawberries--neither of which make me rush to my needle stash. If you want to be amazed by an imaginative knitter, though, order this book.

Forgotten Stash and Ordering Japanese Products

Sometimes it pays to do a little spring cleaning.

I was rummaging around my closet the other day, frantically searching for something that I completely forgot about when I discovered two balls of this:


Hmm.

I inspected the label. The yarn content is 55% mohair, 45% silk.

Rubbed it around my face. Felt like a goose down powder puff. More hmms.

Where did it come from, I wondered?

I spent some time wandering around the Yuzawaya website, and finally found it here.

Notice that there are 220 meters (240 yards) for 756 yen, or $6.20. With my Yuzawaya discount card, the price per ball is $5.58.

Now notice this.

Kidsilk Haze List Price: $13.50. 70% Super Kid mohair 30% Silk Approx. 227 yds/25g

Most Japanese yarns are pricier than their European counterparts, so it's a puzzler how a higher-quality mohair/silk blend can be found here at less than half the price of KSH. Parfait is much softer than KSH, too.

For those who would like to order this yarn, or any other Japanese product, please check out Crescent Trading. For a not-too-outrageous fee, they will place orders and send them on to you. All you need to do is supply specific information, a link, or a picture from a website, and they will do their best to find the product. Nice people!

And Parfait is still cheaper than KSH, even with Cresent's handling and mailing fee.

Tokyo Eye Candy

None of these photos have anything to do with knitting, but I thought them intriguing enough to post them here for your enjoyment.

First, we have yet another engaging Japanese police station...


...followed by a splendid presentation of Chinese desserts.



And lastly, a wonderfully bizarre advertisement for Healthy Junk Food. This sign becomes even more confusing when you realize that "tako" means "octopus" in Japanese.

Tokyo Yarn Crawl 2007!

The morning began, inauspiciously, with an snarly little argument. Harry crouched grumpily on top of my suitcase, demanding that I take him with us. I pointed out that Japanese trains are exceptionally crowded and he didn't have much of an exoskeleton to prevent, erm, squishing. After some insults were exchanged (Leg-Challenged Biped, Flies for Brains, etc.) we compromised by having Harry travel in a super-sized Altoids tin.

It crossed my mind, as we stood for two solid hours in over-crowded trains, that I could clear the car quickly if I released Harry from his pet carrier. But Kyoko-san, my travelling companion, pointed out that Harry was still relatively small, even if he is a Kurenai Kai Giant Spider. I spent some minutes squashed between two Sumo wrestlers on the way to a tournament, mentally designing a spider-sized Samurai outfit, complete with eight swords, chain mail, and one of those wicked-looking helmets. Perhaps the sight of a spider fit to kill, as it were, might send everyone screaming into the next car.

After eleventeen train transfers, we finally arrived at Kichijoji, a trendy area with many redeeming qualities such as this:


On the way to Avril, we stopped at a store that sold nothing (be still my heart!) but frogware--boots, napkins, earrings, towels, incense burners, and watering cans.

I didn't buy anything, although if the boots had been in grownup sizes, I would have snatched a pair for the rainy season. Mud is shin-deep at Kurenai Kai when it rains.


Harry fell asleep inside one of these flower pots.



And, still on the way to Avril, I took a picture of some cool Japanese wall graffiti.


Finally, we found Avril.


Avril is a tiny shop, into which they pack enough yarn to keep most of Tokyo supplied forever. There was yarn on the walls, the ceiling, under the tables, and in small baskets such as this one, full of paper yarns.


Yum!

It was a bit difficult to maneuver around, but I plonked down in front of the section holding lace yarns and spent a good thirty minutes poking, prodding, fondling, and so on. Eat your hearts out, everybody.

Harry insisted I purchase this skein of hand-painted laceweight cashmere, then he promptly fell asleep on it (he's at the back of the skein).



Yarn is sold by the gram (there are 28 grams in an ounce), but the prices were not outrageous. I didn't buy wads of stuff, but at Harry's insistence, I purchased 10 grams of 2/48 merino to swatch for the Princess shawl. The clerk wound it on a cone! Wow!


I hope he has a grand time with it--it's almost invisible. Here's a comparison. At the top is the black Gentle that I am currently using for the Spider King shawl. Good luck, Harry!



Of course, this being Japan, 2007, there was a basket of felted fruit on the counter.


Harry took a nap on the grapes. I was beginning to get worried at all the snoozing. Harry reminded me that he's been keeping a night schedule as mutually agreed upon years ago, so I could hardly complain.

And what would a Japanese yarn store be without felted tortes?



I bought one hilarious knitting book, which will feature in another post, and a bit of two delicious mohairs. This is 75% mohair, 25% nylon.


And this is 40% silk, 60% mohair. It feels like clouds.


We ate at a Thai place awash in frogs--one holding the sign, one on top of same, and a frog plate to place your payment in front of the register. Frogs are everywhere in Japan, apparently. My knitting get nervous here.


From Kichijoji, we took several more trains to Puppy Yarns--a big disappointment. About the same size as Avril, the store had more Rowan than Puppy. There was a decent selection of books, but I have all of the masterpiece publications and nothing there caught my eye. We did, however, determine that Richmore magazine subscriptions are not available outside Japan. Sigh.

Finally, we trained to Ikebukaro, where our hotel and a Mexican dinner awaited. The Grand City Hotel is not terribly grand, but reasonably priced and quite comfortable if you happen to be about Harry's size. The room was slightly larger than an Altoids tin, but somehow the designers managed to shoehorn all the amenities inside it, including a teensy refrigerator, desk,TV, pink powder puff, and, of course, a foot-massaging machine. Harry spent most of the night giving the gizmo a real workout, even though he didn't do any walking.

The floor we stayed on was for ladies only ( I didn't mention Harry when we checked in), thus our bathrooms were equipped with appropriate amenities, such as a teddy bear spongelet:


The only complaint about the room was the, ah, scenery. I opened the window, only to discover that the room overlooked a large batting cage...my dreams were punctuated by the constant Pock, Pock, Pock of baseballs being whacked into the netting six feet from the window. Between the the baseballs and the floopity-floop of the foot massager, I didn't have the most restful night.

The next morning we trained (surprise!) to Okadaya, a large store specializing in fabric and yarn. The basement, for some reason, is given over to ladies' lingerie, all of it over-garnished with lace, frills, rhinestones, and in one case, printed apples.

The yarn selection is decent, although not as extensive as Yuzawaya's. It is, however, better presented--it's right there on the shelf to touch without having to open plastic bags. Some of the yarn is oddly named, as you can see from this picture:


High-quality mole yarn? Chenille, in Japan, is called mole. I guess that's no worse than the bookstore chain here called Wonder Goo.

I found a new Count 10 colorway--lovely mauves and beiges.


We spent a couple of hours on Okadaya's phenomenal book floor--all about fabric crafts. here is one wall of the store...


At this point, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the knitting section was awash in crochet books. Nothing much for me. And alas, there were no chairs, so when our feet started to hurt, we left and went to Kinokuniya, which doesn't have chairs either. Japan has much to learn about browse-friendly bookstores.

A wonderful time was had by all, and we got to sit down on the bus ride back home.