Cranes in the wild

I’ll admit it, I’m a little obsessive when it comes to making paper cranes.

It started off as an innocent hobby, a trip to Hiroshima back in 2004 brought on an urge to learn how to make this style of paper crane. It somehow became an all consuming habit that has overtaken me at work, and every time I find my mind wandering you can be certain to find me folding away absentmindedly with a piece of paper.

More, more!!

The problem is… what do I do with my cranes?! I’ve tried disposing of them in giant recycling bins, gifting them as presents (cranes are literally scattered everywhere in my office…) and finally have resorted to stuffing them all in a small box. Which they are already threatening to overtake.

People look at magazines and marvel at the photography and articles… I just wonder how many cranes I can make out of a page. I think I may have a problem.

Hi, I’m Minh and I’m addicted to making paper cranes.

I leave you with some Trooper tea and a promise that things will not be so quiet henceforth!

Tea, my dear?

The devil and the rainbow

Apologies for the radio silence over the last 2 weeks, I’ve been back in a knitting mode lately but I forget just how long it takes to finish a project argh.

My co-worker recently came back from a holiday to Taiwan and brought me back this adorable iPhone cover named appropriately enough, ‘iDevil’. I thought it was awesome and immediately put it on the phone but I think I was even more impressed by… the packaging.

I’ve absolutely no idea what any of the writing on the paper means but looking closely I realised that the entire design was hand drawn and coloured! It must have been a painstakingly long job to draw and colour, I can only assume they do it for all of their bags. My only regret is that I never got to explore this handdrawn store myself!

Poinsettia

I love projects that knit up quickly, anything longer than 2 weeks and there’s no doubt I’m going to lose all interest. This Poinsetta has been in my closet for over a year,  Sydney weather isn’t really cold enough to justify a neck cowl but the colour of this wool is too beautiful to hide away.

This project was my first attempt at lace knitting, after a few false starts I picked it up surprisingly quickly and it’s probably when I fell back in love with knitting!

Of course, it’s not all sunshine and roses. My attempt at gauge is once again ridiculously off and squeezing the cowl on past my nose is a struggle, even blocking didn’t increase the size very much. But, given the perfect fit of the cowl around my neck maybe my gauge is fine, it’s just my big head getting in the way lol

My first polaroid

I have to confess I have way too many cameras (10 at last count!).

That said I have zero regrets about finally splurging for a Fuji Instax 25, a mini polaroid that pops out credit card sized photos. I take a hell of a lot of photos, but tend to focus more on objects than people, but the instax has been great fun so far and has people mugging without hesitation!

I sense fun times ahead

Scarf me up

Scarves are the first thing everyone learns how to knit.

I’ve lost count of how many scarves I’ve made, but the truth is I rare wear any of them! I’ve lost the crafting urge a little since coming back from my holiday and needed something mindless to make, and this scarf was perfect.

The seediness comes from the super simple pattern of K1P1, repeat alternating lines. It’s a mindless pattern that I messed up surprisingly often and embellished with a single crochet border and fluffy fringes on either end.

Knit up on 8mm needles and on bulky 12ply wool (Moda Versa Mousse) it’s easily the biggest and fattest thing I’ve ever made. The yellow wool sheds like a mofo all over my clothes and it’s almost 2 meters long.

I love it.

The Amineko.

This is the pattern that totally changed my outlook on crocheting and eventually knitting. It was slow and painful but eventually I picked up all the lingo again, learnt how to read Japanese charts and embraced the awesomeness that is chart symbols.

I created this Amineko as a birthday present for a friend, she promptly posed it next to my Kidnapper and proceeded to abuse him for a while, I’m sure our co-workers were a little non-plussed as to what the heck we were doing.

Long suffering Kidnapper

This is without a doubt probably one of the best patterns you could use to learn crochet with, the pattern is clear and very well explained and the result is just adorable!

The Kidnapper

I’ve never really been a fan of the cutey dolls often seen in craft books, they’re fun to make and look at… but in the end I want something interesting that’ll take a place of pride on my cupboard.

I recently borrowed ‘Cute Dolls’ by Aranzi Aronzo and was immediately blown away by how… cute everything was! There’s a smorgasboard of cute yet strangely alluring dolls to be made, but when I turned the page and saw The Kidnapper, I knew I had my man.

Head to toe

It’s my first time making a sewn toy, I’ve been a little enthusiastic about the stuffing and my kidnapper is looking a little more bulked up than you’d expect a person his nefarious nature to be. My ladder stitch is atrocious and right now is definitely one of those things better left hidden away.

My only complaint? He seems a little lonely now… maybe he needs a friend?

Kuala Lumpur Skyline

Apologies in advance to the readers of The Curiouser, i am currently preparing to embark on a 3 week holiday off in Malaysia and Thailand! The blog will be quiet until my return, but I hope to bring back tons of things to blog about.

Until the end of May, adois~

糸あみプランツ　クロッシェレースアクセサリー

The problem with crocheting and knitting is… it just all takes so long! I’ve gotten so used to the instant gratification that you get with sewing that I forget just how slowly crochet moves along, but the result is oh so gorgeous. I picked up this book　糸あみプランツ　クロッシェレースアクセサリー (Thread Plants, Crochet Lace Accessories) a few years back in Japan and every time I feel like a quick project I pull it out and spend a few hours making myself a bracelet or hair accessory.

My circles aren’t in any way perfect and the thread winds and curls lightly around my wrist but the sheer simplicity of it all makes me happy.