A-Z challenge J

J is for Japanese influence

This blog is about the things I love, bunnies, crochet, cross-stitching, crafting, knitting, life, j-pop, DIY, and things japanese so when I discovered that Japan has influenced crochet and cross stitch I felt happy.

I L O V E japan, I love the language, the music, the anime/manga (cartoons, graphic books) the place, the style, I love Hello Kitty, Studio Ghibli, Japanese drama and history and I was so happy when I realised all of these are integrated into the crafts I love so that I could combine my loves.

Japanese influence in crochet and cross-stitch takes many forms, you can't not talk about amigurumi but there is more like pixel arts, kawaii style, kokeshi dolls, japanese flowers and japanese style.


First things first: Amigurumi meaning knitted stuffed toy, although ami actually mean both knitted and crocheted because the japanese don't have a word for crochet they use knitting for both. Knitting with needles and knitting with hook which is the crochet one. Amigurumi took the world by storm so you must have heard about it. I have only made one amigurumi which was a Star Trek Enterprise toy for boyfriend. But I really want to make a bunny one day.

Pattern found here:

Pixel art is something else completely, you can use cross stitch patterns to do this or graft your own. Pixel art is usually squares that you crochet and together they turn into a picture, like this:

Hello Kitty pattern and "how to" from repeat crafter me.

She also made this cupcake blanket  Also I own this book from Hannah Meur and there are lots of wonderful fun patterns in this.

What I think makes Pixel art japanese is because a lot of the games used in pixel art like Zelda are japanese and the use of kawaii style (more on that later) and Hello Kitty sort of makes it Japanese style I think.

Kawaii style:

Kawaii is japanese for cute, adorable and in crochet and cross stitch the kawaii style usually means bold colours or pastels, cute motifs, often with big heads, big eyes and eyes on inanimate objects like cupcakes, making something odd cute like poo,  Here are some examples.

  Cross-stitch of poop by jimjamcrafts 

    Cute coffe mug by allaboutami         

I love carrot by Soda Stitch

Playful Kitten by Soda Stitch

Sweet tea by Gorjuss 

Look at designers Twinkie Chan allaboutami 

Kokeshi Dolls:

Was all the fad a few years back and you could get them with everything, in wood, sewn, crocheted, cross-stitched or drawn. I designed one of my own.

Kokeshi dolls of my beloved j-pop group W

Japanese flowers:

Were also quite popular for a while and I think they are timeless. I have no idea why they are called japanese flowers, when I think of japanese flowers I think of Sakura (cherry blossoms) and these don't look like that. But I do think they fit with the timeless yet modern Japanese style.

There are many patterns out there, but I liked this one.

Japanese style:

You can also see the japanese influence in crochet in the more modern, classy, adult, lacy, subdued style in their patterns, they are divine. First of all they are all charted so you don't have to read japanese, second they well thought of and planned, third they look very chic and modern and something you could easily wear to the office or to a party. Often in greys, whites, black, browns and blues they look so soft and wearable. I love japanese crochet patterns. Most of all I love the ones from Pierrot yarns, after all that is where my wedding dress pattern was from and my dress was delicate, elegant and cute, the pattern was easy to understand, they had included both cm and stitches so it was easily customisable.

So what do you think of the japanese influences? Which one do you like? Kawaii or the more softened Japanese style? I like them all and can't choose^^

So, it has been a while

And while I am perfectly aware that it is WiSP Sunday here in the warren, I had no WiSPs to do... So instead I gave Henry the old dust off and persevered.

And if we pretend that we don't see the half-finished Tudor rose in the middle right of the picture I can (almost) honestly say that I am atlast halfway through! Yay. And it took me six months to do.

Now, you may wonder what happened to all of my secret WiSP-projects and think that I plain forgot I had them, but, I did tell you Secret WiSP number two was finished, and secret project number two is so utterly boring I DID plain forget. 

Lets move on shall we, and I will unveil Secret Project number two:

Tadah!

My dear friend got this as a present for finishing off her librarian degree. Yay you. 

Alas she is still not in frames as I of yet have not found one worthy of her (or my friend) But I will keep looking. Meanwhile I suspect little lady Gorjuss books is lying somewhere in a drawer in my friend's room sitting pretty. 

I leave you with my little lady, munching happily away on some parsley stems. Don't mind the clutter, she is in the habit of re-decorating after we have cleaned the house. ;)

Framing myself

Here is what I have been doing the past few days, and, I have actually awoken by myself each morning really early. (which never happens) Between 5 30 and 8. Bunny is thrilled, because she loves cuddles in the morning on the sofa with a little jogging on the rug in-between.

 I did some interior decorating of bunny's toys, needless to say, she was not impressed.

 I framed the "all I want for christmas..." piece. Now I can pack it up for next season.

Here is how far I got on my Sunday WISP. I am loving this idea.

All day I sat stitching with some kinder-egg chocolate and Charmed on the TV. 

(I am now on season 4, Oh, Prue, I miss you)

I framed my Gorjuss piece. Another frame from flea-market this fall, I wanted to go with a light woodcoloured frame from IKEA, but they have stopped making them (I used one here, the Peter one). So I went home and looked through my stash, and found this pretty little frame, which needless to say, I love!

WISP SUNDAY

Today I want to share with you a tip. Most of you may already do this, but Istad is half price to the ones I found at the supermarket and bigger too.

 Now, I realized that in the moving process some of my charts or bits of floss got lost, so I have bought lots of plastic bags from IKEA ( who is my friend) I bought the big ones (15x6L and 15x4,5L) and they fit most projects just fine. I have now promptly sealed away all my wips and put them in a box next to the sofa for next WISP Sunday.

And being see through you know what is inside without opening them, and because they are re-sealable (is that a word?) dirt cannot penetrate it. Istad:

This is Henry all tucked away waiting for WISP Sunday to be over so that he can be sewn on again.

And here is gorjuss bunny, safely packed away until I find the right frame and can frame her, and somebunny who is waiting for me not to be mad at her and finding my mistake so that we can continue our relationship.

Whilst at IKEA I also bought this frame and framed minnie and mickey for my boyfriend.

 I started something new, but I have not been naughty I promise, because 1: It is part of my WISP collection and today is WISP sunday. 2: And I have a finish. I bought this kit ages ago, and had only just opened it, so I decided to start it properly. I wonder if this is one I will keep for myself or not....

This, is definitely for me, could you tell that it was for me? It has a bunny so it must be for me:

A bit later I will continue on a secret WISP, which I will give to one of my friends next christmas. I said it, so I have to keep to it now. 

Bunny has been sleeping inside her box all day with small interior-decorating breaks so I have been unable to paparazzi a picture. 

Gorjuss Bunny

The last couple of days I have been feeling a bit ill, so Henry has had a vacation. But I did find an old WIP. And have started it again. And besides a little weirdness in the dress I have no idea why she was put aside. ( I am guessing it was because she is for me and maybe I had to make something for someone else and she was just forgotten in the mix)

So far I have finished the face and feet and now I am on the background and then I have the backstitch left. I will finish this before I start on Henry again. The place I found this also held a lot of WISP's, so I have another goal. One day a week will be WISP day. SO there.

I am very ashamed but, here you go from waay back.

I slept all day yesterday and awoke around five in the morning hungry, so I gave in and made something to eat. Bunny was trilled I was awake and sat on the sofa chirping her teeth at me ( the equivalent of purring). It was indeed a gorjuss moment.

Progress

You can almost tell what it is... I love this kit. Everything is so neatly organized and the instructions are vary easy to understand and they tell you how to stitch all the stitches involved too.

I love this gorjuss-kiy and I want them all!

I think that frankly this,the item that should be last in my to-do-pile, this thing that is not even a christmas present will be finished first... :O It is such a delight and I just can't help myself.

This is how far I got yesterday. Maybe I will show you how far I get later today.... Just for comparison.... ;)

Edit/

This is how far I got at night yesterday just right before I went to bed....

Skirt is done.

This is my progress today. I have started a fox! And finally the stupid coat is done. And you hardly see my mistake either so I am not going to tell you what it was. Artistic whatsitcalled. So there. It is great. ;) I do kinda like her. I am certain I am going to miss her in the end.