Tuesday 7 October 2014

Latest Cat Interlude

My visits to Nyafe Melange in Ebisu now number 32. How do I know this? Because I am on my fourth loyalty card. It's Bruiser. I find him so endearing. For instance, could this really be the paw of evil?
bruiser's paw
Well, yes, it seems so. When I was a child I would have nuzzled the family cat's paw with my nose were it so presented. Were I to do this to Bruiser I have no doubt that I would lose not only my nose but a good chunk of cheek and possibly an eye. While I was there he urinated on a snuggling blanket and half-nelsoned a smaller cat to the ground. It's a small improvement on his deciding to mate with one of the munchkin cats right in front of me. But on this occasion he was under pressure. Three valley girls had come in and were trying to take selfies with the cats. As one cat circled as it got ready to sit down the girl shuffled in a circle around it, keeping her pout in place, waiting for the perfect angle. This was particularly funny with Bruiser as he makes a point of looking away when anyone points a phone at him. The secret...
bruiser
...is to catch him when he's exhausted himself after all that hating.

I had a lovely time with "Little Ginger" (on the left) who is the youngest of them all and seemingly related to the two adult gingers there. Here he is snuggled up to his sleeping uncle (I think this is his uncle - the other adult ginger is definitely his Dad, but they're not close).
sleeping cats
He had a good sit on my lap first and got thoroughly stroked for twenty minutes until he'd had enough and moved to Uncle. He loves cuddling up with his Mum too.

The "Old Man" (creative with my names, aren't I?) was lounging on his own sofa. He's a bit aloof but seems respected by everyone, even Bruiser. If he were a person he'd live in a loft with deep leather armchairs, sherry and lots of old books and be consulted on matters affecting 'the family'. .
sleeping cat on mini sofa
I do love all those little cats. They have such distinct personalities.


Monday 6 October 2014

Multi Crafting

I have had a busy few days. Saturday was my first paid teaching gig - four ladies learning Sashiko (traditional japanese embroidery).
first sashiko workshop
The next workshop is on Saturday when I will be teaching people how to knit. Then I got to grips with Noriko's quilt and washed, ironed, cut, sewed, ironed, cut, sewed and ironed until there were 48 of these.
noriko's quilt blocks
So pale and delicate looking. While out shopping I came across some mini roses being sold and couldn't resist the matching paleness.
pink mini roses
Then I moved on to a present for my niece. Do you know the song "Three Little Men in a Flying Saucer"? I didn't before she learnt it.
Three little men in a flying saucer
Went to the moon one day
They looked left and right
But they didn't like the sight
So one man flew away
Two little men ...etc
She loves it so I thought I'd make a play version.
3 little men in a flying saucer takes shape
Feeling like a cheater, I have glued rather than sewn, although it does await some batting so I can make the whole thing into a kind of briefcase, folding in the middle and fastening with a magnet at the top. The pleather handles will mean she can carry it about. The little men fit in the zip up pocket to stop them getting lost. And then finally I am knitting on seemingly chunky #9 needles.
knitted raglan jumper in progress
A striped raglan for my ickle brother, who is about a foot taller than me. I was intending to knit him a jumper for his last birthday so I'm only a year behind. I'm hoping to have this done in time for this year's in November.

Onward!