Gotoku-ji Temple - Home of the Lucky or Beckoning Cat

I am not sure how it took me so long to hear about this place, but having heard about it yesterday, I was there today.

An ordinary temple, you might be thinking.

Pretty, but hardly worth the hour's travel each way when there are other pretty temples nearer central Tokyo.

Well, meow to you with nobs on. You round a corner and....

Yeah, that's roughly two kabillion "maneki neko" figures.

I love how in that last one there is just the one looking the wrong way. The wooden prayer cards (I know there is a proper name for these but it escapes me) are also themed.

You find boards like these at all temples. You write your prayer on the back and then hang it up.

Of course you can buy your boards and cats there. The shop is suitably marked with this sign.

Legend holds that the maneki neko originated back in Edo period. The temple keeper was very poor and had trouble keeping up the temple, but when he found a stray cat he decided to take it home and look after it. A feudal lord from Hikone was travcelling nearby and was sheltering from a storm under a tree when he saw this cat beckoning him to come into the temple. The lord followed the cat and as soon as he had moved the tree was struck by lightning. The lord wanted to thank the cat for saving him and collected enough funds to rebuild and claim the temple as his family temple, which eventually became Gotoku-ji. As time went on, people began to offer maneki neko figurines to the temple as a sign of gratitude when their wishes came true. Now those of us who know cats...

...know they are not generally given to altruism, but maybe this was a special one and this did happen. In any case, it was beautiful to walk around. The whole trip was possibly made worthwhile just by spotting the feet of this incense burner.

The sculptor definitely caught that expression perfectly!

Sewing Finishes

I have two quick projects to show. The first is a second embroidery case. My original one, from the "Say it with flowers" bloghop, is on the left while the new one is on the right. When my Mum saw mine she remarked that one would be perfect for her to carry her embroidery around in rather than the carrier bag she was using. Hint taken!

Her taste in colours and patterns is somewhat different to mine, so I gathered seven flower prints and some scraps of a japanese crane print I already had and got to work.

The button is a fabric covered one using another of the japanese scraps. The binding is pukka liberty bias binding I bought one day thinking of making a necklace.

It matched this too well though not to be used for its proper purpose. The embroidery is feather stitch, one of my Mum's favourites, and there is a nice diagram of how to do it half way down this page.

On the inside, similar to the inside of the original at the top of the picture, is a needle holder, transparent pouch for embroidery thread and scissors and just the one pocket.

You'll notice I've made everything completely wonky - my signature style it would seem. My own fault for not basting the layers together before binding. Lesson learnt.

My second finish is this skirt.

I can't decide whether I like it or it is really, really ugly. However, I have been wearing it on the basis that it is so freakin hot out here that even a maxi skirt is too much coverage. It is made from the leftovers from our curtains, which I made back in December. Pooch claims it is part of my stealth-attack-outfit for when I decide to do him in. Could be. The skirt was an impulse make so I used a random zip I had lying about. It had this key charm attached, which looks a bit odd but I decided to live with it.

It makes me smile each time I see it.

I've been meaning to make another skirt but am now going back to the UK on Tuesday where it will be 10-15 degrees cooler each day plus a much lower humidity level. I'll need to pack a jacket! I haven't so much as worn a cardigan since April. The idea of possibly being cold is really rather appealing. Strange world.

And Now For Some Knitting

You wouldn't think that 35+ degree weather would make for happy knitting but then you might not have taken into account this new fangled air conditioning I'm getting used to. That makes it perfect knitting weather! I am currently working on little Jasmine's winter wardrobe and making two-year-old sizes since although she'll only be 18 months she's quite a girl. First up we have a nifty ensemble in grey.

The cardigan is based on a french design that was only available for three year olds. So I adapted a Drops pattern and it came out ok. The only thing is the bow is a bit droopy. I might need to move the fastening to change that. Details on ravelry here. The hat is uber stretchy and has those cords to stop the little bugger pulling it off. Details on ravelry here.

In addition I have cast on and half done a wrap cardigan for the Jbola Virus since the wrap cardi I made when she was a tiny one went down very well. Again I'm using a Drops pattern and I'm even using the recommended yarn - Drops Delight - which I complained about a few posts ago. Although of course I'm striping them.

I have no idea what I will make next but I am very strictly only knitting from the stash I have so that will dictate. I haven't yet decided whether I will make xmas presents this year but I suppose I should decide soon. "Christmas in July" has a very specific meaning for knitters - it is when they start working on their gifts!

Yukata and Fireworks

With my handmade yukata finally finished, I was heading out to a yukata dressing workshop followed by fireworks to the north of Tokyo.

For those in need of a refresher, a yukata is essentially an unlined cotton kimono worn in the summer. They can be worn generally, and some people do wear them everyday, but they are specifically worn by young people at festivals and many stores/stalls/venues offer discounts during july-august for people who turn up wearing one. I made my yukata from scratch in the workshops organised by the lovely Kaori of Field Trip + who also organised this event. Previous blog posts about it here and here.

The workshop was great. The teacher had extensive experience promoting japanese traditions. She was wearing this beautiful swallow pattern yukata.

 

The rest of us fumbled along under her expert tuition. The two on the right had made their yukatas alongside me while the other two had bought theirs.

Until finally...

Cool, huh? I have to wear my obi higher than is really desirable because of my hips. Japanese ladies tend to have less curve than us englishers! Once we were all ready to go we had one last group shot before setting off. Don't we all look awesome?! They are surprisingly comfortable and cool to wear.

When we got there, the heavens opened and it POURED. We paused under shelter and admired others as they went past, attracting quite a lot of attention because it's not that common to see Gaijens dressed up.

Finally the rain eased and we were off. It was brill!

The rain continued but since it was warm it wasn't too bad, except for the concern about a potential 'wet yukata contest'.

I snapped this one just as the grand finale was going on. Everyone was holding their phone in front of their face.

Overall it was great and I now know two ways to tie an obi (the very long belt). I am hoping to find another event during the next week to wear it at and I'll be taking it home with me on my next visit to the UK so I can dress my Mum and Sisters up. Should be quite funny!

Handmade in Japan Fes 2014 Part 2

Yesterday I posted the first part of my review of this amazing event. On the way in you walked through a series of workshop areas where you could sign up to try various things.

Painting a New Years Icon (I forget their proper name but you paint one eye in at the start of the year and the other eye at the end of the year.)

Corsage making.

Screen printed t-shirts using a choice of stencils and swirls of colour.

Wet felting where you first bought a ball of roving...

...and then sat down to felt it.

There were a few others too - embossing metal, children's fish painting and some jewellery ones.

Yesterday's post was all the photos with exhibitor details linked to them. Today we have the orphaned photos I can't find a card for:

No idea what these are. Earring holders?

Tiny rubber stamps - there were quite a few stands like this.

Oh yeah, of course there were eco sanitary towels. Two different companies in fact.

Mount Fuji toilet roll dispenser

Push Pins

The girliest dream catchers ever?

When I got back from the venue I realised the Japanese influence had made its way to my outfit. Or at least, I'd tucked my fan in my belt like you would with an Obi if you were wearing a Kimono or Yukata (of which more to come tomorrow).

My belt had attracted quite a lot of compliments at the show, possibly because buttons are so expensive here and people assumed I must be a millionaire. It is the one I made way back at the start of 2013, at the same time as this black one.

I can't seem to find a photo of the red one though so maybe I never captured it for the blog. On my dress you can see my two brooches. The 'pow' one I made myself in June 2012 but the 'Xavier' one is actually a picture of Bruiser, with that being his real name, poor thing.

I saw it at the cat cafe last week and couldn't resist! I do love that grumpy guy.