And... my first knitting project... was unfinished. I remembered being so ambitious, and bought lots of yarn for my sweater project. Needless to say, it was left hanging. I think the bag of yarn and the half finished sweater should be hidden somewhere amongst my old clothes.
So, here I am. Trying to knit for the second time. This time I am going to finish a project! I am knitting a harumaki aka a tummy warmer. 楽しみに。
For the longest time, I have never thought about how the wool that grows on sheep (or some other animals) ends up as rolls of yarn I buy at craft shops. Yarn, to me, was step 1. So.. what an eye-opener it was when sempai Katie showed me the entire process from fibre to actual knitted/ weaving creations!
So... here's crafting 体験室 (taiken shitsu) at Katie's place this afternoon:
Step 1
Select fibre. There are lots of selection from sheep's wool to tofu silk! Yes, tofu silk fibre is made from real soya beans. It's the minty green ones from the picture, and they feel so soft and smooth. I love them.
Step 2
Next you need to mix the fibre to create batt, using this porcupine-like machine:
Step 3
Remove the batt from the machine.
Step 4
Now, we can spin the batt to form yarn. This one's difficult, as you need to regulate the amount of batt to be spun.
Step 5
You can add other threads in to give the yarn a different feel. Like this one, we added silver thread in it. To do that, you need to spin in the opposite direction.
Step 6
With the newly spun yarn, you can knit, crochet, or weave. Here's Katie's weaving machine, which she brought all the way from England!
It's a little similar to the huge weaving machine which we saw at Yuya Onsen. This one weaves cloth and thread.
The entire experience this afternoon, really opened up my eyes to the world of crafting in clothing. I used to think clothing crafts only include knitting, crocheting and sewing. But it really is so much more.
And it also brought back memories of the crafts I did in Singapore... the happy times with my friends...
Rocher bouquets- this is probably my fave. :)
Clay stationery.
Ragdoll.
And finally... my first ever finished knitted craft.. my own haramaki (tummy warmer)
