I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
Captain's Log, Stardate 02.24.2009
I am extraordinarily proud of this. For Christmas, I wanted to knit something for my parents that would be really cool and personal, and sort of an heirloom. So I took the five family crests I had for my family (in Japanese, a family crest is called a “mon”) and graphed the designs on knitting graph paper so that I could knit intarsia panels of the mons.
I knit 5 intarsia panels and 4 plain panels and then sewed them together to make an afghan.
In Japan, family crests are carried by both male and female, so I used mons from both my parents' sides. Traditionally, mons are passed down from mother to daughter and from father to son, but there are sometimes cases of a son taking a mother’s mon or a husband taking his wife’s family’s mon and things like that.
I know we have more than 5 family crests, but we’ve lost some of them. My mom tried to find them all several years ago, but could only find these five. The fans mon was actually found on an extended family member’s gravestone somewhere. Neat, huh?
Anyway, Mom and Dad were very pleased to receive this, although it ended up being a reeeeeeeally late Christmas present. Originally, I’d thought to do a purl-knit stitch pattern, but I changed to intarsia (more difficult, but more easy to see the mon) and while I tried to get it done by Christmas, there was just no way.
I’m really happy with how it turned out. I hadn’t done intarsia on a completed project before—I’d only done practice swatches. And I’d certainly never graphed my own pattern. It ended up not being as bad as I expected. A more advanced knitter can see my mistakes if they get up close, but in general, I think the afghan looks pretty good.
If you’re on Ravelry, click here for the project info.
I am extraordinarily proud of this. For Christmas, I wanted to knit something for my parents that would be really cool and personal, and sort of an heirloom. So I took the five family crests I had for my family (in Japanese, a family crest is called a “mon”) and graphed the designs on knitting graph paper so that I could knit intarsia panels of the mons.
I knit 5 intarsia panels and 4 plain panels and then sewed them together to make an afghan.
In Japan, family crests are carried by both male and female, so I used mons from both my parents' sides. Traditionally, mons are passed down from mother to daughter and from father to son, but there are sometimes cases of a son taking a mother’s mon or a husband taking his wife’s family’s mon and things like that.
I know we have more than 5 family crests, but we’ve lost some of them. My mom tried to find them all several years ago, but could only find these five. The fans mon was actually found on an extended family member’s gravestone somewhere. Neat, huh?
Anyway, Mom and Dad were very pleased to receive this, although it ended up being a reeeeeeeally late Christmas present. Originally, I’d thought to do a purl-knit stitch pattern, but I changed to intarsia (more difficult, but more easy to see the mon) and while I tried to get it done by Christmas, there was just no way.
I’m really happy with how it turned out. I hadn’t done intarsia on a completed project before—I’d only done practice swatches. And I’d certainly never graphed my own pattern. It ended up not being as bad as I expected. A more advanced knitter can see my mistakes if they get up close, but in general, I think the afghan looks pretty good.
If you’re on Ravelry, click here for the project info.
Comments
Camy
Camy
Camy, this is so wonderful, I can't even tell you how impressed I am with this. It's so meaningful and beautiful, artistic. It is inspiring to me.
It has me thinking about my own family and things like this.
Thank you for sharing that.
Blessings,
Susan :)
Blessings to you!!
Nora :D
such marvelous works of art! Your
parents just have to so pleased and
proud of this gift and your talents!
Pat Cochran
Blessings from Costa Rica,
Kathie