Nekobasu Pattern

Well my sister is settling in at her new home in Japan very well and got to enjoy a beach festival this past weekend with some of her associates. In honor of her new adventure, I thought we could keep in theme with anime patterns. This pattern is for the cat bus in My Neighbor Totoro (doubly appropriate as my sister lives in Miyazaki-ken, and Hayao Miyazaki is the director of My Neighbor Totoro and other Studio Ghibli films...Miyazai-ken and Miyazaki-san are unrelated however lol).

Now, if you are not familiar wit My Neighbor Totoro or Studio Ghibli, allow me to educate you. Studio Ghibli is an animation film studio in Japan and they create some of the best anime I've seen and some of the more popular titles in the United States*. The artwork is beautiful and very recognizable. They also frequently team up with composer Joe Hisaishi for equally beautiful soundtracks. Many of the animated films are based on legends, and a few of the more recent ones are based on books (e.g. Howl's Moving Castle and Arriety/The Borrowers). The stories are uplifting and perfect for children and adults to enjoy.

Now, as for the movie My Neighbor Totoro...This is such a sweet fantasy movie. Two young girls and their father move to the country side to be close to their mother who is in the hospital for a long-term illness. They end up living in an old house and soon encounter the friendly forest spirits, Totoro being one of them. One day the younger sister goes missing and Totoro helps the older sister find her. Then he brings them to see how their mother is doing via the nekobasu.

Now that I have strayed slightly from the original purpose of this post, I suppose it is only fair I provide you with that pattern link n_~ Sojala over at Amigurumi Freely has designed a wonderful nekobasu. The pattern is a bit complicated as you will be making many parts and some plastic canvas is needed to retain the shape. However, I totally think he is worth the work and I plan to make one in the future, complete with Totoro and Mei to sit inside n_n

(c) sojala www.amigurumitogo.com

Click the image above for the link to the pattern.

*Studio Ghibli also had a hand in the PS3 video game Ni No Kuni. Level-5 teamed up with Studio Ghibli who provided the animation and Joe Hisaishi who provided the music. It is a beautiful game and a wonderful JRPG with great mechanics.

Free Keroppi Pattern

In honor of my sister moving to Japan tomorrow, I thought we could look at a pattern in theme n_n

I am sure many of you are familiar with SanRio, or if not at least Hello Kitty. There are many other characters that SanRio has created, my favorite of all time being the frog Keroppi. My best friend in grade school and middle school was Japanese and had actually moved here when we were in kindergarten. As a 6 year old I was engulfed in her culture and the adorable world of SanRio.

A while back I went on a hunt for a Keroppi plush pattern, and I think I found the perfect one over at Stitch Love. Michelle's Keroppi is not only perfect looking, her pattern is easy to follow and it's free!

A mini Keroppi I made as a keychain.

Check out the pattern here and make your own Keroppi n_n




Sorry for the short post and lack of Product Info Wednesday this week. As I said, my sister is moving to Japan tomorrow! On top of that my boyfriend's brother is getting married today so I have been crazy busy all week and will probably continue to be so through the weekend! Things should slow down and be back to normal next week with a few custom orders on the hooks & needles and our regularly scheduled posts.

Where are my sleeves?

So I haven't been working on Banff all too much this past week. I spent most of the weekend working a paper, plus my thumb was bugging me so I figured my hands could use a break. Then this weekend a buddy of mine came over to visit, so I spent Friday cleaning, and then hung out with him and the boyfriend. I've just gotten back to it though. It was slow progress, the little I did work this week, especially since I had no idea how to

m1p. I found plenty of directions for m1k, so I just reversed it. Later on, I found directions telling me the same thing, but it just doesn't seem right. I get a small hole in my knitting using this method. 

What the increase looks like in my knitting
 
I guess that since it's ribbing, it will be ok and not really show up. I just don't like that method. I was wondering if there is an increase for purling like there is for knitting where you just make a second stitch tbl.  I'm already past this point in the pattern about half-way done with the sleeve), so it doesn't matter too much as I'm going to knit the second sleeve the same way. I was just curious for future reference. 

The sleeve so far

 

In the mean-time, while I've been slacking on my knitting, I came across this great anime. It's hasn't made its way to America yet, although it has been bought by Bandai, but a friend had a fansubbed copy. It's pretty entertaining--I just love it! It doesn't really have a plot; it more or less follows these four girls through their highschool career. The main character, Konata, is obsessed with video games, manga, and anime--and she's a super shorty! (Reminds me of myself, although I am not quite as obsessed.) I would definitely recommend it (I'm going to corrupt my sisters when I go home ^_^).

Speaking of which, I go home Friday--for 10 days! I'm so excited (can't you tell?). Too bad for turtle though, his tank got a leak and I had to go out and find a new caulk for it, clean it out, and rebuild it. So he has been stuck in a travel tank for a week or two now, and he just got back into his big tank. Now, I have to take him out to go home into a smaller tank that has not been properly set up with a water section, like his one in my apartment.

A picture of turtle's tank, for visual explanation

That stained glass turtle on the tank was made as birthday gift for me by my little brother (he's only 14!). It's so cool that I didn't want it covered up by my blinds, plus my brother is rather pleased with the location because now "the stained glass turtle has a friend."

And here are some pictures of my little cutie:

He'll be ok for a week or so in a smaller tank though. At least a 10 gallon tank is a big step up from his travel tank. Plus, now that my dad is on his feet (yes, he can walk on both feet using a cane now! He even goes for car rides ^_^), he can probably help me build another water section for the smaller tank. And now that I found aquarium caulk, it won't fall apart on me like the last one and need to be rebuilt. There is just so much to do once I get home: build another water section for turtle, cook and have Thanksgiving with my family, decorate for Christmas (we do this early ^_^), make test ornaments (you'll hear more about this later), and so much other fun stuff with family and friends, not to mention some packing and cleaning from the basement flood as well as to prepare for winter at school. Next week is going to be packed.

This week is pretty busy too. I have another philosophy paper to write for Friday, which could take a while since I haven't finished the book it's on yet. I also want to get Banff finished to take home and show off (or at least block the pieces, I can sew it up and do the neck in the 4 hour car ride home, I'm sure). Then there's packing to do--I have so much to bring home. Oh well, for now cookies for the car ride home. I'll see you soon, and hopefully with a finished sweater!

I'm in: Macomb

Feeling: slacking

Listening to: Porno Graffitti--Mugen