This is a little hello back after my holiday to South Korea and Japan. I am so fortunate to have seen so many beautiful sights. As my brain isn’t quite back in gear to doing in depth videos, I thought I’d get right to the bit we are all interested in – crafts!
I’ll share much more next year, but here are some arts and crafts bits that I brought home. The video has extras too, so well worth a watch.
I’ve certainly not been doing my usual output of content lately. Why? Well, I’ve been a busy sausage and just ran out of time. I aim to get another video in before Christmas on our YouTube channel to catch up.
Hobbyra Hobbyre
Ginza, Tokyo.
I had learned about this shop from prolific travellers and knitters – Arne and Carlos. They run a trip to Japan and one of their videos mentioned Hobbyra Hobbyre.
The shop’s website is very comprehensive with so many products. They also have exclusive Liberty fabric designs, made only for the Japanese market. Well, the surprise I had when we went inside. The shop is tiny! This is typical of shops here and we noticed the same in Seoul, South Korea. Land is at a premium so the shops are typically long and narrow, with different shops on each floor of a building.
I have never seen a shop use space so cleverly. There was the main shelf, then so may draws to open with different products in. It was super exciting as I didn’t know what I was going to find next.
I bought some sashiko. I started sashiko this year and made a coat…I must make another video letting you know how I got on. This time, I have bought pre-printed fabric, so I’m sure this will make the job much easier.
I also managed to sneak some wool home. A lot of the patterns were in Japanese, but I managed to translate a simple scarf pattern for my friend because it was written as a chart. They had lots of cute mini balls of acrylic yarn, however, we all know wool is my passion. I found some stunning pink boucle and neutral brown wool: I can’t wait to design an exciting mitten pattern in the future.
I also bought two extra balls of 50g wool to add to my leftovers mitred square blanket in Aran weight.
I didn’t get Liberty fabric and they were mainly Tana Lawn, which is a dressing fabric and I don’t like to use it for patchwork
Origami museum, Tokyo.
I can’t wait to try a new (hopefully) relaxing hobby. The origami master kindly made some gifts for me to take home, too. Watch the video to hear the funny story.
Ginza again.
Some beautiful artwork. I later learned that the Mt Fuji one is a famous historical artwork.
Shaun the Sheep Land + English Gardens, Maibara.
I love how my knowledge of Japanese artwork is starting to come to life. I noticed that the blue shell/wave pattern in the third picture is popular in sashiko design also.
Korean National Folk Museum, Seoul.
And in Korea I purchased this charming model of a historical water mill house. I thought it would be another hands-on challenge, similar to the book nook (on the right) I made last year.
Windermere, Lake District, UK.
Finally, I thought I’d end on this one. A few days before I had been on my sister-in-laws hen-do (as we call it in the UK). We went pottery painting, which I absolutely enjoyed absorbing myself in. When I returned, the fired pieces had been posted back to us. I created an autumnal theme mug.
Well, that’s enough for today, but do look out for my next post exclusive for our website readers. I took loads of pictures of the Hobbyra Hobbyre shop, so I’ll be compiling those for you.
Little Miss Drop Stitch 