京都　葵祭(京都御所・下鴨神社・上賀茂神社)

kyoto aoi-matsuri 16.5.2023

Kiyoshi Saito

Garden Sendo-Gosyo Kyoto

1960

New knitting project

Going back to some yarn that I got for my birthday a few years ago, and picked a new pattern for it. Pretty little cardigan pattern by a Japanese yarn company called Gosyo. The entire pattern is one printed page, and I do kinda love that the Japanese patterns are so visual and concise. I know enough Japanese to figure out what I'm supposed to do without having to pull the dictionaries out, and that makes me very happy.

And as much as I- like so many people- hate knitting a gauge swatch, this is one time where it was absolutely necessary to make one. Or at least 5 our 6 rows of one. Because for all of Japan's love of logic and order and precision, someone was out of their damn minds when they standardized the sizes of knitting needles and crochet hooks.

In sizes for US and UK systems, the change between sizes is 0.5 mm in the diameter of said needle or hook, sometimes 0.25 mm for the smaller sizes. In US bigger numbers mean bigger needles, in UK bigger numbers mean smaller needles, and the two sync up at size 7. Translating between the two is a simple matter.

But with the standard sizes for Japanese needles, the jump from one size to the next is 0.3 mm. Why?! Who decided this? So this pattern calls for size 6 needles for the main pattern, size 4 for the rib. A Japanese size 6 is 3.9 mm, so basically 4.0 which would be a US size 6. A Japanese size 4 is 3.3 mm which falls right between a US 3 (3.25mm) and 4 (3.5mm). Needle sizes almost never line up with US and UK sizes, so you just have to choose what's close enough. Can you hear me tearing out my hair in frustration?

But all that doesn't matter because the gauge for a 10cm (4in.) square is 32x32 stitches in 2-2 rib. I don't know if they're expecting very snug tension or if they're using a very different weight of yarn than I am, but to get that gauge I have to go down to my US size 3 needles. Size 6 would have made the thing waaay to big.

Anyway, it's got a neat pattern with an odd sort of cable stitch, and the notation for decreases is so abbreviated I had to look up how to interpret it. (I see three numbers. They must have something to do with the decreases, but what do they mean?!) I've got 2 things of yarn that go from white to light pink to medium pink to gray, and it's gonna take forever, but it's gonna be so so cute.

2023/06/24 English

2023/06/24 BGM: Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.

It was a day off today. This morning I read Karen Cheung's "The Impossible City" with Blur's "Parklife". I guess that I had misunderstood about this book (or the place Hong Kong itself). TBH I had expected THE Hong Kong where people try to achieve their democracy. The place where is crowded with the atmosphere of tear gas and political demonstration. But this book doesn't show that kind of Hong Kong. I won't say that this book has no worth to be read by this fact. I have to think about this again because I could be trying to find "THE Hong Kong by various social media" and "THE Hong Kong I wanted to watch/enjoy". NO! I guess this author would say this. NO! The real Hong Kong, and the life in that town must be richer than that banal bias of mine. This book must be one of the best books I have read in this year. Yes, it is a great masterpiece. I have been attracted by her straight/honest words which describe her difficulties of life. It "knocks" my mind actually.

Influenced by that "The Impossible City", I look back to my youthful days (but not in anger). Ah, at that time I was really a idiot student. For me at that time, Damon Albarn from Blur was actually my hero. Almost everyday I had been into Blur's great albums. "Modern Life is Rubbish", "Parklife", and "The Great Escape". As you know, these are quite British albums. I can treat them as "Blue-eyed music", not any "funky/groovy ones" (of course, I welcome your different opinions!). Now I remember this... At that time, I could have these ideas in my "young and lovely" head as "Why was I born in this world as this kind of Asian one?", "Why is this town not London, Liverpool, or Manchester?", and "Heaven knows I'm miserable now"...At least, at that time I had NO interest in any funky/groovy music (Jazz, Funk, Hiphop) or world music (Reggae, Rocksteady)... I might blame myself too much. I believe that Damon Albarn could learn a lot from those sources of rich global music masterpieces.

This afternoon I went to the main house of my group home. There, I confessed about the failure of money management to the chief. I also talked about the "comfort zone". TBH I have a twisted mind so could feel comfortable if I was blamed terribly. If I am praised a lot (Ah, I can feel a lot of actual kindness from a lot of people on Discord, MeWe, and also my private life scene!), then I feel uncomfortable. I tend to think by that as "I am not such a great one". I can't accept that "praised" myself. "I must be a piece of rubbish", "I can be nothing but an idiot", and I do eat a lot or buy various things too much (my virtual self-hurt I guess). But this can't be any excuses. I want to "enjoy" those praising words... The evening I talked about this with a Russian friend of mine o WhatsApp. She taught me honestly as she had showed her braveness to attend various meeting. That's her important trial to go out of her "comfort zone"... I thought I should say farewell to my comfortable nest in my mind. I decided to go to another English meeting.

And this evening I enjoyed a presentation on ZOOM by a French translator and Rakugo (a traditional Japanese comedy) performer, Cyril Coppini. He has translated Gosyo Aoyama's popular manga "Detective Conan" from Japanese into English. He taught us how he had encountered the Japanese language. And he had learned Japanese literature and culture by ancient books, quested Rakugo's greatness, the reason why he started translating "Conan"... And at Q&A time I asked him as bravely as I could. "There are a lot of forms/styles of Japanese language. Ancient literature's one, Rakugo's traditional one, and manga also has funny one... Cyril san, what kind of Japanese language is your favorite?".  Then Cyril answered us that "I like Osaka dialect, But every Japanese form must be profound. I can't stop studying because of its depth". I thought it could be the same as my idea about learning English... Ah, today was a really grateful, happy day (Indeed I made a failure about money). About identity as Japanese, and how precious learning foreign languages are... I thought about them once again.

Some of my autumn projects 🍁🍂🍃

Pattern: Celtic Song Scarf by Fiber Flux // Net Stitch Scarf by Pierrot (Gosyo Co., Ltd)

Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic & Luxury 8-ply (Curry, Pumpkin Spice, Caramel)

Hooded muffler knitting pattern

This free Ravelry knitting pattern for a hooded scarf by Pierrot will keep you warm in winter. The pattern's charted, so it's perfect if you struggle with written instructions (like me). If you've never used a pattern like this before, check out this guide on how to read Japanese knitting patterns by Twig & Horn.

The original pattern comes with cables and moss stitch decorations, but as the pattern's a chart you could easily substitute these stitches with whatever stitches you prefer as long as you stick to the same gauge.

(Image source) [ID: a gray knitted hooded scarf with cables and moss stitch decorations. Cabled braids run along the sides of the scarf and the hood.]

Here's my own take on this project. I used different stitches because they match my personal style better than the original design does. I also made the scarf part shorter because I had a limited amount of yarn and wanted to have enough left over for a matching pair of mittens.

The hood's big enough to accommodate headphones, and the length's perfect to tuck into my coat.

[ID: a brown knitted hooded scarf with cables and moss stitch decorations. Cabled diamonds run along the center of the scarf and the hood. The edges are ribbed.]

Lmaaao i love Rafinha

Square Pouch by Pierrot Yarns (Gosyo Co., Ltd.)

Free Crochet Pattern Here

Ceramics Appraisal, Aobu Aotsuki ,Theory of Dungshin, Michito Onishi, Hayashi Gosyo, 1917

A #crochet #scarf for a friend who likes mint green. Made using a #gosyo pattern. #handmade #handicraft #craft #yarn

hanami with my son. it's plum. #sightseeing #hanami #gosyo #kyoto #plum #prune #son

Takeshi Shikama Gosyo #1 Contemplation - Kyoto 2016

Gosto de mostrar minha parte intelectual mais do gosyo de mostrar os peitos

Sempre que eu tento ser amigável acabo com o bofe me mamando

A cartilha é mto fácil de aplicar se não te faz gozar tem que bloquear

Auxílio aos amigos e prejuízo aos inimigos

Vadias do mal só usam biquíni torando

Enquanto o babaca fica falando revoada

Não tenho playlist de sexo, gosto de transar ouvindo wu tang clan

Não se comove com minhas lágrimas mas se encompda com meu gargalhar

A vacina da minha tristeza é a vulgaridade

VOCE N VALE NADA MAZ EU GOSYO de VC

amikomo-7 Cleaning Mitt pattern by Pierrot (Gosyo Co., Ltd) http://bit.ly/2YaCPWs