Turning Japanese

So one of the biggest buzzes in crafts right now is Japanese craft magazines, as all of you probably know. I was looking at Helene's blog (Des aiguilles et du fil, link in the side bar), and she had a link to a blog called Craftlover, and on THAT blog there was a link to Clover, which has beaucoup free, really cool patterns. Although it is written in Japanese, if you just start clicking on pictures, you will eventually find your way to the Adobe files that are the patterns. The crochet patterns are generally fairly easy to follow, as they are mostly charted instead of written. For some reason, the computers at my fair place of employment decided that they would no longer be reading websites in Japanese, so I only got so far, but I did manage to print out two patterns: one for a cute handbag and one for a drawstring bag to carry a water bottle in. How fun! I'll be including this link in my sidebar for easy reference, as I see myself visiting this site quite often.

On the knitting and crocheting front - I am about one-third done the Green Gable, and I really like the way it is shaping up. I am using the Cestari cotton/wool/silk blend yarn, and I'm still loving it. My darling neighbor Regina let me raid her monumental stash (I watched her kitty cats for her), so I now have enough yarn to start a ripple afghan. Work has stalled on a knitted afghan I started about a month ago; I guess I just got too wrapped up (Ha! Wrapped up! It's an afghan!) in the Green Gable to keep going great guns on that. I also intend to start test crocheting the ever-adorable Crocheted Cropped Cardigan designed by Monica Brown at the Create-Along (link in the sidebar). Can't wait.

Waiting in the wings, we have Picovoli by Grumperina, Rusted Root, and myriad other summery tops. I need to have some dressier things to wear to work, but things that are COOL, because the *&^%$#@! high school that I work at is not air-conditioned. Crimey. And I need to wear short sleeves because I can't have my tattoos hanging out all over the place, even though half the girls in this school walk around with their boobs and butt cheeks hanging out. But that's another story.

My father is home safely from his trip across the South Pacific, and I am very glad. He had a good time, but said he would never do it again. It was one of the longest passages this particular ship ever had, and it was rainy and cold much of the time. But he still got to see some really cool things (albatrosses, whales, Easter Island moai, etc) and I think overall it was certainly worth it for him. He needed it.

The kittens are doing well. I like to refer to Joey as my solid gold kitten because last week we ended up at the emergency room twice to the tune of $400. Yep. He had the runs all over the place. It was really terrific. But he is better, and Carlos is insane as he ever was, and all's right with the world.

Happy Mother's Day to all of my friends who are moms!!