sashiko

Newsflash!

Remember how I said that I was doing some knitting? well I have discovered that knitting is just not my thing! (and Im pretty terrible at it) so I thought that I would try my hand at some sashiko (japanese embroidery) instead.

I am in the process of making some coasters for on my coffee table to replace the glass ones that keep smashing when dropped on our marble tiled floor.

I have borrowed two nice books about sashiko from one of the ladies at the dutch craft group. I have finished stitching two of them already. I think with a bit of practice I should be able to get the stitches pretty even. Its nice to do some hand stitching again.

Tomorrow my mother in law and I are off to Bangkok for a few days and are planing to do a cycling tour. We have heard great things about this tour and we are looking forward to a couple of days away and seeing some of the city. Neither of us have been to Thailand before so it should be quite an eye opener.

http://www.covankessel.com/en/tourEN1.php

I will post some pictures when we get back.

We went to St Georges church this morning and we all really enjoyed the service. There were quite a few people there that we knew from school and a couple from our home church in NZ as well as my daughters school teacher from NZ. Isnt the world a small place!

Well thats all for now folks!

Marianne

Where did January go?

It seems like ages since my last post. Life has been busy since returning home and January seems to have just disappeared. My mother in law arrived the week after we got home as well as my nephew Gerald and his friend Marco. It was lovely to see everyone and the boys went and did their own thing which was nice and easy. I have been busy sightseeing with my mother in law as she didnt get to do much of that when she was here in May. We have been on a bus tour of Singapore as well as a boat criuse on the harbour in a chinese junk and have been to Sentosa Island. We went to Chinatown the week before new years celebrations and thankfully we went early in the day as by lunch time it was pretty busy not to mention hot. There was lots to see as it was nearly chinese new year. Everything was very red and gold.

We have seen a few lion (or dragon) dancers both in the zoo and around the condo. I think they go around the houses delivering good fortune. The ones in the zoo were really good and were jumping on posts about a metre off the ground. Im not sure how they could see anything under the giant lion mask but it was impressive. There is a great zoo in Singapore and I would strongly recommend it to anyone coming to Singapore. The orchid gardens are lovely too.

I am still thinking about what project to do next. The dutch craft group that I go to has decided to knit jersey's for aids children in Africa. I actually picked up a pair of knitting needles and knitted!!!! For those that know me well, that is quite a feat. I think I will stick to sewing for now and get my mother in law to finish it (she's an expert). I will probably start some shashiko (japanese embroidery) although I am also keen to start a fabric weaving project. I will keep you posted

The pictures that I did in my art class have been framed will be on display at our school international night. My children and a couple of other kiwis at the school will be doing some traditional maori songs. I'm looking forward to it although Im not sure if my kids are!

Next week my mum in law and I are off to Bangkok to go on a bike tour.(some shopping too). Cant wait!