I love mochi

The first mochi I love is round, soft and very tasty - onde onde mochi - steamed sweet rice flour filled with coconut

The second mochi is again round, soft'ish and also very tasty - mochi ice cream - come in about 4 flavours, I tried the vanilla and green tea and liked both of the flavours

The third mochi and new to me is super soft, round and yummy (but not to eat) to crochet & knit with - mini mochi yarn - a machine washable 80% merino wool/ 20% nylon mix

International Crochet Day

Today is International Crochet Day
and to celebrate I have added a new flower pattern

This flower & leaf can be made in different colour combinations and used to make a brooch, a necklace or add to a bag, shoes, on the front of a thank you/ greetings card, whatever takes your fancy :)

DK yarn/worsted weight

4.25mm - 4.5mm UK/ (6/G USA) hook

(I used 4ply Worsted weight Peaches & Creme 100% cotton)
Abbreviations:
(how to make the stitches plus more at NezumiWorld main site)
st – Stitch
sts – Stitches
dc (UK)/ sc (USA) – Double Crochet (UK)/ Single Crochet (USA) htr(UK)/ hdc (USA) – Half Treble Crochet (UK)/ Half Double Crochet (USA) tr(UK)/ dc (USA) – Treble Crochet (UK)/ Double Crochet (USA)
dtr(UK)/tr (USA) – Double Treble Crochet (UK)/ Treble Crochet (USA)
ch – Chain
sl st - Slip Stitch
rnd - Round Yarn - Two colours used for the flower you can use one colour for the leafs Using colour a (I used yellow, label is printed with cream no.3)
Rnd 1: Ch 2, 6 dc (UK)/ 6 sc (USA) into 2nd ch from the hook (the 1st ch that was made), join with a sl st into the top the 1st dc (UK)/ 1st sc (USA), (you should now have 6 sts) cut yarn
Using 2nd colour (I used red/ burgundy no.97)

1st petal: Into a 1 dc UK/ (1 sc USA), 8 ch, (working back down the chains) 1 dc UK/ (1 sc USA) into the 2nd ch from the hook, 1htr/ (1dc USA) into the next ch, 1htr/ (1hdc) into the next ch, 1 tr UK/ (1 dc USA) into the next 5 ch, ss into the same 1 dc UK/ (1 sc USA) you started on

2nd Petal: Into the next 1 dc UK/ (1 sc USA), 8 ch, (working back down the chains) 1 dc UK/ (1 sc USA) into the 2nd ch from the hook, 1htr/ (1dc USA) into the next ch, 1htr/ (1hdc) into the next ch, 1 tr UK/ (1 dc USA) into the next 5 ch, ss into the same 1 dc UK/ (1 sc USA) you started on
3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th petal: As 2nd petal Cut yarn and pull end through back to tidy.

Leaf pattern (I used yellow for the centre so it would show up in the photos the whole piece can be made in one colour, I used olive no.64)
Rnd 1: Ch 2, 6 dc (UK)/ 6 sc (USA) into 2nd ch from the hook (the 1st ch that was made), join with a sl st to top the 1st dc (UK)/ 1st sc (USA)
1st Leaf: 10 ch, (working back down the chains) 1 dc UK/ (1 sc USA) into the 2nd ch from the hook, 1htr/ (1dc USA) into the next ch, 1htr/ (1hdc) into the next ch, 1 tr UK/ (1 dc USA) into the next ch, 1 dtr UK/ (1 tr USA) into the next 6 ch, miss 1 dc (UK)/ 1 sc (USA) ss into the next dc UK/ (sc USA)

2nd & 3rd leaf: As 1st leaf

You now have a flower and leaf section, join together or make more flowers sections in different colours and layer. Have fun and play.

International Jewellery London 2009

Monday I attended the International Jewellery London 2009 at Earl Court 2.
Usually at this event its a time to stock up, make contacts and see the trends for the future year.
The first thing I noticed was the show was much smaller than previous years.There was an interesting new designers section which had some very nice shapes and ideas.

There were lots of companies with charms and individual bead style components - Pandura, Chamilia, Amoree&Baci and there were many more companies. The metal beads & metal core beads came in Sterling Silver or with gold and silver plate finishes and have evolved and become more detailed with glass, crystals and enamel mixes.
Silvex had some very nice murano glass in silver and resin pieces.
I found some nice displays and boxes I will check out in the future, but I don't buy any new stock which was disappointing.

Ticket for Iknit Weekend

On Friday I took a trip with a good friend to Waterloo to buy my yellow ticket for the I Knit Weekender Event on the 11th & 12th September

Lots of nice yarns were on display in the shop, even a visiting nezumi hiding amongst the skeins

As well as my ticket I was very happy as I managed to get the glow-in-the-dark jelly yarn I have been looking for to make crocheted pods for some solar lights I have. I though when the light goes the pods would glow for a while, I will experiment and see. The yarn might end up as something completely different now I have my paws playing with it.

Craftzine's very first crochet-along!

Laura from Craftzine.com sent me an email about a new crochet event taking place over at blog.craftzine.com Craftzine's very first crochet-along!
A super cute fuzzy panda amigurumi, the first lesson starts on Tuesday, Sept 7th at Noon PST (that's about 4am UK time) with Tamie Snow the designer of the fuzzy panda and author of Tiny Yarn Animals
There a list of materials required so you can get ready before the event plus the pattern all very clear and well written.
There's also a flickr group to share your finished pandas with random giveaways to participants who upload photos.