Japan Strikes Again!

The first article is about Japan getting it’s first nursing home for dogs. Yes, you read that correctly, dogs! Can you believe that the Japanese are just now getting around to opening nursing homes for man’s best friend? Check out the article here: Japan to get nursing home for pets.

The second article is about a new product that just hit shelves here in Japan on Tuesday. It is a cucumber flavored soda produced by Pepsi called “Pepsi Ice Cucumber.” It will be on sale only for the summer and will only be available in Japan. You can read the article here: Cucumber soda? Pepsi Cucumber hits Japanese stores. After reading this article my curiosity got the better of me and I set out to find a bottle of this new concoction. I didn’t have to go very far. The convenience store right around the corner from the Fuji Mama household had a shelf fully stocked with bottles of the mint green elixir. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not absolutely disgusting. In fact it was not bad at all. It was a little odd tasting, but I didn’t mind it.

In crafting news, I finished the needle felting on the felted purse I mentioned that I was working on! As promised, here are the photos along with the relevant project information:

Project: Felted bag

Pattern: None, I just knit a long rectangle in garter stitch and then picked up stitches all the way around and knit the bag in the round. After knittinng around and around for forever I did about an inch of garter stitch and then bound off. I knit 2 i-cord handles and attached them and then felted the whole darn thing. After it was felted I needle felted the flower and branch details in.

Yarn: 1 skein, Lamb’s Pride (Brown Sheep Company, Inc.) Bulky in Kiwi ; 1 skein Squiggle (Crystal Palace Yarns) in Straw Into Gold (used very little of this–only used around the opening of the bag); various colors of wool roving for the needle felted details.

Yesterday 2 of my friends came over to my house for a crochet lesson. About a month ago we had been out shopping and had seen some darling hair clips for little girls. My friends were talking about buying them, but did not want to pay the high price for something that would likely not stay in a child’s hair for long, or would soon be lost. I mentioned that the clips would be easy to make because they were made with a simple crocheted flower attached to a clip covered in ribbon. My friends decided that they wanted to learn to crochet if it meant they could make something similar. So a few days later we got together and they had their first crochet lesson! We focused on the basics and getting their fingers acclimated to their hooks and yarn. Yesterday was our second lesson and we actually did a flower. They did an amazing job–quick learners!