Little to report. A few more rows of the Griswold.

More thinking about Japanese knitting. The trouble with the (otherwise interesting) articles about the history of knitting in Japan on the KnitJapan site is that they stop after the Great War, just when the story gets interesting. There’s nothing to speak of in Rutt – a few paragraphs about Hashimoto Osamu, b. 1948. But it sounds as if his designs are mainly in colour (a Japanese KF?) whereas the excitement seems to be in shape and stitch patterns.

Googling “Hashimoto Osamu” doesn’t readily come up with pictures of his work, alas. There is a site with a Japanese title of which Google warns, “This site may harm your computer”. How is that possible? I didn’t try.

What I did find was this (scroll down): a description of the rigorous course it is possible to follow at Wool and Wicker if you happen to live in or near Vancouver, with a Nihon Vogue certificate at the end of it. And of the much more rigorous training that a Nihon Vogue instructor herself undergoes.

Here’s a blogger who has completed Year One of the course – and signed up for Year Two. I think I’m going to add her to my list.

The Wool and Wicker site mentions an article about knitting in Japan in IK in spring, ’98. I ought to be able to find that among the tottering piles of knitting magazines in our bedroom.

(Change of subject) Maureen, thank you for your remarks about bed socks. As it happens, I had seen and coveted Dream in Color’s “Smooshy” yarn only yesterday. I was thinking about their Tulip jacket which I have coveted ever since Franklin knitted it for his niece. The next time anybody I’m on knitting terms with goes in for a baby, I’m going to knit that, and if he turns out to be a boy he will just have to have a colourful start in life.

Smooshy results in hard-wearing socks despite not having any nylon in it, does it? Tempting.