You’ve Got to See Japan’s Awesome Stamp Story, 12 Years in the Making

As you probably know, Japan traditionally uses a zodiac calendar in which each year is represented by an animal, and the animals repeat every 12 years. One of the traditions that goes with marking the new year is sending new year’s cards, or nengajo, which include a stamp that commemorates the animal of the year, according to the blog Spoon & Tamago.

This coming year happens to be the year of the sheep, and the designer of this year’s stamp, Ayaka Hoshino, also happens to be the person who designed the stamp 12 years ago. Whether it’s coincidence or serendipity I don’t really care, because the results are awesome.

Back in 2003 the sheep was working on a knitting project, and now it’s done!

I know we’ve all felt like we had projects that lasted 12 years. Maybe there’s a UFO in your pile that old.

Perhaps in honor of the sheep, 2015 should be the year of finishing projects. What do you think?

[Photo via Spoon & Tamago.]

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The felted slipper craze that began last year doesn’t seem like it’s fading away. The Sailor Slippers, often striped knit and felted slippers made with super bulky yarn, because the project of the moment late last year (check out more knit slipper options in this post all about sailor slippers) and they’re still consistently popular with knitters.

Which makes sense because they are fun and fast to knit, and seeing them go from this giant thing to something that actually fits a foot feels a little magical.

I have always loved felting (in fact my first book was about felting knitting) and it’s always fun for me to see people rediscover this technique.

If you’ve knit enough plain slippers to fit all the feet you know, maybe it’s time to stitch up some tabi style slippers instead.

Maymade Knits has designed these cute tabi ballerina slippers, made with bulky yarn and felted. They’re worked flat at first and then in rounds, and are available in 10 EU sizes (the Internet tells me add 31 to your American shoe size to get your EU size). The designer says the slippers are meant to have a close fit and you should choose a size a little smaller than your foot for the ideal fit.

The pattern includes a video tutorial along with the written pattern.

You can grab this pattern on Ravelry. The same designer has her own version of the striped felted slipper as well, called Sarah’s Striped Slippers. These are worked in super bulky yarn and have a contrasting foot and a striped body. These are knit flat and seamed and there are 7 size options available. Check that pattern out here if you’re looking for a more traditional slipper shape. They also look roomier so you can wear them with socks if you like.

[Photo: Maymade Knits]

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