Lumièna ◆ February 24, 2018

Hello, everyone.

Brrrrr! I’m freezing!!
It’s been very cold these days.
It sometimes snows in our town.

Nonetheless, people say that Okayama prefecture is a relatively temperate area in Japan, so I must say that I am too sensitive to the coldness.
Anyway, I can hardly wait for spring!

This time, I would like to talk about a special days for knitting and crocheting.

Have you heard of the “Day of the hook”?
It’s on November 11. (Unofficial)

Since the shape of the crochet hook is similar to the number 1, a Japanese Amigurumi artist set the date for it.

On this “Day of the Hook,” crochet lovers post photos of their hooks on social media and share the joy and passion for crochet with each other.
Last year, a famous Japanese company called Clover and Hamanaka joined this social media event, too.

Let me show you my posts for the “Day of the Hook.”

This jumbo hook is handmade by my father.
He made this for my mother and she crocheted a scarf for my father.
It’s a very lovely story, isn’t it?

Ta-dah!
These are all the hooks that I have.
You might think that the bamboo hooks are unusual.
I use them every day to make Amigurumi.

I think that the “Day of the Hook” is a simple but fun idea.
I am looking forward to seeing your crochet hooks on November 11!

For knitting lovers, we have a special day called “Day of Knitting” on February 10.

In 1994, the Japanese Knitting Industrial Association established the nationwide “Day of Knitting”.
The way to they decided on the date was through a Japanese pun on the numbers 2 (ni) and 10 (to) which is similar to the sound of “knit.”

On the “Day of Knitting”, yarn shops hold special bargain sales, workshops and knitting circles open in many different places, and some shops would give out discounts if you’re wearing knitted items.
The main idea is to have everybody enjoy knitting together.

My “Day of Knitting” was very relaxing. I spent my time at home, making Amigurumi .

Also, I would like to introduce a book, which was released on the “Day of Knitting”.

It’s called “Gurumers” !!
“Gurumers” is a Japanese Amigurumi fanzine.
Its motto is “A magazine of amigurumers, by amigurumers, for amigurumers.”

Seventeen Amigurumi artists, one illustrator, and one gallery owner (yes, it’s Mr. Ikezawa from RESOBOX of course!) contributed articles for this book.

And I am also one of the contributors.
I wrote about my commitment in Amigurumi production.
The title is “ Lumièna’s Seven Amigurumi Rules”.

This book contains various articles about Amigurumi, – recipes, fresh ideas, and sales advice, etc.

Let me introduce some of the contents from “Grumers.”

●Eyes for Amigurumi
〜 Sizing makes a big difference 〜
●The way to “Only One”
〜 My journey to opening a shop at home〜
●Let’s crochet various type of fingers

Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?
Do you want to read “Grumers”?
I wish you could enjoy this magazine.
However, unfortunately, only the Japanese version has been published.
I hope that an English edition will be released in the near future.