Viva Forever

Still no games yet but WOOT! I received my Japanese book “かぎ針編みパターンブック300″ (or “CROCHET PATTERNS BOOK 300″)! Before anything else, here are pictures (all clickable for bigger versions of the image).

Squeee!! OMG where to start! I bought it from Yes-Asia. I was incredibly nervous about buying it online even though the price was so affordable (for a Japanese book) PLUS free shipping (AU$35!!). I thought there had to be a catch! I went to Kinokuniya to make sure that I couldn’t get it there instead but the price listed was AU$47. On a whim, I thought what the heck and bought it. With a coupon I ended up ordering the book for an awesome price (US$25, AU$32). Many common and mediocre English crochet books (not like there’s that many anyway) costs more than that and this one is shipped from Japan.

The order was made on the 1st February and shipped on the 15th and I received it today so the time it took was reasonable (given the the headquarters were apparently in Hong Kong and that the book wasn’t readily on hand). I was flabbergasted that for FREE economy shipping, the extent to which they wrapped the book was so thorough. It was in a huge, sturdy, grey bag, with a layer of bubble wrap encasing over two rigid cardboard pieces that was on the front and back of the book and the book itself came in a lovely plastic wrap. The book was in PRISTINE condition (see first picture)! One of the best purchases I’ve made!

And onwards to the book! I still haven’t had a detailed look at it yet as I had gone out after opening the package, but the lack of Japanese and abundance of diagrams and pictures is really relieving. This is a book about patterns and that’s all there is, pure and simple. There are no boring repeats from a flick I’ve had; the patterns range widely from the very lacy (see 4th picture) to the more sturdy but unusual (see 5th). All the photos come with what seems to be internationally recognised crochet diagrams and I’m sure with a bit of studying, I could get to knowing how to read it properly. Fortunately there are quick mini-diagram tutorials at the end of the book describe what each type of diagram represent which kind of stitching. COOL BEANS! All pages are glossy so do excuse the glaring circles in the photos. I’m can’t wait to start creating something from the diagrams!!

So yup, I’m really happy with my purchase. I don’t usually buy many things, but this seems to be a solid investment. :D

Subway cookies are delicious in a very junk-foodish kind of way.

Games still not here yet.

Writing once a day for a month is turning out to be difficult, and this is the shortest month of the year.

I blame this very poor post on my (worsening) cold.

*cough hack*

Does it strike anyone else that the “:)” smiley face MSN doesn’t look very happy at all? It kinda looks like a fake smile, maybe a “I’m smiling because I’m supposed to, but you’re actually not bringing me any joy” smile? Maybe that’s just my temporary interpretation based on mood.

Bah, not the best two weeks… I’m sick again with a cold. Must’ve caught it from my grandma on Lunar New Year. -_- Well hopefully, I’ll get all this sicking out of the way before Uni starts.

I’m looking forward to the winter this year (somewhat). Usually I hate winter because I can’t stand cold weather (I always feel one doesn’t get much done when it’s cold) but this winter will be a good excuse to knit stuff to wear! It feels pretty weird knitting my scarf while it’s blazing hot outside.

Did I mention to you guys that one of my hobbies (at least in the past two or so years) has been reading web-comics? Anyway, found a funny one today: Lucid TV. WARNING, some of the humour is quite black! But nonetheless, I think the absurdity is pretty hilariously done… like this one!. Man, I should make a links list of all the web comics I read.

Blargh. Uni starts again in a week. I really, really enjoyed my holiday. Gah, not looking forward to the totally boring sounding law subjects (though thankfully, they are all one semester subjects and so bound to move fast). Oh well, can’t be all fun and games. :P I hope my games come soon!