Crocheted Capotto

Since Caroline decided to make a post about cooking and baking, which I like to think is MY specialty, I decided to get her back by posting about crochet, which is most definitely her specialty.



I made this little guy for my good friend Stephanie, who I met on the internet through our art and common interests. We've been friends for almost 10 years!
He's only a few inches tall and was the most fun and detailed thing I've ever crocheted. His name is Capotto, a character Steph made as a friend to my little character Uwagi.


(A doodle I did of Uwagi and Capotto Gardening in 2009)
Both characters are dogs, their names come from us looking up the word "coat" in a foreign dictionary (can you guess what languages they are?). You should go visit Stephanie at her fabulous Etsy store and at her flickr! She's a fantastic artist as well as a fantastic friend :)

Creative Weekend

Hello world! I was a good girl this weekend and did some productive, crafty things that I wanted to share with everyone.

On Saturday I went to our friend Kimi's house for a crafting party! Molly couldn't make it because she had a mandatory clean-up day at the book art studio. And our dear friend Laura stayed in San Francisco due to the bad weather. But I got to chat with Alicia and see all the amazing felt creations she has in the works! As for me, I finally buckled down and started crocheting some new iPod/phone cozies. Molly and I are collaborating on the design, so she still needs to do her part. But expect something new and exciting up in our shop soon!

On Sunday I was overcome by the urge to bake. I thought of doing plain ol' chocolate chip cookies, but I really wanted to try something new and different. After a little Internet perusal, I came across Ina Garten's rugelach recipe. For those not in the know, rugelach is a crescent roll pastry popular in Jewish cooking. I had had rugelach a few times, but I'd certainly never made it. What a perfect opportunity to try!

You make the dough by mixing cream cheese and butter, then adding flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Then you roll the dough into a ball, quarter it...

Tanuki and Raccoon

Welcome to our new blog! Today we have tanuki and raccoons for you.

Osaka Pitapa Tanuki postcards

New items on our etsy store, featuring our store's namesake critter.


A photo from our bathroom. I finally got around to putting up this darling sign I bought last time I was in Japan visiting my brother. The sign says "Let's wash our hands" hopefully none of our guests need reminding of that though! ;)