Crochet & Sweets: A Taste of Hokkaido, Vol.7 "Kibana"

I bought my favorite sweets, "Kibana."
This product is from Tsuboya Sohonten, a confectionery shop in Asahikawa.

This is a snack that can be easily found at New Chitose Airport, but it has a somewhat understated image.
That's why it feels like a special product that deserves special recommendation (although it's probably already famous), but when I visited Tsuboya's product page, I found out that it has won the Monde Selection Gold Award for 34 consecutive years, which is amazing!

I love florentines and almond-based sweets, and the combination with chocolate was perfect.
There are different flavors in the "Kibana" series, but they were all delicious.

I discovered the only store in Hokkaido where you can buy Kibana individually in a shopping mall near my house!
Actually, I discovered it quite a while ago, but I was reminded of how grateful I am and decided to buy it again this time.

It's delicious, so I would especially recommend this Hokkaido confectionery to anyone who likes almonds and chocolate.

Recently, I've picked myself up and tried again to make hooded mittens (although both of the mittens in the photo ended up needing extensive re-knitting).
This piece is likely to have had the most re-knits ever.

The one thing I couldn't compromise on was that the mittens needed to look natural when the hood was up, like regular mittens, and also looked good when the hood was down.

When the hood is not on, it has a design similar to a hand warmer, so I was strangely conscious of how it fit, and at the same time, I had a hard time trying to make it look natural when the hood is on.

In the end, we ended up with a simpler design, but this time it was an incredibly long journey to get there...

I often end up re-knitting something because I don't like where the start should be, or because I don't like the shape of the increased stitches, or because I don't like the balance between the decreased stitches and the position of the hood attachment... Since I can't check the overall design until it's finished, I often end up re-knitting the whole thing.

Once both hands are almost complete, even if you feel that something is a little different, you don't feel like undoing it right away.
In order to resume, I needed to refresh myself and change my mindset, so I took short breaks along the way and did other things.

The mittens took longer than I expected, but I'm relieved that I've finally finished them to my satisfaction.
Now, once I knit one more size, I'll be able to move on to creating recipes.

I was also unsure about what size would be best, so that the knitting would suit the user as much as possible, but I ultimately settled on a simple design, which I think makes it a little easier to arrange.

This time, I used Puppy's British Fine for these mittens.
Even though I had to repeatedly untie and knit it, it held up quite well.

Even when I pulled on the slightly tangled parts, the thread didn't seem to break, so I felt like I was being helped by the high quality of the thread.
I thought it was truly fine, but it seems that the "fine" in British Fine doesn't refer to that, haha.

recently,Thickness of overseas yarnWhen I was researching this, I wondered why medium-fine yarn is called "fine."
I had always only known that fine meant something like good, but now I understand that it also means "fine" or "thin."
There are many English words in the world of knitting that I don't know.

There are many things that we normally pass by without thinking about them, but in the world of hobbies, even if it's just a single English word, it makes me happy when I understand something.

And just like with the mittens, you never know when you'll hit a wall in the design, and things don't always go smoothly, so maybe that's a good experience.
This experience also reminds us that we need to pay careful attention to the small details, which cannot be underestimated, as the appearance can change dramatically with just one stitch.

The end of the year is fast approaching, but I hope to continue researching and finding things I want to knit next year.

The recipe for these mittens will be released after the New Year, so it may be just before the season is over, but I will do my best to create a recipe that will allow you to knit them smoothly!

Related recipes

This work is made with Motohiro City Melange Medium Thick yarn, which is also used in the work I am currently working on.Crochet Bobbin” recipe is available at the Ronique Store.

This bag is a round, easy-to-use size, so why not take it with you on your winter outings?

In the top image, the coaster under the mug is from RoniqueFrame motif"Knitted using a free knitting pattern.

It's fun to knit lots of them for yourself, your family, and your guests.
Please take a look at the recipe page!