your stuffed toys get hand-knitted scarves (in the height of summer) and she makes your stuffed toys dodgy looking new friends.

via google images

That’s a peashooter from the Plants versus Zombies game in case you were wondering.

How did this all begin?

At Daiso one grey Sunday, of course.

My favourite Daiso store in Sydney is the one in the basement of Regent Place on George Street, the Chinatown end.  Regent Place itself is an endlessly fascinating maze of Asian stores that transport you to the malls of South East Asia the moment you step in off the footpath.

Signage for a store selling drinks too sweet and rich for an old-timer like me to drink without serious implications on my blood sugar levels and digestive tract.

Apparently, the youth of Sydney are made of sterner stuff than I.  There’s a special queuing system installed outside the store for peak hour.

Before you even get to Daiso, expect to find your taste buds tempted by the activity beyond the windows of Uncle Tetsu’s Cheesecake Store’s in-house bakery.

Those famous cheesecake tarts being made by hand.

Something new since my last visit is their range of filled crepes.

They are sold via a counter towards the back of the store.

Further inside is this wall of vending machines

selling all manner of things for the price of a token ($5 if I remember correctly) and the willingness to take a chance.

Lots of kitsch posters and signage almost pop out at you as you make your progress towards D Land.

Once you get to Daiso, that feeling of ‘how could I live without xxx in my life’ hits you like that rush of sugar you’d get from eating any one of the desserts on sale in the stalls that surround the store.

Sticky notes featuring life-like images of gyoza and biscuits?  Perfect for writing yourself a reminder to follow up on whatever you might choose to attach your gyoza sticky note to.

I love how every facet of urban life has a gadget designed to make it more functional at Daiso.  Admittedly, stiletto heel protectors are for a life far removed from mine but the more … okay … boring amongst us can never have too many ergonomic reusable bread bag clips and vitamin supplement travel cases.

This particular Daiso also features an impressive supermarket to one side.

How green is this aisle devoted to matcha flavoured sweets?

Thoughtful handwritten and laminated messages inform customers of any major stock relocations.  In this case, shoppers, the Pocky have been separated from the imported Kit Kat and now reside closer to the cosmetics.  Side note – I did indeed get myself a large bag (or two) of Kit Kat to bring over to Perth next week.

This is the $2.80 Knitting Nancy that started it all off for me.

This kit cost around $20 and includes a tool to use with the loom and a plastic wool needle.

I learnt very quickly from YouTube – LoomaHat.com and Wambui Made It are two of my favourites right now.  They are both patient and informative teachers.

And will you look at that!!  I made my first brimmed beanie this week.

via Instructables

Currently, I’m making this infinity scarf by jessratfink on the Instructables site.  The instructions are all delivered via text and still photos if this suits you better than video tutorials.

I’ll be right back.  Sometime in between knitting projects.

Be good.