Kiku Corner

Kiku Corner Hello and welcome to Kiku Corner! We are sisters, Meinhilde and Tomiko, who love to cook, craft, decorate, and generally make pretty things.

We are a pair of sisters, Meinhilde and Tomiko, who love to cook, craft, decorate, and generally make pretty things. World travelers who currently reside in Toronto, we both have careers in other fields, but longed for a place to share our creative sides. Why We Chose Kiku

The word ‘kiku’ means ‘chrysanthemum’ in Japanese, and is the Japanese imperial family seal. We are half Japanese-Canadian an

d half German, and the kiku is quite significant in the Japanese side of the family. In the 1920s and 1930s, our great grandparents ran a general store business about four hours north of Vancouver, BC, and owned a small, old, run-down boat named Kiku. As a young man in the 1930s, our Gichan (grandfather) fulfilled every captain’s dream and saved up to buy a new, larger boat for the family business, and he named it Kiku 2. Unfortunately, World War II broke out soon after and even though our grandfather and his siblings were born in Canada, due to their Japanese ancestry, they were stripped of their possessions and shipped to internment camps in the Prairies. The boat Kiku 2 was seized and never recovered. Decades after the war, our great-uncle owned a series of boats which he named Kiku 3, Kiku 4, and so on. The kiku makes an appearance in other family members’ stories as well, so naturally we felt it would be a nod to our family history to include it as part of our name and logo.

I knit this cardigan with yarn from my stash. Years ago I bought some Knitting for Olive Merino in the Flamingo colourwa...
06/16/2026

I knit this cardigan with yarn from my stash. Years ago I bought some Knitting for Olive Merino in the Flamingo colourway for a custom hat. The Lucy Hat by Carina Spencer left me with quite a bit leftover yarn. Since I didn’t have kids at the time, I wasn’t routinely using up small yardages in kids’ garments. However, having my own daughter gave me the perfect way to use up this dusty rose fi*****ng weight yarn!
Although Knitting for Olive Merino is a 100% merino wool yarn, I find that it doesn’t feel as soft as some other purely merino yarns. Thankfully, though, the yarn is also more hard-wearing and pill-resistant to other merino yarns
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Pattern is Lille Crispin by Rachel Søgaard for Filcolana
Yarn is Merino by KNITTING FOR OLIVE
Buttons from Toronto Yarn Shop | Local Yarn Shop 🧶
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| knitting | handknit | handmade | slow clothes | yarn | wool | merino | knitting for baby | knitting for kids | handmade in Toronto

Kenji and I biked down to the Toronto Flower Market at CAMH. We got a bouquet of peonies, a silver dollar vine, a Zulu g...
06/14/2026

Kenji and I biked down to the Toronto Flower Market at CAMH. We got a bouquet of peonies, a silver dollar vine, a Zulu giant, and popsicles!
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Toronto | city living | garden | plant store | green thumb

I started knitting this cardigan on July 8 in 2025. In just over six weeks, I cast off the hem ribbing. A few more days ...
06/12/2026

I started knitting this cardigan on July 8 in 2025. In just over six weeks, I cast off the hem ribbing. A few more days had me finishing the buttonband and sewing the buttons. Not bad for knitting a whole garment during maternity leave!
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Pattern is Lille Crispin by Rachel Søgaard for Filcolana
Yarn is Merino by KNITTING FOR OLIVE
Buttons from Toronto Yarn Shop | Local Yarn Shop 🧶
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| knitting | handknit | handmade | slow clothes | yarn | wool | merino | knitting for baby | knitting for kids | handmade in Toronto

I asked Kenji to help me choose the buttons for this cardigan from my stash. He told me that I had to use these heart-sh...
06/09/2026

I asked Kenji to help me choose the buttons for this cardigan from my stash. He told me that I had to use these heart-shaped buttons because “Hearts mean love.” My own heart melted
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Pattern is Lille Crispin by Rachel Søgaard for
Yarn is Merino by
Buttons from
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| knitting | handknit | handmade | slow clothes | yarn | wool | merino | knitting for baby | knitting for kids | handmade in Toronto

Todsy on the blog: I knit this Lille Crispin cardigan for Sayuri using some Knitting for Olive Merino from my stash. I l...
06/08/2026

Todsy on the blog: I knit this Lille Crispin cardigan for Sayuri using some Knitting for Olive Merino from my stash. I love the subtle harlequin pattern of this cardigan, which is available in four sizes and five languages.
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Pattern is Lille Crispin by Rachel Søgaard for
Yarn is Merino by
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| knitting | handknit | handmade | slow clothes | yarn | wool | merino | knitting for baby | knitting for kids | handmade in Toronto

Sleeve one is almost done!☀️Pattern is Gridlines by Yarn is Mondim by ☀️Knitting | pullover | handmade | handknit | sw...
06/02/2026

Sleeve one is almost done!
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Pattern is Gridlines by
Yarn is Mondim by
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Knitting | pullover | handmade | handknit | sweater | wool | sleeve island | slow fashion | Kiku Corner | strikking

If you’ve never tried intarsia, this is a great pattern to try out. For the three-colour version, you just start with tw...
05/29/2026

If you’ve never tried intarsia, this is a great pattern to try out. For the three-colour version, you just start with two colours and then there are only easy, gradual colour shaping. The pattern also offers an option of just using two colours throughout.
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Pattern is Mooncrush Pullover by
Yarn is Pizzicato by
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| knitting | handknit | handmade | slow clothes | yarn | wool | Bluefaced Leicester | intarsia | colourwork | handmade in Toronto

I really like the fluid shapes of the colourwork, however I was slightly disappointed in how the colours meet in the und...
05/27/2026

I really like the fluid shapes of the colourwork, however I was slightly disappointed in how the colours meet in the underarm. There is a clear jog where the front meets the back on the right side. I’m sure grading it would be very difficult to ensure a fluid join for all the sizes, but I was nonetheless a bit let down.
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Pattern is Mooncrush Pullover by
Yarn is Pizzicato by
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| knitting | handknit | handmade | slow clothes | yarn | wool | Bluefaced Leicester | intarsia | colourwork | handmade in Toronto

I knit this sweater with some fi*****ng weight yarn from my stash. Pizzicato is a fi*****ng-weight yarn that is 80% Blue...
05/26/2026

I knit this sweater with some fi*****ng weight yarn from my stash. Pizzicato is a fi*****ng-weight yarn that is 80% Bluefaced Leicester and 20% nylon, hand-dyed by indie dyer Sweet Paprika Designs in Montreal. The colours Palestra, Larkspur, and Peacock are beautiful jewel-toned hues, and together they remind me of a Star Trek costume. That’s perfectly fine by me, as I love Star Trek! I call this my Jake Sisko sweater 🖖
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Pattern is Mooncrush Pullover by
Yarn is Pizzicato by
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| knitting | handknit | handmade | slow clothes | yarn | wool | Bluefaced Leicester | intarsia | colourwork | handmade in Toronto

Today on the blog: I included the Mooncrush Pullover by Jaq Studio on my 2025 Make Nine list. Although now we’re a quart...
05/25/2026

Today on the blog: I included the Mooncrush Pullover by Jaq Studio on my 2025 Make Nine list. Although now we’re a quarter of the way through 2026, I did finish this pullover in 2025. Link in bio!
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Pattern is Mooncrush Pullover by
Yarn is Pizzicato by
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| knitting | handknit | handmade | slow clothes | yarn | wool | Bluefaced Leicester | intarsia | colourwork | handmade in Toronto

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