Summertime Tunic

So I've finished the Summertime tunic. Started on 31 Aug and finished on 8 Sept. That's my record knitting. I was pretty much not knitting anything else but that. Lucky I had a chance to knit during one long webex session for about half hour.

Anyway, here's the result



At the same time, I needed to the finished product of Di's wristwarmer. Finally managed to complete before her birthday in 6 June.


Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the recipient and her wristwarmer.

Accumulation

So, the past 2 months... what progress did I make for knitting? That will be from early June

- Got 20sk of Berroco Pleasure (approx), few sk of Berrocco Chincilla, CottonTwist & something else.
- 3 ed. of Interweave Knits, 2 ed of Simply Knitting, 1 ed. Sandra
- 6-10 sk of Daiso yarns
- 4 pairs of Bamboo needle from Daiso
- 1 pair of gold-plated Addi - 3 mm I think.
- half-cone Zephyr
- Kid Mohair fr Sarah's yarn

Not bad eh? Some of the stash came on board with noble intention of being part of project, but then when I look at them or when I want to start project, I think, they are too precious to be set apart. Oh gosh...like this, how to ever finish my stash?

Knitting update

After moving house... and finding my yarns (I thought I saw my needle too, somewhere among the boxes), here's an update:

Hubby's sweater: nothing much
Prayer shawl: nothing much, only few rows extra
Baby kimono wrap: nearly completed on the back but then had to frog because the yo placement were all wrong! the front was okay though - so it's probably back to 5% completed
Fingerless glove for Sha: completed. in White & pink. Contemplating if I should make another pair for Peg.
My Tempting top: nothing done. Will most likely frog it and turn it to something else.

I've asked to join in the Cable & Kimono Lace KAL.Wow! I can't wait to do this. Hopefully I can finish it soon. Thinking what yarn to use.. Lang's Silkdream is just too precious. Maybe I can buy Sublime?

The yarns I ordered from Sarah's Yarns came, and also the gold plated Addi...Wow! I am so thrilled.

Heatstroke

Weather is really erratic. While last week was generally cooling with some rains, from Sunday onwards it was BLAZING HOT! It's like the Sun is barbecuing the earth.
Oblivious to the change of weather (we thought it was just another sunny day, as always) we did not take enough precaution.

I had headache from Sunday morning that lasted 2 days, and the heatiness gave me pimples and ulcers (ouch)- I had to skip Black Pepper crab last night - ow! The ulcers lasted me about 4 days including today. But yesterday was the worst and I went panicky. I drank lots of water, and Luo Han Guo + Coconut juice. That cooled me by a lot (but I had coffee too). Today I had lots of water too and I took Oldenlandia water + salt. I hope that by tomorrow the ulcer will be history.

WZ had fever after he was out in the sun. Suspected of heat stroke too. Mom & sister had headache too. It seems that this season's heat is rather extreme. And it also seems that we have to start drinking lots of water at any time.

But moral of the story: don't wait till you have ulcer to take action! And drink plenty of those cooling drinks. I still stand by Coconut juice & luohanguo.

I'm a Knitting Guru *gasp*

What do you know? I actually feel so humbled with the result

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Harry Bear - finished

This is Harry Bear that I knitted with Berroco's chincilla that I acquired from Heather. Thanks Heather for the yarn. It took only 1 skein to complete the project.
For the scarf, I used a cotton yarn I found from Spotlight. It came without the ribbon, so no info on the yarn.

My mom didn't believe I knitted this myself. Haha.. Anyway, it was a quick knit-maybe 1 weekend. The only problem I had was with sewing the eyes & nose. My sewing skill is probably below standard.. haha

Harry Bear

After receiving my Berroco chincilla shipment, I immediately worked on Harry bear. The bear was quick to knit, only a weekend.
Below is Harry at 70% completion, around 3-5 hrs of knitting I guess. I am careless at the short row and with mini interruptions here & there, I had to redo it quite often



So far I've completed both pieces and have sewed up 90% -save the opening for stuffing. Oh, I stuff the bear as I sew so that he has nice definition.
The only problem now is that I don't know how to sew the eyes and nose. My attempt failed miserably and I'm just picking up courage when I can do it again.

Knitting the bear was such a joy, the yarn is so smooth. I think I used Knitpicks options. I washed it before stuffing though, not realizing that it is meant for handwash only.. the color bled big time.

Anyway, yes I need to take updated pic and need to quickly knit it. The people who have seen the bear are so in love with it....

Birthday

It was my birthday last month. And I didn't get a knitting related present from DH. Instead, he gave me Nintendo DS in April when I was sick. He came back from overseas (I was sick then) and gave me a bouquet of sunflowers plus my birthday present. The pink Nintendo DS, clear case, strap, and DS games. Not the cheap ones or the accompanying games. He gave me Final Fantasy (that I've been addicted to), Pokemon Blue, some puzzle & Mario Bros.

I also received Knit2gether book from Denise that was wrapped in a very nice book and crocheted flowers. She did a remarkable job with the flowers. I am amazed and I thank God for such a friend.

Now it is another friend's birthday that's coming and I realize I have only few days to give her something. So off last night I designed a wristwarmer pattern for her and proceeded to knit for her. Hope she likes it and hope that it's on time.

Here is what it looks like. I am going to call it Di wristwarmer - naming it after the recipient.


Is it nice?

Ginger Tea & Flu

I got flu last Saturday. And it has been so long since I had flu, I felt completely miserable. With the fact that I am all alone at home. I woke up with a heavy head on Saturday morning, to open the door for our part-time domestic helper. That was around 8.45

She finished working at around 12+ and after that I decided to meet a friend & wife, together with my other half. We talked a lot and caught up with each other but after the meeting ended, my head was very heavy and my throat was sore and the flu began to take a tool on me. And yet I still managed to finish steak from Jack's place. Wow. And I went to pharmacy to get medicine.

I took the medicine promptly after reaching home, sleeping from 7.30 and woke up startled at 9.30. Wondering why the medicine (drowsy kind) does not knock me off till morning.
Anyway, I was feeling quite miserable & tortured with the stiff neck & shoulder, the blocked nose, the sore throat, etc. For once I wished someone else is in the house.

For once too, I had a craving for ginger tea. Somehow I believed that it would help me with the flu.

Ginger tea:
Well, I did not have any ginger at home, nor do I have the instant one. But if you ever need ginger tea, just cut a bit of ginger tea (maybe 2 cm), smash it (you can use your knife to smash it) & boil it.

Anyway, today I bought instant ginger tea from GoldKili and it does help me with blocked nose and the feverish chill I had. It does not gel well with the sore throat but all in all it is worth it.

Tempting & Shorts

I started 2 new projects right after I am done with the baby poncho.
One is Tempting top from Knitty and the other is Knit Picks shorts pattern.

Tempting
For Tempting I used Sea Queen yarn from Japan and it's hemp cotton.


The color is so lovely. I will post my progress at the tempting knitalong page. So far I just finished about 2 rows. 200 stitches to accomodate the tiny stitch (3.5 mm needle). The yarn is also soft. I could not resist buying it after seeing some fellow disciples knitting a top with it at teacher's shop.

Shorts
I am using Sirdar Breeze. It says it is cotton rich yarn and I love how it feels on my hand. Apparently SO also likes the feel. I promised him after I am done with the two I will start knitting a vest with the same yarn.
I have gone past the picot edget with long-tail cast-on and I am waiting for someone to tell me how on earth I can seam the two of them together.
On top of the that, I have started doing the body. Unfortunately I have about 70 rows to go before completion, but I am looking forward to this shorts

Knitting in Tropical Country - humbled by man's invention and nature

Living in tropical country where there is only 2 season (dry or wet but all year sunny), initially I did not give much care on winter patterns and yarns. I only knit those for people I knew has 4 seasons.

How about for myself? From all patterns available I thought what's relevant for me are baby stuffs, lace shawl, fingerless glove, bags, tops, skirts & shorts (Yippe, I found pattern from KnitPicks after much searching & help from Knitters' Review community).

Well, today I went to church, and of all the places that I could sit, I had to be seated at the most dreadful place.. Right underneath the (cold) air outlet!
Well, you see, we rented Expo hall 7 and 8 for our services (there are 2 per week unless some special occasion) and I guess due to the nature of the place (for conferences and exhibition) gets the organizer to invest in an *excellent* aircon system.

During P&W (Praise & Worship) it was okay. Barely 10 minutes after you sit down and hear sermon, you start feeling the cold air blowing at you. I took out my shawl that a kind friend bought for me from Nepal. It was very soft to my touch. Sitting next to me were a big guy and his girlfriend (I assume) and another girl wearing lace-knit coat.

Around 2 hours later, both of them look uncomfortable. Me underneath shawl was also uncomfortable. I bet temperature has dropped to 16 degrees, or maybe 14 because we're underneath the aircon.
So the shawl helped blocked the air but my hand still feel cold.. Brrr.. Shiver shiver shiver.

So, man's invention and nature has eventually lead me to knit semi-winter standard of clothings to survive in Church, Office and Public transport (aka bus and some taxi). During December or wet season, if you take bus in Singapore and it happens to rain, you can expect the temp to drop to around 14.

Coming out from church was another issue. As soon as I came out, the full force of the sun hit me. First few minutes was just 'shiok' as I defrost. Afterwards came the perspiration.

Similarly at home, I am beginning to entertain thought of knitting legwarmer for myself so I won't wake up with frozen feet in the morning (it's daily occurence since I injured my ankle that somehow affected my entire feet) and won't feel so crappy in office coz of the chill.

So, here I am, eating my humble pie and decided I need to learn to knit those winter items after all, coz winter *does* come to tropical country in another (much milder)form.

Finished Baby Poncho

So I finished Baby Poncho last Wednesday. The only thing I have to do is to weave in all the ends. And I am still on time to give it before baby is born! Yippe!

This is halfway before it's done:



These are just taken after I wash it (before I dry them). Apologize the quality of picture as the room is lit up with yellowish spotlight




Veron has so kindly taught me how to crochet the 'belt' instead of using i-cord (I hate i-cord, fyi, anything that uses multiple dpn and knitting in round is totally off for me - maybe I will change later but not now). She has even added flowers using the crochet stitches on both ends. Did I tell you she finished everything in 5 minutes? She is superb and I am very touched at what length she goes to help. All in all it was worth bracing the freak rains that I went thru to go to see her last week.



See the flower? See the crochet cord ? It's so nice *cooing* Thanks Veron!

Now, my next target is to do baby wrap dress that I've been eyeing at her shop. I will post it another time after I see her.

Heatiness & A (hafl) day of rest

TCM

Last weekend my dearest had fever. He literally slept the entire weekend away. I dropped by and I brewed him luohanguo. Different to the previous rounds, this time I added red dates.

The taste was good and not overpoweringly sweet, but for some reason, I felt something was still missing to make out the complete taste. I just couldn't figure out what it is. Is it the dose? Is it because of too much water? Contrary to the popular drink, I think adding longan will not work and will just waste your effort boiling. Luohanguo is cooling, Red dates is neutral (it helps against fatigue and nourishes blood). Longan is heaty. In terms of strength, I don't know which is stronger, luohangouo or Longan but it serve no purpose having them together.

Next time round maybe I will add Chinese Wolfberry (Qi Zhi?). I'll let you know how it turns out. But the drink cleared my heatiness. As for dearest's fever, well it turns out that it is caused by viral infection instead of heatiness.

As the title rightly said, I had half-day worth of rest. This morning when I wake up I was grumpy and could hardly open my eyes. I was just aching all over. After lunch, I went for foot massage and I am glad I did. I did, however, feel kind of embarrased with the many black and blues that I have of which I can only account 2 of them (knocked against bed frame). The other few, I don't know how they ended up there. I am thinking if I should go and visit Sinseh though.

Project update:

On the knitting part: Hurray! I finished little Megan's present. Megan is the name of my unborn niece yet. The thing was wide enough to cover my shoulder..ahahaha...
Veronica really helped me a lot. She stayed back extra hour to help me with the last 3 rows (decrease pattern unknown), sewed them and casted them off.
Not only that, she also helped me crochet a pretty string to tie around and shape the size.

No, it is not one of those single chain crochet. It is a 3-chain crochet, and she did a half-treble (? is this right?). So far learning from her has been a joy because Veronica is willing to share her experiences and impart her skills and knowledge. Thank you Veron :)

Needle case finished

In an attempt not to fork out $34 for a circular needle case, I decided I am going to make my own with leftover curtain fabric from Spotlight and another $2 lacey fabric for window curtain from Daiso

I got the pattern on the internet, and after cutting and seaming, I decided that it was too thick for me to sew. So I brought it to a tailor to help me sew it.

How much does it cost me? $6. Am I happy with the result ? No. The uncle who did my case was apparently having problem sewing straight even with his machine. The end result is that the end of the case was slanting *GRRRRR*

Anyway, after putting in some of my needles (I have some still being used and as we speak I have also acquired a few more), here is the result:


How is it?

Progress

So far so good. This week I sped up on the baby poncho and I finished the body. Only left the hood.. Only problem is that I have about 70 rows of hood to do. *sigh* I hope to finish them soon though. But that means it is a halt for other projects.

I can't wait to start on Knitty's tempting though. On my visit to teacher's place, I bought a nice hemp cotton yarn (oops, flicker is down so I can't link the pic just yet)

The crochet project is nearly finished. I need to sew in the lining and crochet the strap but that have to take back seat too.

The first entry and how it all started

Yippee.. Finally got the site up and running. I have been wanting to do this blog for sometime but always get delayed and 'procrastinated'. Maybe the freak rain that hit me today have anything to do with it?

Not just that but I also managed to get the progress bar up and running after fiddling with it for the past 1.5 hours. I won't say I am done with the setup but I will do more when inspiration strikes..

How it all began

Anyway this is a story on how it all began.. It started before Mother's day 2003. I had been pondering and thinking of what to give her and also pondering of the thought of learning to knit especialy after I see a girl on bus doing that. She looked stylish, not somekind of old-auntie, slim and attractive.

Anyway, an ex-colleague told me to go to Chinatown to have a look at Golden Dragon Store (a must-visit if you drop by to Singapore, they are the 'it' shop for needlecrafts, beading/jewellery making,etc etc). The only thing I don't like was that the ladies there are middle-aged and above, and all looked so strict and all spoke in Mandarin or Hokkien(dialect)

I walked around, and for some reason, I found myself at Handicraft Center at Chinatown Point, just across the bridge from Golden Dragon. I walked around to survey the place and found out there is only 1 shop that fit what I want.. I see a couple of ladies there sitting down and knitting and chatting. My feet dragged me in and that was the beginning of how I met Veronica.

I told her I wanted to learn to knit to make something for Mother's day, which was only 11 days away. She recommended to knit a scarf /shawl and there and then I began my first lesson. Veron was very patient with me and together with her "army" of disciples, she begin to teach me.
I couldn't control my tension at first and I managed to break a bulky wool yarn. She was so amazed at me..ahahaha (at that point I wanted to give up and cry out of frustration). But I managed to get thru it.

What happened to the gift? Well, I managed to finish it on time, I think.. I knitted day and night, even on dates. However, I am just wondering what had become of it though. It was a winter type of shawl which is definitely out of place for Singapore.
Oh well..