Saturday, July 30, 2005

Unpacking

Thanks for all the comments left on my previous posts. As I re-read my post, I wondered aloud what has possessed me to knit in the sweltering heat of Shanghai (where during the period I was there, high temperature alerts have been issued every other day.) If there is such a thing as summer knitting funk, that phrase never hit my dictionary.

As I unpacked my luggage, I found this - a project that I started as I sat in the Shanghai Pudong airport¹ waiting to board my flight:

Which I swear is probably insanely familiar to everyone - a Clapotis. Enuff said.

Look at the pooling areas! As much as I detest pooling, I am trying very hard not to rip it all out. This photo is a progress shot of a yarn ball used; with all the increase rows done.

And speaking of luggage unpacking, there will be some yarns that I will be putting up for sale sometime next week if anyone's interested. Just look out for the update alert on the left sidebar.

This package just came in from Lisa. Remember the post I had on those Chibis? Well, I did her a favor by purchasing and mailing those to her and she returned it by getting my Knitpick orders shipped to me! We had fun as there were some KSP moments² -- isn't it amazing how knitters almost seem to *read* each others' thoughts? Amazing.

Just look at all these! Not only did she sent through the yarn, she also enclosed some great sweet treats! Almost all are new to me as I have never seen them in Singapore. And Kool Aid for dyeing? She's a dear.

I just have to say I love these exchanges. If anyone is keen on an exchange (we can just agree to swap to an agreed monetary value), just give me a holler!

I am so glad that we are still unpacking in the new house. How else did you think I manage to *smuggle* these yarns into the house? I just made the box look as if it was sitting there all this while amidst the various cartons! LOL


¹. It's entirely ok to pack knitting needles for your carry on luggage when boarding in Shanghai. They didn't bat an eyelid as I even had dpns. No scissors though. Same for Singapore airport.

². KSP moments = Knitting Sensory Perception moments

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Back and ready

The past week has been about moving (not me, hubby and his friend did them all). Hubby was nice enough to let me go for a much needed holiday break alone. So I did just that! Went to Shanghai.

It was all lovely and I got to eat lots of great food and meet new friends. Of course I brought my knitting along so that I could work on them.

Here are some of the FOs.

Baby KAL update

It's great to be back! More about my disappearance in a separate post later.

On the baby knitalong front, here are the updates:
Lynnette & Kristyn has just joined us. In fact, Lynnette has a baby sweater already in progress!

Christina has been really productive and so is Aunt Hayley and Jane. Go look at the great stuff they have knitted. And if you haven't seen seen a knitted ball, go check out Jennifer!

Manda is still trying hard to get her baby afghan completed. BGK is working up baby socks -- it seems that baby items are like M&Ms, you can't stop once you start! MJ is now blocking the smock jacket so we should be getting some FO photos soon?

To see baby models, go coo at Janette's & Lu's - baby models always get me in a good mood. They are adorable and it sure doesn't hurt to see them wearing all the hand knits. Rebecca is knitting the baby sweater "Baby's First Tattoo" from Stitch and Bitch Nation; I can't wait to see when it's all done.

I hope I haven't missed out anyone's progress :)

Thursday, July 21, 2005

No blogging until next week

If you sent me emails or comments and haven't heard from me, I am not ignoring you. I am just stuck with limited internet access until next week.

Saturday, July 16, 2005

On another planet

Will blog more about this in the next couple of days when I get the pictures sorted.

I am happily done with the first of the Broadripple socks and is now on the second. Since progress photos are usually no more exciting than those reported on the first sock, I am omiting it.

The good news though: I managed to free up a 80cm circular needle to work sock #2. Yippee! No more pain-in-the-@s$.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Reading is good for you

Despite being busy, I love to go check out & read others' blogs. This in turn, results in some lovely delights.

Exhibit A.

Want to see some great cover art?
Click on the photo.

Some lovely stitch markers from Laura arrived at the doorstep yesterday. She's been so generous with her readers: she did a contest draw and the rewards are these gems! Her youngest, Olivia did some cute cover art! Awww....


Exhibit B.

This came through from Emily as part of the "Feather your nest" swap. The pink pillow on the back is really unusual as she's sewed 9 (!) pink zippers on one side as a facing and that really mades it unique. The foreground piece would really be useful for me to pack all my knitting notions and needles. Thanks Emily!

And I will be sending out some things tomorrow too!

Baby KAL update

Completions!
Sallee has her Easy Ripple Baby Afghan done. Do check out Chris for her Trellis jacket, all done and gifted. Similarly, Lu has her baby set all done up and she's also thinking of baby socks to work on.

Still on the needles
MJ looks like she's well on her way to complete that smock jacket after visiting sleeve island while Elspeth is still 1.5 skeins way from the finish line.

And say hi to Christina, will you?

Monday, July 11, 2005

My foot!

No, you won't get to see mine. The sock I am knitting up for my Sockapal2za partner is a size 9" whereas I wear size 6. So no modelling assignment this time.

I have decided to use Knitty's Broadripple pattern - the pattern just shows beautifully on the Rowan Cashcotton, don't you think? Hmm, and I just realized the shade I have is called Chintz.

And you are seeing right: I have used dpns which is totally unlike me. Those dpns were sitting there on the shelf mocking at me as I searched in vain for some available circular needles to cast on.

But apparently, those 3.25mm circs have decided to join the WIP party bash and are terribly occupied. Not only that, the WIP party is organized in some well-obscured locations (read: my sealed cartons that are now moved to the new apartment) where I do not have easy access at the moment. Let the dpns mock and shame me, at least the project is off the ground!

However, the soft texture of Cashcotton going through my fingers more than made up for my putting up with the dpns. Would I dare dream of snagging this pair when it's done?

Casting on a 2nd pair is a solution. Perhaps
(until I attempt complete the other swap projects and WIPs, that is.)

link | posted by emy at 8:25 AM
7 comments

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Flashbacks

My heart goes out to those who are devastated by the London bombings. Hope your friends and family are safe and sound. When I learnt of the news, it was almost like 9-11 all over. At that time, I was away in Korea on a business trip. When we saw the news flash in the hotel room, my colleague and I thought it was a joke.

Let's pray for world peace.


Speaking of flashback, I was surprised to re-discover my very 2nd knitting project when we went about clearing and repacking our stuff from the storage room at my mom's. This also brought back memories of my very first project.

My very first project was a long sleeved, v-neck ribbed top from a Rowan magazine. It was about 11 years ago. (Did that last statement make me sound old?) In case you are wondering on my rationale of knitting a garment for myself as a first project, I probably decided that I wouldn't want any of my family members to hang their head in shame on receiving my shoddy first attempt.

It was in cotton and wasn't very well made - the first sleeve was knitted way too tightly and its gauge compared to the 2nd sleeve was 2 inches off! I managed to wear it for a couple of times (read: no more than 5 times.) Muwhaha, no one will ever get to see that though as I have frogged my evil first project 4 years ago. The yarn is washed, wound and put away for future use.

On my second project however, my Mom volunteered to be the gift recipient. And I went on to knit this:

Here's a closeup of the collar and the stitches as well.

When I saw it the other day, I was (ahem) surprised to find that my taste hasn't quite changed since the day I picked up the needles. Those details on the collar and the YOs are still the stuff that makes my heart skip a beat. In fact, I recently bought some Japanese knitting books that has intricate collar and edging finishes which I think add great touches to the garments.

Maybe just one of these days, I would ask my mom to model it so that I can have a better idea of how it fits.


Do I need more knitting books?!
My dearest SP just gifted me with an Amazon certificate! Woohoo, time to go browsing for pattern books. Thanks so much, SP!

link | posted by emy at 12:35 AM
3 comments

Friday, July 08, 2005

Duh-ta-da

First my apology for not getting blogger straight. I have apparently double-posted the last round. What was I thinking? I am sure you are not interested in hearing from me *twice*. What a dork.

I missed you people the last few days! The internet and I aren't on talking terms. We have fallen out as the new house has come between us. The laptop decided to side the internet and leave me in the dire straits. The house is my new friend but it's making me work harder than ever to maintain the relationship. Cleaning is in order but when the various sub-contractors come in almost everyday to fix something, dust falls and collects; rendering my cleaning efforts zlitch.

Imagine

From this

To

There's a lot of sitting and lounging area for future knitting sessions.

Or even classes too!

And from this

To this

(Pardon the stickers and open door panels as we air them out.)

Ok, I am not a cook but I just had to show what a real transformation the kitchen went through. I am glad we made the decision to hack the living/kitchen partition as it really brought in a lot more sunlight into the kitchen area.

I reckon we'll be moving and sorting our stuff intermittently within the next few weeks before we get truly settled in. Even as we are packing our things for the move, I am shocked to discover that my stash is bigger than I thought - most of it was out of sight in the storage room.


But it was lovely to discover that I had a new addition to my stash this week. (Oh no, I *didn't* sneak out to make any purchases, even though there was a Spotlight 15% off sale on Wednesday.) I received this:

It is an RAOK that Dominique sent me: a package with Phildar Luxe yarn, a note holder and some lollipops! She even enclosed some lavender stalks which I think I'll keep in my wardrobe. Isn't it generous of her? Thanks Dominique! This just brightened up my week!

link | posted by emy at 1:40 AM
2 comments

Baby KAL update

Here's a quick update for the week's progress:

Please welcome Jennifer who has just joined the Baby KAL.

MJ has just surpised us with another pair of cute baby socks! Way to go. And go check out Toni: she's got the modelled Trellis, with a cute baby to boot! (Wish I could have a real-life baby model too, but that's asking for too much wouldn't it? LOL) BGK has just started on another outfit for a baby boy.

I'm just taking a break from the KAL as I have the & 2 swaps: "Feather your nest" & "Knit.Sew" to get busy with.

link | posted by emy at 12:04 AM
0 comments

Monday, July 04, 2005

Exhausted but enriched

Spent the entire Friday last week attempting to clean our new apartment. (Note the word *attempt*). We, hubby and I, obviously weren't too successful as (a) there are still some outstanding minor works to be done and (b) both of us don't quite do household chores.

Imagine my futile tries to clean the living room floor 4 times! I was scrubbing the floor Japanese style, with a rag on all fours as I was trying to get the stubborn stains off the tiles. A mop just won't do. What a #$@% an enriching experience. I think I am beginning to understand why people buy small apartments: small place = less housework = more time for other activities. But all these hard work is pointing to the fact that we are closer to moving into our apartment soon! Yeh!

By the time I got home past midnight, I was flat out. I had to give the next day's Knit & Stitch session a miss too as there was a rescheduled Thai cooking class¹ I had to attend [as a student; not the chef]. Either way, I couldn't have knitted much as my arms are sore from all that vigorous cleaning the day before.


However, I managed to meet up with Siow Chin & Erin; Erin and I are getting our loot from Siow Chin who brought them all the way from Hong Kong. Look at what I've got!

It's bamboo yarn!

Something new to add to my stash. I wished I have asked her to buy more so that I can knit an entire garment in it. Should I?

After that, we went shopping & I just bought more stuff!

I must have bought close to 10 pink Clover chibis lately. I think the store sales staff must be wondering if I've gone bonkers but so far the ones I've bought are for swaps and RAOKs. [Note: Susan, I still need to get one more for you before yours is complete.]


Sockapal2za update
These are the new RY (Rowan) Cashcotton in a light lilac tweed shade. The yarn is so soft next to the skin. I hope my sock pal would love them. I haven't quite decided on a pattern yet but is hoping to start sometime next week.

¹: I attended the Thai cooking class so that I can master some of hubby's favorite dishes like the Thai green curry and mango with glutinous rice dessert.

link | posted by emy at 3:24 AM
6 comments