Sunday, December 31, 2006
What a great way to end the year!
Now that 2006 is coming to a close, here's my recap for the year.
Project tally for 2006
I have started tracking my projects more religiously so as to have a better idea of my preferences and pace.
Started: 20 projects (inclusive of both knitted and crochet pieces)
Finished: 12 items
Ripped: 4 of them
Still in progress: 6
From my journal, it's obvious that I am really into knitting garments, especially adult sized ones. There's the shrug and red lace top for Mom and a sweater for GT. Other than that, the rest are mostly for myself; such as Tinklebell, the Vittadini Twisted Front, bustier lace and Bamboo lace. Accessory items are kept to the minimal.
Crochet projects takes up less than 15% of the lot though the most memorable piece has got to be the crochet dress.
Getting involved in swaps and exchanges
I had fun with the Knitters Tea Swap 1 & 2, Dye-O-Rama and Elf.Swap. More importantly, it was great to pitch in for a good cause by sending squares to the Warming Grace Project.
Meeting new people who become customers and great friends!
Just check them out. Need I say more?
The gals have been great fun and having met them have liven up my life a lot! Besides, the satisfaction of seeing their finished projects make me incredibly pleased and proud of their success. Honestly, I think they have helped me get rid of any possible corporate life withdrawal symptoms with their great company.
Mentions in the magazines
Getting mentions in magazines such as: Knit.1 (Spring 2006)
In an article called "Planet Knit" featuring knitters around the world.
and
Simply Her (Dec 2006 issue)
were the highlights too.
In the Simply Her mag, the article is entitled "Blogging for Success". The whole affair was pretty fun and it turned out well. Except the photo spread (I'm the one in the middle) got most of my friends asking,
"who is your makeup artist/hairstylist for the shoot?"
"do you have the name of the Photoshop editor?"
In great jest, they are just poking fun at my image since I wear specs all the time. I had put on contacts for the shoot -- and yes, I do have small eyes. Despite all attempts to smile with my eyes wide, I realized that this action is precisely why I disliked being photographed.
My eyes disappear into thin lines when I smile. Any attempts to open my eyes wide while smiling will result in un-natural eyebrow arching.
So I don't think my blog readers would recognize me on the streets sans makeup. Especially since I also had a haircut lately. In fact, looking at the various photos, I can understand my friend's jibs -- I also did a makeover in a bridal magazine and even my good friend could scarcely recognize me until I pointed out my face to him (yea, and he was looking at that very page that I was on! LOL!)
I think 2007 means I should look into doing a style revamp soon!
Happy Holidays everyone and have a great year ahead, come 2007!
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Good things come for those who wait
Hope everyone had a great Christmas.
GT is on leave the whole time so we spent time sprucing our apartment. And it was a delight when this package arrived.
It's from Katie from MA, USA. I love the contents to bits! There's lots of yarns, huge amounts of tea, sinful piles of cookies and treats...there's also a ceramic teacup that survived the long distance across half the globe!
I was so giddy with delight -- GT was poking the box for all the tea sachets since he's the tea freak. Thanks so much, Katie!
The package came at such a joyous time and was a great pick-me-up after all the scrubbing, dusting and packing we were doing! Swaps/exchanges are such fun activities -- I wonder if anyone's game for exchanges in early next year? I could sure use some Smith's Thai Chilli chips from Australia or more yarn? GT bought 2 packs for me from his Australian trip and they were absolutely delicious!
I also managed to finish the lace mohair project -- the back piece; that is.
And started on the left front.
37 stitches doesn't sound like a lot but Ms Mohair is taking its leisure stroll in the park!
Hearing Jenny's resolution of wanting to have a knitwear ready for the Chinese New year, I've decided to start Mom's blouse on Christmas Eve. Mom has selected 2 patterns that she wanted to wear for the festive CNY even though the red lace blouse was already gifted to her (which she apparently don't count as an FO.)
We were invited by our friend who organized a potluck party so it was a good opportunity to knit and chat. Apart from the wine sipping, that is. (God knows but I somehow managed to avoid dirtying my work.)
The project is going so fast that I am already into the 3rd ball since it's worked on 5.5mm needles. Perhaps there is a chance I could convert it as a final FO for 2006?
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Resumed activities
Now that it's Xmas time, things are a little quiet around here as most of the gals are either away for holidays or making preparations for their Xmas celebrations.
So I got busy with my own knitting.
The baby garment that I am working for my niece is almost done. I just need to dunk it into wash before I piece it up. And since these denim yarns are supposed to go through a round of color run, I've decided to wait for Susan's poncho.
Hubby returned from his Aussie training and he brought back those fingerless mitts -- the ones that nearly didn't manage to board flight.
See those uneven cuffs?
I got down to ripping out the shorter side and adding rows to it.
They are pretty big on my hands.
But they certainly fit hubby's enormous hands well!
He also bought me a bag fulls of gifts!
Those coffee are Nescafe limited editions...I haven't tried them out yet. That tee is my very first Billabong! (Haha, I know, surf brands are very common in Singapore but I just didn't seem to get around to owning them.)
The time when hubby wasn't around, I also attempted some baking. Well, not real baking since I had a microwave/grill oven.
But those turned out pretty ok -- I'll rather not scare you with true colors as you'll end up deciding that my skills in the cookery dept as dismal. [grin]
I also wrote an article the other day which I posted at the other blog. It's meant to be a thought-provoking piece to let our families and friends know why we choose to knit -- it's doesn't mean when we decide to gift them hand knitted items that we are stingy. Rather, the time, money and effort frequently outweighs that of a store-bought item.
So hopefully the next time when an acquaintance requests that you knit something for them just because you can, do educate them!
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Died and back
My camera was giving me problems 2 weeks ago. It was getting un-cooperative and taking funny pictures like this.
Which is supposed to look like this:
(Which, by the way, is Serene's crochet work. Not mine. You can see more here.
So we took an obligatory trip.
The service guys are great! They basically did heed my urgent request and had my camera fixed within 4 days so that I could bring it around to my niece's birthday. Best of all, it was repaired free of charge -- I am a happy camper and it was a great revival they did for my dying camera!
Not a stitch of knit or crochet wear on her. I had something in progress started the day before; thinking I could finish it.
But it was cast aside on the birthday morning as I had to help Mom who decided to cook up a storm! She came over to my place at 8am to start the cooking.
We had fried bee hoon, mixed beans salad, curry chicken and stir-fry broccoli & cauliflowers with prawns. More importantly, my mom also prepared a long-missed item: braised pork in soft steamed buns.
The decision to cook the latter dish came about as we had bought that as a takeaway from a stall that was supposedly famous. The takeaway braised pork turned out to be stiff and hard; so rubbery chewy that it was hard to swallow. It was nothing like what properly braised meats are supposed to taste like.
And there was Leena's wedding dinner that evening to attend too. I hope she'll send some photos when she's back from her honeymoon as I know there's quite a bit of knitted and crocheted items showing up on her big day!
I was so exhausted that I ended up sleeping for 13 hours non-stop, to 3pm the next day (which is Sunday, by the way so that's not too unreasonable huh?)
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