Keeping the blog alive

Hi there reader...if you happen to stumble on this blog.

Things in our household and extended family have been keeping us very busy and very much incognito for the past ten months.

For starters, the knitting interest in Singapore has never waned. In fact, just as the crochet revival took centerstage for about 20 months or so; now knitting has come full circle being the center of attention again.

So the private knitting and crochet lessons has kept me rather busy.  But technology has its way of making itself a part of your life when you least expected. There was a long of deliberation but our knitting and crochet teaching gig debuted in Facebook few months back!

(And I blame microblogging on facebook page app... it's keeping me from doing the "real blogging" work.)

On the personal front, my niece (that little yellow dressed up gal) has been making trips to our household once a week. My family members were musing about how my instructional capabilities have now extended to teaching the little one to deal with her Maths homework.

There has been some FOs in the last 10 months and probably lots more WIPs. I will show you the next time round!

Thanks for sticking around!

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Crocheted dress for a 6 yo

Remember the yellow dress I crocheted for my niece for her birthday late last year?

I am pleased to report that she has worn it a couple of times since.

In fact, as you can see from this photo, the dress has been crocheted extra long to take into consideration her growing height.

However, since the last time she wore it in her kindergarten (K2) Christmas celebrations, she has gone home to her grandma and declared that the dress was a no-go.

The reason?

The other kids at school made comments about her modesty, or rather the lack thereof -- apparently, they teased her about the see-through columns.

So I really need to get a little slip dress for her to encourage her to keep on wearing it!

In case you are wondering -- my 6 yo niece Ms P, hasn't complained about being hot in this dress. She has not just worn it indoors but we did walk a bit out on the footpaths in Orchard Road in the late afternoon.

Interested in the details? I have blogged about my making of crochet dress pattern in an earlier post.


This personal knitting and crochet blog of mine has taken a back seat since last September as much of my time has been directed to the new customers who signed up for our knitting and crochet classes.

Blogging requires one to commit proper desk time with all that thinking, writing, photo uploading and editing activities -- I just haven't got around to allocating time blocks to these and you just simply do not get much traction doing them in random bits and bites, if you know what I mean.

But I am still knitting and crocheting actively on the go.

So if you are into a reading mode, do feel free to pop by my other knitting/crochet blog - The Handiworks.



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Here's wishing Great Health, Happiness, Prosperity and Speedy Crocheting and Knitting to all readers this Lunar New Year!

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Knitting and blogging

I am really envious of those bloggers who write on a daily basis. That just demonstrates their incredible flow of creativity juices and an appreciation for all things big and small.

On many occasions, I find myself hard-pressed to even come up with a decent topic to write. I mean, how much more exciting can a knitting/crochet blog be, apart from showing WIPs and project finishes?*


I know there are exceptions. People like Yarn Harlot and WendyKnits are my inspirations in the knitting field. Not only are they enthuasistic about their work (using the work "craft" just seems to belittle the tantamount professionalism they inject into the knitting they do), they are also able to extend into the area of print press, becoming extremely prolific authors. (Between the both of them, there are more than 10 books published!)

At times, I see my blog as a sounding board. I am not sure if anyone reads this blog anymore and occasionally it feels as though I am talking to myself in the mirror. And sometime like an online journal of sorts that allows me to document some whims and joys of my knitterly and crochet pursuits.

So why keep this blog alive? I have noticed that there are still many incoming hits for people wanting to know or find out more about Lily Chin's crochet dress (and you can find it in this entry here). Some of you may be looking for the pattern itself. It can be purchased directly from the Interweave store (although it's a little hard to find as it wasn't coming up when I tried searching for it. (PS. I have also added that info to the blog entry itself so you can have it in one place.)

How can one draw continuous inspiration? I am so glad I have persisted with my knitting/crochet instruction gig despite naysayers.

Over the last few years, The Handiworks has garned a growing appreciative audience as well as allowing me to make some great friends over the years.

One thing's for sure. Knitting and crochet is definitely going to stay in Singapore. Perhaps not so much in a crafterly way, but more as a lifestyle hobby.

Now off to my crochet WIP.


*PS. Sure, I do have some show-and-tell pieces that I can't wait to share with you in another post.

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Handknit that looks smashing when worn by my sister

Remember that dropped stitch tank top that I knitted about a year ago?

While it's been worn quite frequently, I noticed I haven't got around to posting the final FO photos.

Here it is, as worn on the mannequin.

If you notice, while this dropped ladder stitch really opens up nicely, I just detest how it can look really unweldy when it comes to areas like the armholes and the neckline. 

So I paid a lot more attention when it comes to picking up and knitting those areas to make sure they are neat. More importantly, I also wanted to avoid the neck edge "dog ears" -- you know how the tips tend to flip outward after prolonged wearing?

The end result turns out quite well. In fact, this dropped stitch ripple tunic is knitted with my sister in mind, so the torso and bust area was also shaped to fit her curvy body. [I simply look like a stick man in this.]

She was sitting down when I took this photo so the torso may not look as fitted.

However, this garment fits her like a glove and just simply looks stunning, don't you agree?


Actually, most of slightly fitted pieces look great on her. The garments end up being more visually pleasing. Want proof? Check this other lace tunic out worn by my sister (scroll to bottom of the blog post) as opposed to me wearing it!

Then I had a deja vu moment. It happened when I was browsing the web the other day and saw other bloggers referring to the Fitted Knits of Stephanie Japel.

Doesn't my pattern look quite similar?

So it's a case of "it's the same but it's different?"

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A brolly cozy

When it comes to crochet and knitting, we always tend to craft with our recipients in mind. Usually they are for our loved ones, such as family members, ourselves or the occasional furry pet.

But the other day, I crocheted for an it. You read it correctly. I meant to crochet for a thing.

The item is an umbrella. You might ask: what has crochet got to do to umbrellas unless I am thinking of using it as a swift (I already own one) or a lovely sunny brolly (the ones that don’t provide any protection against the rain, just the sunny rays)?

For one, it's my hubby's fault. He found this umbrella that he really liked but had an issue with the nasty rubber handle that has seen better days -- the rubber coating is wearing off and leaving an annoying sticky film on the hand whenever he uses it.

So I decided that I would help him out.

As I had my niece's thin yarn on hand, I crocheted a holder around the handle. It wasn’t anything too mindblowing; I just decided on a simple pattern and finally stitched up the ends to encase it around the handle.

The trick is just to keep measuring against the actual umbrella handle.

My niece Ms P was so amused when she saw the umbrella – I happened to bring it out with me on the way to her birthday party dinner as it was raining.

Ms P: "Ah yi ma ma (translated: 'auntie mommy'). The umbrella has the same yellow covering just like the yarn you used for my dress?"


Me: "er..."


Ms P: "I know! The umbrella is also feeling cold right? So you gave it something to wear?"

Kids! Sometimes they just say the cutest things.

GT is happy he can continue using the umbrealla and I just scored on myself a position on the insanely mindless crochet leaderboard!

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