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.

Read rest of entry

2011 - no resolution and spring cleaning

It's always somehow a given that most people spell out their New Year Resolutions. For crafters such as knitters and crocheters, a few most typical ones are:

• Knitting or crocheting only from stash or SABLE (really, what's the fun if you can't do yarn shopping?)
• Finishing up the WIPs (I have too many to count.)
• Starting a new project for each WIP completed (if I do that, I just might not have any new projects started for 2011!)

As you can tell, I have decided not to set for myself any craft-related resolutions in 2011.

I would say:

• Just knit and crochet the projects that matter to you. 
• It's ok to have more than 3 projects at the same time and start a new one if the whim hits you.
• Be honest with yourself -- if you really feel that the WIP is not turning out to be something you'll like, then take the plunge and purge it. Or fix it if you can.
• If the WIPs turn into UFOs and you are still not feeling the mood to get working on them, then get rid of them. 
• Likewise, for the FOs -- if you just don't use them, why hold on to them?

The last 2 points might make me sound like a wasteful person but I figured life's too short to have all these unfinished or unloved projects weighing down on my shoulders.

So here's the deal. I have just cleared out some of my old crocheted bags and satchels. Some are finished but never used. Others are WIPs that I never got around to finishing. And one was very well used to the extent of having stains on them and then get tossed aside.

And the feeling? 

Honestly, I have never felt better of letting go. I felt a wave of lightness as I cleared these out. No need to feel anymore guilt or remorse of not *doing something* about them, if you know what I mean?

There are still quite a few toy WIPs; either requiring stuffing, seaming, then piecework.

And also some garment projects. I have not done anything to those yet as they are everywhere in the yarn room. Perhaps when I put these WIPs together, I'll make a decision of what stays and what goes.

Did I also mention that I have tossed quite a huge amount of yarn shadecards? Many of them are discontinued   or duplicated. And there are some yarn ranges that just don't strike my fancy. So out they go too!

I'll consider that I am doing my Chinese New Year spring cleaning in advance -- this year, CNY falls on Feb 04 so it's less than a month to the festive season. And since it's a big deal to us Chinese (not to mention we get two official Public Holidays), I am hoping to get some headstart in the "getting rid of the old, to welcome the new."

How has 2011 been for you?

Read rest of entry

Experimental cookie baking

I know this is a knitting/crochet blog but at the moment, the *garter* thing is growing very slowly; that I wouldn't even calling it "inching".

So I would talk about my recent baking exeperience instead.

Back during the Lunar New Year weekend, I dived into baking. It's not the usual Chinese New Year goodies baking such as pineapple tarts or kuehs -- I am really an amateur where baking is concerned. But I just wanted to bake.

Hence, I used the easiest butter cookie recipe I can find. And just the pipette that I bought sometime back.
 

And it was pretty fun although I could use much more practice as the results are just so wonky.

Perhaps catching up with my knitting and crochet can provide me with the much needed piping squeezing strength?

Or is it just because I was too ambitious for my first attempt as the cookies are really bite-sized morsels that I intended for my 4yo niece?

I didn't realize that using the pipette would result in these cookies having dents in the back. I mean, wouldn't the cookie mixture melt and fill the gaps duing the baking process?

And I managed to make around 200 cookie minis -- I had to bake them in several batches as I have a countertop oven.

Does anyone have a good brand to recommend?

On closer inspection of the cookies, I noticed this one piece -- see the lovely heart shape? I wish I can say I intentionally piped it but alas, this is not the case.

And so, it was gifted to GT as part of the Valentine's Day wishes.

Read rest of entry

News alert!

This article brought a smile to my face!

Read rest of entry

2010

Right....have to get used to writing these numbers.

My first few cheques of every new year will without fail see some returns and amendments needed for the silly error.

The last few months of 2009 have been nothing short of hectic, tiresome yet exhilarating for me.

Knitting and crochet will come back to pepper this blog once more.


Hope everyone is all well and 2010 brings good health, happiness and change for the impossibly best!

Read rest of entry

Irish crochet and comfort food

I dare say I am pretty proficient with crochet. I have been doing crochet for several years now; using both written instructions ala UK and American styles as well as the schematic diagrams favored by the Japanese.

However, in the course of working on my secret project, I am astounded by the amount of time and effort needed for Irish crochet. Take this motif as an example.

I call it a butterfly because of the curly flick.

This is the third crochet pattern motif called for in this project. It's barely larger than my palm but the first piece took me just about 40mins to complete!

That includes pattern reading, stitch counting, fumbling with the annoying center thread bulk and so on. Hopefully my pace will improve once I become familiar with the chart.

Did I mention that the triangular motif you saw last time takes me an average of 20mins once I gained speed? All that cutting and joining made me embark on a production assembly approach. i.e. I crocheted the center pieces first and then outlined with the Irish crochet work in a separate session.

On a side note, I was so inspired by Deb of Chappysmom's comment of making pancakes. And so I tried out a receipe yesterday morning. Perhaps it was the recipe I used or my limited cooking skills, the pancakes turned out rather flat and blah looking.

So I decided to make pancake rolls instead. I had 2 versions made:

1. butter and kaya fillings
2. orange marmalade

Luckily, they turned out pretty decent! Else they would have headed for the trash bin.

But seriously, if anyone has any great thick fluffy pancake recipes to share, I'll greatly appreciate it!

Read rest of entry

Thin

Now that I've got a bit more time on hand, I try to expand my skills in the kitchen.

Here's some cookies I baked on Sunday.

If you noticed, the colors are of different colors. Apart from my yet-to-be-perfected temperature watching skills, I have added cocoa powder to the subsequent batches after I found that the first plain batch came out a bit too sweet. DH insists they taste fine and would pair well with a mug of milk.

Maybe it's just me but I find that I needed to cut back around 1/2 cup of sugar from the last recipe I tried. I'll probably have to do similar sugar cut back for this new one.

See how thin it is?

There are plenty of soft, chewy cookie recipes out there but I was on a quest looking for crispy, crunchy cookies ala Famous Amos. DH and my family members prefer the crunch factor.

They store well -- been in the containers for the last 2 days and are still crisp.

I've been sneaking bites in between my crochet breaks!

Read rest of entry

Cracked under pressure

The nail art, that is. It barely lasted a week. My right thumb developed a crack where the acrylic extension was applied.

As you can see in the photo, I have taken to removing the nail art by myself. It's my first attempt and it didn't occur that I needed strong acetone nail remover (acetone-free remover just don't work) to get rid of them.

Technically, you are supposed to soak your nails into it. I thought that's really harmful and decided that I should soak cotton pads and place them on my nails instead.

Obviously, I am not that successful. Hence the pitiful state you see now.

You can also see the severely cut down thumb nail.

From now on, I'll probably stick to simple manicure. Or perhaps a trip back to the nail salon to get proper nail art removal done.

Can I blame my cooking expedition?

This is the meal that I was referring to on my twitter entry in the right column.

As for Deb asking me about eyelash perming -- that's probably a magic trick that every straight haired gals must know. As Asians, we typically have very straight eyelashes. For me, it doesn't help when I have hidden double eyelids.

Now that my nails are less of a worry, I can crochet to my heart's content!

Read rest of entry

Once in a lifetime

If you have been following my blog, you will probably notice that I am a rather spontaneous person when it comes to writing.

I have a tendency to get either:

• all overly excited and write several entries within a sitting or a short period of time; or
  
• have a writer's block and in effect resort to a Houdini hiding act, even in blogland.
  

We had very important activity last Friday -- our bridal photoshoot*. A whole day event that was booked & arranged more than 3 months ago but I never felt the urgency until 3 weeks before the shoot day when my galfriends started dishing out well-intended advice.

Hence, a to-do list** that comprises of the following was developed:

1. Hair coloring (I had it done the week earlier so it didn't count but is considered integral to the photoshoot.)
2. A micro-dermabrasion session to slough away dead skin cells, coupled with a facial
3. A body steam for detox
4. Facial threading (but didn't happen...)
5. Brow shaping (ditto...no go too!)
6. A mani/pedi session
7. Eyelash perming
   

Lest you think that I am a hairy monster, I swear I am being goaded into believing that having my face threaded (ala Indian style) makes it easier for makeup foundation to adhere better.

Though I have to admit that my brows are a tad untidy.

But I decided against items 4 & 5 when:

1. My makeup artist told me she would trim my brows;
2. Logic took over when I realized that doing a facial threading a day just before the studio shoot would be suicidal! What if my sensitive skind decides to do a major acne breakout?! (That can happen if you are allergic to the powder they use. Or if your skin pores are aggravated.)
   

To be honest, my eyes nearly popped when my galfriend suggested that I put items 6 & 7 on my list.

Those who know me well, are aware that I am very laid-back casual when it comes to dressing. T-shirts (apart from my own knitwear), paired with capris/jeans and birki sandals is my de-factor dress code. [So if you see a girl with black specs dressed like this knitting or crocheting in the MRT train, that might just be me.]

However, galfriend assured me that this is the time I ought to give myself a little deserving treat. So I spent 2.5hrs in the nail salon. This is what I've got.

Aren't they gorgeous? Hand painted nail art with Swarovski crystals too!

Though those are my real nails (apart from my thumbs which needed extensions as they both had major chips), the crystals really made their presence felt. No matter what I am doing, they just somehow got in the way. Imagine trying to pull the coke can tab or trying to flick open a bottle cap.

Now you can imagine me trying to crochet with these nails for the past few days!

The upside? Hb thinks they are pretty and I use them as excuse to avoid some housework. [grin] But seriously, I don't think I would be doing these often as they can be pretty high maintenance.

Black hair pins

I know, I can be stating the obvious at times. This handful came off from my hairdo even though I told the makeup artist ala hair stylist (it's the same person) that I wanted loosely bundled hair. She said she needed to stick these pins to ensure that my hairdo will withstand the weathers when we trudged outdoors for 3 hours of shooting.

In fact, there were close to 15 hair pins that was removed at the studio as they needed to get my veil off my hairdo.

I am really looking forward to see how the photos turn out!

* Hb & I never really got around to getting a proper bridal shoot until of late & so I feel compelled to blog about this.
** This list is good for anyone who is considering a photoshoot.

Read rest of entry

It's a sign....

It seems that even with the latest blog revamp, I've been having some issues with the template / blogger system.

For some reason, this template is configured to provide a standard jpg placement on the home page. And so, with the vertical and wide photos that I have for my numerous blog posts, they either end up looking squished or stretched.

And when I tried to use a percentile method, Blogger's system performs erratically. On good days, it will look ok. Other days, I end up pulling my hair.

So here's a note, if you see any changes or unwieldiness happening within the next few days, do bear with me. I'll try to make the transition as painless as possible.

Thanks for staying with me. :)

PS. I am also re-touching up the photos (from the newest) so they should look sharper. Let me know if they still appear pixelated.

Read rest of entry

Blogger is acting weird

In publishing my previous post.

I had it pre-written & scheduled to post on Mar 14 but somehow Blogger actually makes the post live immediately after!

That's very weird as I haven't done anything differently.

Not only that, now my landing page show the posts in full whereas previously it was supposed to be a snapshot summary.

Just wondering if their technology has changed? Or perhaps it's due to their maintenance schedule?

Anyone facing similar problems?

Read rest of entry