Little Purl of the Orient

Best new cardigan: Audrey-in-Unst

I'm absolutely in love with this cardigan. The pattern is so well-designed, knitted from the bottom up in one piece and set-in sleeves from the top down. Plus phoney seams too.

Another good thing about this project is also the yarn, sport weight silk/merino blend from Avril that was enabled by Olga and Joujouka (thanks again, ladies), that are no knots and which I used less than 1 hank, hence minimal ends to hide in. Nothing to sew except the buttons! The i-cord neckband still curls, but that's my fault because I didn't steam block it as I'd wanted to. Procrastination. I was apprehensive at first right after finishing this as my gauge was completely off and the negative ease was just much more than planned but I managed to squeezed myself into it as you can see.

Here I am, on the way to breakfast with husband before work.

So this is the haunt that my husband and I usually go to for breakfast before work, a very old (as you can see from the decor), family-run coffee shop in Sheung Wan. The milk tea is fantastic but now I like the 'yuen yeung' which is a mix of tea with milk and coffee. You can even ask for your preferred proportion of tea and coffee. And of course there is the 'po law yau', that is a traditional Hong Kong bread with pineapple crust on top plus a thick slice of butter. Unhealthy but yum.

Sometimes, Sewing makes me happy too

Thanks for your nice comments on the lino top. There seems to be something wrong with the format of the comments on my blog and now you would have to sign in before able to leave a comment. I tried to change the setting but couldn't, maybe because I've downgraded mine from a paid blog to a free one. Let's see how things go from here. And I'm not able to reply individually too, apologies about that!

We celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival yesterday. Nothing much, just lots of eating and merry-making. And today, we get the day off. I'm hoping to get some craft work (maybe some sewing?) done, if possible.

My knitting friends and I had a fun-filled fabric shopping trip last Saturday at Shamshuipo. We closed in on a linen shop that is closing down and we bought so much linen and cotton/linen blends at such attractive prices. We are definitely going to miss it. It should already be closed by now.... I miss it already.

Anyway, I got a bit of guilty feeling from getting too much, not the from the amount spent which was maybe like USD20-25 for for sooo much fabric, but for the lack of space at home to store them. And haven't I just written off sewing for this year not so long ago?

So I decided to consume some stash and make some cushion covers for the home. These are nice brainless sewing to me. No need to worry about the fit.

And so I did last Sunday and made 6. Now at least we got rid of the saggy cushions with their ripped covers and replaced them with these colour-cordinated ones for the sofa. I made them envelop style except for the Echino which I made with buttons enclosures.

The below 2 go to the kids' room. The blue shabby chic floral for JY, the elder one. And orange crocodile for CY, the little one. They have very different styles. I made an extra blue one too, for my chair in the office. That makes a total of six.

Knitting makes me HAPPY!

So, after posting about my failed Leia and the easier sewing projects done earlier on for my children, I decided to go back to knitting.

And knitting I did, with a vengeance. I spent the last rainy Saturday afternoon working on my dark brown Katia Lino top which I've been knitting, seemingly like ages, up to the underarms. I made it all in one-piece up to this point. And on the Saturday afternoon, the armhole shapings were completely, the shoulders assembled, and the neck and armhole bands picked up. And I just couldn't wait to wear it immediately on Sunday, even before washing it.

My daughter, JY, is getting real good with taking FO photos, much better than husband. At least she cares about how I look in the camera. Here you go. The lopsided shoulder is my fault, I was trying to strike a post by putting one hand behind me on the wall but it didn't work :).

This top took only 3 balls of Katia Lino in colour #10 a dark, chocolate brown and I used Clover bamboo #8 needles (4.5mm) for the body and #7 (4.2mm) for the bands. I got the yarn in the closing down sale of Spotlight and still have 6 balls left. If anybody would be interested to have them, I could destash them.

The pattern is from this Japanese book, from which I made this crochet top last year. I'm glad that at least I have one summer top made this year. Although the weather is still very hot here, I've been thinking about knitting more and more.

The rain continued on Sunday and we have no where to go so the knitting continued. I'm hoping that Audrey would be the next FO, I've reached the first sleeve, hooray. But after finishing the crochet scarf and the linen top, I'm allowed to start a new project, am I not? Let me go check on my queue on Ravelry now ... ...

What went wrong and Simpler Projects

So what actually went wrong with my Leia? Simply, it is beyond my level, especially the curved/heart-shaped yoke. Even though Yoshimi posted her great tip of using glue instead of pins, I couldn't figure it out and still used loads of pins.

Then, it's a case of choosing the wrong fabric combination. I used the thin Swiss Dot used for the Simplicity top for the yoke and a blue lightweight linen. Bad choice (mainly in the yoke fabric), because all the raw edgings of the yoke and bodice peeked out along the seam line. And it took me a few tries to get the curves sewn together. The armholes, didn't align when I sew on the facing, etc, etc. There are just too many mishaps to count. Here is how it looks.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I made the smallest size and it is a tad too tight for me. If I would sew it again, I would make one size bigger. Good thing I didn't cut out the fabric for the skirt yet, otherwise the blue linen would be completely wasted.

Although discouraged with my failed Leia, I did sewed 2 tops for my kids subsequently. Both are from Happy Homemade Volume 5.

I started with the simple peasant blouse in size 130cm for JY. I omitted the pockets because it seems too busy with this polka dot fabric with is a cotton lawn I bought from Shamshuipo. My sewing was so-so, even with this simple design but luckily JY seems to like it.

Then I made the bubbled tank top on the cover, the one on the far right, for CY in size 120cm. The neckline gapping open, I should reduce it by 1cm next time. I bought this floral fabric from Taobao.com, a Chinese equivalent of eBay. And I trimmed it with store-bought cream-coloured bias tape. CY likes it too. And I might make another one.

As for myself, Tamanegikobo, where I got the Leia pattern, has a pattern called Novita which might be doable for me. I'm not sure if I should try it or not. It seems that the sewing bug has left my body of late... ...

Some Yarn-y FOs

This morning, I woke up from a poor night's sleep, determined to do some cleaning around the flat. It has been horribly messy for weeks, or even months. One of the things that definitely need clearing is my various projects and stash lying everywhere. I started putting away things and it felt great! So I engaged in my elder daughter, JY's help to take some photos of FOs lying around before I pack them up.

I started to make Wisp, a free pattern from Knitty, way back when during our holiday in Penang. It is a complete copy of Kerstin's here (ravelry link). 2 skeins of Koigu KPPPM in P713 colourway in 5.00mm needles. I omitted the buttons totally.

And before Wisp, I was making La La's Simple Shawl(a free ravelry pattern) during our Easter holiday. This is a monster to photograph because of the reds. It took 1 skein of Trekking sock yarn in #147 colourway, plus Knitted Wits merino sock in Chocolate for the border.

The latest is this crochet scarf from 1 skein Habu Tsumugi Silk in Beige. This is the 4th start and finally the yarn finds a pattern that it likes and I'm glad. It is on the small size but I'm fine with it as I'll use it for the aircon on the bus. The pattern is from this Japanese book: ISBN4277171788 and I used Clover #5 hook.

I think for the next post, I should explain a bit about what went wrong with the sewing of my Leia. So long for now.

Where was I?

I was feeling all heady from your compliments for my last 2 sewing projects, the linen tunic and the Swiss Dot top. I felt suddenly brave, and I took the Leia pattern, a design from Tamanegi-Kobo website. The pattern is a pdf download, colour-coded for the different sizes and with a 10cm test square so that you know you are printing the right size. These are all very important to me, unlike the not-so-clear printing instructions from the Twinkle Sew book. I do like a number of patterns in that book and hope to get there some day. I digressed. Long story short. My attempt at Leia didn't work out and I was so deflated.

Then my FOs couldn't be photograph well. I've finally blocked the La La's Simple Shawl and the Pink Wisp but I just couldn't get them to look nice in the photos.

So I started 3 new yarny projects all at the same time. I needed the comfort of familiar grounds again. Here they are:

Audrey In Unst from Twist Collective a complete copy cat of Olga using Avril's Silk Wool that she and Joujouka helped me to buy in Tokyo earlier this year. And the background fabric is a new addition to stash. A bold grellow wool floral. What should I make with it?

I needed a summer project for this year so I started this linen top from this book. The yarn is Katia Lino that a few knitting pals got at the Spotlight closing down sale.

And of course there should be a portable project such as a shawl and I'm crocheting this one using the Avril/Habu Tsumugi silk. This is the 4th pattern that I tried out with this yarn and it seems to click this time.

Yarn: Habu/Avril Tsumugi Silk
Pattern: From ISBN4277171788
Hook: Clover 5
Background Fabric: linen with black eyelet from Shamshuipo

Actually, I have this bus project that I haven't blogged about. They started off as miters but I grew tired of them. Now I'm log-cabining cream-coloured yarn all around to make a Gees Bend inspired afghan. Hope I could keep up.

Another Second Take

Once again I have another of my 'Everything I do, I do it 2 times' post. After making 2 Nani Iro tunics, I made a second top with the Simplicity 2596. The first one is in View A which you can see here (the last photo). And this time, I made View B.

This fabric, a very thin and sheer cotton with fabric dots on it, is also from Shamshuipo ("SSP"). I guess this fabric might be known as the Swiss Dot. If not, I'm still going to refer to it as Swiss Dot at least for this post, I would appreciate if anyone would correct me if I'm wrong. And SSP is fast becoming my favourite haunt of late (more on this district below).

Since the fabric is very thin and I don't have a serger, I foresee the zigzag stitch of my machine would not provide a very nice finish and would probably make the garment look really homemade especially where the seams would be exposed due to the fold-up sleeves. So I decided to use French seams where the seams would be revealed, for the underarm and shoulder seams. I thought I was very smart until the curved underarms puckered like crazy and I realized I have to clip the curves. So in the end, I had to clip through the layers of French seam at the underarms, so much for being 'smart'.

Then came the neckline. The seam allowance is 1.5 cm and how wide that is on the thin Swiss Dot although I did use the lightest weight interfacing that I have this time. (Maybe the interfacing is still not thin enough, I'll have to ask Joy about this the next time we meet for knitting.) The neckline and facing stood to attention and there is no way I could live with that. I hung out the garment for a night, looking at it from time to time thinking of a solution and then thanks to the Internet, I found out that I have to trim the seam allowance of the facing and that's just what I did and how happy am I! I still couldn't figure out the understitching of the facing so I topstitched it this time round.

As for the elastic, I dithered a bit, not sure if I should use a store-bought bias tape (too heavy for the fabric) or sew a separate casing using the same fabric. In the end, I just made a double fold with the top around the waist which made a natural casing instead of sewing a separate piece. I think I like the result.

And yes, I made buttonholes for the fold-up sleeves. I did practise first on a spare piece of the Swiss Dot to make sure it's ok before making the holes on the tab. I should have taken a photo of the sleeve detail with the mother-of-pearl buttons from stash.

All in all, I'm happy with my sewing of this garment. The best part was, I wore it to work for casual Friday and nobody had any idea I made it myself (if yes, they were polite not to ask me about it)! Excuse the creases, it is afterall, after a day's wear (and I didn't re-iron it for the photo shot) :).

More about Shamshuipo: I found this video on Youtube where the lady in pink would lead you from the underground station to the fabric shops. It stops short of just where the fabric stalls in the streets are, where I buy most of the fabrics along Ki Lung Street. For those unfamiliar with Hong Kong, it is an interesting video with a slice of the HK street scenes. Check out also this older post of mine back in 2006 about the fabric stalls, they are pretty much the same to this day. I think the fabrics might be excesses from the nearby factories and there is usually only one roll of each which would be gone the next week or two. This makes it all the more fun as there would be 'new' fabrics to discover each week. At very affordable prices, it is difficult to resist not getting something that you like as it would very likely not be there the next time you go.

Blabber and a second take

1. Knitting and crocheting gives me zen whereas I need to achieve a certain level of zen (lots of deep breathing) before I could start sewing.

2. Strange thing is, I can spend months working on a knitting project and feel perfectly fine with that but if I can't finish a sewing project in an afternoon or two, I feel really frustrated. (I guess I found out the reason/cause - sewing implies 'instant gratification' to me, so if the instantaneity doesn't happen, like I've programmed my mind to believe so, it makes me very uneasy.)

3. Buying fabric is kind of like buying skincare to me: I'm buying 'hope'. Sooner or later, I would realize that the lifting cream is doing nothing to defy the pull of gravity on my face or the whitening essence just won't give me the flawless skin like that model on the TV advert. While buying fabric, I dream of the beautiful garments that they will become and how nice I would look in them and blah, blah, blah. After one sewing session and I'm brought down to earth with the homemade look that I produce. Anyway, I continue to come back with more 'hope' from Shamshuipo.

4. The Machine - For sewing, I have to control a machine and then I always have tension problem. I've thought of getting a new and better machine but realize that my sewing machine, a Janome, although basic, is not that bad. So I took it apart the other day to oil it, clean off the threads and tiny clumps of fabrics inside, change the needles, took out the manual to have a good look and it's working okay again. Guess, I have to come to terms with it and understand it.

5. For knitting or crocheting, I can do it at a variety of times and almost anywhere, mostly on the commute to and from work, doing homework with the girls, waiting for them to have their music lessons, etc. With sewing, I have to sit down with lots of concentration, meaning, I can't get involve with my children's activities while sewing at the same time. I kind of find a way out by getting them lots of craft kits for the summer holidays like making magnets for the white board, beads, new paints for colouring, clay, etc and we can all embark on our own crafty pursuits.

So much for the blabber. I made another top using the same Nani Iro pattern from this book. Remember the purple floral tunic?

I used the same pattern but in a totally different fabric. Linen this time with rosette embellishment chanced upon while shopping for beads for the girls in SSP. They go just right with the linen. The sales lady taught me to use the zipper foot so that I could sew close to the rosettes.

And linen is perfect for the hot weather although it creases so easily. The linen is also bought in SSP. I have another in a blue and I so feel like going back for more colours. Plus they are on clearance.

This time round, I actually approve of my own sewing. I think I took a few baby steps forward. Practice seems to be doing me some good.

Me-Made Holiday (a long post)

Back in May, Yoshimi embarked on her Me-Made-May excursion and gave me lots of inspiration with her professional looking and meticulously made garments. As a novice sewer, I do not dream of a Me-Made month but I try to keep a goal in mind to actually wear what I sew. With that target, I would try my best to finish the garments properly. Yes, I classify myself as a hobbyist sewer but at the end of the day, it is much more satisfying if the clothes I made are somewhat wearable.

The Me-Made holiday to Penang, Malaysia started with this cream Nani Iro top at the Hong Kong airport in late afternoon of Day 1. We arrived very happily in the evening at our beach hotel at Batu Ferringhi.

I decided to get my act together to fix the neckline of this top sewed last year but never worn. There's nothing wrong with the neckline if I like it slightly off my shoulder but I prefer not having to watch over my bra strap every so often, so I narrowed the neckline by gathering a little at the back too. The belt was an idea from my elder daughter JY and I think it is a good suggestion. The fabric is Nani Iro double gauze. It is so nice and breezy to wear. The pattern is #1 from this book (SBN 978-4579111497).

Day 2 was pretty much spent at the pool and then out to Gurney Drive for some much-missed hawker food. Look how gleeful my 2 girls are.

We went on a round-island tour on Day 3 and went to the hillside for some of yummy Penang durian. We tasted the delectable Ang Heh (literally means Red Prawn). There is mostly Thai durian sold in Hong Kong which is so bland to me. Nothing like the tasty Malaysian durian that I'm so used to from my childhood days in Singapore. For those interested, you might like to check out the different varieties of durians here.

And I wore the linen pants I sewed using the Very Easy Vogue 7883 (I made the size 10). The fabric is a grayish blue linen (the third one from the top of this stack of fabric) which I bought in Shamshuipo. I love this fabric and have some more it which I hope to make a Twinkle Sew top. That is, if I could figure out how to print the patterns from the CD (do I shrink to fit when printing? Thanks to anyone who can help me out with this or point me to where I can find more information on printing out the Twinkle Sew patterns). The waist band is in elastic, next time I have to learn how to fix the elastic to the back only as I certainly do not need the extra bulk around my tummy.

Are you tired of the headless photos of mine? I am, so here's the 4 of us and another look at the linen pants.

Day 4 was for visiting the historic sites in Georgetown, which is one of the Unesco heritage cities. Below is a photo of Chew Jetty, homes built on stilts in the waters. I wore my purple Nani Iro tunic on this day. We went for some yummy Peranakan food that evening.

On day 5, our last day in Penang, we went in search of the famous Penang Road Chendol, had more Ang Heh durian along Mcalister Road and had authentic street side hawker food at Lorong Baru/New Lane.

And I wore the Simplicity top (2596, View A, size 8). The fabric is a synthetic blend (realized it only afterwards) that I got from Taobao website in China. It is mini navy anchors on white. I chose the wrong weight interfacing and the neck sort of stood up. Luckily it softens after a wash and here you have it, me being adventurous wearing my own homemade top in the streets of Penang. And of course flip-flops are a must.

A mix of everything in this post, our adventures in a fun-filled holiday in Penang (so much to see, so much to eat too) and my adventures in sewing (so much to learn and so much room for improvement). Hope you are still with me. Meanwhile, have a great weekend!

Provence Baby Cardigan

Over the weekend, I finished a pair of linen pants with elastic bands from a Vogue pattern and a top from a Simplicity pattern. I also fixed the neck band of the cream Nani Iro top to make the neckline narrower. The double gauze is horrible to reap (very delicate) and the original binding almost 'melted' but I managed to fudge it. Although the result of my weekend sewing session is very far from 100%, I think I did take some baby steps forward. And I now have a few new own-made pieces to wear for the holiday in Penang. Before we depart this afternoon, I'll like to show you some new knitting.

One of my quickest knit to date. I guess things will get done if I focus. I started it the week before so that I could have it on time to give to Yam for her new born baby girl.

Pattern: Provence Baby Cardigan from Classic Elite available free here.
Size: 9-12 months
Yarn: 3 balls Rowan Wool Cotton, Laurel #960
Needles: Clover #7 (4.2mm) and Clover #5 (3.6mm)

I have a long queue of baby stuffs on Ravelry and I'm very glad to have friends to knit for.

Love these jade-coloured plastic buttons that I got from Spotlight before they closed down. And I have to add a little bit of red for good luck!