Little Purl of the Orient

Sidetracked

So much for all this talk about organizing my knitting. Louise is asking about the pattern for the baby cardigan that I knitted back in 2000 for my husband's niece, Natalie. It was from an old Japanese book which one I can't recall. I, myself, am looking for the dress pattern I wanted to knit for Chung Yi. So out came the knitting books. Those on the left are mine while the pile on the right is from my dear friend, Connie, who lugged all seven of them to my office this afternoon (thanks, Concon). After going through all twelve of them, I still couldn't find both patterns.

Earlier on, I took the excuse of hunting for the patterns to visit yarn stores. Not only I couldn't find the patterns, I got sidetracked. Anyway, I got tempted to make one of those kerchiefs that many little girls seem to be spotting in Hong Kong. Excuse my poor vocabulary, I don't know if kerchief is the right word, it's a piece of triangular scarf worn over the head with two strings to tie under the chin or at the back of the head. See, I crochet two of these, one for Ji Yuan and another for her cousin, Natalie.

They are in Adriafil ribbon yarn called 'Tender', colour #80. The yarn is far from tender, it's so stiff that my wrist hurts from the crocheting. I hope the girls like the candy-coloured thingies and I'll try to get them to model them this weekend.

Breaking out of pink

Guess I got to find a way to get out of saying 'from a Japanese pattern book' when I describe my projects. Just which Japanese pattern book is it from? I don't know Japanese and I haven't found a way to search for the specific title in the Internet and link it here. This site has got some Japanese knitting magazines listed but I can't find the one I wanted to show as it is an old issue. So I'll resort to the low-tech method of taking a photo of my book and posting it here.

This is the cardigan I'm going to knit for my work wardrobe and it is from this book printed back in 2001. The picture is not very clear but it's got an interesting 'ribbing', which in fact is not ribbing but some eyelet pattern. The body is knitted in lace columns with beads/pearls down the front. Shoulder pads are definitely no-no for me though. Looks conservative enough for a bank, yes?

Initially, I chose a white cotton yarn from my stash bought last year but I'm pretty sure it's not enough. I would need at least 4 more balls. So I went down to the yarn store on Saturday to try my luck but the colour is no longer in stock. The boss was kind enough for me to change it to another colour that has enough for the cardigan and this is what I picked. The yarn has actually got some subtle sparkles in it. Click here for a close up. As mentioned to Julie in my comments, I've been in a pink phase for a while and I welcome a change. Green should be soothing on the eyes.

Some small things

The work schedule for the past week has been terrible and there was little time for knitting. This is what I'm working on: the Gingerbread Castle for a secret project. It's suppose to be a 12x12 square but looks like the length may fall short as I have another 20 odd rows of the pattern to go and am only at 8".

I managed to steal some time on the bus journey yesterday to work on a bias garter stitch square. Together with the log cabin square that was finished a while ago, they will go to the MDK Afghanalong.

And I bought these cotton yarn for Chung Yi's dress. Another pink dress, eh? I'm thinking of using a pattern I saw in my friend's old Japanese knitting book which I've been wanting to knit. She's going to dig out the book when she has time. It is basically in stocking stitch with crochet flowers and leaves.

Taking Stock of Knitting

All the nice comments on the Thinking Dress really made my day! Thank you all! I love knitting and needlework in general as I derive a lot of satisfaction from being able to make things with my hands. When my parents-in-law, who live with us, see me knitting away at night, they will say to me, go and take a rest now that both children are asleep. What they don't understand is that when I'm knitting, I feel calm and at peace with myself. I can finally relax after a hard day's work and the evening of taking care of the children. I enjoy the rhythm of easy peasy stocking stitch and I also adore the intricacy of a complex cable. Knitting makes me happy.

Having said that, I got to organize my knitting a bit because there are a never-ending number of things I would love to work on but I only have so much time. Here goes what I would want to knit in the near term (not in any particular order):

1) 2 x 12" squares for Secret Project - Gingerbread Castle + probably Hobby Horse
2) Sampler Afghan
3) A dress for little Chung Yi for her birthday this July
4) An 'Everyday' Cardigan, not the one everyone is knitting but a cardigan for me to wear in the office everyday.
5) A nice little cardigan for going to work in.
6) Pee Wee sweater
7) Rambling Rows Afghan

Seems that Inishmore and the mini top-down wannabe has fallen out of the list. I still love these projects but they are too woolly for the current weather. On the needles now is the Gingerbread Castle (Barbara Walker Treasury, Book 2). I'm about 25 rows up, just pass the windows level.

Bad things, good things

I looked at my reflection in the mirror this morning and realized that I lost some more weight over the weekend. The tension at work has been giving me gastritis and I haven't been eating properly. I don't have to go the scales to know that I'm below my pre-pregnancy weight. I also know I'm looking terribly washed out and am getting sick easily. So first priority now would be to get my body in shape in order to cope with work, take good care of my children and knit. I'll take it a step at a time and stop pushing myself too hard.

Something to cheer me up though. My eldest sister-in-law went to Singapore for a 4-day holiday with her family and came back with loads of goodies from my parents. My mum sewed some clothes for the children, packed some chillies, green limes, and spices that are not readily available here in Hong Kong. She also bought some brown rice cereal for little Chung Yi. I don't know why, but Nestle doesn't distribute the same products, like the brown rice cereal in Hong Kong. Whenever there's someone coming from Singapore to Hong Kong, my parents are sure to ask the 'courier' to bring us some goodies. Their thoughts just make the presents extra special. Ji Yuan's so happy with her new dress Granny sewed that she refused to change into her pyjamas just now. Chung Yi is too little to express herself but I'm sure she'll love her cereal.

Just a still life shot of the Thinking Dress.

Read that Rowan's children patterns are usually generously sized. This one seems to fit just right. I wonder how much longer it's going to last?

A post blogging FO

Finally, a post blogging FO! The Thinking Dress is fresh off the needles today which coincidentally is the first month I'm using Typepad. Hope that now I'm more familiar with Typepad, I can allocate more time for knitting.

Ji Yuan is not fond of photo taking and after much ado, these are some shots of her in the Thinking Dress.

It is overcast today and the lighting really is not good for photo taking. Here's another blurry photo. She's wearing the dress to her cousin's house so I can't take any still life shots. Well, next time.

The Thinking Dress is a straight forward and easy pattern. It is also a quick knit on Japanese size 10 (5.1mm) needles and the All Seasons Cotton is easy to knit. I made only a few adjustments.
1) Work the decreases 1 stitch from the edge so that the mattress stitch seaming is smoother and uninterrupted.
2) Right-hand side decreases are worked SSK and left-hand ones are K2tog instead of K2tog for both sides as written in the pattern.

After I finished the front, I came across a Meg Swansen article in the Spring IK about SSK. She mentioned 'Dee's method' which is to slip the second stitch as if to purl. Working the SSK decreases this way gave her a smoother finish. As I also get a 'fat bump' for my SSKs, I tried it out for the back and it did yield a cleaner look.

What next? I couldn't wait and cast on the 'Gingerbread Castle' square. I'm making it in King Cole Anti-tickle superwash wool.

Still thinking

Buried up to my neck with work that I can hardly breath. One of my colleagues is on leave and another left the bank, so I'm loaded with extra work. Looks like the busy schedule is not relenting though as our branch has a new boss and he is pushing, pushing and pushing. Returned home later than usual yesterday but despite my fatigue, I worked on the Thinking Dress. I really want to see it done. Managed to pick up the back neck opening as well as the neck band. I'm now left with the 2 armhole bands and the side seams to sew up. And I'm going to do that right away. After this dress is completed, I'll go and build the Gingerbread Castle. No photos to share tonight as Wai Lung brought the compact flash to develop the Macau photos. Oh, and check out these adorable crochet booties. Aren't they cute?

Wu Kai Sha

We didn't go to Sai Kung after all on Sunday as it was already 3 p.m. by the time we got everyone ready. So we went to the nearby cove that is about 15 minutes walk away. A good thing about living in Ma On Shan, New Territories is that you are so close to nature in concrete Hong Kong while not having to give up the modern amenities. Wu Kai Sha, the little beach nearby is kind of picturesque, with an old fashion jetty, boats bobbing gently on the sea, windsurfers, canoers and the warm, balmy breeze blowing in your hair. On weekends, there are families digging for shellfishes and groups enjoying barbecues. You just got to keep looking out at sea or to your right though, as on the left are the highrises jutting up into the sky, one of which is where we live. A pity the littering problem is quiet bad, with empty drinks bottles and packets lying around. The cans are taken care of by an old lady going around collecting them as they can be sold for some money. Anyway, we had a nice afternoon; Ji Yuan had some fun digging in the sand while Chung Yi slept sweetly in my arms. We forgot the camera but I found this site with some photos, much nicer than the ones we would have taken.

Yesterday was still a public holiday in Hong Kong. Wai Lung and his family went to pay their Ching Ming respects at their ancestors' graves. I had to take care of my children and the nephew, Matthew and had little time to knit. Ji Yuan drew this little picture of the windsurfer she saw the day before.

First day at work today after a week long break and what a crazy day it was. I'm totally sapped of energy and don't think I'm able to knit tonight.

Square 39 and Thinking

Argh ... I had a terrible bout of stomach flu and fever on Friday. I don't why but I seem to get sick easily. Probably I'm not getting enough rest or maybe because I ate too much durian recently. Wai Lung's entire family was here yesterday to celebrate his birthday which is actually on the 18th. His elder sister's family is going to Singapore for holiday next week so we are celebrating in advance. Actually birthday celebrations nowadays are mainly 'cake and candles' events for all the children to sing at the top of their voices and fight to see who get to blow the candles first.

Ji Yuan and her daddy went to the Moscow Circus yesterday afternoon and had a great time. I gave it a miss as I prefer some quiet time at home before the family arrive.

I finished up the 39th square in Optical Illusion pattern and it is now blocking. The pattern was not as easy as it seemed. It has a 30-odd row repeat and I had to follow the chart all the way. The size of my square is too small to capture the pattern well.

I'm going to take a short break from my own sampler to work on the Secret Project. I've already in mind what to knit and am getting excited about it. It'll be in the Gingerbread Castle pattern from one of the Walker treasuries, and will probably be in cream or yellow. Part two of the Secret Project will likely be in Little Hobbyhorse from book 3.

Meanwhile, the Thinking Dress is cruising along nicely. The front is done and the back is almost there. I'll try to finish it for Ji Yuan to wear to school next week after Easter break. What a big difference when you are enjoying the yarn. The ASC is a real joy to knit compared to the cotton chenille.

Today's weather is warm and sunny, perfect for an outing to the beach. We'll go to Sai Kung to catch the breeze.

Thinking Dress, here we go!

Well, the back of Pee Wee is done and I promptly started the Thinking Dress this morning. Look, l made some progress.

It's in Rowan All Seasons Cotton, colour 'Kiss', the same as the picture in the book which is a nice fuschia. This's the first time I work with ASC and I really like it, in contrast to the cotton chenille. I got gauge on my first try, which is really rare as I'm a tight knitter. The yarn is easy to knit and the stitch definition is great. I got a pack of 10 from the recent Colourway sale and would probably have 6 balls left for another project as this dress calls for only 4. Too bad this yarn is not readily available here in Hong Kong. There're only colours 'grape' and 'sunburst' in the 'printed' version. I bought 3 balls of 'grape' last winter intended to knit something for the kids.

The 10th season of ER started in Hong Kong tonight and Wai Lung huddled on the sofa with the blanket to watch it as the weather has turned chilly again. It would have been nice if the sampler afghan is ready. At my pace, looks like it may only come in handy next fall.