Little Purl of the Orient

Home stretch and some socks thought

Is it me or does it happen to most of you? I just can't seem to stick to one and only project at a time, unlike Eva or Joy. I guess the secret to their super productivity, besides having 'turbo hands', must be attributable to their ability to stay true to the project at hand most of the time.

How long have you stayed 'monogamous' to a project? I'm surprised at myself for not having strayed since starting Criss-cross. I haven't touched anything else since. A first time for me in a long, long while and I feel like giving myself a pat on the back. It must be the ASC which kept calling to me to knit her. Home stretch now.

Next up? The idea of a shrug or bolero really is tempting, and will be just the right garment to wear with the dress on my brother's wedding day but I don't quite get the fashion trends so I'd better not be caught off it. And I know deep down that a shrug is just not me. Once upon a time, I knitted a shrug to match a sleeveless sweater and then had the shrug ripped out because I wore it but a couple of times and felt it was a waste for the yarn being that shrug. Hence I'll not knit a shrug or bolero but will stick to socks. Socks never go out of fashion. But which socks?

Starting from top left and going clockwise:
1) Go with the Flow Socks from IK Summer 05 using these 2 skeins of Koigu P436 inspired by Michelle.
2) Merino Lace Socks from IK Summer 03 in these Brown Sheep Wildefoot, or should I use them for Broadripple socks?
3) Eastern European Footlets from IK Winter 04 using the leftover and maybe some blue. I'll leave out the intarsia and let the self-patterning do the work. Great chance to test out Japanese short row (instead of the PGR short row) for the toes and heels.
4) Waving Lace Socks from IK Spring 04 in these Japanese wool. Who wouldn't love pretty pink lacy socks?
5) Retro Ribs Socks from IK Winter 04 in Lorna's Laces Ravenswood.
6) Cable Rib socks from IK Fall 04 in these Fortissima Cotton Colouri, just right for the summer.

Ah, the luxury of choice, and I'm still within the bounds of IK patterns. Before knowing about handknit socks, I would never have imagined the mind-boggling possibilities for the humble sock.

How do you like your shoulders?

I like mine short-rowed, sushi Japanese styled. Whenever I encounter a pattern calling for shoulder shaping, I would pick up my tattered 'how to knit Japanese' guide published in Chinese and follow the diagrams in there grudgily. I never fail to mutter under my breath not to do it again because every time I'd difficulty figuring out which loop to pick in order to close the gap. But short-rows do produce such nice, non-choppy shoulders that are good to look at and easy to seam.

So I was thrilled when IK has a write-up on short-rows including Japanese style in its winter 2004 issue. The trick is to place a marker on the working yarn, marking out the loop to close that gap. And now, we have Nona to the rescue. She tested how the different short-rows methods work and look, and demonstrated how to do Japanese short-rows. Definitely neater result than the wrap and turn method for the ruffles scarf. I would really love to try it on socks and see if it works for the toes and heels as well. It's very similar to the Ozyarn no-wrap short-row (unfortunately the page has been taken off the web) but the loop picked up to close the gap is different.

So here is the short-rowed left shoulder of Criss-cross. All I'm left with are the fronts to knit and the edges to crochet. Do not be fooled by the stocking stitch, there's quite a bit of shaping to keep me on my toes. My only concern is that the original garment was knitted in silk making it nice and drapey whereas the ASC is of a totally different make. Anyway, it's too late to worry. And of course, Vogue Knitting patterns leave a lot to be desired. Go read Wendy, I'm sure you'll fall off your chair. Ha, ha, ha.

What, already summer?

Hot, sticky, hot, that's the weather we're having over here in Hong Kong, the Pearl of the Orient. So the pink boucle is now snuggly in the closet without i-cord. You're right, got to give the husband some face.

Summer has come full force that even the All Seasons Cotton I'm working with right now seems too warm. I even got my IK summer last week! That's probably because they want me to renew my subscription which expires with this issue. I nearly got side-tracked by some of the shrugs in there but am sticking to my original plan.

Nope, I'm not knitting something from the Opinionated Knitter but I'm sure I'll. The book is full of inspirations, do I need to say more? I got it in trade with Jenni who got my half kit of English Garden Ab Fab and I love it. As for the ASC, the yarn will hopefully become Criss-cross from Vogue Knitting S/S 05 (design #5). I should really knit something for the right season.

Is this it?

Guess I can call the pink boucle done. However, it is without the i-cord border as per husband's request. Yes, I'd decided on the i-cord instead of the lace but husband, who's normally indifferent to my knitting, has been taking a great interest in this cardigan and is asking me to leave it as it is. He calls it the 'unfinished' look. While I was asking Ji Yuan to try it on so to see how the collar is fitting, husband saw it and took an immediate liking to it. Ji Yuan is reluctant to put it on as it's really too warm and husband was so excited that he carried her to the bathroom mirror so that she can see it. Anyway, this goes off the needles and straight into the closet.

It's been great DIYing this cardigan. The front is in the Australian boucle given to me by Michelle, the  back, sleeves, etc in Online Linie 38 Kaschmerino (5 balls used); the pattern, I just followed the schematics of the Bouton D'or design and knitted as I go. Here are some details. The body tapers gently to where the armhole shaping starts and I adopted the square armhole to simply things. The sleeves are attached to the body 'mattress stitch' way.

As there is no ribbing, the stocking stitch bottom edge for the back was curling horribly. I wet blocked it in an unorthodox way: place it between a towel and put some heavy books on it to 'straighten' it out. It kinda work. I still think the cardigan should have the i-cord border, or would I be adding feet to a snake?

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands

I managed to finish Clapotis amidst all the mess. I know you must have seen all you want to see and read all you want to read on Clapotis but here is one more. It is the best project to knit during multi-tasking times. I was able to squeeze in a few rows here and there in between playing with my kids and before I knew it, I ran out of yarn. Rather than wait weeks for to order one more hank from Chez Casuelle (which, by the way, has excellent service), I make a calculation of the number of stitches I could save if I rip out a straight row repeat. It seems just about to make up what I'm missing. So I thread a life line where I want to stop unravelling and rip I went. The second time through the decrease rows, I crossed my fingers real tight and told myself I'll have enough, and I sure did. It was a close save.

So here it is, still unblocked. Wrap style.

And scarf style.

I take my hats off to all self-photographers out there. How do you do it? I'm all shaky hands.

I'll go finish up the pink boucle next. Really appreciate your opinions on the finishing. Guess I'll ponder it over some more while knitting up the collar.

Back in Hong Kong

First of all, there's a new knitting mama on the blog, welcome Joy! Think it's challenging being a working, knitting, blogging mama? Joy finishes the most lovely knits. Personally, it is definitely harder work being a full-time homemaker. I'll be home the next week to take care of my children as our helper is on vacation. I would lucky to be sane enough for some knitting.

Sound and safe here in Hong Kong. How Macau has changed since the last spring when we visited. It's a lot like a boomtown again with lots of construction going on and too many tourists as there's a new casino. I prefer the quieter Macau of last year. My kids didn't seem to mind as long as there were playgrounds. And I could but knit about 5 rows on the Clapotis, big deal.

That's Ji Yuan (top) wearing her Brice Cardigan. Goodness me, I haven't realised how much she has grown, just look at her photo in the October post (just click on the link).

The weather has gotten really warm, looks like the pink boucle will have to go into the closet when finished. The sleeves are set in and I'm toying with the idea of a lacey border but it looks kind of fussy. I think I'm going to stick to the applied i-cord. What do you think?

Here's the close up of the narrow lace strip.

Another ruffled scarf

Computer is not cooperating. I'll make this really quick before it dies on me. The olive green ruffled scarf is done. 7 rows of garter stitch, increasing in very stitch by knitting into front and back on all even rows. Yarn and pattern kindly supplied by Jennifer.

We are going off to Macau until Saturday. See you then!

Just getting there

It's unbelievable that this flu bug of mine is getting on it's fourth week. I couldn't stand it anymore and went to see a Chinese physician last Friday. There's a general belief that traditional chinese medicine is good for ridding the body of the imbalances that's causing the illness. It's amazing how a good physician can tell how well your internal organs are functioning by 'listening' to your pulse and looking at your tongue. An analogy by my colleague summarizes it all. Your organs are like ballons, a western doctor will treat it when he finds some hole in them but a traditional chinese medicine practitioner will tell you when the ballon is starting to deflat.

End of whining. Look, I'm closing in on the pink cardigan for Ji Yuan but looks like the weather is warming up too much for her to wear it. See the bottom edge curling like crazy? I'm thinking of applied i-cord which should go well with the cardigan instead of ribbing but I don't know if it will work well holding down the edge. Any ideas?

You never know what knitters will do to meet other knitters. Justine,  originally from Canada and now teaching in Taipei, decided to fly into Hong Kong one day ahead of schedule so that she can meet up with Kimberli and us, the Hong Kong knitters. How can I miss such a gathering despite the fact that I don't have a baby sitter on Sundays? So I brought Chung Yi with me. This girl has potential and immediately attacked the sales bin and picked out some blue yarn with teddy bear labels on them. At the end of the day, I managed to persuade her to check out the button section instead. Here's our loot, orange yarn (yay!) and buttons for some projects I have in mind.

Although I did little knitting over the past week, my head is bursting with ideas.
1) A cardigan for Chung Yi using the denim that failed;
2) I should have some more denim yarn left for a Buckle Bag from Rowan 37;
3) I would have 1.5 balls of pink yarn left over from Ji Yuan's cardigan and that would just become a pair of lovely Cloverleaf Eyelet Rib socks for Ji Yuan.
4)  The olive green mohair is from Jennifer of CA whom I've been corresponding for a while. She has just an interesting pattern for a wavy scarf which I would love to try.
5) Two stocking stitch projects at the same time make me crave for cables and looked what I've received, the Celtic Dreams pattern! I might just start it and knit it slowly over the course of the next few years. Inishmore will have to give way.
6) And this number from VK S/S 05, I'm going to use the ASC in stash.
7) And a mutli-colour cotton cardigan from Phildar Pitchuon S/S 05 for Ji Yuan.

That's not counting the green cardigan and Loll which I have to have this year. So you see, the list is groweth and is never ending. I'm just being unrealistic. Who says I have to anyway?

Okay, end of dreaming and I'll get back to my Clapotis.