Little Purl of the Orient

I almost made it

Veronica, my NaKniSweMo candidate, is now in fewer pieces but still not in one piece. Knitting the long picot edged garter stitch border is not a big problem (I'm just about half way though) but I can foresee sewing it on would be, my finishing mojo seems to be lacking some oomph. I'm still aiming to finish it by this week as there are many more projects to knit.

Did I mention about the yarn? I'm using RYC Cashsoft DK, colourway: Bella Donna. It is the softest, butteriest yarn I've ever knitted with. I hope it'll not pill though.

What should I do next? So many patterns are calling out my name, the list is so long that I'd better not write it down here and embarrass myself. But then again, I'd also better tackle the outstanding Christmas gifts.

And I've knitted a pink square for Ariane, hoping to send along lots of positive vibres for Project Warming Kaitlyn.

No more knitting now though, bedtime would be early tonight because .... achoo!

It must be from Narnia

If you're wondering what this creature is, it is a bunny. 4 out of the 5 friends I asked told me 'oh, I thought it was a dog.' The 5th person, dear Maryann, exclaimed without any single doubt that it is a girl Jar Jar Binks. As I'm no Star Wars fan (neither is my husband), I've no idea which side he's on, the good side or the dark side. I do hope his type is good though.

My two girls of course took it as a bunny as I've told them and JY has grown quite fond of it over the months that took me to make it. She calls her Jasmine. CY on seeing her with clothes, says that she's a superhero. And I think I can see why, the reversible dress looks more like a superhero cape worn on the front. I made the dress following Lynn's tutorial but somehow it's just not as nice. As for the bunny pattern, it's from the book Animaux en Recup by Charlotte Vannier.

I realized that it is just too difficult to create cuteness and I laud the softie creators out there who just seem to so effortlessly create sweet and adorable dollies/puppies/bunnies/etc. Cuteness completely eluded me this time. It took me some time to get used to Jasmine, for a while, I just couldn't get over those spooky eyes, kind of remind me of the Londinium Dolls by Pure Chemistry whose website doesn't seem to show those dolls anymore so I'm linking to a blog with a photo.

Can I at least think that it is a Narnian bunny, one of those special Talking Beasts that is bigger than their non-talking counterparts? It now resides with Marjorie. Actually, it is a 2-month late birthday present.

Knitting? I knitted some with my friends on Saturday but spent my other spare minutes devouring Case Histories. I just couldn't put it down, read too late into the nights and started worrying about my daughters and what kind of world do we live in. I finished it on the bus this morning. Now I can focus on my knitting again.

Stepping back in time

I had to do some 'homework' last weekend. The current unit of inquiry JY is doing in class is learning about the past, along the line of what toys do people play in the olden days? What type of food do they eat? So daddys and mummys have to write a 'letter' to our kid telling her something about what we did when we were young. It would also be nice if we could let our child bring something from the olden days to school for show and tell. I don't know about you, but this kind of homework usually gets entrusted to mummy in our household.

So the letter was written and I did have a good time reminiscing. Looking back, I did have an enjoyable childhood. It also reminded me of a post of last August. After writing the letter, I decided to sew some four/five stones and show JY how to play. They are actually pyramid-shaped rice or bean bags and we are supposed to throw and catch them in a variety of patterns. While I sewed, I tried to remember the variations we had to do and couldn't. Surprisingly when I had the stones in my hands, they just came back to me. My hands seem to have their own memory.

These are the two sets remaining in the house. I made 6 sets for my children and their cousins. I forgot to take a picture before the cousins took them home with them. JY is very happy with them and is putting one set in the 'school museum'. I also made a set for my colleague who has children about the same age as mine, plus a drawstring bag to contain them.

Do you have a favourite toy when you were young?

Closing in on the gifts

Just a very quick post before going to bed after a tiring but fun day at the park. I sewed a little pouch to hold a gift for my friend. The base is crocheted using Bouton D'ore, Dune yarn. I've got lots of that in 4 or 5 different colours, originally meant to be knitted into a Rambling Rows Afghan which never happened.

The drawstring closure and a peek at what's inside.

Why, they are the K2, Seed 2 socks in Kissed, Sweet Georgia sock yarn. As the recipient's feet are smaller than mine, I didn't want to model them and stretch the socks out. 2 hanks of yarn, 60 sts using 2.7mm needles. No swirls for the second sock (on the left)...

Should I NaKniSweMo?

Alright, today is the half way mark of November. My Socktoberfest socks are still missing one more toe. The softie I've been sewing since September (or was it August?) is still in need of some clothes. However, I still do wish to finish at least the Louisa Harding bolero/cardigan, Veronica this month. The cool weather has been late in approaching this year (it has just started to turn cool today) and has given me more time to catch up with my knits.

Although Veronica has not been started in November, if I finish it in November, could I still be considered NaKniSweMo-ing? Both sleeves are done, I'm now working on the back.

Talking about Louisa Harding, remember my earlier post? The Train Track Slipover is done and gifted. Great. Veronica is now being worked on. And here's the Nettie Scarf? Somehow, it just reminds me of Superman.

I'm eagerly awaiting to receive the winter IK. Right now, I can't decide whether to knit the Equestrian Blazer or the Arwen Cardigan. I'm wondering if the Beaverslide wool could work for the Equestrian Blazer, and at what gauge the Scottish Tweed called for is knitted at for this garment?

Enhancements

What to do when there's no knitting to show? Stash. I'm making a conscious effort not to add to stash, first it was a ban on buying yarn which didn't work and led to the stashing of fabrics. Next was 'buy only when you have a project in mind'. This seems to be working much better although it is just too easy to think of a project for yarn, it has been working. However, there're things called pressies. And I've got the most generous knit pals.

Here's the Jaeger Trinity that Erin gave me while in Singapore and a book that I bought last week.

There are some nice garments like sweaters and jackets in there but what I would love to knit most are these pieces for layering. And the best part is I could use stash for most of them.

A simple hoodie vest for CY who is really a hoodie girl. That's what the hoodie looks like from the back. Bonus, kawaii red puppy softie.

A short-sleeve bolero for JY. Check out also that softie in her hands.

This crochet tank is something I would like for myself too, someday... Maybe I'll make it for JY.

Accessories like this cute hat.

These crochet slippers.

Or these knitted ones.

Enough of blurry pictures. There's a cutest mushroom embellishment on a knitted blanket that my old camera fails to zoom in on. Got to wait until I clear the vacation photos from the new camera.

Certified Bagaholic

Remember when I had one morning left before leaving for Singapore? I realised that I do not have a proper carryall for the vacation so I decided to sew one.

I just love my new bag and used it very single day while we were in Singapore. It is just the right size for throwing everything in. The design is very basic and I followed the instructions from this book. You can see the inside pages here and here. The bag I made is the one on p.50.

It so happened that I have all the ingredients that morning to put togther this bag. There was just enough canvas belt handle to complete it. The handles could be a bit longer for a better on-the-shoulder fit and I have to remember to be more generous when I stock these.

The beautiful floral and stripes fabric is a chita that Tania sent me. The bag is lined in linen and has a front pocket which is nicely camoflouged by matching stripes. However, I do not have sufficient fabric to allow me to match the sides but it has its own uniqueness in its asymmetricity. It closes with a magnetic snap but in my hurry, I forgot to sew an inner pocket. With some leftovers, I'm going to sew a drawstring bag to match and use together.

My mother likes it a lot and I'm delighted to get her approval as she's a wonderfully resourceful, self-taught seamstress. Whenever I face problems when sewing, I always try to visualise what my mother used to do when I was young and forge ahead. I'm certainly going to sew her one and many other more. Time to go get some more magnetic snaps.

Is it November?

Thank you very much for the wonderful comments on CY and her Trellis Cardigan. She is simply oblivious to what's going on in blogsphere and in fact very often, she's just happy when there's ice cream to eat, especially in hot and sunny Singapore. So is her sister.

And water to play in. The wonders of a carefree of childhood. And it is marvellous to see how well they are enjoying it all.

We all had fun at the Waterworks in the Science Centre. And I got a bit of time watching on the sidelines with my sock.

I chose to work with Sweet Georgia's sock yarn in the Kissed colourway. Love the colours but somehow, I couldn't get away with the pooling. This is the 5th cast on with different stitch numbers and patterns. I think I can live with the spirals, one earlier try led to pooling in blocks which I couldn't take.

The 'pattern' is Steph's K2, Seed 2 and I'm using the template of Ann Budd's generic one from her Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. Nice and mindless holiday knitting. It did grew a bit more while still on vacation. Now I would have to call up my friend to get her foot length so that I could finish it up.

The holiday has gone by much too fast. It was wonderful to bask in the warmth of my family and old friends and equally delightful to meet up, shop and chat with Erin. Can you tell I'm already looking forward to our next vacation?