Little Purl of the Orient

Baby Tomten and Hat Set

With the 2 girls plus niece (who's staying with us for summer) at home, my sils and I've been running around like mad women, fetching them to this camp and that class. And then naturally, there are the kiddy squabbles that will test anyone's patience. It all boils down to poor planning on the mommys' side, I would say.

So knitting has been happening to me in bits and pieces (and yes, I owe some of you emails, sorry). I'm in a mad rush to finish off as many items as possible to be sent off to Bridget by the beginning of August from my end. And there is just not enough time to do all that I've planned.

There are so many wee patterns out there that I would like to knit, hats, socks, bootees, little jackets, cardigans. The excitement of finding a nice pattern that would work with the yarn on hand, printing it out and then immediately casting it on resulted in a plethora of half finished products that I'm so embarrassed to blog about. I've decided to group things up, so first up is the Baby Tomten and Hat set.

I used the pattern from The Opinionated Knitter by EZ for the Tomten. Sizing in the original pattern is achieved through using different gauge yarns. As I'd wanted to use this particular yarn (worsted weight) in stash for this jacket, I downsized it by casting on 30% less stitches than called for which is both divisible by 4 and 8. The cream-coloured suspender stripes (as Jared called them) are added for fun.

As for the front fastening, I opted the easy way out and made a 2-row garter-stitch button band instead. And used just 3 buttons as Eva (thanks, Eva) suggested. Her Tomten is here.

Now the hat.

I found this pattern, modified it for knitting in the round and then ended changing a few things to to arrive at what it is now. So I thought I would just share how I did it herebelow:

Yarn: Worsted weight yarn in MC and CC
Needles: Clover #7 (4.2 mm) dpns
Pattern: With CC, cast on 54 st, join for knitting in the round. Knit 6 rounds garter stitch (i.e. K1, P1 in the round).
Change to MC. K 3 rounds, P 2 rounds, (K7 rounds, P 2 rounds) 2 times, K6 rounds.
Decrease round 1: (K4, k2tog), repeat to end. K1 round
Decrease round 2: (K3, k2tog), repeat to end. K1 round
Decrease round 3: (K2, k2tog), repeat to end.
Cut yarn and thread through all stitches and pull tight and fasten.
Attach pompom in CC and enjoy.

I almost wanted to cast on for another set but decided to come to my senses and tackle the big pile little WIPs or else the knits won't be able to make it to the UK by end August.

New books/patterns alert: The preview for Rowan 42 and the other new Rowan/RYC books are out but I seem more excited about the new Fall IK and the complimentary Debbie Bliss cardigan pattern on the VK website. What about you?

BTW, I've finally added a photo of the Japanese accessories knitting and crocheting book that I'm destashing. Check it out if you're interested.

I did do some sewing

I did do some pre-summer sewing. Just before the last day of school back in June, I decided to get my act together and sew JY's teacher a bag as a 'Thank you'. The intention has always been there but I didn't get around doing it until the last minute, as always. So, I made a wrist bag and like doing it so much that I made 3 more.

This greenish one is given to the teacher who's favorite colour is green. The construction is really simple. One handle shorter and fatter than the other and just slip the thin one through the fat one.

The inside is lined with Amy Butler fabric. You could choose to use all different fabrics like in the Cotton & Paint Summer '07 where I got the inspiration to make these bags. But I chose to keep things simple and use just 2 fabrics. I forgot to add my woven labels again but did remember to put them on the other 3.

I decide to throw in some stitching (the inspiration also came from the above-said C&P). My favourites are the natural linen ones but I decided not to add any stitching for those.

Meanwhile, inspiration came to me when looking at my bath towel this morning on a workable quilt top using the batiks . And I've got some ideas for the robot patchwork blanket too. Now I just need more time or less sleep. Have a great weekend, all!

Are you ready for some summer knitting and sewing?

How's your summer going? Mine is an extremely busy one! There are still some knitting going here and there and I'm trying to finish up as many stuff as possible by beginning to send off for the Kisiizi Appeal. Like this Baby Shedir. More on that later.

Instead, I have here are some pattern books to go. All prices include shipping by airmail. Please leave me a comment or email me if you're interested in any of the below or have any questions.

*Taken* First off, a brand new, unused Umami Bag book all the way from Japan ISBN4579109856. Featuring a number (if I didn't see wrongly, 40) of contemporary bag patterns which can be viewed here at Crafting Japanese. A must have for crafty bag makers.

*Taken* - 2003 Spring/Summer Ladies Pattern book - ISBN4529038076. Knitting and crochet patterns for ladies apparels and accessories. Total 23 patterns. Some of them are posted here.

*Taken* Gedifra Highlights #41 (USD8) - 28 patterns in all. The spine is a bit damaged when I got it in the mail all the way from the States. The back cover has some creases and a small tear. See patterns here. I bought this booklet for this tank top but didn't get around knitting it.

*Taken* FEMALE summer sewing pattern book - Many (139!) sewing patterns some of which I posted here. One of the pattern pages has been detached from the book, pattern traced out but not cut. So the entire pattern page is still intact. I made this blouse from this book but realised that dressmaking is not really me.

Now pattern books for the early birds who want to start their fall/winter knitting now or just want to be well-prepared.

* Taken* Accessories Book ISBN4277171869. Ready to start knitting/crocheting some cool winter accessories like hats, caps, shawls and scarves? If yes, then this book might be for you. There are 45 patterns listed in there but some of them are variations. You can check out some of the patterns I posted here. I made a cabled hat for hubby from this book. The copy I have here is the last one at the lys so it is not in its pristine condition but there are no tears or big creases.

Jaeger JB10 pattern book for Chamonix (USD9) - 10 patterns for ladies sweaters. See patterns here.

* Taken* Giveaway (Free) - Does anybody love cow hides? Here is a bag of remnant pieces leftover from making a cushion. Enough for sewing some puches or for accenting your crafty creations. I don't think my sewing machine can sew these but too wasteful to throw them out. So free for anyone who likes it but as it is weighs quite a bit, I would just like to ask you to pay for postage. Let me know if you're interested.

Inspirations abound

Has it already been a week since we went to our friend's island house? They actually live there, it's not a holiday house. But to me, it seems so far away from the real world but it's just a boat ride away. That's another amazing thing I love about Hong Kong. There are lots of inspirations over last weekend but I've not taken a lot of photos.

First is the simple batik blanket in muted greens, blues and browns that welcomed us in the guest bedroom. It is sewn simply in the usual patchwork square blocks formation. Now I feel inspired to make a simple one too but I have only 2 Malay batik fabrics that I brought back from Singapore. I would ask my mum one of these days as she's bound to have some remnants in her stash.

Our friend's old and tattered beach bag. I'm going to make her a new one and maybe even one for myself too. How nice to see Nancy posted her tutorial on sewing a beach tote. Perfect timing.

Dear little L, our friends' 4-year old, who got on so well with JY and CY. He saw me knitting and said "Knitting, grandma." I enquired with his mum and apparently, his grandma in France knits. Although our friend, C, doesn't knit, she knows that her mum loves to knit aran sweaters and with Phildar yarn and patterns. C's aunt, who lives in Yorkshire is an avid knitter too. I must get to know them. Since L's not short of knits from his grandma and great aunt, I think he could use a new robot blanket. Let's see what I can do with these pre-cut 4" robot and lightning fabric squares.

So what was I knitting last weekend? I brought 2 projects with me to the island. First project, a Baby Tomten meant for the Kisiizi Appeal. I'm using worsted weight wool from China plus Jaeger merino aran for the accent stripes. Almost done now. I haven't decided how to make the enclosure. Husband thinks a zipper would be nice. I'm scared of zippers though. And would zippers be good for little babies? This is a 3-6 month size.

Second project, the Conwy sock, which has been one of the old favourites in Blogsville a few years back but now seems (well, I haven't googled) to have been forgotten. My stitches aren't perfectly even here but I love this pattern. It is from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road and I’m using Rio de la Plata sock yarn which is oh, so soft.

And if I've seen this and this earlier, I would have knitted this Mad Color Weave Sock. And then there's this beautiful pair of Snicket. Pattern from Magknits. Well, there's always a next pair and a next, my sock yarn stash is waiting patiently for me to dive in.

My girls love our friends and their house and have been asking to go back again. And you should hear their discussions about our friends' cats; whether the black one with white spots is the better kitty or the white one with black patches, hilarious. Yes, I should have at least taken some photos of the illusive kitties. I should at least get to know their names, and not just the dog's, who's Leon the Cleaner, named after the Luc Besson character.

Great weekend escapade and a shawl

Our friends invited us to stay at their place on an island over the weekend. And what a fabulous time was had by all. Our girls enjoyed themselves tremendously at the beach yesterday after going for a short hike in the hills. It is seldom that they come so close to nature, and it was fun to see them with our friends' little boy, big dog and two shadowy cats. And guess who has the loudest whine but my little dinosaur, CY, ha.

We have all been able to relax because nephew has taken a big positive step forward. Three cheers! He has had another surgery last week that went well. Thank you all for sending good thoughts his way!

The prayer shawl for sil is completed. She'll be able to use it when she takes nephew back to the hospital for more treatments.

The pattern is the Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style, and it is a surprisingly easy lace which gives such a pleasing result. I used two full hanks of Lorna's Lace sock yarn in the Lilac colourway sent to me by Grumperina Kathy last year. And I can't wait to knit with the Socks that Rock the she sent too. I didn't pay attention to the shades while I wound the LL, and realized only after I neared the finishing line that the two hanks are decidedly different in tone.

The arrow points to the great divide. The normally picky husband very uncustomarily said that the differing shades look nice. And two hanks give a just-right-size shawl and I knitted more than the 8 repeats because I used thinner yarn than called for in the pattern. The cast off was done like the Flower Basket Shawl, nice and loose.

Joy egged me on to try the Addi Lace needles and the set I used, 3.75mm, is a wonder to work with, nice pointy ends for those K2togs and SSKs. The right tool adds that much difference. Maybe I should invest in some Knit Picks blocking wires next. Notice the gentle, scallop-y edge instead of those nice pointy ones that you see most of the time on the blogs? I blocked the shawl in a primitive way, washed it, spreaded it out on a towel on the bay window and pulled out the points and just let the shawl dry without pins (not feasible with children running around).

Have you Monkeyed?

For a moment while taking photos of my own sock-clad feet, the image of the super versatile acrobats in the Beijing Acrobatics Troupe which we saw back in Easter came to my mind. It definitely would have helped if I'm half as malleable. Sock knitters who take their own sock/feet photos should know what I'm talking about. Long story short, only 1 modeled shot to show you as the rest came out rather blur with my hands shakey trying to bend over this way and that.

Monkey socks, free pattern from Knitty, which has taken over Blogsphere after the sensational Jaywalker and Pomatomus socks, among others. They are knitted for my friend, O. After washing and blocking, the Wildfoote (Tom Cat colourway) yarn does become less synthetic and nicer to touch. I used Clover 3s for the ribbing and Clover 2s for the main part. Very trouble-free knit, the stitch pattern is interesting and easy to remember and I just wanted to keep going.

So here's one a stationary (but rather over-exposed) shot.

Another pair of booties

It's been quite a while since my last post. My folks were in town last week and we had a rather intensive but enjoyable tour of Hong Kong and I had little time and energy to do anything else.

This pair of booties has been crocheted before my family arrived but I just wove in the ends today. The pattern is from this Japanese book from which I also made JY's bolero and CY's hoodie vest.

If you peer inside the booties, you'll notice that one has a darker base then the other. That's because I had a feeling I'll run out of yarn so I used some leftover Rowanspun 4 ply (this yarn has incredible yardage, I've got quite a lot leftover from the Tumbling Blocks cushion). Now I like the one with the contrast base better. And the cream colour edgings are also crocheted in Rowanspun 4 ply since I ran out of the cream yarn after making the motif centres. The shocking pink yarn is wool from stash.

This pair of booties is quite large and fits CY's feet. She's coming to 4 years old soon, next week. But the booties are not for CY, they will join the Saartje Booties and hat set for the Kisiizi Appeal.

And I haven't forgotten the boys, here's the beginning of another pair of booties, once again using up resources in the leftover stash pool.