Bee Knits

Sharpen your brain

2009-06-23T11:39:00.001-04:00

This is so interesting!
Apparently, knitting helps to keep the brain sharp.
Check this out.

First FO since forever!!!

2009-01-26T12:14:00.003-05:00

It's been a while.

Oh well, I have no idea what to post for a while and thought to wait till the next FO. And what do you know. My knitting speed has decreased so dramatically such that I am averaging 1 FO per year. And it's not even a big FO but something simple like SCARF!!

So here's my first FO of 2009.

Black is such a tough colour to photograph. This is the only decent pic from the multiple shots that I have taken. If you would like to view more pics of this scarf, here are a few more that made the cut. I think I suck at photography. I really wish my pics could look more like hers, hers and his...

This is Wavy from Knitty Winter 2004 made especially for my friend Sandra.
She had been requesting for a handknitted scarf for a while now. Finally, right before Christmas, I 'FEEL' like knitting again and boy, did I make up for lost time.

This baby was done in less than 2 weeks. A record for me given that I have not done much knitting in the past 2 years.

Even though no blocking is required, I decided to give this scarf a good soak in a lanolin rich lavender scented soap. The scarf came out so much softer and smelling much much better than before. I hope Sandra loves it. The scarf is currently on its trans-Atlantic trip to get to her in the USA.

Now that I am back in the 'game', I decided to continue knitting before I forgot how to knit!
The weather 2-3 weeks ago was so damn cold that I was craving for a wool (yes, even the scratchy type would have been so welcomed) sweater. I know myself. I am not going to finish the sweater in time to wear it this winter. So what did I do? I pull out my Klaralund. Yes, I finished that sweater and it looks great but the sleeves! The sleeves make me feel like I am in a Chinese Opera because they are just so gigantic that I could actually hide behind it. I exaggerate of course! So I am having some fancy idea about the amendments. Just go along for now, keep your finger crossed for me and perhaps everything will turn out exactly the way I pictured it! ;-)

Destashment

2008-09-01T13:02:00.006-04:00

The old must go in order for the new to come. Although that's not really true for the reason of my destashment.

I am officially unpacked since March this year. As the unpacking process was underway, I identified some lovely yarns that I would never used. Most of them are just because the colorway are not really suitable for me. So my loss is your gain hopefully.

All prices are not inclusive of shipping. All yarns are kept in Ziploc bag and I do not have any pets at home.

~~8 skeins of Artyarn Supermerino~~

details: color 124, 8 skeins, all from the same dyelot, No dyelot nr, 2 skeins wound
USD$60/EUR40 or best offer

6 skeins of Cascade 220

details: color Amethyst 7810, 6 skeins, dyelot 5659
USD$24/EUR16 or best offer SOLD

~~8 balls of Rowan Linen Drape - Discontinued~~

Details: color Petal 842, 8 skeins, lot 3D1
USD$50/EUR34

5 skeins of Tahki cotton classic

Details: color 3486, 5 skeins, lot 638
USD$20/EUR13.50 or best offer

2 balls of Katia Bremen Dos

Details: color 36, 4skeins, lot 34565
USD$8/EUR5.5 or best offer

~~10 skeins of Noro Cash Iroha~~

Details: color 79, 10 skeins, lot 0
USD$60/EUR40 SOLD

2 skeins of Manos del urugauy

Details: color 62, 2 skeins, both skeins wound up
USD$18/EUR12

Knitting needles
Clover straight 13", US3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15
Clover 20" US11
Bryspun straight US17
Crystal Palace Bamboo Needles straight 12" US10

All needles are in brand new condition.

USD$2.5/EUR1.5 per pair
Best offer(only when buying more than 5)

Shipping & Handling
I will ship worldwide and fyi I am living in Germany.

I will be in the US from 19 September till 28 September. In case of US buyer, if you don't mind waiting, I can ship locally once I am there.

Shipping cost will be charged as per cost. Please use Deutsche Post or USPS(for US buyers only) for shipping estimation. In my email confirmation, I will inform you of the shipping costs.

Interested buyers, please email me at bee17779(at)yahoo(dot)com for more information.

It's been a while...

2008-05-07T16:25:00.004-04:00

It's been a long long time since I blogged. Somehow times just flew by and before you know it, half a year is gone!

Firstly, I have to comment on Interweave Knits. I have been getting my last 2 issues earlier than the release date as announced on their website. That means a lot given that I am living in Germany! I have already settled on 2 patterns(Leaf Kimono Top & Apres Surf Hoodie) out of the mag. Now, it's only a matter of when I will get around to it. Probably next year at the rate that I am knitting at.

Finally, here's an FO pic of my version of Shifting Sands. I finished it a few months back but never got around to blocking it. It still is not blocked!! Oh well, it's Spring and there is no need for such a warm scarf anymore so will have to wait till Autumn comes around before this baby gets some serious blocking and maybe model shots! For now, hope you enjoyed the lie-still-on-the-sofa shot. =P

And I started on Henley Perfected!!! I was 5 inches into it(knitting in the round some more!!!) before I realised that it will be too big for me. I was already knitting the smallest size and I really don't want to redo the maths for the whole sweater. So what did I do? I read on Ravelry that someone goes down a needle size and the sizing came out just right. I did a swatch, it worked for me and I went down a needle size.

I am 9 inches into it. Can't wait to start the lace part soon. Here's a sneak peek of how it is coming along so far. So what do you think? The color is a bit too sweet huh? I hope to finish it soon. As much as the weather is getting warmer here in Munich, the evening can still be a little chilly. This will be a nice pretty and warm pullover!

Finally, I also started another knitting project. For whatever reasons, all my knitting projects seem to be pink oriented. This is Montego Bay Scarf from Interweave Knits Summer 2007. I am making it with Handmaiden Seasilk in Roses & Ashes. Just gorgoeus! I loved how it is turning out so far.

Newcomers

2008-02-09T15:13:00.000-05:00

Meant for Henley Perfected. Got them at Loop.

I just love the colors and as I have no idea what to make with them, I bought only 1 skein of each. I am thinking perhaps the Chervon Scarf from LMKG. Got these at Loop too.

After seeing the completed Bird in Hand mittens on Ravelry, I couldn't help but got on eBay and bought these. The cold weather back in Dec inspired me to get these but the weather has been so warm so far that I haven't been motivated to start on it... Terrible!

It's CNY

2008-02-06T17:14:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I last blogged. I have been really busy since 2008 started. I took a more intensive German course and is attending classes almost every evening from Mon to Thurs for 2 hrs. Tired as that is, I can feel that my German is improving by leaps and bound.

I just visited Loop in London and bought some really beautiful yarns. However, no pics to show for now. Hopefully I will get around to taking some pics for the blog soon!

Finally, it's Chinese New Year! So 新年快乐!! =)

No progress, ripping instead!

2007-12-11T06:31:00.000-05:00

I wanted to finish Shifting Glaciers as a Christmas present for my bf. However, that possibility is going to be nearly impossible now.

I am about 1/3 into it and the more I look at it, the more I think the width of the scarf is not wide(read 'manly') enough. You see, I feel that 7" would be too much so instead of casting on the recommended 52sts, I cast on 42sts. Now, I am regretting it. I think 52sts would be much better. So I am going to rip all my progress and start again. =(

Or perhaps I should just made it for myself... But I think it's still not wide enough because it is so so cold here and I need a wide scarf to cover part of my face too!!!

P.S: I am getting so much use out of my malabrigo ribbed scarf. So soft, squishy and warm!!!

P.P.S: Oh and here's a link to my photo album of Kamakura, Japan if you are interested.

Interweave Knits Winter 07

2007-11-15T08:16:00.000-05:00

It seems Interweave Knits is eager to make up for not sending me my Fall Issue. I received my Winter Issue yesterday!

Yup, I am back. Love Tokyo! Spent a bomb! =( But with some subsidies from my wonderful bf. Hehe, so the damage is not as bad as it would have been. ;-)

So exhausted!

2007-10-30T17:19:00.001-04:00

I have had additional responsibilities at work since the beginning of this month. And these additional customers have so much happening right now that I am working more than 10+ hrs per day. =(

I was on a short vacation to Barcelona last week with my bf. It was a fantastic 4 days trip. I enjoyed the time with my bf and the weather and of course Barcelona! But Monday morning was torturous waking up and knowing the tons of work awaiting me at the office.

And then I learned that I would have to travel to Korea and Japan next week! Given any other circumstances, I would have been so thrilled by this prospect. But there is so much that I have to do to prepare for the trip. I can't wait till the 9th of November. That's when I would have finished everything work-related and be able to spend a nice(stress free!) weekends in Tokyo, Japan.

Lazy

2007-10-03T21:29:00.000-04:00

I have been back in Munich for a week now and I have been very very lazy.

I did not tell any of my friends that I am back unless they happened to call me. The weather was bad last week with the high between 8oC-12oC (46F-54F) and that makes me even more lethargic.

Today is a public holiday here in Germany and I just lazed the whole day away. I am not ashamed to say that. I really enjoyed it! BUT I enjoyed lazing too much that I forgot that I should have taken pics of the stash that I acquired from the US recently!

Despite that, I did make some progress with my knitting. Here's a pic of my Tree Jacket.

I have since removed the stitches for the sleeves. Knitting is going so much faster now that the sleeves are off.

I started on the Shifting Sands scarf while waiting to board the plane to London about a month ago. Most of the progress was done while I was vacationing in UK.

This seemed to have become a travel knits as I have not touched it since I am back in Munich. I guess it's because I would really like to finish the tree jacket before the weather starts to get insanely cold here. The yarn is gorgeous - Sundara Sports Merino. And the color, just so pretty. I am making this for my beau. And if he doesn't like it, no problem, I will take it back in a second. ;-)

Ok, back to some more lazing before I have to think about going back to work tomorrow! =(

Model pics of Beau

2007-09-11T15:56:00.000-04:00

As promised, here are the model pics of Beau. Enjoy! ;-)

There is much happening on the knitting front but since I am leaving for India tomorrow, there is not enough time to talk about everything.

Here's the start of my Tree Jacket in Karabella Aurora 8:

I have finished the cowl neck and is already at the body. However, I have no time to take an updated pic of the Tree Jacket.

As you might have noticed on my sidebar, I have also started on Shifting Sands because this is an easy project to bring around while I travel. I would like to work on Tree Jacket but I think that's just too much yarn to cart around.

Have you seen the latest pattern from the ZehpyrGals? Juliet looks absolutely charming. I am thinking to knit this with the Adrienne Vittadini Trina I have in my stash. The long version and maybe with a 3/4 sleeves to make it more practical for me. Can't wait to get cracking on this.

Ok, that's it for now. Very tired so am heading to bed soon since I have an early flight tomorrow. Please be patient with me. If you have left a comment and have not heard back from me, I might only be able to get back to you when I am back from Singapore.

Rose-gina

2007-09-10T16:08:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Orangina
Source: Glampyre Knits
Yarn: 4 skeins of Rowan Cotton Glace
Yarn Source: Liberty
Needle: US2 & US3 24" Circulars
Size: XS (9 lace repeats)
Made for: Myself
Time taken: May 2007 - August 2007

Tada, I present to you my Rose-gina!

I am pretty pleased with it. Maybe it's just a tad too short and a tad too snug. But then cotton stretches so that should be fixed naturally soon.

I substituted Rowan 4 ply Cotton with Cotton Glace but I still knit with the same needle sizes. I cast on for 9 repeats to get the snug fit for me. Mattress stitch 1.5 of the lace repeats for the shoulder if you are interested to know.

This is a very simple lace pattern and I highly recommends it to all lace beginner. It's very very simple but yet so beautiful.

I have model shots of Beau. I just need to do something to blur out the face since my bf does not like to be on the web! So stay tuned!

Awarded

2007-08-30T10:45:00.000-04:00

Wow, I have been awarded by Lily! So now I have to award 5 other gir blogger that rocks. Hmm.... tough choice. 5 is just too little. If you are on my blogroll, you are a Rockin' Girl Blogger too! So grab the button and spread on the attention. =)

I am done with Orangina! Yippee!!! But the weather has been so chilly over here and I had been so busy at work and classes that I haven't been able to get home while the sun is out to take some model pics of myself in natural light. I guess I will just have to take it with flash since I will be away for the next 3 weeks!!! Yup, remember this post? So this might be my last post unless I managed to take a decent pic of my Orangina for the blog.

Out of control

2007-08-16T11:21:00.000-04:00

My friend and his wife are coming to UK in September. I will be meeting up with them in London. They offered to bring me whatever I want. Guess what that means? Yarn shopping for me!

And yes, I am shopping way too much and knitting way too slow. So I had placed my orders and here's what's I am getting!!
- 14 skeins of Plymouth Tweed for Cobblestone
- 7 skeins of Plymouth Royal Bamboo
- 6 skeins of Cascade 220 for Bluebell
- 5 skeins of Tahki Classic Cotton for Ms Marigold or Fad Classic
- 1 skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk for Montego Bay Scarf
- 4 bottles of Bath & Body Works Japanese Blossom Body Lotion

How bad am I? I looked at the list and I can't believe I am making them bring this much stuff!!!

Looking at the new issue of Interweave knits, I so want to make Tilted Duster out of the recommended yarn - Berroco Peruvia. Maybe I can get my Beau to sponsor me on that and have it shipped to UK instead where there is hopefully no import tax. Sigh, I have no self control. My stash is taking over the second bedroom and here I am adding on to it some more. Help!!! I need to start knitting out of my stash instead!!!

A Beau for my Beau

2007-08-12T19:58:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Beau
Source: Rowan Vintage Knits
Yarn: 11 skeins of Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed in Enamel
Yarn Source: WEBS
Needle: US6 & US8 24" Circulars
Size: L
Made for: My beau

This is a long time in coming. I started last November and strictly speaking, this is not even 100% done yet. I still have to add on the buttons. I will have to go to the store on Monday to get them. Talking about that, I found a few more yarn stores in Munich. One of them stock Rowan and Noro. I tried to go to that one on Sat but got there too late and the store was closed. Maybe I will try that tomorrow.

I cannot believe that I finally finished a sweater. It's been so long since I finished such a BIG item. Now that this is out of the way, I am working full steam ahead with Orangina. Hope to finish it soon!

The only modifications that I had done with the pattern was the yarn substitution which is not really a modification anyway. Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran is an absolute heaven to knit with. It's not scratchy on the hands or on the body. I like the yarn content even though the silk is not apparent at all.

The only issue I had while knitting this is that it's really hard to knit this at night (and naturally hard to capture with the camera too). The color is just so dark! But this is THE color for my beau. I know he will love it. He had seen the yarn and the pattern but he had yet to see the complete thing. I make this for his birthday which is at the end of this month. Maybe then, I will be able to convince him to pose for some model shots that I can upload here. Till then, hope you will be satisfied with the 'lay-flat-on-the-table' shots!

ETA: Model pics can be found here.

Yarn acquisition

2007-08-08T23:08:00.000-04:00

My friend forgot all about my birthday until she saw this while visiting her family in UK:

Isn't that the cutest and oh-so-funny! Click on the pic for a bigger one.

And check out my latest yarn acquisition!

2 skeins of Sundara Yarn Sport Merino in Glacier
These are slated to be Grumperina's Shifting Sands.

4 skeins of Sundara Yarn Sport Merino in Black over violet.
I plan to make a nice and warm Diamond Fantasy Shawl out of this for moi.
I like how January One's sportweight version turns out and so I plan to knit it in the same weight as well.

Who says I can't yarn-shop now that I am in Germany. Oh well, these 6 skeins cost more than they should. I have to pay import taxes as well as duties for them. Next time, will plan my orders so that my colleagues can hand-carry them over for me while on a business trip to Munich!!!

I have had my ups and downs recently. I had been going out and meeting friends for dinner or a drink. I have quite an active social life here. But somehow, some days are not easy. I will feel down and really depressed. Miss home terribly and feel very very alone at times. I will sit at home or lay in bed and cry the day/night away. I don't know why... And someday I feel just fine. I guess I am really 'settling' in now. My apartment is finally furnished and maybe now is the time where it hits me that I am in a foreign country! I am luckier than most people who relocate. I already have friends here but somehow... Sigh, maybe it's the language barrier.

For now, at least I have September to look forward to. I will be vacationing in Lake District on the 1st week. Be in India for business purposes on the 2nd. And from there, I will be flying to Singapore for a week!!! Yippee.

For now, my friend and her husband are visiting me for the week. And I am planning a house-warming party at the end of this month. So before I know it, it will be September!

Just pictures

2007-07-24T02:09:00.000-04:00

...

2007-07-23T08:53:00.000-04:00

It's unbelievable how fast time just goes by. It's been a month since my last posting but it doesn't feel that long for me.

I have been kept busy. First I was on a business trip. Then the weather was too hot for knitting. Hehe. And then it was my birthday! Finally, I was stuck at home reading Harry Potter and having a Chinese drama marathon over the recent weekends!

I haven't done much knitting. I am on the 11th repeat for FBS and I am almost done with one side of Orangina. I have seamed Beau together, now I just need to pick up stitches for the collar. FO pics for it will probably have to wait till September as this is a birthday present and the birthday is at the end of Aug. Therefore, that means I can't take any modelling pics till then.

Oh and one last point, I am finally on Ravelry! It was a loooonng wait.... I applied somewhere at the beginning of May and I only got the invitation about 1 week ago. But it was totally worth it! Look for me at bee17779! Yes yes, I lack any creativity and imagination, using bee17779 for everything. There is just too many online accounts and I prefer to keep everything simple so I can remember it. =)

Knitting and Crocheting

2007-06-24T21:53:00.000-04:00

My whole body ache. Why? Cos I am out of shape and I have been travelling almost everywhere with my bicycle. To start with, 20-30mins of cycling every morning and evening when travelling to and fro work. As if this is not enough, I fell off my bike the other day and substained bruises and cuts! But I am still soldiering on. I am sure soon the ache will be gone soon and I will be left with a healthier body. Hehe, it's that thought that is motivating me to go on.

That's why I have been lazy with my blog updates. If I still own you an email or a letter (yes, Sarah, I got your letter ;-)), be patient and I promise to reply soon.

Despite that, I am still knitting. I finally finished Beau and it's to be washed and blocked soon before being assembled together. With that end in sight, I started on my Flower Basket shawl.
This is a fast knit. I have already completed 5 repeats and is working on the 6th. I am using the silk merino 2 ply that I got from The Knittery. It's thicker than most laceweight so I am not doubling it and I have gone down to US4 so I will probably be making 10 repeats just to get to the size I want. The pattern is easy to remember and with each repeat, it's getting longer and longer to complete as expected. I love the colour of the yarn and I can't wait to finish it and use it! Here's a closeup of the lace pattern:
Isn't the colour variegation absolutely pretty?

Next up, I have caught on the crochet fever that has been going around and started on this travel bag from RY Classic Holiday. Truth be told, I saw this bag when I bought my copy of Holiday and had been wanting to crochet it since. I even bought the yarn that is called for in the pattern but realise that's just too expensive to be used for a bag and hence frogged it.

Last weekends, I went shopping for thread(to be used for the shortening of my curtains) at the department store here. It's right next to the yarn section. Interestingly enough, over on this side of the Atlantic ocean, it seemed that there is a yarn section in every major department store. Anyway, I saw this lovely yarn that I keep fondling cos it's just so incredibly soft even though it's 100% acrylic. And the colour, I just loved the variegated blue, brown and fawn... I balked at knitting anything acrylic for myself but as a bag, that would be perfect.
I did a swatch and it's right on and so I am crocheting away. Can't wait to complete it soon. Been a while since I made a bag and one that is for myself too.
I also wanted to start on my Indigo Ripples Skirt using the modifications that Eunny had made as well but my US4 needles is being used for FBS. Anyway, it's also better that I don't start on yet another project. As you can see, I have kind of neglected my Orangina. Gotta return to it soon if I want to wear it this summer at all!

Back from the mountain

2007-06-14T17:37:00.000-04:00

Thank you for indulging me where my obessession with red is concerned. ;-)

I am back from spending a week up in the mountain with the cows and the donkeys here in Germany. It was a great vacation! Most of the days, we slept till almost noon. One morning, a group of cows gathered just right outside our bedroom window and decided to 'moo' as much as they can. It was around 6am in the morning!!! I couldn't tell if they were having a competition of who can 'moo' the loudest, the longest or they are just having their regular cow conference. I am glad that it happened only on 1 morning. Imagine if it's otherwise.

I brought along Beau, Orangina as well as the yarn for the FBS with me up to the hut. I finished one sleeve of Beau and is halfway through with the other one. That's as much knitting as I could get done. I was hoping to cast on for FBS but no such luck. I was just enjoying the hiking, the BBQing and the relaxing too much to do more knitting. Hehe.

Anyway, I am back now and hope I can finish up Beau soon. It's been so long since I have a real(instead of another scarf) FO to show.

Pictures of my vacation to come. Stay tuned.

Oh and I cycled to work today. Not as bad as I thought it would be!

And the obsession with red continues...

2007-05-30T15:43:00.001-04:00

My new windproof waterproof jacket from North Face. Costs me a small fortune but it's the best of the best. I will be going hiking for the whole of next week so this will be put to the test.

And that's my Nokia N73 and iPod Nano. Those 2 balls are my 2 ply silk and merino all wound up and ready for me to cast on for my very own Flower Basket Shawl. Can't wait! =)

A little bit of this & a little bit of that

2007-05-27T16:18:00.000-04:00

I was almost done with the back of Beau. Got to the neck shaping part and somehow thought that I messed it up so I frogged back 7 rows only to realise later that I was right before. Oh well, all that frogging for nothing. Anyway, I finished the back of Beau and is already knitting on one of the sleeves.

The weather here has turned really warm and knitting it is not as enjoyable as before. I can only knit this in the evening when it's cooler but then the color is so dark that it's a bit tough to knit it with limited light as well. It's a no-win situation. But the forecast predicts that the weather would be much cooler this coming week and perhaps I will be able to finish up both sleeves during that time. I am on a roll, baby!

And this is how far along I am with Orangina. Looking good so far. When it gets too warm or too dark for Beau, I switched over to Orangina which is why it's going much slower than Beau. I am eager to finish up Beau asap cos I want to start on the Indigo Ripples skirt soon. I really love how Eunny's turned out. The yarn I am planning to use is also dark and I think I can only handle one dark project at a time.

I got these 3 books recently and I loved all 3 of them. There is so many patterns in each of them that I want to knit. And the best part is, I have yarns for all the patterns that I want to make. I think I have way too much yarns... :P

In my last post, I mentioned about pink and red being my current favourite colors. So here's a pic of the yarns that I had bought since I arrived in Germany that are in that color theme. From the left to right, 1 skein of handdyed YarnPirate Sock yarns in Neopolitan, 2 skeins of 2 ply silk & wool from The Knittery in Roses and 6 balls of Rowan Cotton Glace in Sh822 which is currently being made into Orangina.

I am thinking of knitting up the Flower Basket Shawl out of the 2 skeins of 2 Ply silk and wool. It would look great with the halter sundress that I have in my wardrobe! Hehe. Oh well, too many Knits-in-progress so I will have to finish a few more knits before I start on more.

Seven Facts About Me

2007-05-22T10:29:00.000-04:00

I got tagged by Eva.

Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged need to write on their own blog those 7 facts as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

1. If you translate my chinese name to English, it literally means 'Forest Beautiful Jade'. Pretty, isn't it? Hehe.

2. I gotta have my gadgets. I can't leave home without my Nokia N73, iPod Nano and Canon SD800.

3. Currently, my favourite color is red but somehow all my recent yarn purchases are more pink than red. My nokia and ipod are red though.

4. My all time favourite colors are blue and white though.

5. I am born in the year of the Goat and this year is a good year for me to get married according to the chinese horoscope. Haha.

6. I spent 9-10 years of my life dancing. I plan to do that again once life more or less settled here. Thinking of taking up salsa.

7. I hold a green belt in Teakwondo.

And I am tagging
Carin, Isel, Jasmine, Kessa, Lois, Paloma & Ruth

WIPs

2007-05-13T07:59:00.001-04:00

This is the back of Beau from Rowan Vintage Knits. This is what you saw last of it at the beginning of this year. It sure has taken me a long time to get from that to this. I am very pleased with how it is turning out so far. I am making the L size of the pattern.

I binded off the back yesterday and immediately started on the front and this is how far I had gotten so far. At the rate I am going, I think I will be done with this right at the start of summer!! Crazy isn't it? But then I am on such a roll now that I don't really want to leave this aside in case I never get back to it again.

And this is Orangina in Rowan Cotton Glace, Sh 822 if you are interested to know. It would be nice if I can finish this in time for summer...

Wow, it's been a while since I have so much photos of my WIP on my blog and I hope you enjoyed it. More to come soon, I hope.

German lessons

2007-05-09T04:46:00.000-04:00

Ich bin Jade. Ich komme aus Singapur. Ich wohne in München. Ich spreche Englisch, Chinesisch und ein bissen Deustch.

As you can see, I have already started my German lesson. The first lesson is all about introduction. Saying your name, where you lives and what languages I know. Yesterday, I had my second lesson where I learn to ask for directions as well as give directions. The teacher thinks that I am progressing very well. Well, I think I can read better than I can speak. Pronouncing some of the words is killing me!!! Oh well, I will just have to work on them by practising more often.

And I am finally knitting again. Yeah for me! I tried to squeeze in as much knitting time as I can. I went to London recently and surprise, surprise, I came back with some Rowan Cotton Glace which is on the needle now on its way to being transformed into a pink Orangina soon.

I have also made great progress with my secret project. I will unveil it in my next blog since the intended recipient already knows about it.

Next up, my friend asked if I can knit her a cropped cardigan. I sort of said yes and had been half-heartedly trying to find a nice enough pattern when I stumbled upon this. Isn’t that absolutely gorgeous? I think I will make that for her but with a much longer sleeves. I am going to see if I have anything in my stash that will work with it (probably not since she asked for a white one and I don’t have a lot of white yarns) and might start on it soon.

I finally unpack my yarns and was so sad to see that the bottle of Soak Limited edition that I got before I left the US is almost empty. The cap was either not closed properly or the pressure caused it to be dislodged, it has been dripping out of the cap slowly over the past 3 mths such that only a qtr of it is left now. =( Thankfully, I have all my yarns in Ziploc bag so nothing was ruined. I just end up with a box of nice smelling Ziploc bags. Oh well, such is life.

ETA: I just saw this at Eunny's blog and I am totally sold. This is going to the top of my list of must knit. Gotta knit faster!!!

Just a quick one

2007-04-24T22:10:00.000-04:00

Remember I told you a while back that I took part in The Knitterly Letter Swap.

Well, here's the card I got from Sarah. The interesting part is that she is from Baltimore, MD. That's only about an hour from where I used to live in the US!
Not just that, the person I was allocated to write to stay in Washington, DC and comes from India! Well, again DC is in the neighbourhood of where I used to live and most importantly, I just went to India for a business trip. Hmm, is this just a mere coincidence or some clever manipulation on Li's part? I will have to check with her on that.

Here's the card I sent to Parikha. Hope she had received it by now and like what I had made for her.
Life has been really hectic since I arrived here. I guess (and I hope) it's this way because this is just the beginning. Much to do to setup a new life here. What with adjusting to a new job in a new country and learning a new language as well. I have only managed to squeeze in some knitting while I am in India. I miss it so much. =( Can't wait to really be able to show more knitting pics on here soon.

Sarah,
Thank you so much for the lovely card and also the very cutsy bookmark that your daughter has made. You will hear from me soon. Pardon me if I am a bit late though. =)

Seed stitch scarf

2007-03-24T13:35:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Seed stitch scarf
Yarn: 1 skein of Alpaca with a Twist Highlander
Yarn source: In Stitches
Needle: US7 24" circular

Well, remember him? This cute little boy saw me knitting when I was staying at his place and told me that he wanted a scarf too. So I made him one.

He loves it and was playing with it when I gifted it to him. It had been a cold winter in Virginia and I forgot to ask his mum if the scarf was put into use. You know how kids are, no scarf, no mittens and no hats no matter how cold it is outside.

I love the yarn, absolutely love the softness and the tweediness. I also bought enough for myself in another color. Can't wait to make something out of it for myself. ;-)

For now, I will leave you with another cute pic of him modeling the scarf!

I am back

2007-03-23T17:57:00.000-04:00

Woohoo, I am all setup with my internet! But that's not the happiest thing that happened to me recently. I finally got all 16 boxes of my stuffs from the US!!! It was like Christmas Day to me, getting 16 big boxes of presents! Except these are all my stuffs and that I bought them myself. I cannot believe that this actually makes me happier than getting access to the internet!

So to celebrate my settling in here at Munich, I decided to subscribe to Interweave Knits for a start, ordering more yarns of course and lastly, I signed up for The Knitterly Letter Swap organised by Domesticat. THIS is going to be so much fun. I used to have pen pals all over the world. I don't know if you still remember or even know about this but back when I was 12 years old, there was(or is, who knows?!) this organisation that will collect $2 from you and they will allocate a pen pal to you based on your choice of countries. It was very popular back then. I had pen pals in Greece, USA, Hongkong and Australia at one point of time. And the only one who made it through with me all these years is the penpal from Hongkong. I even visited her there a few years back. Of course with the technology being so advanced nowadays, I sometimes got lazy and emailed her instead of writing to her. Hehe. However, I do think that writing is more sincere. I feel that it's awfully romantic when a guy chose to write a letter to the girl he loves instead of just emailing and SMSing her as per the norm nowadays. Of course the contents gotta be romantic as well. What do you think?

So anyway, I am really looking forward to knitting more regularly again. I haven't knit much in the past few months because of all these changes and I can't wait for life to resume back to normal soon so I can churned out more FOs and of course finished up that UFO that has been sitting around for a year now. I really like that sweater. I don't know why I am taking forever to finish it.

Thank you for leaving such sweet comments on my blog even though I haven't been posting much recently. You will be hearing from me soon either via email or through your blog if you have one.

Sue, Isel, Jas and Karen I miss you gals!

Where have I disappear to?

2007-03-21T08:44:00.000-04:00

Just a quick one. I am in Germany now and was here since late February this year. Moved into my apartment already and is trying to get everything set up and settled in. Things do not happen as fast as I would like them to. I have a phone line now and is still working on getting my internet connection up and running. Since I only have internet access at work, I do not think it's wise to blog from the office. Anyway, I am very busy at work too even though I just started!

I am going to India for a business trip next week. Hopefully, my internet connection in my apt will be setup by the time I return so I can spend more time blogging about my life in Germany so far and of course my India trip.

Cheerio for now.

Happy Chinese New Year

2007-02-22T13:27:00.000-05:00

A very belated Happy Chinese New Year! These are some of the 'ang baos' that I managed to receive this new year. ;-) It's been a while since I get 'ang baos'.

Anyway, I recovered and enjoyed my time in Singapore alot!! Spent a bomb buying working clothes as well. Today is my second day in Munich. Will update you gals later cos I am tired and feel like sleeping now even though it's only 8pm.

Love Potion No. 9

2007-02-08T20:32:00.000-05:00

This is exactly how a love potion should look like, feel like. Love is both sweet and happy just like the color pink. Muddy, sticky and heartbreaking at times just like the color brown. And it feels so wonderfully yummily soft and luxurious just like Malabrigo! Haha.

Pattern: 3 by 3 ribbed
Yarn: 2 skeins of Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Brown Berries
Yarn source: Pureknits
Needle: US7 24" circular

If you looked at the pic above carefully, you will notice that the inner circle is more pink than the outer one. Take a look at the following 2 pics and you will see what I mean:

Taken when I just switched skeins

The completed scarf modeled by yours truly

Both skeins are from the same dyelot. I am not sure what happened there. However, it's not such a bad thing. My scarf will be unique! It will be like I deliberately made it this way. Hehe.

I love it already. It's so soft and beautiful. I had used it constantly during my last days in the US. And I look forward to using it again soon in Germany.

Feelings...

2007-02-06T21:56:00.000-05:00

I am gone. I left the US last Thursday for good. I was so busy with the days leading up to my departure and then I am still busy since then which is why I didn't have a proper post about it.

It feels weird. I don't know how to describe it. It's like I am on a roller coaster where my emotion is concerned. I was down, crying even. Then I felt numb. I should be happy about being back in Singapore, yet I feel strangely out of place. Like I don't belong. I should feel excited about my impending migration to Germany, yet I don't. How sad do I feel about leaving the US? Not too much because it's after all not my home. But I do feel sad about how things have turned out over there if you know what I mean...

I don't know how I feel right now. If you were to ask me to describe my current state. Well, I feel rested. I look around me and everything just looks so weird. I feel like a stranger... Maybe I have been moving, travelling too much. Time to settle down and grow some roots? Then again, I am only away from home for 3 years, not that long a time. It feels like yesterday that I left Singapore for the US. Yet so much had happened for me.

Regardless, I am enjoying the wonderfully sunny weather here after the cold wintry weather of Virginia, US and London, UK. More on that in my later post.

For now, look! My first sock and I just turned the heels!

Yarn store in Munich

2007-01-25T11:38:00.000-05:00

My best friend in Munich is very excited about my impending arrival. She knows how I feel about knitting and she is prompt to inform me that a new yarn store just opened up right in downtown Munich. I didn't sound too excited. And so she did the only thing she can do, she sends me pictures!

I am still skeptical but then at least there is a yarn store right in downtown Munich. It's encouraging enough. =) This is not going to be good for my bank account though!!!

I haven't been blogging much as I have been busy with last minute packing and farewell dinners. Despite the hectic schedule, I am still knitting. I just finished my Malabrigo ribbed scarf. Yummy and absolutely gorgeous. Pictures to come soon! I love it and it completed just in time for the cold weather here!

As soon as I finished my ribbed scarf, I started on a seed sts scarf for a little boy who declared at the dinner table one night that he wants to marry me. Hahaha. He is the 5yr old son of my friend, the one who I am staying with now. Since I am going to break his little heart by leaving the country and therefore him very soon, I thought it's totally appropriate that I made him a scarf out of a yummy new yarn - Alpaca with a Twist Highlander. I just discovered this yarn company recently when me and my knitting buddies checked out In Stitches. I bought a skein to make a scarf for the little boy and enough skeins for me to make a sweater for myself. I also bought a skein of Alpaca with a Twist Fino, their laceweight line. It's 70% alpaca and 30% silk. Who can resist such a combination! Definately not me! I am totally head over heels in love with this company's product!

A peek of my stash

2007-01-17T22:46:00.000-05:00

While I am at it, I might as well show you my recent yarn binge! While Isel is buying to make up for her possible inability to spend much on yarns once she is a student, I am binging because I am leaving the country soon. Any reasons is always a good reason to spend on yarns! HA!

Handmaiden Seasilk in Glacier

Rowan Calmer in Tangerine, Manos Del Uruguay Cotton Stria in Sh214 and Adrienne Vittadini Trina in Sh111

Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4ply in Blessed and Lorna's Lace Shepherd Sock in Navy

And Rowan Calmer in Coral, Misti Alpaca Laceweight, Artyarns Supermerino in #124 and Beaverslide Fisherman weight in Snowberry...

All these will be enough to last me for the rest of this year and imagine, I still have 2 BIG boxes of stash yarns on its way to Germany!!! I am incorrigible! Lacking any self control if I have any to begin with!

A very expensive hobby

2007-01-10T14:15:00.000-05:00

I have a lot of yarns. Most of my yarns are bought with a project in mind. Of course, there is always the occasional sales that will lure me into purchasing yarn without a project in mind. Or sometimes, it could be for the simple reason that it looks pretty and is really soft. I have no self control whatsoever, I think.

I have a table listing all the yarns and needles that I currently owned. I recently added a column to include the cost as well. The cost of the yarns that I bought 1 year ago, I of course can't remember the exact price anymore. But I can ball park it by checking out the MSRP. I am shocked, shocked to realize that I had put in a few thousands dollars into this hobby of mine. I would have tell you the exact amount but I am worried that you might faint at how much I had spent or worst yet, ROB me of my yarns!!! I am only in this for 2yrs so far and I had already spent so much! Too much!

I need to go on a diet. A yarn diet! This figure is just too much for me to handle right now. Maybe having an excel spreadsheet with all the figures is a bad idea. Maybe it isn't. Then again, I don't spend on anything anymore after relocating here.

Shopping is no longer fun when you don't have your gfs to gossip with as you shop. In addition, most clothing just don't fit me right over here. I also have the tendency to convert the price back to SGD(Singapore dollars) too which of course deters me from buying any clothing. Because for that same price, I can get something way better in quality back in Singapore. I know I can't compare things this way but I just can't help it. So my shopping is limited to when I made my yearly trip back home. I know, I know. I am making excuses for spending so much on my yarns.

With my imminent relocation, I am even more inclined to spend on yarns. Actually, let me rephrase that, on anything else that I think I can get here cheaper and yet is not available in Singapore. I know, Germany is a developed country. They have everything too but it's the 'what-if' that wins at the end of the day. Besides, I checked, things are cheaper here especially taking the exchange rate into account.

A picture speaks a thousand words

2007-01-07T22:48:00.000-05:00

Now that I am no longer in a knitting slump, I seemed to have thrown myself totally into knitting!

Sarcelle in Handmaiden Seasilk Glacier
(This appears as landscape on my laptop, no idea why it's potrait when uploaded.)

Simple Ribbed Scarf in Malabrigo Brown Berries

Pomatomus in KPPM

Secret Project in Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed Enamel

And yes, I had bought a new camera. =)

New Year Resolution

2007-01-04T23:05:00.000-05:00

In the year 2007 I resolve to:
Learn how to dismantle land mines.

Get your resolution here.

That would be cool. I am no Angelina Jolie but I would like to do my part to make a world a better place and Cambodia sure needs some help with their land mines. This is a crazy generator, be sure to check out Purly White and Karma's resolution. They had funnier one!

My real resolutions would be to have more FOs, buy less yarn and knit more from my stash! I had been really bad recently. What with all the LYS having their year-end sale and anniversary sale. I am debating whether or not to show you all that I had bought. You will think I am insane! Well, I console myself that I am leaving US soon and therefore I G-O-T-T-A stash up. Hehe, lame excuse I know.

Destash Sale

2007-01-01T22:42:00.000-05:00

Due to my imminent move, I am destashing some of my yarn. Most of the yarns that I wanted to destash are acrylic so I will probably drop them off at the Elderly center as suggested by my friend, Sue.

I realise I love all of my yarns and so not much is up for destash. At least for now. ;-) But here are 9 balls of Rowan Linen Drape in a hard to find Sh842 to be sold.

Price: $60 (shipping included, only for within US)
Terms: Payment by paypal
If you're interested, email me.

Rip, rip, rip

2007-01-01T00:00:00.000-05:00

Nothing is going on too well for me knitting wise. First, I have to frog my Pomatomus after completing one repeat of Chart A. Why? Because it just looks too holey on a US2 needles. I got my US1 needle on Tues and am now re-knitting it.

Then I had to frog the sweater that I am making for my friend because I decided I do not like the pattern at all. My own fault totally.

Next, I am ALMOST done with my Rusted Root. Before starting on the ribbed band, I thought I will try it on and see if the length is right. Turns out I don't like the fit! It's too tight! I wanted my Rusted Root to be a little loose. Just like in the pic. So more frogging! Oh well, at least all these happened in 2006.

I am sure 2007 will be a better year for me knit wise!

Happy New Year everyone! May all your knits turn out to be as beautiful as you want it to be! =)

To block or not to block

2006-12-26T13:31:00.000-05:00

Woohoo! I finally cast off on my Clapotis. You must be wondering if I am knitting at all. Well, I have proof that I am now! ;-)

Pattern: Clapotis
Source: Knitty Fall '04
Yarn: 3 skeins of Sundara Yarn Aran Silk Merino in Blueberry (purchased from PureKnits)
Needle: US7 24" circular

I told ya, it would look good with my new coat. Doesn't it look great? This took me forever to finish and it had been with me everywhere. I started it in the US, brought it with me to Germany. Bought it back with me to the US and recently, it even went on a trip to London with me. I am glad that it's finally finished. Just in time for winter.

The yarn is absolutely gorgeous. So shiny and soft. I would have loved for it to be more tightly spun though.I was going to add a repeat to the straight section. Looking at what's leftover now, I am glad I didn't cos I am not sure if I would have been able to make it till the end then.

So now the question is, should I block it or not? What do you think?

On to the next project. I am torn between Demi and Central Park Hoodie. Hmm, tough choice. I am not sure which one I prefer more...

Relocation

2006-12-18T16:10:00.000-05:00

Remember I talked about some life-changing stuffs back in this post? Well, now that everything is settled, I guess it's time I share with you what's going on.

I had taken up a position with my company in Munich, Germany! I will be reporting for work there on the 1 March 2007. Excited? I am not sure. Currently, I am busy trying to decide on the relocation company, deciding what to bring with me and all sorts of other stuffs that comes with making such a move. It's mind-boggling.

I did some packing just to get an idea of how many boxes I would end up with in the end. And guess what? My knitting stuffs took up 4 mid-size boxes!!! I know there are people out there with more (I hope there are!!!) but I am still amazed at how much yarn I had accumulated over the past 3 years. And this 4 boxes are of yarns and books that I really really love and want to bring with me. So be prepared for some major yarn sales on my blog soon.

I finally got my knitting mojo back. I had been working steadily on Clapotis and am finally knitting my first socks-Pomatomus!! I am not sure if I like how it is turning out so far. The yarn(Koigu KPPM) is great and the pattern is great. But it seemed to be coming out a bit too loose for me on a Sz2 needle. Should I continue on and gift this socks or frog it and redo it on a Sz 1 or maybe even Sz 0 needle... Still thinking...

I also got the latest issue of Interweave Knits. I really love Rambling Rose cardigan despite the mixed reviews that I had read about it so far. I loved the color combo even. Koigu Kersti Solids is not an easy yarn to find and I am still looking around for a good substitute that has the colors that I am interested in as well. Hmm...

Much about nothing

2006-12-07T16:25:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been a month since I last posted an entry.

So what have I done so far? Nothing much in the knitting department. It's not for the lack of trying. I am just not very motivated with it right now... I knit a bit of my Rusted Root, got disinterested and left it aside. Then I thought Clapotis would look good with my new wool jacket and so I started on it again. Knit a few rows, got bored and decided to read instead. I see all the beautiful knits on blogland and I want them. But when I took out my projects, I just don't seemed to be too excited over them. Maybe I should start knitting something that I am very very interested in right now! Hmm...

In other news, I just got back from a 2+weeks of vacation!!! It was great and bad. I didn't want to spend Thanksgiving by myself, ALONE! So I booked myself a ticket to visit my friend in London, UK. When I got there about 3 weeks ago, the weather was colder than Reston, VA. It got worse then. The heater broke down, requiring a totally new installation. Of course, that can't go too smoothly, can it? Apparently, the mechanics are paid by the day in UK and so in order to get more money out of the job, they took their own sweet time installing the new heater! My trip was almost over by the time the new heater is up and running! Thankfully, my friend has an electric heater in the room and there is an electric shower as a backup in the bathroom!

Nelson's Column at Trafaglar Sq and British Museum

However, all in all, it was a good trip. I got to eat the best roast duck that I had in a very long time(Four Seasons near Bayswater station if you are interested). I am drooling here just thinking about it. I visited the British Museum and the National Gallery this time round. Caught a play, The Woman in Black. That was fantastic! Watched a concert by The Bootleg Beatles. I had a great time singing and swaying along to their songs. The guy masquerading as Paul McCartney looks just like the youthful him! I also spent a long weekends at Bath. Prior Park is so pretty and so English(is that even a word?)!

Bath Abbey and Prior Park

Now, I am trying to find something to do for Christmas. Maybe I will check out San Francisco, CA since a friend of mine just relocated there from Singapore. Will need to see if work will have me in Austin, TX instead. Maybe I can get my friend to come keep me accompany at Austin instead. Haha.

What is keeping me happy recently?

2006-11-01T23:58:00.000-05:00

This is what has been keeping me smiling recently. Nope, it's not a gorgeous hunk or more luscious silk or cashmere yarn for myself. I present to you my latest toy of the moment - MY Sony VAIO SZ laptop. I loved it. If I can bring it with me to my bed, I would. But I wouldn't risk that now, would I? I would cry if I crush it to 'death'. Then again, weighing as light as I weigh, I probably can't crush anything to death. Hahaha.

Yes, I splurged a little. Well, not a little. A lot is more like it but 'IT' makes me happy. ;-) So what do you think of my webcam - Logitech Pro4000? I bought it when I first moved to the US to use with my friends in Singapore. I never got much use out of it. Instead, I am using it now to talk with my friends in UK and Germany instead. Funny how that turns out.

Finally, some knitting news. Here's the latest progress shot of my Rusted Root. Yes, I know, I am way too slow. Hope I will be able to catch up on all my knitting soon.

P.S: I spent a very long time just trying to upload these 3 pics. Is there something wrong with blogger or is it just me? Does it not support pic of these size?

Crappy blogger

2006-10-31T23:52:00.000-05:00

Something crappy is happening. As much as I try, I just can't seem to upload any photos on blogger.

Nope, my camera is still not fixed. I am procrastinating. I should have sent it in to BestBuy or CircuitCity and see if they do repair for this kind of stuffs but I had been lazy. I improvised and took pics using my webcam. The pictures are not too great of course but still see-able. Oh well, and now blogger is not cooperating, so next time then. I will show you what has been keeping me excited recently.

Thank you everyone for the lovely comments that you had left. I am sorry, I am just way too lazy to do any emails reply. I will get back to you soon, I promise. =P

This and that

2006-10-26T21:55:00.000-04:00

I received Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed weeks ago and had started on the sweater that I was talking about that I am knitting for my friend. And yes, I love the yarn. I might just get some to make something for myself. Oh well, progress on the sweater is agonizingly slow. Let me explain why.

My colleague, who I used to work with in Singapore also took up a position here in the US. He and his wife moved here recently. Before coming here, he worked in Taiwan. That's also where he got his driving license. BUT, his driving license expires together with his work permit in Taiwan. So he CAN'T drive here in the US. His wife has a driver license but the last time she drove a car was 10 years ago. So I am stuck being the driver for them. They stay 20mins away from me and 20mins away from the office. What sucks even more is that the temporary housing that the company put them up at is only accessible via Rt 28, a major road in this part of the country. Every morning, there is a lot of cars, trucks and containers on that road. So I think it will take quite a while before the wife is confident driving on the road. Till then, I will just have to spend 40mins going to the office and back home. Tiring!

Since they are so new, I am also busy showing them around. Especially since they have to look for an apartment as well. I am spending a lot of time with them and it is getting very tiring. I miss being able to come home from work and sit myself in front of the TV watching whatever is on TV. Even if its mindless stuffs. Soon. Soon. The wife was driving circles in the parking lot before. Now, she is able to drive us out on the road. So maybe next week, will train her to drive on Rt 28 with me beside her. Then FREEDOM. Cause then she will be able to drive her husband-my colleague, to work and I can drive myself to work.

Very soon, I will also have some life changing decision that I will be announcing on this blog. Very very soon...

Yes, I am still working on Rusted Root besides my friend's sweater. It's half done. I am trying to work on it whenever I have some time and energy left.

Tomorrow is knit night again. Yeah... I look forward to meeting Isel, Jasmine, Sue and Inge again. I am also bringing my friend's wife along. Hope she will enjoy it too.

Camera is broken

2006-10-15T19:07:00.000-04:00

Remember I got Bea at Kim Hargreaves when they were having a free S&H promotion a while back? The shade of Wool Cotton I ordered is not what I expected and I was lucky to find a buyer for it.

The rest of the color for Rowan Wool Cotton are not what I wanted for Bea either... So I have been surfing around and I came across a new yarn from Classic Elite - Classic Elite Wool Bamboo. As the name suggests, the yarn is 50% wool and 50% bamboo. Doesn't that sound absolutely wonderful? I am playing around with the idea of substituting Rowan Wool Cotton with this instead. What do you think?

In other news, my camera is broken!!! So there will not be any progress pics, actually pics of any kind, for the next few weeks. I am still debating over whether I should just get a new digital camera to replace my 4 yrs old Canon IXUS S400 or send it in for repair. Maybe I will just bring it in and see what's the damage going to be to my bank account.

Still knitting

2006-10-03T10:50:00.000-04:00

So you must be wondering, am I still knitting at all. Yes, I am, just very very slowly. To prove to you that I am still a knitter, this post will be all about my current knitting projects.

I was at the yarn store the other day when I came across the new Classic Elite Yarn: Classic Silk. I don't know why but everytime I see this yarn, I am drawn to it. It's not shiny or anything but I just like it. Maybe it's the word 'SILK' that does the trick. Or maybe it's the color of the yarn. Anyway, seeing it this time, I just want to buy it! Despite the fact that I already have a mountain of yarns at home that will probably never be knitted up at the rate that I am knitting. Looking at the gauge, I realised that it will be a good substitute for Brown Sheeps Company Cotton Fleece to make Rusted Root (a cute top that I had been eyeing for a while now). So... what the heck, I bought 5 balls of it and got cracking on Rusted Root once I received the pattern from ZephyrStyle! So here's a progress shot of it. It had since grown by another 10 rows. Agonizingly slow currently cos of the puffy sleeves! More stitches on the needle = slower knitting progress.

I am very into pink and brown right now. I can't wait to finish this asap. All this time-off knitting makes me realise how much I miss it now that I am knitting again. And it's been a long time since I have a FO for myself. Hopefully I will be able to finish this soon!

Next up is the elusive Clapotis that I am making for myself. I think I started it about 2 mths ago and I can't believe 1) I am taking so long with it 2) I haven't taken a single pic for the blog so far. So finally here it is:

I am using Sundara Yarns Aran Silky Merino. If I remember correctly, this color is called Blueberry. I got them while PureKnits was still selling them. The yarn is absolutely delicious and I love the color(mixtures of blues and purples). I hope I will get it done in time for scarf season!

Ms Marigold will be on hold until next Spring/Summer since there is no point to knit something that I can't wear till 5-6mths later. I am thinking that will probably be the fate of my DB Capped Sleeved top as well.

Since it's Autumn now (it is right?), I think it's time for sweater again. It's also time for Christmas knits. Well, I will be knitting for different people this year round and since some of them do read this blog, I will probably not talk so much about the Christmas knits.

So for me, I have a few sweaters in my mind now that I want to start on soon:

Completing my Phildar Sweater finally
Rogue using Barlett Rangeley 2 Ply
Demi using Rowanspun Aran in Midnight
Hourglass using Noro Cash Iroha
Jemima using Jo Sharp DK Wool in Oriental
Rebecca Wide Collar Sweater using Rowan Kid Classic in Feather

Ambitious list, huh? I know. I doubt I will finish half of it but one can always try. Hehe.

While at the yarn store, I also got the latest Rowan 40. I so want to knit this! But I had never done fairisle and the yarn itself would set me back by a hundred bucks...

So are you planning your Fall/Winter knit list yet?

I need your help

2006-10-02T19:22:00.000-04:00

Fellow knitters,

I need your help. I am planning to make a sweater for a friend and that pattern is calling for Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran. Googling for it, I read mixed reviews about it. Some people loved it, some don't. A good substitute that I know is Rowanspun Aran but I don't like the colors that are still available. Another substitution would be the pricey Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran. What do you think? Any other good substitution suggestion would be very much appreciated.

I want something that would result in a soft and comfy sweater. Can't wait to hear your input on this.

Thanks in advance!!! =)

ETA: Ladies, thank you for your responses. I decided to go with Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran in Licorice (119). I had only read good comments about this yarn when I google for it after Vanessa's suggestion which is also seconded by Jacqueline! Thanks!!! I will post details about what I am making with it soon. ;-)

Pictures, pictures, pictures

2006-09-26T14:20:00.000-04:00

This is a long time coming. I haven't uploaded any pictures for 2 mths now. So finally, I got my act together and decided to pick 60 out of the 300+ pics that I took at Barcelona and upload it to my multiply account. With that out of the way, the rest was easy since I didn't went insane with my camera after that. ;-)

Click on the thumbnails or the name to view the albums. Hope you will enjoy viewing them.

Barcelona

Sagrada Familia, Hot spanish guys(think Antonio Banderas), tapas, La Ramblas, need I say more? Hehe

Swanage & Portland

Visited the Jurassic Coast which is one of the 7 Wonders of the World for the category of nature. Did you know that? I didn't!

Paris

French are known to be rude but I had the most pleasant experience while I was there. How can I think otherwise when I had one guy helping me to find my hotel and another telling me how beautiful I am despite the langauge barrier. ;-)

Arena & Starnberger See

The arena was specially built for WorldCup 2006. Starnberger See(or Lake in English) is just absolutely breath-taking!

Nordlingen & Dinkelsbuehl

2 cute and picturesque towns located along the Romantic Road in the Southern part of Germany.

Men's Cashmere Scarf

2006-09-24T20:40:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Men's Cashmere Scarf
Source: Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Forbidden, Navy
Needle: US11 24" circular
Time Taken: 2 weeks

This is the one and only project that I managed to finish in the past 5 months. Hmm, actually not quite true. I did knit a small handphone pouch with the letter B embossed on it for my friend, Bettina but somehow I didn't take a pic of it or post about it here.

I love the yarn, absolutely yummilicious. The pattern is nice BUT it does curl up at both sides. I already did my best to steam iron it flat. Will see what happen when my friend start using it. Let's hope for the best! Else I will just have to frog it and reknit it in another pattern.

Excellent Article

2006-09-12T11:07:00.000-04:00

An excellent article IMHO.

Hello, I am still here

2006-09-04T09:05:00.000-04:00

Hello, remember me? Me who has been having way loads of fun in Munich, Germany currently. Oops, so sorry that it's been so long since I last posted anything.

So what have I been up to? Heehee. Travelling around Europe, of course. I had been to Barcelona, Paris and the countryside of UK. Hmm, haven't got around to uploading the photos yet. I took too much pics in Barcelona and can't decide which one of them to upload yet. As I like my photos to appear in chronological order, I am not going to upload the rest till I uploaded Barcelona and that's going to take a while.

On the knitting front, I am STILL working on my Clapotis which sadly is still in the same state as about a month ago. Besides that, I am also working on another scarf for my friend.

Pictures to come soon. I promise. =P

P.S: My company just changed their internet access policy so I am not able to access my web based email until my return to the US. Please understand if you didn't hear back from me via email! ^_^

Happy Birthday, Singapore!

2006-08-09T05:45:00.000-04:00

Singapore turns 41 today! I miss Singapore so much. Can't wait to be back soon.

Life goes on as usual

2006-08-04T09:15:00.000-04:00

Regardless of what happened in your journey of life, you just have to move on and live each day as it comes. Time doesn't wait for anybody. I am feeling fine. I have a lot of good friends and it helps when things like that happened. It is also when such a thing happened that you realise who are your friends. Thank you, my dear friends.

While I was back in the US, I decided to start on Clapotis. Yes, it's fine time that I knit the ever popular Clap for myself. I am making it out of Sundara Yarns Aran Silky Merino in a variegated purple and blue shade. I am loving it and can't wait to be done with it. I will post a pic as soon as I get around to taking a pic of it. The weather hasn't been too nice here in Munich recently.

I had also frogged my Ms Marigold. No idea when I will get around to re-knitting it in a the RIGHT size again.

Here are a few albums that I had just uploaded on my Multiply webpage. Enjoy and have a good weekends!

Around Munich & Regensburg

Dachau Concentration Camp and viewing of 3rd place World Cup match at Munich Olympic Stadium

Ulm, Germany

Thank YOU

2006-07-27T17:06:00.000-04:00

I am so sorry to not have responded to anyone's comment. I was too distraught at first to respond. Then I can't think of what to say... I still don't know how to explain it all.

Thank you so much for all your concerns. I really appreciated it. I was so surprised to see that I have so many friends in the virtual world. :-)

I am feeling much better now. It helps to put some distance between us especially given the situation. I am back in Munich, Germany currently.

Things haven't been right for a while and I just feel that it's time to move on before more years are wasted... I have no idea how to explain it. To put it simply, I just can't imagine spending the rest of my life with a man who doesn't love me as much as I love him... I had been thinking about this for a while now. This probably explain why I am actually able to move on easier... No, there is no 3rd party in Germany if you are wondering anything in that direction. I just feel that I deserve better. Maybe I am wrong. Only time will tell.

...happy birthday to me...

2006-07-17T17:14:00.000-04:00

Today is my birthday but all I can think about is how much I hurt someone I love by telling him I don't love him anymore...

G and I broke up...

I love Ms Marigold

2006-07-04T10:36:00.000-04:00

This is a picture of my Ms Marigold against a very fitting t-shirt of mine.
Sigh, I can only blame myself. I was so eager to start and finish up Ms Marigold that I didn't swatch. Then I reduce the needle sz from the recommended US6 to US4 cos I don't like how holey it looks knitted up using Sz6. My Sz5 is being used by Cap Sleeved top and so I decided to use Sz4. I am crazy, I know. I don't know what posseses me to do what I did.

Regardless, I love the green, the yarn and the pattern so much that I will frog it soon and start on it again! Hopefully I will get around to it soon. It has remained in this state since I arrived in Munich. I guess I love it too much to want to frog it anytime soon. Then again, it's just me being busy, going out almost every evening. =P

I had been busy since I flew back to Munich on the 20th June. I don't even remember exactly what I did. However, I do remember what I did on that first weekends back. On Friday, I took the train to Innsbruck, Austria to meet my friends who were having their company's team-building somewhere near there. It's a gorgeous town that is surrounded by mountains! I love it.

Innsbruck - 24 June 2006

And then on Saturday evening, we took the train again and stayed over at Garmish. We only managed to checkout PartnachKlamm (Partnach Gorge) in Garmish on Sunday cos

the tourist information center was closed
my friend was suffering from a terrible bout of stomach cramp!

PartnachKlamm- 25 June 2006

We head back to Munich way too early for my friends' flight. So we went to the Olympic Park to soak in the world cup craziness.

I will leave you with these 2 albums first. Check back soon for what I did during the recent weekends and learn about how I flew off the bike! *gasp*

Somewhat Cowl

2006-06-18T22:37:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Somewhat Cowl
Source: Wendy of Knit and Tonic
Yarn: 5 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas: Alpaca & Silk in Chestnut(i35)
Yarn Source: Kpixie
Needle: US4 & US5 24" circular
Size: 32" bust size
Made for: Myself
Notes:

Did the raglan increases until it measures 9" (instead of 10" or 11").
Did the increases of sts at the end of row way before joining so that the neckline is more gradual
Did not bind off the neckline but whipstitch the 'live' sts so that it will be more stretchable.

Wow, finally I completed this! I love it! The brown, the fit, the yarn, everything about it. Ok, maybe not too crazy about the neckline cos it needs some fiddling for it to appear as I want it to. I still have 1 full skein of the Alpaca + Silk left. I highly recommend the yarn cos it's so soft and comfortable. Very warm too. Which is why I am going to bring it back with me to Germany where I will get more use to it. The temperature here in Reston, VA today is almost in the 100s!

Since I just finished it today, I haven't really block it well. I just iron the cowl neckline flat and took this pic. Maybe I will block it in Germany. But seriously, how am I to handle the cowl neckline during blocking? Any ideas?

I love top-down! Being that it's so hot here, I decided to tackle Ms Marigold using the Classic Elite Premiere that I got a few months ago. It's a very fast knit and I am already down(or up) to the armholes! Pictures to come soon.

Long live the (Shopping) Queen

2006-06-08T17:09:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I think I deserve the title. If not that, I definitely qualify for the princess level! I arrived on the 9 May and today is the 8 June. I am flying back to the US tomorrow and so I thought I will do an inventory of what I had spent on so far. An inventory of my shopping to be precise. I was so shocked! Check out the result:

12 tops
1 bag
3 pairs of shoes
1 coat

12 TOPS! How the hell did I manage to do that! That's an average of 3 tops per week! If we count the pack of Rowan Cotton Glace as a top (cos we all know that's what it's probably going to be one day), that will mean 13 tops! And the total cost of everything? You won't want to know but I am quite sure it's in the range of €500-€1000 (Gasp). Thankfully, G doesn't read my blog. Another thing to be thankful for? My spending is totally covered by my allowance and therefore technically, I didn't spend anything. =P So that means more shopping to come! Haha.

Loonng Weekends again

2006-06-07T03:44:00.000-04:00

It was a long weekend again last weekends. Not as long as the last one but enough for me to travel some. Nothing major, just sights in and near Germany.

Before I go on to talk about places I have been to, I present to you my new German friend who I have been talking about recently - Bettina!

2 June 2006

Pardon our red faces. We had both been drinking. I am not a good drinker and so I usually take red/white wine mixed with water. Even though that's the case, my whole body will still turn red with that mild alcohol content.

So what's the deal with that little red rose at the side? Well, it was a farewell party and someone was giving this red rose to all who were present and we are all suppose to wear it, even the guys! So here I am, looking all red and crazy with that tiny red rose at the side.

So what do you think of Bettina? She had been mistaken as Cameron Diaz in some photos. How about you?

It was a long weekends and since my friend, Serene was here for training, I decided to revisit Neuschwanstein Castle with her. She only managed to fly in from London on Saturday night and so we went to Füssen on Sunday.

Fussen - 4 June 2006

Isn't it gorgoeous? The weather wasn't too great until the end of the day so we took pics of the castle both in the good and bad lighting. Would have been so much better with a clear blue sky but oh well. Click here or any of the pics to see more pics of Füssen.

Monday was some holiday here in Munich and so we decided to visit Salzburg, Austria. It's not just the site for the filming of Julie Andrew's Sounds of Music but more importantly, it's the birthplace of Mozart, one of the greatest composer of all times.

Salzburg - 5 June 2006

There are just way too many sights for us to finish in one day so we did as much as we can - Dom Cathedral, Hohensalzburg Fortress, St Peter's Abbey, Mozart's Birthplace, Mozart Residence, The Residenz... just to name a few.

All in all, it was a great day though we would have liked to be able to do more picturesque sights.
Let me tell you something funny. The train ride to Salzburg took 2 hrs from Munich Central Station(Hauptbahnhof). Halfway on the train, I started thinking 'Shit! Do we need our passport to get into Austria? It' s afterall another country.' Both me and my friend was wondering what to do next. Should we turned back to get our passport or should we head on and try our luck? I messaged my German friends to inquire about this but I didn't hear from them. Finally, we tracked down the train conductor and was relieved to hear him say that there is no need for the passport! Whew! And my 2 friends only responded after we got to Salzburg! What help they are! Haha, nope, can't really blame them. It's probably technology's fault since SMS is not always instanteous. Besides I should have called them instead if it's that urgent.

And so what will I be up to this weekends? Hmm... I will be back in the US for a week! Hehe, bet you didn't see that coming. Well, this is not a leisure trip, just a trip for me to go back and 'see' G. Conjugal visits of some kind, I guess. =P I will still need to work.

I will be flying back this Friday and then I will have to fly to Austin, Texas for a day on Monday. G is complaining about it but what to do, work is work. So ladies (Isel, Sue, Inge & Jas), we might have to do something about meeting up cos I won't be able to attend knit night on Monday since I am flying at 5:15pm.

I love my new shoes

2006-06-06T18:08:00.000-04:00

This is not the first pair of shoes I bought here in Munich. =P The first is a functional Mary Jane flat in cream leather, nothing to show off about.
This I had been eyeing since I saw it and hesitated to get cos of the teeny heels. For me it's teeny anyway.
I have worn higher heels and this is nothing so I decided to go for it. Am loving it so far. =P

To come: Check out updates about my trips over the weekends tomorrow.

Freezing and some knits

2006-06-01T16:04:00.000-04:00

I thought London was cold with its dampness. Munich just has to go and show me who's the boss when we talk about cold.

After spending 4.5days in gloomy London, I returned to a freezing cold Munich. It feels like winter in Virginia with the temperature hovering around 40-50F(5-1odeg) with RAIN. We even had hail yesterday! It is supposed to be Spring/Summer here now with temperature no less than 70F(20deg) or so I was told. Oh well, this is Munich. What can I do but suffer through the cold in my only fleece jacket and handful of cardigans. I am wondering now if I should bring my thicker jacket on my next trip back. My colleagues assured me that there is no need for that and what we are experiencing now is just an anomaly. I have my doubts. Can you blame me? As the saying goes, "Once bitten, twice shy".

So now that you know how busy I had been recently. Let me show you my incredibly slow progress where knitting is concerned.

On the left, we have my Somewhat Cowl practically in the same stage as when it departs US with me back at the start of May. I still need to knit 3 more inches to the neckline. Will I be done with it before I return to the US? I doubt so. Will I be able to complete and block it before my return to Munich? Maybe...

On the right, we have a new project. Surprise? I think so too. Haha. That's the beginning of my cap-sleeved top from Debbie Bliss Pure Silk Collection. It's meant to be my Project Spectrum knit for the month of May. Ha! Now, I will be glad to finish it before Autumn as it is! I am making it using the recommended DB Pure Silk and I love the yarn. So smooth, soft and silky. I am also knitting this in the round instead of knitting the front and back separately and seaming it later. Let's see when I will ever complete this, shall we? Maybe it will be a UFO like my Phildar sweater. Sigh, I love that Phildar sweater, no idea why it's taking me forever to get around to completing it though.

Finally, here is a shot of the pack of Rowan Cotton Glace that I got in Guildford, Surrey. I love blue. Maybe, just maybe I will be able to churn out something blue this month!

Life in Germany (Pictures Heavy)

2006-05-30T09:28:00.000-04:00

Let me warn you right now. There is probably not going to be any posts about knitting for the next 2 months. Or maybe even more. It all depends on how long my project will last. I think my BeeKnits should be renamed to BeeTravels instead. I am having such a wild time here. What can I say? Munich is a wonderful place.

As you all know, I arrived in Munich on the 9 May. I was pretty miserable the first week. Friendless coupled with the crappy weather really depresses the hell out of me. Regardless, I did went out for a little retail therapy and found that G's team was having a championship celebration at MarienPlatz. I doubt most of you would be interested but click the pic below to see more. Pretty crappy pics since I am standing quite a distance away from the team.

Bayern Munchen Championship Celebration at MarienPlatz - 13 May 2006

Things start to take a turn for the better when I befriended Bettina. Now, she is my new BFF here in Germany. We hung out almost everyday after work. A pity, I just realised that I do not have a pic of her on my camera. I should really try to rectify that! Even though I made a new friend, she has a bf and we all know what the weekends are for. I went to the zoo on Saturday and really enjoyed myself there. Though it would have been more fun if I had visited it with someone else as well. On Sunday though, I did meet Bettina for a cup of drinks and since the sun doesn't set till almost 9pm, she was late getting back to her bf. Hmm, the bf must not like me too much cos I am monopolising her!

Munich Zoo - 20 May 2006

The recent week was the best! My friend, Serene, from Singapore just came over to work in the UK for the next 2 years! What luck that her company also has a office here in Munich and we met up when she was here for training last Mon-Weds. We had a long weekends last week, from 25 May till 28 May and so I decided to fly to London to visit her! I had a blast there!

I arrived on Thursday and since my friend is still very new, the directions she gave me to get to her apartment was a long one. It took me almost 2hrs to get there, what with all the tube change and train change!

Since she had to work on Friday, I toured London City by myself and met up with my friend, Olaf, in the evening for dinner and drinks. I think I did quite a bit. I alighted at Westminister station, wander around and soak in the atmosphere of Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, the house of parliament and so on. Then I walked on to Buckingham Palace, Trafalger Square, SoHo, Covent Garden and finally to Tower Bridge before heading back to Trafalger Square to meet my friend.

London City - 26 May 2006

Before I forgot, I did checkout a yarn store, Pandora, in Guildford, the university town that my friend is staying at and got a pack of Rowan Cotton Glace in a very lovely shade of sky blue-Sh749. They are all stocked up with Rowan and Jaeger yarns that I could easily burnt a big hole in my pocket just shopping there.

On Saturday, we check out Brighton. The Royal Pavilion is a very amazing and beautiful palace. I couldn't take any pics of the interior but if you click on the link, it will bring you to their official webpage for a sneak peek. Since Brighton is near the sea, it was bloody cold with me in my thin denim jacket only. Regardless, it's still a very pretty sea town. Now, I can picture things better when I read my Jane Austen's novel again. On the way home, we stopped by Stonehenge. As it is closed for public viewing, I can only take the pic from afar.

Brighton Beach & Stonehenge - 27 May 2006

Finally on Sunday, since our driver(aka Serene's roommate) wasn't free to bring us around so we checked out London City again. Especially since my friend who is stationed there for the next 2 years is not that familiar with the city yet. I could drive but I would rather not as it's been eons since I last drove a manual car. However, as an addition for me, we checked out Harrods and took a ride on the London Eye.

London Revisited - 28 May 2006

Adjusting and adapting well

2006-05-17T16:26:00.000-04:00

After spending a week here, I have to say I am adjusting. I still miss my fiance which is to be expected. However, things are starting to look up.

I attended a English club gathering yesterday. It's organised and partly sponsored by the company for employees to practise speaking english in a casual settings. I joined knowing that this will be one gathering where I will understand what everyone is talking about. At that meeting, I met 2 other ladies and we became fast friends. One of them is from the UK but she has been in Germany since 10years ago so she speaks perfect English. The other lady is from East Germany but she is no funny and friendly. She has offered to loan me her old bicycle if I am interested so I can cycle to work from my apartment. I just might take her up on that offer once I know where my fitness level is currently. ;-) It's a good 30mins ride from here to the office and that's the same amount of time required if I take the train and walk instead. Summer here is pretty mild, 25-28 deg C or 80 to 90 deg F so that's very nice weather to cycle in. As people here in the city cycles everywhere, there are bicycles path that leads everywhere.

Besides that, I also met a colleague whom I know while I was back with the Singapore office. He remembered me and was very nice to bring me around to introduce me to more people in the office. Then I also got another invitation by another engineer that I had worked with to go to a biergarden sometimes next week. All in all, things are starting to be better!

Oh, I went shopping over the weekends, hehe, and so what did I get? 4 tops and a pair of shoes. I know I know I am terrible. Well, I had quite a bit of allowance per day and so far, I haven't even spent beyond my allowance! I will post a pic of my buys soon!

Yes, I haven't been knitting much with all this social activities. I will try. Next, I am going to ask my female colleagues about the yarn stores that I found here. Hopefully my next post will be all about knitting!

Greetings from Munich

2006-05-12T12:50:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I last posted. I arrived in Munich on Tuesday morning and had suffered from jet lag because I couldn't sleep on the plane. I have finally recovered though.

Those few days were really tough. I missed home so much. Home had taken on a new meaning for me nowadays. No longer does it conjure up Singapore when I do think about home. At least not while I am here in Munich. So what's home? Home is wherever G is. I miss him so much! I am already counting down to the day that I will be flying back to Reston, Virginia. I guess I have grown really used to seeing him everyday at the end of the workday!

It's getting better though. I still miss him of course but I don't feel as terrible as I feel on Tuesday. Oh, I might be going to Berlin at the end of May as there is a 4 day weekends here. Some Catholic holiday. I am not a Catholic so I don't know what it is.

I have moved into the hotel apartment after staying at the hotel for 2 days. I might have to move again. It's a long story that I will leave for the next post.

Be prepared for a very word intensive blog for the next few weeks as I only have dial-up access. I am going to check with the hotel for a better connection but my colleague who is staying at the same hotel as me told me there is none.

Ok, I will end here for now. It's almost 1am here. Time for bed.

P.S: If you are interested in the laceweight cashmere that I had bought, here's the info. It's from Hunt Valley Cashmere and the owner name is Lynn Beattie. You can contact her at (410) 527-0262. Do a search for Hunt Valley Cashmere and you will see some sample project using her yarns. There are also some online shops that are selling her yarn as a kit.

MSW 2006

2006-05-07T18:34:00.000-04:00

This is my first time to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival and I have to say, I am so impressed and overwhelmed. So much to look at! So much to buy! So much of everything that I really don't know where to start.

Here are some shots that I took at the festival. It's a not a lot cos I was busy looking and touching and fondling and drooling...

The pic of the rows and rows of cars is just a tip off the iceberg!

Llama & Alpacas

Knitted dolls for sale

My buys: 2 skeins of KPPM and 2 skeins of 100% cashmere in laceweight
To see the pics in bigger size, click here

I also got Knitting from the Top by Barbara Walker. Those 2 skeins of laceweight cashmere, I can't wait to start something with them already. They are so soft! USD$28 for 800yds/skein of it. I think that's a pretty good deal, don't you think? A repeat customer who was also buying these laceweight cashmere told me that she got them last year and love it so much that she is back this year just to get more of them.

I also saw a hank of 600yds of 100% silk as I entered the festival in a lovely shade of sky blue. I didn't get it cos I just arrived! When I am done looking and decided that I want to get it, the blues are all gone. =( Oh well, there is always next year to look forward to.

On the way home

Going to the MSW

2006-05-05T09:40:00.000-04:00

Hi,

Just wanted to let you all know that I will be attending the MSW this Saturday! I am kind of excited being that I have never been to anything like this before. Hopefully I won't leave the festival with too much yarn and therefore too much guilt!

See you there. ^_^

Do you crochet?

2006-05-03T19:05:00.000-04:00

If you do, you might want to check out this book. The projects in there all looked so cute and flirty just like the book title suggested. All 10 reviewers(so far) on Amazon gave it 5 stars out of 5. I so want to get this right away but I must practice self-control. Why choose to practice it now? Cos I just realized how much I had invested in this little hobby of mine since picking it up 1.5yrs ago. The figure is not for the faint of heart. Since I do not know how many of my readers are strong enough to read it, I shall be kind enough to not disclose it here. In truth, I think I am more ashamed of my spending.

Therefore, this will go into my Amazon wishlist. One must always leave something for my family and friends to buy for me. Especially since yours truly birthday is coming up soon. Hehe.

Packages and Weekends trip

2006-05-02T12:10:00.000-04:00

One can never receive too much presents or little treats. Look at what I got from Sue of my knitting group! A bumble BEE bookmark. She said it reminded her of me. Heather, you are to blame! Hahaha. In case you are wondering why she is to blame, well during Secret Pal 7, she got me Bee-theme stationary, a Bee paperweight and a Bumble Bee Tape measure. Well, can't really blame her too since my blog is named as such!

Looks like I should start a hobby of collecting everything bumble bee related from now.

Besides that, I finally received my Kim Hargreaves's knit kit from UK. I ordered Bea in Dream and is kind of disappointed that Dream is so much darker than what's on the photo. You can see that from this picture. The model is wearing Bea in Dream. In the background are the yarns. It's a vast difference, isn't it?

The service is very good. It comes wrapped in a nice little box. You get a nice personal(maybe it's a template but still very nice and personable) email telling you when it's shipped and when you should expect it.

I am still contemplating if I should return it, do an exchange or keep it. G thinks the color will still look nice on me. I am tanned and is worried that this color might dull me down. I might just take the chance and hope for the best. What do you think?

Weekends Trip
Being that this is the 2nd to last weekends I will be spending with G before I leave for Munich. We decided to do something more interesting than just lazing at home. We went for a little hike here. It was such a beautiful day for a hike. Granted, the temperature is a little chilly but by the mid-afternoon and after a little hike, it no longer feels cold anymore. Checkout the gorgeous pictures that I managed to take due to the pretty sky.

Since we had made the drive all the way there, we might as well check out Battle Creek Cypress Swamp as well. It's so beautiful that it doesn't really look like a swamp.

So what did you do over the weekends?

This weekends, we might check out the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival.

I am making good progress with my Somewhat Cowl. I have completed one sleeve. So 1 sleeves more to go and then I will have to tackle the cowl neckline. Looking good so far though I wished I had knitted the sleeves longer so that it's 3/4 instead.

Just for fun

2006-04-29T00:31:00.000-04:00

Want to know your past life? Check out this interesting website. How true? Nobody will know but it's fun! Here's what I got.

Your past life diagnosis:

I don't know how you feel about it, but you were male in your last earthly incarnation.
You were born somewhere in the territory of modern USA South-West around the year 1775.
Your profession was that of a philosopher and thinker.

Your brief psychological profile in your past life:
Timid, constrained, quiet person. You had creative talents, which waited until this life to be liberated. Sometimes your environment considered you strange.

The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation:
Your main task is to make the world more beautiful. Physical and spiritual deserts are just waiting for your touch. Keep smiling!

Do you remember now?

Update

2006-04-28T23:58:00.000-04:00

So what do we have here?

Finally, a progress shot of my Somewhat Cowl! I am almost done with the body. I am 1" into the ribbing. 2" more to go!

Another update, I will be leaving for Munich on the 8 May 2006. Hopefully this will be done by then so I can take another project with me to Munich instead.

Have you seen this blog entry on Knitty? I so want to try out that yummilicious Handmaiden Sea Silk. Googling for it, I found that it costs USD$32 per 500yds/100g. I have spent enough so for now, I will just settle for looking and drooling over it. Unless I come across it in some yarn shop in Munich... =P

Meeting Karen

2006-04-25T12:19:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday, I left work early to meet up with Karen, a fellow knitter whom I had been conversing with via emails for the past few weeks. As I write up this post, I tried to recall how we started emailing each other and for the life of me, I can't. A sign of old age? Or exhaustion? Or just being human? Probably a bit of all.

We had been trying to have a get-together since we started emailing each other. But somehow, things just haven't been working out until last Thursday as she had to pick up her son at Dulles International Airport in the evening. So we decided to meet early, swing by Uniquities in Vienna and end the night with a dinner at Nizam!

I of course had to be late for the meeting. =P When I got to the yarn store, there was only one customer in the store and me being the genius that I am, was able to pick out Karen right then and there! We spent an hour and a half at the yarn store. Browsing through everything they have, talking about knitting and life and of course buying more yarns. Haha, well, I didn't really buy any yarns, just this pattern book.

Before heading over to Nizam, we also check out this Pie bakery shop near the restuarant where I bought a marble cheesecake. I love it! It's so good that all 9inches of the cake are gone now ladies. Gone! G just had like 2 slices of it. The rest are all devoured by me. I just love cheesecake!

Dinner at Nizam was good as well. I highly recommend Dolma and Imam Bayildi for appetizers if you ever visit them.

Besides the good food, the great time spent with both Karen and Bob(her husband), look at what else I got!
Free yarns courtesy from Karen. I got 2 balls of Rowan Kid Classic in 2 different colors. 1 ball of some novelty yarn which I can envision as a cute spring scarf. I better get working on it soon before spring is over. And 1 ball of Plymouth Bamboo. She is allergic to mohair. Thankfully she likes to buy onesy ball to try them out else I will end up with a bigger lot! ;-) I am not going to complain if that really happens! As for the bamboo yarn, she was just very nice to throw 1 ball my way for me to enjoy it too! To conclude, I like Karen and her husband a lot and can't wait to meet them soon again!

So in my last entry, I talked about all the sales that is going on right now. Hmm, so did my credit card get away untouched? You know the odds if you know me. I am not going to say how much I spent cos I am just too ashamed of my spending habits. But I will keep you posted as I received the packages!

Knitting wise, I have finally joined my Somewhat Cowl in the front. Woohoo, it dips real low at the front. Sexy, eh! I tried them on and it fits me just as I wanted it to. No pics yet cos it's just way too sexy for a shot. I hope the neckline will be pulled in by a lot as Wendy said. Now that the sleeves are on waste yarn and it's joined in the round, the knitting has been going at a much faster rate. Will I be able to get this done before I leave for Munich? Probably. Since the company is taking forever to finalise the details for my Munich trip.

Sales sales sales

2006-04-19T23:42:00.000-04:00

Here I am trying to get rid of some of my stash so that I have lesser yarn and therefore lesser guilt. But how's one suppose to behave when there is sales everywhere!

First up, WEBS is having a sale to celebrate their anniversary!

Next thing you know, I was informed that Bo Peep's Wool Shop is having a crazy 35% sales from 20th-30th April because their shop is being remodeled! Thank you very much Lois for informing me this!!!

Finally, while reading Jac's blog, I learnt that Kim Hargreaves is having a free worldwide shipping promotion to celebrate her birthday! Seriously, how can I practise any self control when I am being tempted every way I turn!

Stash Sale

2006-04-19T22:00:00.000-04:00

I am destashing some of my yarns. Please check them out and let me know if you are interested.

All prices quoted are inclusive of S&H (within US only). Yarns are stored in a pet-free and smoke-free apartment.
Shipping will be via USPS Priority.
To purchase, email me the following and I will send you a Paypal invoice:

the item you are interested in and
your Paypal email
free service of winding the skein of yarn into a center pull ball

1 lb cone of some acrylic yarn I got on eBay in the color Rose Denim (similar to Lion's Brand homespun but not as soft)
$14 for whole cone [Buy]

2 balls of Rowan Chunky Print in Pit
Bulky weight, 100% Wool, 11sts by 14rows per 4 inch, 109yds/100g per ball, same dyelot
$15 [Buy]

ETA:
Hi Jennifer,
I can't find your email address anywhere so I will try to answer your question here. It's a dark chocolate brown. The photo actually shows the color pretty accurately. At least it does on my PC. The photo at knitrowan.com is actually inaccurate for this color. It's much darker than that photo. Yarndex shade card also has a pretty accurate photo.

Thank you for looking and I hope this is what you are looking for. =)

The meme of 6

2006-04-17T14:11:00.000-04:00

I had quite a harrowing morning today. All brought on by myself really. I was driving to work on this gloomy and rainy morning. In VA, you can turn right on red if the road you are turning on is clear. I was trying to turn right and as the road curves, it's kind of hard to see the oncoming traffic. However, cars are turning left onto my road(going in the opp directions) and I therefore assume, traffic should be clear for them to be doing that. Well, boy am I wrong. I was stepping on the gas to turn and somehow I guess the road was slippery so I had difficulties getting the car to move. There was a car bearing down on me fast after I turned. I quickly changed lanes and he/she probably had to step on the brakes as well in order to avert an accident. I feel really stupid to have taken such a chance. What if things didn't turn out for the better! Sigh, there are many moments in life when one did something stupid. This definitely goes all the way to the top of my stupid actions. It is moment like this that makes me wish that the public transportation here is comparable to NY or Singapore... When that happened, I am sure I will have something else to complain about instead. =P

I was tagged by Rachel for the meme with everything about 6. So here's my answers:

1. Six minutes to yourself: How would you spend them, ideally?
Knitting! What else when I planned my knitting projects while idle in the office. Oops, hope nobody from the office is reading this.

2. Six bucks to spend right now: How would you spend it?
Get a US6 Circular needles. My clover was stained by the Indigo Jaggerspun Zephyr when I used it for knitting Butterfly.

3. Six items in your house you could part with, right now, that you hadn't thought of already?
Piles of old bills, piles of clothings that doesn't fit me or I don't like anymore. I am sure there are more. Just can't think of any right now.

4. Six items you absolutely, positively could never part with in your house?
My G, my bak kut teh mix(I am making this tonight), my belacan chili sauce, my computer, my orange sapphire ring from G and of course all my yarns(please, can I count them all as 1).

5. Six words you love?
Love, Yarns, Sale, Discount and Singapore Food!

I tag Isel, Jas, Carin, Lois, Ruth, Brandy and ...(how many people in all should I tag? 6 maybe?) No worries ladies if you don't want to participate in this meme.

Weekends shopping

2006-04-16T23:48:00.000-04:00

What can I say? I had been bad again. I met up with my knitting buddies(Isel, Jas and Sue) over the weekends. Besides partaking a great lunch at Mai Thai(spicy eggplants, chicken green curry and seafood in ginger sauce, yummm), yarn shopping is of course one of the agenda as well! I have no real projects in mind to buy yarns for. Why? Cos I have a gazillion yarns in my closet waiting to make their debut as FOs! Did I behave by not buying more yarns? Ha, what are the odds!

With no project in mind, I bought 6 skeins of Classic Elite Yarns: Premiere. The yarn is very very soft. I love the color, so springy. I envision it make into something feminine and with ruffles. Something like this or this. What do you think? Or something as simple and classic as the Green Gables. However, I am kind of leaning towards something with ruffles more. Hehe, no idea why.

Besides yarn shopping and good food, look what sweet Sue gave me for my going-to-Munich-for-a-while present!
A yarn mousepad! How cool is that? She thought it would be nice for me to bring it with me to Munich. I know secretly, she wants me to look at it and be reminded of her and of course to bring back some European yarns for her and the gang! ;-) Maybe she doesn't but that was so sweet of her!

Finally, I have some progress to show for my Phildar sweater. I have reached the armholes shaping. I was kind of stuck for a while as the pattern wants me to knit till it measures 37cm from the end of the ribbing. It seems kind of long. I looked at the model shots, held it up against my body, ponder and think about it a little and finally decided to start the armhole shaping at 34cm instead. Keeping my fingers crossed it will come out right at the end.

Progress has been slow as I have been working on my Orangina and Somewhat Cowl as well. There is no shot of Somewhat Cowl yet as it's difficult to take a nice shot of it presently. Maybe when I get to the point where I joined it in the round. I am loving the Alpaca and Silk though. So soft and so shiny.

So how did you spent your weekends? Did you buy more yarns too like me?

Another gorgeous sweater!

2006-04-13T09:45:00.000-04:00

If you have no wish to lay your eyes on another gorgeous pattern and therefore add it to your ever-growing list of to-knits and therefore buy more yarns, STOP reading further now! =P

Check out this Alexander McQueen knockoff design that I stumbled upon on Craftster! Absolutely gorgeous! I love it so much that I just have to purchase the pattern immediately. Hehe. But I will probably only get around to making this around autumn. I think I know what yarn I want to use already. The original design can be found here but I prefer hers so much more! So if you had fell in love with it as much as I did, click here to find instructions on how to purchase the pattern.

Color of my current projects

2006-04-06T22:15:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I knit using US3 and I realise why it's that way. Progress is agonizingly slow. I am using RYC Cashsoft 4 ply instead of a cotton yarn. Why? Cause I have 5 balls of them sitting in my stash. Back when I am still new at knitting, I bought them to make a bag that I saw in RYC Classic Holiday. Now that I am a teeny bit wiser, I think it's a waste to use those yarn for a bag because they are way too expensive. Also, I don't think the yarn will be durable for a bag. So here it is, destined to be Rose-gina instead. Hopefully I will have enough. If not, the rib will be done in a coordinating color. Brown maybe. Or cream...

The color is called Rose Lake. It doesn't show up that well in both shots above.

If you noticed, I am going to start on Somewhat Cowl soon too. I fell in love with this pattern when it made its debut about a month ago. But I was good. I didn't buy the pattern immediately because I think I have enough patterns to make from as it is.

But recently, I found out that Kpixie has a knit kit for it and was selling it at a discount(6 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca & Silk + pattern for only $53). The price is so good that I just can't resist it. So hee hee, here I am with the 6 skeins of the yummilicious Alpaca & Silk. It's so soft and luxurious that I can't wait to start knitting with it.

Without further ado, I present to you my Alpaca & Silk in Chestnut. The color is very true in this pic, at least it is on my monitor. That cream yarn is my Phildar in progress. Yes, I am still knitting it. Just not as often as I should. =P

Who am I?

2006-04-05T09:45:00.000-04:00

I saw this over at Rachel's blog and being the big Jane Austen fan that I am, I can't resist checking this out.

You scored as Marianne Dashwood. Most girls can relate with Marianne on a more personal level than some of Austen's other characters. She represents the emotional longings and struggles that seem to attack and bless us at the same time. Loyal to a fault, passionate for experience and life, and a bit over-emotional, Marianne matures and grows (making her so beloved).

Emma Woodhouse

66%

Elizabeth Bennet

66%

Marianne Dashwood

66%

Elinor Dashwood

63%

Charlotte Lucas

63%

Lady Catherine

56%

Jane Bennet

56%

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!!
created with QuizFarm.com

My Rosy Picovoli

2006-04-04T18:06:00.000-04:00

: March Project

To see more progress pics, click here

Pattern: Picovoli
Source: MagKnits
Yarn: 4 skeins of Classic Elite Avignon
Yarn Source: Aylin's Woolgatherer
Needle: US5 24" circular
Size: XS-28"
Made for: Myself
Time Taken: ~15 days from 11 Mar 2006 - 4 Apr 2006 (with 1 week off of this prj)

This is a very easy and mindless knits. I originally wanted to make this with a 3/4 sleeves but then I also wanted to make Somewhat Cowl and that will be a 3/4 sleeves top so I decided to stick to the pattern. Nothing special was done for this top. Love the yarn and the color. Like Brandy says, the drawback with cotton yarn is that the ends that are weave in seems quite obvious from the right side. Oh well.

The picot edgings curl like crazy so I have to iron them out like crazy as well though it still curls slightly if you look at the pics carefully.

Finally, pardon my weird pose. I have no idea how to stand anymore after taking so many pics in the bathroom using the 10-sec delay mode on the camera.

Past entries on this project:
Start | At 35% | End

United 93

2006-04-04T15:30:00.000-04:00

Remember the Madli's Shawl I made? Here are some pics of my friend using it. I also made her a pair of earrings. She loved them both and I am really glad to hear that.

On a more serious note, I have to say I am quite disgusted that Universal Pictures has made what happened to United 93 on September 11 2001 into a movie. I think everybody has already know everything that is to know about what happened on September 11. It's a tragedy that no matter how you put it will still be a terrible tragedy. Until the day Osama Bin Laden is captured and held responsible for what happened that day, there will be no true closure, no real justice.

Even though Universal Pictures will donate 10 percent of the first three days' grosses to the memorial, to me, they are still exploiting a tragedy for their own personal gain. There are so many stories that they can make into a movie. So why this story? Why so soon after the tragedy? The answer is very simple - greed. Besides Universal Pictures, I guess the general public is to be blamed too. Hopefully, the attendence will prove otherwise.

I know Universal Pictures will also argue that they are trying to show the world what really happened on board the flight and how brave those passengers were to overcome the terrorists and helped averted even more deaths. But seriously, how many people have truly recovered from Sept 11. If you are personally involved in one way or another to what happened that day, do you think you are ready yet to see such kind of commercial exploitation? I did not lose anyone that day but I am deeply disturbed by what I heard on 'United 93' trailer... If I, a foreigner, am not ready to face this, I cannot imagine how the families of United 93 can be ready to face the reopening of a wound that never truly heals...

Much ado about everything

2006-04-03T22:17:00.000-04:00

Wow, it had been a hectic week for me!

I have a friend who was here for an interview and while here, I showed him and his gf around Washington, DC and NoVa. I was also their chauffeur since they are not very confident to drive here. They arrived last Tuesday afternoon. We went to DC for the cherry blossom and did The Mall after that. He was at the office for his interview for both Thurs and part of Fri. I showed them the Potomac Falls on Fri afternoon. You won't believe this. We drove up to NY on Friday night. That was the first time I drove 4+hrs straight! The rental car was under my name. You see, my friend was given a rental car and since he wasn't confident with his driving, I ended up being the designated driver.

And what luck we have. While on the way to Manhattan from Brooklyn(G's parents' place), someone jumped in front of our train. I have no idea if the person jumped or was pushed (I hope not) cause all we could get from the news report was that a man died on the subway track. We knew something was wrong when we were ordered off the train as dozens of police and firemen started towards the train with all kinds of contraception. G said this is pretty common. It's kind of gruesome to think about it.

We showed them Lower Manhattan, South Street Seaport, Brooklyn Bridge, 34 Street, Times Square, Rockefeller Centre and Central Park. A lot of walking. My legs are still sore from that day. Maybe its cause of all the driving too! We went to Liberty State Park on Sun cos there is no Q for the ferry to Liberty Island from there. It also has a lovely view of lower Manhattan. The only drawback was that it is only accessible by car.

Finally, look who just turned 2 years old! That was also James' first ferry ride as well as his very first visit to Liberty Island.

We got back late last night and had to send them off early this morning (their flight was at 11am). What a wild week. I took the day off today just to recuperate from all the driving and the walking!

Oooh, and look at what I got from my secretpal! Heather made me a yarn holder as well as a circular needle holder! I love it so much. I was just thinking about getting the Eucalan's No Rinse when I was last at my LYS. I don't remember mentioning that on my blog so it was such a surprise that you are apparently psychic too! Hehe. I especially like that 'Bee happy' paperweight(?). So cute! Thank you so so much!

Disappointed yet again

2006-03-23T14:58:00.000-05:00

Had a talk with both my boss and the VP today. They remained firm with their offer. Not even budging by $1. I am very disappointed. They of course try to put an 'attractive' offer to go with the money. They are sending me to Munich for a big project that will last 3-6mths. IF I do a good job with that, they will consider promoting me to Senior Software Engineer at the end of the year.

When I was at the Singapore subsidary, my boss there wanted to promote me to Group Leader where I would have 2 engineers reporting to me. I gave up that promotion to relocate here. Silly of me, I know. But I love my fiance and so I took the sacrifice. I don't expect that kind of promotion over here cos it's a smaller team but seriously, how can they think what they offer will look attractive to me? And really, doesn't that sound like I have to prove myself all over again!

I know, it's a different subsidary but they are all part of the same company, aren't they. If what I do in one subsidary is not recognised in another one, then really what's the point of being loyal to this company. If the company isn't even trying to pay me market rate, then seriously, what's my motivation for staying on in this company? Nothing they have done so far makes me feel like I am appreciated. There is nothing I can do, for now. So I can just nod my head through and swallow my disappointment and hope for something better coming along. Soon, I hope...

I managed to recruit a knitter!

2006-03-21T16:15:00.000-05:00

I had a friend who expressed an interest in knitting ever since seeing some of FOs (I think so anyway, heehee). I am just too thick-skinned(=shameless) I think. =P

So, last December when my sister came over to visit me, I sent her back to Singapore with a copy of Debbie Stoller's Stitch and Bitch(that's how I learnt to knit) to be mailed to my friend. It's almost 3 months later now and my friend still had not received the book. I doubt it will ever get to her so 2 weeks ago, I bought another copy of the book. I also decided to give her a pair each of Sz4 and Sz5 straight needles. I inherited those needles and 20 skeins of Sirdar Cotton yarn when a friend of mine gave up knitting. I also gave her a few skeins of the yarn since I have so many. And the results? Check it out yourself!

I am so proud of her! But I think the yarn is too fine(gauge wise) for a beginner. Hopefully she will hang on there and not give up by the lack of progress.

Pico progress shots & Butterfly 2

2006-03-20T15:52:00.000-05:00

Thank you everyone for your kindness and concern. It takes time I know. But sometimes I just don't want to let go because I am very very afraid that I will forget her. She does not deserve that.

Job wise, I have spoken to the 'higher beings' and they are trying to match my expectations. I don't expect much from it and so I have decided to take what I can when they come back to me and hope for the best there after. It's a job afterall and so I should try to take it easy. No use getting upset because that's probably happening all over the world. But thank you for indulging me by listening to my complains.

Now back to knitting.

The picture on the left was taken before the waist shaping. The pic on the right was taken yesterday when I am almost done with the waist decrease.

I really love knitting a top this way cos then I do not need to fear if it will be long enough or if it will be too loose or too tight as I can try them on as I knit! I love how it is turning out so far.

Following the great success of FSIL's Butterfly, I decided that I will put off starting on the Sampler Stole and get cracking on another butterfly for myself using this:

Yes, it's Jaggerspun Zephyr(in Elderberry this time) again. Hehehe. This was actually supposed to be the yarn used for my FSIL's butterfly. I bought this yarn on the internet and after not hearing from the seller for a few days, I thought maybe she was no longer selling. I hadn't paid yet then so it wasn't so bad. That was last December and I was anxious to start on Butterfly because I wanted to give it to her for Christmas. So I stopped by Springwater Fiber Workshop and bought those Zephyr in Indigo. However, the internet seller contacted me after that. Elderberry sound and look nice on the internet and it wasn't too expensive given it's yardage so I bought it instead of cancelling the order. Thankfully I did as this will be my butterfly color instead. As much as I love the Indigo one, I think it would be dorky to have the exact same one as my FSIL. Hehe.

However, I will not start on this until I hear from my FSIL that the indigo one fits her. I am sure it will given how stretchable lace is and how her figure is pretty close to mine but just wanted to make sure.

Klaralund

2006-03-19T23:40:00.000-05:00

Gallery

Pattern: Klaralund
Source: Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton Book 2
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden #201
Yarn Source: eBay (Yarnbow)
Needle: US7 29" circular
Size: XS-32"
Made for: Myself
Modifications:

Resize the body to fit me tiny body by reducing cast-on by 8 stitches in total for both front and back.
Knit the body piece in the round.

There is no special techniques of any sort to add for this project. Love Noro Silk Garden colorway but not too crazy about the yarn itself. If you rememeber, I complained about the weird pieces of woods that are stuck in the yarn all over. Thankfully, they do seem to wash out from the yarn as I see quite a bit of those wood floating in the water when I was wetting it prior to blocking. I was quite obessed with it and I always pluck out those wood pieces if I felt them in the yarn during knitting. I also am not too crazy about the variegated thickness of the yarn.

However, I have read and heard that Noro Silk Garden soften with each wash. So will see how it will be one year from now.

And please ignore the background of the 2nd pic! The bathroom is the most brightly lit area in the apartment after dark.

Overall, I love the sweater. The body fits me just right. The sleeves are a bit wide and I already expected that. I probably should have made it narrower and increase it for the shoulder part. Oh well, too late for that now. And I love the colors, so pretty.

It might made its official debut outside of the apartment on tuesday since the high is only going to be 37F(~3C).

Past entries on this project:
Start | At 60% | At 99% | End

Indigo Butterfly

2006-03-18T19:10:00.000-05:00

For more pics, click here

Pattern: Butterfly
Source: Rowan 37
Yarn: ~400yds of Jaggerspun Zephyr in Indigo
Yarn Source: Springwater Fiber Workshop
Needle: Clover US6 24" Circular
Size: XS-32"
Made for: G's sister
Modifications:

Yarn substitution, required is Rowan KidSilk Haze
Went down a needle size to US6
Knit the edge lace in one continuous piece
Knit the body in the round

I absolutely love this knit! Okay, I really didn't think it will turn out this stunning which was why it took forever to finish this. Really, lace looks awful when you are knitting it up. After blocking it, it looks neater but I was still unconvinced. I know, I know, I should know better given how Madli turns out. But that's a shawl with more intricate lace design and this is a... top.

Now, I just don't want to give it away!!! Somebody please wrestle it away from me and put it into that bubble pack envelope addressed to my FSIL and sealed it up!!! And of course mailed it out before my self-control broke and I ripped that envelope into pieces. Oh why do I have to choose such a beautiful knit to give it away? Why? Why!!!!

Note to self, never model for knits that I am going to give it away.

Oh well, I will just have to settle for knitting another one for myself then. All in all, this is a very easy lace knits. I do not like seaming and I think seaming something so delicate will just make it worst so I choose to knit this in the round. I used Jaggerspun Zephyr for this and it is fast becoming my favorite yarn. The sheen of the silk is so much more apparent for this color than it is for the white.

Next up in lace, I am making the sampler stole from A Gathering of Lace.

Mood = :-(

2006-03-17T16:20:00.000-05:00

I have been feeling down recently. Firstly, my friend who passed away last year due to a car accident, well her birthday is coming soon. It saddens me to recall that last year this time, I was busy making a scarf for her. Now, she is ... gone.

Then situation at the office is not great. I am seriously underpaid and with the departure of 2 of my colleagues, they finally decide to try to make it right by me. Because they desperately need me now. However, the amount they gave is still below market rate. I heard from my sources(can't mentioned it here just in case someone in my office stumble upon this) that I could do way better out in the market. Especially since the market is so hot for developers right now in NoVa. The biggest problem I have is with the whole visa issue which is probably why the company is taking advantage of me. However, they will be sadly mistaken if they think that is what's holding me back.

From the first day I start work here, I have to constantly fight for what's fair for me. I was transferred over from the Singapore subsidary and at first they refused to recognised my years of service there. That's absurd! I am doing the same thing here as what I was doing in Singapore. Now they finally decided to recognise it. I am glad to hear that but at the same time disappointed that it has to take the departure of 2 colleagues for them to do this.

I passed up a promotion in Singapore where I will have 2 engineers reporting to me to come here. I don't expect them to give me that here but at least take that into consideration. It means something about my work performance but the HR flatly refused to and give me an attitude of take it or leave it.

And then my sources told me that my current salary is what some companies pay their fresh grad employees. I have 5 years of totally relevant experience and to hear that is a big blow to me. Sigh...

Because of my sad mood, that's also why I haven't been as responsive with your comments and why no pics of the completed Klaralund and Butterfly yet.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions on lengthening Apricot's sleeves. I will be brave and bold and try the cutting method. Wish me luck! It doesn't sound like something for the faint-hearted and the portion that I can do this is the ribbing part. Stay tuned to see if I am successful or I end up frogging the whole sleeves instead! Haha.

I need help

2006-03-15T17:46:00.000-05:00

Remember my Apricot Jacket? I love it but I realise that the sleeves are a bit short for my liking. Is there anyway to lengthening it short of ripping the whole thing and reknitting it again?

On other updates, Butterfly is all done with ends woven in and is currently on the blocking board. I would probably be able to take a pic of her tonight before sending her all the way to the West Coast to my FSIL.

As for Klaralund, I realise I overblocked the sleeves. The end result was that the fabric was thin and of course too long! So it's currently on the blocking board being reblock. Hopefully it will be all dry for me to seam the whole thing together tonight and make its debut to the office tomorrow? Will see.

Weekend knitting

2006-03-13T11:05:00.000-05:00

I was at the LYS over the weekends to get needles for my next lace shawl and look at what else I bought - A Gathering of Lace. I had been eyeing this book for a long time and since LYS is selling it, I broke down and got it together with the needle.

Flipping through the book, I saw a few lace stole/shawl that I want to knit. So I might choose to knit one of them instead of Kiri which was what I chose for my next lace knits.

Oh, and look at who is finally on the blocking board. Nope, not butterfly. It's my Noro Silk Garden Klaralund. Finally! It occupied almost the whole of my blocking board so it's good that my butterfly is not completed yet. I will be finishing Butterfly today but probably won't get around to blocking it until the mid of this week when Klaralund dries totally.

I have started on my Tivoli as well. It's to be my March's project for Project Spectrum. I am making mine with Pico edgings so I guess I should call it Picovoli. Instead of seaming the 'live' stitches at cast on to the body, I decided to knit them to it instead. Hehe, anything to do away with seaming!

Oh well, not as much progress as I hoped for the Picovoli as I have been fervently reading In Her Shoes as well! Finished the book last night so I can go back to concentrating on knitting again. I love that book. Next up is A Little History of the World by E. H. Gombrich.

Anyway, I found another source for more free pattern at Adrifail.

Oh, this is nothing related but I saw some really cute Pygmy Goat Kids here and thought you might be interested in it as well! They are so so cute!

Spring/Summer 2006

2006-03-08T20:30:00.000-05:00

It's time to update my to-knit list with Spring just around the corner. Besides the one listed below, I am sure I have a lot more other unplanned-for projects. Like I know there will be some lace knitting. I am just not sure yet what pattern to knit.

Here are the project details starting from the top-left corner and going in a clockwise direction:
Garnstudio's Cardigan
Pattern: Cardigan in “art knitting”
Source: Garnstudio
Yarn: Undecided

Short Sleeved Ribbed Sweater
Pattern: Short Sleeved Ribbed Sweater
Source: Rowan Member's Free Pattern
Yarn: Rowan Linen Drape, Petal

Orangina
Pattern: Orangina
Source: Glampyre Knits
Yarn: Rowan RYC Cashsoft 4 ply, Rose Lake

Lacy Kerchief Scarf
Pattern: Lacy Kerchief Scarf
Source: Interweave Knits Summer 2005
Yarn: Garnstudio Muskat, Pink

Picovoli - Completed!
Details can be found here.

Hourglass Pullover
Pattern: Hourglass Pullover
Source: Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Noro Cash Iroha #79

Tempting II
Pattern: Tempting II
Source: Knitty
Yarn: Rowan Calmer, Joy

Aran Tee
Pattern: Aran Tee
Source: Vogue Knitting Holiday 2005
Yarn: Karabella Aurora 8, Light Blue

So is there any projects that I am planning to knit that you are too? If so, maybe we can do it together to motivate each other!

Yarn Shopping

2006-03-05T20:30:00.000-05:00

So what did I do over the weekends? Heed Carin's advice and go shopping of course! Haha, I tried to anyway.

I went to Aylin's Woolgatherer for the first time. It's nearer than both Knit Happens and Springwater Fiber Workshop but somehow I haven't been there before.

I was going to get either yarn for the Garnstudio's Cardigan or Forecast but somehow they didn't have the color that I wanted for either project. But look at what I found at the sales corner:

6 skeins of Classic Elite Avignon (made of Tussah silk and Pima Cotton) at 35% off in Rose. Since I have been in the mood for red and pink, I bought all 6 skeins without any project in mind. The lady who helped me with my purchase is really nice and friendly. We talked about how expensive Reston is to how my name is often mispronounced by others. I had been called everything from Bee Gees to Biscuit to Bill Gates. And now, I am called Bee by some people because I put a space between my name(Bee Gek instead of BeeGek) which is a norm when we write our Chinese name. However, over here, people thought Bee is my first name and Gek my middle. I learnt my lesson so I would put BeeGek as 1 word or just introduce myself as Jade. My chinese name translates literally to 'Beautiful Jade' in English.

When I got home, I can't help but keep admiring my new purchase so I went in search for a project for it. I remembered vaguely that Tivoli's gauge is somewhere around 20+sts and boy am I right. I swatched immediately and got gauge at 21sts per 4inches. Slightly bigger than the required for Tivoli(22sts/4in) but I will be making the smallest size(28") which should be just right for me in the end. I intend to make it with a 3/4 sleeve. Maybe add some lace pattern to the bottom of tivoli's body. Hmm, will see how the yarn situation goes.

A Wedding Stole

2006-03-05T19:45:00.000-05:00

It's difficult to take a pic of Madli on a person and yet showed how beautiful it is. You can't say I didn't try. I think the best shots are still of it on the blocking board.

All pictures for this project can be found here.

Here are the project details for my Madli's Shawl:
Pattern: Madli's Shawl
Source: Interweave Knits Summer 2004 issue
Yarn: ~1200yds of Jaggerspun Zephyr in White
Yarn Source: Springwater Fiber Workshop
Needle: US5
Size: 62" long by 20" wide
Time taken: 10 Feb 2006 - 28 Feb 2006
Made for: My friend, Yizhen (Pics of my friend with it)
Modifications:

Yarn substitution.
Instead of pinning the length edges at 4in interval during blocking, I blocked them using a wire to achieve a straighter edge.

If I were to make this again and using the same yarn, I will go down a needle size or more. I think the needle size I used makes the shawl looks more 'open'. I think with a smaller needle size, the lace pattern will be more apparent.

If you are using a thicker yarn, I think the nupp can be omitted. A nupp is where you knit and purl 7 sts in 1 st and then you purled all 7sts together on the WS.

I used a Size0000 needle to purl the nupp. That really helps for me! If not for Sz0000 needle, I think I would have given up on the nupp all in all.

Using Kitchsner stitch to graft the 2 lace portions together is exhausting. I guess it is because the yarn is fine and there were 101 sts to graft. Towards the end, I even develop a slight headache. Then again, it might just be me. =P

I loved how the lace looks while I was knitting it but that is nothing as compared to it all wet and stretched out on that old blanket (cos the shawl is too long for my blocking board). It is absolutely stunning. Lace definately needs a good blocking. The lace pattern look so much more apparent and defined now. Take a look at these before and after pictures and you will know what I am talking about.

Before & After

My first lace knitting with laceweight yarn is Butterfly but this is my first completed lace knits! I am loving the result(as can be seen with the amount of pics I had taken so far and my constant chatter about it, =P) and you bet that I will be doing more lace knitting from now on.

Seeing what a big transformation a good blocking can do, I can't wait to block Butterfly soon enough!

Past entries on this project:
Start | At 34% | At 84% | At 100%

Why oh why?

2006-03-03T14:34:00.000-05:00

Now, I am still drooling over Forecast and Starsky and Karma has to go and show me yet another gorgeous design she found. Take a look at this:

Isn't it gorgeous? I so want to make this right now! Googling for the yarn, I realise that not a lot of yarn store stock Garnstudio but I did come across this online store(Knitty Noddy) selling it as a kit. I also found a Canadian yarn store that seemed to sell both of the required yarns. Substituting yarn might be difficult as the pattern uses 2 yarns held together. I have no idea how to convert that to a single yarn gauge. Anybody has any idea?

I so picture mine in a dark red color. I like blue but the blue I like is used by the model and I want to make something different! I don't have a red cardigan, maybe it's time I made myself one. Hahaha.

Oh well, again, I am going to hold off any yarn spree until I am done with Klaralund and have Phildar off the 'On Hold' status at least. Hmm, then again I am getting a bonus(not that it's a big one) so I should celebrate with some yarn shopping. =P

Tired out?

2006-03-02T14:53:00.000-05:00

I am trying to take a pic of Madli off the blocking board. Maybe tonight so I can go to the post office and mailed it out tomorrow. I will post the details when I get that picture. Madli is sure getting a lot of pictures taken. Forgive me for going crazy with it. First, it was a KO project so I have all those other pics to show my WIP. Now, I am just so in awe of how pretty it is that I want to take as many pics of it as possible since I am giving it away.

Now that that's completed, I should have gone back to Butterfly since all it needs is the picot edging. However, I am kind of in a slump. Maybe I am all tired out from Madli. I am however inching along with Klaralund.

I am feeling kind of down too. I just learned that 2 of my colleagues in my engineering team just tendered. There is only 5 of us in the team. There is a lot of discontent in the whole department currently. We have yet to know if we are going to get any bonus but they just announced that they are hiring 2 more directors. Our department has only 22 employees in all and we now have 11 directors, VP & MD. One of the director was newly promoted and she is with us for barely half a year. My 2 colleagues have both been here for at least 5 years or more. I am not saying that's the reason they are leaving but it's kind of easy to imagine what the reasons could be.

Even though I am kind of in a knitting slump, that doesn't prevent me from adding more patterns to my to-knit list. Someone on Craftster brought Knitty's Starsky to my attention. I love it. That pattern is exactly what I have been looking for. However, I will leave that for next Fall/Winter. That is if I didn't find another one like it that I liked even more.

Another pattern that has been on my mind is Knitty's Forecast, especially after seeing how Winnie's turned out. There is also a KAL for it with some beautiful WIPs that tempts me even more. I picture mine in a lovely shade of Rose, a perfect jacket for those cold Spring day. Or as a versatile jacket in navy tweed. And naturally, I have to pick a shade that I do not have so as to justify buying more yarns. Hahaha. I am trying to have some self control here so I won't buy any yarns until both Butterfly and Klaralund are done. If I am still thinking about it, maybe I will then.

ETA: I just learned that one of my colleagues will not be leaving after all. He negotiates with the MD directly and got what he wanted I guess. And I know what my bonus is finally. Woohoo for that!

Oops!

2006-03-01T15:51:00.000-05:00

Apparently, I had been calling my newly completed beautiful shawl by the wrong name. I just checked and it should be called Madli's Shawl, not Madil's Shawl.

Thank you, Beata for pointing this out to me!

Madli's Shawl on the blocking board!

2006-03-01T09:25:00.000-05:00

The full size of 62" by 20":

Close up of lace:

Click on any of the pictures to see more or larger view.

No gold medal for me

2006-02-27T11:40:00.000-05:00

Well, I am left with the lace border to knit and then I will be done with Madil. The next time I blogged about Madil, it will be all blocked and ready for its long journey to Singapore!

Knowing that I won't be getting the gold, I was kind of slack over the weekends. Hehe. Besides, I was visiting, so all the more reason to relax and play with my adorable 2 yrs old nephew.

The computer problem wasn't too tough. The PCI card wasn't installed properly and hence Windows didn't detect its presence previously. The other problem was just the AT&T installation. Apparantly, the configuration settings provided by AT&T installation disc was not working for some reason. After a call to the AT&T support, some serious exchange with subtle threats of unsubscribing, they fixed my problem by giving me another login name and password. I do not like when the IT support tells me that you should change your operating system because they do not know how to support yours. You see, WinXP has made a lot of things automatic and hence make life so much more easier for them. My future-in-laws are using WinMe which is essentially Win98. As they only use it for email, I see no need to go out and get a copy of WinXP. Besides, I can see that everything is working fine except for the connection to the internet. I am glad that everything is fixed but it took a while to get there cos of the support call. So no yarn shopping for me! =( Oh well, next time hopefully!

Although I didn't get a gold medal for knitting, I score really well for my beaded earrings! I sold 15 pairs of earrings in all. Woohoo! While making the sales, I also asked if the prices are agreeable and how they like my beaded earrings. I got really positive feedbacks which is great! And apparantly, my earrings appeal to customer as young as 12 to as old as 60. Very good demographic!

I have also decided that I will donate 5~10% of my beaded jewelry sales to UNICEF. I am currently donating to Doctors Without Border on a monthly basis so whatever I earned from my bead shop will go to UNICEF then. I do not earn a lot of money but I am very lucky to never have to worry about my next meal or survival.

Thanks everyone for your encouragements with the KO! I will be back with the blocked Madil very very soon!

Latest Knitting Olympics Update

2006-02-24T22:20:00.000-05:00

By popular demand, here is a pic of Madil in its current state. It's kind of hard to take a good picture of it since it's long.

2 more repeats and the border lace left. I know I will be able to finish it in time. However, as I mentioned in my previous post, I will be up in NY over the weekends so I am not sure how I am going to block it in time and upload the pic.

Oh well, if I don't get the gold medal, I don't get it. No big deal cos for me the purpose of joining the KO is to force myself to finish this in time for my friend's wedding. If not for the KO, I am probably only halfway done. There had been several occasions in the past 2 weeks where I just want to laze and watch TV instead of knit. But the idea of failing this challenge is too much to bear and so I knit on. Whew, there should be more of such time-limited KAL for me to participate in. Then I would have more FOs to show. Hahaha, I am insane.

Talking about FO, I anticipate a few FOs entry next week. After Madil will be butterfly cos everything is done for it except for the picot edgings. Then Klaralund cos there is only one sleeve left to knit. Woohoo! So stay tuned!

Almost there...

2006-02-23T15:50:00.000-05:00

So so close, 5 more repeats + the border lace to go and my Madil's Shawl for my friend will be done. The shawl is looking so pretty. I love it and I am really proud of it and hope that my friend will love it too. How I wish I can be there to see her expression as she unwraps the package and pull out this shawl. It will make me very happy if she loves it but then again, I will be very devastated if she doesn't.

When you gift someone something like this, you are taking a big risk. Will they appreciate it? Or will it be thrown into a corner, never to see the light of day again until the knitter ask about it and they are obliged to use it when they next meet up with the knitter.

I know my friend will definately appreciate it if not love it. Still, I would really like for her to love it and use it. Oh well, I will just have to take the chance and hope for the best.

If you have been following the whole beaded jewelry shop saga, here is the conclusion. I have decided to rename the shop 'Jade's Beadradise'. Thank you, my dear online friends for being so supportive with your feedback. My chinese name translates literally to 'beautiful jade' in English so Jade is my name too you can say. Beadradise is a makeup word from paradise. I wanted it to indicate that it's beaded stuffs but yet at the same time not give the impression that I sells loose beads. Having it just as 'Jade's' is too abstract. I am done thinking of name for now. If I ever moved to a domain, I will worry about it again then.

Has anyone seen or heard about this book, Inspired Cable Knits by Fiona Ellis? It sounds good and promising. I love cable. I just might have to stalk Barnes and Noble to peek into this book.

Let me know what you think if you have already flipped through this book already.