Back to the Tropics

Actually I got back on Sunday morning, but rushed to work and stayed in the studio the whole day. Yesterday I had school and then an aunt from England visited and stayed over at our place last night. Been kinda crazy the last couple of days. I don’t want to come back!!! But life goes on. Approximately 43 days until I travel to another part of the world for the summer again.

So anyway, I’m here to tell you more about my experience in the coldest capital in the world. If you don’t know by now, its Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The land of the blue skies. Its a gorgeous place. When I said “superficial layer” I was actually refering to the cityscape and not saying that they are superficial. The people I met there are some of the most friendliest people ever, and as far from superficiality as people today are.

Enjoy these pictures I have to share. No knitting content, though.

I followed him the class. Guess what I did while I waited? =D
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Streets of Ulaanbaatar.
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Going to the Parliament House.
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The other side of the Parliament House facing Sukhbaatar Square.
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The beginning of 4 days of light snow.
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From Zaisan overlooking Ulaanbaatar.
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Monument at Zaisan. I was wearing my Turkish Delight Clapotis in this picture.
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Mongolian Buuz! — Dumplings.
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Mongolian Khuushuur! — Similar to Buuz, but flat, big and fried. My favourite Mongolian food thus far.
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Taking picture with a model of a Bactrian Camel. Mongolian Bactrian Camels have 2 humps while other camels have only 1.
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Playing some music for my friend. Java Drops in action!
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Urban Ulaanbaatar.
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We went to visit his parents a couple of times in my short visit to Mongolia. They live far from the noise and dust in the city. The air is clean and the natural landscape is a sight to behold. Beautiful mountains around and plenty of place to hike around.
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The cows here are kinda ‘free-ranched’… He told me that Mongolians do not house their farm animals.
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I was trying to take a picture with this cute little cow but it was kinda shy.
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These cows are different from the normal cows. Physical appearance wise, its hairier and the shape of the cow is different. I was told the milk and meat is different too.
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These are free-ranch goats. There were sheeps and goats up a hill on our side of the road too.
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I miss this beautiful place. Perhaps it is green in summer when the snow have finally all melted. There were already bits of green peeking out from under the snow when I was visiting.
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Enroute to the airport.

I did buy some cashmere yarn on this trip. Knitting yarn is awfully difficult to find in Ulaanbaatar. I bought 3 cones but only one of those is for myself. However, I do not have time to knit now. I have to cram for my exams, which is only 1 month away. Boohoo. =S

Greetings from the Coldest Capital in the World

I’m kidding you not. I arrived on monday afternoon and the past 2 days had been truly enjoyable. Its a really interesting city if you look beyond the superficial layer.

In any case, I’m wearing my Magic Owl today and I’m quite a happy girl because its keeping me warm. The weather here is much warmer than a few weeks ago but is still a little cold to someone who had spent her whole life (minus 2 summers) in endless summer… But I digress.. On my first day, I wore Java Drops, yesterday, I wore my phildar pullover. I have brought along quite a number of my knits, excited to finally have the chance to use them for what they are knitted for – cold weather!  Other knits I’ve brought along include my Turkish Delight Clapotis, PSH, Blush… and I forgot what else. Maybe thats all.

I do have 1 FO to blog about. I started and finished this project on saturday night. Its really a quick knit.

Zephyr Branching Out
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr in Plum, unknown quantity
Pattern: Branching out from Knitty
Modifications: minimal – repeated until yarn is used up.
Afterthoughts: I don’t think this pattern is very suitable for beginners.

Sorry for not searching for the ravelry link or finding out the name of the designer.. My battery is running low so I have to blog as fast as I can. This lace is actually quite simple.. Maybe its just my incapability to deal with patterns where stitch count per row changes often, does not look like a chart or have very repetitive instructions (like, YO, K1, YO K1…) However, this is still not going to be a pattern I will recommend for a beginner. Even if the beginner knows how to read their knitting, I believe its still quite impossible to read this (stitch count changes) for beginners.

I have to say its really pretty. The pattern, I mean. The amount of yarn used is unknown because I found this little ball of Zephyr lace, possibly about 30g or so, while rummaging in my stash looking for inspiration for a gift on saturday. Possibly from the same cone of yarn as the yarn I’m using for my (kinda hibernating) Hanami shawl, which uses Zephyr in this colour as well.

This yarn blocks out really well worked in this pattern. I was kinda worried if it will be big enough or be a silly little piece of knitted thing, too short to be a useful scarf. Thankfully, when blocked it grew beautifully. This is a gift knit.

I took this picture when I was blocking out the scarf. Dad’s sweet potato plants flowered. Really pretty purple flowers, me thinks. There are many little flower buds so I believe they will all be blooming soon.

And now, a few photos from my trip. Not as much as I hope because I kept forgetting my camera and I kinda just want to enjoy the moment and not spend my trip snapping photos and ignoring my companion.

Transit at Beijing Airport.

Wasn’t expecting this. (:

I’m still trying to get used to the fact that even though it looks really warm, its still pretty cold. Its usually about 0 degrees C (32 degrees F) in the daytime, and in the negative degrees C at night. Its fascinating to see my own breathe so often and I still like to blow hot air just to see the wispy vapour.

Ok, thats all for now.

3 FOs

I have 3 FOs  today. But I doubt the next entry will be “4 FOs”. The photos are kinda craptastic, though. Its just one of those days that I don’t feel like taking pics much, but just want to wrap it up on the blog…

Before I banter on about the FOs, did anyone notice anything about the names of the previous 2 FOs? Do they, perhaps, remind you of any music? (classical, not Rihanna or Madonna or other “nanas” or “yoyos”) The Magic Owl was thus named because I was watching Amadeus (an old movie about Mozart) when I was knitting it. I’ve always liked Mozart’s Queen of the Night Aria in The Magic Flute even though I have never ever watched the opera. The Beautiful Blue Swallowtail was thus named because for some reason, it reminded me of the Beautiful Blue Danube, a very well known piece.

First, a jacket. The biggest jacket I’ve knitted thus far. I can hardly believe the amount of yarn consumed. I kept thinking one of the balls of yarn I bought for this project is hidden somewhere.. Did I really use more than 600g for a jacket?… Maybe I’ll go dig in the stash cupboard again later.

Java Drops
Yarn: Bendigo Classic 12 Ply in Java, 2.1 or 3.1 x 200g
Pattern: A-shape Jacket by DROPS
Modifications: Knitted top down using raglan shaping, shaping, collar.
Afterthoughts: Interesting…

I’ve never knitted a jacket like this before. I think its almost coat-ish. Once again, I took the main idea and made it up. I am really not that terrible at following patterns… There had been at least once that I followed a pattern word for word. I attempted to knit this according to pattern. But I really didn’t like the fact that I cannot try it on as  go. The bottom was really flaring out alot so I frogged that and did it raglan style, as I’ve seen many other knitters did on ravelry. The neck turned out bigger than I expected. I wish I didn’t cast on that many stitches. But I guess it will be just nice for a scarf. The collar looks funky… But I’m not ripping back again. 

I did my own shaping. I like the A-line shape, but I prefer mine to be a shaped A. That means there must be a waist for my A-line. Maybe its not a true A-line anymore, but who cares?

Maybe I should’ve added butt shaping, but when I get to wear thicker clothes under this jacket, I believe it will fill up that spot above the butt… Oh, yes, I knitted the sleeves flat. After completing the body, I went back to the live raglan sleeve stitches, and knitted it flat, then seamed it up.

This would’ve been finished quite some time ago, but it had been languishing in the pile of WIPs because everytime I pick it up something pops up or I get too upset to knit. I bought the buttons and blocked the project yesterday, and sewed the buttons and label on today. The buttons are actually plastic, even though they look like some leather ones I’ve seen elsewhere. This is a difficult colour to find buttons for! And I forgot to being a sample of the yarn when I went out yesterday. I am really glad the colour fits, though. I think if its a little more reddish or yellowish it won’t fit. I sewed the buttons to small flat buttons at the other side to make sure the buttons won’t pop out of the jacket.

Make a guess about the next FO? Hint: its crocheted.

PSH
Yarn: Patons Zest in White, 2 x 50g
Pattern: Pretty Puffy Slouchy Hat by Jessica Suzanne
Modifications: Didn’t follow pattern.
Afterthoughts: I might actually wear this…

I couldn’t find my biggest crochet hook.. I think they’ve all gone into hiding. So I used my 3mm hook. I think thats why my puffs are kinda squashed together. This was my 3rd attempt. I’ve never followed a crochet pattern and was trying to find the right yarn for this project. First I tried using TLC’s Caramia (leftover from my Phildar Pullover) but found out I will not have enough yarn when it was about 15cm in diameter. Then I tried Rowan 4 Ply Soft, hoping a finer yarn will give me a looser gauge and really puffy puffs. But once it was around 10cm in diameter I decided I don’t like the way it looks or feels. I’m glad I decided upon this yarn, which is a really good way to destash!

I started yesterday afternoon and finished it last night. I did the bulk of it while waiting for/in the bus. This hat and the jacket will be going with me on my trip this weekend. I’m really excited about this trip. Its somewhere I’ve never ever thought of myself ever visiting. It will be very very much colder than this tropical climate I’ve been living in for the past 2+decades so I’m kinda worried if I will actually freeze there. But I believe I’m in good hands.

The last FO today – Slippers! Colour is really off in this picture.

Maple Slippers
Yarn: Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran in Maple, 1.1 x 50g
Pattern: Knitted Slippers by DROPS
Modifications: Knitted at smaller guage.
Afterthoughts: Will make this again and again.

Finished this days ago. This is made for a friend whom I will be meeting on this upcoming trip. Interesting construction. I didn’t sew it up nicely… I only realised that my kitchener stitches had always been funky because I skipped stitches when I am sewing them up. Now I know, I will pay more attention when I kitchener stitch. No more ziggy seams!

This last photo is the most accurate representation of the colours.

2 FOs

2 FOs. They were finished rather recently (like, last week) and not an FO I failed to mention in my days of silence here on my knitblog. I guess thats the thing about having many WIPs at one go. There is at least 3 other WIPs that are soclose to becoming FOs.. But I haven’t had time to work on them. Before I begin to blabber on again, here are the FOs.

First: The popular Owl project. Lets face it, this cute design kinda took the online knitting community by storm. I see it popping up everywhere on ravelry. I think its ingenius and omgsodamncute.. Although I had been biting my nails on this because I’m not sure how I am going to wear owls on my garment, walk around in it and not expect to be thought of as a knit-crazy head-in-the-clouds out-of-place weirdo. Which I am.

In anycase, I thought if I’m going to wear owls, I should at least make sure it flatters me. (and Kessa’s modification demon rears its head) That means bulky cables DO NOT sit on my shoulders, making me look like I’m part of a rugby team. So, basically I took the cable chart and main idea (set cables in plain stockinette stitch – my favourite) and went off on my own…

Cables on the bust, which makes more sense to me.

Magic Owl
Yarn: Lamb’s Pride Bulky in Blue Magic, 3.65 x 4oz
Pattern: Owl by Kate Davies
Modifications: Changed it into a cardigan, changed sleeve length, changed placement of cables, changed basic construction.
Afterthoughts: Bulky yarns = woohoo!

Why do I call this Magic Owl? Dude, this only took 3 days to knit. Its a new record for me. I wasn’t even knittng this exclusively. I was doing my other usual stuff.

I threw in the shaping as and when I thought it will be needed. I like the idea of the butt shaping (not sure what the proper name, but I think butt shaping is quite clear ) because another  bulky sweater I was knitting had this crazy empty space right above my butt. Needless to say, that WIP is being hidden under the pile of WIP until I’m brave enough to RRrrriiipp and start over. D:

The blue buttons are one of my favourites from my meagre collection of buttons. They are really simple and I think the colour is perfect for this project. I had them for the longest time and had been waiting for the right project to come along.

I used some simple metal snap-buttons for the owls’ eyes. The holes are small and its black so I had trouble sewing them on (pokepokepokepokepokepokepoke oh, got in. *repeat*) and I’m really glad I only have 16 snap-buttons to sew in.

I made the sleeves short because
i) I think they’re more suitable.. Bulky fitting sweaters and long sleeves can get kinda draggy, and when I bend my arms, the fabric will be uncomfortable. At least to me.
ii) I was running out of yarn. Bought this yarn when I visited USA and only bought 4.

This yarn blocks out really nicely. At first I was worried it might be kinda small, but after blocking it grew nicely and now it fits just nice. (: I didn’t have time to block the sleeves properly though (was going out and wanted to bring the project along to seam while waiting).. I was originally planning to add a collar but after blocking, the neckline was rather clean and I thought the somewhat raw edge fits in with the rugged-looking yarn and whimsical design.

This is come in real handy for my upcoming trip in less than 2 weeks’ time.

The second FO is a shawl you’ve all seen before.

Beautiful Blue Swallowtail
Yarn: Sirdar’s Snuggly 4ply, 2 x 50g
Pattern: Swalllowtail shawl by Evelyn A. Clark
Modifications: Used a heavier weight yarn.
Afterthoughts: I really like this pattern. Will definitely make this again.

This is a gift for the upcoming trip. At first I was worried maybe the holes and the material might result in a less cozy shawl. However, just the meer couple of minutes for this couple of photos had me convinced that is not the case!

I love the colour, and I hope the recipient will like it too.

Last pic: something thats quite close to being finished..

It shouldn’t be difficult to guess what it is.

As for the WIP featured in the previous post, its too big so I’m giving it to my mom. I will, however, make it again once I have time.

Happy V’day! My V’day is kinda quiet, seeing as how LDR does not allow for dating even if its V’day.

The sock I was knitting for the friend had been completed (1 day before she flew! Phew..) and gifted in time. However, I did not manage any FO pics so I guess I’ll have to wait for her to take the pics and send it to me.

Haven’t really worked much on the other WIPs.. A few rows here and there.. But I casted on a new project. Opps. When did that happen? But this project is currently flying along so I guess… I’ll try to make the most of it and finish it before I run out of steam. Heres a peek:

More details will follow when I finish it (which I hope is soon!)

I also bought some long 6mm circ so that the ribbing on the bf’s jacket will go more smoothly. Its no fun juggling 4 chunky dpns, you know? But I’m not in a rush to finish it. It only needs ribbing and 2 sleeves anyway. I don’t plan to finish it too soon.

However, I did come up with a 2009 knitting resolution (yes, more than a month after 2009 began. But its better than nothing) I shall spend this year trying to finish all those WIPs I have. Like, Hanami, ZigZag socks, that stripey sweater… many. But I will still continue to start new projects.. Its just that those WIPs should get some attention as well.

I don’t have any nice knitting related pics but I took some pic of mom’s Aloe Vera (which she absolutely loves) and dad’s Chilli plant.

Mom’s Aloe Vera plant.

Dad’s Chilli plant.

That Terrible Event

I promised I will write about that.

So, my mom threw away my whole box of dyes in her spring-cleaning frenzy. =(

The only ones that survived are: red, green, purple and yellow.

Oh well, I guess thats a good excuse to spend more time on studies.

On knitting news, I’ve finally thought of something I can knit for that friend who is going away.. Socks! Actually, more like “lounging socks”.. I still find it hard to imagine wearing handknitted socks in shoes because I grew up in the tropics. Wearing handknitted socks is like, courting death. The feet will be drenched in sweat and stuff.. Not to mention the waste of perfectly good wool, which will probably get felted and all disgusting… But I digress.

I’m knitting them using 3.25mm needles.. Or are they 3.5? I forgot. The yarn is a dk weight blend of mohair and.. (Guess what?) I forgot what else. Something synthetic, I think. Its called “caressa” and I picked it up at spotlight and dyed it myself years ago.

I’m not following any pattern. At first my intention was to follow the Interlocking Leaves pattern from Knitty. But I decided against the lace pattern, and reduced the number of stitches (bigger gauge). Went for a simple diamond brocade instead. This sock is flying, considering the amount of time I have for knitting, which is perfect because I need to get it all done before next wednesday. Or I can always give her one sock and send her the other.

My Current WIPsss

I have many many many WIP (some of which are old enough to be called UFO, but I adamantly insist that I will really finish them. Someday. =D)

These are some of the WIPs that had actually seen some knitting action the past week or so.. I try to work a little on one when I’m bored.. And trying not to cast on other projects. =D

I foresee that the Endpaper Mitts will be the first to be completed, followed by the scarf.. However, I may be waylaid because a friend is going to Australia for studies and I want to whip up something asap.. But I want something that she can REALLY use, ie, she won’t be embarassed to be caught wearing/using. You know, her being a non-knitter and stuff.

Here are the lot of WIPs.

Endpaper Mitts. This is the ?th attempt. I frogged at least 3 other attempts about 2-3 inches into it. The colors just won’t stand out the way I want it.. Until I tried this combination. I really love it. It reminds me of those exotic carpets. =) I’ve already finished 1 of the mitts.. And started on the 2nd mitt yesterday in class.

Cardigan for Arwen Arya. Left front… currently working the back part of the sleeve. I don’t mind the stockinette stitch.. I can stockinette till the cows come home, no problem. But cables are fiddly for me. Its easy, but I don’t like how it breaks up the rhythm (I use cable needles..) I’m using that big skein of yarn I originally had on destash. I figured no one will want such a big skein of acrylic and pay for the shipping and stuff. I’m really happy with how its knitting out, though. And the fact that I can throw this in the washing machine without worrying just makes me so excited.

That fair-isle bulky cardigan I was making for myself.. Not all that fair-isle actually. Mostly St st again. =) I had finished the body a couple of days ago, with the fair-isling and stuff. But I didn’t like the way it looked (shaping) so I frogged back a little and its currently being a little neglected… The weight of this thing makes my wrist hurts after some time. So I decided I’ll work on it once in a while, but not for a long time at one go.

The bf’s jacket. Just look at that endless stockinette stitching. I completed the body while I was in Malaysia for the Chinese New Year. I didn’t bring enough yarn or I’d had completed the sleeves as well. What a waste of perfectly good knitting time. I’m working on the collar currently. I tried this on after I completed the body and I absolutely love long cardigans. So I’m going to cast on for a long cardigan myself after I clear some of these WIPs. Kessa, if you want that long cardigan, do what you need to do!

A knitted cowl using one of the free patterns I found on Ravelry (beech wood ilga something?) using some merino aran weight wool (by Jaeger or something.. It was on sale. ^_^) I really don’t know if I like this. I dind’t even cut the end (had 1-2 metres leftover) I might just frog it and turn it into something I like better.

This is the vest.. and its previous incarnations. This project has more lives than a cat. I completed a few fronts but always didn’t like it well enough. The current incarnation is the one on the right. Lets hope its the last. It makes me afraid of st st for once.

Hemlock… I stopped once I got past the interesting bits… I will work on it. But I don’t really like that ripple lace pattern (featre and fan I think) because I just don’t get it. Its annoying to have to keep refering to the charts.

I dyed this yarn a couple of days ago (after a terrible event, which I promise I will blog about soon.) and didn’t know what ot make. I tried entrlac but it looked like christmas. =S So I casted on for this scarf and lo and behold! Pooling. In a good way. I really like it.

Last but not least, a lone Fetching mitt. I was working on the 2nd one when I got waylaid. This will be finished before April because its a gift. =)

Ok, I’m really running late now. Will write more next time.

Aran Weight Lace Shawl

A teeny bit of update here, lest this space becomes more of a weblog and less of a knitblog.

I’ve been knitting alot.. Just have lots of projects on the needles, working on one every now and then, and plotting planning many more. I think I had a mild case of startitis.. In the past 2 weeks alone, I’ve casted on for these (not in chronological order):

Cardigan for Arwen
Endpaper Mitts
Some fair-isle bulky cardigan I’m making up as I go along
A man’s jacket, request by the bf, making up as I go along as well
A vest, making up as I go along
Hemlock blanket in a dk weight yarn
Fetching fingerless mitts
Lace shawl in aran weight yarn

7 WIPs.. It was 8 yesterday but I finished 1 project just now so its 7. The project I finished is this:

Can anyone guess what shawl it is? Another hint..

If you still can’t guess, here is a blatantly obvious hint..

Kiri Lace Shawl in Cashsoft Aran
Yarn: Cashsoft Aran in Savanah, 2 x 50g
Pattern: Kiri by Polly Outhwaite
Modifications: Substituted with an aran weight yarn, did only 4 repeats of chart 2 (ended up with 5 ‘leaves’ on each side) and knitted 1st row of chart 3 2 times.
Afterthoughts: I like lace in chunky yarns too.

Actually, I ran out of yarn while casting off.. I only had less than 20 sts till the end. Imagine my anguish. D: So I went to the yarn monster stash and poked around. I found this Knitpicks Swish Bulky (I think the color is Cashew or cashewnut.. You get the idea) and the colors match pretty well. Plus, its machine washable, albeit its a little thicker and not shiny and smooth like the cashsoft aran… But its at the very edge. No one will notice, right? =D

There. Not too obvious.

This shawl is not very big. Just 38 inches across and 20 inches long. Its going to be a gift.

Someone sent me a pic of my knitted gifts in action.

Also, a couple of my friends came over for a barbeque last week. It was pretty fun.

Actually, there was no alcohol involved.. We just had coconut and used the coconuts to hold coke after we’ve finished the coconut. Thats quite environmentally friendly. Oh, and the tealight decrations are crocheted using wires and beads.

Thats about it for now.

 

Filling In

Hi guys. Another unplanned and random, but substantial, update. I had been kept busy by someone special who visited me during the christmas holidays. :D

There are some knitting content, but not alot. Sorry for the lack of links, not-so-fantastic photos and the lack of narration. I fell sick a couple of days ago and so am feeling pretty tired at the moment.

We went for a short trip to Genting Highlands with my family.

 

For the Winter Solstice, we made rice balls in the traditional way. Not the ‘chinese’ traditional way, but the Singaporean/Malaysian traditional way… We use Gula Melaka (coconut sugar) in place of sugar.

 

My parents brought us to see some temples..

 

On Christmas eve, I gave my present – The extremely long knitted scarf.

 

And this year, I baked yet another “log cake” for my sis’ gathering with her colleagues. I think it looks ok, but the bf asked “what is it supposed to be?”… I thought it looks quite like a log? Perhaps a little imagination will be helpful.

 

We went to Sentosa.

And visited the pink dolphins…

Had an adventure in the Underwater World..

Of course, we took a picture with the Merlion.

We also went to the Singapore Zoo.

We met some really fashionable primate.

The beautiful white tigers.

There were also many other animals but this is not all about the zoo. If you want to see them all, visit the Singapore Zoo.

We went to the Night Safari after visiting the zoo. I was knitting something…

I used ‘Thorpe’ pattern and added in the design myself.. I didn’t plan the design at all but freestyled it. The recipient likes it, so I guess its all fine. I didn’t take any FO shots, though.

We went to the Esplanade.

And chanced upon a performance. The lady sings really well, and the guitar was fantastic.

We had dim sum.

 

We went to the West Coast.

 

We had some durian – the king of fruits.

 

And then some mangosteen – the queen of fruits.

And that was just a summary of what I’ve been up to.

I’m in the middle of a class now. So… Why this urge to blog in the middle of a class after missing for so long? I don’t think I have an answer to that, but once again, I have to say (yes, again!)

I had been knitting.

Yes, I had! Just that the camera had not yet been fixed so I’m still kinda avoiding picking it up. However, I found a couple of pics in my camera that is evidence of my knitting activity.

What is this?

Its a thrummed mitten. It had since got a thumb.

BUT.

Its still A mitten. You know what that means, right? I originally intended it as a gift, but then I decided it is unsuitable, and began ANOTHER thrummed mitten in another color. Now, when I finally got past the thumb part on the 2nd attempt, I decided I don’t want to knit a thrummed mitten. How about a glove instead? So I frogged the second attempt. It is a very interesting experience.. frogging a thrummed mitten, that is. I got quite a sadistic satisfaction popping out the thrums.

Ok.. I need to go back to class. Next time I will blog about anoher chunky scarf I knitted a couple of days ago… Once I get my camera fixed.. Or something.