Hell hath no fury ...

All hell has broken loose in the office. I have two events to organise in a space of one week apart and down to 2 support staff with one new one coming in on Monday to train. If that's not enough, the management keeps changing their mind on the minor details.

I actually have a paper bag on my desk in case I have a panic attack.

Thank God I started belly dancing classes last Saturday. And what an ...umm.. interesting class it was. Fist of all it seems completely illogical how a seemingly repressive culture like Islam is perceived to be now can produce such seductive dancing. Obviously there's a whole lot more going on under the surface. The whole point of belly dancing to most my fellow class mates is to love your own body, to show off all its curves and to enjoy the expression of your sexiness.

I got in a little late during the warm up session which is pretty basic, then the teacher reached into her bag and pulled out her beautiful swishy clinky belly dancing belt. And those little silver clappers . And proceed to take us through a simple routine of hip rolls. I have to say it is a dance form that loves curves and many of the skinny girls in the room did fare so well against us more substantial women. Hooray for belly dancing! Must get me one of those belts. Wonder if I can knit one?

I also did a bit of retail therapy and got a couple of the latest Japanese knitting magazines.

PS please forgive the quality of the photoes.

Take a look at some of the offerings. I find japanese patterns, albeit a little diffidcult to decipher, are extermely feminine and full of little unusual details. Having said that it seems I can complete a project to save my life.

I have been looking for something like this every since I saw Penryn from the Jaeger Natural Fleece book. Of course the Jaeger one is too thick (I mean Fleece in 35 degrees??) but this one has a similar design in aran weight. The construction is different though. One has to knit the band separately and then twist is while sewing on to the front.

Don't be deceived. That isn't rib but a lace pattern. But don't you think the ribbed cap sleeves are so cute?

Perfect for my 5 balls of RYC cashsoft I bought from Vanessa.

I'm not sure about the collar but the lace is absolutely Fab.

Last but not least, here's my current stash obsession.



Pistachio Cotton Ease I swapped for on the Knitty board.

Shaking my legs

I'm in a rut again. I have so many projects I'd like to start but really want to finish the ones I have on the needles. But procrastination is my middle name. My sister's Plaza cardigan still languishes with only one left front to do and a shawl collar.

I have however chosen to start one lunchtime project - Samus. I'd like to incorporate some waist shaping to it but since there are no side seams to this knit, it's going to take some doing.

I know Lyn and Vanessa will be annoyed because they want so much to see the KH Glimmer turns out.

But I really want to lose weight before I start on Glimmer - it's such a beautiful knit, I want to look my best in it. So with that in mind, I've joined a gym and am starting yoga and bellydancing this week.

Seems like a lot of work for one knit eh? Hey I'm not complaining - I need all the motivation I can get. My DH says I'd rather lose weight for a knit project than for him. Well Honey, it's about time you knew where my priorities lie.

I just need to show you what I've been spinning -



Hand-dyed Romney from Kendig Cottage

Althought I am pretty please with the colours, I'm not enjoying the roving. It's so different from the merino silk or the corriedale being more of a rough crimpy type wool. I'm planning this to be my first felted bag project since I don't think I'd be able to wear it next to my skin.

P.S. To my Secret Pal - Thanks for the advice on the Screamypants problem. And no problem with a big package, I know how it is.

What a week!!

I had so many things planned for the last week. Because of the Muslim holiday of Aidil Fitri (or Eidh) and the Hindu festival of lights Deepavali, I basically had the Tuesday, Thursday and Friday off. Oh the joys of living in a multi cultural and multi religious country.

BUT (and there's always a "but", isn't there)My in laws - who were visiting the weekend before, both went down with food poisoning on Tuesday and was virtual immobile for at least 5 days. They've only just started walking around the house yesterday. Needless to say DH and I were doing most of the nursing. Plus my little boy has just learnt the art of throwing a tantrum.

He screamed when he didn't want to get in his carseat and then he screamed when he didn't want to get out. while taking a bath, he screamed because I turned on the tap and then he screamed when I turned it off. The next day he screamed because he wanted to have a bath in the upstairs bathroom, and another day, he wanted a bath in the downstairs bathroom. He screamed when I took off his clothes and then he screamed when I put them on. Once he screamed into my ear and they ran for hours.

I swear I don't know how I'll get through this tantrum stage.

So no knitting, no spinning no nothing whatsoever was done in the last week, I just had enough brain power to stare uncomprehendingly at the idiot box before collapsing on the bed at night.

And I really had such big plans for finishing Plaza, finishing Madli and starting Glimmer.

Flowerpinnies

No not the wearable type.

One of my stitching friends sent some instructions on how to make a pumpkin pincushion and I did a little mistake (didn't put enough stuffing) and it became a flowerpinny.






They need a bit of work like getting the binding thread more centered but overall I think they're ok. I will be putting up some for sale soon - would anyone be interested?

They're handy for keeping your pins safe when blocking. I'm working on a version with magnet at he bottom so you can pick up pins with it as well.

On the knitting front. I have finished one left front of the Plaza. One more front piece and then the button band and collar to go. Phew!! The seams are curling terribly but I don't want to block until I have finished the fronts so no photo yet.

I know LYN has tagged me for Flah my Stash but I'm going to pass at this time because
1. I am still in denial about half my stash
2. My in-laws will be around this weekend and I don't want them to get alarmed.

But I may do take some time to do it over the long holidays next week. Don't hold your breath though.

Missing Her

I haven't been in the mood to blog lately - partly because I haven't been doing that much knitting, partly I had my nose in some more books and mostly because the wife of our Prime Minister, Datin Seri Endon Haji Mahmood passed away last Thursday after a 4 year fight against cancer.

Many many years ago, when Pak Lah (as our Prime minister is fondly nicknamed) was just a Parliamentary Secretary, our families were friends. Nori (daughter) was just a baby and Kamal (son) was my age. We would meet up at least once every two months or so for dinner or tea. Most of the time it was for Sunday tea which lazily lingered into dinner and then on to the late night supper. We had at least 2 holidays trips together.

Auntie Endon had a sharp, no-nonsense tongue, but underneath all her withering comments was a sincere soul with no hidden agenda. I appreciated her straight talking more than all that crap written about her graciousness and charm. To me, her "jeling" (it's a kind of contemptious rolling of the eyes showing irateness and fondness at the same time, no straight English translation) was worth more than a million of those politicians' wives who cry convincingly and conveniently in front of press cameras.

When my dad had a stroke, she was one of the first to advocate a tough love approach, "Make him exercise," she said, "Don't make it easy for him. Or else he will rely on you forever". Yet she was also the first let the security in the Residence know that Mr Larry was to be transfered directly to her whenever he called. I can't tell how many phonecalls she took from a depressed old friend who was frustrated by his health. She couldn't visit much but she took my dad's calls.

Every year I came back from studies in NZ, she'd insist I visit at least once before I went back. She would trade hair raising tales with my Mum about our university exploits (I spent too much money on clothes and Kamal spent too much money being president of the college gourmet club).

I remember her telling me that Muslim women don't get an inheritance from their husband's estate but they get to keep everything they received during the marriage. I took a look around her elegantly furnished house, full of knick knacks from every part of the globe and said " You're doing well for yourself, Auntie!" and she laughed.

Last time I bumped into her some 4 plus years ago, she asked me how many kids I had. "None?" she said, when she heard my answer. "Hrumpph!"
*jeling*
"Kamal has three and another one on the way, you know! You better catch up, no need to wait."

When I said goodbye, I told she looked really wonderful and kissed her hands.
*jeling*
"You should come and visit, don't be a stranger. Make sure you have a baby next time."

I never got the chance to show her my boy.

Goodbye Auntie Endon, you look wonderful as ever. You never took the easy way out and you never gave up.

Musings

I took a break from knitting and caught up with my reading these past few days. I finally manage to finish 2 books that I was reading at bedtime. I hate to have bedtime reading cos I always lose my place and most times, too tired to make sense of the page. It takes away the joy of the story but it's a habit I can't seem to break.

In those two days I actually missed my spinning. I've been googling hand spun novelty yarn and keep seeing all this cool textured lumpy bumpy yarn on Etsy . And I've been reading up on some cool techniques on plying to get little slubs or buttons. I've got to do some spinning tonight.

As for the KH kit, I'm not going to start it until December. Yes, it's an exercise in self contro. I want to finish my sister's Plaza Cardigan, Kerry Blue Baby Blanket and Madli's Roses first.

In the meantime, I'm searching around for what to do with my Handspun yarn. Any suggestions on what to do with 200 yds of super bulky yarn?

KH Angel Glimmer, I'm in Heaven

With almost lightning speed, the Kim Hargreaves kit arrived on my doorstep within 2 weeks.

Check out the goodies.




The kit was well-presented , with a lovely ribbon and a nice card.

And inside , the goods





Pretty pretty shell buttons and Kim Hargreaves clothes tag.

I just hope I can do justice to such a pretty kit.

Isn't this so much better?

New and improved Madli's Shawl in Malabrigo's laceweight Damask Rose





Think I'll christen this Madli's roses cos lookie here, see the cute little nupps - don't they look like rosebuds?





How do you like the new look?

I've been wanting to change since the blog birthday in September. I was pretty quiet about it cos I was swamped with work and didn't have time to do anything.

It's about time for a little housekeeping.

Lyn, Vannessa and I went for very long shopping, destressing outing on Tuesday. You can read about Lyn's stash enhancing on her blog. I scored some laceweight cotton and crochet silk yarn but I need to get them out of the car (where they are hiding from my spouse) and take a good picture.

Stay tuned!

Shimmer and Glimmer

I am upset with KnitPick's Shimmer yarn.

I made a start with Madli's Shawl from Interweaves Knits Summer 2004 with the Turquise Splendour and I am annoyed at how the light green blotches just appear out nowhere. I mean it would have been better if there was some graduation of colour.
See!




And what I have knitted so far is floppy! I can see that the yarn would be good for a simple lace pattern to make a really nice scarf that you can wear right next to your neck but not a full scale stole.

BUT I can say that I have actually conquered the nupperaphobia



Not the neatest but I think I can do much better with a "crispier" yarn. (is there such a word?). Pagoda here i come

Want to see what the fuss is all about? Here are some links to a spate of finished Madli's shawls.

Keeping me in Stitches
FluffyKnitterDeb
Plastic Soul

Anyway I had to put it aside and worked on my top down cardie - which will be unveiled on Monday hopefully..

My brother decided ( after much persuasion) to give me a treat, since he didn't get any Christmas and birthday presents for me for 2 years.

Guess what's visiting my mailbox in a couple of weeks.





I.... *hyperventilate* ..can.... *hyperventilate* ..hardly... *hyperventilate* ..wait...

Two FO

First to answer some of the comments

Felicia - the Concord mernio silk was from another eBay seller Mountain Shadow Ranch. Great service. I've finished spinning and plying this yarn and it's sitting on the bobbins relaxing for a day or two. I'd be skeining and measuring next week and then decide what I want to do with it- probably a Lacy Scarf.

Speaking of scarfs - I've finished my scarf for Celia's scarf exchange



It's a long skinny number with a little of Paton's Boa in it - just a hint - not too much so it won't be classified as a fugly scarf, I hope.


To Secret Pal - The Pagoda is like Deep red with warm undertones - it's not a burgundy, more like a deep chilli red. Not much variegation in any of the colours I received, more of a dappling. I'm tempted to use this yarn for Madli's shawl instead of the Knit Picks Shimmer in Turquoise Splendour.

And speaking of Madli's Shawl, here's the just finished, unblocked, ends not weaved in Lacy Lattice shawl modeled by a passing colleague.

Home Run

It's exciting when a project is near the finishing line. I don't feel like sleeping or working. In fact I worked on Lacy Lattice last night until I nearly nodded off and poked myself in the eye with my needles.

The best part is the the end of the project is a technique that I have not done before ie - knitting an edging sideways AND not having to graft or sew it back on to the main body of the stole.



Basically when you get to the end of the body, you cast on more stitches for the edging and then knit the last stitch of every other row with the first live stitch of the main body. And magically you get a nice knitted edging with no seam lines :).



Although I have to do something about casting-on part. See that funny top left corner? I really hope it can be fixed by blocking. I think I need to cast on a little tighter there.


Stay tuned for an F.O.

But first a rant....

You know I had a great morning today - got in to work fairly early and settling in when I got a message for a family member asking if I could ... .wait for it... patch some rotten old towels for her dogs.

I'm Like WTF!!!

When I was less than enthusiastic ( but of course can't really say no since it's family), she had the nerve to say " Oh but I thought you like sewing??"

Again WTF!

There's only so many hours in a day and with piles of piles of things to do around the house, husband away this weekend and one rambunctious 2 and half year old, you think I'd be jumping for joy to patch some old rags for your dogs!

When I, um, expressed the above in the best possible way, she said she'd take it to a seamstress to do. Well good luck to her!

The worst thing is, she succeeded in making me feel guilty about it.

Life's the pits, aint it?

And I was all cheered up by the arrival of my long awaited Malabrigo laceweight.

You'd think this would make a serious dent into my current lace kick, right? Riiiigggght.

After the incident above, I think I'm going on a serious lace buying frenzy.

From the top :- Flirtation, Pagoda and Damask Rose.

The Stole Story

I need to finish this stole. Well I need to finish a lot of things but I need to finish this stole because I shouldn't start another stole project (Madli's) until I'm done with this one.

It's not that I hate it or anything. I love its airy softness. I adore the seweet blue. The mohair gets in my eyes a bit but I like the lovely lacy halo effect.



THIS STOLE IS MADE FOR BLOCKING - Lacy Lattice Stole from Fiddlesticks Designs

It's that repeating middle section that kills me. I was supposed to do 18 repeats but I caved in and did 10. It's almost fingertip to fingertip for me anyway. With the border section and the edging to do, another 8 repeats would probably make it a sarong.



It drapes nicely over my office chair

The Almost Ab Fab Throw

Sometime at the beginning of the year I was quiet obsessed over the Colinette Ab Fab Throw Kit. I didn't think I could afford the kit but I patiently but slowly collected single skeins of what I thought would be a great individual colourway. I have but two more to go and then I just lost the passion. Killed cold or hot as the case may be.
It's just toooo hot here to have a wooly and snuggly throw like the Ab Fab throw.

Maybe it's because of the horrible heat wave we've been having lately, or because I did some housekeeping with my stash and was horrified. I'm in the process of getting some shelving for the craft room ( which is currently a room with a pile of boxes on the floor) and I am ruthlessly throwing out stuff that really needed to go, recycled or sold.

So my loss is your gain. Have a look at my destash page for a good deal on an almost Colinette Ab Fab throw. You need only two more skeins.

Secret Pal Six

Ooohooh I have a secret pal :). Heeeelllooooo Secret Pal.

So before I go off this weekend, here's my updated Q&A.

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high- a nd/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?

Not really fussed - yarn selection here is so dismal that I am sure anything from US/UK/Canada is wonderful.


2. Do you spin? Crochet?

As you can see from the previous posts, I am kind of obsessed with spinning lately. I crochet but not lately though I do some Granny Squares once in a while.


3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)

Not that I know of.



4. How long have you been knitting?

ohh maybe 20 years or so but I took a break for about 12 years and started again last August.


5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

My Amazon wishlist


6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

Lavender and violets


7. Do you have a sweet tooth?

prefer savoury


8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?

Rubber stamping, cross stitch , hardanger, tatting ( also learning)


9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I like quite a variety ranging from Swing, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Maroon 5, Linkin Park ( no kidding) and the soundtrack to all the Lord of the Rings movies.


10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?

I like anything except the blues and green. Have too much of them already.


11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

Married, one 2 and half year old son and no pets


12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)

More time to knit. I know I can never have my own craft store but would like to do some teaching.


13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?

Ohhh - I love handpainted yarn - because I live in a tropical country, the yarns I use and mostly lightweight - cotton or cotton blends. I'd like to get my hands on some Rowan Calmer.


14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I had some mohair in my stash but have decided that it is too too hot . Although this doesn't include any of the laceweight mohair like Kid Silk Haze or Kid Seta.


15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?

Gathering of Lace shawls, designing my own pattern


16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Lace and more lace


17. What are you knitting right now?

err - Plain Opal Socks, Bad Penny Cardigan, Kerry Blue Shawl


18. What do you think about ponchos?

don't think I'll ever wear them


19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? I can do both


20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

no bamboos - for some reason I can handle the squeeking as they rub together


21. Are you a sock knitter?

I'm a beginner. I have done one and a half pairs of socks.


22. How did you learn to knit?

A teacher in boarding school taught me how to contruct a sweater - before that I just knew the basic rib- purl straight rectangular type of knitting.


23. How old is your oldest UFO?

Must I tell?? maybe about 1 year or so?


24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?

Boo - from Monsters Inc and I like cats


25. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas


26. Is there anything that you collect?

Koigu. Any type of Lace weight yarn


27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

None, but I occasionally get Interweave and Vogue knitting - especially the spring and summer issues.


28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?

Books on spinning techniques, knitting on the edge and beyong the edge, Barbara walkers books, german lace magazines


29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another??

Tina shawl from Fiddlesticks - juts haven't finished with my current bunch of fiddlesticks patterns so I haven't got around with another order.


30. What are your foot measurements, and what kind of socks do you like?

European 37 US 5 UK 4.5 - any type of socks.

Ply Please

Ok here's another ongoing post on my plying experiments. I got more pics with a little better detail although they are a little dark.

First up - Plying from two bobbins without regard to colourways



I decided to go random on this one and there were some stunning duotone results.


Navajo Ply - The Cool Cabled Composition



This keeps the colourway intact but oh what a bitch to do. It already takes enough of my attention to keep the wheel going without having to make chains as well. The number of times I got my hand stuck in a ever enclosing loop of yarn, resulting in panicked attempts to ensure blood circulation is not cut off - Countless!



But look at how the yarn is all snugly plied against each other. Sweet!

Lastly the Shimmering Madness



My favourite - I got to get more metallic thread.



I repeat, I have to get more metallic thread :)

So I have about 250 yds of roughly worsted weight yarn and I've already ordered a contrasting colour - grape- from Vicky at Kendig Cottage. I think I might attempt a shrug when I finish spinning the grape up.

What's on the bobbin now.




This luscious merino silk in Concord colourway, it's mostly black but the flash brings out the blue purple tone in it. I'm spinning it fine - almost fingering weight. This is like the roving that never ends. I haven't even used half and look how much I have on the bobbin.

How will I ply this? Not sure. Maybe I need to get more metallic thread :)!!

Circular Beginnings

I've always wanted to start The Kerry Blue Shawl from Martha Waterman's Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls. But I've put it off because of that dratted circular cast on.

Thanks to my new Gathering of Lace book I followed the instructions for one of the cast-on methods where you do knits and yo into a loop. ( don't have my book handy but I'll post more details next time)

Still I had to modify further because my silly dpns kept falling out. So I decided to knit back and forth for about 4 rows before joining the stitches on circulars and knitting using the Magic Loop method.



Kerry Blue Shawl 4.0mm needles using Sirdar Snuggly 3 ply


After a few rows you pull the loop and it closes nicely with no funny hole in the middle of the work. There is little gap between the first 4 rows but nothing a bit of seaming won't fix.

I'm getting right into the groove of this square shawl. Take a look at Polly's finished shawl. I always seem to need to see another finished project before I find the motivation to start my own.

This little shawl is going to one of my very best friend's new poppet, Caitlin, in Hong Kong. Caitlin's mummy and I went to university together and she's one those friends that I have no trouble picking up the threads with each time we meet, which is not very often. She's also one of the few friends I knitted for in varsity and she's always talked nostalgically about her favourite knitted sweater (now long departed) with that yarn I got on sale from the local department store.

It will take too long to knit something for Caitlin's mum, so Caitlin gets a nice blankie instead.


NB I know I promised more pics of the Iris Garden yarn but it was a hectic weekend with my in-laws visiting. Will try to get more pics in sunlight tomorrow.

Plied

I promised a pic of the Iris Garden plied.
Well I have one but the pic is not as nice as I thought it would be. I'll be taking more this weekend in natural light.



From the top
Plied with one band of metallic thread.
Navajo plied ( 3 ply)
2 ply from both ends of the bobbin.

My favourite is the metallic ply - its shimmery airiness gives a little novelty to my roughly spun single ply. I'm getting better at going thinner now and that's why my second favourite is the 2 ply .
I plied for each end of the bobbin meaning I did not keep the colour ways intact so I got a real nice barbershop duo-tone effect on some parts of the yarn. Plus since I'm spinning thinner , so it's not as bulky as the Navajo plied. I need more practice before I think I can produce Navajo plied yarn to my satisfaction .

So there we are - now what to knit with the yarn.

*I hab a gold*

I'm not in a good mood. My son gave me this terrible cold. Well, he had a slight fever for two days, I get stuck with the full works of stuffy nose, cough and sore throat.

And on top of that I'm pissed with this Opal sock



Yeah. It looks so sweet right? Such cute colours, nicely shaped and all that. Well, looks are deceiving.




See? Can you see the problem? It doesn't fit! I started the heel too soon and now it's an inch too short. And because of that the ribbing has ridden down and starts in the thickest part of my ankle, the one place that really shouldn't have any type of ribbing near it. It's fat enough.

And all because *I hab a gold* and was grumpy and impatient, I wanted to do the short row heels and finish this sock already.

Anyway this came in today




I think I won't be in to work tomorrow. *I hab a gold*. I deserve to stay home and drool.

Iris Garden

It was our version of Independance Day yesterday, we call it " Merdeka Day". when we Malaysian celebrated the day we declared our Independance from British Rule.

Which means parades, and the obligatory morning shower ( I don't know why but it happens almost every year), lots of lolling around and watching TV.

I spent the whole day spinning up my Iris Garden Corriedale Roving from Kendig Cottage.
I 've spun up most of the yarn but in order to free up my bobbins , I had to start plying immediately ( OK this just means I have to get some extra bobbins). So I decided to try 3 ways of plying.

First up, for those of you who would like to find out the best way to spin up multicoloured roving check out The Keyboard Biologist's post on how she handled multi coloured roving she dyed herself - gorgeous colour!!

Another great article is in Sara Bradberry's Southern Cross Knitting article - Spinning Handpainted Roving

First method of plying I tried was to ply with a metallic thread as a binder - which resulted in this pretty skein of yarn


86 yds of Iris Garden yarn waiting for its bath in the kitchen sink
<>
Take a closer look at the pretty shimmery metallic binding fluffy pastel yarn


Second method of plying I tried was Andean Plying - which created a 3 ply cable of ropy type yarn which is probably sturdier but did not capture the ethereal beauty of this colourway. I tried to get a pic but my camera batteries died on me. so stay tuned for updated pics soon.

I intend to try another method of plying - ie - plying a bobbin back on itself after winding on to a center pull ball. The result may be either a muddied up yarn of all colours, or a lovely heathering of these pastels.

That's the fun about spinning - we'll just have to see what happens.