Toying with ideas.....

Which is all I have been doing these past few months.... other than working on the Sock Yarn Blankie Monster.

It's eating all my time and motivation. I don't feel like starting anything new nor do I never finish what I start.
But the New Year brings in new resolutions and I guess the easiest way to restart my knitting mojo is to have quick wins whenever I can.

So .... here is my first FO for January 09





Snagged a colleague in the office who had the misfortune not to go out for lunch and so reluctantly put on the cowl on the condition that I DO NOT, in any circumstances, take a photo of his face



I have all these partial balls of sock yarn now which I have been looking to work into small one skein type projects. Quick FO, Quick win, Stash busting - how can I lose?

Other stuff that have been in my stream of consciousness in the last few months are:-






Half a sock from Cherry Tree Hill - might just turn out to be anklets for the quick win again. PS Sally I haven't used any of it in the sock yarn blankie.





A nice box of yarn which was RAK to me from Germany for my sock blankie - 30 freaking gorgeous mini balls!! I am going to RAK the remainder and add more of my own sock yarn scraps for another lucky person after the monster is done.

Stash Update

I've been stashing quite a bit these past month. Although I have gotten rid of a lot of yarn, I seem to replenish at an exponential rate and really the cupboards are bursting in its seams.

I'm just going to show the prettiest yarn I have ever seen.




This is Avril's cotton gima - known to those in US as Habu's cotton gima. Doesn't it look gorgeous?



This is the mulberry colour.


And this is the olive one.

I got it to make Gisela from Cocoknits. I've been thinking of garments made with thin yarn and big needles for a while now. If you see any patterns, let me know. I'm on the lookout.

I also received more yarn to feed the blanket.


From Ravelry's August 5 gm sock yarn swap.


Some real yummy colours there.

Now let's see if I can get another FO out by the end of the month.

Quick and Ease-y Talia

Just a quick note to show off the very quick photos I took of Talia - finally cast off last night and ends still hanging.


The nice curvey back.



And flattering front.

It's one size too small as it is for my sister but I now really have to make one for myself - it's that cute.

A relatively painless effort that took 3 balls of Cotton Ease in Pistachio and a lot sooner if I hadn't had the boy's holidays in between, I think it would have taken about 2 weeks.

But You Know what?? Just looking at the pictures again and at the ones on the Knitty, I think I may have made a mistake on the neckline.

Sigh! Maybe it wasn't as painless after all.

It's been a long time coming....

I just realised I hadn't update this blog for sooooo long. Blame the stress at work, the bad cold I had, my sister's visit and of course, blame it on the sock blankie I have been so manic about.



It's growing to a nice size but I think I am only about a 3rd way through.

Here's a close up of one of my favourite squares.



In between all that obsession, I did manage to knit half a Talia for my sis. I haven't finished it yet. This is the first time in three years that my sister did not go back to NZ with a kntted FO but I was really sick with the flu at the time she was here. Still I should be able to finish that up in about a week or so and hopefully get the energy to post it up here.

Meanwhile I decided last night to putt he blankie aside for a while but I was foiled by Sally letting me know she figured out a way to do the side triangles on her blankie. Go over to her blog and have a look.

Now I am obsessed all over again.

Blankie Mania

Knitnut has officially gone insane and joined Blankie Mania.

It wasn't an easy process - but it all started when I finished the Aspen Grove Shawl (not yet blocked so no nice photoes of that yet) and was casting around for something to start. Yes it is a hopeless cycle. Despite the loads of WIP I have scattered around, I still need to cast on something new everytime I finish something.


I thought of the Swirl Shawl from Jojoland but I had to get to wait for the kit to arrive. And then Sally points me to this little blog and .... well you know the rest....

But the biggest challenge for me was the conscious decision that I shall never use all those balls of sock yarn I had collected. I have done maybe 2.5 socks in the last 4 years. One for my sis, who confessed she used them only in coldest of winter nights in somewhat balmy Auckland. The other sock I made, languishes in my drawer - no matter what it's just too hot to use.

The whole problem with this blankie is that it takes literally a thousand squares to make up and I certainly don't have a thousand balls of sock scraps. BUT I shall not worry about that now, I shall just use what I have now and oh dear, I'll just have to buy more sock yarn :) and add slowly as I go along.



Still there are still some sock yarns which will be not going into this blankie - the Dream in Colour Smooshy I just got and the STR I had saved for the longest time.
And this lovely Claudia's handpainted was a tough decision too.



And so here is my progress as of Friday night



With my favourite square being...




And if you want to have a look at pics of other sock blankies have a look at this Flicker Photo stream

Wavy Peaches n Creme

I took my time with this project but thankfully it's now done and waiting for my friend's wee one to make an appearance early May. I used about 12 balls of Peaches n Creme, with some left overs which probably go to more granny sqaures for charity.







The pattern is Soft Waves from 200 Ripples

Catching Up

I really didn't have time to catch my breathe this past month. Looming project deadlines and working 14 hour days took quite a toll into my personal time. Still I did manage to grab a bit of time here and there for different projects.



Aspen Grove Shawl is up to Chart 2 and in that "one row takes an hour to knit" stage - I think there is about 300 + stitches on the needles now so it's gonna be taking it's time to get to the finish line.



The Hexagons are also taking its time - at least I have 3 rows now. I keep stopping and admiring it each time I finish one. clours are so yummy. Take a closer look.



Ok the ripple is most urgent - cos the baby it's for is arriving at any day now - and is almost done. I have 6 colour changes to do and it's out of here!



After this, I need to take a break. I am itching break out the floss and needles and go back to cross stitching for a while. We'll See.

BTW it's the 2nd Saturday of the month this Sat so it's KL Knitters Meet up time.
Join us at Bangsar Village 2 - Starbucks - Level 3 - from 3pm onwards

I'm Paying it forward.

Hanne reminded me and I am sorry it took so long to get it on my blog.

My Pay It Forward Pledge

“I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.”

So bring it on and start paying forward.

Knitting meet up 8th of March 2008

Just a quick update on our knitting meeting on the 8th of March.

We met in Sri Melaka, Amcorp Mall, PJ- and bagged ourselves some cosy sofas at the smoking section, since there wasn't anyone smoking at the time.

Sally and I were the first to arrive, followed by Jackie. Hernik and her friend joined us a little later and Hanne rounded up our little merry band.

The talk turned mostly to politics ( it was Election Day after all) and the beauty of blocking lace shawls.

I brought my Peaches 'n Cream Ripple..

That's a real bad photo but I have all the other balls for the next 4 colour changes, justo give you an idea of what it looks like now. (Note self - must take update photo this weekend)

Hernik brought the slip-ons she was knitting - reminded me very much of those slip-ons I would make when I freezing myself off at college. Very nice and cozy.

Sally knitted socks on two circulars and I finally get it.. Yeah I couldn't picture it in my mind but I see the light now and of course, had go home and try it out.

Jackie is making yet another baby blanket and as usual after every meet up - try as we might we can't get her to start another project simultaneously.

Hanne brought her kind of secret lace project ( but it's out of the bag now, eh Sally ) and as usual we were mesmerised by her fast continental style lace knitting.

We have also decided to make a concerted effort to make the 2nd Saturday of the month Knitting Meet up day, which makes the next one April 12th.

Keep the day in mind, folks.

Round and round the garden.

We took our little boy on his first plane trip to the Phillipines last week and the only that would keep him occupied during the 3 hr flight was that silly little game "Round and round the garden like a teddy bear..". He just would't sleep even though he was up at the crack of dawn on the day of the flight.


Have a look at our photo journal here, Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Meanwhile I put on my turbo needles and casted on the Hemlock Ring Blanket 2 weeks ago, trying to finish it by February 6 - by which time my brother can pack it in his luggage to take to my sister in New Zealand.

And in the nick of time I finally finished castin off last night and blocked this morning.



The unblocked version - looks like some sea anemone.



I didn't have a mattress large enough so I had to pin overlaps round the sides and hoped for the best.


A closer look - I love that flower in the center.

Hemlock Ring Blanket - Yarn - Cascade 220 - Colonial Blue - around 3.75 hanks
Needles 5.0 mm ( I'd go two sizes larger next time)
96 rows before casting off - using the expanded chart provided ( with grateful thanks) by the Hemlock Ring KAL Yahoo group

So glad to have an FO finally.

Playing the Hooker!

Yeah it's terrible that I took one month to recover from the end-of-old-year-beginning-of-new-year blues. I have been crafting on and off but mostly picking up the threads of an old hobby - crocheting doily. It all started from seeing a gorgeous japanese doily book ( I will post a link when I find one) and deciding to do one crochet doily a month. So I spent most of January 1st nursing a hangover and crocheting this -





The center is crocheted with Coats and Clarks Floretta, leftovers from my tatting days and I didn't have enough to finish the doily so I did the outer edges with DMC Traditions. Floretta is a stiffish thread - great if you don't want to block but so hard on the hands. Traditions seems to create fuller stitches and has more drape.

It took me about a week to finish it. Here's a closer peek -





Watch out for the February one next month.

On the knitting front, I have started the Hemlock Ring blanket and that's goin on fast track cos I do want to send it to my sister in New Zealand by the 1st week of February.

And I finally sucked it in and blocked the lace fichu I finished in April last year.



Red Fichu from Baxter Knits
500yds of HandPainted yarn.com Laceweight Red Pagoda




I've realised that I really need to take each month at a time - can't seem to concentrate for too long these days. I am feeling restless under the weight of so many WIPS. So I decided to practice some serial monogamy for a few months and stop project whoring until my cupboards are no longer overflowing with WIPs. Wish me luck!

A ripple and a half

I have finished my first ripple baby blanket BUT I am not so happy with the colours. It’s a little dull and manly, don’t you think? The pattern is from the free ripple pattern on Project Linus except I casted on less repeats.



I casted on another one using the Soft Waves pattern from 200 Ripple patterns book this time using the boat load of Peaches and Crème I got from this seller on eBay.




If you want to make this type of “Stash” blanket and don’t have spare stash or just want to have different colours of the same yarn, he’s a good one to go. He has a 1 lb assortment which you can request to have part variegated part solid.

I haven’t just been crocheting ripples –there’s a little top down cardigan I hope to get done by Christmas. I am not ready to let you have a peek yet.

AND I have been surfing the Drops free pattern site. Finally got my Adobe upgraded which allows me to make pdf files and I have just been going crazy…

I made a few stash sales which gave me a wee bit of money to spend on new stash for Christmas and I have been debating and debating on what to buy. I finally placed an order for a couple of Zimmerman books and Drops Bomull-Lin – a cotton linen blend from Scandanavian knitting http://www.scandinavianknittingdesign.eu/ for a very reasonable price. I have never tried linen before and of course there’s a whole host of yummy linen summery knits on Drops that are just irresistible.





What knitty/crafty stash are you buying yourself for xmas?

Stack and Match

I'll let the photoes tell the story....

Babette Beginnings

This has been tough! Really tough - just deciding what colours goes on the next round is freaking me out a little. I have two weights of yarn, sport and DK and I have to balance it out - one round sport one round dk - or else the sizes of the squares don't match. Then I have to think of variegated and solids and how those go together as well. Hair-raising!!

And then how to group the squares into a panel - by colour groups or by contrast. I did draft it out on paper on the sizes but I quite randomised what colours go into a square. As I laid it out I realise there are distinct colour groups. So I decided to lay the squares out by the colours of the last round.




Sorry for the quality of the pic but I took it in a hurry last night to remind myself of how the squares are laid out.

If you kind of squint you might get a sense of the overall project. My sister in law was watching me and she asked if I was going to frame the panels - which made me think about this for a while but I decided, the Babette needs larger canvas to show off its glory.

BUT it is an idea for another time.

PS I took pics of the finished circular cardi but they didn't come out to my satisfaction so it will have to wait for another bright day and a proper model.

Half a Ripple

I'm keeling over from a ton of scraps!! I have scrap yarn, scrap paper, scrap fabric etc etc etc.

I used to love the idea of doing scrap quilts. My quilting days are long behind me but I have bags and bags of fabric scraps, big enough to cut 2" squares out of. My plan was to cut it all up and then sell the squares off in ebay... well when I have the time of course.


The thing about scrapping is that there is a serindipity in putting scraps of ugliness, transforming it into a myriad of different textures and colours. But of course, it doesn't always work that way. Sometime one has to control scrappiness with a colour or a tone. Sometimes it's a matter of having an eye for colours and a good knowledge of colours theory - contrast vs complimentary vs tone. Sometimes it's just a leap of faith.



For someone not very in touch with her inner artist, it's quite a challenge.



Anyways in light of my recent "baby" phase ( and plus one of my colleagues is going to deliver at any moment) I've decided that it's time to Ripple or to Babette.




Here's half a ripple. What do you think??

The Babette is waiting on me having the time to sort out all the odd balls and putting them in one place for easy access.

BTW here's how the baby surprise jacket looked after I put on the buttons. I was concerned about the small neck so I folded the tops over to make a flap and sewed it down.




As they say in Malaysia, "Cute or what!"

WAIL!!!!!!

What to do? What to do? Ran out of yarn on the last round of the second sleeve before the shell motifs....

The Yarn Diet is over!!

It's October and the Knit from your Stash/ Yarn Diet thingy I joined 9 months ago is officially over!! I was allowed 2 lapses and I did get two lots of yarn in 9 months and then.... just a few weeks ago.... all hell broke loose.

My October stash consisted of more Rowan Calmer - on a discount of course. And just last weekend I visited Malacca, my husband's hometown and went to this crafty wholesale place who had some limited amounts of yarn stashed away for a very reasonable price. I splurged on some Catania ( an 100 % cotton) to make a cardigan for my goddaughter, 3 balls of Millifille Fine for no reason other than it looked good and some variegated acrylic for trying out more baby projects. I do have "baby" on my mind for some reason.*

Not pictured is another 4 skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (why? why? why?)that I got from someone's stash sale on Ravelry, which is enroute. Did I tell you I love this Ravelry feature??

*No I am not pregnant - just a lot of of collegues and friends are.