So not on the ball!

I have been obsessing on the Clapotis since 2004.
Just look at what Clapotis search results on my blog. It's been a epic tale of stops and starts and looking for the right yarn.

And yes I was complaining about the price of Lorna's Laces then... My My how things changed.

Anyways I sucked it in and did me a nice little mini Clapotis using Handgefaebrt's Merino Extra Fine in Night Elves.

Here we go (warning! lot's of photos)







All in all I used up the whole skein of 570 yds in total and about 6 and half feet long. Yes it is very long but ooooooh sooooo soft.

Still I think a more variegated yarn would have given this pattern a bit more punch.

Here's to the next knitting obsession. And pray it not take another 5 years before completion.

Mourning the loss of BSG

BSG (Battlestar Galactica) ended last month and I have been a blue funk since. To be fair - it has its ups and downs and some very illogical stretches of imagination that suggest thet the Cylons ( ie the writers) didn't really have a frakking plan.

BUT it has been compelling and very good tv for 4 years plus and the penulitmate episode made me stand up and cheer. For once we have a good non cheesy, non CGI pretentious sci fi show that dealt with universal issues. Yes the Star Trek franchise had played its part but when was the last time there was a good Star Trek series. Before, the sci fi genre was still the the domain of geek boys and fan girls who were always thought of as .. erm ... off the radar. I think this has all changed with BSG or at least it should...

In any case I was a doofos and didn't release that Final Five Cylon siren call was All Along the Watchtower. So here I have embedded a video of it in it's entirety - the BSG version - with clips from Crossroads Ep 1 & 2 - one of the best episodes in the series, I think.

Battlestar Galactica - All Along the Watchtower(Full song)
Uploaded by boyeatsgirl - Watch feature films and entire TV shows.

PS. On the crafty front - here's my latest spin FO



Singles from Baby Batt from FeltStudio UK

Fluffing Around

I am sure you all have had days like these. Go off on a holiday and come back taking a long time to rev up your engines again. It's the same with hobbies, work or family. I didn't want to come home, just wanted to lie around in the sun, at the beach or just in the hotel room doing nothing.

DH and I took a break to Phuket two weeks ago. More updates on that when I can get my photoshop capabilities back on.

Just before we left, I started a new project, but I haven't touched it since I got back. I have got to only this point with my Firestarter socks from Yarnissima




Just a few days ago I received something that cheered up me up a lot more.







These are sock yarns from the indie dyer Handgefaerbt. Yummy, luscious deep hued sock squishy yarny goodness. Brings on all the creative juices and good knitting vibes. Off to finish off that firestarter so I can start another pair of socks.

It's been spinny

The KL Knitter's group on Ravelry has been in a spin lately with the entrance of the second spining wheel in Malaysia. StitchingBee (Aw) got a Majacraft Pioneer and we managed to have a meet-up on Saturday to compare wheels. Sally graciously provided her house and both she and Lyn joined in to see if they would be sucked in to the world of spinning.

I think we scared them off a little, Aw and I.

Anyway - there is this gorgeous pic that Lyn took of me spinning, with her top of the range dSLR.




I've been spinning this Merino Tencel bump from Spinning Bunny supposedly to make sock yarn. But alas it isn't fine enough so it is ending up to be sport - DK weight. Haven't figured out what I am going to make with it yet.



This skein could be plied tighter I think.




This one is my current favourite although it was very tight when I took it off the niddy noddy. Had to give it a fairly good whacking, for all the kinks to straighted out but voila.. nice fat lovely 2 ply yarn.

I've got about 150 m right now with about 2 half bobbins and 2 oz more to spin - I am hoping to reach at least 300 m.

Two Hats, Two Bobbins and Topographie

So the title is self explanatory :-

Topographie from the Knitty- Easy knit with some simple textured to show of the hand dye - I have to say the knitted model on the Knitty is the best I have seen. There is also a matching cowl which I didn't make.


Amanda Hat No 1 from the left overs of California Roll in that mysterious gree yarn- took less than 1 skein and about 3 hours.

Amanda Hat No 2 from some left over Noro Silk Garden also less thank a skein. I can make tons of this.



And the spinning craze kicked in again due to some very hot discussions at the KL Knitters group on Ravelry. Finally took out the wheel and spun up the sock kit I got last year. The light was bad ( I just had to take a pic at 2 am) so I might try again this weekend to get some pics in daylight before I start to ply then.

Life goes on....

I'm just a little quiet lately as my dad passed away about 3 and a half weeks ago.

Not really ready to talk about it yet just that we're all happy that he is at peace and in no more pain.

Life goes on, you know and we get on with the daily stuff. Just, sometimes a stray thought will cross my mind which starts with the word "daddy" and that'll bring a few tears of remembrance.

While my sis was around I finally finished the Noro Striped Scarf inspired by Brooklyn Tweed for my brother in law.

I call it the California Roll








I used two skeins of Noro and 1.5 skeins of a Mystery yarn which I thought was Gedifra Calfornia. I think I am mistaken though, it looks more like Gedifra Fashion Stripe.

Simple and brain numbing but really fast to get off the needles if I had been consistent about it.

I actually finished Topographie too but I haven't taken the pictures yet.

Will get that updated tomorrow.

Get Your Knit On

I promised the gals the report and photos from our recent KL knitting meet up on the 17th January 2009.

Jackie brought her Diamond Fantasy Shawl that was knit with ( wait for it)... 9 balls Jaeger Roma. Woot! I take my hat off to you Jackie, I can't bring myself to use my stash of Roma on a shawl! It was the most cushiest shawl ever but still...







The other girls brought their knitting too.

Kenti was knitting a baby project.

Hanne knitting continental.

Basqueiz brought her knitted doily.

I didn't get a good picture of Hernik but I got a close-up of her hands and her little bag.






Last but not least, Sally arrived with her hand-dyed yarn and modeled one of her cowls.








If you are wondering about the different colour quality of the photos - that's because I've been playing around with Photoshop. I left the hand-dyes in their original colour though, so you can see it in its natural glory.

I am just about to unveil my new FO- just need to get some decent photos first. Till next time.

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