Recycle?

Yesterday while surfing, I read about recycling yarns and stuff. Got into Rekal . It got me peaked so I went home and dug about. I found 2 perfect guinea pigs, checked their seams and yay! Think they'll do very well. Now I'm so excited I'm gonna look around for a suitable pattern for them.

I bought this in Australia eons ago during the chenille craze for AUS10. After coming back, the problem with Malaysia weather is the hot outside and cold inside the buildings. Sweaters and pullovers are not practical, you don't want to keep dressing and undressing over your head. I'm thinking of a nice chunky jacket with this one. Jackets and cardigans are the most pratical choice and easier to put on and remove. I can probably do a coat with it looking at the size? Anyone with a nice pattern to recommend?

This on the other hand, was a 'donation' from a good friend. In fact, I have 2 of the same color and pattern from her. Might as well frog one and make something else with it. The yarn is really nice and soft for this one and it would be a shame to not use it. I'm still thinking of something for it. Probably a tank top. Suggestions would be welcomed.

On Tempting, I almost killed myself with it last night. Yep, I was so determined to finish it, I went at it till 3 in the morning. By then, my hands are aching cause I was gripping my needles too tight and my eyes were crossed trying to see the yarn. At the end, 2 rows from the finish line, I waved the white flag and promptly collapse into a snore. I'll be back at it again tonite. *wink

I would like to share this one out too. Apparently, there is a new Online Knit Magazine called Spun up and coming. Debuting Feb. I've subscribed. Can't wait to check it out.

Impatiently Tempting

Remember the movie The Mummy Returns? Remember the scene where the hero and heroine's little boy kept irritating his captor by saying "Are we there yet?" once every minute? Yep, that's how I am with Tempting right now. The yoke needs about 6 inches to complete. I have about 2 and a half inches more to go but it's creeping ever so slowly even though I'm trying to knit as fast as I can. Does anyone else feels like that towards the end of a project?

After looking at it critically last nite, I decide I could squeeze into it despite of the circular needles. Luckily my circular needles big enough to rest on top of my shoulders. Not too bad. It looked like a crop top that way. A little plain, nothing a ribbon or a flower can't fix. It definitely needs blocking though. Now I'm wishing time would fly so I can go home and hopefully complete Tempting tonite.

We managed to get a stationary picture of Mimi the other day, finally! So I thought I'd share this rare picture with you today. She was in a docile mood that day, even so, we only managed 1 clear picture.



If only she and my furkid can get along. It would have been lovely snapping a photo of them together.

Knit Meet Up!

Yep! We met up! Mona, Lyn and I finally had our meetup yesterday after all our initial hiccups. Yay! hehe catch the pictures at Mona's blog when she post them up. I certainly had fun, it was really nice to meet other like minds and drool over each other's work. *grins Hopefully, we'll be doing it again.

Progress report :


My Tempting is 80% completed. Sometimes I think of it as more of a tempestuous one. It is a very simple and elegant project. The grouch part is the yarn itself. At every few rows, I have to stop and pick up all the 'split' rows. It's enough to make me weep dramatically. There you go. It's surprisingly small unstretched. I'm dying to finish the yoke so I can do a actual fitting.

Also, the Honeymoon cami picture that I have promised two weeks back. You'll have to excuse my amatuer photography skills though. I promise to get better in future. *grins.



There's plenty of mistakes. The reason why I waited so long to take a pic was also because I had to frog one of the straps. I made one longer than the other and it looked lopsided. If you noticed, near the hips area on the right side, there is too much yarn there so there's a slight bulge. Not that I mind, and nope, I'm not gonna frog it for the sixth time again. But I learned plenty from Honeymoon Cami about shaping and circular knitting. I'm leaning towards circular knitting now. I like the 'I don't have to stitch the parts up' idea cause I suck big time there.

Adios!

Busy busy busy

I have no pictures to share today. I have taken them but I haven't had time to download them yet, besides I've been busy knitting my Tempting. I'm at the yoke now. Have another 5 inches to go before I can try it out. I hit a few snags, but nothing common sense didn't solve. With all the forums saying that it's quite stretchy, I still have some doubts on it's wearablility. It's rather small unstretched. Let's hope I didn't make any mathematical errors.

We had a holiday here on Friday and another one tomorrow. I'm looking forward to meeting up with some local knitters tomorrow. I'm also rushing off work, so this one will be a short one. I'll have lots more to write and share after tomorrow. Cheers!

Naughty Kitty Cat

Well, since I'm on the roll here with animals...:D Meet Mimi. Nope, she doesn't belong to me. My furkid hates cats. Though it was her own fault. When she was a pup, she decided to chase my friend's cat, which I might add, was bigger than her. I didn't know what happened cause she chased the cat into a room while ignoring me. Came running back to me. After that, everytime she sees a cat... she gets angry. Enough bout my furkid. I tried to introduce them together. Didn't work out. Meet Mimi!

Gorgeous isn't she. Not so when SW found her. This was how she looked then.

She was found hiding underneath one of their cars. They heard her cries, gave her food and water, but left her there cause they thought that the mother cat will come back for her. After a few days, they realized she was abandoned and managed to fish her out. She looked so poor thing huh. Went to the vet a few times too. Her tail is half gone cause it was infected. Now look at her.

She is growing well and very naughty too. Likes to bite and claw everybody's toes. I am fervently hoping she outgrows it. She's teething now...:) We had to hold her to take photos cause she moves way to fast otherwise and all you see are blurry faces. I especially love the color of her eyes. Beautiful huh? She looks like half a siamese

One of my next project would be to knit her some toys. I'm settling for the patterns in Knitty. My next intro would be Gigi, SW's dog. For some reason all dogs loves SW. I have to take pictures this weekend first. Gigi also have a project lined up for her...:) a doggy jacket cause she is short fur. Only kiddo not getting one is my own dog. Poor babe. But she has too much fur and always feels hot...so...I have no excuse to knit her something...:( unless someone can suggest something for my kiddo I haven't thought of.

I spy with my own eye

Secret Pal 4! Now I'm contemplating joining. My concern is my time constraint and my newbie status. Anyone else joining?

Not much about knitting today. Managed to finish Tempting up to the underarms. Now it's 12 1/2 inches. Time to start on the arm sleeves! My wrist hurts though when I twist it at certain angles. But hey hey! *big grin Looks like Tempting can make it's debut during CNY after all.

Last nite I was rummaging my collection of digital pictures and I found a few photos of my furkid when she was younger. Makes me smile. So here you go, my reminiscence and her transition. I shld post a pic of her when she was little. She was multi colored. I need to dig it up.

Goes by the name, Babe, a Shih Tzu X Maltese Mix. She has a host of other names courtesy of my parents. Mom calls her 'fatty bom' cause her food drive is so strong she'll do anything for snacks. Babe actually answers to all her nicknames. Don't ask me how she gets it straight. I got her while I was studying overseas and brought her back with me when I graduated.



This a picture of her just waking up and unbending herself. I always wonder how on earth she contorts her body into a u shape and sleep like a log. Back then, she was just back from Aussie with me and all white. Bout 4 years back.



This is her at the end of 2003.
We had a garden then. she would run around in and she loves getting her paws and muzzle into things she had no business in.


This is her now. Yep, she is putting on some weight. My mom doesn't call her 'Fatty bom' for nothing. She knows how to act cute so my parents give in to her. As she gets older, her muzzle and paws changes color. Her fur has changed color too. I took her to a vet the other day and they labeled her a Senior! LOL! To me, she'll always be my little naughty kid, she can be quite a minx when she wants too. Somehow 'senior' seems to be outa synch with her. I love her to bits and pieces.

Monday Blues

For some reason, Mondays are some how just blah... Not to mention that I had a really busy and somewhat blah weekend. Wasn't able to snap more pictures because I haven't corrected the strap on my Honeymoon Cami.

I was suppose to meet up with Lyn and Mona but it didn't happen. Saturday was a full hectic day. Listing what I did,

1.)It was a working day so I was at work till 1.30pm.
2.)Sneaked my dog out for a walk after lunch
3.)Checked my car, something is wrong with it after I had it fixed.
4.) Washed and groomed my dog.
5.) Went out and had dinner.
6.) Got home, showered and promptly collapse on the couch to rest.
7.) Whipped out my Tempting and proceeded to knit. Made some progress, Happy happy happy!

Until I found out that despite my careful eyeing of this troublesom yarn, the yarn had still split in different places. Upon inspection, 25 over spots were found. They stick out like sore thumbs. Grrrr.

Had to note them with markers and unravel when I knit to that point. I was pretty upset. Managed to correct some. Some of these were waaay down, like the beginning 5th row or something. When I finally looked up, it was 5 am. I went to sleep dreaming bout mischievous yarns.

Woke up on Sunday. Had run errands. By the time I got home, it was 4ish. I was exhausted. Went to nap, cooked dinner and washed up. 8 pm. Doggedly picked up Tempting again and corrected all the rest of it and found one huge mistake. I have no idea how on earth I did it. I don't even know how to describe it!. Instead of knitting the round, there was one row where I accidentally did something like a short row. After an hour of fiddling with it, I finally realized that i couldn't unravle that one. So I had to knot it up. So now, there is a big gap there. Luckily, hidden between one knit and one purl column. Arggh! Well, consolation, at least I'm up to 10 inches. *wobbly smile

New Projects?

The other day, I spied with mine own eyes....these in my LYS, comtemplated for oh like 1 second? and got one of each on impulse to see how they go together before getting more.

I was hoping to finish Tempting and then do up a Tube Top with these 2 babies. *Roll eyes. Yeah right. I especially like the brown Tweed like yarn. If it works out, I'd buy more of it to do a hipster mini skirt with it. Should look good. Now I just have to find or work out a nice pattern for it. What am I doing?!?! haha I have tons of "I gotta do that next" patterns. And now I just got distracted again.

Did anyone have a look at Rowan so far? There's a pattern called Floss. Have a look. really ordinary huh? Well, take a look at this one. Now this one really nail it in. Gorgeous huh? I wouldn't even have notice the original pic otherwise.

Last night, I tagged along Mid Valley shopping mall. So while SW was busy, I was going to Starbucks to work with my laptop. Then I found out that my battery was low and they didn't have a power socket. So instead, I was doing some serious browsing of knitting books for 2 hours. Talk about killing my shoulders and legs in high heels with a heavy Laptop.

I plowed though the Japanese craft books at Jusco. I couldn't understand what was written, but the pattern charts were clearly written. A hooch pooch of treasures, there's something for everyone. One book that caught my eye teaches you to knit using your fingers instead of knitting needles. Now that was very interesting. The patterns were very nice too. I headed to MPH after to pour over their knitting books, nothing much to shout about there. Surprise surprise, I came back empty handed. But now I keep thinking of that finger knitting magazine. Sigh...

Tempting Progress

Tempting was suppose to be a fast knit. Then I came along and it's been 2 weeks..:) my progress is only bout 8 inches. For some reason, I seem to be ultra slow with it. Probably because my gauge is a lot smaller because I'm using another sort of yarn and the yarn keep splitting. I don't think Tempting can make it before Chinese New Year...I'm about 8 inches only so. I manage to get in about 1 to 2 inches per night only. It's extremely stretchy. I got kinda worried at first cause the width was a handspan and a half.


Then I stretched it out and there you go. Here's a picture of it stretched.



I haven't decided on the color of the ribbon. I'm thinking of a Silver one for a Night out Tempting but I can't seem to come up with a good color to transform it into a striking day wear Tempting yet. Any suggestions anyone? If you would like to see some completed Temptings, you should visit Craftster and check out the Tempting Knitalong as well the the Completed Knitting Projects section. Many of those are simply gorgeous.

Incoming Pics

Every day that I do blogging, I learn something new. I'm probably doing a lot of things the hard way right now but..:)

I took some pictures during the weekend. All I have to say is I need more practice with the digital camera. Some pictures came out really dark. But I thought I'd share them anyway. Good way to practice on blogging too. So here goes.

This is my Honeymoon Cami, courtesy from Julie. The pattern can be found in in Knitty. I have another shot of me wearing it, since I was snapping photos, I hurriedly put it on. ... but.... I was half asleep doing chores in the morning with my hair uncombed. So I suggest waiting for one where I'm more presentable unless you want a horror flick. I know I'll wait, thank you.

One of my earlier projects. I wanted a bikini and found Brazilian Bikini by Beatriz Medina. It looks real nice, but I'll never be able wear it though. Firstly, I made it too small. Secondly, I was told by my LYS, my tension is not even, so some parts are too tight, others too loose so it's a little bit uneven and bumpy. I'll be trying another pattern soon.

hmm ok, this is not working out. Looks like I have to edit the pictures a little bit more. Guess I'll post the rest tomorrow after I edit them. Sorry guys. Bear with me...:D I'm a newbie.

New Year Party Pixs

Ok, just got all the pixs from my friend. Unfortunately, most of the pictures were really blur. This was the best shot of all. So...:) Take a guess, I'm the one with the overly bright silver frames. Partied with a few collegues at a bar near our office. Had loadsa fun. Still figuring out how to use Blogger. Do have patience while I decide on the look and feel of the site please.

A little update on Tempting. It's going real slow. I only managed 1/2 inch last night. So now it's about 3 and a half inches. Sigh. I have another project planned. A few actually. But I wanna to do up a nice bright colored tube for Chinese New Year which is on the 9th of February. One comment on the yarn I'm using though. I have a short skirt, inspired by Rowan and a cute hand bag lined up next.

I promise to take some shots of my Honeymoon cami and the Tempting this weekend and have it up next week. Commenting on the yarn I used for both. I bought 6 skeins of Sirdar Silky Look in blue for a Basic turtleneck Berroco Pattern 2 years back. Frogged it three quarter ways cause it looked terrible. Since then, it has been in my itsy bitsy stash until I whipped it out for Tempting. I bought the same thing for Honeymoon Cami. 3 Skeins of the white. I think it's the last I'll buy of it. It's terrible. You't can take ur eyes off the knitting at all. It has 3 skeins into one and everytime you take ur eyes off, it splinters and u got to correct it. It's horrible. Just ghastly.

Tempting anyone?

Well, at last I'm making a bit of progress with this web-blog. Not so very easy. Keep getting myself confused cause I'm too impatient to finish reading instructions. Sigh.

I finally did wear my Honeymoon Cami out. I was so pleased. Got compliments from my bf and dad. hehe What a way to start the day.

Now I'm starting on Tempting from Knitty. I've decided to use Sirdar Silky Look, since I have 5 skeins, frogged from another project. So far, done bout 2 inches. So far so good. :) Can't wait to finish it. I hope I don't have to frog it like Honeymoon Cami.

Mom has promised to get me more yarns and patterns from Australia since she is there. Can't wait. Already all drooly about it. heh heh