Its Chinese Lunar New Year

Year of the Golden Piggy, and its only here once every 60 years. And today is the 1st day of the Lunar New Year, and I have to remind myself so hard not to indulge in too much tidbits and sweet drinks. Also there's plenty of other sumptuous chinese dishes, like the ever popular Yu Sheng (which happens to be available in this part of the world). Anyways, whichever festivity, its bound to be over commercialised.

On the knitting front, anyone remember this? It was finished same time last year. However weaving all the ends turn me off, and it was left in the wardrobe till my mom was cleaning out my stuffs. She decided to take on the weaving task, in turn this top is bestowed upon her. I think it fits her better than on me.

And this is what happened, when I meddled in the kitchen. 2 loaves of banana cake. Might bake another 2 more since I'm expecting loads of visitors tomorrow. Its a norm for my place to be overflowing with people on the second day. I guess my mom loves the stress of cooking for 20+ people.

SP9 strikes for the last time

Finally my SP9 spoiler had revealed herself in this last package. Thanks to Pamela again for this wonderful package! Here's a pic to show whats she had done for me.
And I wonder how did Pamela find out Kaalund yarns have been in my dream? She got me 4 balls for lace shawl.

On non knitting stuffs, I have been baking and cooking. Since the SO loves Har-jiong Kai (Prawn Paste Chicken), and I have sometime to spare today here's the end result:
For the benefit to those who are itnerested in the recipe and also for myself incase I got the wrong bottle of prawn paste.

Ingredients:
12 small wings (center portions only the length of your index fingers)
plain flour for coating when deep frying

Marinating :
1 tbsp of prawn paste
a few dashes of sesame oil
1 tsp of honey

Method:
1. Marinate the wings, cover and place in the fridge, overnight.
2. Drain the wings
3. Prepare pan and oil for deep frying. Heat up the oil.
4. Coat the wings evenly with flour.
5. You can start frying the wings, once the oil is hot.
6. In order to have crispy wings, turn the heat to medium.
7. Done when wings turn golden brown.
8. Dig in!!!

Notes:
- Prawn paste is a very pungent ingredient, be sure to keep the marinating air tight, else the whole of your fridge will be nauseating. ok i'm exaggerating.
- Its pretty saltish so you might add lesser prawn paste and maybe 1 more tsp of honey. Or just cut short the marinating time.
- I prefer small wings and only the middle section. They are easier to cook.

Rowan 41

I had been haunting knitrowan.com this past weeks for the spring preview. And today I came a upon THIS. A lot of the patterns are talking to me, so this is a must get.

Also I saw the Bamboo Collection. What took Rowan so long to came up with a bamboo fiber yarn? Bamboo is like eons ago. And now the other yarn companies have handfuls of new fibers.

checking in on SP

I am crossing my fingers that my spoilee had got my package, else I may need to send a replacement soon. I won't want my spoilee to feel neglected.

Looking for inspirations

Whenever I finished a project, I would just stare into space and loads of patterns ran through my mind. It takes the right mind set to start a particular project. And after binding off Shetland triangle, I started to run through my Yarn Inventory. My main objective was to destash so I guess its only appropriate to knit another garment which consumes loads of yardage.

I think planning a To-Knit List for this year is a very good idea. I don't think this is late though its already 3 weeks into 2007.
(in no particular order)
- Rambling Rose from Rowan 39, using Bendigo 4 ply cotton
- Serrano using Bendigo cotton
- Demi from Vintage Knits, using Rowanpsun Aran
- Lotus Blossom from IK summer 06 using SWTC Bamboo
The list is not exhaustive, these were just up my finger tips.

Here's a picture after finishing 1 ball of Patons Classic Merino. I most probably will leave out the hood again. This is the third hoodie which I purposely left the hoodie out.

Shetland Triangle is off the block but I have yet to have a chance to take a proper picture. However here's a teaser:

Shetland and Seasilk

Surprised? It's a midweek update which is something hard to come by on this blog. Anyway, I'm just excited about what's on my needles currently. I'm actually taking a short break from it.

I'm knitting Shetland Triangle from Lace Style with a beautiful hank of Handmaiden Seasilk, gifted by my lovely SP9 spoiler. The stitches glide so smoothly over Addi Turbos. The knitted material feels soft and spongy. I'm always delighted to knit with such lovely yarns. Currently, I've done 7 repeats as oppose to what the picture tells you, 1 repeat. I hope to get another 4 repeats + edging done by this weekend.


I'm so relieve that my package had reached its destination.

FO report

First FO in 2007,yeah!

Pattern: Lucy in the Sky by Laura Chau
Yarn: 7 balls of Debbie Bliss Merino DK, Color 225003.
Needle: 4mm Addi Turbo
Size: secong smallest size (bust 33")
Time to finish: 3 weeks

I was trying to destash these merino yarns, and the first ball went through a few swatchings but it just wasn't what I was looking for. When I first started Lucy, I wasn't sure how it would turn out. The yarn itself was pretty OK. The sleeves were shorten by 1 inch and that's the only modification. It fits pretty well so I have to watch my weight in order to make more wears out of it. Here's some close up of the diamonds.

Greetings From Vermont

This is a belated post. I got my Yarn Aboard box right after Christmas, in time for Boxing Day. The last week of 2006 was super hectic, the office was trying to clear off any backlogs before closing of the year. So I only had time to pack the the goodies up and sent it off.

So what did Sir Francis Drake come with? A hank of Cherry Tree Hill supersock in Sapphire, 2 hanks of Knitpicks Shadow in Jewel, teas, cards and candies. All of these put together by Michelle from Vermont. And that's how far Sir F.D. had travel. He spent the New Year with me before heading back to Louisiana.

A big Thank You to Michelle for putting all these together.

Testing

Prior to the latest earthquake, I lost the ability to post from home with my PC. I was able to surf all over but just unable to post through blogger. It started when I upgraded to Blogger Beta. But hey, I manage to solve this by upgrading my Firefox and setting the security to the lowest. So if I gonna disappear, means I've got virus somewhere. *sigh*

Anyway, back to the knitting front, I've got so much to update you people that I don't know where to start. First thing first, Peacock Feathers Shawl was off the block days before Christmas. And I cast on for Cherry during the holidays but found out I was out of yarn. So time to check out Ozeyarn.com for stuffs. Hope to get the last ball of cotton soon so I can finish the bands and seaming. So I cast on for Hourglass Sweater with Cash Iroha. The yarn wasn't as nice as I expect it to be. Maybe it's because I down sized the needle. Hence this project is rather slow going, with more time spent at work since some colleagues are on vacation. I think I need a break just to knit to my heart's content.

Boxing Day isn't called Boxing Day for nothing. I got 2 packages, one from Yarn Aboard and my order from Littleknits.com. I think i need to go pack the goodies and get them ready for the post office tomorrow. Tomorrow would be a good day if the heavens stop opening (it pouring everyday in Singapore). Hopefully I can go off work early afternoon. I will try to post pictures in the next post.

Madly Madli's Shawl

Life has to move along so here I am, back with real knitting content.

Madli's was finished recently and I only had the time to take some pictures of it. As usual, I wasn't able to find a photographer so no modeling again. After blocking, the length came to be taller than me.



Pattern: Madli's Shawl by Nancy Bush
Yarn: less than 4 oz of Jaggerspun Zephyr in Ruby
Needle: 3.5mm Inox (grays)
Size: NA
Time to finish: slightly more than a week

This is the second time I worked with Zephyr, its still terrific to work with. The final product looked great. And I'm still working with Zephyr currently on the Peacock Feathers Shawl in Teal. I'm 1/3 away from finishing Chart 7. As its being knitted from a cone, it became a little unportable. Also, as the number of stitches increased, progress was getting extremely slow. Anyway, here's the blob of teal:

Meanwhile, its time for bed. Nitez~

Patience

That's what I need most right now. And my favourite band is back for reunion with Patience.

Just have a little patience
Still hurting from a love I lost
I'm feeling your frustration
But any minute all the pain will stop

Just hold me close
Inside your arms tonight
Don't be too hard on my emotions

Cause I.........
Need time......
My heart is numb, has no feeling
So while I'm still healing
Just try........
And have a little patience

I really wanna start over again
I know you wanna be my salvation
The one that I can always depend

I'll try to be strong
Believe me I'm trying to move on
Its complicated but understand me

Cause I.........
Need time......
My heart is numb, has no feeling
So while I'm still healing
Just try........
And have a little patience

Cause the scars run so deep
It's been hard but I have to believe
Have a little patience
Have a little patience, woah

Cause I, I just need time
My heart is numb, has no feeling
So while I'm still healing

Just try and have a little patience

Have a little patience
My heart is numb, has no feeling
So while I'm still healing
Just try and have a little patience

What the F*&@!!!!

http://blog.hkcsl.com/p/b5/web/ViewBlog.jsp?msgid=5652

It's a clip on the slaughtering of dolphins by Japanese fishermen.

It might be a little slow loading up.

Think I will just stick to chicken, better still become a vegan. That was so sicko.

Rough Patch

I had one today. However I told myself that I can still hold my head up and walk with no fear of anything. Having brave through previous old fears, I must be stronger than ever for everything that's to come. Tears are not a form of weakness but the ability to face even more than I can bear. At the end of breaking down, its the beginning of picking oneself up and the strenght to start afresh.

It had been more than 3 years, since alcohol and cigarettes were part of my weekends. Gone are the days when I count down to friday evenings, where I hop from club to club and more clubs. I have my yarns and needles for company now. Something that's much more productive at the end of the day.

I shall pray to the Knitting Goddess for many more knitty days to come.

Quote of the Day:
"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one opened for us" - Helen Keller

Titleless

Its been a while since I last blogged. I should have plenty to talk about, but as usual I'm lost at what to talk about. A blogger's block I guess. Anyway, I did some knitting during the mini escapedes. I was asked to open up my bag at the customs, for goodness sake it was just a brow tweezer. Not much pictures were taken, since I did not bring along my camera and the mobile phone's battery went flat after 10 shots. I better bring my charger along the next time.

So what I have been up to knit-wise? I started Madli's Shawl and its off the block this morning. While Madli is left to dry, I started Peacock Feathers Shawl. So far I'm done with Chart 3, wondering if I can have it block before Christmas. Meanwhile, I need to do the finishes for Central Park Hoodie and Molly Ringwald.

Meanwhile here's picture of the week.
Taken at a roadside shrine of 4-faced Buddha, Bangkok, Thailand. Its a row of wood carvings of elephants. They were purchased by worshippers to be placed there. If I remember correctly, the biggest one would cost 10 000 babt per pair. That's quite a budget for yarns. =p

Mini Haitus

Will be back after a small escapade.

*sometime i just need to get out of this shithole*

I feel so spoiled!

I got home early today and started knitting. The tummy started to grumble, the lazy me chose to wait for Mom's return. And this is what my mom brought from the mailbox. The package which my SP9 promised is here! I let out a small scream when I opened it. I almost did the happy dance. My brother heard it and thought I had a cockroach in the room. LOL

Pamela, my spoiler, got me the following which includes a hank of Handmaiden Seasilk, swiss chocolates, 2 magazines (I was always curious about YARN), Yarn Harlot's latest book, a pair Ebony needles and a postcard written in very neat handwritting.

Thank you so much, Pamela!!!

Sepia mode

It has been 24 months. Time just passes without people noticing. I can only have different FOs as the tiny milestones during this knitting journey. I thank all those who has made this a fulfilling journey. Speaking of which I had a litte SEX last weekend to commemorate this second knitversary. Both yarns are in shades of blacks and greys. Pretty hard to capture these colors today so I shall leave them in sepia mode.

There's a knit out today. Ciao~

Of Pink and Blue

I haven't been using pink yarns for a pretty long time. I can't even remember when was the last time. I was having a crush for pink a while ago, so here's a WIP in pink . Molly Ringwald from Knitscene Fall 06, second pattern I'd knit from (CPH was the first).
I did quite a real bit of modifications, which is unlikely of me. I tried to knit this in the round, however it seems way too huge. So huge that it can fit 2 of me in it. Thus I had to rip 1 ball worth of yarn. What you see now is the finished front piece. I'll cast on the back after updating the blog.

Next is Rusted Root, not really rusted in my case. In the picture, its almost done minus the 12 rows of ribbing. As I'm blogging now, its being dried for washing after wearing for the first time. I worn it to the office and got good comments on it. Totally cool from co-workers who don't knit. I'll try to get a pic of me in it.

Back to my weekend knitting.

Unglam pics

or are they just funny? Anyway, I just happened to pass by these two places.
So is the postman going to deliver letters later?

I'm absolutely not allergic to coins and shillings. =P

And a sneek on Salina. Sorry for the spotty mirror and also the messy hair. Guess I was having a bad hair day then.And Rusted Root is on the block. I tried it on right after weaving the ends, the fit is almost perfect. More pics soon.

One more shawl

This shawl is already in the hands of the recipent. And I hope she likes it as much as I did knitting it.

Pattern: Diamond Fantasy Shawl by Sivia Harding
Yarn: 2 hanks of Knitpicks Gloss in Wedgewood
Needle: 4mm Addi Turbos
Size: NA
Time to finish: 1 week? or less?
Recipent: Aunt

I was running out of yarn when I was binding off 2/3 of the way. So the bind off had to be tinked. Instead of doing the i-cord bind off, I just did the regular one and was left with less then 2 feet of yarn. That was so close.

This is one of this patterns which I will knit for the second time. And also the first pattern which was repeated within 3 months.