KnittinTherapy

To the bookshelf

2009-04-28T22:05:00.002+08:00

At 5 bucks per book (AND brand new), how could I resist...

There were so many but I judge a book by its cover and it's copy. Yeap, if the fonts appeal to me only then I'll buy. These ones did.

Finished my Organizational Behaviour assignment yesterday.

Gotta start on Accounting assignment soon.

Road trip tomorrow. Work assignment.

Waiting for the long weekend......

Uncertainties in life

2009-04-25T20:35:00.005+08:00

You might know the feeling of waiting to know about something, something so crucial that it keeps on playing at the back of your mind. Something really bothered me.

Back in October 2008 I went for a blood test and the result showed an abnormal reading for a certain hormone. Upon finding out from a family friend who is a doctor, her eyes just turned wide open. Apparently if is consistenly abnormal, there could be a reason to it - a small tumour in the pituitary gland or otherwise known as pituitary adenoma.

Before I could react further, she pacified me by saying that it is usually not serious, but it might have an affect on having children later on. That was probably the scariest thing I've heard so far. I mean, I love babies and kids. What if I can't have children of my own? My own biological children... I'd have to be on medication for, oh I dunno, a long long time. All these thoughts just flew by when I heard what the tumour can do.

So I was advised to wait for another month and to do another blood test, just to see if the reading is still abnormal. I was also told that sometimes, it may be due to stress, the reading may be higher than normal and probably there's nothing to be worried at all. But my reading was almost double than normal.

Only I didn't do repeat the test a month later. I waited, but didn't know for what. Maybe I couldn't take the reality of having problems of getting pregnant and having children. Not that I plan to right now, heck I'm not even married. But I want to, in the future. So many what-if questions kept pacing my mind.

Not taking that test was probably my way of avoiding of the probable chance that I may have the tumour. A tumour in my head. Crap. Though it's not life threatening, but.. it's there!

I kept delaying. I delayed for about 5 months then I told myself I'd have to find out sooner or later. I didn't know what to expect, or how to prepare myself. Yes the tumour can eventually disappear if I keep taking medication. But still..

And so I finally went....

In the meantime, I had knitted a pair of baby booties for my friend who, at that time, had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl. I just love how it turned out. So girly. The yellow flowers just made it even more girly.

When I actually got the call that all was fine for my blood test, it was a mixture of feelings of relief and thankful that I am in fact.. healthy =) I'm just grateful for that. So it was because of the stress? I don't know, maybe it was.

But right now, I'm just thankful to God.
Thankful that I'm healthy.
Thankful that I can still have children in the future.
Thankful that I still have a job and wake up everyday and go to work.
Thankful that I have people who care about me.

So much has happened since I last blogged. I'll hopefully update again, soon.

If you read this, leave a comment, so I'll know people are still reading this blog. Thanks!

Take care everyone!

My So Called Scarf

2008-12-18T03:01:00.005+08:00

Lil sis will be going to UK to study for a year. She will be going in February and once her study visa is approved then it's confirmed for sure. Though it's just going to be a year but I'm going to miss her! She'll be doing a year's study to obtain her degree in Hotel Management. Siiighh... I'd love to live outside of Malaysia..just to see what it's like..!

I think my knitted goodies are going with her...My Clapotis is going with her for sure since that had really kept her warm during her trip to London 2 months ago! Good thing I made it wide enough to cover her neck.

Yeah she's comfy alright! Clapotis put to good use!!

She requested for another scarf (since she took a wild guess that I am most certainly will not be able to finish a cardigan for her in time before she leaves...blehh...fiine).

I decided to knit My So Called Scarf and really, the pattern is a fun knit! Amazing how the 'psso' stitches gives a real nice pattern!

The yarn is a gift from a friend who went to India. It's acrylic but surprisingly very soft and 'silky' like. It came in a skein and as you can see in the picture I was to darn lazy to wind it into a ball (no I don't have a ball winder...sighhh).

Sis wants the scarf to be narrow so I casted on 40 sitches using a 4.5mm needles.

Blog updated two days in a row...This is record..!

Here's something cute that I found... Enjoy!!

Baby fest

2008-12-17T00:43:00.006+08:00

Lately it's all about knitting for babies. A newborn baby boy and a baby girl due in about two weeks. I love knitting kiddy stuff cos I don't have to worry much about the size. If it's too big..no problem! The kiddo will grow into it!

I knitted the Daisy baby cardigan from Knitty.com for a certain Baby J. OK I didn't backstitch any daisies on the cardigan cos baby J is a boy. I wanted to backstitch the letter J on it..but...HOW on earth do you do a backstitch??!! Ideas are most welcomed thank you very much :)

I just love the way it turned out! For the first time a FO with perfect (ok, almost perfect) seaming! Ms Yarn Harlot has designed the garment very well, it's quite an easy and quick knit I must say. I am not a very fast knitter so it took me about 4 - 5 days to finish it.

But too bad that I couldn't get any cute buttons. I only managed to get plain ones which is a bit boring... Sigh I remember looking at really adorable buttons at Spotlight Singapore. Now I regretted for not getting a few of those.

Pattern: Daisy by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Available at Knitty.com

Needles: 3.5mm Addi circulars
Yarn: OnLine 165 Sandy
Modifications: none

I'm gonna go visit baby J in a day or two. He was born just about a month ago. I think the cardi will be a bit big for him.

Next up is another Vine Lace Baby Hat that I knitted for my MBA classmate who is about to give birth within a week or two. The baby is going to be a girl and her name starts with K, so let's call her baby K shall we? I'm still deciding as to which booties to knit for her though.

I've knitted this hat before, like a year ago. My sis saw me knitting the hat and said 'if you knit it my size I'll wear it (with a big grin)'. Hmmm... I'll think about it!

Pattern: Vine Lace Baby Hat by Sandi Wiseheart
Needles: 3mm Brittany DPNs
Modifications: none

Updates on life in a later post. Cheerios!

Something that is true...

2008-11-11T00:19:00.003+08:00

To love is a duty.

To be loved is a success.

To be with someone you love is an achievement.

To be with someone who loves you is life.

Update..

2008-07-12T20:57:00.004+08:00

6 months has passed and so much happened since I last posted. I haven't been posted at all because..well..I haven't been knitting at all...except for last month..

Let me just summarise the life events that has happened within the past 6 months...

January - Realised that my job was getting a bit too routine for me to enjoy

February - My birthday month but it sucked anyways

March - Lots of late nights and clubbing sessions

April - Well this was a both happy and a sad month. For the first time, my status officially changed from single to 'in a relationship'. But, It was also the month when my dad passed away. We lost him to stage 4 lung cancer. We only discovered that he had it earlier Jan this year. *May his soul rest in peace*

May - I gave my notice of resignation. I know that there are jobs out there that'll suit me better.

June - Officially jobless again

July - I've decided to take up a part time MBA course and classes start next week! So I'm also looking for a job that'll fill my weekdays since classes are only on weekends.

I also have an F.O to show all of you, a pair of Bayerische socks that took me 6 months to complete!

Pattern: Bayerische Socks by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Knit Pick's Palette in Blue
Needle: Addi Circulars 2.0mm (80cm)

The first sock took me at least 3 attempts to get it right and it took me a month to complete it. I was already a 'pro' when it came to the second one, so it took half the time ;-) The amount of hard work I've put into the socks, I don't know if I'll have the heart the wear it! Even my mom was shocked that I can actually produce stuff like this.

Now I'm project-less again. But a couple of baby bootees, baby jackets and gloves are playing in my mind. Cos a couple of babies are on the way...

Hopefully I'll blog again soon, with some knitting content as well. I hope all of you are keeping well. Till I blog again, take care and just keep knitting!

Happy 2008!

2008-01-01T21:21:00.000+08:00

Hello....yes...it's me....popping in to wish you, you and you a very happy new year!! Here's wishing everyone a great year ahead, I know I'm looking forward to an awesome one! I hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas too.

My explanation for being MIA for the past month is because I finally got a job and yeah, actually have to wake up at 6am and not go to bed at 6am! And now I'm cherishing every single weekend! But thank you to all of you who left comments on my Clapotis post and also on winning the contest online.

What job am I doing if you might ask, well I got one as a medical underwriter with an insurance company. Whazzat you ask??? No worries, I get that question every single time lol. Click on the link to find out more. I'm still under training, but by the end of 6 months I should be a certified underwriter. Not exactly my ideal job, but thats the best offer I could get so far.

On the knitting front, I did finish my Phildar bolero. Don't mind the picture, I had no one else to take it for me. Somehow it didn't turn out to be like the one in the pattern. And yes that's me in my Lelah Top too.

The bolero turned out to be a tad too big, especially around the arms. And I wore it for a whole day and it kept falling backwards and slipping off my shoulders, which was pretty darn annoying. I am thinking of making an i-cord and attaching it to the front so I can tie it and not worry of it falling all the time.

Oh yes before I forget, the yarn ball population in my yarn box has increased by 3! yep!! First up, is Knit Pick's Felici from my buddy Rain. It was an Eid pressie from her. Thank you sweety =) The yarn is so so unbelievable soft I wish my pillows and sheets were that soft. Those of you who have tried this yarn before would agree with me, won't ya?

Next, is something I purchased for myself...2 balls of Knit Picks' Gossamer in Carribean. Hopefully it will be a lacy top, and not a shawl...again.

That's all for now folks. Not making any knitting resolutions here. Hopefully there'll be more FOs this year. Take care and happy knitting!

Contest prize!

2007-11-28T22:09:00.000+08:00

I took part in another contest at Here Be Knitting a couple of weeks ago and guess what, I won! Yay my second time winning a contest online!

So look who travelled from the land down under and across the ocean to see me...

It's a beautiful hank of Interlacements Little Toes sock yarn, which I believe is no longer available. It's so soft, superwash wool, and has all my favourite colours rolled into one. I really didn't expect such a generous gesture from her! See, I even got a tube of dewberry hand cream!

Thanks so much Deb!!

Bad month, so far..but an FO to show

2007-11-26T01:24:00.000+08:00

This month so far has been good and bad, happy and sad for me.

About two weeks ago, my younger sister was mugged. She lost her handbag, her mobile, her money and her identity card. She has a nasty wound on her knee and when they had pushed her, she landed on her butt, which had affected her back bone. What pissed me off the most is that, at the time of the incident, she was walking home ALONE in the middle of the night. Right before that she was having late supper with one of her GUY colleagues. Looks like it would have killed him TO WALK A GIRL HOME!

In another incident, some money was stolen from me too. Don't ask me how. I have no idea. Frickin savings for the past two years!

I'm missing my buddy A LOT. Miss hanging out with her. Miss her company ='( Yeah babe, I doo!!

In a slightly more happy news, I got a few job offers. But so far I am still not sure whether I'll be starting work next month. Pre-employment medical check up didn't go well. But then it hit me, once I start to work, I'll be working for the rest of my life. I was whining that I didn't have a job before, but now when I am about to start work, I'm whining that I'll miss the lazy days.

I whine a lot don't I? Okay for those of you who are still reading this post, I'll show off my Clapotis! Yes, another FO woohoo!

Pattern: Clapotis by Kate Gilbert
Needle: Addi circulars 4.5mm
Yarn: Premium Marvel 8 ply Acrylic 1.5 balls

This yarn was surprisingly so soft to knit with!! And the stitches could be dropped so easily too. It's more than 60 inches in length and if I had finished the two balls it would have been too long.

How many of you who do not block clapotis? And I notice the cast on end and the cast off end is jutting out and not curled up like the other two corners. I kind of like the wavy effects it has, and it is so soft that it drapes nicely over the shoulders too..

I'll update you about the Phildar bolero in the next post, and also my war with a sock that I'm starting. Till then, have a great week ahead people!

Garage Flooring

2007-11-25T01:27:00.000+08:00

You know how sometimes when you walk into your garage and you see just a bare old concrete? If its not oil-stained, then it's either beat up or cracked. Of course there's that one particular spot on the concrete that has an oil stain which dripped from the family car over a long period of time. If you've been living in your home for the past 20 years, chances are that the concrete will start to crack up.

If you're just tired of that and want a whole new garage flooring, why not give Car Guy Garage a try? Not only that they sell tiles to cover that old dirty floor, they even have a wide range of patterns of tiles that you can choose from!

But if you recently just had your garage floor retiled, I'm sure you would want to protect it, so that cleaning it every now and then would be easier for you. These guys have just the thing you need - a professional grade epoxy!

Thinking of how to give your garage floor a make over?? Well what are you waiting for?? Go on and check it out!

*This is a paid post*

Clapotis and a bolero

2007-11-20T22:42:00.000+08:00

A couple of things happened in the past two weeks, both happy and sad. But right now I don't seem to be in the right mood to talk about it. So I'll just give a quick update on what's currently on my needles.

A clapotis! Yeah, decided to join the clappy-bandwagon, finally. Don't know who it will be for yet but it's quite a mindless knit, easy enough to keep my eyes on McSteamy ;)

Regg, recognise the yarn??

I started on a Phildar Bolero quite some time ago and it's being knitted up in pieces...I'll have *so* much fun seaming later..bleh...Last night I finally decided to block them before I can seam them up and start picking up stitches to knit the ribbing. Weather has been pretty gloomy around here so I'll leave it for two days to dry.

Boy only now I realize cotton does STRETCH! I literally had to shape the pieces when blocking them. Have to make sure that they are of the same width and length before poking them with the pins. I hope that it won't be too big for me when I finish it!

Instructions said to knit a separate piece of ribbing. We don't want more seaming now do we?? So I'll just pick up stitches and knit the ribbing for the collar.

Pay Per Post

2007-11-15T00:01:00.000+08:00

Since I started this blog a little over a year ago, little did I know that I will be getting to know people from all over the world, sharing our common passion for knitting and love for yarn. And indeed, I was so amazed by the amount of people that knit! I really admire those who knit for charity or to raise funds. I have started knitting seriously this year and blogging is a way for me to keep track of what I'm knitting and have knitted. It's like my knitting diary only uber cool since its online and other knitters can see too!

I got to know about Pay Per Post (PPP) thru me buddy Rain. It caught my attention because I can see that it is really that easy to earn money thru PPP, just by posting about a topic. So I decided to jump on the bandwagon. Hopefully soon enough I can indulge in some online yarn shopping therapy!

It's really very easy, after signing up for PPP you just need to post on topics that are available to you. You get paid to blog about products! Sounds good to me! This definitely motivates me to blog more often!

If any of you out there are looking for a side income, I would definitely suggest you come and join! I'ts a fun way to meet other posties too!

*this is a paid post*

Another baby hat

2007-10-30T00:57:00.000+08:00

Baby knits are the best! They knit up quickly and are instant FOs!

Here's one that I knitted for a 7 month old baby...
(You're most welcome Rain) (no she DOESN'T have a baby! She's giving it as a pressie)

Pattern: Ripple Eyelet Baby Hat

Needles: 4mm Addi bamboo circulars

Size: Approximately 12" in circumference

Yarn: Bella Baby Puppet in Pink (much less than one ball!)

This hat was knitted flat and seamed together using mattress stitch. Can you see the seam in this picture? No, right?? That's how awesome mattress stitch is! I love it when I pull the yarn to bring the two sides together. It's like magic! As if it was knitted in the round.

Baby Hat and Mini OSW

2007-10-27T22:19:00.000+08:00

I have been knitting, really...And I've got a couple of FOs to show off =)

First up, a really cute baby hat that I knitted for a 6 week old baby girl, Honeybun, a name her 3 year old sister calls her. How cute is that?

Pattern: Vine Lace Baby Hat

Needles: Brittany 3mm dpns

Yarn: Katia Capri 100% cotton - Half a ball

I also made a pair of Saarje's Bootees with the rest of the yarn, but for the life of me, I forgot to snap a pic of it before I gave the lil baby! But they were really really adorable and the booties are sturdy.

Not wanting to let her elder sister feel left out, I knitted a mini One Skein Wonder for her...

Pattern: One Skein Wonder
Needle: 3mm Addi circulars
Size: 13" width for arm to arm
Yarn: Schachenmayr Catania 100% - 1 ball

I'm really really proud of this FO. I actually made sure that I made no mistakes and I looove how the ribbing turned out. Took me quite a few attempts to pick up the stitches properly so that it doesn't look 'joined'. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of her wearing it though, she was sleeping when I was visiting.

It's really lovely to see the expression of people receiving knitted gifts. These girls' mom was shocked to see something so cute can actually be hand knitted. I think when something is knitted with love, it will turn out just beautiful!

A gift from SP11

2007-10-26T17:03:00.000+08:00

Here's what she got me!

Yep it's Orangina by Stefanie Japel

Thanks SP! Now I'm thinking of what yarn to knit it with...Hmmm..

And here is a book that I finished reading

Turns out it's not a typical story line of a typical novel...Pick up the book and you'll see ;-) I'd recommend it!

I has charisma

2007-10-26T00:36:00.000+08:00

Maybe I should bring this along with me to job interviews

A gift of purple goodness..

2007-10-25T00:18:00.000+08:00

Gifted to me by Rain when I needed A LOT of cheering up

What's better than yarn therapy and an awesome buddy??

Thanks babe! It'll always be a special skein to me! *hugshugshugs*

8 random facts about me

2007-10-24T21:48:00.000+08:00

Once upon a time (yeah I'm a bad blogger!), Rain tagged me for 8 random things about myself. Sorry this took so long...Hmmm I've been thinking about 8 things to write about so here goes...

Rules:

Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they've been tagged.

Fact 1:
I'm a freak when it comes to taking care of books. If I buy a novel I have to wrap it asap, and there must be no doggy ears, folded/bent/torn pages! All my books, textbooks or novels are in brand new condition. Yes, even after I read them. Nope they hardly have any creases on the book binding and I am pretty reluctant to lend it to other people if I know my perfect book pages are at stake hehe!

Fact 2:
When I was 8 years old, I had played in the bath tub back home - lots of bubbles and water fun. Somehow I had tripped in the tub and landed on my chin...The skin had split and imagine my mom's shock when I ran to her about it with blood all over. I didn't get stitches on my chin because my MOM was scared, so I went to school with a plaster on my chin for about a week! About a couple of weeks later, I resumed the bath tub fun. Yep, you guessed it, I fell again...On the same spot! Today, I have two scars on the same spot on my chin!

Fact 3:
In reference to Fact 2, I am a clumsy person. Mmmhmm..very much so! I have a tendency to bump into things which are not even in my way. I'll somehow kick the leg of the bed, scratch my leg somewhere, bump my head, etc etc.

Fact 4:
I can't touch/hold/pet animals. Nu'uh! no way! Gimme a cute kitty/puppy I will say 'awww soooo cuuute' but that's about it! I can't pet them cos the feeling of their hair on my skin freaks me out. I can't hold them because underneath all that nice fur is a body that moves. I just can't stand the feeling of their body moving on my hands.

Fact 5:
If I drink coffee or eat something minty, like chewing gum, I will sneeze at least once or twice. Is that an allergy??

Fact 6:
I would love to take up photography as a hobby and take awesome pictures! Some of you can really take nice pictures

Fact 7:
I am quite a morning person (not that I wake up early hehe). I know some of you out there are totally not, but whether I've had good/bad sleep I can still wake up in the morning and smile! lol!

Fact 8:
I love and heart chocolate! Especially since I discovered dark chocolate! When I was young, during one of the Chinese New Year celebrations, I had to much chocolate and soda combined till I was sick with fever. Yeh, it was a new year spent in bed recuperating!

Hmmm who to tag now...Most of you whose blogs I read have done this meme before...But if you're still reading this, consider yourself tagged!

SP package and cuppie cakes

2007-10-11T20:40:00.000+08:00

I am back in Malaysia, again...Ok the whole job search thingy did not work out in Singapore..sigh..So I'm back here, for Eid celebration which is in like 2 days. After that I hope/believe/trust that I can get a job here by the end of this month!

I haven't been blogging much..why?? ask my darn laptop keyboard! It just loves to make my life miserable! Remember I had mentioned that the number 2, w, s, and x key were not working? So I had a hard time typing and sending emails.

I received my first SP package quite some time ago, but I just didn't have the chance to blog about it. Yeah, going online over there is really a hassle and to top it up the keyboard was driving me nuts. Oh by the way, I just bought a USB keyboard..yeah the ones for PC, yeah I know it's bigger than the laptop, but I don't care! I can TYPE!!!! That's why you see my yapping away now!!!!

Umm yeah back to SP package...here it is...

That's Interweave Knits Magazine summer 2007 issue. I love love love the Oriel lace blouse pattern! The orange case you see is the needle case and on top of it are 4 cute little stitch markers that spells my name....Thank you SP...

That ball of yarn is Kid Merino Crystal Palace Yarn and it came with a scarf pattern too. Unfortunately the yarn gives me the itches so I won't be able to use it. I think maybe I'll knit it for somebody else, since it's too hot here to wear scarves.

When I was in Singapore I managed to join Regg, Jollin and Zi Yun for their weekly knit meet up! It was always something that I look forward to every week since I do nothing there but sit on my ass hoping that I'll hear from someone who wants to hire me...mmmmhmmm...

These 3 gals gave me motivation to knit! Each one of them had some major WIP going on...and ahem..me...I hardly come up with any FOs hehe! When I told Regg that I was going to go back to Malaysia, she had actually planned with the other two gals to give me a farewell dinner! I mean like OMG!

I was really spoiled I had no words to say. I mean...not just dinner...look what they made me..

The one on the left is a cupcake made by Zi Yun that came WITH a cupcake holder that fits it perfectly (super cute!) AND she had put some rose potpurri inside too!

The one on the right is made by Regg. I love the the brown yarn it looks good enough to eat! so chocolatey! Regg also gave me a ball of sock yarn which I couldn't take a good picture of it. The colours either comes up too bright or too dark on the picture..crap..

Jollin gave me a real, chocolate cupcake! sprinkled with cute lil tiny pink edible decorations! Unfortunately, it errr..did not make it to the photo shoot. Don't blame me...it was too irresistible *grin*

Thanks for that wonderful evening gals! All of you really made me feel so happy! and yes totally spoiled! I'm grateful for my knitter friends =) =)

Okay enough of me yapping..I luurve lurrve ma new keyboard! Stay tuned for....WIP progress maybe?

Happy knitting y'all!

Cotton cotton cotton!

2007-09-22T18:56:00.000+08:00

Here's my latest yarn purchase with yet an idea what to knit with it....

Yarn: schachenmayr Catania 100% cotton
Colour: Grey
Yardage: 125m in 50g ball each

Ahhh cotton!! The best yarn to knit in this country!! It's been so hot here I can hardly stand the afternoon sun! bleearrghh!!

Anybody with ideas as to what to knit leave a comment!!

Ohhh!! This just came in!! Rain got for me this today...

Another butt load of yarn!

5 balls of Online Cotton in blue
2 balls of Catania cotton in peach
1 ball of Katia Capri in yellow

Thanks chica!!!! Can email me the yarn so I can use it here?? hehe!

A birthday wish....

2007-09-21T20:15:00.000+08:00

Today is me buddy Rain's birthday!!

If you happen to see this, please go visit her blog and leave a comment.

Happy Birthday babe!! Here's to an awesome year ahead!

Miss you loads!!!

Greatest tutor!

2007-09-20T23:48:00.000+08:00

Remember my adventure in teaching the kid how to spell?

He got his marks today

He got ZERO out of five

I rock!

shetland triangle shawl

2007-09-20T09:51:00.001+08:00

I thought I had blogged about this FO...turns out I haven't! I had completed this more than a month ago, in a rush to make it for the recipient's birthday.

Pattern: shetland triangle shawl
Yarn: Knit Pick's sunset (Vineyard)
Needle used: 4mm Addi circulars
Recipient: Mom's friend

I think this yarn is a bit too thin for this pattern, or I should have used a smaller needle. The pattern repeats should be more solid and as you can see mine is a bit holey-holey.

How do you teach kids to spell??

2007-09-18T14:17:00.001+08:00

Last night, I sat down with my 4 1/2 year old nephew, teaching him how to spell a couple of words that was going to be tested in school today. I thought I had patience with children, trust me I thought I did, but last night's session proved me wrong!

Here are the words he's supposed to know:

nine, jump, walk, run, ten

It took me about 1.5 hours to teach him all five! First I went through with him about 10 times on how to spell them.

so after the...50th(??) time...

Me: spell jump
Kid: jump....??? *eyes looking at the ceiling*
Me: *waiting...* *annoyed*
Kid: mmm....w....
Me: w????!!! j.u.m.p!! jump jump! you don't hear the 'w' sound in jump!
Kid: *writing on a paper*.. 'jump'

Then I erased it and told him to spell again
Kid: *blank stare* *tries to make sure I see him yawning* (it was 11pm)
Me: .............!!
Kid: umm...jump....starts with g....?

Repeat above with the other letters!!

After a while I felt bad for being so harsh to him. Poor kid is only in KG1. Then I gave him a hug...I could see his eyes light up...the finally-this-evil-aunt-has-calmed-down look..

At this point, when I told him to spell...he could...all five words!

A contest link

2007-09-15T18:01:00.000+08:00

Hey ya'll...

Go check out the contest over at

http://beckyknitstoo.blogspot.com/2007/09/contest-contest.html

Try your luck to win the goodies she's giving away..

Don't forget, linking the contest to your blog will earn you an extra entry!

In other news, I now think that my laptop is possessed! Out of the blue the keys that were not working before nows works! It refused to work for the past couple of weeks. okay, except for the number 2 key. But it makes a wierd noise when I reboot it too...unbelivable?? believe it! .... lol ....

Bandung, Indonesia

2007-09-07T21:09:00.000+08:00

Finally I could sit down, upload pictures and update this blog after recovering from the worst food poisoning I've ever had, the experience of flying back to Malaysia by puking at the airport, quesy feeling on the plane and more stomach problems for the net couple of days. Nope, I did not sit at home and recuperate, instead I took a drive with my sis to singapore. hee hee

Here's the summary of places that I went since I last posted:
Flew to Bandung, Indonesia - shopping - climbed a volcano (not literally, but yeah..)
Flew back to Malaysia - stayed one night
Drove to singapore - visited sentosa island - play play play - swam - had a sunburn

Okay so where should I start...My ailing laptop is dying sloly...the number 2 key, the 's' and the 'w' key, doesn't..AT ALL!! *ahh great! now the 'Caps Lock' key doesn't work either. so how do I type when I need those keys?? I have to go to a web page and look for the letter...copy it..and the n paste it as I type! Yes people...desperate measures!!!!!

If not it'll be like this ---> e.g. I'm hating my laptop and I feel like throing it out of the indo, eriouly getting on my nerve!!

This is really annoying!

Aite so..the volcano trip...we went to Mount Tangkuban Perahu in Bandung itself. we were sort of tricked into climbing down to the crater. The 'tour guide' said that it was only a 20 minute walk down, but it turned out to be about an hour,luckily we had our sport shoes on!

This is the view of the crater from the top of the mountain

That steam coming from the crater.. still very much alive!

Don't let your eyes trick you..that's not sand, but lava!

Crystallized sulfur forming where hot steam from beneath the earth is blowing.
(It stinks like rotten eggs by the way!)
Clicky on the picture to see it clearer

ETA: I finally uploaded a video. Boiling eggs in hot springs of the volcano..that's naturally boiling water y'all!

Escape

2007-08-27T11:57:00.000+08:00

What do I do when I'm totally jobless??

Taking a short trip together with my sis and her darling daughters to Bandung, Indonesia. I'm totally enjoying it! So much to tell..shopping (!!) and an adventure which involves a volcano!

P.S That picture was taken about 5 minutes after take off

I rock!

2007-08-19T22:32:00.000+08:00

You know what's the downside of being jobless (apart from waking up at lunch time)??? I'm growing s.i.d.e.w.a.y.s! seriously! I'm now officially a trained couch potato! Man I hope I get a job soon!

At the same time I'm clearing out my stuff from my apartment. Life as it is right now is pretty uncertain (whoa that dramatic??). It would depend on whether I get a job here or in Singapore, then I can properly settle down. So in the mean time, I'm dumping my stuff at sis's place.

It took me by surprise when Jolin had nominated me as Rockin' Girl Blogger. Never thought myself as 'rockin' lol. Thanks Jolin!

Now this has motivated me to update my blog more often and at least make it more interesting haha! So since I've been tagged, now I will tag a few others.

Hmmm, I wanted to vote for Rain, but looks like she double rocks cos two people already nominated her. hahaha

Okay bloggers that I hope haven't been nominated yet are..

Donna of Random Knits. She is an amazing lace knitter, knits gigantic lace FOs and has a unbelievably cute rabbit!

Jessica of Show Me Your Knits. She can come up with some pretty cool knits!

Elinor of Exercise Before Knitting. Her DD is lucky to have her knit pretty baby outfits!

Courtney of Yarn Tootin'. She knits and dyes her own yarn too, which, I'm lucky enough to win some hehe!

Knit to Know. Go check out her new invention - DPN protectors! Don't we all need this??

Keep on rockin' girls!

Start of SP11

2007-08-17T00:42:00.002+08:00

Edited to add: Sorry about the pics y'all! Blogger had a bitch fit..so here it is...

This is a snap shot of the Fire Show I saw at Night Safari in Singapore. I was just clicking the camera, not intending to get any professional shots. I've looked at this picture so many times, but it took my younger sis to point out to me that...

It looks like a monkey on fire!!!

Whaddya think??

SP11 has officially started, and I'm as excited as the 'monkey' in the picture hehe!

P.S. My secret pal asked me about the fire show. It was a actually a fire show performed by a tribe from Borneo. It was about doing stunts with fire torches like putting into their mouths to extinguish it. They had also performed some tribal dances. I will try and upload the video that I have taken and hopefully I'm tech savvy enough to link it to my blog hehe!

Good Yarn Karma

2007-08-15T13:43:00.000+08:00

If you look into your yarn stash and see some yarns that you can't think of anything to do with it, you might want to give it away to a good home, or trade it for something else. Some might need just what you're trying to get rid off =)

Go visit Good Yarn Karma, a site where you can put up your yarn for karma or a swap.

Go on, dig into the bottom of that bin, I'm sure you'll fish out something. It's a good way to destash too =D

SP11 Questionaire

2007-08-12T22:55:00.001+08:00

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love cotton yarns, since thats the only thing that will suit the humid weather here in Malaysia. Yarns that are soft/baby soft and not scratchy or hairy cos they'll just give me the itches. But I wouldn't mind soft wool like merino, or cotton wool blend. I don't like acrylic yarns, eyelash, anything that's furry furry...

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Right now they are in an expandable file, unsorted hehe.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I started knitting early last year, me buddy Rain tought me the basics. Haven't knitted anything that I can actually wear out though. I would consider myself and intermediate knitter.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yep I do it's at the side bar.

5. What's your favorite scent?
I love love love lavender. Don't like citrus-y ones. Otherwise I'm okay with anything.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
D-d-dark chocolate! But I'll settle for any good chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I also crochet but not that often. Knitting is the most crafty thing that I've done so far. I can't even draw to save my life. And nope I don't spin.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like pop rock songs and also adult alternative. Yep my laptop can play MP3.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
My fav would be purple!!! I also love dark colours like blue, red, ocean green. I don't like anything that's bright/fluorescent. Don't like pinks, oranges, lime green.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Currently in the midst of moving and I don't have any pets.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Weather over here is not cold enough for me to scarves or mittens. I never look good in hats tho.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Funky tank tops. Shawls as gifts for others.

13. What are you knitting right now?
Currently not knitting anything =( I'm horrible at adjusting gauges!

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Not really, but okay....

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I prefer circular needles. Currently I have 24" ones only. Would love to own circulars that are long enough to do magic loop and to make sweaters. The best I've tried is Addi needles and it's aluminium. I don't really enjoy knitting with bamboo especially if the ends are not smooth and they ruin the yarn.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Unfortunately no....Still require an extra pair of hands to help me wind the yarn.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
About 1 year and a half hee hee.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Chinese New Year when I get to meet up with the rest of the family.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Yarns included??? ;-)

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Always wanted to have a set of interchangable needles, like Knit Pick's Options of Denise; Addi Turbos.
Yarns - soft soft soft yarns like those with baby alpaca or silk.
Patterns - Orangina by Stephanie Japel
Sadly I don't subscribe to any knitting magazines

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Magic Loop! Save me from the need of using dpns.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yep I am. UK size 8.

23. When is your birthday?
5th February

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
Yep, it's Mira.

Ravelrised

2007-08-10T01:46:00.000+08:00

I'm in Ravelry!!! My ID is Mira.

This site is uber-cool. Facebook/Hi 5 equivalent designed especially for knitters, only that it's way way cooler than Facebook/Hi 5!

Now I can finally keep a record of my knitting, needles and stash. A cool way to meet new knitters around the world too!

Overdue update

2007-07-16T14:42:00.000+08:00

This is like a really overdue update about my trip to Singapore with Rain. About time, I know. We had so much fun exploring a foreign place. Hey chica, let's do it again sometime??!

There's a lot to tell but I won't cramp all the details in one post. Alright I will let ya'll know the details about the best S.E.X. I'd ever had. Mind you it's Stash Enhancing Experience! *tsk tsk tsk, what were you thinking???* Yes people, it's yarn shopping only in Singapore.

Spotlight @ Plaza Singapura - THE place to be!!

After discovering Spotlight on our very first day in Singapore, we went there 3 days straight, spending quality time with the yarns lol! They have really really affordable yarns that are definitely not available in Malaysia. We also met Regg and Jollin, fellow knitters whom we had a wonderful evening together. Thanks for the treats Regg!

4 balls of Moda Vera Merinos Wool Acrylic in Navy Blue

3 balls of Moda Vera Paul

5 balls of Cara yarn 100% cotton

4 balls of Moda Vera Merinos Wool Acrylic in Light Green

Okay it might not seem a lot but I'm slowly increasing my stash. Right now I need to get a job soon so that I can attach Spotlight again!!

Also I've signed up for SP11. Weeeee something to look forward to other than just bills in my postbox!

Floating here and there

2007-07-15T19:41:00.000+08:00

Hello people! Yes I am still alive. Sorry for the long absence.

I've graduated.

Currently jobless.

Had an amazing holiday in Singapore. (pics later, I do apologize)

Went back to Malaysia.

Back again in Singapore.

Looking for a job.

Anybody wanna hire me??

Right this moment I'm sitting on the floor of a public library. Free wireless internet you see. Looking for jobs online and also the daily newspapers. I can't feel my butt now.

Ah yes, lelah was completed quite some time ago. Here's a pic...

Pattern: Lelah
Yarn: Rowan Tapestry in Rustic
Needles: 4.5mm, 5mm, 6mm
Difficulty level: Extremely easy. Good for lace knitting beginners.

I'm not impressed by Rowan Tapestry. Though it's soft but the quality ain't that good. The yarn is more likely 'spun' and so some parts of the yarn are not spun properly and I had to cut them off.

Also notice the row of unusually pinkish in the lace pattern. It's brighter than the others. I wish had been even throughout so that they're not seen as obvious horizontal lines.

Anyways, I will try to resume proper blogging soon. But then again, how many people actually read this blog lol.

Hmmmm...

Sorta Wordless Wednesday

2007-06-20T23:25:00.000+08:00

Exams are over...for good

Look...

Even the skies look pretty!

Knitting updates coming soon (=

A contest link

2007-06-08T17:17:00.000+08:00

Hey all, I'm still here....only in exam mode. I had my first paper yesterday and I tell you it's a joke. All that studying for nothing! I thought I went to the wrong venue and sat for the wrong paper. My hope to excel in that subject...gone!

Oh well now have to focus on the last two papers. I didn't get much knitting done tho, but I did frog my clapotis. Yes, I'm doing it again - frogging a WIP to make a totally different project. I decided that I won't have enough yarn to knit up a long enough Clapotis. So it is now Lelah.

So anyways this will be a short post so I'll leave you with a contest to enter here. Of course there will be yarn prizes! So what are you waiting for, go now! Ah yes don't forget to mention that you found the link from my blog okie?

Happy knitting everyone and wish me luck for the exams!!

A more interesting post

2007-05-27T01:10:00.001+08:00

Since I can't seem to concentrate on doing anything all for the past couple of days, I thought I should put up some pics here. I am still coughing away non-stop. I've been taking cough syrup/pills, honey and lime remedy, chlorophyll, vitamin C and even Chinese herbs!! *cough cough* and still no change! I even dreamt that a smurf was able to cure me, right smurfy??

This is the butterfly vest that i wanted to knit so much. It didn't take that long to knit, maybe about 2 weeks or so. This picture is of me modeling it. I've yet to get a camisole to wear it with, so thats me wearing a white t-shirt underneath. Picture is kinda crappy but this is the best to show the lace on it. I just need to block the frills into shape. The vest pretty much fits me so I'm not going to block it any bigger.

Next, the supposed socks for mom. Bleh. It's so huge! It fits me and I'm a size 8. Mom's a size 5. You get the picture?? I dumped it in the yarn container till I figure out what to do with it.

This, is my current project - Clapotis using the Rowan Tapestry Yarn in Rustic, given to me from SP9. I've started the straight rows and I'm intending to finish up all 3 balls that I have.

And finally look who visited me...

The yarn that I won at Courtney's blog is finally here!! Trust me the colours of the yarn are 10 times better than what you see in this picture. It's just so so amazing!!! It's got all favourite colours rolled into one! I don't even dare to unwind the skin, just want to sit and stare at it! It's still in the zip lock bag and in the box it came in, for safe keeping. I might just frame it ha ha!

Thanks so much Courtney!! I have to say that your dyeing skills are amazing!! Don't know how you had the heart to let Blues Clues go.

Okay I think that's all for now. I will tryyyy to get down to doing my assignments now. I will return soon to vent about more things.

Thanks for dropping by and happy knitting!!

A quick update and a contest

2007-05-23T13:28:00.000+08:00

I apologize for the long absence people! Reports have been haunting me for the past week. I can't remember what happened since the day I last posted.

Hmm Mother's Day came and went and I had really wanted to knit my mom a pair of socks but I failed. For one thing, I didn't have much time to knit (nah, I can't knit that fast) and whatever I knitted so far is pretty darn big for her. She is only a size 5!! Yes, pictures in the next post I promise.

Ah yes, I finished the butterfly vest more than a week ago but I just didn't have the time to post about it yet. I promise some pictures of it sooon...soonn..

What else...I've been writing pages and pages..and pages on genes of fruit flies (what on earth for?!) and another one on an anticonvulsant drug. All of which I finally got rid off on Monday. And what's my reward if you ask --> getting sick with a bad dry cough =*( I really hope I'll recover soon because FINALS are coming up!

Anyways, I know this is a boring pictureless post. Now go check out a contest Ali is hosting. Some wonderful prizes are waiting for the winner!

So here's a list of my summer knitting goals:
1. Knit a shrug
2. Knit a Swallowtail shawl
3. Knit up a pair of footies for myself
4. Knit a pair of socks for mom..somehow

That's all I could think of right now since my yarn stash is very limited. Ahh hopefully I get to shop for some yarn soon =) It might just cure my cough hehe!

Don't forget to mention that you found out about this contest on my blog because every refferal will qualify you for an extra entry!!

Blues Clues made it!!

2007-05-09T15:58:00.000+08:00

I WON A CONTEST!!

I WON A CONTEST!!

Did anybody hear me?????

I.WON.A.CONTEST!!

I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!

I won!
I won!

woooohoooo!!!!!

Go over to Courtney's blog! I won the gorgeous blue yarn!

I've never won anything ever ever before!!!

*faints*

Butterfly vest

2007-04-29T15:06:00.000+08:00

Test....Test...

oooooo the computer has mercy on me today, I'd better update this soon before it acts up again!!

Well well well..hmmm okay so...here are some pictures

It's z hem frill for z buttefly vest

Yes its bye bye DFS and hello butterfly vest =)

So far I've completed both the hem frills and started knitting the body. But I seem to be stuck. I'm decreasing the sides and somehow I'm starting the pattern with YO. confusing confusing.

Hmmm I ain't go much to write this time...

But this song is in my head:
Everybody dance now! *insert funky beat here*

\h\m\\m\m\

2007-04-27T23:50:00.000+08:00

D\o\ y\ou \se\e\ \a\ \\p\r\o\b\lem\ \h\e\re?|?\
\\\\
\\I do\.\\ \\\.\.\.\
\\\
\\\
\\\\|F\\e\\\e\l\ \f\r\e\e\ to g\et\ \\m\e\ \a \new\ \la\p\t\op\\
\
\\thi\s\ \\t\\otal\ly \\s\u\c\k\s\
\an\d\ \darn\ \a\n\n\oy\in\g\
\
\\b\o\in\g\
\boi\n\\g\
\b\oin\g\
\

Friday night calorimetry

2007-04-21T02:06:00.000+08:00

What does one do after rushing all day to finish a genetics essay about the role of a particular gene in the development of human pancreas?? like oH mY gOd we won't have a pancreas if the gene is mutated!!

After I got home, I just wanted to sit and knit. I've been deprived from the luxury of knitting and watching tv series cos of assignments.

So friday night....This is what I did...

Before

A couple episodes of Lost later...

My fastest FO!! It's Calorimetry from Knitty.com

When my cousin wanted me to knit a 'head band' as a present for her collegue's upcoming birthday, first thing that crossed my mind was to knit a calorimetry. I followed the pattern at first but it turned out to be WAY to big! Something's wrong with the pattern.

So I casted on 100 stitches using 4mm needles. I definitely did much less short row repeats than what the pattern had said.

This time, it turned out to be much better than the first. A perfect fit!!

I HAD to try it on..I want one for myself too!

Now I just need to get a button...an orange button...

Knitting Goodies

2007-04-19T21:49:00.000+08:00

About two weeks ago, I got these:

From left: 2 balls of Knitpicks Palette in blue, Shadow lace yarn in colours Sunset and Vineyard

I plan to knit a pair of socks for me mom using the Palette yarn. But the colour turned out to be quite different from what I saw on the Knit Picks website. It's a bit...BLA...as in too blue for a pair of socks..Maybe I'll dye it?

Stitch 'n Bitch 2007 calendar

It's definitely with colours all throughout. However, I will have to tear out each day because the whole calender is 365 pieces of paper glued at the side, so I can't flip the paper to the back as the days go by. I did that and the 'Jan-March' part just fell off. It would have been good if it was spiral bound.

Another thing - if you already have Stitch 'n Bitch Nation, I wouldn't advice you to buy this one. There are quite a few patterns that are already in SnB Nation. Other than patterns, it has knitting tips, facts, websites to visit and yarn reviews.

Knitting Journal

I quite like this one and I've started using it already. It even has pockets for you to keep your favourite yarn labels. And a plastic zipper bag to store stitch markers and stuff.

I got both the journal and the calendar from Amazon. It was shipped to the US and the very talented Kitman had kindly offered to take them back for moi when she came back here. Even the Knit picks loot! Thanks Kitman!!

Go over to Kitman's blog to have a look at her really pretty designs!

Well people, I have an essay due tomorrow. After that it's.the.weekend!

A Prayer

2007-04-19T03:12:00.000+08:00

What happen in Va Tech. still left me in a shock. It's just unimaginable that one person could take away 32 other lives at one go.

Some of them were only teenagers.

That's 32 families painfully affected
.
.
.
That's 32 mothers and fathers aching for the loss of their son/daughter
.
.
.
Siblings mourn for their loss

So lets have a moment of silence to mourn for the families of the victims.

Lets pray.

My thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims.

Blocked FBS..at long last!

2007-04-15T13:57:00.000+08:00

Thanks guys for leaving me suggestions about the butterfly dress!

I think I've more or less decided that I'll knit the dress...okay not the full length but a shorter version of it. I can never pull that dress off! Plus I think DFS is tired of me knitting it with mistakes all the time. Right now I don't even know what the mistake is and I've left it for more than a week now. But I vow that I shall not frog and cast on for the butterfly until after I've passed up my assignments!

I don't think I'll be able to get my hands on any Knitpicks yarn anytime soon. So I'll make do with the alpaca cloud that I have.

Want to see what I did when reading scientific journals was eating up my brain cells???

I finally blocked my Flower Basket Shawl!!!
(Note: My first time blocking and I really have to improve on that, any tips?)

It's actually deep purple in colour

Officially blocked and I'm loving it!!

Well right now reality has hit me that one of my assignments is due tomorrow! So I will have to get back to that. Dang scientific journals!

WIPs during mid sem break

2007-04-11T16:03:00.000+08:00

It's the mid sem break! one week and it's almost over!! I've been watching errmm 1 1/2 season of Lost. (Note to self: start assignments soon!) I thought Lost was some silly idea of making 3 seasons (and counting) of episodes about a whole bunch of people stranded on an island. But boy was I wrong! Since friday, I've been doing nothing but watching Lost...while ahem! of course, knitting....

Currently I have two WIPs:

Sweater for Cousin P
Yarn: Schachenmayr Apollo 100% Acrylic
Needles: Susan Bates 4.5mm

Lets hope I get to finish it...this year?? The progress so far that you see was knitted while watching Lost and I still have about 6 or 7 inches more to go before I reach the armhole.

Its a simple stockinette all throughout except for the front of the sweater with the pattern that u see in the picture. The yarn is pretty dark and that's the best picture I could take of it. It's dark maroon in colour.

My other WIP:

Diamond Fantasy Shawl
Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud (double knit)
Needles: 4.5mm Addi circulars

I'm on to the 6th repeat of the pattern and I'm stuck with a mistake...yet to be fixed....

But then...Rain discovered this...

Butterfly dress from Knit Picks

Its knitted with only 2 skeins of alpaca cloud! and thats what I have!! Tempting me to frog DFS and knit the dress instead..hmmMMMM!

Dress or DFS??

DFS or Dress???

Help me decide will you??

SP9 revealed...in jam

2007-04-03T01:24:00.000+08:00

While some of you are receiving your first package for SP10, I got my last package for SP9!! There was a whole delay because the package was returned to my spoiler. I was really excited cos this was the last package I'll be receiving because I have not participated in any more swaps.

Sadly ..... luck was not on my side and the worst had happened. My spoiler had kindly included some home made strawberry(?) jam in the box, but I think the box gave up travelling so far away and it caved in...broke the jar into a million pieces and so the jam and smeared all over the yarn and other goodies *sniff*

When I went to collect the package from the post office, I had received it in a plastic bag sealed by the customs department, like it was an evidence from a crime scene or something. I thought my spoiler had sent some hand lotion or something and I was telling myself that I could wash it off...

Oh boy oh boy did I have a shock when I open and saw the contents!

Yes you DO see addi needles there! Bamboo addis in different sizes but I had to throw away the plastic containing them because the jam had soaked the whole thing. On the right is the jam and I'm sorry if this picture is scaring you.

Do you KNOW what yarn I got?? my first ever Rowan yarns..in jam..I thought I couldn't rescue it at all but Rain saved the day and she had lent me some wool wash to recover them. I've wound them into skeins to dry them properly. I hope there's no more jam on the yarn eeekk...It was all sticky before. Oh there there were some cable needles and stitch markers too but I can't seem to get clear pictures of them.

Here's a more decent picture of the yarn

Rowan Tapestry

70% wool 30% soy bean fibre

The yarn is pretty delicate and I think I lost some fibres while washing it. I haven't decided what to do with the yarn yet. If any of you have suggestions feel free to leave a comment =)

Thanks Sophie for spoiling me...especially with the addis! I've put them to good use!

Another quick FO

2007-03-27T20:51:00.000+08:00

Wow this is like the quickest next FO so far! I'm surprised with myself too...

Here it is....an adult hat...also my first time knitting a hat!

Pattern: 2 x 2 rib hat from Knitting Wisdom
Yarn: Japanese Muffler Yarn, 2 balls @ 85m each
Needles: 4.5mm circulars and dpns
Recepient: Rain's dad :D

I had knitted 9 inches of the ribbing before the decreae instead of 9.5 inches as required by the pattern. I still had a handfull of yarn left after I finished. I hope it will fit the recepient nicely =)

back from a long absence

2007-03-22T23:27:00.000+08:00

Thank you everyone for their kind words and advice. Things have improved slowly since. There are people around me who cheers me up and makes my day. For the past few weeks I did have a lot of fun going on road trips and lots and lots of bowling =)

See the fun I had with my buddy Rain, her bro and her ----

A couple of weeks ago I had visited the Twin Towers and actually made it to the bridge connecting the two towers for the first time! *I'm afraid of heights by the way and the bridge is at the 40th floor I think*

We also went on a road trip to Cameron Highlands. Being a Malaysian I'm like a tourist too because I haven't been to these places before I took them tee hee! Cameron Highlands is one of two places that we can go here where the temperature is the coldest in the country (around 15-20 degrees Celcius!!).

Getting up there took about two hours of driving on straight highways and then 1 1/2 hours of windingggg roads! It was about 50km to drive from the bottom of the hill to the top.

Look at the vegetable farms that we saw!
There are more pictures over at Rain's blog so go and have a look there too!

I've been doing some knitting too....

Knitted a baby bonnet and the cutest baby booties ever!!! I finished the bonnet in one night and the booties in a few hours woohoo!! I helped Rain to knit these up for a family friend who has a 3 month old baby girl..I hope they will fit!! Actually, she knitted one side of the baby bootie!! I was so surprised that I could knit the other side to be of the same size. I've attempted to knit baby booties/socks quite a few times and they always always end up in different sizes. This pattern was soo easy to knit!

Pattern: Feather and Fan Baby Bonnet
Yarn: Sirdar, Wash 'n Wear - Double Crepe, DK weight, 50g
Needles: Addi circulars 4.5mm

Pattern: 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' Booties

Yarn: Sirdar, Wash 'n Wear - Double Crepe, DK weight, 50g
Needles: 4.5mm straights

Okay I will update all of you regarding other knitting projects again soon! Happy knitting!

Frustration..

2007-03-04T15:48:00.000+08:00

This will be a pictureless post and a depressing one...I have no knitting pics to post as I haven't done any knitting lately. Well, I did try to knit the Diamond Fantasy Shawl using Knitpick's Alpaca cloud. Has anyone attempted knitting the shawl with this yarn? It is soooo thin that when I tried knitting it with 4.0mm circulars, too many 'holes' are seen and the pattern is not well defined. I had also reduced the needle size to 3.0mm and it came out to be really tiny. I've knitted the Flower Basket Shawl with Knitpick's Shadow and it turned out fine. I can that though both are two ply yarn but the alpaca yarn is like half the thickness of the shadow yarn. I guess I will try double knitting...

Anyways, lately I've been bugged by comments by someone who I least expected to do so. I was ridiculed for the person that I am, the people that I mix around with and the things that I do that paints my personality. What do you do when that certain someone, a loved one, that you think accepts the person that you are, in fact looks down upon you, unappreciates you and in actual fact 'doesn't give a dang about you'. And on top of it all, --- is not even sorry for saying that. How do I feel? Hurt? Well, I have no words to say. I need some respect here!

I've been hit with a fever 2 days ago. Aching body, aching joints, dizziness and all that jazz. Uni just started again too. Perfect! So are there anymore wonderfully bad things coming my way? Give me a warning sign cos I don't think I can take anymore of it...

Happy Chinese New Year

2007-02-21T21:23:00.000+08:00

The crazy episode of submitting the research thesis is over...I just hope that all my efforts were good enough.

Chinese New Year came and went...well all I can say it's not the best CNY. We didn't get to drive back up north to gather with the rest of the extended family members. This year, there was no gathering at all. For one thing my summer research ended only a day before the big reunion dinner that was supposed to be held on the eve of the new year. I was particularly sad when we could not meet up with the cousins, the aunts, the uncles. I only get to see them once a year..oh well, hopefully next year...

So this year, we had celebrated at my aunt's house instead, which is within the same city that i'm living. We had a small reunion dinner...but look at the food!

There were a total of 9 dishes...my mom cooked, my aunt cooked too, the rest of us..our job is to eat =)

One of the dishes mom made: roasted chicken with apple sauce

You can just imagine how immobile I was after the big feast! Definitely a fusion of chinese and western food this year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai to those who celebrate! *where's my ang pow??*

Socks pour moi!

2007-02-10T00:39:00.000+08:00

*sneeze sneeze sneeze* ahhh excuse me! but I've got a flu!! Nose has been leaking since yesterday!

*sniff*

I'm here to post about my socks!!

My second F.O. for this year!

The cuffs are a tat bit too big so next time I know I'll have to cast on less stitches. After knitting, I still have a handful of yarn left which is definitely enough for at least a pair of baby socks =)

Oh wait!

Look! It's mini me!

Still waiting for its twin =)

Hmmm I should cast on for the twin, but nooo I've got my thesis to START which is due in errr 3 days. 10000 word thesis + barely 3 days + no clue whatsoever = pass with flying colours! awesome! I'm gonna blame it all on this dang flu *sniff*. Presentation will be in a few days too and I don't wanna be wiping my leaky nose in front of the examiners eeepp!!

Okay people I'm gonna get back to my very very interesting thesis writing *yawn*

Happy knitting!

Birthday yarn....

2007-02-05T20:29:00.000+08:00

...is what I have and you don't =P

Yep yep its my birthday today and I got a present from my BUD Rain!!

Look look!

It's four balls of Peony yarn in the most gorgeous colour!! Magenta (I think)

She knew that I wanted these yarns really badly cos I wanted to knit a top for the upcoming Chinese New Year. Sneaky her went all the way to the yarn shop in town to get it for moi!!

Thanks babe! Love ya!!!

It's so sooo soffttttt!! *kept molesting it* =)

I can't wait to knit it...but first I have to finish my sock...Ah no I haven't finished it yet...Here's the progress so far..

The awesome yarn I got from SP
Just between you and me...errrr..the left sock is slighter bigger than the right *don't tell anyone okay??*

Time flew past and the day is over. I turn 22 today. Thought I could skip the birthday and remain 21 hehe! Anybody has the same birthday as me?? Leave a comment!!

Short post

2007-01-28T01:24:00.000+08:00

This was a quick project that I finished within a week.

A mobile phone cover for my sis. Since she saw mine, she wanted one too, but with some modifications. Its the same Yugioh pattern that Rain has used to knit mine.

She likes it, but now she wants it in pink!!

I've started knitting a sock with the sock yarns I got from my SP. I will post about it soon..almost finishing one side of it.

2nd SP Package!

2007-01-17T23:36:00.001+08:00

Yesterday I was at home all day and only went out in the evening. And to my surprise I found a note for me from the post office saying that there was a parcel for me. The suspense was killing me as I could only pick it up the next day (which was today). I wasn't expecting a package from my SP at all. But it indeed was from her!

The package was sent out 19th of December last year! Oh gosh you can't imagine what the box had gone thru...By the time I got it, it was literally bandaged again and again just barely surviving the journey all the way to Malaysia. I don't know if there was a mix up in the post causing its delay.

You poor poor thing protected the goodies inside all this time

After I got it I was reeeeallly curious as to what was waiting for me! But since the box was completely taped from all angles I had to wait till I reached home...

And taaa daaaa......

Yessss I got 4 balls of Regia sock yarn!! My first ever set of sock yarns! Yarns that are actually meant for socks! I can finally knit socks! I.can.finally.knit socks.

*takes a deep breath*

Okay so where was I...Yes sock yarns.

Two of them are Regia Silk Color which is 55% merino wool, 20% silk and 25% polyamide..SO soft! And the other two are Regia Bamboo Color - 45% Bamboo, 40% Merino wool and 15% polyamide. Correct me if i'm wrong here, but is the yarn made out of bamboo??? Like bamboo as in the tree?? But but how on earth is it sooo soft!!!

Here's a close up of the yarn......

I also got a set of 3mm dpns, Rose scented shower gel, candle. There was an unfortunate incident though, The potpurri stuff that you see was actually in a bag but the side of the plastic bag was torn and it was all over the box lol! No wonder the box jingled when I got it haha!

I'm gonna knit socks soon! I'm gonna knit socks soon......Socks...Socks....sSsSocks!

Thanks a lot for the wonderful package SP!!!!

First FO of 2007!

2007-01-05T23:07:00.000+08:00

This is fresh off the needles!

***Drum roll please****

Presenting my FIRST F.O for 2007!!! ----> Flower Basket Shawl!!

Its a one skein wonder!

Don't you dare look for mistakes! :P

I'm so soo proud of this F.O. albeit the mistakes I made along the way. This I'm definitely going to keep for myself. My first lace project! Hopefully I get to wear it out soon! Ahhh yes, I only ONE skein of Knit Picks Shadow. I hadn't plan to knit the shawl at all with this. I got it because I fell in looove with the colour.

Now I have to think of what to knit next...Hmmm.....FBS was keeping me company when I was watching Grey's Anatomy and House and Friends and Las Vegas on my ever so loyal laptop. And now I don't have anything to knit and I ran out of tv series to watch too! Ah yes I need to block the shawl. Hopefully the length will be perfect after blocking.

I need to go yarn shopping. NEED to. I don't have a stash mind you! Okay except for a few skeins of laceweight yarn I got from knitpicks. So I don't need an excuse to get more yarn :P :P Got to get something for my SP too...Need to send out the next package asap.

Okay peeps I'm going to look for something to watch and let my hair down..It's friday! Have a great weekend!

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T01:09:00.000+08:00

It's that time of the year again...
when everybody look forward to...
counting down to a brand new year

People around the world gather together,
all anxious and excited for the clock to strike 12
when all fireworks
will paint the sky with all beautiful colours
we all wait
Just for that moment...

Although it's just another day,
nothing's extraordinary about it
but maybe to some people,
it's the mark of a brand new start;
or a wake up call;
or a time to turn over a new leaf;
or a brand new year to look forward to more better things;
it could be hopes and dreams for a better future
where January 1st will mark a new beginning
wishing for a good year
hoping for the better

As for me,
here are my hopes and wishes for the brand new year 2007:
I wish for happiness and good health
I wish for my mom to get better and healthier
I wish for my sister and me to do well in college
I wish for continued good relationships with friends and family
I will try to be a better person that I can be
I want to learn how not to worry about the smallest problems (this usually affects me a lot)

Well there are so many things that I want to do but I don't want to make promises to myself that I won't keep.

So what are your hopes and wishes for the new year?
Whatever they may be,
I wish you (yes, you reading this blog right now)
all the best for the new year, with good things coming your way
and may God be with you too.

Cheers!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007!

Flower Basket Shawl

2006-12-23T14:35:00.000+08:00

Out of frustration because of the failed F.O, I casted on for Flower Basket Shawl. This is my first time knitting lace =)

Yarn: Knitpicks Shadow

Colour: Vineyard

Circulars 4mm

I'm off to a bad start *sniff* I've been making sooo many mistakes and its not easy to fix either. So if you're reading this blog..do send me some good luck vibes aite??? Leave a comment anytime.

I'm going to get back to it now. Pretty exciting!!

Check out the dark chocolate coated mini marshmellowssss that I made last night (",)

Jealous???

Failed F.O.

2006-12-18T22:12:00.000+08:00

I have an FO to show...yeah right!

Okay the mon petit chou is off the needles! finally!

I love it....but it doesn't fit...yep...u heard me...it DOESN'T FIT! aarrgghhhh!!!!!

Apparently I measured my ribcage wrongly! I thought it was my fault but how do you explain when I measured again and it was still wrong! My actual measurement is 3 inches more! 3 inches more!!!! That would mean I had casted on waaaayy less stitches for it! Oh deear deear my hard work! not that it's a tat too tight...it waaaay tooo smallll! Ugh that stupid measuring tape! I should throw it!

Rain had asked me to try it on while I was knitting to see if it fits...but nooooo...unless my ribcage shrinks...there's no way for me to wear it....I was already thinking of what ribbons to get to make the straps...sniff...

I haven't decided whether I should:

1. Send to the frog pod (oh the horror!)

2. Do some major surgery to make it fit me..

3. Find someone with a 31" ribcage

Wanna vote for it??

Okay enough of drama for the day....

I went to the mall yesterday and just look at the christmas decoration they've put up:

Looks good enough to eat...

A few of the many christmas trees they've decorated

I don't celebrate Christmas but I'll be visiting friends and families who do. I hope to knit something chrismassy but I don't know whether I'll have time...Have fun knitting all your Christmas gifts people!

Anyways, I'll leave you people with a picture of the most awesome strawberry cake I've ever had!

first sock!

2006-12-12T19:37:00.000+08:00

Everybody...meet my first sock :-D

I actually sat down the whole day of one saturday to knit it. pretty cool stuff! I'll definitely knit a proper pair for myself. The picture on the right shows how tiny the sock is hehe...

As for the mon petit chou, I frogged the left bra cup (again!) and only to find out that I'm stuck at the same spot as before...I think there IS a mistake in the pattern somewhere...or is it just me?? But anyways, i just continued to finish it somehow..missing one stitch all the way..hope the mistake is not too obvious later on ;)

I'll definitely post some pics once I'm done with it...need to sew it off the needles..

the start of summer break!

2006-12-01T22:24:00.000+08:00

Hello world...well okay I haven't been blogging for a long long time now. Had exams all this while and now finally summer break! Made a trip home for a week and now I'm back to start my summer research project. yeah, so much for a summer break! First day of research and its already stressful. Its not even the actual researching as yet! Wait till I have slog myself in the lab from morning till evening aaaaa! Lets hope all goes well and I'll have time to finish it before summer break ends.

Oo oo i got a lil present from Rain who made these beautiful stitch markers for moi!! Its purple, of course. She has mastered the art of making stitch markers mind you. Take a look...

Aren't they pweetty and cute??

This was the best pic I could take with my phone camera (why is it so hard to take pics of stitch markers??)

So what knitting related stuff I've been doing?? Well....during exams I casted on Mon Petit Chou with the one ball of cascade cotton yarn that Sarah gave me. It was the exact ingredient to make the bra..I won't have enough to make the hipster. I knitted the right cup within two days with the least problem (during exams of course) and after exams I tried knitting the left cup and until today I have yet to finish them. They just won't let me finish them off! I've frogged it more than 5 times till the yarn is worn out too. Now it's just on my table staring back at me..ugh!

Conclusion? I knit better during exams :S

I just love how the pattern comes out!

Please puhleeasse lemme knit you!

Rain has also kindly lent me a book to learn how to knit socks...along with her 2.5mm dpns *woohooo*. The bra will have to wait until it stops showing its temper at me. Soooo that means I'm gonna knit my fiiirst pair of socks people! yaaay! Any advices for a beginner would be appreciated (=

I'm off to knitting socks....

Seee ya!

Fiiiiirst SP package!

2006-11-04T02:31:00.000+08:00

This morning I found a very impatient envelope waiting to be picked up in my mailbox. Still yawning at that hour my eyes were wide open when I realised it was the package from my SP!

Thinking to myself what could be in the envelope because the envelope was definitely not pregnant with yarn....I got a shock when I found theeesse!

No need to rub your eyes my fellow bloggers..There's definitely not one, not two, not three but FOUR Addi Turbo Circulars! One moment I don't even have a single pair and then suddenly...four of them!! They are of 3mm, 3.5mm, 4mm and 4.5mm. Just imagine how estatic I was..I mean..I STILL am!

The envelope that they came in had lil lil flowers(?) that were lavender scented. So so relaxing! And that lil postcard that came along with is a picture of madieval castles that my SP's home is sorrounded with! Castles! Castles! I wonder if she lives in a castle tooo?

Here's a close up of the z needles if you still don't believe me =)

Thank you so very much SP!!! You've defintely made my day!

Funky Scarf

2006-11-02T17:23:00.000+08:00

Yep this is a post that was due two weeks ago....as promised I would post about the funky scarf that I got from my partner, Sarah from US.

I was waiting till I could borrow a good digital camera from someone to take pics. But something even better happened =) =) I got a gift from my sis and bro-in-law --- A Nokia N72 phone camera with a 2MP camera! Ahhh I'm sooo luckeeee!! Kewl now taking pics won't be a problem yay!

Okay so...the scarf....

Potato Chip Scarf
50g Lang Coco (65% cotton, 35% acrylic)

50g MANOS del URUGUAY Pure Peruvia Cotton Kettle Dyed

Its really so soft and Sarah had put some beads in the scarf too. I couldn't get a clear close up of the beads though..But if you think that it travelled half way across the world alone to meet me...guess again...

Look who tagged along.....

Yes those are really cute stitch markers hand made by her! And that's two balls of Flutter eyelash yarn and also an oh-so-soft Peruvian Baby Cashmere!

What will you be lil baby??

Can anyone suggest what I can knit with these two balls of eyelash yarn? Each is about approximately 75 yards.

Thanks again Sarah!

Still here but disoriented...

2006-10-27T02:11:00.000+08:00

Okay I must be like the worst partner anyone can have. I had received my funky scarf about a week ago and have yet to post about it *blush*. What's my excuse you'd say? Well....I still haven't gotten my hands on a friend's digi cam and I didn't want to post a boring blog without any pics and i want to show the funky scarf my partner had made me and also all the cute stuff that tagged along with it but exams are haunting me and then there was Eid celebration which wasn't much of a celebration since I have to dig my head into the books and my parents were here during Eid and the cable to my own mobile to transfer pics is not working either so ugh! other than that just basically...no time. So...yeah...

Exams started today and it's going to be dragged till mid of next month. That's 1 down 3 to go. I haven't been knitting much lately and I really want to cast on for a new project. The Katia Sevilla that I bought is tempting me to knit her. Yes I still haven't posted a pic on that yarn either! My so called yarn collection has found a new home. I bought a proper plastic container for them and transferred them from a box which that had stored A4 office photocopy paper reams. Poor things were packed without any mercy. Now there's more spaaaace...which means only one thing: I need to fill it up *hint hint*

Ah well this won't be a long post as I will *will* post a more interesting one...hopefully soon! Till then, just keep knitting people!

SP9 Questionaire

2006-10-14T00:41:00.000+08:00

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I love to knit with soft yarns, cotton materials are the best to suit the weather here in Malaysia. Materials like made of nylon or polyester that gives the silky smooth touch is nice too. I guess wool is too hot for the humid weather but it would be fun to knit accessories with it. I don't like to knit with cheap acrylic because it's scratchy.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

Uhh....right now its scattered in one of my drawers and some are in the box together with the yarns hehe...Don't have a proper home for them

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn?

Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I've been knitting for about....8 months now and my bud (Rain) had thought me the basics and since then I'm hooked on to it. I think I'm an advanced beginner.

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

Yes I do but I'll link the site once I've updated it...soon....

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

Lavender is an all time favourite. Eucalyptus is good too. Don't really fancy anything that is too sweet and also citrus smells, but other than that,anything would do.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

For chocolate? definitely! I prefer dark chocolate over milk or white chocolate...Don't really have a favourite candy...hmmm did I mention that I love chocolate? ;)

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

I'm not a crafty person..at all....Come to think of it, knitting is the first craft that I actually love to do. I've learnt how to crochet too but that interest didn't last very long. I have never done any spinning but I would love to learn one day.

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

I listen to mostly everything from RnB to hip hop to pop to rock, or any of those relaxing music is nice...non heavy metal stuff though...And yes, my computer can play MP3.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

My favourite colour is PURPLE =) I also like blue, red, olive green...Anything that is not too bright. I don't like oranges, yellow or anything that is fluorescent.

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

Living with a younger sis. No pets.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

I do wear scarves and occasionally hats. Mittens in a humid climate? nooope! And so far I haven't worn any ponchos.

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

I like to knit clothes and scarves.

13. What are you knitting right now?

A scarf.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Yes definitely!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?

Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Circular needles. I would say aluminium is better than bamboo anytime. Haven't knitted with plastic yet tho...

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

No to both

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

About 7 months..

18. What is your favorite holiday?

Summer break (uni)

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Yarn? hehe....nope I don't qualify to declare that I have a stash :(

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

Yarns? Where do I start?? there are so many gorgeous ones out there like Tilli Tomas and Claudia Handpainted sock yarn. Merino wool. Addi Turbo Needles. I don't have any subscription to knitting magazines but Katia Magazine and also Vogue Knitting have some really nice patterns to knit.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

I would want to learn how to knit socks. To knit accessories with wool and felt them.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

Not a sock knitter..yet...hope to be one soon... Ladies size 8

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)

February 5th =)

F.O. Update

2006-10-08T12:51:00.000+08:00

Lately I have mixed feelings of joy and sadness...one minute I'm all happy and jumpy and the next thing I'll be sitting down and crying away..I guess it's because a lot of things has been going on and things are not exactly perfect in my little world. I'll save you all from the drama and so I'll be posting about my new F.O! =)

Well about 2 weeks ago a bought these:

And then two days later, after simple garter and stockinette stitches.....

It's really soft and glittery and I think it's suitable for evening wear. As of now I've bind off the stitches and it's nicely hanging in my wardrobe =) So this is my 2nd completed scarf.

I've also bought some Katia Sevilla but I'll post about that in my next blog...Till then, cheers everybody!

My mood so far:

A very special birthday wish

2006-09-21T12:28:00.000+08:00

This is a very special birthday wish going out to

Rain
Another year, another birthday
Hoping your year ahead will be filled with
Happiness
Blessings
Good health
Love
Fun
and all the joys in life!
So make a wish
Dream of bright and beautiful things
Dance through all the joy that is coming your way
May happiness surround you
always...
and may God bless you too!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Excitement all the way...

2006-09-15T23:42:00.000+08:00

The past week has been quite a busy and exciting one....Been spending a lot of time with my sis and her 3 daughters! We had so much to catch up on and as usual funny stories about the kids...Oh gosh the youngest is cute as ever!! I told her I missed her a lot since I last saw her...and her reply? "yeah I know, everybody does.." Hahaha I just burst out laughing and didn't know how to reply to her. At 7 years old, if you think that she only watches cartoon network and disney channel, you're wrong.....even I was wrong...She can name all the characters in F.R.I.E.N.D.S! She likes Monica lol! I had spent the weekend with them at the hotel and she asked me how many days till she could see me again. When I told her 5 days because I have classes...she had put on a really sad face...And I promised myself I would finish up my assignment as soon as possible so that I can reserve this coming weekend especially for them. All three girls are my princesses. Haha and they don't call me aunty..just by my name and I prefer that...

Funky Scarf isn't doing so well. The 2 balls of yarn has short yardage. I've knitted almost a ball of yarn and the length is barely 1/3 of the whole scarf! So now I have to figure out what to do. I'll probably use it with some other yarn. But so far..it looks good and oh my gosh so so soft! Oh yeeahh I went for a meet up for local knitters at one of the Starbucks in town last weekend. The other knitters brought along so many WIP and they are gorgeous!

But LOOK what I've got for myself today! It's 2 balls of shiny and really soft yarn from a LYS. It was love at first sight...literally! For sure this pic doesn't show the best of the colours. It actually has strands of shiny yarn intertwined in between.

No I have more stories to tell! I brought them home and wanted to wind them into 2 balls so that I could start knitting myself a scarf with it (yes, another scarf). My bud had told me how to wind them into balls so that the yarn can be pulled out from the centre of the ball. But she had told me that someone needs to hold the skein so that I can take the yarn properly and it would not get tangled up. My younger sis was having dinner and I was to excited and impatient for her to finish. thinking to myself...how tangled up can it be anyways...i'll just simply lay it out nicely on the bed and then i'll slowly pull it and wind it into a ball....So the process begins *hmm so far so good, nothing's tangled*....I had wound it around my thumb and hence the 'swollen thumb' haha!

And then...HORROR! the yarn was tangled beyond rescue! I had only 9 working fingers to free those poor strands of yarn all tangled up cos my thumb was 'swollen' with yarn..okay no need to panic it was just tangled up shouldn't be a problem to remove it no its okay keep going it shouldn't be too bad only this much of yarn to go on yeah should have listen to her need another person to hold the skein no this can't be too bad.........but in the end...i had this...

No R a i n, don't laugh! it was scarryy! yeah i should have listen to you but........a lot of the shiny stuff came off :( then what? Called my sis and she came to the rescue...and after a lot of patience patience patience finally I had a ball of yarn (middle pic, the one that looks like a bee hive)..okay next skein my sis gladly offered to hold it up for me...5 minutes! and I got a nicer ball of yarn (right pic)

Ahhhhh fiiinaally! oh right now they are lock up in a zip lock bag before they scare me any more with super tangled yarn!

Good news...what more could I ask for?

2006-09-05T20:51:00.000+08:00

We managed to finish up the assignment and pass it up on time! But it did involve a lot of running to the submission box! Well that's done but I've more waiting for me *procrastinates*

But I've got better news. My elder sis has returned here for a holiday with her 3 beautiful daughters! =) =) =) I'm just so thrilled to have them back here!! I just can't wait to meet up with them. Keep forgetting that the girls are no longer small! Two elder ones are already teenagers and the youngest, a 7 year old, can win anybody's heart with the cute-factor that she has! It just so great spending time with them cos i get to be a kid too haha....Hopefully they'll stay longer so that we get to hang out more often.

More good news?? Yes indeed! Mom just told me that our cousin just had a baby boy last week!!! He's a tiny fellow weighing about 2.9kgs. And yes they've already name him Joshua. Another new member of the family yay! ohhh i can't wait to see how he looks like but then they live waaaaay up north.....I guess i'll see ya during the next family reunion Joshua! It was also a coincidence when I read a fellow blogger's post that she just got a newborn niece, who is also thrilled to have a new member in the family...and what do you know?? ......I love babies. I love children. I actually thought of babysitting as a part time job but never got to it..But I use to babysit my 3 nieces when my sis was away for a few days. That was fun! My younger sis says that kids are adorable when they are nice and cute but they start whining and throwing tantrum, "get them away from me!" hahah....

I've also signed up for SP9. This is my first so gotta say I'm pretty excited about it!

Assignment blues

2006-09-03T23:58:00.000+08:00

It's almost midnight and I've been sitting in front of my laptop for the past 12 hours..trying to finish an assignment which is due tomorrow.....yeah yeah yeah I should have started earlier but a lot of other stuff got in the way hehe!

This assignment is endless! I have like a few thousand more words to write. Thank goodness it's a collusion with two other partners. Is it just the Sunday mood? Need motivation! I probably need to make good coffee....

No knitting today :( Oh and my funky scarf is currently in freeze mode cos it's a horror. I made a huge mistake so I'll have to make some corrections to it. Ahh yes my friend and moi went to get more needles hehe..I got 3 pairs more yay!

Back to assignment :(

I want to knit :(

Dreaming of yarn...

Lazy Saturday evening

2006-09-02T21:14:00.000+08:00

Saturday evening - Knitpicks decisions to make, more discounted needles to buy, dinner!, (voice in my head: u have an assignment to start!)

Conclusion: I'll stick with knitpicks, discounted needles and DINNER!

Peace!

Knit picks! knit picks!

2006-09-02T20:54:00.000+08:00

It's knit picks spreeee and i'm just spoilt for choices!! What to do when you have such a long list and a limited budget....sigh sigh sigh....

Trying to expand the colour choices that i have in my yarn collection and trying out the different types of yarn out there!

See if I can get something to knit my mom for her upcoming birthday too...

Good deals that made the day

2006-09-02T00:58:00.000+08:00

Friday night turned out to be better than I thought. A misunderstanding during lab today, well my fault really, had spoilt my mood. My mistake had apparently ticked off the lecturer and then I was interrogated after that too...Hmmm opening the lid of a machine can definitely bring adverse consequences!

Anywhoo, adventures after uni was much better! Got myself more knitting needles to expand my collection! I got some Japanese bamboo needles from a Japanese shop. New stock had came in so me and my friend were too excited and want to buy whatever size that we didn't have. I bought a pair of size 15 needles (6.6mm) and also a pair of size 4 needles (3.3mm). I shall use the bigger pair of needles to knit the scarf for my funky scarf swap partner. The smaller one...uhh..I just had to have it...Best thing was the needles were on 20% discount! Found out that the discount goes on till this Sunday so we're definitely getting more before the sale ends hehe!

Oh yeah I still have an assignment to do..But it's friday night! Bring out the knitting and Friends Season 8...Ciao!

F.O. Pic...

2006-08-31T18:33:00.000+08:00

I had finished this scarf quite some time ago..just love the colour! It's just waiting to be blocked. After that the length should be just nice.

Will update after it's all blocked and in proper shape =)

It's here! It's here! It's heeere!

2006-08-30T20:16:00.000+08:00

LOOK what I got in the post yesterday!

It's the package from my stitch marker swap partner! Ahhh after 10 days of waiting it finally came and it was more than just stitch markers! This is my first swap and thank you Maylin for the gorgeous ball of yarn!! She had wrapped the goodies in a silk scarf (which is the colourful piece of cloth that you see under the yarn and stitch markers). The ball of yarn was flattened like pancake when I got it so I didn't suspect at all that there was going to be a ball of yarn inside =)

Plassard yarn 100% cotton

50g; 170m

The actual colour looks better though...I dunno what to knit yet but I definitely need to use a small set of needles...

The stitch markers are pretty too! The rings are pretty huge and sturdy. The little stars makes all the difference don't it?? So cute!

Now I feel bad that about the package of stitch markers that I've sent to my partner. After reading many blogs and now only I realise that people DO put in a lot of effort in sending packages! Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

This and that..

2006-08-29T14:19:00.000+08:00

Okay I finally have internet connection at my new place, lights in the kitchen and living room (FINALLY!), and the washing machine works! So much has happened for the past few weeks and i'm just glad that stuff are working at the new place...

Lately a lot of reading has been done, knitting blogs that is, not any of my textbooks hehe! And to see people's stash of yarn, oh those beautiful gorgeous yarns, just makes me feel want to hide my acrylic yarns...and it's not even a stash! Yarn is soo expensive and even if i were to buy online i would need a credit card...siigh! Does anyone know about buying yarn online that does not require any use of credit cards? Has anybody bought yarn buy transferring money or bank drafts?? Please leave a comment and let me know...Desperately want to buy good yarn for once and Paypal is not helping either as they require credit cards too!

I want sock yarn! sock yarn. sock yarn. soft colourful sock yarn. AND I want to learn how to knit socks too! Anyone can suggest a good site? Wish I could enter the sock war...sounds a lot of fun "killing" your partners with your completed knitted socks!

Currently, I'm knitting the Feather and Fan Scarf from Knitpicks. After knitting like 12 inches long...I just realised that it's TOOOOO wide for a scarf! It's uhh...10 inches wide!!! I was probably too excited and the pattern was so pretty that I just kept on knitting without even considering the size...Oh gosh after i block it it's gonna be even bigger! Encouragement from my friend had kept me knitting it so I hope that i'll have the patience to finish the whole thing =)

This is the best pic I could take with my mobile...

note to self: start on scarf for funky scarf swap!!

In love with yaaarn!

2006-08-18T12:09:00.001+08:00

I just bumped into Scout's Hand Painted Swag by chance and oh my gosh I love the yarns! The colours are B-E-A-YOUUTIFULL!! Plus it's a funky site too!! After converting the prices in US dollars x MYR3.80 = unaffordable! :( siighh...But they are just gorgeous! gorgeous!! I want to try to hand dye my own yarn one day...yes, one day!

This is one of the yarns that is on sale. It's called Petunias (sooo sweet!). I just love the different shades of purple!

Ah yes I was sooo excited when my funky scarf swap pal (okay that's a mouthful to pronounce, whew!) emailed me!!! YES and a big HIIII to you!! Can't wait till I actually get the scarf! Hope the questionaire gave you an idea as to what I like =) and to all the others who are part of the funky scarf swap, have fun knitting!!!

This weekend I've got a few things to do, hmmm:
1. Get funky yarn and pattern for scarf swap
2. Paint my room
3. Get stuff for stitch markers swap
4. C

lean my room (yeah, like that's gonna happen!)

I'm also in for the stitch marker swap! Didn't know that they are be so funky and cute! I've got only those plain plastic ones!

Funky Scarf Swap Questionaire

2006-08-16T00:04:00.000+08:00

Let’s get the allergy part out of the way. Are you allergic to any fibers?
Nope, I don't think so...

Do you prefer any fibers over others?
I love soft yarns like cotton because living in a country where it's hot and humid, and it rains and shines all year round, I don't think wool or any cheap acrylic would suit the climate =)

Thinking back to Scout’s post about what funky means to you, post an image of something that you think is funky!
The Cocoon Lace Scarf & Wrap from Yarnies.com is an example

Would you prefer funky yarn or a funky pattern?
Both =)

What are your favorite colors?
I love purple, blue, light green, hmm...and any pastel colours really

What is your favorite piece of art?
I don't have one.

What colors would you never have up close to your pretty face?
Bright pink/orange...anything that's tooo bright!

Would you prefer an actual scarf or a cowl?
An actual scarf please :)

When you wear a scarf do you prefer a wider/shorter scarf or a thin/long scarf?
I would prefer a long scarf and also not too wide

What is the climate like where you live?
It is hot and humid all year round......so acrylic and wool is a big no no for the climate here, soft cotton is preferred.

Would you prefer a functional scarf (to keep you warm) or one just to funk-up your wardrobe?
Well I don't need anymore warmth from a scarf considering how hot it is over here...so anything to accessorise my outfit would be great =)

What else would you like your partner to know about you?
I don't like any materials that are rough on the skin or anything that's too bulky..

Scarf Swap!

2006-08-15T23:43:00.000+08:00

ahh finally my 2nd post...gosh not having internet at home sucks!! hopefully it will get installed soon, i'm still new at blogging so still learning on how to jazz up my blog.....

ugh and having to deal with rude and conniving b***** just ruin the day, don't it???

well at least there's something else for me to get excited about...my FIRST EVER scarf swap!! it's actully my first swap swap...have never done this before so i'm super excited about it! AND i finally know who i'm knitting for! can't wait to start knitting a funky scarf!

oh yeeahh i finished my SECOND FO too!! uhh..not exactly, i need to block it but right now it's preeeetty =) =) I used mohair which is purple in colour, a yarn which was tooo pretty for me to crochet anything with it...ahh yess i got it when i was in Dubai! *yeah i wish Al Satwa is near R a i n!* Got that yarn when i started learning crochet and now it's a knitted scarf!! Can't wait to see how it'll turn out after I block it...yeah R a i n, i need to borrow ur steam iron hehee!! nope, no pics yet sorryyy...gonna try and take a good pic of it cos so far, with my mobile, the colour looks aweful in the pic..soo...

oppss! chocolate crossaint calling! gotta goooo!

HELLOO!

2006-08-11T13:50:00.000+08:00

Hello fellow bloggers! =)

Nope, this won't be a blog about my life, well not exactly...but it'll be about my knitting life ;) I started to learn knitting only earlier this year, thanks to R a i n =) It is definitely a therapy for me considering the workload and stress from uni life...Knitting can go on for hours...Revision can go on for minutes :P The perception that I had about knitting before this - that it was only for old grannys sitting on rocking chair out on a porch with a cat playing with the ball of wool! hehee..didn't know that it would be SO MUCH FUN!!

To date...uh..i have only one FO but it was a gift for someone so I can't post a pic of it here...It was a lacy scarf knitting with maroon yarn..As of now i'm working on another scarf using gorgeous purple yarn and i can't wait to finish it! looking forward to blocking it tooo!

By the way, I'm still a student (yep! till further notice...) so I can't exactly splash my allowance on yarn...siiighhh...PLUS yarns that we get around here are expensive!!!! wish we had like a store where they sell cheap but good yarn for like a buck or two (yeah! dream on!).....

so what else??? ahh yes i hope to finish the top that i started..............4 months ago..soon! hehee...had to put it off for quite some time cos of assignments, reports, assignments, exams bla bla bla...

ahh yes i know how to crochet too but knitting is much more fun!! whooppss time's up...gotta go for class! will post again soon!

Cheers!

Wish List

2006-06-30T03:59:00.000+08:00

1. Addi Turbo Needles

2. Yarn winder

3. Tilli Tomas Yarns

Disco Lights

4. Knitting Journal *purchased*

5. Cotton yarns that I can knit garments with and actually wear out in this humid climate!