On the hook

Irish Crochet - My last posted progress was in January 2019...doesn't sound that very long does it?  but its time to finish some of these crochet and knitting projects. Firstly, its taking up space and I need to declutter. Secondly, well, it's time to get it done before I go on buying more...lol

I began working on this  since the start of our MCO in March this year, but it was only in  May when I began to assemble the pieces and by August I was quite happy with how all the motifs came together (after some pondering)and was comfortable with how it looked. Thereafter it was just sitting there on my frame.  I was so near yet so far. I began working on it diligently about mid November to put everything together and finishing it before November ended

Pardon the wonky-ness

The Red Motifs - another one pulled out from the dark cold box in the corner. Working with motifs  is super easy and a very versatile project. I can simply tugged into my purse and  carry  it anywhere and everywhere I went. Easier said then done. Haha...it took me like ages but when I got it going, there was no stopping. The set backs I encountered  with this was assembling the sleeves Since I did not follow any given pattern, it took me two days on a weekend to figured it out and finally put it together. 

The most challenging yarn I have ever encountered. The yarn are hairline thin with tiny tracks of fibers in between. Working with three strands . This was at first a stole to be but somehow along the knitting journey, I decided a blouse/tunic would be of more use to me than a stole living in my hot and humid weather. 

And so there you go, striking out three  from my Crochet/knitting UFOs list...next some Christmas finishing.

I shall leave with this yummilicious Signature Watermelon Cake by  Naj & Belle Dessert House, so glad they opened a branch at this new mall  not far from my home. The mall finally had their official opening mid November after postponing it since March this year due to the pandemic.

Well I hope everyone stay safe .

Happy New Year

It's been awhile hasn't it ?
I have not been stitching or crafting anything worthy enough to show; a little smallies here and there, a bit of travelling with the girls from college and families, then Diane is home, watched a couple of movies, and a friend flew in from Hong Kong and  time just flew by.

However, before the year came to an end, I signed up for a Sekka Shibori class. It's a textile dying technique which has a fascinating history that dated back to ancient Japan using natural indigo dye.

My piece of dyed fabric with my teacher Dora

 Behind us is a 100year old tree in the background

located at a newly launched artisan complex in the heart of the city.

Student's work for the day.

We were taught the dying method to obtained the various design and the composition of the dye.

 

Miniature ironing board,

Something that I have been looking for quite a while until I stumble upon the website

I stitched one tiny part of a Hungarian motif two on two

 on Belfast 32 count with DMCs

 

Over the past few months I have been crocheting some Irish motifs. What will these become, well,
we will see how it goes, This is taking crochet to the next level.

A gift for a student , pencil case that is fully lined with added pockets inside. Outer fabric - Japanese
Diane had been bugging  me to sew one for months before I finally managed before her last sem ended for a friend of hers. Whew!

Freebie from The Shop Around the Corner

 

This is one of the three festive smallies I managed to stitch when the holiday season was just around the corner. I forgot to take photo of the other two before sending out, one went to Danielle in the Yukon and the other for my Hong Kong friend. I still have one more UFO , couldn't finish that on time before Christmas, a Lizzie Kate design.

I thought maybe stitching some festive smallies and finishing it could keep me focus and put me in the mood to stitch again. I am not too sure about that, but then my stitching group has just organized a Halloween Exchange, so may be all is not lost. Let's see how long I can keep my blog going.

I hope all of you had a great start into the New Year with beautiful moments of warmth and joy.
 

Let's talk about hooking

I have been hooking aka crocheting a lot lately.
Finishing up mostly from my basket of shamefulness, the UFO basket, picked randomly to finish.

A cape or caplet in pineapple motifs. I thought this would be fast, but it took me many hours of hooking and unravelling. Seriously, I don't have the pattern for this.  It's a good alternative to a jacket or a shawl, 6 balls of  I think less than 50gm Coral colored yarns. I actually can't recalled what yarn this is, it's been so long. All I remembered was I bought these during one of my travels. My first with this brand too , don't quite fancy working with this yarn.

The brick colored crocheted blouse/ tunic was done and put together some weeks back yet I left out  the hemming finishing.  I was running out of yarns and had to  rummage my basket for any yarns left but apparently not. With that,  I had to be thrifty with what's left and somehow managed . Whew! that was a close call.

The sleeveless lilac pineapple tunic it was.   I didn't like it's length now. Couldn't figured out why I made that length then when I have already stop growing. LOL.  In a way,  it's possible to  reconstruct it's length; only tedious, lots of patient and took 3 hours of unraveling time.  Currently I am adding the sleeve, sleeveless sounds unappealing now.

And because these crocheted projects was done ages ago, I no longer could find a similar color match for my old projects even thou it's from the same manufacturer. Variations in product colors is not unusual and may and can occur from batches to batches with every production .  To make matters worst, my projects had been hibernating for some 5 to 10 years and even more.

This weekend, I'll be heading to an ancient city.

Sunglass, hat, scarf , a mini fan are among the things I have packed.
I hope the weather is kind and favorable during my visit. We are experiencing some extraordinary continuous heavy rainfalls lately with some devastating flash flood disasters earlier in the weeks effecting our Northern States terribly. Hopefully the weather is clear and good where I am heading since we are only about 2hours flight time away.

Before I end my post, here are some wedding photos I attended last weekend,  hosted by a dear friend from college for her son  at the Shangri-La Grand Ballroom .

Extravagant  and elaborate wedding dresses to lavish deco is all I can say about the wedding

Fairytale is the theme

One at the cocktail reception

A groupfie with the ever lovely Mother of the groom, Sally

I hoped you enjoyed my last post and took time to check out Stephanie's reveal day blog post to read about the fantastic swaps sent and received. I thank everyone who came by and left comments in my last post. Wishing all a wonderful fall and a blessed Thanksgiving. 

A bit of everything in May

I thought the month of May would be quieter to allow me to ponder on a few things. First, the Birthday exchange with the girls at WSG is still pending, the exchange due date is in December and believed me December is not very long these days. Just look at how the days goes by week after week and June is up next.  Lucky that this round we only had one partner and I assured you with one partner it's not an easy task either.

May Wedding - we were flooded with a total of  six wedding invitations and what a coincidence that non of these weddings had dates that clashes as if 'they' had planned out. Just saying other wise it will be hard to decide which to forego . The Chinese believed that May is an auspicious month for marriage but six in a month is well a lot where the pocket is concerned since we are giving 'Angpow' as the wedding gift.

A lil' fun read that I stumble upon about the monthly bride
A January bride will be a prudent housekeeper, and very good tempered.
A February bride will be an affectionate wife, And a tender mother.
A March bride will be a frivolous chatterbox, Somewhat given to quarreling.
An April bride will be inconsistent, or forceful, But well-meaning.
A May bride will be handsome, agreeable, And practical.
A June bride will be impetuous, And generous.
A July bride will be handsome, But a trifle quick-tempered.
An August bride will be agreeable, And practical as well.
A September bride will be discreet, affable, And much liked.
An October bride will be pretty, coquettish, Loving but jealous.
A November bride will be liberal and kind, But sometimes cold.
A December bride will be fond of novelty, Entertaining but extravagant."

and the monthly Wedding
Married in January’s hoar and rime,
Widowed you’ll be before your prime.
Married in February’s sleepy weather,
Life you’ll tread in time together.
Married when March winds shrill and roar,
Your home will lie on a distant shore.
Married ‘neath April’s changeful skies,
A chequered path before you lies.
Married when bees o’er May-blossoms flit,
Strangers around your board will sit.
Married in month of roses- June-
Life will be one long honeymoon.
Married in July with flowers ablaze,
Bitter-sweet memories in after days.
Married in August’s heat and drowse,
Lover and friend in your chosen spouse.
Married in September’s golden glow,
Smooth and serene your life will go.
Married when leaves in October thin,
Toil and hardships for you begin.
Married in veils of November mist,
Fortune your wedding-ring has kissed.
Married in days of December’s cheer,
Love’s star shines brighter from year to year.”

The UFO Basket - I have a number of  knitting and crochet projects in the UFO basket which haven't seen light in a very, very long while plus a couple of stitching projects that I seriously need to look into. But I am currently low on motivation and the "calling"

A little peek - Slow like tortoise is a couple of crochet doilies in the making , this is new, I'll need to make a few or until I run out of threads.

I have been crocheting this Granny squares for ages, can't even recalled for how long it hasn't seen light and I am currently working slowly on this. Will see what it will become when I am done since I am so fickle minded and can't really decide.

Festival - Chung Chow Zie, Dumpling & Dragon Boat Festival, a  day when we celebrated the day with wrapped bamboo leaves dumpling of glutinous rice. I like mine the Nonya Dumpling. Not making any for now, since my quinea pigs are all away from home. I received a few dumplings when I attended an event for the dumpling festivity last weekend, so that will do for any cravings.

Weather - Currently we are experiencing inter-Monsoon weather which will bring afternoon showers and thunderstorm rain especially  in the early evenings and when it's hot, it humid and sunny and skin piercing, average 32C/23F.

 Thank you for coming by and leaving me your comments in my last post. Wishing all a wonderful month of June.

October musings

Another month has come to an end and I have a little something to show and some happy thoughts to share.

Happy thoughts : A big relieved when I finally received word from my Christmas In July Swap partner, Silvia that she finally received my swap package. Finally, because it was my second mailing to her after my first mailing failed to deliver.  She is such a sweet soul to sent me photos of my gifts including one of herself holding the Angel.

This is one of the four photos Silvia sent me. If only you can read this Silvia,(Silvia has no blog) I just can't thank you enough and truly appreciate that you took the initiative to sent me the photos and of  yourself. It's always wonderful to be able to put a name to a face. I am so glad to see the Angel didn't get squashed or flatten and is still wholesome.

Travelling Tea Cup : Much thanks to Kim for posting the link. It's the 9th Teacup and Mug Exchange . Naturally, I signed up for the teacup exchange, how hard can that be? All I need is a cup & saucer and a little extras. Never really gave much thought about packaging which is a bit  intimidating. Extra care need to be given  to ensure the cup and saucer arrived in one piece.

Well, happy that I managed to put everything together to meet the mailing deadline but somehow I just worry. It's my first mailing something this fragile, worried if I had not packed it well enough to take on the journey. Fingers crossed until it arrives and it did; happy as a bee.

And I must not forget to add, my so lovely teacup came very quickly from Kimberley in NZ. Saving up the photos for a November reveal. Here's a little peek.

While searching for something extras to go with my swap, I stumble upon this  Japanese Lacquer Tea Plate . It's said that the plate are hand drawn which means no two plates are alike. Having the plate simply means that I need a matching tea cup to go with it.

What's up with crafting : 

First, progress of my Second Lily Gold yard crochet in single strands. I truly like the outcome of this single stands more compared to the first Lily Gold which was in double strands. This is definitely for me to keep. It's still a work in progress

I also finished this LK Reindeer I stitched awhile back with a mini hoop. Replaced the snowflakes with two tiny flowers . I actually missed a count on the Reindeer and couldn't fit the snowflakes,  I choose not to undo the stitches and so I need to improvised.

A little something for this Halloween. Homespun - Wicked Fancy Boot. Haven't decided yet what to finish this into  and I need a little charm key to complete the design.

A pot of tea : The ladies from the Where Stitches Gather group (WSG) decided to have a mini meet up over a pot of tea when the DOUBLE  Js'; Jess & June  took off and had a wonderful time in  Down-Under that made us so jealous (in a good way of course).

The spread from our Mid Morning brunch

So Jess W and June T, here's to you, I know this lil' sweet revenge of ours is nothing compared to where both of you are now, just make sure both of you brings us a little souvenir each, LOL. And we went home with a fruit cake from BJ. Thank you so much BJ. Don't you agree that it look delish ?

From my Kitchen : Steamed Chinese Pear with rock sugar and Goji Berries is traditionally known to benefits the lung; a remedy to prevent dehydration of respiratory tract or throat irritation from common cold and return the body to it's natural balance. It can be made into a sweet dessert. In my case, I have a bit extras of the Chinese pears lying around in the kitchen . Need I say more? LOL. I added a bit of ginger for the gingery zing.

Green Mangoes Pickle is what I made when someone left me a bunch of Green Mangoes. I have never made pickle before, but I got tips as to how to pickle the mangoes, I was bent to try it out. It sounded easy until the peel and slice. There's pickling recipes out there with vinegar and sour plums but mine has none of that two ingredients. The sweet and sour mangoes pickles with  a crunchy bite is a good any day snack or a side dish as well as served as an appetizer . 

Sweet Potatoes Dessert

A very simple and easy sweet dessert for a mid morning or mid afternoon brunch.  All you need is sweet potatoes + sugar+water and maybe a slice of ginger and screwpine leaves for an added fragrant.

 Diwali

A festival celebrated by the Hindus

It celebrates light overcoming darkness and is also known as the Festival of Lights falls on this Saturday.

HAPPY TREAT OR TRICK

There is magic in the night when pumpkins glow by the moonlight and when witches go riding, the moon laughs and whispers

image courtesy from google search

It's near HALLOWEEEEEN

Have a great Trick or Treat and a good weekend

September drift

Is it only me that I find the months swooshing by so quickly ? I felt like weekend was only yesterday and here it is again. In the beginning of the year, I had so much plans with my UFOs which I have set my eyes upon to complete, yet  nothing seem to materialized, now with the remaining few months left heading  towards year end, weddings and annual dinners are likely to dominate my calendar soon. So what has I got going in September ?

Ad hoc Crafting - Without a purpose I felt empty. I had no idea what I wanted to do, not like I didn't have any, been staring at my UFO for weeks that became months. So much that only in recent weeks I  began crocheting my second Gold yarn tunic since the first one I made was gifted away. I reasons that I will need something easy and not too taxing on the brain to keep me occupied when I head back to my MIL's for the Mourning ritual prayers. This is the latest progress of the tunic, Gold Lily yarn Single strand. The first was crocheted in double strands. I prefer the single strands better honestly.

I signed up for a Book Exchange - Save the Culture Book Exchange via FB just for fun, knowingly that I don't have many bookworms on my Friends list or even if they do, we are not on the same wave length. Anyhow, my choice of book was on something with an Asian Theme since it's coming from me. This is the book I sent out heading to Denmark for Julie. I hope my recipient will be happy and enjoy reading  the book.

September Grief  - Filial Piety, Duty bound - The mourning period of my FIL's demise three years ago officially ended last week. By Customary tradition, we had to dressed in our mourning garments which had been simplified a lot to go with the changing times. Relatives and friends are notified by word of mouth and a mini feast is held for the visiting people while a Taoist priest conducts the final ritual for the final closure and ending with us discarding our mourning garments of white and black to something fiery red.

I was given the duty to purchase some Red Flowers for the prayer purpose

A September Getaway - To the beach we went. I arrived just in time to watch an amazing Sunset. Sometimes, chances only comes once and you have to grab it or there's no second. This is what happen, the cloud was too jealous of the sun and hover over the sun on the few evenings that followed

We checked into our Executive Villa at Grand Lexis, Port Dickson located on the Straits of Malacca.

Our villa faced the open sea with a great view of the sunsets

Waking up to the sound of the waves

The villa came with basic kitchen amenities and I made breakfast one morning

while looking out into the sea. Actually I stood here every morning just staring out into the sea with a cup of coffee in hand.

It comes with a built in dip pool and where I spent some mornings and mid afternoons time since the stretched of beach here is barred for strolling or basking in the sun.

The beach here is just not meant to be

The floor has a glass panel of the sea below. I imagined if I look long enough I might see mermaids but nope

We played tourist too while we were there and visited a Chinese Temple and had some fun playing drama at a 3D museum which seem to be the in thing here lately.

While hunting for food, were we had a barbeque Chicken lunch at a venue with a Cowboy theme,

we stop by to take a peek at  Lexis Hibiscus Resort, the sister company

Located 9km away from where we were, the beach here would definitely be the better choice

A slight detour into Admiral Cove, a Marina

When one is near a beach, Seafood is a must

 We had Sweet & Sour Chili Crab and a Yam Basket of Squid

Back to the City - A day in the City

Mid Day Afternoon Tea with a captivating view of our iconic Twin Tower in view and panoramic view of the city around at Grand Hyatt Thirty-8 Lounge.

While in the City I went in to collect my order of the Christmas Ornament Issue 2016 at Kino and was drawn to Cross Stitcher October 2016 Issue

Now maybe something in these magazine will inspire me back to stitching

The need to kick myself - for some serious crafting...stitching that is.

Well, weekend is here soon, so here's wishing everyone a happy good weekend.