Pack & Tag

As if I don't have enough yarn to pack.
Left to right : 2 skeins of purple for gloves, 5 skeins of yummy red for a scarf, and 3 skeins of grey, cream and pink for a hat. ALL FOR MOI!
I visited my LYS for one last time yesterday, wanted to say goodbye to the owner who taught me to knit. And I just decided that was my last chance to get those yummy Zara I've been fondling everytime I went there for years, but never bought.

Anyway, I'm leaving in 15 hours. Curious about my packing? See this.

My yarns and UFOs(compressed) fit in 2 bags and a box except for 2 packs. They weigh about....15 kg.

Now, let's do the calculation. My baggage allowance is 30 kg. My stash is 15 kg, and there's no way I'm leaving even a skein behind. So...that leaves me only 15 kg for my clothes, books, shoes, bags and other LOTS of stuffs. Some sacrifices MUST be done. So I bid goodbye to my comics and novels collection(which is big, but I have an even bigger one at home). Then to my shoes and sandals...which have a wardrobe of their own. To 80% of my wardrobe. To 90% of my socks collection(yes, I have a sock collection). To 80% of my bag collection(there must be about 30 there, took only 4). To my CD collection(uhm....most are pirated, so I only took the beloved originals). And to other stuffs(these includes a whole box of lettersets, a box of origami papers, LOTS of very heavy universities prospectus, hundreds of magazine, my makeups, my baking supplies, my art and crafts supplies, hundreds of gift-wrapping papers, 9 boxes of long-forgotten stuffs, years worth of textbooks, and a guitar.

OK, that list is totally unnecessary, sorry for that, but it's just a little hard to leave what I've collected for the past 7 years. And if you can't tell yet, I've been a "stuffs collector" since a kid.

Well...I still have to leave anyway, leaving is hard, isn't it?
I still remember clearly when I came here to study 7 years ago(we missed the plane and had to sleep at the airport's playground area, but that's another story), and suddenly it's time to go. I always feel sad everytime I'm leaving, even if it's only for 2 weeks. But this time, I'm not coming back in years.

Anyway, let's do a meme to cheer myself instead. Thanks for tagging me, Mimi!

1.What is your all-time favourite yarn to knit with ?
For cotton, Jaeger Siena.
For wool/merino, Filatura Di Crosa Zara.
For mohair, obviously KSH. I feel like buying every colours, and make a KSH collection. Sounds good, eh?

2. Your favourite needles ?
Addi Turbos, hands down. Same old complaint though, wish the tip is more pointy.

3. The worst thing you ever knit
That stockinette acrylic scarf, of course. Wanna see? Now, where did I put it..oh here it is

Judge for yourself.

4. Your favourite pattern
Ooh....this one is hard. I think I'll pick OSW. It's nothing with complex design, just a smart little beauty with endless possibilities.

5. Most valuable knitting technique
Magic loop and seaming.

6. Best knit book or magazine
VK, IK and Rowan.

7. Your favourite knit-along
I'm a bad KALer, really. Joined in lots of KAL, but never really participating. But if I have to pick a fav, it'd be Socktoberfest.

8. Your favourite knit blogs
Umm....way too much to mention. I have many favourites, some I read religiously, some I enjoy reading. I'm really thankful for Bloglines, though sometimes it doesn't work well.

9. My favourite knitwear designer
Kim Hargreaves, Debbie Bliss, Glampyre, Elsebeth Lavold, Anna Bell.

10. The knit item you wear the most.
Well...OSW and Gabby, both worn ONCE.

11.Who to tag?
I must be the last person to answer this, so I'm not tagging anyone!

I'm back!

So...I was planning to stay in Singapore for 4-5 days...I even thought that bringing 2 pants and 2 skirts was too much. How could I know that I would ended up staying for EIGHT days, and having to wear my pants for more than 3 days each.
And...and...I went with such good intention, bringing a very heavy, full luggage with me, for my cousin to help me take back to Indonesia. She even brought me a bigger, empty luggage so that I can pack more easily when I'm going back to Jakarta. But...you know me...the luggage is no longer empty when I came back. In fact, it was full. Full with these...

Of course, these are only the knitting related one. You can see that I've successfully added another 31 skeins of yarn to my as-if-not-big-enough stash. And my other purchases? I'll just say that I left with a pair of earrings, and came back with 6. You get the idea.

I had a great time in Singapore though...shopping till I drop. Who was I fooling when I thought that S$700 would be enough? Lucky I've got that atm card.
For the first 3 days, I stayed with my cousin and aunt, went shopping everyday and didn't have to pay for a thing (my aunt loves me, you know). I know that my mom would've done the same for my cousins anyway. Then after they left, I stayed with my friend, one of my best friends. So yeah, we had a blast, even though my friends complained that they can't get any studying done when I was there, and that I made them spent so much. Hey, it's not my fault if they can't control themselves, right? I've been told that I have an ability to make people spends though.

Guess what? I finally get to go on a knitting meetup! My first one ever!
First I get to meet up with Erin, and we went to a yarn shop together. The yarn shop might not be the best, but I really enjoyed meeting her(Hey Erin!). I was a bit nervous at first. I mean, I would consider someone insane to meet up with someone they knew only from blogging. My friend even thought that I'd get kidnapped. But hey, we're talking about knitters here!
Then next...I got to meet up with Lois, Cara and other Singaporean knitters.
I didn't have any knitting going on then...so I basically just sat there and browse through the knitting books. Everyone were so nice though, and I can safely say that I had a good time and I'm well prepared for more meetups in the future.

On the knitting part...I finally get back to knitting Orangina again. This time with different yarn and different needle. This is how it looks so far...
I think it looks quite promising this time...

Anyway, I'm going back to Jakarta in less than a week, and my stuffs are still very much untouched. Gotta start packing soon! But looking around my room, I really have no idea how to start. Trust me when I tell you that I've collected quite a lot the past 7 years.

Hey, I almost forgot to tell that I taught another friend of mine to knit! She's not likely to be hooked though...she swore that she'll never touch knitting again. Oh well, at least she know how to knit and purl now.

can't think of any...

It's been a hectic week for me....no real knitting had been done for more than a week! Fortunately I still have an FO to show ;D
So....may I present to you....Clapotee!



And yeah, that's my prom outfit. I don't want to wear something too formal, so I wore these...


The outfit that took me a whole day of shopping to buy. I walked SO MUCH for days, my feet were killing me. Believe me, my toe thumbs are still numb till now.
Still...I had a wonderful night...and took LOTS of pics.
Hey, remember the scarf I knitted for my teacher? I gave it to her that night...


I was told(by other teachers) that she wore it everyday in the teacher's room ;D. It sure feels great when your work is appreciated.

I'm leaving for Singapore tonight, meeting my cousin there, so that she could help me take my stuffs back to Jakarta. I'm still in the middle of packing now, and my bus is leaving in 3 hours! Anyway, while I'm packing, I noticed this...


My stash used to fit the blue box on the left....but somehow flood from the laundry bin on the right now. Gee...I hope that somehow my parents won't notice this...

Um...what knitting should I bring with me?? I just realised that I actually have NO project going on. Well...nothing that I'm in the mood to knit anyway. So I might just knit a sock or bag or something small...

And...thanks so very much for everyone's comments on Gabby ;D It means a lot to me.

Cya guys, I'm hoping to have some meetups and yarn shopping spree to report on my next post!

Gabby

Remember her?


I finished her during my weekend break, after leaving her without a neckline for months in my knitting bin.
Anyway, I'll try to be more organized and wrote down the pattern specs from now on ;D I think it might be useful for future reference, though I can't imagine in what condition.
Here goes...
Pattern : Gabby, my own
Yarn : Jaeger Siena, 5 balls plus a few yards
Needle : #3 Clover circular, #3 bamboo straight
Details : The body is worked in the round, then divided for neckline. I originally wanted sleeves, but got too lazy and decided to make a tank instead. The straps are knitted from the front, then grafted to the back.
Then I added some picot crochet edging, too bad it's still curling. I think it fits me quite nicely, though I'm still too concious about my flabby arms to actually wear it out. And that was quite a lot of stockinette in such small gauge. But the yarn feels so nice to knit with that it became quite a pleasure.

You might notice that I joined the Peaceful Palms KAL hosted by nona. Now, who in their right mind would wear gloves at 35 degrees? Yah, not me. Anyway, I joined because I had been wanting to knit the Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from SnBN. But then I realised that I don't really like the cable pattern after all. But I'm determined to try something....so this is what I came up with.

Knitted in Peruvian Baby Silk from Lyn. The yarn is so soft, but it took me quite a while to get used knitting with it. I used the same lace edging as I did with Gabby (haven't blocked it yet, so it can't be seen). I wasn't following any pattern, so...ehmm...I'm feeling quite smart here ;D I added some more picot crochet edging too! It was really quite easy ;)
I think 1 skein would be enough for a pair...yeah, and I'd be better cast on for the second one, if not it'll stay as "a handwarmer" and have the same faith as my previous socks.

I know....I still owe you Clapotis pictures...soon....soon...
Anyway, I just found some blackhead on my chin! Gah! Need to make a facial appointment soon.
And yeah, I just had some pattern idea for a lacy cardigan to knit with my RYC Cashcotton. Inspired by Van, Doreen, and Lois who all knitted the Rebecca wrap cardi using this yarn. Since I don't have the mag, and look much bigger wearing anything cropped, I think I'll knit something longer, with nice short sleeves and pretty buttons. Not so soon though...I'm a bit lazy lately ;D