Happy first blogiversary to me!!!

I can't believe I've been blogging for a year, can you? Honestly, it feels so surreal to me.
Within this period, I've get to meet lots of great people, amazing knitters. It's such a joy knowing you guys, and I've learnt so much from you. Thanks for all the supports you gave me ;) Love you guys!

Um...was it too lovey dovey?

Anyway...let's move on to the draw. Remember I said let's do a contest for celebration? Well, here we go....
7 names...

all folded nicely (so that I won't be tempted to peek)and put into my Hayden hat since I don't have any magician style hat.

hand in...

one drawn...

.................................................


........................................................
........................drumroll please.........................
........................................................................


We have a winner!!

Conratulation Mimi!! You just won yourself yuvee's first ever blogiversary prize!

Now, if you recall, I promised to take my knitting around town, and well...I did, but my hands were too freezing to take picture. Lame excuse, I know. Here's some pictures that I took anyway....
Spiral madness on my balcony door...

Spiral going to church with me on Sunday morning...

Spiral Madness

Pattern : by Nona
Yarn : 2 skeins of Louisa Harding Kimono Angora(yum...)
Needles : 5mm
Comments: It was fun fun fun!! I love the pattern, head over heels for the yarn, didn't really want to cast-off, been wearing it everyday ever since.

I also finished one Jaywalker....weeks ago...but only grafted it last night.

Slow, I know. But to make up for it, I also cast-on for the second sock yesterday.
No ribbing for me, instead I did this...


Anyway, I finished my essay after about 10 hours of hard work, with dangerous amount of chocolates and snacks on Sunday. Got another project due this Thursday and my first interview (yikes!) next Wednesday. Wish me lots of luck, will ya? I need it, deperately.

Mimi, will you send me your address, please?

happenings...

There have been lots of happenings in my little blog here...
1. I'm officially a hooker!
2. I joined a gym!(let's hope it'll last for more than 2 months this time)
3. I cast on for a new project(surprise, surprise...)
4. I just came back from my first official Stitch & Bitch!

Okay, so there are lots more, some new yarns, new projects at school, etc.

So, last week this book arrived in the mail, and it turned out to be a big mistake for me. Why? Because I'm a knitter! And now I'm in love with so many patterns in that book that I want to crochet more and more!
There's a birthday this weekend, and since I'm too poor to buy present that's special enough, I decide that something hand made is possibly the best thing I could give someone. Since it'll take me ages to knit a scarf, I decided to crochet one.

(I have no idea why the picture looks all hazy)
One(Half) Skein Scarf, from SnB Crochet
Yarn : Sirdar Aran less than 100g
I love this pattern! It's so easy and simple, took so little yarn and so fast to crochet! I might need to make one for myself in nicer yarn ;D
It took me a while at first to get used to crocheting again, but I sped up quite soon. I finished it in only 2 days!

I actually felt a bit guilty for not knitting, and I need a project to bring with me to the SnB(not that I don't have tons of WIPs lying around). So...I cast on again! Big news, huh? I'm not showing yet, though you could see what it is on the side bar. Actually, inspired by other bloggers who took their knitting outdoor and around
town, I'm going to do the same tomorrow! So watch out for it ;)

This evening, I met up with Peri(hey Peri!) and we built up our courage to attend the local SnB together. I'm glad I did. The other knitters were really friendly, and even though I didn't get to knit much(I frogged more than I knit), it was really quite fun that 2 hours seemed to pass by so quickly.
I think I'm going back next week ;)

I know I've been such a bad blogger, not updating for weeks and all that. No excuse for me this time, I was just being lazy. I do have a 1500 words essay due next Monday though, and I only have about 200 words so far, so I might use that as an excuse next time ;p.
Oh, I almost forgot! My blogiversary is coming soon! I can't believe it! Shall we have a little contest for celebration then? Anyone who leave a comment this time will be in, and I'll do a draw on the big day. No idea for the prize yet, but I'll figure something out ;)

I feel so far from where I've been

Um, can we have knitting world cup?

Now, let me explain everything....
When I bought the yarn to knit the vest, I was only thinking about how luxurious and yummy the RYC Cashsoft DK is, that it didn't occur to me that I'm not supposed to use blend, only pure wool to make the crochet steek successful. So, Eunny, the designer of this gorgeous piece, said that it's okay as long as I machine-sew the steek.
Yep, you hear me...machine sew. So...since I left my brand new Brother sewing machine at home(which I forgot to share with you), I simply need to get a new one, ain't I? So I got myself this baby instead....

Very cute, but obviously doesn't do its job. Maybe my lack of sewing skill is the problem, but I strongly doubt that's the case.
And even worse, I have no idea how to do machine-sew steek. Eunny has got some fabulous steeking tutorial on her blog, as Nona said, but I can't find any on machine-sew steek. I might go to my friend's home(who just bought a brand new proper sewing machine) to try it out though.
Even though so, knitting it was quite a blast. I really enjoyed the colourwork...and I can't wait to do more! Here it is now anyway, in its un-steeked glory.

Honestly, it looks very long and very small, but still gorgeous anyway.

Being an art student, it's only normal to have artistic(and eccentric) teachers. They were really excited to know that I knit, and started to think of millions artistic stuffs I could do with it. They aren't really interested in the normal kind of knitting that produce beautiful, wearable stuffs. My interest was a little bit tickled.....so I made this...

Yep, recycled plastic bag. It's not quite finished though, I'll need to make it much more *WOW* before I could call it art. Knitting with the plastic bags was quite easy, though I had to buy myself a pair of gigantic needle to knit it.

Here's another crafty stuff that I made, being inspired by my teachers' passion for recycling...

A mags clutch! I quite like it actually, what do you think?

Anyway, my WIP at the moment...

I LOVE the colourway! It makes me happy ;)

Uhm....guess what, I might go to Europe for my Easter break! Woohooo!!! Can you tell I'm super excited? Of course, I'm going to travel the way a poor college student should, staying at budget hotels and go around by metro, but who cares??!! The plan so far is to go to Paris, Italy and Germany. Duh, I can't wait to go!!

The end of my Olympic vest

Sorry for not updating for such a long time.
But you know I've been busy with my Olympic knitting, projects, dramas, etc. I must confess that all I've been doing this week is watching Korean dramas and knitting(plus come chips, of course).
The knitting went well till yesterday...I'm getting really used to knitting with 2 colours...and even though my knitting looks suspiciously long and small...it still went well. Then I finish knitting it....and the time has come to steek...then I'm lost.
So that's it, I've got no idea how to steek, and the Olympic ends tomorrow. No gold for me.
I'll explain further tomorrow, sorry.

I really need to starve myself

You know, when you don't blog for some time, and you have so many things happening within that time, you just don't know where to start.
So I'll let my (poor quality)pictures do the talking, of why I really need to starve myself.



These are from Creative Stitches & Hobbycrafts last weekend. There were only 2 yarn stands there, but I still manage to get these ;), and some other crafty stuffs.
And here's my Valentine's Day present for myself....

I actually didn't expect them to arrive today, but they did. The postman even left it inside the big green rubbish bin beause nobody was home. Those are Rowan mags, no 30, 31, 32, 34, 39 and a free subscriber gifts. Yes, I'm a Rowanette now! At least I know they'll keep me company for some time.

And the knitting olympics?
Here's proof that I've been training hard...

I made some mistakes with the pattern, the stitches were wonky and uneven, and surprise, surprise...my gauge was totally off.
But I decided to just go ahead with it anyway, and switch to a bigger needle(my lovely #6 Addis).
4th day of Olympics, and here's all I got...

I didn't have much time to knit, in case you thought that I'm suddenly becoming very slow. But I really am much slower when knitting with 2 colours, because I'm not used to knit with yarns in both hands at once. I think it'll be much better if I could knit Continental style from the first place.
I'm not too sure if I could finish this before the Olympic ends, but I have hope, since I'm having 2 extra days off for mid term starting Thurday.
I wanted to go to London for a day trip, but I don't know what to do there(I'm broke!)
Oh well, I don't mind just staying at home and knit anyway.

That's all for now, I must do my homework. If I manage to finish it in under 6 hours, and still have energy left, then maybe I'll knit.
Oh, and happy Valentine's day to you all. I love you guys ;)

I think I need to starve myself

Tracy! Look what you have done to me...


10 skeins of RYC Cashsoft DK in Poison and Sweet to knit Eunny's Deep V Argyle Vest. I had very limited colour choices from the shop, but I think these look fine.
I can't bring myself to start knitting it. Honestly, the chart looks very intimidating to me, I'm scared! Oh well, I just signed up for the Olympics with this pattern, I'm sure everyone knows which Olympics I'm talking about. Looks like I'll be missing a couple of days' sleep.


1 skein in Sage to knit Odessa. I can't find the right beads though, and it's not helping that I'm clueless about beads. I went to a beads shop today, probably the only beads shop around here, and they don't stock size 6! Help!


2 skeins of Regia Mini pringles to knit the ever so famous Jaywalker that every(well, almost) bloggers seem to have knit. Well, I love them too!


3 skeins of Rowan Plaid in Bramble and 1 skein of Rowan Calmer in Tinkerbell from the sale bin, each at GBP 4.12.
No prize for guessing how much money I spent. I'm broke.
(Since this post was written, I've went there again and get another ball of Plaid, I can't just leave it alone, right?)

The store where I got this mini treasure from is a fabric store, with a nice(and hidden!) yarn department upstairs. They stocks Rowan and Jaeger, and the cheaper novelty kind like Sirdar, Wendy's, etc. Too bad they don't stock all the shades, only about 5 shades of the RYC Cashsoft DK that I bought. I had a chance to see(and fondle) in person Rowan's latest yarns. Nothing tempting though. I saw a new Jaeger yarn called Roma which looks very nice, but didn't get a chance to touch it. It looks very promising, I tell you. The customer service is nothing to speak of, you know, GD style.
But I think you know where my money will go for the rest of my 7 months here.

I went there again today(the rest of the post is written yesterday) and I saw some old ladies admiring novelty yarns. One of them was holding a ball of white fun fur, and said to her friend "Will you knit me a jumper out of this?". I hope she's joking.

On my way back from church(me and my housemate go to church every Sunday, have lunch and do a little shopping), I stop by at a charity shop, and found these...


3 packs of yarns at 99p each. Most is acrylic, but there are 3 100g skeins of "I Can't Believe It's Not Cotton" acrylic yarns that's really nice. One pack(the dark blue one) has got no fiber contents written, it's from "The Yorkshire Mohair Mill", but feels nothing like mohair.
I think it's funny how one skein of yarn from the yarn store could be more expensive than 3 packs of yarn from thrift store. I'm not ever going to compare acrylic to Rowan though.
But I love bargains, so I guess I'll be checking out those charity shops every week!

Yesterday was really tiring, I had to do homework the whole night! For more than 7 hours. Our teacher expect us to spend 6 hours a day doing homework! Hello?? Somebody needs to remind her that we only have 24 hours a day.
Well, anyway, I went to take a walk around the shopping area during my 3 hours break today, and came across a Chinese grocery store. Imagine my joy to find Maggi hot chilli sauce there! And they even have Indonesian instant noodle. I was so happy!

Oops, I almost forgot....I knitted this 2 days ago, finished in about 5 hours.


It's a Panta!! I'm late to the game and it seems like millions of it have been knitted by now. It's knitted in Silk Garden, which I just fell in love with. I love the colours! I wore it a whole day yesterday and have been planning to knit some more, my friends love it too ;) This one is the thinner version, since I wasn't sure I could wear the original size, but I've changed my mind now.

Well....off to do my homework now, and all my lovely yarns will be screaming at me because I won't knit them!

Mini yarn porn and a hat

I'm so tired! I went to Cambridge today with the school to attend higer education day. We actually spent 6 hours in the car and ony 2 hours in Cambridge!
But here's the exciting part, I'm going to British Museum in London tomorrow! I can hardly wait. Museum trip is always exciting to me, and I love going to London.
Anyway, remember from last post I said that I ordered some yarn to "console" myself for not celebrating CNY? Well, they're here on Tuesday, all the loveliness of yummy yarns. More than sufficient to make me happy, though I can always use some more ;p

That's a whole pack of Rowan Cork, which I've "heard" is lovely to knit with. Then 3 skeins of discountinued shade of the lovely Noro Kureyon, and 8 skeins of the ever so famous Rowan Calmer(5 in teal and 3 in red). And finally these


2 lovely, lovely skeins of Louisa Harding Kimono Angora. I'm so in love with this yarn, and will definitely buy more, and more, and more. It's so colourful, so soft and squishy, simply wonderful. I'm currently searching for the perfect scarf pattern for it. I considered Misty Garden from Scarf Style, but unfortunately *smack in the forehead* I left the book at home. And pattern ideas?

I've been kinda busy lately, and will be for the next few months. I'm ashamed of myself to admit that no knitting has been done for the past few days except for the few rows of Orangina knitted in the coach today. But I did finish this last week


A Hat (Can't think of a more interesting name)
Pattern : My own
Yarn : Leftovers from Hayden Hat
What do you think? ;) It's great that I could actually knit 2 hats from 3 skeins of yarn, and still have leftovers. Anyway, do you notice I'm getting fatter? Ick.

Talking about future cast-on, I promise everyone of you, and most importantly, myself, that I will knit more. I'm just being lazy here, with all the homeworks and projects lying around, and my freezing hand too lazy to do anything else than surf the net.
Fret not though, I've already been eyeing Odessa, and even joined the knitalong.
And for bigger project, I just purchased the pattern for Eunny's amazing argyle vest.
Great isn't it? First beading and first colourwork projects.
Now for the yarn...I'm going to get Rowan Cashsoft DK for Odessa, and since the vest requires DK yarn too, why not use the same amazing yarn? Now to choose the colours...
I have to share with you this, Tracy left a comment about where I can find yarn here in Brighton and nearby. It's great! I never realise that they sell yarns in the fabric store. So I'm definitely going to check the store out this weekend. Thanks a lot, Tracy!!*hug*
I'm sure I'll "manage" to buy something from them ;)

Anyway, there'll be a Creative Stitches & Hobby Crafts exhibition here in Brighton next weekend. I'm so excited, and you can be sure that I'm going there, and I promise to share with you! All I have to worry about is the HUGE hole in my pocket that I'm going to leave. So I shall consider it "consolation" for being alone in my 19th Valentine's Day. Who need guys when I can have all the lovely yarns anyway?

Gong Xi Fa Cai! I'm 20 next week!

I have to apologize to everyone for not updating earlier. But you know...when we don't post for some time then you just get lazy to do it, I think Erin mentioned about it too.
So...yes, I do have internet connection in my room today, so I better post at least once a week(count it as my new year resolution!). I've been really busy for the past few days, doing homeworks and assignments.
One of the biggest one is making this...

A chair!!
Can you believe I'm actually making a chair? Well, it's not a real one, only quarter the size, but it's the right size for little kids. And it's recyled! And it's strong enough for you to sit on!
It's one of the assignment we had to do, and I had a lot of fun making it, despite all the knitting time lost. I was a bit lost at the starting of the course because we had to draw and paint. And I can honestly say that I'm not a very artsy person. But this? This I can do. Why? Cos I'm crafty! You hear me? I AM crafty.
Hehe...sorry about that, I was just struggling a bit on the art side, so it feels good when there's something I'm good at.

Now that you know what I've been doing...surely I can be excused for not having knitterly things to show, right? No? Well...if you insist...

Hayden Hat
Pattern : from PoorMissFinch.com
Yarn : 3 balls of Filatura di Crosa Zara
Needles : 5mm 16" circular
Modification : Cast on more stitches(yes, I do have big head)
I LOVE this hat.

The pattern works really well with the colours, don't you think? I've been getting lots of compliment when I tell people I knit it myself. And I guess you could consider it the first FO of 2006, though not quite. I did knit a sock on my flight here, but it's really just a plain sock. And I think I finished the Bulky Cabled Cardigan before new year(I know, I'll show it soon).
I had quite some leftover yarns from this hat, so I'm knitting another hat from it. It should've been finished days before, but like I said, I've been busy.

Anyway, I've been wanting to show you this

A pig tape measure! I saw it when I was in London, and I just HAD to have it.









I forgot to mention in my last post that...I am not staying in London! I'm staying in a seaside town called Brighton&Hove where I CAN'T find ANY LYS! Can you believe it? Not a single one. But I'd love to visit London when I have the time, maybe even over weekend. I just need to find someone who would let me sleep on their couch for a night. ;D

It's Chinese New Year tomorrow, but I won't have any kind of celebration here. There was a party at school just now, but I didn't go. So...last night I decided to spoil myself and bought some yarn online(from Jannette again). I paid by postal order today, and can you believe how much more I needed to pay? 5 pounds! It's crazy, I could've bought another ball of yarn with it. But it seems like I don't have any other option for the time being, until I get to go to London, of course.
My dad told my bro to send me a new year card and a red packet, and my mom told me that the postage cost more than 10 pounds! I was quite shocked, but then I understand why. My dad actually put money in the red packet. So that's the only safe way, I guess. He didn't really have to send me money, he just wants me to be able to feel the new year spirit in some way, and I appreciate it.
Well...since he made the effort, I think it's only fair that I play along and spend all the money, don't you think? ;D

Guess how I'll be spending my Chinese New Year? Going to the library with no new clothes to wear....hoping the Chinese restaurants won't be closed....and do lots of homework.
Pathetic. I'm feeling down already.
Oh well...have a Happy Chinese New Year everyone.
Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Kung Hei Fat Choi!
Kiong Hi Fat Choi!

Good day to you, you lovely knitters

Hiya guys, wanna guess where I am now?
I'm currently sitting in front of a Mac in my CIT class, and in case you don't know, it's Computer Informaion Technology. How cool does that sound? Well, not very cool perhaps ;D
So yeah, I've pretty much settle down here. Today is the first day I'm having class, and I'm already wondering whether I'm in the right direction, taking Art & Design. Perhaps the "good" courses like economy and finance would suit me better. At least my dad thinks so.
My parents are going back home today, thank God. Not that it's not nice having them around, but it could get pretty awkward when they start accompanying you to school. It's fine if I'm still in playground, or even primary school, but I AM in college now.
Anyway, I was going around London the other day on a double decker bus. It's pretty nice, except that it was freezing outside so I chose to stay nice and warm inside the bus. We passed a lot of big stores with even bigger SALE signs on them. Then I spot LIberty. With a sale sign too. I was literally leaping with excitement, I even hit the bus pole. Too bad I was with my parents, who clearly thought that I have enough yarn. Will we knitters ever have enough? Don't think so.
To those of you at London, will you please be very kind to tell me when Liberty is having sale?

I'm going to stay with my host family starting today. They have 2 very nice kids, who seems to be very close to each other, at least compared to me and my "little" bro. Everything is looking great so far, I'm just praying that I'll be able to get an internet connection at my room. I need to do a lot of catching up with posting comments and blogging, sorry guys ;)

I think I need to do some polishing with my manners. Knock my head everytime I forget to say "please" and "thank you very much", will ya? Oh, I mean, would you please?

Knitting contents soon, promise. This is a knitting blog after all, sorry that lately it's been "everything else that matters".

Year Two Thousand Six

In another few hours, I'll be leaving home again and start a brand new adventure in the UK!! I'm feeling a tad nervous, but more excited than anything else. I'm really thankful for everyone's supports by leaving me comments ;).
Anyway, you might've guessed that I'm a last-minute packer. In fact, I just finished packing half an hour ago ;D Luckily my parents are going with me, so I can bring more stuff(read: yarn). My baggage includes one very big luggage, one medium sized luggage, and two cabin sized hand bag. And I only manage to take about half my stash. Never mind, the thought of those gorgeous English yarn makes it much bearable.
I'm also well prepared for the loooong flight. A very thick novel(The Time Traveller's Wife), a Sudoku book, my mini iPod, and finaly, a 5mm wooden needle(I won't risk losing my Addis), and 4 skeins of yarn.

I finished the Bulky Cabled Cardigan few days ago, literally. I weaved on all ends, and even got some pretty oyster buttons for it, it's even blocked! In case you didn't notice, this is the first time I actually get around putting buttons on my FO. The other time, I was usually too consumed with other WIPs that I just left the FOs button-less.
The cardigan is already packed, will show you some pictures when I get there ;)

I'll need to go to bed soon, as my dad is a firm believer of get-to-the-airport-2-hours-before-flight, so I'll have to wake up at 4(!) tomorrow.

One last thing, I just sold my beloved PDA phone yesterday and get myself a new walkman phone. I'm really sad because PDA is just so convenient for taking .pdf patterns around with me. Gonna miss it.

See ya guys, I'll report once I've settled down there.
Happy New Year everyone!

I Wanna Wish You A Merry Christmas....

I went away to villa for the Christmas holiday with my extended family. All I did there was eat and sleep. And of course I knit too. Here's my Christmas FO...

Cabled Beret, modeled by my very cute nephew, Brian.
Pattern from Sirdar leaflet
Yarn used Sirdar Denim Tweed, 1 ball(though the pattern specified 2)
Finished in 2 days!

Anyway, don't you just LOVE Christmas? I know I do. Even though Christmas spirit isn't as visible here as it is overseas, I still feel the love. My dream is to have a Western style Christmas with my family one day. You know, with the real Christmas tree, presents wrapped in red and green under the decorated tree, family dinner, Christmas pudding, etc. And of course, one very important part, hand knitted Christmas stocking.

Yeah, enough for day dreaming, I wanna share with you another FO. I knitted this one earlier this year, before I started blogging.

Cabled Vest for Brian
Yarn used Sirdar Snuggle 4 ply, less than 2 balls.
And here you can see the benefit of knitting in larger size for toddler, it fits longer!

Well, new year is only 4 days away, I'll be back with my new year resolution! Being ever so lazy to write diary, I always wrote at least once, right on new year's midnight. This time I think I'm going to share it with you guys ;).

Once again, I wish you all a Merry Christmas. Hope everyone had a great Christmas ;)

Updates...(okay, I'm bad at titles)

Hiyaa!!
I just came back 2 days ago from a 4-day holiday in Bali. Now, holiday in Bali should be easily described as "fun on the beach and under the sun", right? Not so in my case..."lots of rain and bargaining" is more like it. I did get some great bargains though ;D.
Anyway, I'm at my cousin's house and we just baked some brownies! The kind with LOTS of chocolates. Yumm...
Well, here's the FO and WIP pictures promised...

Mini sweater
Pattern from Glampyre.
Yarn used, Madil Eden, 100% Bamboo, 5 skeins.
Alterations, very different gauge, no puffy sleeves, yarn-overs increase. I still haven't decided on the closure though.

Backyard Leaves Scarf
Pattern from Scarf Style, thanks Janet!
Yarn used, 3 skeins of Filatura Di Crosa Zara. Did 12 pattern repeat for each side.
This is the WIP pictures, since I haven't blockes the scarf yet. Don't you think the popping leaves are just so cute?

I've done the back and started a sleeve of Jemima, but then...I cast on for another project and have been completely neglecting her. Sorry girl, will get back to you as soon as this is done.

And this is what I've been knitting for the past few days. Glampyre's Bulky Cabled Cardigan in Rowan Polar. I LOVE the pattern. It's so simple and easy...and fast too. What more could you ask for? After knitted 3 Glampyre's top-down pattern (OSW, Minisweater, and this), I think I might be ready to knit my own.

My days are currently filled with lots of shopping for school preparation. To be honest, I'm really nervous since I've never lived in an English speaking country before. What if nobody understands me? I'm worried about cultural clash too....so...will everyone who'd been to UK or is living there give me some advice? It would be really appreciated.

I'm still alive!!

Well, I've been meaning to post for few days, but never got around doing it, thanks to the very slow internet connection.
I just want to tell you guys that me and my stash have both reached home safely, though I did have to pay for the excess baggage(16kg!!).
A lot of knitting have been going on, and pictures taken. I just haven't figured out a way to connect my cam to the cpu without getting electric shock.
Here's some knitting updates:
-Minisweater, done but still without closure
-Backyard leaves scarf, second piece, 4th repeat
-Jemima, back done
See? Holiday is good for my knitting.
I just got back from the dentist, and though that was absolutely the best dentist I've ever visited, my teeth are still aching like crazy. They took an rontgen of my teeth, and it turns out that there are lots of holes.
And anyway, I'm having a medical check-up tomorrow, and Mimi, I take my words back, I don't think it's going to be fun.

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