Italian goodness

Hmmm....where to start??
I came back from my holiday on new year day, but have been busy(lazy) to update. And to think one of my New Year's resolution is to blog at least once a week!

Ok....let's move on to the holiday....scenery first or yarn first?? Let's do both instead!

First stop, Rome.

These irresistibly cute little balls of yarn were found in a little shop called Lana della Vecchia. The red, white and black yarn are yummy wool/cashmere blend that I just couldn't resist. I'm thinking they'll make a gorgeous fair isle hat. So I almost left the shop with only those....but then the owner called at me and pulled out boxes of pure angora and pure cashmere, that shrewd lady! She doesn't even speak much english! I could resist them only because they were in rather unappealing colours. But then she pulled out another box and say "This is cashmere and silk". Honestly, who could resist?? So I got 2 little balls of them in this gorgeous deep green colour and squeezed them all day.


These are from another yarn shop in Rome called Filati Filpucci. They are run by men and looked more like a hardware store than a yarn shop. The first 3 hanks are 3-ply pure wool at a price too good to pass. But when I ask the guy(the only one in the shop who speaks english) about the yardage, he shrugged and said "Don't know, maybe about 5000." Now, he might be right, but my logic tells me that's just not possible. We'll see. The 3 bright fushcia balls are super soft 70% angora yarn that were on sale. I'm thinking they'd make a cute beret.



Second stop, Florence.


The shop is called Campolmi Roberto Filati. It's a kind of shop that insist on 1 on 1 assistance and would only let you touch the shade cards. Still, they have tons of yarn at amazing price. I got a bag of natural alpaca yarn, 200g of lightweight baby alpaca(the vintage pink one), 50g of kid mohair yarn, and a huge 400g hank of pure white wool. I'm thinking of using the wool for felting. The hank is so big it's troublesome to bring around on the trip, but the price was just impossible to pass.


From Beatrice Galli Yarn Shop, the owner of the shop, Beatrice Galli herself I presumed, actually told me this "Touch, but not too much". It put me off a little, but I still couldn't resist all those cheerful colours.

Ugh.....Blogger won't let me upload more pictures, I've been trying for two days!
Anyway, I've finished 2 knits since the new year!! They should've been done ages ago, but I'm proud of myself for finally finishing them. I really want to show them to you, but lack of proper camera and proper photographer mean you'll have to wait till next month! Next month because I'm going home today(yay!!) and I'm not taking my winter knits back to hot and humid Jakarta.
There's a little problem for my in-flight knitting though, since it's safer to bring circular bamboo needles to get through the security, but most of my circulars are Addi Turbos! I do have a 4mm bamboo circular, so hopefully I can find a perfect little project with that.

Well....next time I talk to you, hopefully I'd be able to share more pictures and have more knits to report!

This time of the year

It's holiday again! For me it means time for travelling, of course.
In about 8 hours I'd be landing in Rome, Italy. Then on to Florence, Christmas in Venice and New Year in Paris.
Did some last minute packing yesterday, downloaded loads of podcasts into my iPod for those long train journeys, picked a project to knit on the way, etc. So hopefully it'll a blast and I'll be having the time of my life ;)

Now, for knitting(and crochet!) content

Quickie Crochet Mary-Janes
Pattern can be found here
This was really quick, easy and fun to make. And the result really is just too cute. I've got some not-so-subtle hinting from my friends to make one for them.


Last-Minute Handwarmer
Pattern: from LMKG
This is a last minute Christmas gift for our cleaning lady. Very quick and easy to make, I might make some for myself too.


This is a swatch of what I'll be knitting on my trip. Swish scarf, a free pattern from here. The yarn is Lang Mille Colori with some wonderful colours but a little too stripey for my liking. Do we like?


And this pile is what should be my Lang Sporty Cardigan. It's half-seamed, so at least we're getting there.
I think that's what should be top priority in my New Year resolution,
1. Finish all my UFOs.

Well, I should be getting ready. Will try to report on the way.
Just in case I couldn't, Merry Christmas everyone!

On swallowtail and broken camera

Gee....I haven't blogged for almost a month! That's partially because I don't have much to blog about, and part because I've been busy with life and all that. Lame, I know.
One good excuse though, is that my camera is broken.
Lesson learned: DO NOT let your drunk friend hold your camera.
Hopefully she will have it fixed soon enough, meanwhile you'll have to bear with my mobile phone's 2 megapixels pictures instead of my lovely camera's usual 8 megapixels.
Oh well, at least I have some knitting to share....
Yes! I've found myself a competent photographer!

Swallowtail Shawl

Pattern source: IK Fall 2006
Yarn: Handmaiden Seasilk "Straw" (looks more like gold to me)
Needle: Addi Turbo 4.0mm 60cm
Comments: I've never been a late bloomer, but somehow when it comes to knitting I'm always far behind the trend. After seeing beautiful versions of this shawl all around blogworld, I finally get around making one for myself. The pattern is quick and easy to knit, though the purl5 really slowed me down. It's totally worth it though, I think the end result is simply gorgeous! It's a bit on the small side since I've been growing horizontally lately, so I might wear it as a scarf instead of a shawl.
The yarn....what can I say about the yarn that you don't already know, that it's simply delicious. Oh well, maybe I can tell you that it still smells like seafood even after washed.

In other knitting news, my cabled cardigan from Lang is long done, except that I've been too lazy to seam it up and find the perfect button. I really want to wear it though, so let's hope I'll be motivated soon. Meanwhile I cast on for few small things, but I'm still looking around for The project, if you know what I mean.

Hats talk

First, thank you for all your lovely comments on my previous post. I really appreciate them ;)
Now, you might have noticed that I knit a lot of hats.


Okay, so 8 hats in 2 years might not be a lot for some people, but for me, it is. The problem with these hats is....I can's stand wearing them. Not just these, but any hats, I can't stand wearing them for more than 10 minutes. It might be that I have ultra sensitive forehead, but even cotton ones won't work.
I do love knitting them though, they're so much fun and also quick to knit. All the hats I've ever knitted were for myself(as is 90% of my knits). I think the reason why I never knit hats for others is that I used to live in tropical region. Well, I don't knit much for other people anyway.
Now, I have a little question of etiquette for you guys. Is it okay to give some of my knitted hats as gifts? I mean, they ARE new, considering I only wear them for blog photoshoots. But it feels a little strange when I wasn't knitting it as a gift for certain person. So? moral opinion please. Oh, and the people I'm thinking of gifting have seen the hats before, so maybe it'd be a little tougher.

So...what's a girl to do when she can't wear hats? Well, the good news is she wears socks!
Thanks to Socktoberfest, I've been really inspired to carry on with sock knitting. Sure, it takes longer time to knit(tiny stitches!) and used up more yarns, but at least I get to wear them.
Uhm....this is my excuse for future(and present) sock yarns purchases.

I have always knit socks following patterns, and have always been forced to knit shorter legs because it wouldn't fit my gigantic calves otherwise. I also have thick heels, making me have to tug my socks hard to wear them. But that's all going to change, since now I've got the right resources to answer my problems.



Got myself 3 fabulous sock knitting books, and some other amazing knitting books. So hopefully with their helps I'd be able to create the perfect socks for my imperfect feet! I think toe-up socks would be the right way to start.

Anyway, I always reasoned with myself that books are too heavy and tedious when I need to move. But since I'll be staying in this area for at least another 3 years, my logic lose for good.

Socktoberfest and Hats Galore!

As the title suggested...


I finally finished my Pomatomus after many months. After I finished the first sock, it's been left untouched due to SSS. Thanks to Socktoberfest, it's finally done!

Pomatomus Socks
Pattern source: Knitty.com by Cookie A.
Yarn: Trekking XXL
Needle: Addi Turbo 2.5mm 80cm circular
Technique used: Cuff-down, magic loop
Comments: The legs are shorten by one pattern repeat since I have really huge calfs and it won't fit if it goes too high. I really like the pattern even though I think it might work better with solid coloured yarn. The lace pattern was a little challenging at first, but then it was all nice and brezzy. One of the best thing about the pattern is that it's not boring. Otherwise I suspect it's still be in the WIP bin.

Another shot? Oh well...


Up next...


Shedir
Pattern source: Knitty.com breast cancer awareness issue
Yarn: Rowan Calmer
Needle: 3.25mm circular 40cm
Comments: I love those cables! Aren't they pretty? Especially the crown shaping, it looks like a flower ;)



Odessa
Pattern source: Magknits.com by Grumperina
Yarn: RYC Cashsoft DK
Needle: 4.00mm bamboo circular 40cm
Comments: I got the yarn and beads for this pattern back in February, but only get motivated to start when I'm watching lots of drama and have nothing to knit. I just realised that my knitting progress is pretty much justified by how much drama I watch. Anyway, this is my first ever beaded knitting! It's much easier than I though it's be, the only part I don't really like is that I have to keep on pushing down the beads. I'm sure there's a tutorial for beaded knitting without beading first somewhere, gotta find it one day. Other than that, the pattern was super easy and fast to knit, perfect for gifts knitting!

Ugh, Blogger is acting up again and I can't upload more pictures, so that'll have to be another post.
Meanwhile I'm working on the Lang Sporty Cabled Cardigan(see previous post) and the back is almost done. Patsy is blocked and seamed, but I'm still thinking about the sleeves part.
Well...till next time.

Warning: Anyone on yarn diet don't look!

On my way back from Ally Pally. That place is evil, I tell ya.

Since I've told you that I'm going, and you know me too well to expect less. Well, can't disappoint you guys, can I?

First purchase of the day, two 200g hanks of hand-dyed merino yarn from Touch yarn. Love the colourway. I think it'd look great for a scarf of a scoop neck vest or a bolero, what do you think?


A pack of Rowan Kid Classic and a pack of Rowan All Season Cotton. In colours I don't even wear. But they were a real bargain, so....who cares if I look dead in grey.

A huge 350g hank of hand-dyed merino from somewhere in Europe. I wish I could capture the colours better, it's gorgeous.

Two 100g skeins of alpaca. Not the most likely colours for me to pick, but they were in the odd balls bin, and I thought they'd look great as striped winter accessories.

Three skeins of more Regia Silk in white. I've been looking for this yarn in this shade forever, can't wait to turn them into a gorgeous lacy shawl! I did a quick count and there are 16 skeins of Regia Silk in 5 different colours in my stash now. I never love a yarn this much.

And of course, no yarn spree is complete without some silk. The green/blue hank is Handmaiden Seasilk, which you all know is amazing and totally irresistible. The pink/peach hank is 100% laceweight silk from Fyberspates, so pretty and so worth it.

Six 100g hanks of Classic Elite Kelso in red and 2 hanks in green. I think the yarn is long discontinued since I can't seem to find any information about it, but it's gorgeous wool tweed. I bought all the red they have left. There was a lady who was interested too, but she let me have it, so I can't not buy them, right?

Four skeins of Lang Mille Colori. This yarn reminds me of Rowan Tapestry, sans the sheen. I got myself 4 skeins to make a stripey scarf for myself, though not necessarily horizontal stripes.

Three gorgeous pattern books, Out of Town by Debbie Bliss, Lang Fatto A Mano and RYC Classic Style. And this time I will actually knit something from them.

I saw this cardigan in the LANG pattern book and fell for it immediately. Hard.

Then I saw the yarn it called for,...
and fell even harder. The yarn is 50% wool and 50% silk, the perfect combination as far as I'm concerned, and simply amazing to touch. I have totally ran out of cash by then, and actually left the stall after getting only 1 ball to play with. After walking around aimlessly with next to nothing on my wallet, I decided to get 11 more as my last purchase of the day. Thank God I decided not to be wise and bring my debit card(a.k.a. the devil card) with me.
Having given my financial stability the hardest hit, I quickly tried to find the way out, and actually walk into the toilet. After somebody given me the right direction, which is all the way across the hall, I tried to not look around and walk straight, but I kept on stumbling into some divine cashmere and the gloriously colourful Colinette stall. It wasn't easy to get out of there, trust me.

I'm practically broke now, fortunately I have enough food supply not to starve myself for another week.

Sock Stash Flash

Just a short post to flash my sock yarn stash.

I can't believe how many sock yarns I have in my stash, there are enough for 15 pairs of socks! And I don't even call myself a sock knitter yet. Uh, and I'm sure there are about 4 more skeins somewhere that I couldn't find.

I'm off to Ally Pally, so expect more stash flashing to come!

When too many choices is a bad thing...

Patsy has been blocked yesterday.

This is actually the first time I blocked the pieces before seaming, we'll see if it really will make life easier. I haven't decided on whether to knit the sleeves or not yet. Anyway, do you notice that we have colour lot trouble here?

Meanwhile I've been working on Shedir.

Check out those gorgeous cables. I abandoned it because I didn't get the chart, but after I decided to rely on the picture rather than the chart, it's a breeze.
We shall have 2 FOs coming soon ;)
Now....which pattern to knit next? Should I knit these capelet, or those gorgeous aran sweaters and cardigans, or this afghan, or this bag, or a braided scarf, or a lace shawl.......do you think I can justify casting on for 10 things at once? While I still have a lonely side of sock waiting to be finished for Octoberfest? Duh! It's not easy being a knitter, I tell you.

yarns...yarns...and more yarns

So, last friday I went all the way to Heathrow airport to pick up a friend with overload baggage. Well, I was willing to travel the 90 minutes tube not only because I'm a good friend, but also because I've asked her to bring back some chinese yarn for me.
Now, as happy as I am to get new yarns for stash addition, I realised a little too late that it's not a wise thing to ask a non-knitter to buy you yarn without specifications. Worse when you must pay for them. Oh, and I taught her to knit before, so I can safely say there's nothing wrong with her taste, it's just that she's pretty clueless about yarn quantity and price.
First she got me these yarns...


While they ARE beautiful(check out those tweeds!), they certainly are not chinese and they cost a total of about 70 bucks. What the heck can I do with a 40g skein of ribbon yarn anyway?
Then these...

are wool yarn from HYX that cost a staggering 15 bucks in total. Must.go.to.China.soon.
Problem? What should I knit with 500g of laceweight yarn???
Anyway, I AM happy to get these beautiful yarns, but I've learned my lesson. Next time, specify what you want.

Lately I've been spending my days and night working on Patsy while doing a Sex and The City marathon. I can't wait to finish something and cast on for something new!
Oh, I almost forgot, I've joined the Socktoberfest again! Woohoo! It should be fun because I've got tons of beautiful sock yarns in my stash that I'm just too lazy to knit up. But I'll only work on them after I'm done with Pomatomus....long long journey ahead.

Still catching up...

In my last post I mentioned about some great gifts I received and should've blog about weeks ago.Mimi sent me some amazing stuffs from her US trip!

Inside the pretty box there are 2 hanks of yummy Lorna's Laces Sheperd Sock in "Watercolor" that I've been wanting to try for ages, a skein of Bernat Cotton Tots that I used for the Flower Washcloth(see previous post), a pretty accessories box that's already overstuffed by now, a cute sheep tape measure that I've been wanting too, 2 delicious smelling soap, skin and bath products from L'occitane(my fav!) and some paper set. Amazing, no? I can't thank you enough, Mimi! My mom was so impressed that I've actually got a friend who'd send me something like this ;)

And that's not all, I've got my final package from my no-longer-a-secret-pal Amy! Check out these yummy yarns she sent me! 1 skein of Trekking XXL, 2 hanks of LL Sheperd Socks(yumyum!!), 1 hank of KP Memory and 2 skeins of KP Palette.

There's also a measuring tape pen that I like a lot, it's already in my pencilcase now. Thanks for being a great pal, Amy! I love the gifts you got me!

I'm feeling really lucky to be in this community, just look at these great friends that I find here!

Anyway, I've got some more small FOs to show you too!


Fat Bottom Bag
Pattern Source: Stitch N Bitch Happy Hooker
Yarn: Sirdar yarn I got from charity shop
Hook: 5.5 mm
Comments: I love this bag! It was easy and made good use of cheap acrylic yarn. The different flower pins give different feeling to it, don't you think? It's already claimed by my Mom anyway, but I might make one for myself ;)




Unnamed Scarf
Pattern source: Out of nowhere, but I think there's something similar in SnB book
Yarn: 4 skeins of Leisure yarn, it's 50% Australian wool and 50% acrylic
Needle: 4.00 mm bamboo circular
Comments: I cast-on for this scarf on my flight here. It's a nice mindless knit, using cabling without cable needle technique. I love how the yarn looks kinda tweedy when knitted up, however it's not the softest yarn ever, I hope a little bath would change that.
Anyway, the first picture of the scarf is taken on my room window, nice view huh?

Let's catch up...

Here comes the long long belated updates ;)
Upcoming first, the FOs!

Cherry
Pattern Source : Anna Bell
Yarn : Jo Sharp Dessert Cotton DK 7 skeins "Freesia"
Needle : 4.00 mm Addi
Comments : After almost a month I finally sew up the buttons for Cherry. My mom complained that the arm parts are too tight, but other than that, I think she likes it. In my family, we don't say "thank you" much, but I like to think that our appreciation towards each other are understood without the need of words. Anyway, she was a quick knit, though the pattern was a little confusing at the beginning. The yarn was really nice too, and also great value from WEBS sale.


Fetching
Pattern Source : knitty.com
Yarn : Debbie Bliss Maya 1 hank
Needle : 4.00 mm Addi
Comments : Don't worry, she's not alone, I just haven't got anybody who could take the pic of both my hands. The DB Maya has been sitting in my closet here at home for 8 months, so it feels good to finally use it. It was quite a quick knit, but took me a week because I knitted it during my trip to Penang and Singapore.


Spiral Madness
Pattern Source : Nona
Yarn : Rowan Kid Classic 2 skeins
Needle : 5.00 mm
Comments : This is a very belated birthday gift that I finally gave to my friend back in August. In case you're wondering, her birthday was back in March.


Flower Washcloth
Pattern Source : Weekend Knitting
Yarn : Bernat Cotton Tots
Needle : 4.00 mm
Comments : My very first washcloth ever! Can anyone tell me what it's for? Am I supposed to use it to dry my face or wet it with soap?

Now for the WIPs

I knitted this Booga Bag before I came back with the Noro Kureyon that my SP gifted me and planned to felt it after I got home. Well, at least I tried to felt it. After about 3 hours on strong cycle with 3 pairs of jeans and changing the water every half an hour because it keeps turrning blue, it's still not felted enough. I think I can blame my stupid washing machine for not having a hot wash cycle for that.


This is supposed to be a vest of some kind, but I'm not sure yet. The yarn is K1C2 Second Time Cotton, the plan is to combine it with K1C2 Truffle for accent.


Another Fetching, this time with much longer arm. Unlike the one above, this is one isn't getting any partner. Instead I'm going to knit a Panta to go with it as birthday present for my friend. She asked for a pair of gloves and a hat, but I said "No way " straight away. So she bargained and she got one long armwarmer and a hat. The thing is, I don't think I have enough yarn left for a hat, so a headband it is.


Meet Patsy, she is from Rowan 36(If I remember correctly). I just happened to have the exact yarn, which is Rowanspun 4 ply in the exact pink colour, though not exact amount. No big deal though, I think I can manage with a shorter sleeve. She is growing ever so slowly on my 3.25mm needles.

Now for the dye job. I managed to get my cousin to buy me some Koolaid before she came back from the USA, yay! I asked for some white Patons classic wool too, but instead she got me some novelty yarn from dollar bin.....you know how I feel about them, right? Anyway, these are just a few experiments.

Too bad I haven't got complete Koolaid colours, so no blues and purples for me. I didn't follow any tutorial exactly, just read lots of them and gather the information. Oh, for your information, I used microwave and plastic containers. Now I can't wait to knit them up, but I haven't got my ballwinders!

This post was written weeks ago, but I couldn't post it because the terrible internet connection back at home. Yeah....I'm back at the UK now! I'll elaborate on my next post, and I have to show off some amazing gifts I got too! My whole body is aching me....gotta go to sleep, cya!

I apologize that I haven't been such a good blogger ever since I came home. I blame the lack of proper internet connection for that.
Life hasn't been exactly busy, so here's a summary of what I've been doing so far
-Tried felting
-Tried Koolaid dyeing
-Went to Penang and bloat myself
-Bought buttons for Cherry
-Went to Singapore
-Knitted Fetching
-Cast on for Patsy
-Watched lots of drama
-Sleep late and wake up even later

That's pretty much it, I'll try to come back with a proper update. Can't promise it'll be anytime soon though. I guess I'm just spoiled ;)

Just my luck

I guess it's just my luck that the terrorists decided to give a bomb threat on the day I'm flying, from the world's busiest airport nonetheless.
It wasn't a pleasant experience I tell you, with extremely strict security and all that. We were given plastic bags to put our passport and money, and practically nothing else. So as if being faced with the longest queue I've ever seen in my life is not bad enough, I couldn't knit at all on the 12 hour flight!
Being understandably pissed off, I decided to make the best of it and watch as many movies and eat as much as possible. So now I'm having a mild jet lag and is definitely bloated.

This is Yuvee reporting from Changi Airport gate F54, till next time.

Goin' home

Just a short post to let you know that I'm leaving tomorrow!
And guess what? I haven't finished packing! Argghhh!! But I guess you all know it already ;p
I'm still thinking of what to knit on the plane....duh. Strange as it may sound, I'm actually not dreading the 16 hour flight this time. Can't wait to watch all those in-flight movies, because poor old me have only been to the cinema once in the 7 months I've been here.
Anyway, on knitting front, I haven't been knitting much lately. My weekend was mostly spent reading lots of novels, scaring myself with all those fiction thriller. Gosh, I never realised how much I missed reading. I used to read a lot but ever since I started knitting I don't read as much anymore. But now thanks to my hair clip, I can read while knitting.
Cherry is done too! I just have to go home and find the perfect buttons. I hope it's enough to keep my mom quiet when I'm buying yarn. Thank God I get to leave most of my stuffs here, my parents would've get heart attacks if they see my stash, which nowadays look scary even to me.
Well....I'll post again when I got home then ;) Cya!

Michelle, you can get the cardigan pattern from Phidar Tendances #443 from knitntyme.com . It comes with English instruction too.

A little joy...

Have you all got your Rowan 40 yet? I love this season's collection! I was hugging it yesterday after I went through bit again and again.
There are at least 10 designs that I want to knit this time, but most probably won't. Oh well, I'm going to make an effort to knit at least one then. One of the design that caught my eyes first was the Anna socks, so pretty! Then there are Cobweb, Eva, Sadie, Juno, etc etc...
So, which one is your favourite?