Thinking about knitting all the time!

I think about knitting all the time and I have to say that it's a pleasure for me to find hand knitted things! This past Saturday , on my way to the bookstore to buy the latest Interweave knits magazine , I saw something new on the streets. Imagine how excited I was to find a stall selling hand knitted items. I was thinking so much about knitting and perhaps that's why these knitted finger puppets appeared in my sight:

Aren't they so cute? Well, handling the puppets in my left fingers and taking a photo with the right hand was a bit hard. So here is a better view,

I had to buy a few as they come from the other side of the world.. Can you imagine that these puppets were made in Amazon, Brazil. Delighted as much as the little teenagers girls besides me I had a hard time to choose among little socks, witches, birds and various cartoon characters. My favorite is the white sheep ( alpaca?) made of seed stitch.
The seller is originally from Amazon and travels around the world selling hand crafted articles. His next stop will be in Thailand and South Korea.

Next, I will present my forgotten Topaz cardi ( taupe one). I finished it a month ago but i was undecided on the buttons( yes, I used my Swarovski buttons) and was waiting to take a better picture. However, the weather will not bring any good weather this week, only clouds and rain. So I think I will just show it now. Btw, I wore it on my belated bday dinner and I think it was cozy and comfortable.

I only wished that I had used a thicker and new yarn. Remember this yarn was an unraveled one from the bolero I was knitting some time ago? The frogged yarn was used for the back and I can tell the sts don't look so even compared with the the sleeves and the front that I knitted with a new yarn.

Pattern: Puppy winter 2005 book
Yarn: On line - Linie 39 Kaschemerino
Italian yarn ( wool/cashmere/acrylic) 8 balls
Needle: Japanese 7 (4.2mm)
Modifications: I've enlarged the cardi in general to fit my yarn. Also, I had to redo the sleeve caps as they are always small for me. I wished that the botton part of the sleeves had a more visible bell shape but it was hard to recalculate the pattern.

Thank you all for the supportive messages on my last post! They truly gave me a good encouragement to move on my Cotton Candy project. Have you notice that I am in better spirit today? :D
I think it's because I got the border in place and finally the leaves don't seen to be so twisted. The sewing process of the border wasn't as bad as I predicted and I even got the border bottom matched with the rest of the front border ( improved mending skills?). Take a look at my border, please!
Ah, nothing like comforting words from knitting friends! ;)

In search of knitting fairies

I've been so unlucky with my knitting lately! Nothing seems to be working...:(
So I think I am in need of help, from knitting fairies? I haven't given up yet but taking things a part are not fun but rather frustrating. I thought my latest lilac (lavender?) cardi was coming up nicely but the front turned out so skinny. I tried to stretch it and convincing myself that an additional border would help until the reality was so obvious.
I started another project on Monday with hopes to regain my confidence. It just happened that on Sunday, I found Jaeger Luxury Tweed on sale . It was a difficult task to choose a color as all their shades are so pretty. I almost walked out with two colors but with some control I only bought a bag of China Pink which reminds me of cotton candy, so soft and yummy. As usual, I could not wait to knit with the new yarn and this time I had a good excuse to knit it right away as I had no major WIP, at least not any working well.
I used double yarn and Japanese needle size 10 ( 5mm ) as advised by the saleslady. I don't enjoy so much thick yarn but the idea of a quick knit wasn't so bad after all. I started with the usual back side and the first attempt turned out very big and I had to unravel it. Sighs, no knitting fairy around! I just had to start it again and with positive thinking I got this far:

The design is from a Japanese book "Sweater Collection" published in 2003. It looks like to be a reprint because the cut of the patterns look somehow outdated.

Right now, I am a bit worried about the uneven border formed by the big leaves. Hopefully, the ribbed border will help to straight it out.
It's definitely a winter cardi, I wonder how it would knit as a single strand. One thing that i didn't enjoy much was the fact that a lot of white hair were shedding all over. I would not advise this yarn if you are an allergic person. I am hoping that it will stop eventually.

As I don't know the existence of any knitting fairies, I'll hope that these flower fairies extent their luck to my knitting!

Here is a close up,

I simply adore my new fairies. Did you notice the left one is a tulip fairy and the right orange one is a hawthorn fairy? I have been searching for them for a long time and to my surprise I found them a month ago just nearby a yarn shop. I was waiting for the yarn shop to open and while window shopping the nearby stores I spotted these figurines. As I only had heard about it from my sister I had no visual clues. Indeed, I found my flower fairies and I hope they will double as my knitting fairies too! ;)

In the mood for leaves

I am back! I've recovered and I just can't wait to go back to my knitting routine. Thank you, my friends, for sending me "get well" wishes! Although, I was physically weak, my spirits were lifted by the nice encouragements from your messages.

The next day, I worked hard on starting a new project. Leaves, I'm in the mood for more leaves...For a long time I have been dreaming to knit this from the cover of "New Style of Heirloom knitting". I even bought the Rowan Lilac yarn thinking about it. Somehow, i just love those leaves. Don't you? I knitted the border and about half way through the first leaf pattern I had to stop it because the pattern was so small and my eyes were having difficulties to focus on the little grids. I wonder if my eyesight has declined due to my illness or it was just a coincidental time. I waited for couple days but still felt too tired to go out to enlarge the pattern. Then, i decided that i need to knit , see a faster progress and be able to memorize a pattern, so that my eyes could rest a bit. Without too much hesitation, I unravelled it and restarted another cardi instead. I found another pattern with leaves and this one is not so intricated.


This cardi is from World knitting, Winter 2003. And i was right, after a couple of leaves i didn't need to follow pattern. See, the back is all done. Now, i am working on the left front. It has a odd shape as the sides curl inwards. Well, I have to say that i should had enlarged or used a thicker yarn instead. As long i keep my weight , it should be fine. :) This Rowan yarn is such a nice yarn but also so thin.


I will then postpone the original pattern for next winter. I am so glad that i finally got to knit a design from this book. I have a tendency to buy all the knitting books that i see in the shelves and if i don't get to knit anything from it , i feel so guilty...

I've been waiting so anxiously for the Spring books to arrive. And finally,this week, I received my AMU book and the newest Spring Keitodama. Hmm, i have to say that i am trying hard to enjoy the designs. I hope that the other Spring/Summer books will be nicer.

My knitting corner

Thank you all for the happy bday wishes! I will have to postpone my celebrations as DH got tied up at work again. Just as he had planned that we should have a week of commemorations ( to make up for his busy schedule) I got sick with some kind of stomach flu. I passed to the rest of my family, one by one. Just my younger son was spared as he's away in a hip hop dancing camp with his friends.It hit me so bad that I could not even KNIT. So I will not advise my knitting friends to knit while sick as I used to. I have not been ill like this for the past 10 years! It always sounded so logic to me that be bedridden was the best excuse to knit. I did try for a good part of the day, not really realizing how bad I was until I fell apart and finally agreed that I was really sick and with fever.By now we all seem to be in better shape, just with bugs there is not much that we can do besides resting more. Well, I can knit now.... ;)
Since knitting was not the best choice ( I did started some new ones but nothing worked by the end), I opted to flip through my knitting magazines and realized that I should be going for a magazine diet. Would be hard though with the new Spring ones coming out....

I've been tagged by Lyn some time ago about my knitting place. Thank you for remembering me Lyn, but sorry for the delay, it took me a while to post it . It was due to the rush of the new year events that left me postponing the post.

So here is a little peak into my favorite spot! Yes, it's by my bedside.

Maybe one day, I could have my dream room, Mimi's knitting corner... Yes, I dream of having a room that has a cabinet full of beautiful and colorful yarns, knitting books, all my knitting accessories and a mannequin! Nearby, a nice and comfortable chair in a good lighting and nice view....
Although, DH was not certain that he would like to have a mannequin around. The thought of a headless body in the house was not very attractive to him. :D But then there would be no need of me holding up my creation by the mirror and my final project could be displayed for my own pleasure view .
My boys are growing up faster than I can keep track of and the older one will be off to college in less than 4 years, then I will have spare rooms. Thinking it over, it wouldn't be a so happy trade-off. Like i earlier mentioned, my younger ones has been away for less than 3 nights and I already miss him!
I have a space in the hallway of our second floor where I keep most of my yarn in plastic containers and also have a book shelf for my knitting books. It was an attempt to use it for my own corner, or at least, I called it "mine" when I first moved in this place. It's large enough for my knitting corner. However, I had to put a large table there to accommodate my boys' computers. DH ordered them out of their rooms so that supposedly I could supervise my boys while they were using their computers for homework instead of chatting with their classmates. Besides, I also need the space for ironing my clothes and you can have an idea that it's not easy to keep this corner in order! ( sorry no pictures, you guessed it right, it's in a mess now with all the clothes that I did not iron this week). I can't knit well in a messy environment.

So to makeup for my lost space, I tried to fix this little corner by my bedside, which I onlyoccasionally seat there. I don't know why, maybe the chair is not comfy enough or could be that the bed looks cozier and softer.

Sorry, no knitting pictures in this post. I finished the taupe cardi ( on the day I was really sick, I mended it, i think, that is why the result is not so neat.
Well, I hope I did not bored you with this "no knitting" post and the news that I am sick. Hopefully, I will have better things to share on my next post.
Have a great weekend!

Adding purple-lilac palette to my yarn stash

Finally, I am able to post as I am home alone! With my kids off from school, CNY and a last minute trip, knitting and bloging also got their little break. Not that I wanted one from them...

Thanks for the comments about my FOs from the previous post, it always make my day shining as I receive the nice messages! I had the chance to wear my colourway sweater for the CNY even though it was considerably a warm evening. As for the taupe sweater, I run out of yarn ( yes, it happens to me very often) and that was a good excuse to put aside for a while. I should work on it very soon as I am almost done. Just need to finish the top 1/4 of a sleeve cap.

I just came back from a vacation from Singapore Friday evening. My boys wanted so much to visit it again and DH though it was a good idea for us to have a break. I am not used to go abroad without DH but Singapore is very convenient and safe for us. I even let the boys by themselves for hours while I shopped ( bad mom?). Well, I had to let them shop their sporting goods in exchange of my free time. Talking about shopping, I did it until I dropped because I wanted to stop by in all the places I missed at Orchard road and my foot got swollen every consecutive night. Imagine 10 hours of walking per day, even the most comfortable shoes would hurt!

The best part of my trip was that I had the chance to meet Erin! I had so much fun spending the day with her. She is just a nice and sincere lady. Even we had only exchanged emails, our encounter was just like we were old friends. There were just so much to talk and know about each other and of course, knitting ideas to exchange and wips to show ( yes, we both had ours in our bag) . We went to two LYS , Arab Street, Tanglin mall and finished at Takashimaya. She must had been very tired after a day of shopping with me! Even my boys were so lucky, they got CNY red pocket ( ang pow) from her. Thank you Erin for the wonderful time!

Now let me share my yarn purchase with you,

On the left is Filatura Di Crosa Millefili Fine ( 100% cotton) in mauve and off white. In the middle section is the Japanese yarn Egypt-Super ( 100% cotton) in pale pink and light lilac. From the right top is Filatura Di Crosa, Ramie (70% Ramie and 30% wool) ( it was an unusual sale according to Erin). On the bottom right is Rowan 4 ply soft ( 100% merino wool) in lilac.
Have you notice the tendency of colors here? So lilac , isn't it? Somehow, when I was selecting the colors nothing but the palette of lilac was appealing to me!

I also want to show my precious finding of Swarovski buttons,

I have been thinking about them and not knowing where they were available. But now, here they are, in my possession ! :) They are so pretty but unfortunately it's hard to photograph them because of the shining reflection. My favorite are the white transparent ones with iridescent effect.

And to convince you that I am really into the purple - lilac shade, some more yarn that I bought last month ,














On the left is a Japanese yarn that looks similar to the Noro Silk Garden. Mine is also a mix of silk and wool. It feels a bit rough but the color is so nice. I've yet to find a suitable design for it . On the right is just merino wool. I think I have plenty of lilac shade to indulge for the next few years! :D

Yesterday, I got to be an year older! Just a numeric feeling this year, not feeling so old!;) My sis had surprised me with this package that she put together from her trip to Europe.
And sure it made my day! It's all my favorite things !

There are the yarns, perfumes, bath salts, chocolate, tea ( green tea with mango!) and also some knitting magazines!

And last I will show a scarf in progress. It took me two hours of plane time to decide what design to knit. It's hard, at last moment I found that I didn't had a good project to take along to the trip. Once I was settled, I was so contented because it made the flight more enjoyable! I had no problems with the security, even my metal crochet needle was ok! :)