12.11.10

Last time I missed the 10.10.10... and I missed again the 10.11.10... so I vowed to 'stamp' an entry (at least) on a day in 2010 with a nice date.  You might be wondering why my blog was updated with 'silent entries' lately, but I assure you that my craft projects are still going on and off...  There are quite a number of projects that are presentable, but I still need to add some finishing touches (ha ha... it's the idealist vs realist thingy...).  And apart from exploring yarn projects, I did venture into sewing! :-)

As the title indicates something with a decreasing order... I'm actually counting my days to finish my study, with LOTS of work yet to be done!  Guess you have figured out the cause of the silent entries... so, wish me luck! ;-)

Tips #2 - Part II

So here I am... trying to solve the puzzle...

I began to analyze the tricks behind using DPNs and adequate length of circular needles; the bottom-line is that you must be able to divide the stiches equally among the needles (or on the cable for the circular needles - this can be a bit tricky) so that you can work as usual on some part of the fabric while leaving some parts on the other needles/cable on hold, and you have to do this in turns.  I only have two pairs of circular needles (3.5 and 4.5 mm) of 60 cm in my possession, but they are not long enough to allow me to move (and shift) comfortably between the parts that I'm working on and the part on hold.  So I decided to invest on two new pairs of circular needles (this time, 4mm - BOTH!).  I divided the stitches into two equal parts on different cables as I knit; I guess this is the closest I can get to using DPNs (yea... yea.. they are also double-pointed, with cable in between the needles :p  ).  Note that I'm using two pairs of circular needles for this purpose, but only a pair of circular needles are involves at a time as I knit in turns, and this is what I got:

And the end result:

 

.. a heightened level of satisfaction; for I can defeat the shortness of (tools) supplies in achieving my goal of... seamless bootie! HA HA

(*Note: you need to take extra care not to leave the adjacent stitches (the last and the first stitches) too loose; otherwise this will produce a bigger gap as compared to other stitches... and I just found out that this is referred to as 'ladders'. Well, at least I don't have to sew the seam anymore!)

Tips #2 - Part I

I'm missing my yarn projects already!  I have two FOs that need to be photographed, but I don't feel like setting up my camera just yet... so I guess I can release my restlessness by updating my blog ;-)

This time I'd like to share another tips that I learnt as I was knitting baby booties.  I began to learn knit a bootie the easiest way - by knitting a 'flat' (yeah... almost flat, except for the toe shape) fabric and sewing both sides using a tapestry needle.  You only need two (normal) knitting needles of the right size, and this is just perfect for a knitter with a very limited gadget (a.k.a the beginner).  In the beginning this is very satisfying, as you can knit booties with just two needles.  However, as (ehemm...) I grew more skillful (ehemmm...) - more than often, I felt the urge to defer the sewing part until it was really needed.  Why? Simply due to the fact that you have to be extra careful not to create a crease as you stitch the seam.

I 'googled' to find solutions for seamless booties, and yes; you could knit the booties 'in rounds'.  In other words, you can knit around and around - creating 'seamless' booties and therefore save you the sewing process.  However, there are only two ways I found to knit in rounds; either by using at least three double-pointed needles (DPNs - they are usually sold in pack of four) or... using circular needles with adequate length of  cable.  And yeah, there is another way - by using a knitting loom (don't ask me how... I can't imagine how it works!).  Great... all are not in my possession right now... and a trip to the nearest craft supply store proved to be less successful...

Well... I am not going to be defeated by the limited supply of tools in my quest for a seamless bootie!!!  Should I pay more for postage than the tools from ebay stores?? Or... is there any other way around...???

... stay tuned for Part II ...

Ribbed booties

I made the first half of the booties some time ago, that time only to test the pattern involving 'brioche' stitch.  I managed to finished the second half to complete the pair last weekend - and this is the result:

... anybody interested? Going once... going twice....

July 2010 Booties

This is another pair of booties that I made in... err, end of June, but were fully completed in early July. Not that they are complicated; in fact they are quite the opposite, actually. It's just me who is a slow-knitter, I guess, and have to admit that being quite a perfectionist makes matters worst in a way. But look at the booties:

... aren't they just adorable?  ( Sorry again, these are also taken... )

June 2010 Booties - Part II

Now this is the second booties that I made in June.  I really like the shape and texture - so nice, soft and fluffy!

If only they could snugly fit my feet that are not so little anymore... :D
And, yeap... these are taken as well ;-)

June 2010 Booties - Part I

I've been very busy lately with my studies... but my craft projects are still on - during the weekends and at times when I needed time to think. So here's a couple of finished projects during the time I was 'missing' (MIA??? probably...)

The first one:

A pair of pink booties, made with cotton yarn and 4mm needles.  The interesting thing is that they can be worn both ways (reversible) depending on whether you like them to show:

 

... the Garter stitch side, or...

... the Stockinette stitch side.

Err... sorry to say that these booties are taken! ;-)

Another new bootie!

First time I saw this design, I thought it may involve rib stitch... Never heard before a stitch called 'brioche' stitch - some may refer this as 'prime rib' or 'brioche rib'. Yes, it also produces rib but a fluffier one.  Learning to knit a 'brioche' bootie is a whole new experience for me, and a whole lot fun!  Look what I got...

 

New bootie!

Got a request from a friend... a new kind of bootie that I haven't tried before.  Inspecting the given photo, I think I can easily (huh... what a boast!) modify the bootie pattern that I regularly used to produce it... but... on my first try, I got a very wide toe area. :p ... not skilled enough afterall!! :D

So I started the toe area again... this time reducing the stitch to shape the toe.... and what do I get?  A newly finished bootie, one side only:

... yeay!!!

Sneakpeek - May2010

I thought I've mentioned that I was looking for a simple knitting project, no?  I found a pattern involving cables that caught my interest.  I'm working on it... slowwwwwwly... :D

Will probably finish in a week or two... -> complicated??? Nah... load balancing and prioritizing between 'must-do' and 'can-do'... 'most important' and 'important'...

Add-on for Angah's bag

The original bag could use an embellishment or two, don't you think? It looks kind of 'plain' (although it has stripes) ;-)

I used the daisy flower to make it cheerful - how about this:

Happy Mother's Day

I crocheted a flower (daisy???) and snapped a picture:

I should have put something like "Greetings... from Ann's Craft" or something... coz it really looks like a greeting card :D.  Anyway Happy Mother's Day to all great mothers out there!

A new bag

Look... the bag that I started a few weeks ago is finally done  (please note that I'm not a full-time crocheter, eh... ).  This time I'm using sc around - need to take extra care when changing colours so that it is not obvious.  I sew a zipper at the opening as Angah has requested...  And the handles - a YouTube tutorial on 'foundation single crochet' or 'fsc' is very helpful; I can just continue crocheting around even at the handles.

Now Angah can have her new bag... but Adik also want a bag too! Waa... another project to the list???

Stash of yarn

Last night, I noted an empty plastic container that nobody claimed ownership (yet!). My initial guess is that it'll be big enough to house my whole yarn stash. Well, well... turned out that I have to squeeze the yarns close together to avoid them from spilling! Still, some of them need to queue up for some empty space (if any - later on...) to be in the basket.

... now, where're my purple and lilac yarns...? MIAs!

Hmm... I'm resisting the temptation to start a new project... and the fact that it has been quite a while since I finished up a knitting project makes the temptation even stronger!  Perhaps a simple knitting project won't hurt??? But time is very precious... we'll see about that... ;-)

Duckie!

This is another FO. A very simple project using sc, some increase and decrease, and joining front and back pieces together. Now, who's that lucky person to have this cute yellow Duckie???

Pink Slippers

These pink slippers were crocheted for Adik as a substitute for her request for a pair of 'baby booties'

-> I wonder how she'll look like in a pair of booties (her size!) :D

Another FO - re: Sneakpeek April 2010

Yeay... another accomplishment! Managed to downscale the original 'Travelling Woman' shawl pattern into roughly half of its original size:

~ Mini 'Travelling Woman' Shawl ~

~ close-up of the lace ~

I was so eager to see the finished object but the reality is: I really need to focus on my school work right now... so I need to find a way to do my hobbies without getting in the way! (Otherwise... I'm finished!)

Acknowledgment:

Thanks to Iklima for lending me the tacks for blocking, and Encho for the encouragement and praises.  You gals rock!

Pencil case for Angah

It was after I finished Adik's cardigan that Angah came to me and asked me to do something for her. A cardigan for her size will take longer to knit so I did something that she can use for school; a pencil case.

This is my own pattern - only single crochet was used, even the sides!

My first ever.. knitted cardigan

I know that I should be writing something else... but it's as if there's a big magnet that draws me to write this post.  This is my first try on a cardigan... a knitted cardigan.  Finished long before I did my crocheted 'cropped' cardigan.  At that time, I was very new to knitting, but I took my chances on this pattern out of curiosity  (never mind the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat'... ) he he he

No cat was killed during the days involved to finish this cardigan.  Only my pocket hurt a bit; in exchange for yarns, markers and a circular needle.  Some stitches are missing, but all in all, I managed to knit the cardigan - yeah!!! And Adik loves her cardigan very much! 

The pattern is suitable for beginners.  It involves garter stitch, stockinette stitch and eyelets. Since I didn't have a slightest idea on how different parts will be assembled into a single cardigan, it was really fun when it was time to do so.  To those who haven't try knitting (or crocheting) a garment, find one - start with something small like baby's or toddler's size, and have fun!

Sneakpeek - April 2010

This is my current work-in-progress:

~ preview of another WIP ~

Originally this is just a try-out for a new pattern that involves lace that I haven't had the courage to venture into before this.  Never thought that I could produce something like this (ahaks!).  A close-up of the pattern is shown here:

Stay tuned for the finished object!

A substitute for a marker

I did buy a packet of markers but they are not fully used. They sort of get in my way when I was crocheting or knitting. In some cases, the weight simply pull the yarn down and ... well, when you don't like something... the list will go on, won't it? :P

However, crocheting in circle with a marker may help you keep track of the number of stitches easily. So I used a strand of yarn (or two) with contrasting colour in place for the marker, like this:

Hope it works with you gals too!

Coins in a sack

I found a knitting free pattern for baby's hat some time ago that really looks like a sack - a very nice one indeed. I probably have downloaded the pattern but... no FO was produced from the pattern yet :D

Then one day, my daughter told me that she lost her purse (againn??? *sigh*) at school. Well, no point to fret for that... lost things hardly find their way back, especially if they 'wondered' somewhere inside a primary school compound. My mind starts finding alternatives for a purse (err.. purses, to be exact) so that they would 'last' longer. Surely enough, a thought of using yarn came immediately to my mind and... these are what I made:


... crocheted mini sacks, perfect to hold coins that are both flexible and durable. Moreover, they are washable and can be easily produced over and over again. Most importantly, they are less eye-catching to the sharp-eyed cute-purse-predators around... Believe me, mini sack lasts longer compared to cute purse... muahahaha!

Adik's hat

Adik's hat... as mentioned earlier. All hats were used during our recent holiday on an island. ;D

Hats

I'm in a bit of a hurry. Just to update new photos of my recent FOs:

Angah's new hat, and...

mine!

Adik had her own hat, of course - you can see the glimpse of her hat from my profile picture (will upload that later). Now, we can head to the beach... see ya!

Cotton yarn samples

I've been searching high and low for cotton yarn supplier nearby. Yes, if you're looking hard enough, you might be able to find what you are looking for... like cotton yarns! However, they might not be available at the nearby physical store but, online! The world is without border :D


These are cotton yarn samples that I received from Ayza, specially wrapped and tagged ~ a big THANKS from me!

And who knows, you can meet new friends like Ayza and Hernik whom I believe share some common interests like I do. Well, yarns can bring wonders! ;-)

Hat on Teddy

This is my first crocheted hat. Found a free pattern that is both easy and interesting; the things lacking are the choice of yarn and suitable needle size for this project. Even with using double yarns, the hat only fits Teddy's head. Lucky Teddy! :D

Here comes the hat

Yeah... after the baby booties, I made baby hats. This is one of the hats that I completed, specially made for baby Alisha.

Hmm... looks like there's quite an empty space on the left, isn't it? Actually that space was reserved for the booties.


Knitted booties + a crocheted hat... awww... what a pair! (I see Alisha's photo wearing the hat @Fb... soo adorable! Baby and hat, of course... LOL)

Booties... for lovely babies

This is a picture of a pair of booties that I managed to prepare for my nephew two weeks ago:

"Welcome to the world, Nephew!"

It all started when we (the 'KnitCrochet' club members) were admiring the cable knit on a machine-made garment worn by the President of the Club - everybody was wondering how the cable was created. Thanks to the Internet, where the world is without border, I found a simple tutorial on knitting cables. I found yet another pattern online - baby booties with cables - an ideal project to test the cable!! What do you know... soon after, these pairs were produced:


The red ones - don't they look like Santa's?? :D

A ball... of yarn

Yawn... soooo sleepy... The image above was the remains of a recent UFO - almost finish! However, it turned out to be too big for me so I decided to un-crochet the UFO. Hmmm... what to do with it? Let's see if the ball will eventually turn into something... wonderful to wear.

Cropped Cardigan

Yeah... finally! Remember the February Sneakpeak? I managed to finish a major project - a cropped cardigan; a modification of short sleeve jacket which (a free pattern) was found from Lion Brand. Ehmmm.... excuse me... although I don't intend to give promotion to any party whatsoever, I feel that I owe them a token of appreciation for a wonderful pattern and a forum called Crochet Along (CAL) to help you better understand the pattern and how to use it.


... can show off to my friends tomorrow ;-) .. buttons can come in later :D

I used just a strand of yarn (instead of two as instructed) for two major reasons:
1. I'm not living in a 4-seasons country and the weather is hot most of the time... and
2. It was hard to find suitable yarn like cotton (to match the weather) in my hometown
So, therefore I just use whatever is available and the result is roughly twice as much stitches needed compared to the original pattern. Hmm... so the amount of time taken to finish the project? Two years... from Dec 2009 to Feb 2010! Whoa!!!

Well... it's not exactly a solid 3 months lah... Come thinking of it, I just do it on and off, over the weekend... and sometimes a few '10-minutes' at night when I was restless... Too tired to go through my 'homework' (yeah.. yeah... I'm still at school, what...), yet part of my mind is still 'engaged' with things at school... The remedy? Toying with yarn, of course! And what do you know... a handful of yarns could slowly merged into something wonderful (ahak!!)... like my 'cropped' cardigan.

Sneakpeek - February 2010

I'm working on a yarn project. So far, it seems quite promising but still needs some finishing touches. In the meantime, I'll show you the 'intermediate' result:



Hopefully I'll be able to finish it during the CNY break. Oh ya.. Happy New Year to all Chinese friends out there... Have a roaring Tiger Lunar new year!

Picking up knitting

One day, I was inspired by a friend who showed me her knitting project. Little did I know that a knitting (and crocheting) frenzy was hitting some people around me at that time. Not planning to be left behind, I searched high and low for the knitting needles that I once have (supposed to be my daughter's, but I turned out to be the primary user! HA HA ) and started a simple free project that I downloaded from the Internet. It was supposed to be an 'easy+' project - a simple project for beginner with a hint of excitement involving some patterns at the back and front. Basically, it is a combination of purl, knit (k), yarn over (yo) and slip, slip, knit (ssk). However, since I have to refresh my knitting skills and find a comfortable way to handle the needles after sooo many years, I felt sooo.. awkward! LOL

This is where I learnt so many things like a simple way to cast on stitches (thanks to Encho!), binding off and sewing pieces together. I didn't have any double pointed needles so I skipped knitting the cord. As a replacement, I found a nice piece of ready-made cord at one of the stores nearby and here is the outcome:

How time flies...

... what? It's been 27 days since my last post? Oh, no... I'm not abandoning my blog... help!

I've been pretty much occupied with my 'mission' lately - not really in the mood to write something creative for quite some time. Still crocheting every now and then, but I presume my latest project will take at least 2 years to complete (end of 2009 till 2010??) - if it did not turn out to be another UFO... LOL

Anyway, wish me luck for my 'mission'... and for other projects as well.

2010

Happy New Year!

Was helping someone find this video last year - which was only yesterday. Well... I kinda like this song ...


Shannon Noll's 'Shine'