Knitting Box – Page 25 – I knit, I sew, I blog

Stranded

I have had a hankering for some colourwork lately, so when I found out about the Stranded Colorwork KAL I had to join in. I’m starting with Eunny Jang’s Endpaper Mitts pattern (and looks like I’m in good company, by the look of this list), with some Grignasco Bambi yarn in turquoise and light green. So far so good.

Speaking of stranded colourwork, here’s another one.

This is a hat that I’m knitting for one of my nephews, using some Cleckheaton Country Silk. I’m not using any pattern in particular, just following the basic hat recipe in Yarn Harlot‘s Knitting Rules! book. The fair isle pattern is my own, with my nephew’s name at the bottom section. And look, there’s a cupcake stitch marker of my own! Gifted to me by the talented Belinda.

11 December 2006

Four Things

Belinda tagged me for this meme. It’s been doing the rounds a while back, but I haven’t done it yet. So here we go!

Four Jobs Iâ€™ve Had:
– paper girl (I was one of those ppl giving out the City Weekly magazines in the city)
– typist
– website designer
– domestic engineer (a.k.a. housewife and mum 🙂 )

Four Movies I Could Watch Over & Over:
– Monsters Inc (I actually do watch this over and over since it’s Annette’s favourite at the moment)
– Lord of the Rings (all of them — yeah I know… that’s three movies)
– The Sound of Music
– Zoolander

Four Places I Have Lived (Apart From Where I am Now):
– Jakarta, Indonesia
– Sydney, AU (well I’ve been here for the past 12 years, but I had lived in 5 different suburbs)

Four TV Shows I Love:
– House
– Lost
– Desperate Housewives
– PlaySchool

Four Places I Have Been For a Vacation:
– Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea
– Indonesia — Bali, Java, Sumatra
– Australia — Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Blue Mountains
Unfortunately most of these were when I was a child traveling with my parents, so I don’t remember much about them. On my own, the farthest (from Sydney) I had been was Melbourne… My favourite place for a vacation is actually the Blue Mountains. I love mountains area.

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
– Bloglines
– Gmail
– Flickr
– Sydney Morning Herald

Four Favourite Foods:
– Pad Thai noodles
– Anything with smoked salmon, yum!
– Quiche lorraine
– Chocolate, of course

Four Places I Would Rather Be:
– In a restaurant, where other people cook for me
– In a comfy chair with a cuppa and my knitting, and no housework
– Book shop
– Traveling somewhere I haven’t been, because I love exploring — Tasmania, Europe, the States, etc, etc, etc
I often say to hubby that I’d like to live somewhere cold, where my knitted stuff would get more wear, and where he wouldn’t say to me, “A scarf, AGAIN???” and beg me to knit him a scarf instead. Ha!

Four People Iâ€™m Tagging:
If you haven’t done this yet and would like to, go for it, I’d love to know more about you. Consider yourself tagged!

7 December 2006

Toting Around

The library tote is done! The pattern is by Fiona Dalton from the Crafter’s Companion book, and is very well written and easy to follow. I love how it turns out, and have been carrying it with me on my walks with Annette, whether it’s to the library or not.

4 December 2006

Distractions

I have been enjoying reading bits and pieces from the Crafter’s Companion lately, and I thought I’d share some of my favourite projects from the book.

A fabrics basket, which would be really handy for carrying WIPs. Pattern by Sarah at The Small Object.

Library tote by Fiona at hop skip jump.

Elephant purse by Myra at my little mochi.

Market bag by Anna at twelve22. I really need one of these.

It was hard to pick my “favourites” because all the projects are lovely. There are 17 of them in this book, from 17 very talented crafters. It seems that I’m in a making bags mood at the moment. But really, there are more variety of patterns in the book — there’s a summer top, apron, quilted throw, book cover, patchwork purse, etc, to name just a few.

But this book is not “just” a pattern book. The centerpiece of the book is actually about the crafters. Each of them wrote about how they got started into crafting, what motivates them, how and where they work, and their sources of inspiration. I think this book itself is a great source of inspiration. I like looking at pretty things (and thinking of how I can make them), and there is certainly no shortage of that in the book. If you’ve been reading some of the crafters’ blogs (all of the ones featured in the book has one, if not a shop as well), you will be familiar with their work (the patterns in the book are new though). Even so, this book gives further insight into their work process and what it is about crafting that they love. For example, the following are some of my favourite quotes from the book:

“The worst times of my life, looking back on it now, have come from when I wasn’t able to — physically or emotionally — be creative. That’s why I don’t know how to answer the question, ‘where do you find the time to do so much?’ which I hear a lot. It’s like asking me how I have time to sleep or eat food. I just do.”
(p16. Amy at angrychicken)

“For most of us, time is a very precious commodity; it is so nice to receive something that someone has poured some of hers into. Knowing that she’s probably spent that time thinking of you and what you might like to receive makes it extra special. When an e-mail is the norm, there is such charm in receiving a hand made gift or card.”
(p38. Fiona at hop skip jump)

“The laundry, the meals, the grocery shopping, etc. are just a never-ending cycle and it’s hard to feel any sense of accomplishment when it never seems to be done. When I craft I end up with something tangible. I have something that says, ‘Look what I did!'”
(p30. Cassi at belladia)

How true indeed.

And look, a WIP! I love this book so much I have started making something from it already.

Fabrics already cut, ready to be turned into a library tote.

24 November 2006

Now for a matching pair…

Child’s First Sock is no longer mate-less. I finished the second sock last Saturday. This sock has really been an enjoyable knit and I love how the shell motif look. This pair took just 1 ball of the Grignasco Bambi yarn, with plenty left over. I probably could have added one or two more repeats if I wanted to. But I’m happy with the length as it is. They fit well too, except that the cuffs are a bit loose. That’s my fault, I should have casted on fewer stitches when I decided to make the socks shorter. Oh well, I still like them.

While I didn’t finish many socks in Socktoberfest, I did get inspired to knit more socks! Next up, I want to make myself a pair of the famous Pomatomus, in a semi-solid coloured yarn, I think. But that will have to wait until I have my gift knitting done. I just realised a few days ago, that I only have about half a month to finish the Jess cardi for my mum and hats for my nephews so that I can send them off in time for Christmas.

14 November 2006