Pages

Monday, October 31, 2005

a pair of sockS


Yep, that's right. I finally finished a PAIR of sockS. Woohoo!!
Thanks to Janet for the yarn, Anna for the beautiful pattern and Lolly for hosting Socktoberfest. Without them, I would have to wear different socks on each foot. Ehm....not that I would mind.
What about another picture?

I finished another TWO FOs during the weekend, but they're both unblocked, so I'll show them later ;)

Well, my dad originally wanted to come here to see me, but since I'll be busy preparing for the prom(the decorating, not the shopping), he decided not to come. BUT then, today he told me that he's going to Hong Kong tomorrow. Not just him actually, but my whole family. Not fair! I haven't been to Hong Kong for 4 years!
I'll be visiting Singapore again soon though, so...I'll make it up by buying some more nice yarn for myself ;D
I don't think I'll have much time to knit this week, but after the prom (which is next Monday), I'll be free, really free. I originally wanted to stay here longer, but since most of my friends are leaving, and those who stay only intend to be with their bf, I might as well go back to Jakarta earlier, get myself a sewing machine, and have some fun!

Happy Halloween everyone!

P.S : Thank you very much for everyone's comments and supports on my last post. I really appreciate it :)

Saturday, October 29, 2005

I'm a high school graduate

and I'm so sad now.
We had an amazing graduation ceremony this morning, with lots of laughters and tears. Everything was so special and touching. Everyone hugged, and some cried together. I didn't cry, I never cry like that, I need to be alone and let everything sink before I can cry. Like now.
I'm feeling so lost. Thinking that I might not be able to meet lots of people ever again.
Thinking that I won't be coming back here again in a long long time. Everything won't be the same anymore.
In a part of my speech today, I said, " Saying good bye is never easy, but we have to go, because we still have a long journey ahead of us." True enough, everyone will go to our own separate ways. Some are lucky enough to go together. They'll go to Taiwan, Singapore, KL, US, Aussie, etc. And I'll go alone to UK. I really hope that I'll like it there. It's been my dream since I was 14.
I know that I'll miss this place a lot. This little island where I have spent 7 years of my life. 7 precious years.
Did you all feel this way when you graduated?
Anyway, what can cheer up a girl better than chocolate in this kind of time? And my SP sure knows that. Look what I got in the mail today.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Thanks dear, you got it just in time when I needed it the most ;)
I'll have a time off for myself for this weekend, then it's back to work with decorating our school hall for the prom, busy busy me.

Notes : I'll remember this day for the rest of my life.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

S.E.X...

...virtually on eBay.
Care for some yarn porn?

Image hosted by Photobucket.com Image hosted by Photobucket.com
A pack of Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool in shade Chocolate. Not exactly my colour, but I just had a sweater idea in mind. Anyway, I accidentally cut some of the yarn when I opened the package, ugh.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Some bamboo goodness....yummy yummy yarn.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Some Summer Tweed just got here today...feels a little weird to my touch, like it's lifeless...hopefully will get better when knitted.
And 2 skein of laceweight yarn from Ukraine. I was thinking of a lace shawl, but the yarn is really fine, I'm not sure I can handle it now.

Yeah, judge on my self control now.

Hey, guess what? My exam IS over. Finally. No more studying till next year, yipee!!
Uhm...don't ask me how the exam went, please.
And I can finally call myself a high school graduate in 2 days. I hate being late, most of my primary school friends are in university or college now. But whatever, I get to relax for one year extra anyway.
"What next??" you might ask.
Let me tell you then, Art and Design Foundation in Brighton, UK. YAY!!
It'll be some kind of transition phase for me, I'm hoping that it can help me decide on whether I really want to take design as a degree. Or what matters more, whether I have the talent.

Enough talking, remember my Kiri? The pretty one, that's too small for me that I had to endure the pain of frogging the lace edging AND putting it back on needle. What strain it gave my eyes. Well, I finally blocked it yesterday.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Isn't she a beauty? I used up almost a hank of Shimmer for the 5 repeats I added.

And....for the Socktoberfest I knitted Elfine Socks, using the pretty pattern from Anna, thanks!!
Ohh...lookie here, we have not just a sock, but one and a half socks!!
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
The yarn is from Janet, my SP5. Thanks dear, for supporting me to cast on for the second sock for the first time!! SSS? Bah!
Too bad the yarn and the pattern don't get along really well. I can hardly see the leaves pattern on that splash of crazy colours.

I also started a scarf with Colinette Giotto. It's my first experience with ribbon yarn, and it's getting really messy. I'm not following any pattern, just mixing openwotk with dropped stitch. It'll become a quiet funky scarf, I think. I'll show you when there's more to it.

I'm expecting Clapotis to be done soon. By soon I mean in another half an hour or so. Well, expect an FO report soon, then.

*cough* I'm having sore throat and runny nose. Gotta drink piles of water.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Dear SP,

THANK YOU!!!
Look what I got in the mail 2 days ago...

I really wanted this book, thanks SP!!
Actually, the only thing that makes me really wanted it is the sweater on the cover ;) I LOVE those cables. It's knitted with Rowan Wool Cotton, and that's why I bought 15 skeins of it, but sadly it's part of the yarn that got lost. But maybe I'll knit a vest with my Knitpicks Merino Style using that pattern *happy*
And this is what I got today...

More Jaeger Trinity!! The colour will look great with the one that you gifted me last time ;) There's also a Body Shop soap, moonflower, definitely my favourite Body Shop scent, and a delicious mango-peach lip balm, yumm....Wait, there's more! A really adorable Nici photo frame. For those of you who don't know, Nici is a sheep with a big mouth, cute!
Anyway, pal, what you said about unexotic yarn choices, I'm pretty sure you'll learn fast ;) Be careful with online stores and ebay though, you'll get addicted(and I'm a a good living example).

Well, on the knitting side, I've finished "enlarging" Kiri. Now I think it's a decent shawl size. I haven't blocked it though, don't think I have that much blocking pin, and I'll have to do it on my bed, since nowhere seems big enough.
And Clappy? Well....
(excuse the messy bed)
finished the second hank about 3 days ago, but haven't started on third hank yet. I'm done with the straight rows, so it seems that 3 hanks would be enough. Anyway, the colourway of the second hank is much lighter than the first one, fortunately it doesn't really show when the stitches are dropped. Actually, I thought that this will take me forever to knit, so I'm quite surprised at how fast they knit up.

No knitting for these 2 days. I had to spend my times at the school library and study, because I can't study at all with my laptop and knitting within my reach.
I'm really tired now, been having a little imsonia lately. I HAVE PANDA EYES!! Need to get some sleep, that's my reason for this crappy post. And my *******(put a swear word here) left clicker (yeah, the one on your mouse) that had been acting really weird lately.
Happy knitting to you all!!

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Not in the mood for title.....

Frogging the silk was painful.....not the frogging part, but when I started knitting with it again, the silk broke even more. I've got these after 2 rows

I got stressed out, you see, feeling ready to break down. So I put it away for my the sake of my sanity, and knit this instead

Meet Mr. Bubby!!
He's still faceless, since I have NO black yarn in my stash. I even made him a little red scarf

I intended to put him as part of my sp gift, but looking at those flaws, I guess not.
So, after a nice break, I finally get back to my Clapotis, this time with much much more patience, and managed to finish the first hank.
I got quite bored, and knitted this drawstring bag.

using the ingenious Turkish cast-on method. NO seams at all!! I was trying to figure out how to knit a whole sweater with this method ;)
Then I spent my whole weekend knitting Clapotis, which is coming along nicely. I've dropped 7 stitches now!! Anyway, the second hank is behaving quite well, only 5 breaks so far.

Yesterday was my last day at school. I'm having a week holiday(which hopefully will be used to study), before THE EXAM. Then I graduate, just like that. I can call myself a high school graduate after 28 Oct. I'm feeling....well....kinda sad.
Anyway, there will definitely be some knitting done next week, I'm just worried whether there will be some studying done.
Can you guess my priority?

Yes, I've been gaining even more pounds(lots of it!), and it's pretty clear for everyone to see. I really need to be on diet now, if I don't want to wear SOMETHING BAGGY for my prom. I just don't think I could do it, especially with the exam coming. All the stress, you know.

Edited soon after:
I just joined the Socktoberfest 2005 hosted by Lolly, so I might cast on soon, and hopefully knit a pair.

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Giftie and Clappy

I got this little package from SP yesterday. Thanks SP!!

Jaeger Trinity! I've been wanting to try this yarn since I saw it on Van's blog. Since 2 skeins definitely won't be enough for any clothing(not for my size anyway), and I look totally washed out wearing blue, I'm brainstorming on little projects to knit with this. I'm thinking cushion or bag.
And, as you might've guessed from the title, I'm knitting Clapotis!! Finally!!
I'm using HipKnits silk in colourway 'Pretty In Pink', which is, well, pretty. I did a false start, and when I was about to start again,

*sigh*
Anyway, I was worried that the 300g of silk that I have won't be enough, so I emailed Kerrie from HipKnits. True to my fear, I'll have to miss some repeat and knit a smaller version. So I missed 3 repeats from the increase section and here's my progress...

The colourway is so fun and pretty!!
Here's a backview...

And a funny shot of me sneezing because some of the fluff get into my nose

This looks quite promising, right? But I'll be frogging it soon.
Why? Because the fabulous Kerrie just emailed me saying that she's got another hank of it and ask if I wanted it. Of course I do!! I thought that I only have to frog it till the increasing part, but then I remember that I've done my first drop....and I've got no idea how to put them back onto the needle.....help?
My Kiri is growing at an alarmingly slow rate....it will probably take another 10 years before it grows to my ideal shawl size...

Note : Someone left a comment on my second previous post, saying that my pants are too tight for me. *Sigh* I'm going to wear skirts for my posts from now on, until I lose 10 pounds.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Just a little funny story.....

that I want to share with everyone.
Last year, when I just started to knit again after my failure 4 years ago, I decided to start with something small and simple. So I bought super cheap yarns, and decided to knit a simple scarf. My colour choice back then was this neon bright fuschia *roll eyes* and real white stripes. The yarn was acrylic, but I seriously didn't know the difference back then.
Since I used to think that knitted items consist only of stockinette stitch(I didn't even know stitches have names!), I used it. Of course, my so-called-scarf was curling like crazy and looks a lot like yao char koay. I was getting really frustrated after about 60 cm, and I decided to bind-off and get over with it.
I was just starting to discover a whole new world of knitting in the internet back then, where I found out about felting. I got really interested and decided to give it a try and found an instruction to felt by hand.
Looking back, there I was, standing by the kitchen sink, with my so-called-scarf folded on a baking pan, hand holding a scrunched plastic bag. I spent hours there, boiling water, scrubbing the scarf with the plastic bag and liquid dish soap.
After seemingly forever, I decided to rinse the scarf to see if it's felted yet. When I see those perfectly normal stockinette stitch, I was ever so confused. I wonder where it had gone wrong.Could it be that the water wasn't hot enough? Or didn't I scrub hard enough? Or didn't I use enough soap? I wasn't willing to give up, so I checked the instruction and repeat the whole process for three time, until my hand was numb. Those stitches still looks the same.
I put it aside and forgot about it soon enough. Until tonight, when I realise that I was trying to felt acrylic.
I'm feeling so silly and think that it's hilarious.
Wanna know what my second project was?
Another striped scarf, in 3 shades of brown, which should turn out great, if I didn't choose to use rug yarn, which was only soft enough for my feet, with shoes, that's it.

Anyway, thanks to everyone's comments on my silky OSW!! I always love getting comments, you guys really made my day!! ;D
I'm currently getting back on my Kiri, after spending a painstaking hour putting the stitches back into needle. I thought that I must have patience of a saint.