It was only 9:15am when I was done with rolling on the bed, stretching, and washing up.  What was I to do?  CSI didn’t start till noon.  Oh well.  I looked at the strand of Chrysocolla Jasper beads and wanted to do something with it, but it didn’t happen.  I wanted to work with wire, but couldn’t get my brain to figure out how to incorporate the beads into the wiring.

So I picked up Swarovski pearls and crystals instead.  And I landed up with something pretty good (to me anyway).  Hehe.

It’s still not complete though.  I am not quite sure how I want the back portion to be.  It would either be repeaters of what’s in front, or a plain crystal-pearl-crystal-pearl back.  I’m leaning towards repeaters, coz I think it would look more polished.

I’ve also started work on a pink version of the Richmore top.  The upper front and back are already attached together, but I uh, lost interest in its progress.  To the side it goes, and to something new I start.    Received luscious 100% silk yarn from both Thailand (eBay) and Halcyon Yarn… both are gorgeous yarns, but the Thailand one is of a heavier weight compared to the Halcyon one, and therefore, unsuitable for the delicate shrug I’m working on to complement the wedding dress (if it works out to be how I imagined it in my head).

Therefore, I’ve started work on a jacket/shrug with it.  It might go with the spaghetti-strapped white dress I’m planning to use for the ROM ceremony.  And yeah, it’s crochet again.    I’m a bit paranoid if I would have enough yarn for a knitted piece (I have 800gms but haiya, who knows?).  If I have leftovers, I’ll probably knit up an Evelyn Clark shawl with it. 

The beloved’s scarf remains unfinished, but time is passing quickly~ he will be back end of next month!!!  I’ve to finish it by then!! hehe.  Wish me luck.  As for the green shrug, I am still not done tucking in the tails.  Sigh.  For the blue shrug, contemplating frogging the edges and putting the original edges back in.  I noticed that with washing, the top will hang… and the edges would therefore, technically, hang much better than it did before.  We’ll see.  Wish I will have more inspiring weekends like the last!

Yeppers!!!  It looks better when worn though!  I added additional rows to the sleeves coz I have fat arms I need covered.    It still doesn’t cover too well though.  Sigh.  I’ll live with it.

London / Paris - what can I say?  It was a lovely vacation, besides the fact that it got a tad too warm in the later days when I was there.  Plus, I had really good company~  the beloved.  I really can’t ask for more.  It was two weeks of pure pampering.  Haha!  Not only was I pampered, the beloved got pampered as well (hey, it can’t be a one-way thing right!).    We spent 3Ds2Ns in Paris… the city of looovvvveeee… nothing much has changed since I was there in 2001; it’s still breathtakingly romantic and beautiful.  Oh the structures!  The atmosphere!  The food!  The cost of everything in EURO!  hahaha.  Needless to say, I didn’t buy much (it hurts to see it in Euro and having to convert it to RM!).  I was hoping to yarn and bead shop in London… but hmm…I didn’t run into any of the said shops!    Bummer.  I did go online to check out yarn shops, but all seemed so far away (my translation of far ~ anywhere that required two or more train changes!).  Heee!

But I did block the blue swallowtail and the black shetland shawls that I had finished, the two nights before I left for London (YES!  So last minute.  So ME!).  I know I did take pictures of ‘em being blocked…but I can’t seem to find them on the cam!  Wondered if I had accidentally deleted them whilst searching for memory card storage space in London (smart me brought only 1GB because I TOTALLY forgot to pick up the 2GB from the camera bag).  Oh well.  I have the shetland with me so I’d probably go take a picture of it… in due time. 

WIP Updates - The Richmore top is 99% complete   I actually only need to tuck in 5 tails.  But I’m lazy (figures), and, my head is on something else… will do it this weekend.  Oh I so promise!  I was too bored on the 12.5hrs flight to London, that I started and finished a mini crocheted shawl using leftover Japanese crochet yarn that I’ve had since like forever.  It turned out rather pretty but a tad too long.  Ah.  At least it ate up some of the time I had on a full-to-the-brim flight.

Scarf for the beloved went not very far in London, probably a few rows?  Hahaha.  I had to bring it home!  But then, I’ve been very productive on it since, and am on the last skein!  Or, what I THOUGHT was the last skein…   Found another skein of the Olympus Make Make in my closet last night!  haha hahaha!  Alright.  That one is seriously the last skein.  Heh heh!

A New Project and Yarn Stash – Remember the wrong-fit shrug that have pretty flowers on them?  I so want one in an off-white (that is too beige, and of course, does not fit me!) for a BIG event hopefully next year (need to start early coz we all know what a great procrastinator I am), and so, went to stash on the DMC #10 last week.  Sad to say, soft and smooth as it felt when I bought them, it didn’t feel that great crocheted up.    Thankfully, it was cheap.  Contemplated using the DMC Petra and did a swatch with whatever leftovers I had, soft it was, but looked humongous for the flowers   I had to order the ONline Hubner Filetta from my LYS… sucky thing is, both the DMC and ONline does not have an off-white color (natural white, not a bleached white) on their charts.  Was hoping KnitPicks had the alpaca/silk blend in natural white, but alas, it only came in variegated colors.  Sobs.  I’m not too happy with the Filetta as well.  It doesn’t seem as soft as the beige Filetta I had used.   Cost me much more than the DMC too… but I could go back to exchange for other yarn (minus the one that I had swatched with).

I wished the LYSs had more variety like in the States or in Japan.  It’s just almost impossible to find something I like here that I think is worth the $ I pay.    After endless searching, found an online store that stocked Olympus crochet yarn (felt them in Japan, soooo luxurious).  Was happy for a super short moment (like, 5 seconds?) … coz they are wholesalers, and would only entertain distributors…why oh why!

… it was after that… that I found the yarn of my dreams (for this project anyway).  How does 100% silk sound?  OH YEAH!  Plus, it’s about the same price (if not, just a tad more) with the Filetta yahooo!  They are located in Portland, OR (God bless America) and they do ship internationally.  Double yahoo!  I’ve sent in a request for more information on their colorway (plus shipping costs boo hoo hoo), hope they’ll reply soon!  Yay!  Oh I can’t wait!

The beloved’s scarf is still a status quo… but my Richmore lace top is progressing reasonably well.  Have frogged a good deal out of it though coz I can’t get the top to look good.   Will photograph once it is pretty much in place.

Beading-wise, Ching Keat brought me some stuff to reengineer…   I still have not figured what to do with the necklace but I have completed the earrings:

The only original part from her earrings are the gold hearts with rhinestone centers   They use to sit on mini hoops, but they broke apart not long after she bought it.  This is the first time I’m creating something with artistic wire~  I really like the intricate effect!  However, still lacking some materials needed to create more parts i.e. mandrels for jump rings and a good flush cutter, so I’m putting wire beading on the back stove till I get everything I need!

London trip is coming up next week, am hoping to do some yarn and bead shopping… hopefully I’d be able to get my hands on some Handmaiden Sea Silk or silk from FleeceArtist.  Oh, that would be just lovely…and heavenly…

For those who know us well, know that we try to avoid travelling in summer, being naturally insulated and all that haha!  Our trips are usually in early Spring, mid to late Fall, or either early or late Winter.  What’s the point of travelling in summer to a 4-season country when I get summer all year round back home.  Hee.

Anyway, I started to wonder if MiMi could adapt to the cold weather…she’s so pampered and domesticated that I wasn’t quite sure if she still has her doggy survival instincts!  Maternal instincts kicked in and prompted me to knit her some sweaters to bring along with us.  I can’t deny that I wasn’t having fun too.  And well, she loves to play dress up and couldn’t wait for me to put her in the knitted wear:

Clothing proved useful as I took her for daily evening walks and to Whistler Village.  At Whistler, she started to shiver eventhough I had her in not one, but two layers of clothing:  One being 100% wool (red and white striped one), and the other, 100% sparkly blue mohair.  I think she was just playing it up, so that we’d carry her and she doesn’t have to walk on the grounds!  That theory was proven when I carried her out to the balcony area of our lodge in her cotton pajamas and early morning zero-degree temperature.  She was perfectly fine!  haha! 

I believe besides the sparkly blue mohair, there’s another piece that I have knitted:  a dark heather gray piece with red trimmings and a heart design at the back.  Have to photograph these two and post it here sometime when I remember!

Since she is now no longer able to travel in the cabin area, we have stopped bringing her along with us… and thus, the knitting for her stopped too; we only dress her in 100% cotton clothing during the night, which is hassle-free as I buy baby tops for her   Ah.  So cute.

The finished product (earrings are no different from in the previous post so I’ve excluded it in this post):

Min brought back for me a wonderful assortment of stuff.  Well, I mailordered stuff to be delivered to her place and she diligently brought them home for me… it wasn’t a huge lot, but boy are they heavy!  Feel kinda bad that they had to carry all these stuff for me…so so so grateful to have friends who don’t complain about how much of a nuisance I am to them hee hee

Beading Stuff
Stuff from WigJig & eBay!  Lovely, lovely, lovely!  Can’t wait to try them soon (after I have at least SOME of my WIPs turn into FOs).

Knitting Stuff
Harmony fixed circular cables and lace weight alpaca yarn… the colors are absolutely gorgeous.  Head’s abuzz with the things I’d like to do with the yarn, but haven’t yet figured which yarn to do what with.  Would like to try the Shetland Triangle with one of these though.  The head’s saying, “Use the Sunkissed”.  The heart is drawn to “Lilac’s Dream”.  A clash of two worlds.  Argh.

 
My Wrap Style book arrived on time, phew!  I’ve to say there is only a small number of things that I really like in this book… so, there’s this big chance that I might sell this book off as “used” once I complete what I am aiming to complete.

So much to do, so little time.  Stuck on my Richmore project and hoping to have the time to go over to Adeline’s to seek divine assistance *grin*.  And just realized that I have yet to photograph my Hamanaka stash.  Ah.  There’s always next time.

This is part of my stash from Yuzawaya @ Kichijoji, Japan.  Concave round nose pliers, flat nose pliers, two accessory kits. 

I tried to find Clover round nose pliers but it wasn’t anywhere to be found.  Bought these from Yee’s Button House in SS2, Petaling Jaya.  Seriously costly, but worth every penny.

Starting work on one of the two accessory kits from Japan.  My first time using wire!

The finished product.  Thankfully the graphical directions weren’t hard.

Close up of the flower.  This is gonna be part of my accessories for Peter’s wedding on Sunday.

I was dying to experiment with the cookie moulds I got from Tokyu Hands, Ikebukuro, Japan.  Just lovely.  Got to admit the cookie itself wasn’t that lovely though.

The 1 of 4 Hello Kitty moulds!  Darn cute but the imprints don’t show as clear in person as in the picture.

My batch ‘o cookies.  The browner ones are from the first batch coz I wasn’t quite watching the oven… heh heh.

Close up of my Sunday night’s effort.

I was 8 stitches short when I came to Lily of the Valley Border 2… *smacks head*  Apparently I counted it correct for the transition between Budding Lace and Lily of the Valley Border 1… but failed to calculate what I needed for LOTVB 2.  Gah!  8 stitches is quite far off… but I wasn’t about to want to frog it over again.  So, I added 4 stitches to each side of the shawl… I don’t think it looks that obvious…it looks like little eyelets  

Now with the nupps.  What are nupps?  These are the dreaded nupps:

God knows who created nupps!!!  They are very pretty of course, but they are absolulely by far the worst to work with, especially when the K1, YO, K1, YO, K1 nupp is called for.  I can’t imagine who in the world would have fun purling through 5 stitches.  Well, normal stitches yes, but not nupps!  I can’t even begin to tell you what a rough time I had with these things… (that’s before I found out that there were other ways besides purling through 5 stitches)… I seriously almost gave up…

Until, I found out that hey, I could use a crochet hook to rope it all in!  Yes!  Slow, but steady.  And you get a tight (but nice) little nupp.

And I found from the internet, countless others who have had the same problem.  One suggestion was to slip 4 stitches, purl 1, and start passing over the 4 stitches, one by one, to the purled stitch.  Worked, but way too slow.  Yes, I’m impatient.

Another suggestion:  Move the stitches to the cable part of the circular needles… which is seriously, a God-sent advise.  Migrated from the crochet hook to the 4 stitch pass over, to this method.

I think I like the crochet hook nupp the best.  It does look much tighter than the others.  Found another solution… slip 2 stitches, purl 3 together, and pass over the 2 slipped stitches.  I think this will work mighty fine.  Will just try it for my very own swallowtail.  Bought the DMC Petra in black for the swallowtail for self yesterday.    And 4mm circulars…   Addicted to circulars now!  Noticed that my hands don’t tire as quickly as using the regular straight needles.

Scarf for the Beloved
Unfortunately, still no progress from Ball No. 3.  Or was that Ball No. 4?  Hehe.  Am kinda taking my time coz he won’t be able to use it till Fall/Winter anyway, and it’s only Summer now, so I have plenty of time (so I think). 

Something New
I can’t resist starting new projects!  That’s why I have multiples of WIPs…so I don’t get bored, actually.  Bought the 2008 Spring/Summer Richmore magazine… in love with the crochet piece on the cover (and quite a number of things on the inside, of course).  Bought DMC Petra in a light khaki color yesterday at Adeline’s too.  Started on it as soon as I got home from dinner… but frogged it gazillion of times because I kept counting it wrong…either too little stitches, or too much.  I think I have it mentally calculated rightly now (it wasn’t actually Quantum Physics but I don’t know why I just couldn’t get it right), but the 3 rows I had worked on had been frogged so much I don’t think the yarn is in the greatest of conditions.  Therefore, I’m gonna cut off that part of the yarn and use the frogged yarn as waste yarn ~ great for starting my black swallowtail

Someone’s Wedding
Laura’s (Min’s colleague) earrings are done, and I just love ‘em to bits!  I managed to beadwrap the centerpiece too… I think it looks much better that way.  With beadwrapping, meant I had to redo the necklace.  Which is ok with me, because I wasn’t ecstatic with the original way the centerpiece was sitting.  Min said Laura was already mighty pleased with the way it was, but I couldnt stand it and just had to redo it.  It’s half redone anyway.  Bracelet to follow.  Deadline, hopefully Monday.

Before beadwrapping: 

  After beadwrapping:

Earrings…

That’s when Min will be back from the States with James and one-year old Jaden.  Oh I can’t wait.  I haven’t seen them in 2 years!  Plus, Min will be bringing home for me, some lovely lovely things I had mail-ordered ~ artistic wire for beading and Harmony circulars and yarn from www.knitpicks.com  Was so tempted to buy the Harmony circular interchangable  set but it was $69.99 and had me thinking twice…or three times… probably more… PLUS, my immediate need was for the less than 4mm circulars.  So, instead of the interchangable Harmony, I bought the fixed cable Harmony… can’t remember what sizes I bought though…haha!  Absent-minded.  Oh, can’t wait!  Can’t wait!

Sadly though, he grew out if it pretty quick (as all babies do, I guess).  But anyhow, at least I have ONE finished object to show haha!

Works in Progress
Working on two things at the moment, the Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark in Blue DMC Petra (love this yarn!) for Evi, and a simple k4, p2 scarf pattern in variegated black/grey by Olympus, Japan, for the beloved.  Blush.

And yes, it IS possible to knit the Swallowtail in one week.  I’ve been knitting every night or every two nights since last Wednesday, and am already at the Lily of the Valley Border 1.  The nupps are really slowing me down, but I’m glad to say it’s coming along.  More pics on the shawl and updates on nupps later!

The K4, P2 scarf:

This is part of my yarn stash from Yuzawaya, Kichijoji, Japan.  Have yet to photograph the gorgeous mohair and raffia from Hamanaka.    Just finished ball number 3, 4 more balls to go.  Might just bring this over to London to finish up as am kinda addicted to lace knitting at the moment  

Next up, hoping to go to Kinokuniya tomorrow to browse the Japanese knitting, crocheting and beading books :)  Really addicted to those… gah, I have quite a number already but they just come out with more and more pretty things to look at!  I’ve got to set a budget for myself for tomorrow’s book shopping else I’ll just spiral out of control!