A bit of sunshine might help beat the flu

so I'll start with this ;)

Inside and outside of the Grand Palace

We had another wonderful vacation in Bangkok (again)... I have actually been there more than a dozen times, but this is the very first for Jasmine.

She's definitely having much fun in the sun...

We took her to the Children's Discovery Museum opposite the Chatuchak Weekend Market on our second day. Honestly, the musuem is a little run-down but Jasmine didn't seem to mind at all.

Oops and what's he doing with my yarn?!

hehe... with Jasmine around, how could I possibly have time to knit... so this naughty little skein went out on a tour.

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Well, among the hundreds of reasons to love Bangkok, the charming restaurants and yummy food definitely topped our list....

Le Dalat Indochine Vietnamese Restaurant

Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe from the Food Loft at Chidlom Central (my favorite shopping place). Their range of baby/kidswears and homewares are amazingly attractive. I even found some knitting needles and yarns at their craft section. Mostly acrylics though, but the salespersons were super friendly and went out of their way to tell me about this yarn and craft store that is supposed to be huge.
Too bad, I couldn't make it this time so I can't report on it.

Over and out from sunny Bangkok :)

Beyond Great Walls

Last weekend, we made a side trip to the Bashang Grassland. Bashang, bordering on the Inner Mongolia Plateau and located at the foot of the Yanshan Mountains, is 280km north of Beijing, and 87 km northwest of the county side of Fengning. Since ancient times it has been a pasture for Mongolian herders, and a hunting place for Qing imperial families.

We spent a whole morning on the horseback, going from meadows to meadows.

Well, thanks to my scarf that doubled as a safety wrap for Jasmine, she slept through almost half the journey.

And finally, it's time for a tea break, just like the way those legendary martial heroes did in ancient times.

Too bad we didn't spot any yarn stores around and there isn't much knitting going on either... but we saw him and some sheeps...

Oh, and sunflowers were everywhere...

A is for absence

Thanks so much for all your lovely comments on my previous posts. Once again, I fear I must apologize for more absence - but as they say, life intervenes. Work has been draining the life out of me and sapping my energy to knit or blog. And I'll be leaving again tomorrow and work the rest of August from our Beijing office... Jasmine will come along with me so this will be a two-in-one working/vacation... and I'll be even busier than ever...

In the meantime, here's the only piece of knitting that I've got done in the past few weeks....

Pattern: Cotton Candy Cap Sleeve by Missa, from The Knitting Garden

Needles: Japanese 15, or 6.6mm

Yarn: I used one strand of a sport weight cotton in cream + 2 strands of lace weight thick/thin cotton in pale pink. Both yarns are from this LYS in Beijing, very very soft pure cottons :o)

We'll leaving tomorrow for almost 3 weeks ... Until then, happy knitting to all of you and please just leave me a message/email you like anything from Beijing.

Bye now, and take care!

A bit of everything

First of all, Don and I thank you all for your lovely words on our anniversary. May has been one of the most frantic but prolific month of my year. Aside from my busy-as-usual work schedule, I took a short break and brought Jasmine to sunny Singapore to see grandma and grandpa and many of her uncles and aunties.


In additions to family gatherings during those few days, we squeezed in a playgroup session at Kindermusik, had some good fun at the pool, did some shoppings and I also got to meet up with Erin and Lois for very enjoyable laughter-filled afternoon, well into the evening. Thank you, gals!

I even managed some knitting on her baby AJ while Jasmine catches up on her magazines at Starbucks. It's such a fun trip and I really hope to do that again soon.

Well. and in between all these, I also went through a series of interviews, reference/background checks and negotiations and ended up with a new job offer from an UK firm. And June started with me being in a dilemma over whether or not to switch jobs... my final decision is to stay put but that's another story for another day. Let's get back to the knitty bits now....

On finishing up - I'm all done with knitting for both the baby Apricot Jacket and my Claude... good thing I've already got all the buttons picked out so these will be wearables as soon as seamed. I also bought some silky fabric as linings for Claude but we'll see how drapey it gets before doing that.

Turning over a new leaf- As you may have noticed, a few previous WIP has made their way to the frog pond. Trellis is a must "rip", the yarn choice is just not right, it's not only too thick but rather stiffly too... and I even did the left twists wrongly on both the back and left front. My Jaywalker in Regia Silk has lost its charm but half a sock is an easy decision compared to my half-done adult-sized Apricot Jacket, my gauge is actually tighter than desired but I just failed to face it any earlier... Last of all, the only one project that I might be able to salvage is the Diagonal Ribs and Cables sweater, which turned out too short for me. I'm thinking my helper Loida, who's really petite and this might fit her just right.

The old and new - I'm back on my CTH Oak Ribbed Socks and started Jawbreaker from Interweave Winter '06 with some Araucania Patagonia nature cotton, both in Red for the June/July Project Spectrum. And I'm also slowly getting things updated onto my Ravelry, it's super cool and fun and absolutely addictive... I'm sure you've already heard about it all.

Up and coming - My first hank of Handmaiden Seasilk has arrived and now waiting in queue for the perfect scarf/shawl pattern... And I'm still deciding on my sockapalooza socks but that will certainly be my next pair.

Finally, happy WWKIP day and have a good weekend, everyone!

A Sunny Taste of Spring

Yesterday was sunny, clear, and utterly springlike in Hong Kong. After weeks of gloomy hazy weather, it's almost too good to be true and we are so aching to get outside!

Warm breezes and lovely blooming bauhinias trees greeted us along our scenic drive uphill the southern coast. In no time, we found ourselves at a quiet beach near Stanley. The waters is still somewhat chilly to paddle in so we just took off her shoes and let Jasmine played on the sand. She was skeptical at first but soon enjoying the feel of sand and wiggling her little toes into it...

You've probably seen enough of my baby and wondering by now if I have any real knitting to report... Well, the answer is yes! Knitting in warm weather or sandy beaches has never been a problem for me, as long as it's not woolly or anything huge, like Lady Eleanor. In fact, I was having quite a good productive afternoon knitting away aside a huge stone, until Jasmine finally came to interupt *join* me with her messy little fingers.

Anyway, it's a Trellis Cardigan from Knitty that I've just started with some Dune Bouton d'Or in Thé (Tea or a pale green) in the smaller size. I'm using a bigger yarn and hopefully this would fit my 18-month toddler. Dune is a chunky weight cotton/acryllic blend at 3.5 spi, just about the same yarn that Siow Chin uses for her little nephew's knitted log cabin. I saw them on sale at a LYS for US$2 a ball and just had to grab some even though the saleslady wasn't quite too eager to serve me.

So what about my Knit-from-the-stash commitment? Game over? Not really cos thanks very much to those who have helped with my current round of Spring Destash Sale - I'm having a comfortable amount of destash funds sitting in paypal and actually planning to shop some spring/summer yarn. Some of my destash items are still available, so please take a look if you're interested. Thanks and bye for now. ;o)

Sidetracked Again

I have been lagging behind on my knitting and blogging; partly due to work and this is, confessedly, the major cause of distraction. I have been playing with it more than anything else last week. Although not exactly, it's coming quite close to a SLR-experience and I'm absolutely thrilled to finally retire my vintagey Nikon ;o)

As you could have imagined, my little sweetheart became my #1 favorite model and here's a couple of snapshots taken at the playground. It's her first time on the slides and she's very excited. By the way, that wool jacket on her is the only one left that still fits!

Merry Christmas!

It has been a really hectic week at work, and I hardly had time to knit except for these two little swatches... Coming back from our recent gathering, I found not just one but two yarn in my stash that will fit the bill for the gorgeous Smock Coat in my new Debbie Bliss Simply Baby book. First, we have a 20/80 Cotton Cashmere yarn bought in China. This yarn is actually made up of 16 extremely fine yarns that were hand-plied together... and would require extra care when knitting. The swatch is silky soft with a subtle sheen, and consistent-looking stitches that made all seems worthwhile. The standard DK gauge is also exactly the same as the DB Cotton Cashmere originally called for.

An alternative choice would be a pure worsted cotton yarn, also from China. Unlike the Cotton Cashmere, the firmer spin of this makes it easy to knit on auto pilot without having to worry about snags, extra twists, or slipped stitches. The swatch is spongy, a little thicker, and the suede-like texture shows a richer color. Gauge is more worsted than DK at 19-20sts per 4 inches but we can do some adjustments... So which one do you think is better; the refined cashmere cotton or the classic pure cotton?

Got to go out for lunch now and just before I sign off, I wish you all a great holiday and very merry Christmas!

A mini-vacation

With just 5 weeks away from Christmas, I thought I'd better focus on the cabled sweater during my mini-vacation to Bangkok... but instead I brought the wrong-sized needles and *almost* ended up with a knitless vacation... But well, we did had a great time in Bangkok. The weather is fine, water is warm... Thai food is scrumptious as always and the Thai massage is wonderful too...

And the most pleasant surprise is that I found myself a last minute knitting project... which is a ball of 4 ply cashmere and sets of sock needles in the front pouch of my luggage... I must have left it there since my last China trip... YAY, so I was gleefully knitting away ;o)

Fortunately I still can knit...

Dear friends, thanks for your warm messages and kind regards over the past weeks. I've not been feeling completely well and recently been diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis. Besides frequent clinical visits, check ups and treatments for my symptoms, which is a severe double vision in my case, I had to spend lesser time on my computer... Well, fortunately I still can knit... Actually, my knitting has never been more important to me... especially while waiting endlessly at the clinic :o)

Hot of my needles, we have the Cable-Eight Top from Interweave Knits 2005 Spring.

Using: About 350g of Worsted Cotton from China on 5mm needles
Verdict: Overall, an easy project and very wearable. I got a smaller gauge on my yarn, which is 4 sts per inch instead of 3, so I went on for the largest size. The body seems narrow while knitting up (mine measured 14" and I'm a 36") but the cables will stretch out very nicely once you put it on. Wonder if anyone has done this in the original yarn... and how the bulkier gauge will work out. By the way, I've tried but decided to do away with the crochet rows on the side seams... have also added a few short rows to lower the front necks... And now contemplating to seam up the side slits as well... ;o)

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Alright, now let's take a look of my WIP baskets...

Baby Jacket for Jasmine - From The Yarn Girl's Guide to Kid Knits
Using: Hand-dyed Wool Slub from China
Status: I just got done with the button bands last night... Need to weave in ends and add buttons. Will show the FOs pics next time.

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Apricot Jacket - Rebecca 27
Using: Creamy/Beige Cottons from the Yarn Stall in Causeway Bay
Status: Finished the back and supposed to be working on the fronts now...

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Diagonal Ribs and Cable Sweater - Rebecca 28

Using: Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky in #505 Green

Status: Little progress on this one since my last post in June...

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By the way, my darling baby Jasmine has turned "1" on Tuesday. Just can't believe a whole year has gone by... it seems like last week when I brought my 4lbs 14oz preemie home...

Switched to Firefox and Blogger's image upload is not *finally* working again... hope this will last long

Her First Splash.....

Hi everyone! Despite the "Very Hot Weather Warning" in Hong Kong, we took Jasmine Big Wave Bay yesterday... She's almost 9 months old and her first time on the sandy beach. She got really curious and excited about the new sensations and didn't seem to have any fear at the seawater that came tumbling over. There's a very shallow area here that is just so perfect for babies. Now please see my sweetie in action...

Needless to say, there hasn't been much knitting around here, although my new Simply Navy Socks did come out for a WIP photo. The yarn is the Jaeger Wool Stretch in Pacific from an aborted sweater... Just a little stashbusting when the sock bug came around biting recently.

Mommy wants my new Clappy!

Mom is visiting us from Singapore and she fell in love with my new Clappy-in-progress. The cottony yarn will be so perfect for her in tropical Lion City and I'm so glad she likes this. I'll be in full gear to finish it for her... so all my others projects will have to wait.

The Diagonal Ribs Sweater is coming along nicely and quickly... I have reached the armhole but my row gauge was off... Can easily do one more repeat but not sure if I could afford the extra yardage... maybe working the sleeves in the round and making them slightly slimmer could make up for the yarn... Well, guess I'll worry about that later...

How's your weekend?

How's your weekend? Mine kicked off with a lovely bunch of flowers ... and it's my favorite peonies. Then I got some new buttons for my Scoop Du Jour on way back from lunch. Just plain ones but I like them. And my perfect afternoon begins with an hour of knitting time while sipping my fave tea! Simply sweet, simply styled, simply relaxing and simply enjoyable... :o)

What a Nice Day!

It's such a nice warm day - perfect for a stroll at the park. After all the CNY rushes, shoppings and gatherings, we are so happy to spend a quiet relaxing afternoon with baby.

And I also managed to cast on my first new year project. It's a very simple 2x2 rib scarf, made with a designer wool slub yarn. It's a very beautiful color but difficult to capture the true color with my digicam. This photo, taken under the sun, is a bit too orangy. Actually it is a more muted maroon with a traces of dark purple and gold, giving the yarn a very interesting depth and sheen.

I have made a wool soaker out of this yarn and really liked it. The pattern is my own design... it's still a little too big for my 4-month old. Will see how it fits her and share the pattern later. These 2 pics taken indoor with flashes makes the yarn looks brighter than actual.

Got to go now... will be back later to post my 2005 FOs. :o)