Love at first sight!

Time flies (again)... it's been 10 days since my last post and I haven't any blog-worthy knitting to show you... Both Claude and Baby Apricot are half-seamed... each has only one sleeve and some part of the body done... I could have finished either one if I manage to focus... haha...

At some point, I thought I could fall back to my CTH socks for sanity, but my second sock is turning out much bigger than the first... that's because I switched to Clover Aluminium #1s (2.4mm) needles from the 2.5mm bamboos that I started with... but still I'm surprised with the outcome of how smaller needles would produce a much bigger sock.... But well, since the intended recipient has a wider and longer feet, I will probably decide which one to keep after she comes over for a fitting session.

Oh, and this is really what I'm here to share... I'm in love at first sight with this sleepy snake from Mochimochi Land...

How fun, and there's also an extremely cute Rainycloud with hanging raindrops available from Anna's shop. Now I just need to go get my hands on some felting yarn.

Just checking in....

As luck would have it, I'm all done with the fix-up and finished the baby sweater this morning... So all I need now is just some modelled photos before giving you a full FO report... hopefully very soon.

But on this last blue/gray day, I'm actually here to show you what I got from the post office today.


20 balls!!! of Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Chunky in Damp, a gray shade flecked with blue, green and white. I'm absolutely in love and excited and they are going to become Kooch from Rowan 38. Thanks to Domesticat for the great idea about substituting yarn... You won't believe the rock bottom prices that I paid for them... I don't either... ;o)

Oh well, and I actually have got yet another project-spectrum inspired project to report... I started my Claude this afternoon... but instead of boring you with the 3 inches of seed/stockinette... I'll save the progress shot for next time. Bye for now and happy knitting to all of you.

Claude by Anna at My Fashionable Life

2006 Wrapup and New Initiatives

Well, I finally crossed my fingers and jumped over to the new blogger. The upgrade is, quite frankly, smoother and easier than I thought. I have also reorganized my sidebar for a cleaner look and made a finished object gallery at long last.

Going back to the knitting, let us begin with the wrapup for 2006. The final FO count is 22. Almost half are baby things. My fave is this pretty baby dress, and this one is undoubtfully the most worn item.

Below, are some recently finished baby socks.

On left is the Sweet Surprise socks knitted with yarn from my acid dye trial. The socks turned out pretty ok except for being slightly huge… but honestly I’ve never ripped a pair of socks that many times before even getting it right…. so I’ll bear with it. On upper right is a pair of Two-toned socks from Debbie Bliss Simply Baby, made with DB Baby Cashmerino in Lilac. The contrasting color is made by overdyeing 10g of the lilac with vermillion. On lower right is the warmest and best fitted pair, made with an Angora blend and reinforced with stretchy nylon.

The Works In Progress that are accompanying me into the New Year are a Cabled Sweater (shown above) and an out-of-sight, out-of-mind Apricot Jacket. And I have also cast on a new pair of socks for my bus trips, with some Regia Silk in Roma from Jimmy Beans... the colors didn’t worked out exactly how I've envisaged… and I finally turned to try the Jaywalker. What an ingenious pattern! These lusciously soft socks are now turning out well and growing at a good pace.

And here's a list of my future cast ons:

• Beaded Cardigan from Debbie Bliss Special Knits
• Cable and Teddy Bear Cardigan from Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino Book
• Baby Smock Coat from the Debbie Bliss Simply Baby Book
• February Baby Sweater from EZ’s Knitter's Almanac
• Hourglass Sweater and Child's Placket Neck Pullover, both from Last Minute Knitted Gift
• Vintage Pink Cardigan from Interweave Spring 2005
• Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style
• And definitely more socks!!!!!

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!

Time sure flies....

I was rambling through the Tang Lung Chau Street market in the middle of bustling Causeway Bay yesterday and stumbled upon a yarn stall… Oh what a great surprise! I know this stall when I was a kid but just never thought it is still here after 2 decades… !!! Just can’t believe how fast time flies. It seems like only yesterday that I was here buying yarn for my first sweater… it was an angora wool blend in Ivory. I was so excited to finish the project and planned to wear it on my 16th birthday. And I did, but the angora was way too warm for March… but that's another story...

Now, the stall is still owned by the same warm-hearted lady and the buying experience remains “raw” but very fun… Yarns are sold by weight (just like the veggies/foodstuff next door), at rock bottom prices with no precise yardage, gauge or fiber content descriptions. But don’t worry; the owner is so very helpful. She’ll quote you the needle size and will leave it to you to touch and feel anything you spot. She’ll then ask about your project plan and weighs up the yarn for you with her Chinese Steelyard.

Let’s see what I have got here:

1) About 180g of Silky Cotton in a grayish blue shade. I swatched on 4.5mm for a summery clapotis… it turned out so soft and drapey and with good stitch definitions and a lustrous sheen. I REALLY love this wonderful lot, and only wished she had more… but these are the last balls…

2) 500g of Plied Cotton in a creamy color with beige spots - this beautiful lot is reserved for an Apricot Jacket (Rebecca 27), will swatch up and confirm ;o)

Gong Hei Fat Choi!

Today is the 2nd Day of Chinese New Year and I wish all of you a wonderful year of the "Dog".

I'm a knitter in Hong Kong and here's my knitting resolution for Spring:

1) Create a knitting blog. Done!

2) Get my hands on some Knit Picks yarn. The fact that they don't ship overseas is just killing me. But I just won some Shimmer on eBay ... oh I'm so anxious to receiving them!!

3) Figure out what to do with my 700g of fine merino. Perhaps 2 sweaters, one for me and one for my baby. No clue about the pattern yet, but these are really RED (they seemed more pinkish in the pic... & how I wish they were). And what's more challenging is - these knit up to 6.5sts/inch so it's going to take me months to complete... therefore I'd better find a nice stylish pattern to make sure it worth my time.

4) Knit a sleeping grobag for my baby. I'm considering using Alabama from Interlacements. But I'm also expecting some Caron Simply Soft from a yarn swap. They are in the mail now so I will wait another week. Will usually prefer natural fibers but maybe the Carons are really soft and I'll change my mind. God knows...

5) Make a Clapotis for myself.

6) Destash all my mohair yarn - I carry my baby in her babybjorn a lot and she sneezes everytime I wear mohair so all these will have to go!