Monday, January 18, 2010

Trinity





I first cast on for this top in November 2009. Can't remember it was that long time ago! Finally, I finished knitting it on 15th January 2010. I used Jaeger Trinity Zest yarn which is a mixture of silk, cotton and polyamide fibre. The yarn is not so smooth and my arms just ache after knitting for an hour or two. That is why this is the longest time that I have taken to knit a top.

The original pattern is supposed to be a cardigan. I modified it to a short sleeve top and made some changes in the pattern too. It is knitted in the round from top down. That is my favourite part...no seaming! :) I also added crochet edgings for the neckline, sleeves and hem.

I am glad that it turned out well. I hope that my friend, Soon will like it!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Fire


I had a shock of my life when I woke up last Saturday morning. The night light that was in our store room caught fire and burnt up a calender that was lying on top of my oven box.
Miraculously the fire died off! That was so close! I couldn't imagine what would have happened to us if it didn't stop there.

I did smell something burning when I was sleeping but didn't wake up to check. I thought it was just somewhere faraway burning rubbish. Now, my whole house is covered with soot. This is just one of the things in the entire house look like before cleaning :




Four days has past and I have not finished cleaning the house. We have decided to install a wall lamp instead of using a night light. It is much too dangerous. I should be more careful next time and always wake up to check!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Rhapsody in Blue

Happy 2010 everyone! :)

My first project of the year happens to be a quilt! Yes, it is not a knitting, crocheting, dyeing or spinning project. This is how it began. One day, I was looking at my 13 year old son and realized that his long pants he was wearing seems to have shrunk! Of course it didn't shrink, silly me...he has just grown taller! And that lead me thinking about his blanket that he has been using for a few years now. I wanted to buy him a bigger blanket but he said he wanted a quilt.

I went to the book store searching for a quilt book and found this beautiful pattern called Rhapsody in Blue from Quilts And More Winter 2009 issue. Since blue is my son's favourite colour, we immediately drove down to town and got the cotton fabrics. I had a hard time trying to match the colours as closely as possible to the pattern.

It took me a whole week to machine quilt it and I can tell you that it was back breaking and more tiring than exercising! I think that's because I am always trying to finish a project ASAP. Lol... Cutting the fabric alone took me 3 days to complete and I am glad that I bought a rotary cutter which just make cutting easier and faster. Talking about buying the rotary cutter and cutting mat was almost like a treasure hunt. These craft supplies are so difficult to find here.

Anyway, after ALL the hard work, I present you my labor of love:



If you look closely, you will see that some of the squares are not in line. Haha! That is because it is my first quilt! I have learnt a lesson though, ie cutting the fabric as accurately as possible is important for a perfect piecing.

Do you know what I am thinking now? Make a guess! Another quilt you say!? Yes!!! I am thinking of making another pink quilt for myself :)