Swap items received

The Noodle Princess has already received her earrings that I made for her. Here are the pics.

More beaded stuffs

I made the orange/white pendant based on a Japanese pattern that I saw at Kino some time back. It turned out different from the pattern cos I wasn't using the right beads. But I still love how it looks now.

The 2 heart shape key chain and the balls were made more than 2 years ago. I was quite into beading before I started knitting. And it's stopped since I picked up knitting. I can't think of what to do with the balls yet. Maybe I'll turn it into some kind of handphone charm. Any suggestions?

Supplies has arrived

I bought some handphone string from yahoo auction. It just arrived yesterday. I'm gonna be busy this weekend crafting some handphone accessories!

Lookout for more pics.

Package sent - 2006 Wishlist April

I've sent out yesterday, the swap item for The Noodle Princess for the 2006 Wishlist April Swap. Unfortunately, I can't post pics yet. Will do so after she's received it!

Panta's gone to the owner

Lisiepeasie got her Panta last night. I'm glad she likes it.

Here's my teddy modelling it!










And this is the surprise that she has for me! An Owl plushie! Isn't that cute? Love it!!!

Watching shows = new projects

Was catching some shows on dvds during the weekend. Can't remember when I developed this mentality that sitting down to watch shows is a waste of time. But sometimes, you just can't miss certain shows. Therefore, I always try to keep my time fully occupied by crafting while watching shows.







I need to learn how to take nicer pics! Tried taking these during the night time and it was so difficult to capture the real color. The shiny surface of the beads keep deflecting the lights away, and it always ended up looking too pale or ugly. The pink one was much more "pinker" in real "person".

These are handphone acccessories, in case you are wondering what they are. Some new inspirations. Need to take nicer pics and see if I can sell them away!

Panta's ready to go!

Panta's all wrapped up and ready to go!

I'm meeting Lisiepeasie tomorrow! She says she's got a surprise for me too! She's is just so sweet!

Let's call for a celebration!

Woohoo! Lisiepeasie's Panta is done! Took me 4 hrs, to complete, but it is really addictive. Once you have your hands on it, you won't want to stop!

I won't show pics yet, till I've given it to her.

Another Swap

It's been quite some time since I last participated in a swap. Due to my limited skills, I love the kind of swaps that allows me to see what people wants, so I can decide if I can make it. The 2006 Wishlist April Swap is one such swap. This will be my first swap in 2006! I just came up with an idea on what to craft for the person that I chose.

More pics to come up soon!

Ok, I'm moving...

I've started the Panta for Lisiepeasie last night. The pattern wasn't that difficult after starting. The problem is that most of my yarn are acryllic and wool. I seldom buy cotton yarn cos they are so much more expensive, plus, they are only available at Golden Dragon (which is inconvenient for me). I dug into my stash and found 2 balls of cotton yarn, 2 balls of cotton blend (not pure cotton, which makes it a bit warm). I tried knitting on one of them (8-ply), but it turn out to be quite thick and I think that it would be quite warm for someone to wear, unless she stays in the air conditioned area throughout the whole day.

Anyway, I'll try some other alternatives tonight! Maybe something on a 4-ply yarn. I think that would work!

Meeting with local crafsters last Wed

I've been surfing the Craftsters website for quite some time now. It's such a great place for projext inspiration. From there, I got to know some Spore crafsters. We had an outing to Arab St last year, but I missed it. We tried to plan for another meetup at Spotlight when they had the sale last Wed.

Only 6 of us attended. There was LiN (with her 2 frens), Lisiepeasie, and Dottydot. It was such an interesting outing. This is the 1st time I met up with them and am glad I did. They were so nice and interesting people. We had such a good time sharing about the crafts that we do!

And you know what? Lisiepeasie stayed in the east, which is relatively near to where I stay. It was very nice of her to send me home after the meeting. On the trip home, we realised that both of us attended the same Secondary School and joined the same ECA and played the same instrument! Of cos, I hadn't met her in school before cos I am much older than her. What a coincidence! It's just such a small small world.

Lisiepeasie loved the Panta but she couldn't knit! I'm gonna take up the challenge her one. Didn't get a chance to try it out during the weekend as I was too busy chasing after some Korean Drama. Hope that I can finish it in time before she leaves for her US trip!

ANyone interested in a carpet hat?

I agree with them this time... Check out!

Inspired to DYE

I was looking at Dave's website this morning and was soooo tempted to hand dye some yarn for fun. Had been wanting to do that for quite a while already, but was concerned about the mess that would be created. After looking at Dave's website, my curiosity couldn't stop me anymore.

I know that many people use Kool Aid but I find it very tedious cos you need to soak the yarn to prepare it, then u need lots of vinegar and hot water. I was very afraid that I would scald myself, topple the colors all over, or any of the freak accidents that might happen. This is what that has been stopping me from trying it.

I just got to know that we can get Dylon dyes here. And guess what? There's this cold water dye (instruction below), which means that I don't need to handle hot water! Isn't that easy? I can't wait to try it!!! My curiosity is burning inside me!! Maybe its time to knit another Clapotis??? Oh no, my mind is going crazy, thinking about the various color combinations.



Dylon Cold Water Dye Instructions
· Suitable fabrics: cotton, linen, viscose. Lighter shades on polyester/cotton mixes because polyester and other pure synthetics DO NOT pick up dye. Lighter results on wool and silk.
· 1 pack will dye up to 250g / 8oz dry weight fabric (125g / 4oz for A52 Black).

You will need:
· Cold Dye Fix 125g / 4oz of salt
· Rubber gloves
· Flat bottomed bowl

Instructions:
1. Weigh dry fabric. Wash fabric thoroughly even if new and leave damp.
2. Fill a flat bottomed bowl with enough cold water to cover article (do not use a bath or sink unless stainless steel, as it may stain).
3. Wearing rubber gloves, dissolve dye in 500ml/1 pint hottest tap water. Stir well and add to bowl.
4. Dissolve 125g/4oz salt and 1 sachet Cold Fix in hottest tap water, add to bowl. (For Black, use 250g/8oz salt and 2 sachets of Cold Fix).
5. Put in unfolded damp article. Dye for 1 hour (3 hours for Black). Agitate continually for first 10 minutes, then occasionally after that, keeping fabric submerged.
6. Rinse in cold water until water runs clear, then wash in hot water with usual washing detergent.
7. Dry away from direct heat and sunlight. Wash article separately for the first few washes to remove excess dye.

Special Instructions for Wool:
1. Hottest tap water must be used instead of cold in the dye bowl.
2. Use 375ml / 13fl.oz of vinegar instead of salt and cold fix.
3. Use warm water to rinse and wash after dyeing.

How to use Cold Water Dye on Wood:
1. Rub down to bare wood, removing previous coatings. Wipe clean with white spirit.
2. Wearing rubber gloves, dissolve dye in 500ml/1 pint of warm tap water.
3. Apply dye evenly using a brush, sponge or cloth working in the direction of the grain. Allow to dry.
4. For darker shades apply further coats of dye, allow drying thoroughly between coats.
5. Apply any clear wood varnish to seal the colour.

Another knitted gift?

Someone's bday is coming up! I wonder if I should start knitting a present now. But that's provided I have the inspiration to create a gift. I hope I find something interesting at the Spotlight Sale tomorrow!

You knit what???

Everytime I saw this website, I kept wondering... Will I be featured there one day? I certainly hope not!

I've been Clapotised

Haven't really been knitting or crafting much except this project. Its working up very slowly. About halfway done. Actually, I noticed some errors, was supposed to do the [k1, ktb, k3,ktb] for all stitches within the markers, but I knitted it all the way through... This resulted in loose stitches on the part where we drop stitches.

Well, if I wanna be fussy, I had to rip the whole thing and do from scratch! So... I decided to close an eye.

Actually, I had the intension of doing another clapotis with variegated yarn. This was meant to be an "experiment" as it is cheap. The whole shawl would only cost less thatn $10.

However, those yarn at Spotlight were not variegated enough or the colors were too boring. Checked out Golden Dragon and loved the variegated range of the Butterfly Super 10. I would need 3 skeins of it and would cost about $33. It looks like it's gonna be quite heavy when the shawl is finished. I knew you would ask why don't I choose something like wool or merino, which is lighter. I can only say that I can't afford it! It would probably cost me a hundred bucks like that.

But I'll see how this baby turn out first before thinking about whether to make another investment. By the way, Spotlight's having a sale this Wed. Who knows I will find something interesting there.