Knit FO: The Mistaken Pumpkin

Really sorry I've been away for so long. Lot's of things have happened, but to keep things short: I resigned from my old job 2 months ago, went away to Europe for 3 weeks and start my new job on Monday!

And so, I return to this forgotten blog with a completed FO! I present The Mistaken Pumpkin.

Inspired by our first trip to Scotland (and by the fact that we were going to be there in autumn), I decided to make use of the Pumpkin Latte yarn I purchased from the Plucky Knitter in 2008 and found an extremely easy to understand and really pretty pattern: The Mistaken Shawl.

Completed in early August, I washed and blocked it immediately and eagerly waited to take pictures of it "on location". The perfect opportunity presented itself when we visited Roslyn Chapel, just half an hour away from Edinburgh city centre. The weather was sunny for long enough for us to take these pictures, before it started raining again.

I used 2 skeins of Pumpkin Latte and 4.5mm needles.

I'm still here

Yes it's been over a month since my last post. It's not that I haven't been going to places to eat, nor does it mean that I haven't been knitting/crocheting... I just haven't had the appropriate time to blog about them! Internet's been a bit iffy at home and I try not to blog too much in the office!

On the knitting front, I am currently knitting the Mistaken Pumpkin - with the Mistaken shawl pattern by Kourtney Robinson and two skeins of Pumpkin Latte superwash merino wool in fingering weight by The Plucky Knitter. Quite a bit of modifications to the pattern, which calls for 12mm needles vs the 4.5mm that I am using. Had to double the number of repeats on the main pattern and I am now on the edging, while I will most likely double as well, depending on how much yarn I have left.

I have been busy crocheting bags with the intention of selling them in church some time in future. I initially targeted the SFX Family Day in mid July but because I didnt have time to make as many as I wanted, I've decided to sell it some other time - maybe Christmas. No specific pattern was followed, mostly I came up with them myself.

Recently completed FOs also include my Black Purl top, a crocheted top from one of my Japanese pattern books and Lorna Laces Swirl DK in Black Purl. Really love it - finished it in about a week - so enthusiastic I was about it!

Food-wise, I need to start uploading all my photos!! Eep....

Adeline's 16th Birthday

We celebrated cousin Adeline's 16th birthday this weekend (see previous post about the cooking lesson that was part of the party). Cousin Melissa came up with the birthday cake design and got it made by a friend's mom.

Family pic!
(L-R) Uncle Thomas, Andrew, Kelvin, Adeline and Auntie Poh Har.

Nicholas was all hyper that night... I'm not sure what he was trying to do here but it was funny!

Oh, and one of the decorative sugar pieces almost got burnt. That was how we blew out the candles - frantic puffing to put out the fire! Luckily no major damages...

Happy Sweet 16, Adeline!

Cooking lesson with Master Chef Tan

As part of cousin Adeline's 16th birthday celebrations, a cooking lesson with our master chef in the family, Uncle Tan was arranged. I believe all should realise now that this family's lives all revolve around food!

Uncle Tan makes one of the best mein fun kuey or pan mee. Essentially homemade wheat flour noodles in a rich anchovy broth. Instead of using the pasta maker to make noodles as is more commonly done in the shops, one tears thin strips of the dough by hand and drops them into the broth. Essential condiments are the deep fried anchovies, potato leaves and crispy fried onions. Optional condiments are fishballs, meatballs, pre-cooked boneless chicken pieces, clams, prawns etc.

Instructions for making the dough:
Put 1 tsp of salt, 3 tbsp of olive oil, 2 cups of water, 2 tbsp of cornflour and a packet of wheatflour into a deep dish.



Handknead until smooth and all the floury paste no longer sticks to your palms, adding water gradually. This is the tricky part because there is no exact measurement - it's all by the feel of the dough.
The broth is made with dried anchovies and chicken bones. The optional condiments listed above may be added before the dough is added to make the broth sweeter. The dough is torn and stretched as thin as possible. Too thick and it's not nice. Next add the potato leaves.

Once the broth boils up again and cooked for a few minutes, it's done.

To serve, fill up a bowl with a mixture of everything in the pot and add the fried anchovies and the deep fried onions. Another important item is the sambal belachan, a spicy chilli and fermented prawn paste combo that completes this dish. I will need to learn that recipe from my Auntie Mag next time.
Of course, since we are greedy, we also had other dishes along with the pan mee. From the front, chicken curry (with no coconut milk because some in the family can no longer have such luxuries in their diet), yong tau fu and beef rendang.


YUM!

Knit FO: Pumpkin stole

Here's one project I forgot to post about... I completed the Pumpkin stole in early February and gave it to Auntie Sze Peng as a birthday gift soon after.

I somehow forgot to record what yarn I used and I cannot recall which one this is except it was bought on sale from Spotlight and is very soft! I improvised the pattern from a poncho pattern in one of my Japanese magazines and converted into a stole instead.

Apologies for the lack of details here!

WWKIP 2010 - 12th-20th June

This year's World Wide Knit In Public Day (WWKIP Day) is held from 12th to 20th June. Knitters all over the world group together to knit in public! (It can't get any more straightforward than that!)

Here are the details for the KL WWKIP event:

Venue: Starbucks, Bangsar Village 2

Time: 2.30pm onwards

Activities:

-Bring your current knitting project to Knit in Public.

-Bring or wear one FO for show and tell.

-Brown Bag Exchange - Put two balls of yarn and some goodies in a paper bag (preferably something not plastic since Saturday is no plastic day) for an exchange. Min value RM 30.00.

For more details, pls refer to our Ravelry thread. See you there!

p/s: Yes, I used the Europe WWKIP logo because I prefer it to the Asia one which is black and white.

My first sets of pearls

Yes, I said sets as in more than one!

My sister and her colleagues invited me to join them for a girly lunch at the Carat Club in Bangsar today to have a look at pearls. They had a trunk show collection of Japanese Akoya Pearls. Sit Yin had already purchased a very lovely pair yesterday (she collected them today and we all said they suited her very well) and got us all interested in a girly pearly lunch!

Our free lunch turned out to be an expensive affair. In fact, as I was typing the paragraph above, my bank has just called to ask if I had signed for something at the Carat Club. I sheepishly had to admit that I did.

Okay it's actually not too expensive for pearls, I tell myself. I reason with my conscience that these are my first sets of pearls. I cannot guarantee that it will be my last, though, since they are so lovely.

Description of my two sets:
Set 1. A string of light peach pearls that are "deformed" (I cant think of a nicer way to say this). But they are really unique given how the pearls were formed which, when put together, looks really cool and modern. It retails for RM439. I had 2 pearls removed to be made into earrings.

Set 2. A string of greyish pearls, rounder and less deformed compared to Set 1. It's really difficult to describe the colours as it looks very different in different lighting and skintones. It retails for RM649 and I had 3 pearls removed - 1 for a pendant and 2 for earrings.

My sister the brat bought 2 strings of pearls that cost RM1890 each. Admittedly, the difference in quality resulted in the difference in price. Her pearls were mostly similar in size, shape and colour compared to mine. She plans to wear both necklaces together but has the option of just wearing one if she wants.

So that was a productive lunchtime indeed! Although, I still think I prefer diamonds to pearls. Diamonds, after all, really are a girl's best friend!

P/S: Pictures only after we get the necklaces, which should hopefully be next week!