Knit FOs: The White Cat models

You may wonder if I really had that much free time today. Perhaps I did, but it was all taken in less than 5 mins.

Here is Kitty in my Carousel poncho:

And here it is in my Green Fairy shawl:


And yes I know that this is not Kitty. It's Shen modelling the scarf I knitted for cousin Melissa ages ago as she was going to the US to study. Now Mel's back and so we took a picture of it when we were in her house last month.

Simple fuzzy garter stitch scarf.... I cant remember the details (like what yarn etc) since I made it years ago.

* Foodie note: Shen's eating Melissa's "Nutella wantan" - deep fried wantan skins filled with Nutella. Is there any wonder why we never lose weight??

Knit FO: Sushi cap

Shen, remember the 3 skeins of super soft alpaca wool that we bought in Loop? The ones from Misti International? Well, I made the salmon pink skein into a nice warm cap. I later saw on a website that this colorway is called Sushi hence the name Sushi cap.




You can tell I had fun taking pictures of the white kitty.

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky by Misti International in Sushi. (100% baby alpaca, 100g, 108 yds.)
Pattern: from my Chinese pattern book which I can't read and therefore can't provide details. Sorry!!

I still have about a quarter of a skein left after making this so am trying to decide what else I can make with the leftover. Suggestions?

Knit FO: Rommel's scarf

Shen, don't mind if I use your white kitty as my model for the next few posts. I felt it was kinda lonely, sitting all alone in your room so I brought it over to mine for a visit/photo shoot.

So anyway, here is Rommel's scarf. Completed, washed, blocked and ends weaved in. I used 4 balls of Rowan Luxury Cotton DK (50g, 95m/104 yds, 50% cotton, 45%viscose, 5% silk) on 5mm straight needles that came as part of my Cath Kidston knitting bag set.

The pattern in a simple stockingnette basketweave. I casted on 45 stitches and did 6 rows of moss stitch as a border. Then:

Row 1: K5 then *p5, k5* until the end.
Row 2: P5 then "k5, p5* until the end.
Row 3: K5 then *p5, k5* until the end.
Row 4: P5 then "k5, p5* until the end.
Row 5: K5 then *p5, k5* until the end.
Row 6: P5 then "k5, p5* until the end.
Row 7: K5 then *p5, k5* until the end.
Row 8: P5 then "k5, p5* until the end.
Row 9: K5 then *p5, k5* until the end.
Row 10: P5 then "k5, p5* until the end.

These 10 rows were the basis of the pattern and I continued until it was about the right length. This is followed by another 6 rows of moss stitch border.


A great simple knit, it felt really nice after it was washed and blocked. Now all we have to do is go somewhere cooler for a holiday so that Rommel can wear it!

The stars say I should spoil myself

Today's horoscope in the New Straits Times:

It is about time you spoil yourself as you tend to be a little too mean and strict with yourself. Spending money on oneself is a sign of having a positive and healthy self-esteem.

My interpretation: More yarn!!!!

Shen, I really wonder if my horoscope is indeed correct. Or maybe I really do have a positive and healthy self-esteem since I am always spoiling myself. Even better, I get others to spoil me! ( I hear Pa in my head going, "Hah! So that's what I'm for?")

But then again, all 3 of us siblings have mastered the art of shopping from Ma. You with your kimono stuff, Fatteh with his flashlights, me with my yarn. And Ma..... well, Ma buys everything and anything. She can shop anywhere (not an easy skill, I must add).

Oh speaking of Ma and her shopping, she bought a new LV bag again. This time it's called Halo Peach. The latest limited edition bag, blah blah blah. Found someone on ebay selling it for US$2295 but I assure you we didnt buy it for that much. The pictures can't do it justice, really. It's much nicer that the pics and the leather is oh-so-soft.

On the work front, I've been busy and so less time to knit. Traffic in the evenings are pretty clear by the time I leave the office (which is about 7-8pm these days), so I can't knit during traffic jams as I usually do. But, working the 12-14 hour days are starting to take its toll on me and so I have trouble waking up at 5.45am nowadays.

I managed to find time to scour Ravelry for lace shawl patterns. I've wound up my 1 skein of The Plucky Knitter's Her Ladyship as I plan to make a shawlette for Ji-Lian's birthday. Haven't taken a picture of the new Plucky yarns yet but this has really nice burgundy-reddish hues to it. Hopefully, I find a suitable pattern soon and start on it because I dont have that many days to finish it!

I'm also on the hunt for a crochet shorts pattern. Suennie bought a pair of Armani shorts that were crocheted and she loves it but says it's really pricey. So I've been given the task of either looking for a similar design or coming up with my own. Haven't found any patterns that resemble it yet so will attempt to create my own version of it.

So there, that's what I've been up to. Oh and I have been having this really annoying headache which keeps coming and going. (It's coming right now, I feel it... ow) Maybe I should go home early today? I don't know. I've been saying that for the past 3 days but still I leave at the usual time. Sigh...

SFX Family Day 2008

Okay I know this is way overdue. The SFX Family Day was held in July but somehow I never posted about it!

Here is "Kampung Maranatha" which is mom's theme for this year. Maranatha is a retreat house in Janda Baik which is maintained solely based on charity and fund-raising activities. Mom is part of the fund-raising committee and so every year at the SFX Family Day, they'll have a stall selling various items and food to raise funds.


In keeping with this year's kampung theme, we sold an assortment of kuih, rice, lemang, curries, rendang, sambal and veg etc. We even got Father Simon to fry the pisang goreng which were sold at for RM1 each.

In the next picture, Shen, myself and Evelyn are preparing his "cooking area".



Here I am getting ready to do my "rounds". We had so much mee siam left towards the end (people preferred the nasi lemak so that was sold out really quickly), so I had to take around a tray of it to try to sell. RM1 only a packet!

Amidst all the hustle and bustle, Rommel managed to get a shot of my dad slowly enjoying his mee soto.

And here is a pic of cousins Vanessa and Melissa.

More Plucky yarn on the way

My horoscope in the NST for today:
You have been very patient with saving money towards that one object you desire. Today, it will be difficult to control your impulses, so be aware that you may splurge your savings unless you keep a cool head.

And so, I splurged. Bad bad Ravelry. I knew there was a Plucky update on etsy over the weekend but was very disciplined to not check yesterday. Then I thought to myself this morning, "All the yarns would have been sold out by now so let's check." And I also checked on the Plucky forum on Ravelry to see what others had scored in the update.

Then I saw "light blue....... cashmere.... still on sale".

That didn't take much encouragement. How can I ever say no to cashmere?

So here's what I got:
2 skeins of Francie Stevens and 1 skein of Morticia.

Great birthday treat for myself! And am gonna use some of the birthday money I received yesterday so if anyone asks, that's where their money went! Thanks a bunch! Hehe..

An adventure in Phuket

Happy Merdeka!

I'm assuming you read my previous post on missing my flight to Phuket because of the protests and airport closure.

Since the parents, Fatteh and Rommel were already there, they went around shopping, getting massages and taking photos with baby tigers and elephants. (Shen I'll try and post a pic of the one where Pot is carrying the baby tiger. So cute - the tiger I mean.) Ma made 12 silk shirts while Fatteh and Pa made 6-7 cotton ones each.

And Fatteh tried out some guns at the shooting range. Rommel said that it was much pricier than in Ho Chi Minh City and the guns kinda sounded more like paintball guns than proper guns (as in it wasn't as loud as the ones we tried at HCMC).

On Sunday the rest of the family had to get a car from Phuket all the way to the border (7 hours, no joke!!), then cross the border on foot (imagine Ma dragging her LV luggage across like an immigrant!), then hail another taxi to take them to the Alor Star airport (half an hour away). They then flew back to KL from Alor Star and arrived just an hour earlier than they would have if they took the scheduled flight from Phuket.

In the mean time, I stayed at home, slept the Saturday afternoon away and was just too lazy to go out that night. Evelyn cooked up a simple meal for the 2 of us and we just watched loads of TV.

Sunday morning, I was woken up at 9am by the sound of fighter jets in the air. It doesn't help that we live near the Sg Besi airforce base so that's where all the jets take off from for the Merdeka celebrations. Couldn't sleep, so headed to Midvalley.

At MV, I headed straight for Bottles and Bottles to get some beer (20 bottles of Weihenstephan - a mix of the 3 types) and 6 bottles of Little Creatures Pale Ale (I just had to try it!). Chong, the owner of B&B was really nice and helped me take the stuff to my car.

In the afternoon, I made 2 types of tiramisu - one with Kahlua and one without alcohol. Also baked a cheesecake (first time trying!) and am really glad it had good feedback from everyone who tried it last night. Just needs a bit of refinement so will keep trying and the colleagues have volunteered to be my guinea pigs.

Yesterday was a busy day. Fatteh wanted to go karting so we picked Godbro Ian up from his place and headed for the Mofaz track in USJ. After a couple of rounds, we all got hungry and headed for the char siew place in Shah Alam which is a sister restaurant to the famous one in Tengkat Tung Shin. Got there just in time to order the last few pieces of char siew. Yumm...

Next we headed to the go-karting track at the Shah Alam stadium so that they could go on the 100cc karts. Apparently the Mofaz track had too many turns and not many straights so it wasn't worth taking the 100ccs on it. I didn't kart though, was not in the mood cos it was so hot. So I just sat around and started on a new project - a crocheted baby blanket.

Evening time: the party! We only invited family members and some close friends so it was a small do. Mom didn't tell anyone it was my birthday so that they didn't have to feel obliged to buy me a present. But of course the family knew and so I still got some presents!

So there, our weekend summarised.

P/S: Hi Chris, yes I should have just made a visit to Daddy's cellar and raided it. Then if he calls, I can go "*hic*... Hi Pa... *hic*... I'm not sure which bottle I had but it said something "Harlan" on it." Hehe... And I know where all the good wines are kept. ;)