In memoriam

I know my last few posts have been about my grandmother, but today's post is also grandma related. She passed away peacefully in her sleep on Thursday night and her funeral was on Sunday. Having just travelled to see her 2 week ago, coupled with the fact that I have no childcare, I couldn't make it to the funeral. By all accounts, she had a good send off.

While I was in KL, I found a few things which my grandmother made me. There were lots of baby booties and hats. My favourite item was this capelet which she crocheted. I've got Keira modelling it here. It's so retro, so now, so cool!
I miss you grandma, rest in peace.

Exciting happenings

Lots of exciting news!! Firstly, I've finished Sizzle. If you recall, this was frogged and reknitted. Well, it's finally finished (I mean the knitting and seaming is finished, I just need to sew up some ends, but I'm going to say its finished!). Pattern - Sizzle by Wendy at Knit & Tonic
Yarn - Classic ElitePremiere in Jasmine (pale pink). Lovely soft yarn (50% cotton, 50% Tencel). But it loks like it might pill, so we'll see.
Needle size - 4mm (instead of 4.5mm of the pattern because I didn't like the drape of the knitted fabric)
Modifications - Because of the needle change,I cast on a few extra stitches. And because I am quite short, I made all my decreases and increases at every 4 rows instead of 6. I also added extra decreases for the waist shaping.
Thoughts - I really like this knit. I think I'll knit another one in a more vibrant colour and make the neckline a little lower. After knitting the edging, it pulls the neckline in slightly.

In other news, a fews weeks back I answered a fellow knitters call for help and sent some Rowan Cork so she could finish her project. Look how much she used.
Now, look at what she sent me for a Thank you. There's chocolate (which is almost finished!), a Katia magazine, yarn in a gorgeous burgundy colour (cotton classic by Tahki,Stacey Charles) and some fabric and a super cute postcard! Thank you Becky, you really didn't need to do this. I really appreciate your kindness. I love your "Matrix sweater"!

Quilt top completed

Or in other words - much swearing took place, sewing and ripping, and yet more sewing and swearing. Finally, the quilt top is finished. Note that I'm not showing a close up of my sewing skills and I thought I'd distract you with the kids too. So here it is. I've now got to quilt, and bind and it'll probably take another year to complete.
I've also finished my second pair of socks, well anklets to be precise. The pattern is from Alison.
I was tempted by this after seeing a pair at Ruth's. Love her Watermelon socks!
This super quick knit only took one skein of Koigu KPPM. I'm now pretty confident about doing the short row heel and toe. It's not too holey. But my cuffs seem a bit loose. I guess more practice is on the cards.

PS - it's quite difficult to take photos of one's feet.

Back to London

Hello world
I'm back in London. Arrived in late on Friday and I've been settling back into life with the kids. It's amazing how much I've missed them in a LONG week. Well of course I've missed hubby too, but that's different.

Yes I know, I've taken almost a week to update my blog. Sorry!!!

Now where shall I start with my news?!! There's no change in my grandmother's status, which is good and bad. But, let's move on...

There's been lots of knitting while I was in Malaysia. I've finished hubby's ribbed socks (finally). I've restarted and almost finished Sizzle. I've started a second pair of socks. I've finished a scarf for my mum's Indonesian maid, who is returning to Indonesia to get married. I've made floral corsages and knitted jewellery.

There's been a huge amount of swearing today. I'm getting reacquainted with my sewing machine. I'm finally sewing Aidan's quilt which I started a year ago. I'm not the best at sewing...... I'm also not the most patient...... The squares aren't quite squares and I've tried to make them squares... but no joy. So I'm just going to carry on just to finish this project.


I also went to Ally Pally on Sunday with Kate. The only problem was that I made a promise to hubby that I won't make anymore yarn purchases. So I only bought 1 hank of yarn - a Sweet Gergia demon sock yarn from Kerrie (so yummy!) My joy - I've bought a wool winder and an umbrella Swift, a few magazines a pair of extreme knitting needles. I've played around with the Swift and wool winder. Wow!! It's saved so much time already.

Anyway, sorry for the lack of pictures, but I'll be back with more soon.

Thank you

This is just a very quick note to say a BIG Thank you to everyone for their kind words and wishes. My grandmother is doing better, not great but better. It certainly made me feel a lot better being here with her and my family. Here is a picture of her on her wedding day ( she had an 18 inch waist!!)
On good thing about being here in KL with no kids, I am getting quite a lot of knitting done. More about that soon.

On my mind....

A few things are troubling me at the moment. The small stuff - I've finished the fronts and back of Sizzle and tried it on and it doesn't fit right. I've frogged it. I'll make it again. It's only a few tweaks but it needs to be reknitted.

The big stuff - for everyone who lives far away from family will know, you always dread the telephone call, you know the one telling you someone in the family is ill. Well, I got mine yesterday. My grandmother (the one who taught me to knit & crochet among other things) suffered a massive stroke yesterday. The prognosis is not good. I am 6,500 miles away and I feel so helpless. She's 86 years old and has been more frail over the years. I have been mentally preparing for bad news, but it's still a shock to the system when you get the news. There isn't much I can do, but I've decided to go back to KL to be with my family and to be there for her. That's it for now.