Getting ready

It's that time of the year where I start getting ready for Chinese New Year. I've done some spring cleaning, mainly of the yarn stash and fabric stash. It's actually frightening how much stuff I have. I really must try to knit/sew from stash this year. (Must. be. strong... and not be tempted by any yarny goodness.....)

The other thing I'm doing for Chinese New Year is baking cookies. The store bought cookies are just not the same as the ones I remember from my childhood ( a long time ago!!) So first up is Pineapple Tarts. I tried this recipe last year and it was delicious. I tried them again this year and OMG, they're delicious. I'm really glad I made the effort to make them again. And this year, I'm going to try making a few more different ones.

Ps - before I forget, the recipes come from my favourite food blog - Lily's Wai Sek Hong. All her recipes are pretty accurate and totally delicious!

The pastry is from this post - Pineapple Open tart recipe
The pineapple jam is from this post - Pineapple Tart recipe

Another FO!

I know - you're all thinking - what the hell is going on with Ling. She's knitting. She's blogging. She's finishing things. I have to say - I feeling very motivated and enthused, so I've decided to keep going strong. This is another fair isle cowl. It's for Aidan. Knitted in Crystal Palace Mini Mochi in blue shades and Rowan 4 ply soft in a pale blue. I chose a motif from this book. A few evenings of knitting later, this is what I made!

Sock 1 of 12

Finished a pair of socks and there's at least a week left of this month! ( I don't know why the pic is on it's side - blogger issues?!)

Pattern: Hedera
Project/page: Ling’s Hedera
Yarn:Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock
Colourway: Forever at Sea
Needles:2.5mm dpn
Cast On Date: Jan 6, 2011
Cast Off Date: Jan 20, 2011
Mods/Comments: I made the leg a bit shorter than was called for in the pattern.

I have 2.5 pairs from last years sock club and 5 pairs from the previous years and 1 from the Bloodlines sock club to catch up on though. Next up, I'm going to knit V-junkie from the Bloodlines sock club.

Progress and New project

I am loving Hedera. It is a super fast project (for me!). I have now finished 1 sock and I'm at the foot of the second sock and I cast on 10-12 days ago. This is practically unheard of!




And since I was doing so well, what better time to start a new project. This is going to be another cowl for the little man. I had some issues with the fair isle pattern that I chose, but pattern no 2 is going well. Sorry, I only have the picture of the corrugated rib, which is uninteresting to say the least.

More sock knitting

On Ravelry, I joined the knit.sock.love group and for the month of January, I'll be joining in on their Hedera knitalong. I'm very glad to have done because, these socks are just speeding along. Probably my fastest pair of socks (if I stay focused! - big "If") I started it a few days ago and I'm now on the foot. I'm knitting in Sunshine Yarns in the colourway - Forever at Sea.

I love this pattern and yarn!

First FO of the year

The Fair Isle Cowl is done. It took a few nights of knitting and tada!!! It would have been faster if I had paid attention to my knitting. I had 3 episodes of unknitting. It's so obvious when there are mistakes in the diamond pattern!

Here's Zoe with her cowl. I have to make another 2 - 1 for Aidan and 1 for Keira. I'm going to be busy.

Newest project for the year

I took a fair isle class with Alice Starmore 2 years ago. Have I done any fair isle knitting since that class?? Well, you probably know the answer.

So, it's high time I did something about it. Here's my first attempt. Not bad even if I do say so myself. It's the Mini Mochi Fair Isle pattern but I'm making a cowl instead. Keira has already laid claim to it. Hopefully, it won't be too long before an FO makes an appearance!

Resolutions

It's that time of year when everyone's thinking - new year, new start, what will I achieve/do this year. Me - I'm pretty bad about setting resolutions, mainly because it means I'm guaranteed not to meet them. Surprisingly, I'm feeling pretty positive and enthusiastic this time round - so I'm going to challenge myself for 2011 (I think it's also because I'm going to hit the big 4-oh!)

In no particular order:

• I'm going to run a 10k race in under 1 hour (I've signed up for a few races already!)
• I want to lose the last 5 pounds that I've been intending to lose for the last 3 years
• I'm going to knit 12 pairs of socks
• I'm going to knit 3 (different) shawls
• I'm going to blog more
• I'm going to sew more - quilts (I've just been reviewing what I have - I have enough fabric for quite a few quilts) and clothes for me and the family (again - I have too much!)
• I'm going to make sure I have a fab year celebrating my 40th
  

I was going to say I won't buy any more yarn and fabric until I make a dent in my stash, but really, who am I kidding! ;)