Spring has finally sprung!

We've had 2 warm days and sunshine galore. It's equinox tonight - that means the days are getting longer, more sunshine, more warmth, barbeques, picnics, parks, outdoor time are all coming up. Can you tell I'm a bit high from the thought of spring and summer being round the corner??

Distractions

I'm doing some secret knitting at the moment - nothing I can blog about, yet. But this is a good opportunity to show my new distraction. I'm being pressed by a certain little girl to make her a quilt. I've been putting together the fabric and I'm happy with what I have. Now, I just need to have some time to make this darn quilt. Oh yeah - I need to figure out a pattern too!

More, more, more

More pics from the Knitting for Children book - I have a copy in my hands!!! Please excuse Aidan's goofy smile - he did have 2 very wobbly front teeth! I am such a proud mummy!!

Ember

With a little bit of focus, I've finished another project. This is Ember from Kim Hargreaves' book, Cherished. It's knitted in Rowan Big Wool (a yarn I love) in Commodore, a dark grey (a colour I love). Overall, I'm pretty pleased with it. The sleeves are a little too long after blocking, but I can live with it. Oh - I need buttons and to sew up a few details. But I'll consider this done! Luckily for me, the weather is set to get colder again for the next few days, so it might get some wear before I have to put it away for next winter.
Here's a rare picture - sunshine in February in London. Boy, did we need it!

Baking

It's half term for me (again). Aidan had his half term last week, which included having the girls off sick from school for 2 days! This week, with Aidan back in school, the girls have their half term. I've spent the last 2 weeks pretty much entertaining various children. The knitting has been pretty stop-start, so I won't bother showing any progress shots. It'll be the same as last time!

I will show you what we've been baking. Kuih Bangkit - a traditional Malaysian biscuit that is normally served during festivals, like Chinese New Year. I remember my grandmother making these biscuits for Chinese New Year and they were delicious! (certainly much better than the shop bought ones) I found a great recipe from my favourite food blog.

Here's my attempt. Check out the wooden moulds, which my brother bought for me from Singapore. And the biscuits were delicious! They were coconutty and melt in the mouth. They are a lot of work, so maybe I'll be making them only for special occassions!

My kids - the Models

Last August, I took the children for a photoshoot for a new kids knitting book. And it's available now from Amazon. They can be seen on the preview pages on Amazon in this book. I can't wait to get my hands on the book!!!!!!

Here's a little sneak peek of one of the pics!

One sock done

With a little bit of focus, I finished sock no 1 from my Bloodlines kit. Isn't it looking great! It's for hubby but now I'm wishing I made it for me.

I love how the pattern changes for the toe shaping! Genius!

New Projects

It's been super busy here in Casa Ling in the last week. Mainly because hubby was away skiing (or as he says, he's presenting at a conference!) and running around after 3 active little ones is tiring. The first thing to suffer was the housework (you should have seen the mess in the house!) and then after that, it was the crafting. But before I got too exhausted/distracted - I started some new projects.

First up - socks from The Bloodlines Sock Club. The first installment is a True Blood themed installment. These are all the goodies from it! Project bag, pattern tamers, vampire fang sweeties, vampire blood hand gel, Sam (the collie) charm, Eric keychain, Bon Temp fridge magnet, Area 5 sheriff badge and charm barcelet. The yarns were specially dyed by the amazing Alice from Socktopus. The blue variegated skein is Eric Northman and the red skein is Bill Compton. I think she's done an amazing job with the dyeing!


I decided to knit up the pattern - V-Junkie in Eric Northman. I'm making the socks for hubby as he seems to have worn through 2 pairs of handknitted socks already! I'm enjoying the knitting so far! I love the honeycomb pattern.
Not content with one project, I also started another project. This time Ember from the Kim Hargreaves book - Cherished. It's a project that is the complete opposite of sock knitting. Sweater knitting in Rowan Big Wool on 10mm needles. Now, this is progressing very quickly!

Happy New Year

We've been busy celebrating Chinese New Year over the last few days. We've decorated the house in lots of chinese decorations. The children performed at their Chinese School today. They've really been enjoying chinese school - learning about the language and a little bit about the culture.

Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

An exciting day

I have totally non-knitting, non-crafty news today. I've reached another milestone in my life. Today, I turned 40! A new decade begins.

I woke up this morning and didn't really feel any different to yesterday. I guess it's because my physical age has never really mattered or bothered me. In the build up to today, I've been mentally preparing myself anyway, (you know, just in case the depression started!) My mantra was FIT, FAB and 40! I think I'll keep reminding myself of this.

I am very grateful for what I have in my life. 3 beautiful children, 1 loving husband, amazing friends, fantastic family, my health, passion for my crafts, everything really. I've had a fantastic day and hope to have many more.
Ps - Blogger keeps rotating my pics. These are flowers from my wonderful knitty friends.

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! ;)

A year in review

I know I've been pretty bad on the blogging front but I have been busy. Not just with the three kids, I've actually made things. Obviously, I knitted. I also sewed a few things this year too.

I knitted 3 shawls - the same pattern (Haruni) in 3 different yarns. The Neighborhood Fibre Company Studio Sock in Dupont Circle, Sunshine Yarns Twist in Phoenix Song and Sunshine Yarns Classic song in Mother's Day.
I've finished 3 pairs of socks - all part of the Knit Love Club - 2luvcrew, Spring Shoots and Rumpled. I think I started 2 or 3 more pairs but they're languishing in a WIP black hole somewhere.

Other things I've knitted (not many, I know!)

Things I've sewn.I'm sure I've done a few more things in 2010 but i can't remember them, can't have been important!

Have a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope 2011 will be a good year for you. For me, I intend to blog a little bit more than I have.

Enjoy the holidays!