Knitnerd

Demi is Done!

2012-01-04T17:38:00.001-05:00

It took me almost two years to complete this sweater! I should admire my persistence or blame my slackness? Thank goodness it's done, before the new semester starts!

The yarn, Yorkshire Tweed by Rowan had been discontinued five or six years ago. Just now I checked the yarn receipt and simply couldn't believe the yarn was purchased on July 3, 2007, during when Romni Wools hosted its annual 20% off winter yarn sale!

Although I haven't assembling a knitted sweater for a long time, but surprisingly by the minute I picked up my grafting needle, the feeling was back and my hands simply know what to do!

Honestly bulky garments require a highly level of finishing skills and greater attention to the details. I spent a night and an afternoon to assemble Demi. The finishing is just as tidy and clean as what I expected.

A boutique quality piece of work, isn't it?

Pattern: Demi by Kim Hargreaves, from Vintage Knits.

Size: XS

Yarn: Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran in SH413 Lot 14D3, 6.5 skeins

Needles: 4, 4.5 & 5mm Addi Turbo

Modifications: Sleeves shortened and cuff circumference reduced.

FOs...

2011-11-30T00:55:00.001-05:00

i-pouch!

Camera pouch...

Randomly picked some scarp fabrics...

Made up some geometry...

A purse I created!

Another camera pouch...

Confessions of a shopaholic... I bought more than what I've shown here this summer...

And knitting - Two hats designed by Kim Hargreaves!

An Apron!

2011-11-07T16:18:00.002-05:00

Long time no sew! Here is what I made yesterday.

Looks like it is the perfect length for the dress form, but it's a bit too long for me.

Mom loves it too! And she ordered two more for her friends who love cooking and baking.

Here is the wrong side. I borrowed idea from the curtains in my living room, using invisible hem stitches for the lower edges of both the face and lining fabrics.

The apron needs more serious ironing to erase the wrinkles and even out the stitches. Overall I am happy with this simple but practical project and I will make more this weekend.

Ski Jacket

2011-09-07T19:32:00.006-04:00

Pattern: Ski Jacket, from Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery

Yarn: Alafoss Lopi, Colors 0047 (Red), 0118 (Blue), 0867 (Brown), 0051 (White) & 9985 (Green).

Needles: 6mm (for the lower body), 7mm (for upper collar) and 6.5mm (for the rest of the jacket).

It’s a ski jacket for someone who seldom ski! What attracted me were the red color and the motif pattern on the yoke, so I went ahead and made one anyway.

Although I don’t like knitting with bulky yarns because holding and turning a heavy project really tiring me out (the jacket weights at least 750g), but anyway this is a super fast knit, so I could still tolerate the weight. I knitted most of the jacket during the Labor Day long weekend. The progress was quite amazing. Indeed, I could knit up something really fast if I am not interrupted (or maybe fascinated?) by something else. Once a project goes to a hibernating stage, likely it would stay in the yarn closet forever. Knitters! You know what I am talking about, eh?

The jacket is fabulous but the pattern is poorly written. The directions for the collar and front borders are confusing because they sound like instructions for a men’s outfit (i.e. the button holes are placed on the left border). It was only after I finished the jacket I suddenly realized the WS and RS indication for the collar and front borders is wrong.

Another issue with the jacket is that the yoke is way too deep! Although I have shortened the front by using short-rows immediately after joining the sleeves to the body, it stilled turn out to be a little bit too deep, especially for someone like me, who is just 5 feet tall.

The gauge given in the pattern is wrong. It should be 13 sts = 4 inches, not 14sts, otherwise the sizing wouldn’t be right.

Also, my fault – I omitted body shaping, and used a smaller needle for the lower body instead. I should have included the darts, or used the smaller needle for the entire sweater. I knitted the small size, but, yeah, the 39” bust is a little too big.

Last but not least, the finished Jacket is also a bit too long because I added an extra inch to the lower body! Thinking that there would be no better ways to improve the fit other than felting it (frogging is not an option!), I dumped the finished jacket into the washing machine, set to the hot-water/heavy-duty cycle, threw in also a worn out jean (to accelerate the felting process by rubbing against the woolen), and let the machine run for 10 minutes. Ulala, guess what! The jacket did shrink, and also, surprisingly, since the yarn had felt (slightly), the jacket became much softer, thicker, fuzzier, smoother, and the sheep’s long hairs popped out like angora! Honestly I didn’t expect this, not to mention that I used to believe Lopi would be a bad choice for any garment because of its roughness. I was so pleased with the result, and of course, proud of my fearlessness!

It would be a perfect jacket for a Canadian to wear in deep fall! Haha, thanks to its over-size, I can wear three layers underneath the jacket.

The yoke pattern looks much more complicated then the effort required to make it.

Ah! I should have also utilized short-rows around the back neck to raise the collar up an inch or so.
Too big! =(
I found the wooden buttons the perfect matches for a folk-style jacket.

The wrong side - again, thanks to the felting step, the yarn ends are now securely "locked".

My First Authentic Fair Isle Hand-knit

2011-08-09T18:43:00.011-04:00

( While this photo was being taken, the vest was still wet/damp; but I couldn't bear to wait any longer to unveil my new FO - an Authentic Fair Isle hand-knit, though not made in Shetland. )

After stopped knitting for quite a long time, I decided to have a fresh start with something challenging, something that I had never tried before.

With almost no hesitation, I picked a pattern by 风工房, from her lovely book Kazekobo’s Fair Isle Knitting. I love the traditional red/blue/white/brown/gold color combination of that pattern. Also, I really appreciate that the charts in this book are printed in color rather than black-and-white symbols. It makes color changing much more straightforward. An extra bonus is that although Japanese patterns often provide only one universal size, but that magic size (usually a 36’ bust measurement) fits my body perfectly and so I don’t need to worry about sizing at all.

But since the color chart is written in Japanese and the suggested yarn is not available in Canada, I had to somehow substitute the yarn and do my best to select my own color spectrum that resembles the sample shown in the book. I believed that the best way would be going to a local yarn shop that offers authentic Shetland wool and choose my own colors while I am in front of the yarns.

But the “local” yarn shop is not local at all. I found none that carries Jamieson and Smith, and only one that carries Jamieson’s but which requires an hour+ of driving to get there. It’s the Camilla Valley Farm in Orangeville.

After two weeks of hesitation and procrastination, I made up my mind, installed a GPS in my car, and drove up north to that farm. Ah! The stupid GPS was outdated and didn’t realize that HWY 410 had recently been rerouted. I got lost at least 5 times on the way to the farm and back home. If it was not that I naturally have good sense about directions, I would have ended up in middle of nowhere on the small country roads and in between the corn fields.

Then, I thought it’s not very practical to knit a woolen pullover since all indoors are air conditioned in winter. Rather, a vest would be much more practical and required much less effort!

So I spent some time reworked the pattern to make it become a vest, and more suited to my silhouette (meanwhile I've already started knitting the body). One significant alternation I made was knitting the whole thing in the round and incorporated steeking techniques (the original pattern calls for flat knitting which is just unreasonable!). Pattern-vise, I also shorted the body and neck ribbing. I knitted with a smaller needle (3.0mm instead of the suggested needle size, 3.25mm) for the lower body because my hip is smaller than my bust (really weird because standard sizes always have bigger hips). In addition, I used the short-row technique to shape the shoulder line so the vest would fit my slanted shoulder : ( better.

The following colors of Spindrift 2-ply were used:

680 -Lunar

726- Prussian Blue

1010- Seabright (used only in the ribbing)

104 - Natural White

343 - Ivory

375 - Flax

425 - Mustard

880 - Coffee

525 - Crimson

526 - Spice

Needless to say, I enjoyed the knitting process so much and so vest was done in a relatively fast pace. Although the yarn is thin (Shetland Spindrift is thinner than 4ply), but the knitting is relatively fast since all is plain knitting. I could knit comfortably holding both yarns on my right hand, or one on the left and one on the right. The stitch pattern is logical and hence required almost no memorization. When a mistake was made, I could spot it right away; consequently, no bad ripping happened.

Below is a list of work-in-progress images.

I am more than pleased with the neat and well-defined stitches.

Even the wrong side is super tidy! And I meticulously "trapped" all floats that are greater than five stitches, using a secret method that I learned in Meg's knitting camp four years ago. (That method is truly magic and I would love to share on Youtube if any of you are interested!)

Beyond stitching and steeking, before CUTTING.

I was uncomfortable to cut the knitting open without any reinforcement, so I machined stitched the armhole and neck openings before the cut. My Pfaff did a great job!

The yarn ends along one of the armhole openings got trimmed, no weaving was necessary! For the body, I either trapped in new yarn in when only one yarn required changing, or simply knotted the new yarns to the old ones when both of the "old" yarns required changing (I've read that it is sufficiently stable as the yarn will be felt quite a bit after washing). In that manner, I eliminated 99%+ of the amount of weaving required if the vest was knitted flat.

Here it is!
Wow! The size is perfect!

Frost 'n Rainbow

2011-07-15T01:16:00.004-04:00

After two years of silence and hibernation, I finally made another pattern. It is available for pdf download ($1.50 USD) at Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/frost-n-rainbow

Yeah, now it's summer. It's hot, but as a knitter you would agree no more that now it's the right time to start planning Christmas gifts!

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Unbuttoned length: 165cm (65 inches)

Width: 24cm (9.5 inches)

MATERIALS

Yarn

[MC] Aran weight self striping and color changing yarn

Sample shown in Noro Vintage [64% Wool, 24% silk, 12% angora; 100m per 50g skein]; Color No. 5; 3 skeins

[CC] Worsted weight solid color yarn

Sample shown in Diamond Luxury Collection Stellabella [87% baby alpaca, 9%

Polyamide (Stellina), 4% Nylon; 175m per 50g hank]; color No. 100; 1 hank

GAUGE

17 sts/ 27 rows = 4 inches/10cm in stitch pattern, after blocking

A Blouse!

2011-07-06T18:28:00.005-04:00

Hooray! I finally had something fresh off my needles! I started this project during the Christmas, and it's now the perfect time to finish off and wear this lovely cotton blouse!

Yarn: Filatura Dicrosa Millefili Fine, from Romni Wools, long time ago

Needles: 3mm and 3.5mm regular Addi Turbo

Pattern: A Japanese pattern from the Spring/Summer '06 Issue of World Knit

Buttons: I was rushing up so I simply clipped two buttons off from a cowl that I made a few years ago.

Alternations: None, except that the body was knitted in the round. I actually didn't find knitting in the round beneficial. It made the ribbing slanted. Indeed I really don't mind joining the seams together.

Comments: Knitting with cotton is not enjoyable.

Blog Statistics

2011-03-25T00:43:00.004-04:00

I use Excel everyday to perform boring analysis for my research. So just now I did something hilarious from Excel instead. I entered my number of blogs posted each year (since 2006) to Excel, made a graph, and fitted the graph with an exponential function. Sadly the blog entry statistics shows a really high tendency of exponential decay with R-Squared =0.9821. I was so disappointed about my effort put into Blogspot.

Feel Ashamed if Continuing Inactive

2011-03-24T22:29:00.006-04:00

So here is a presentation of some of my works done, recently.

A hand-sewn, framed coin purse. Why hand sewing? Simply because it's too small to be machine-sewn. Not perfect. More practice is definitely needed. But I learned a lot while working on this little project, even nicer, I figured out ways to improve. The linen-cotton blend fabric was from Japan. I got it in Osaka in 2008. Can't believe it's almost four years! The Japanese crafting industry is amazing. They always produce first-class materials and high standard publications that the North American's can't compare. I treasure all my Japanese craft books and love their sophisticated yet kawaii designs. I feel so poignant about the earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear meltdown. Let's pray for Japan.

The original designer, Kelly, suggested using several strands of thread to sew the frame. Luckily I got some button threads, which are strong and thick enough that I could use only one strand to safely attach the frame to the purse body. Also, the pattern asks for no pleats. I saved a whole lot of time.

I've tried my utmost to make the purse symmetrical. Almost symmetric.

The red thing from the last post is done (long time ago). I am NOT satisfied with the design, the color, and the dimension. Period.

Another BIG UFO is waiting on the queue. I am always loaded with tonnes of ideas in my mind, but simply have no time and lack of persistence to conceive and then realize them, and hence, my creativity is miscarried.

A Fisherman's Delight

2011-02-02T21:49:00.003-05:00

Long time no knit! I admit. The background is actually today's fresh snow on my backyard deck.

I am in the torturing process of fixing the center. I knitted the star in purl stitches, which did not turn out looking good. So, I raveled, column by column, to convert the purl stitches to seed stitches. ah...

Happy new year!

Let what I do be what I love

2011-01-19T15:47:00.002-05:00

People say:
Let what you love be what you do.

In practice, I need to:
Let what I do be what I love!

So here is my New Year's Resolution:

Be passionate on my research

Be persistent in maintaining a healthy living style

Be punctual on time

Don’t procrastinate any school works

Not so exciting works

2011-01-18T00:12:00.008-05:00

I saw people link their photos to their flicker accounts. Too bad I had almost forgotten my flicker account... so from now on I will try to link mine to there, too, and see if it is more convenient this way. Before I was so dumb, kept wondering how the "src photo" could be taken from flicker. It was not until just now that I suddenly realized the method of using the "view source" function and copy the link from flicker. (Is there any faster way?) ah... I am just so stupid with computers. Anyway, here are some small projects that I made "lately" (i.e. 75% made in 2010).

Folk Doll.

A jet lag product. For over a week I couldn't sleep properly after returning from my vacation in China. I made this in one early morning.

Polka Dots Makeup Bag, duplicated from my LeSportsac.

Lunch Bag, another duplication.

Camera Pouch, my own idea.

Swatches

2010-10-18T10:36:00.003-04:00

I was tidying up my "yarn closet" last weekend. Frogged quite a few UFOs wildly as if I needed to erase the past and start over again!

And, look! I dug out some interesting swatches. Indeed, I have the good habit of making swatches before the start of any gauge critical projects, and sometimes, I just make swatches for fun!

Let's start knitting again! Swatching is a good start ^-^

Finally, an FO

2010-10-14T12:37:00.002-04:00

What a long knit!

捉住青春的尾巴 - Catch the Tail of Youth

2010-10-02T19:42:00.003-04:00

Looking at this project, I feel deeply miserable. From the casting on of the brim to now, it’s been more than a year! Meanwhile, Rowan 4-ply wool was discontinued, if I was not mistaken. Also in the mean time, I finished my overburdened 5^th year of undergrad, graduated, returned to SNC-Lavalin for summer work, and finally, started grad school. When I casted on for this hat, I had short hair. Now I wear a medium long ponytail, and would be more appropriate to wear earmuffs in the soon coming winter (before I decide what to do with me hair). Youth will be gone soon. I want to catch its tail.

I have to admit that my fever of knitting is gradually cooling down (but never ended). I am no longer longing for the latest issue of Rowan, or IK, or VK. My stash inventory proves that I haven’t been to a yarn store for decades.

As I am getting older, I found I am getting more interested in skincare and cosmetics (i.e. how to camouflage my never disappearing dark circles and how to relief my itchy, redness-prone sensitive skin). In the summer time I was really drawn into NARS blushes and collected quite a bunch. Then my passion for these coral, dusty rose, peachy, pinky shimmery colours suddenly gone away. Recently I put my focus into classics and cultural topics (very random), currently enjoying reading Notre-Dame de Paris and Histoire de la Cuisine Bourgeoise (of course in Chinese translations). I feel like getting old… and got so excited the day before when a student in my Statics class came and asked if I understand linear algebra etc… I was confused about why she asked this but evenly realized that she thought I was her classmate. Isn’t that thrilling when you are in first year masters, people think you are a freshman?

Didn’t do any weight loss activities since school started. Hmm… I think I should work harder for the last 6 to 7 pounds. But with all the work that I need to be finished asap, I have no mood to go to the gym (excuses??) In fact, I am an ostrich; sometimes I hide my head, daydream and procrastinate.

I just found that going to grad school means proceeding to a more isolated life. I do like my work, but at least at this stage working towards a master degree is not essential because in the future I want to be a housewife, not a bridge engineer. I have that type of feeling since the beginning of this year. I can image myself keeping a sweet and cozy home, working busily in front of a sewing machine, relaxing while knitting a pair of socks, or maybe feeding the kids (haha…). Of course, it would be perfect if I can open a small shop selling creative little things of my design.

Ok, I know I should stop dreaming, and go back to work, NOW!

Fat Burn

2010-07-21T23:11:00.003-04:00

I lost 25+ pounds since July 2009. That’s a slow, bittersweet process. I didn’t participate in any weight losing programs. The fats were burned because of:

I worked hard in my last year of undergrad – to boost up my grade so I could have a better chance of getting into grad school. (If I knew working hard was such a rewarding process, from both a weight losing and GPA gaining perspective, I would have worked really hard since 1^st year of university, sign…)
Stomach issues – I just found I have mild to moderate acid reflux (GERD) from my recent body check. But I believe that’s school related. Because I had so many night classes last term, I always ate so late at night, and slept before the food was properly digested.
“Healthy diet” – I consumed tons of oatmeal since the early spring of this year, and meanwhile I lost 15 pounds. I love it because it’s quick to prepare and, to me, very tasty. Maybe oatmeal is the secret weight losing ingredient?
I go to the gym, irregularly, and trying my best to visit the gym at least 3 times a week. Honestly, I think exercising alone is not the best/fastest way to lose weight, but it helps to shape the body.

My target is 110 lbs – 10 more pounds of fat to be burned. I have to admit that it’s hard for me. Weight losing requires pressure, patience and persistence.

Bows are Popular

2010-05-12T22:33:00.004-04:00

The vintage whimsical little bow bag was made last year sometime around Thanksgiving. I was planning to give it away, but because of the slanted, imperfect handle, I kept it instead.

Pattern: Vivien from Making Vintage Bags by Emma Brennan

Two days ago, I used the left over ribbon to make two ponytail holders.

They look quite matched.

Grad Trip to Europe in a few days! So Excited!

Decided!

2010-03-12T17:45:00.002-05:00

I have just decided what to do next: U of T grad school, here I come! Yup, I am gonna stay at U of T for two more years, specializing in bridge engineering.

Everyone one please wish me good luck =).

Where is the Knitnerd?

2010-03-03T20:55:00.002-05:00

She hasn’t knitted for quite a while. The needles are cold and need warm up.

She hasn’t sewn for quite a while (except last weekend when she alternated her pants for her Iron Ring Ceremony because they were way too long for her). She felt so sorry for her Pfaff.

She tried her utmost for the last year of Skule (supposed to but somehow failed to).

She will finish undergrad in less than TWO months.

Now she is confused about what to do next TT.

Grad School? Work? China? Where to? It’s too much confusion because after all I am just an ordinary girl. I question about my competency of being an Engineer, not a lousy Engineer but a responsible and passionate Engineer who really knows the tricks of the trade. After five years of education and training, I still feel like I am not ready.

Maybe I will just create a Craft Atelier someday in my life.

But, still, no needlework post until May.

Please wish me the best of luck for my last two months of Undergrad!

Sew A Kimono

2009-07-03T22:28:00.004-04:00

On Canada Day, I sewed a Kimono...

At an exact 1:4 scale, using a Scale Ruler. Surprisingly, it fits my mannequin. So I dressed him, in a Chinese way.　Ｉ　ｓｈｏｕｌｄ　ｍａｋｅ　ａｎ　Ｏｂｉ　ｓｏｍｅｔｉｍｅ！

One thing that I am not sure about is ... the dangling part of the kimono sleeves, as well as the underarms, were unclosed (according to my understanding of the Japanese instruction book).

Although it's a scaled version. I did followed the instructions maticuliously (given that I didn't understand Japanese, I spent quite a long time to figure out the illustartions). If you go to Wikipedia and search Kimono, you would see that my scaled kimono has everything except the over-collar, which was too thick for me to sew over the narrow inner-collar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimono

That's the way Japanese hem the kimono.

This is the book I used. I got it from a store called Little Kyoto (or Little Tokyo) from Kensington Market two years ago.

Very nice illustrations! I can tell that the Author is very experienced becasue her illustrations make sense, even for me. On the other hand, you can tell that I am a visual learner.

Target UFO - Done

2009-06-21T14:26:00.004-04:00

This lace work project started in 2007! I can't believe it's 2009 now, and simply can’t recall what had happened in 2008. Yesterday, I finally crocheted off the last round, and blocked it.

Had a good sleep last night. Woke up late this morning. Took a peek at the blocking board. Ahhh! My little lace doily was just stunning, even on the messy blocking board with hundreds of pinholes, and was still stretching under pins!

Pattern: Egeblad, a Danish pattern available free at www.yarnover.net
Thread: DMC Cebelia size 30 crochet cotton
Needle: 2.00mm Inox / Addi Turbo double point and circular needles
Hook: 1.00mm Red Heart Steel Crochet Hook.

And also, I made a tote bag, for shopping fabrics (a store in Toronto would offer $5 off for purchasing $25 or more if you bring your own handmade tote bag).

Next targeted UFO? This one!

Ah! Summer Knitty is there!

2009-06-11T22:01:00.005-04:00

I was too busy at work! Overwhelmed with all the deteriorated highway bridges.

This design was submitted for the winter 2008 issue (thus it was made long time ago). Back at that time, I had no reference on how to construct framed purses. It took me quite a while to figure out. When I found the framed purse books by Kelly, I was excited, and ordered them immediately.

Hahah, I did advertisement for someone else instead. But please, do take a look at my "new" design.

For Baby

2009-06-07T21:03:00.009-04:00

This baby blanket was made for my friend and middle school classmate/roommate, Jessica. She will give birth to her first child this month (though I am not sure about the exact day).

For every stitch I crocheted, my memory lingered around my middle school days in China. There were twenty girls in our class. Together with eight other girls, Jessica and I also shared a big dormitory room that could accommodate six bunk beds (we attended a boarding school). We studied, ate, played and slept all together, and we became really close friends. In summer nights, the girls clustered to one bed and whispered, gossiped about other girls and boys, shared secrets, and dreamed about our future.

Maybe none of us at that time realized how our future was like.

Eight years passed by so quickly since I left middle school and came to Canada. In these eight years, many of my classmates left hometown, to Hong Kong, Canada, UK, or USA. Jessica immigrated to USA a few years ago. She met her husband in Los Angeles and finally settled down there. Her husband is also from our hometown, and the most magical part is that her father in law was my father’s boss three decades ago. The world is quite small.

The blanket will be shipped tomorrow. I hope her baby will like it.

Pattern: My own
Yarn: 6 balls of Lanett baby wool
Hook: 3.25mm (I love the cheep Red Heart Crochet Hooks from Wal-Mart. They fit my hand quite well and give great speeds. With a 5mm Red Heart aluminum crochet hook, I did 78 double crochet stitches in three minutes in a competition and won three baskets of yarns five years ago. But too bad most of them are acrylic yarns, for making... afghans.)

Strawberry Cake

2009-06-05T23:48:00.002-04:00

It's a kit my co-worker Jermaine brought for me from her trip toTaiwan. Very cute. A nice decoration for my little cubicle.

Please stay tuned to check out my new pattern @ Summer Knitty 2009.

2009-03-29T18:38:00.003-04:00

tagged by Bamboo Sticks

"Open the 6th picture folder on your computer, open the 6th photo and blog it. Write something about it. "

我自己也弄不大清楚，这是赵子昂的字吗？Please correct me if you know about it. My 6^th folder under “My Pictures” is called “Colour Studies and Art”, contained tonnes of goodies.

Some Little Hand Sewing

2009-03-29T16:56:00.005-04:00

This is a nice little project to practice my hand sewing skills. It took me, not consecutively, three Sunday afternoons to finish.

A quilting pattern from Hitomi Hanaoka’s lovely quilting book: 花岡瞳の針仕事―好きな布、好きな形…, the zipper pocket portion was supposed to be quilted with 1.5cm wide hexagons.

But the small hexagonal patchwork was too challenge for me to accomplish, I thus omitted all the patchworks required and used a single piece of fabric instead.

I had so much fun sewing, but was disgusted with all the fabric scraps and thread ends mess… knitting keeps your room cleaner, isn’t it?

April is coming. I am going to the Needlework Festival, as well as the Knitters Frolic! So excited!

Craft books overflow

2009-02-23T21:04:00.006-05:00

我向台湾和大陆的手工书进攻了。

哈哈，中文的好明白一点。

只是可怜了我家的书房。

全都是我的书！

还有很多藏在自己房间里。

如果我妈看到了，肯定吓她一惊。

秀绣我表姐的公公手做的竹东东。厉害吧！他现在老了，以前的还漂亮多呢。
人家早收山，享儿子福了（他生了五个男！）。
上次回国和他们一家吃饭，说起他的手艺。他开心，答应送我一套。
想不到他真的上山采竹，编了一套四个的方篼，和一个圆的，古时候用来晒干物的东西。我爸爸上礼拜从国内给我带来了。很感动！我向中国千千万万个手工艺人致敬！

最后是我最近乱做的袋子，上不了台盘，只好放在最后。

Apply What I Just Learned

2009-02-20T00:29:00.005-05:00

After I decoded my sister's bag, I found the same construction theory can lead to something else...

Is my idea clever?

Sew a copy cat!

2009-02-20T00:12:00.004-05:00

I wanted to know how to construct a bag like my sister's.

1. Measure, precisely.

2. Transfer measurements to muslin.

4. Ready to sew!

Done!
Hahaha, the bag was decoded!

Sew Good! First Project in 牛 Year.

2009-01-25T20:18:00.004-05:00

My first project in the year of the Ox! Designed, machine quilted and hand sewed all by me, using a cotton linen blend fabric that I bought at the Daimaru in Osaka. The lining fabric was picked at the Toronto Needlework Festival last year. The beautiful trim was from Mokuba.

The Lazy Knitnerd Post Again!

2009-01-21T20:43:00.014-05:00

I was back from my vacation on Jan. 12.

In a chronological order, I visited:

Hong Kong

Tokyo

Fujiyama

Kyoto

Osaka

Nara

Kobe

Hometown, Kaiping: These buildings are called Diaolou. There are over 1800 diaolous in my hometown and they are the only World Heritage Site in the Guangdong Province so far.

and saw something really impressive!

I enjoyed my vacation!

Goodies I got in Japan? Actually, not a lot. I joined a guided tour in Hong Kong to Japan. Time was tight. But I still managed to visit Okadaya in Tokyo and the craft department at Daimalu in Osaka.

I got some books and fabrics.

Now all I need is to get rid of my laziness and start projects NOW!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48394372@N00/?saved=1 <-- Click here to see more photos!

Back in China

2008-12-22T03:35:00.002-05:00

Finally, I am home, after four days in Hong Kong and six days in Japan. My hometown, Kaiping (in Guangdong Province) changed dramatically again in just another few years. This time, I can use blogspot, how nice!

Lots of pictures taken in Japan. Will post soon.

Vacation Time

2008-12-11T18:30:00.000-05:00

I should be sitting on the airplane now. But because of the bad weather condition in New York, my flight (Continental Airlines from Toronto to New York to Hong Kong) was canceled. Luckily, Cathay Pacific Airways in Toronto has seats leftover! I am leaving in two hours. But before I leave, I must show you the vest that I am bringing to my dad, who is now in China.

I am going to Japan too. Searched vigorously online yesterday and found a lot craft stores in Tokyo and Osaka. Hope I will dig something interesting there.

I will have no access to Blogspot in Mainland China, but meanwhile I will be crazily buying craft supplies as my friend Littlestar sent me some interesting Chinese online shopping sites.

Repost in January 2009. Wish everyone happy holidays!

Project Reveal #2

2008-11-04T00:29:00.001-05:00

Today I went to Indigo the bookstore, and found the latest Interweave Knit Gifts was out. I found the neck warmers featured. Thus, it’s time to show the two neck warmers I made recently. The stranded one was for me, a modified version of the one I made last year, from Lopi Magazine Issue 26. It’s a great way to consume leftover yarns. I machine steeked and cut open to make the button bands. With a sew machine, how convenient steeking is! The purple one was a pattern my sister purchased in the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitter’s Fair by Fiddlesticks Knitting (together with the yarn, Silken Merino). This was a one ball wonder project that I finished in one evening.

Hahah I was a bit timid to show my first quilt project. But here it is, a very easy star pattern.

Yesterday, I dressed up my Mr. Fat Cat. It was a Japanese crochet pattern in the “Cat Book” that I got in 2006. But the bowtie and the buttons were my own invention.

I forgot if I haven mentioned this embroidered piece before. It was done last year’s summer, by Auntie Chen, when she, her husband and her daughter accommodating in our house. She used to be a professional embroiderer (Cantonese Style, 粤绣, one of the four main streams of Chinese Embroidery) twenty years ago. The grass was done by me when I was in high school (a family studies club project), when my knowledge of embroidery was really limited. I used two strands of cotton thread and was obvious too thick, totally ruined the beauty of this project, and made irreversible wrinkles. One day she found my UFO and her memories came back. She showed me the correct ways to embroider and finished the rest in just two mornings. This Christmas I am going back to China. I am going to her city, Shantou (汕头) to see the professional Cantonese Embroidery there, though I doubt if there is still any left there.
Ok, stop here, more projects to come. Stay tuned.

Project Reveal #1

2008-11-02T20:27:00.000-05:00

This is a fat cat. He needs a bowtie. I will make one for him later.

Long Time No Post

2008-10-27T20:26:00.003-04:00

Because my camera was dead. Bought a new one but my sister took it to school (for picturing notes in class!).
I have many interesting, fresh, hot off needle craft projects (maybe it’s cool now =P) want to show (including my first quilt, my dad’s vest, my crochet kitten cushion, my snap purse… stay tuned)! Maybe this weekend, when I have a chance to use the camera.

How about my engineering work? So far, it’s kinda busy and boring mixed, and it’s far less challenging than what I expected. In the pass four months, I went to bridges along Hwy 427 and did “body check” for each bridge, the so called “condition survey” project. For all overpasses I had to go at night and stayed until sunrise, with teammates, of course. It’s physically challenged, but I was fine with it, giving that I was well trained at Eng Sci. If I get paid premium for doing night shift, I would be happier.

Back at the office, I was busy producing condition survey reports. It’s all done in Excel, Word and AutoCad. The worse thing ever is, I HAVE NO ACCESS to INTERNET. It took quite a while for me to get use to that. When my manager asked me for any “unsatifactions”. I was honest and told him what I want. But he said even the head manager didn’t get access to Internet. Well…

But I was happy too. My supervisors seemed pleased with my performance and the division manager keep reminding me that if I am happy with SNC-Lavalin, I can just come back after graduation. Interview is my weakest weakness. No interview and resume and cover letter? How nice!
Do I satisfy my work quality? No, not yet! This is my first engineering job. I have too many things to learn and to improve. After finishing the condition survey project. I am going to draft construction drawings and maybe a bit structural analysis calculations. I am looking forward to learning more!

...

Hahahah... I got a few photos from my sister that I fogot to mention. Look:

After thousands days of knitting and crochet, I finally got my yarn swift and winder set from the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitter’s Fair that I went with my another sister (the one goes to University of Waterloo) in September. Even she, not an avid knitter (means she knows how to knit but not knit at all) couldn’t resist to try my new toy.
Today she phoned and told me that she got her coop job at Manulife as an Actuary Student. Congrats!

Also, two weeks ago, I went to Algonquin Park with my friends. We were hoping to see beautiful maple leaves. Yeah, we saw leaves, but on the ground! It's too late for us. Sometimes timing is just important.

I am proud of my motherland

2008-08-08T21:51:00.000-04:00

It's Olympics time - Beijing, 2008/08/08. I saw the opening ceremony (some parts) this morning and was so impressed! China, I am proud of you, your culture, and your history.

As a knitter, I participated in Ravelry’s UFOlympics 2008, aiming to finish a vest I designed and dedicated for my dad. Hopefully, I can finish it during the Olympics.

Wawa (Folk Doll) is done!

2008-07-29T00:48:00.000-04:00

Pattern: from Dolls & Dolls by 米山京子 (Japanese) with a few alternations (to make my life easier) Her dolls are so lovely! I am still trying hard to achieve that "lovely" feel that emerge naturally from her dolls. Indeed, it's very hard for me.

Materials: from everywhere! Ribbons from Mokuba; thread, trims and linings from Fabricland;Felts (for boots) from Dollar Store; cotton from Shoppers Drug Mart; foundation material (some plant fibre) from Michael's; blue fabrics from a fabric store in Queen Street West (now closed);the yarn for Wawa's hair is from Village Yarns; and last but not least, the crinoline (for eyes) is from Helen Gibb's Ribbons (it was white, but I dyed it with a black permanent marker)

All I left is some makeup for her...

Sewing Machine + Folk Doll Making

2008-07-20T23:52:00.001-04:00

After more than half a year of saying getting a sewing machine, last Friday, I went to a local Pfaff sewing machine dealer “Sew Here Sew Now” with my dad and finally brought my dream toy home. Look! She is a Classic Style Quilt 2027, a store model, with incredible “sewing quality”. Originally, I was planning to buy a Classic Style Fashion 2023, but the store didn’t carry that model in stock and thus I would have to buy with a MSRP (much high price). The “Quilt” model have more stitches but only one buttonhole choice. To me, stitch pattern is not that important but buttonholes seemed to be important because I was planning to learn how to make garments. However, the storeowner offered me a really attractive price for the “Quilt” model, I then decided to get it right away.

So, my dad (he “supported” me $200 for my toy ^_^ ) and me took the sewing machine home, and showed it to my mom. She was shock because my toy is expensive. “Too luxurious”, she said. So I told her that I just want to get a good one that will last for a long time and make quality sews, and I told her that instead of being fond of Macbook and iphone, your daughter is a crafty craze. My grandma’s reaction is funny. She asked: is your sewing machine a hand-crank one, or a treadle-foot one? I laughed out loud: those ones can only be found in a museum. Obviously, her vision of a sewing machine is still remaining in the vintage age.

I am now still exploring and playing with my toy. She is great! I love her!

Today, I spent my whole day making a “Folk Doll”. This time, with the right selection of materials for making the body, the doll looks much better than the old one. I have almost completed except the hair and face.

It’s time to go to bed. Tomorrow will be another sweatshop work day for me (bridge condition survey). I hope there will be rain tomorrow…

Montreal Trip

2008-06-29T19:45:00.000-04:00

I am enjoying my Canada Day vacation in Montreal with my family. Montreal is a gorgeous city.

In the morning, we went to see the Yves Saint Laurent Collection at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. I was so impressed!

We also visited McGill University.

Then we went to the Old Town of Montreal.

Of course I didn’t miss the SNC-Lavalin headquarter.

Back to our hotel, and here is a view of Boulevard Rene-Levesque from the big window in my room.

In conclusion, we think Montreal is better than Toronto.

At work

2008-05-28T20:27:00.000-04:00

So on May 20, I started my internship at SNC-Lavalin (Toronto Office) as scheduled. I was titled as a Bridge Engineering Assistant (without knowing what I was going to do in the next 15 months), working under the structure group of the Transportation Department. The first day included an orientation in the morning, designated for new hires to familiarize with SNC-Lavalin’s company structure and working environment. In the afternoon, I met my “buddy”, Jermaine, a recent Eng Sci Infra graduate. She now works at the same department as I am and she would help me get familiarized with my work. She introduced me to everyone in the department. In the meantime, I got my computer set up. Toward the end of the day, I finally got the chance to meet my boss, Mr. Chung, Manager of our division. Everyone in the department is very friendly, but I was really bored because I got nothing to do. Jermaine gave me the Ontario Structure Inspection Manual to read, and the first day ended…

In order to avoid traffic congestions, from the second day, I wake up 6:30 in the morning, leave home at 7:00 sharp, take three highway lines, namely, HWY401, DVP, and Gardiner, and arrive at company at 7:30. Thus, I am able to leave at 4:30 in the afternoon.
We don’t have access to Internet (unless you got the permission from your boss), I find time is now really frozen. Until now, I am still reading manuals and past reports for my inspection and condition survey job. My first condition survey will be in tomorrow. Since I am the freest one in the office. The senior engineers and my boss’ secretary started to approach me for photocopy and binding jobs. Thank goodness they give me something to do, so I can still feel the running of time! But I know I will get really busy eventually. I should enjoy the free times now!

Back from Disney...

2008-05-13T00:43:00.001-04:00

Finally, I lost my Disney innocence.
It was a fun and memorable trip, a once in a life experience à the joyful moments with your best friends.

Laminaria...

2008-04-30T01:30:00.002-04:00

A sample project I knitted for LYS and was displayed in Knitter's Frolic last Friday. Knitter's Frolic was full of knitters, and yummy yarns. But since I spent too much on sewing books this month, I did control my wallet and spend less than $50. I found some really attractive Jamieson & Smith Shetland Cobweb, but the price scared me (I need about 10 balls, ~ 140 dollars to finish a Shetland Lace Shawl featured in my beloved Heirloom Knitting book). I told myself, maybe online order would be cheaper, and then I put the yarn back. Good girl, Angela. But, the bad thing was, TTC (Toronto Transit Commission?) was on strike that day and I didn’t know =/ I spent $20+ more dollars for taxi… totally don’t understand why TTC strikes that often. TTC token collectors earn 100K+ a year. My ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) classmates complain that token collectors earn much more that transportation professionals do. I remembered not long ago I calmed my ITS project partner that if someday in his life he found his ITS job couldn’t make enough $$$ to feed his family, he should consider to become a token collector.

Back to the shawl Laminaria, I broke my record: I finished one third of this shawl in one day. I knit endlessly from 2 pm, Apr. 24 to 2 am, Apr. 25 in order to meet the Frolic deadline. I did nothing other than knitting (listening to the radio/music and relaxing/recovering from exhausted exam studies at the same time) and eat and shower and washroom one that day. I washed and block the shawl from 2 am to 3 am. Lent my bed to the shawl and I slept on the ground! After 3 hours at 6 am I woke up and log in to my university student account to take a summer course (to be an early bird so that I would not on the waiting list). At the same time, I checked the shawl and it was almost dried. I went downstairs and found my Eng Sci friends/floormates didn't sleep for the whole night to study for exams, which would be in about 6 hours! One girl was cramming Neuro Sciences and the other was dying for Electromagnetism. I laughed: girls, we are all amazing girls! What’s more? I didn’t feel tired! And discovered that our Engineering Science student way of studying applied and worked well on meeting a knitting project deadline, too!
We talked and laughed for a while, then I went back to my bedroom, took off the pins, and went to the Neuro Girl's room, put the shawl on her, and took this crappy picture:

The model was in her pajamas and half asleep, for my own safety I shall not release her name...

Now I finished all my exams and my third year of university is officially over. Looking back, I found only the joyfulness, and have forgotten all the dark days. "They are called dawn days", I told myself.

For something fun, I would like to show you a "cheat sheet" that I made for one of my exams. I don't know if "cheat sheets" are popular in other universities but here in U of T Engineering Faculty we are allowed "cheat sheets" for many exams. Anyway, I though mine was "comprehensive" enough, only to discovered that the Biomedical students in my class made much more elaborate "cheat sheets" than I did. One of their "cheat sheets" required a magnifying glass to read. I faint...

难道有些事情是整定的？

2008-04-16T17:33:00.000-04:00

就当我签了SNC-Lavalin的offer, 签了我房间的sublet agreement 的时候，我竟收到PEY Office的电话，说我得到IBI的Offer!!! 我晕啊晕啊！虽然IBI没有SNC那么大，但人工更高，地点更好（位于市中心，近地铁，不用开车上班，如果我不sublet我的房间，我还可以走路上班呢！）。虽然IBI是关于ITS的，不是我最喜欢的专业，但没有“教授推荐”那种压力，我去也去得轻松点。
可惜这世上没有如果，时间不能在我得知未来后再倒流。活在当下，我该满足我所拥有的，不该为不属于我的东西而叹息，对吗？

一年两度的考试时间又到了，刚刚考完一门课，还有四门。感觉自己像就快油尽灯枯的老爷车，望着近在眼前的终点，但只能“卟”“卟”地前进。常听人说水瓶座人的内心世界很矛盾，恰好我正正是那种人。时而说要努力，时而又想放纵自己。。。正是这种心态，令到我活得挺累的。而对于未来的目标不明确，还有懒虫作祟，大概就是造成我朝三暮四的心情的原因！或者说，大概那就是我的性格。

也许，性格将会是造成我失败的根本原因！

拿到 Job Offer 了!

2008-04-02T21:27:00.001-04:00

忙到天昏地暗了，但很开心，因为昨天终于收到 SNC-Lavalin 的Job Offer 了，然后又把房间sublet了出去，不用为summer那四个月发愁，还做了好事帮roommate的房间也sublet了出去。工作五月二十号开始，到明年八月十五号止，薪水一年四万多点，在我的专业里算是很不错了。这工作不是我自己找的，是教授推荐了然后叫我去报名的。唉！感到既光荣又惭愧 --本人何德何能啊。如果在学校网上找，试过啦，失败了，竞争很大，本人成绩不拔尖，口才比不上本地的，也没什么光辉业绩，说穿了，就是十年都轮不上我。在SNC-Lavalin，我的position 是Bridge Engineering Assistant, 和我的专业对的上。难怪我妈常说我命好，够幸运的。哈哈，大概我平时好事做得多，好心有好报吧。不过，其实我也是有付出的，只是总觉得付出的不比人家多，觉得自己不够别人勤奋，觉得要成功就要付出，所以不敢把 “付出” 这两个字挂在口边。不过，最开心的事，就是可以买我的"Pfaff" 缝纫机了，可能真的还可以去法国的Lesage 呢！
爸爸昨天到的，由于很忙，都没有机会跟他说什么话。他送了我一套鹅蛋工艺品，带来了上好的海味和茶叶，有普洱，信阳毛尖，黄山毛峰，和铁观音（我们家养了一帮喝茶发烧友！)。我就挑了几样，准备拿去“谢师”。哈哈，这不是“擦鞋”，全因之前教授给我看过他喝的茶叶，是观音王，还说他之前也喝高山茶，当时我就笑说要不哪天你也试一试我家里平时喝的茶叶吧（纳闷呐，怎么老外喜欢喝中国茶？）。不过，这“谢师”是真心的，他真的帮了我很多。我很欣赏他的为人，勤奋，带点“布尔乔亚”，也佩服他作为工程师，却会四国语言：英法德中，他写的中文就像他画的则图一样方正工整。他是我的榜样，我要做好我的工作，不辜负他对我的期望。

It's has been two months -

2008-03-28T01:29:00.002-04:00

Since my last blog entry! I can’t believe this, but admit that time really flies, with an accelerating speed.
Back in February, I received a bundle of Addi circular needles from my friend Sunny in California. She helped me order them in China (at a very attractive price) last year. After a long wait, I finally got the needles, and, of course, couldn’t wait to try them!

Meanwhile, I received a project from Lorena of the Naked Sheep, a very lovely baby wrap. I finished it in four nights, beside my schoolwork.

Then, I continued my red vest at a turtle speed.

Since there will be a great chance that I am going to work next year (PEY), I spent a few days planning and choosing a subject that I would like to learn in my leisure time for next year. Borrowed some books related to pattern making, couture sewing, and ribbon works from the library, found them interesting, so I want to buy a sewing machine when I receive my first payment from my workplace. I’ve searched around the Internet and some local sewing stores, and decided that I want Pfaff Classic Style Fashion 2023. Yesterday, I ordered Helen Gibb’s Ribbon Set together with the Ribbon Work Technique book and DVD from her website, and some books on couture sewing and fashion sewing from the Amazon. I also requested a catalog from Lesage, the famous embroidery school in Paris. Alas, if I have enough money left at the end of the year, I would definitely go to France and take a course there.

During Reading Weak, I read Christian Dior’s autobiography “Dior by Dior”, and the “Golden Age of Haute Couture”, both published by Victoria and Albert Museum. I was so impressed by the type of perfectionism and idealism couturiers are aiming for. I was overwhelmed by the tint of elegance and delicacy throughout the words and graphs. Great Reads!

School is as busy and crazy as usual. And other annoying things all come together. I am glad that I have really enjoyable hobbies, keeping me fresh and energized everyday.

Last but not least, I am going to Florida in May with my friends. We booked the flights yesterday, and now we are organizing the dining plans. I haven’t been to any Disneyland. I hope Disney will amaze me like my hobbies!

Dad is coming next Monday from China. Would he bring me any presents?

Hahah, I think my blog will be in a big coma again, since I have so much schoolwork waiting for me, and finals are coming soon in mid-April.
I hope I can bring something refresh your eyes next time.

New year, New Hope, New Blog

2008-01-24T00:11:00.000-05:00

Today is my 21-year-old birthday. I "washed" my old blog template and started a new one after I saw the new and user-friendly blog functions on blogspot. Now, I can decorate my blog happily and easily without moving around the html codes.

Job hunting: I had two interviews in the past few days from Aecon and IBI. Another interview from Halsall will be on Feb. 6. I am still waiting for Arup, TSH, and Halcrow Yolles. Very nervous because I am waiting for the reply from Aecon. If they accept me, I will just go! My friend/floor mate, again, Kathy, just got a PEY offer from Altera (she is in the Computer Option of Engineering Science). Guess what! Her salary will be around $65, 000 per year! Congrats, Kathy! A bright future is in front of you.

Knitting – work in progress:
Still working on the back of the vest. The knots are growing, slowing.

~~I got many requests about uploading the Mini-Argyle Beret pattern. Yes I am working on that. Stay tuned.~~
Pattern is up!

Yarn Shops: I will do an update for my Yarn Shops in Toronto page. There are more yarn shops in Toronto!

随想

2008-01-17T23:58:00.000-05:00

没事的时候就想写点东西。上一年过的很快啊 – 总感觉时间在加速，我人生的头二十个年头就那样无声无色地在岁月的河流淌过。下星期就即将踏入二十一岁大关。对于未来，感觉是迷茫中夹着一点点的憧憬和彷徨。有时候很想为未来认真地规划一番，不要蹉跎岁月。但想起那句 “变化总赶不上计划，计划有时又赶不上变化”，感觉一切都是徒然。生命中有很多事情其实都不在自己的掌握之中。谋事在人，成事在天。偏偏我又是那种三心两意的人，目前正站在十字路口，鱼与熊掌，尚不知作何取舍：

1）工作一年/16个月。都报了好几份工作，有几个面试了。但喜欢的都要做十六个月 – 没得回国，旅行。且害怕找不到。

2）找暑期工。天啊 – 又是一大堆履历面试什么的。还没开始找。我想回国啊。

3）申请奖学金，(Deadline: Jan 28, 2008) 在学校工作四个月。这个上一年做过了。不想重复。但又怕1）和2）都失败。再者，我想回国。目前还没找教授, 还没写申请表.

4）回国。这真真是败家女的表现。说不过去。希望1）2）和3）都失败，然后回国。。。啊不行不行。如果是那样的话。真是失败中的失败。$#F@#$%$^&^$….

我的希望是: 希望先回国, 再工作一年，然后考研。想的美, 但成活的机率低…
所以, 我决定: 让天决定。

不知大家的假期过的如何? 我过得太颓废了 (咳! 但很爽!) 饮茶吃饭行街上网煲剧。尤其是煲剧：中英日韩港台一起上，新旧一起来，肥皂的，煽情的，搞笑的，哈哈，颁奖礼都不放过。我想我是把平日的戏瘾一次过爆发了。

又回到宿舍了，新学期来了，人还是懒懒的，就是那种学习目标不明确，学习态度不端正的感觉。但上了几年大学，觉得再难的学科也挨过了，考试总会来临，但也有结束的一天，没什么大不了的，忙里偷闲最实际。哈哈。我知道，现在说风凉话 – 眼下没有考试。

Let’s get back to knitting. I really didn’t make anything during the Christmas except created one more UFO:

Guess who designed this cardigan! It is called Tapestry Bomber Jacket by… Norah Gaughan, ten years ago, for Classic Elite. I modified the pattern by flip the right panel horizontally, so I can get a mirror image. Also, I will modify it to become a vest. The stitch pattern looks like Chinese knots, so I used a very saturated red colour of Mission Falls 1824 wool for an oriental accent.

Oh, I got my Ravelry account: MissKnitnerd. This name is weird, but my trademark “Knitnerd” was already taken by other people – no choice. I haven’t uploaded anything, but thrilled to see those beautiful tams posted there.

Three Tams

2007-12-05T21:15:00.000-05:00

After 3 months, they finally appear on Knitty. Thank you to all of you who left me nice comments - I hope you like them = )

If you would like to design you own tams, I strongly recommend the article "Designing a Wheel-Pattern Fair Isle Tammy" by Alice Starmore. It's from Thread's Knitting Around the World (Oops! Out of print!). Check it out from the Library. Great reads. That book has valuable information on twined knitting, too. Also, for those people who like Meg Swansen's style, you would be happy to see that the Turkish-patterned coat is featured in that book under the title "Make a Wooly, Warm Coat". I saw that coat in the knitting camp, and remembered Meg saying that the pattern was sold to a magazine long time ago.

Unofficially finished 3rd year, 1st term today. Final exams will start next Tuesday until Dec. 21. Then I need to prepare for interviews - I am planning to do PEY (Professional Experience Year, aka co-op) next year, if I can get a good offer. Really want to work at Arup, though the chance is kinda low.

Everything in one post

2007-11-13T17:50:00.000-05:00

I wish there are 48 hours in a day. I have been so busy since September – but not really productive. When there is time, time spent on my bed – zzZZZ. Anyway, yesterday Sunny asked me when I am going to update my blog. Yeah, right now (instead of zzZZZ). I am going to put everything in one post - stuffs cumulated from about half a year ago.

Part 1 - A list of projects in progress:

For Lorena’s new born baby girl. Well, I totally made up the little sock. I have no clue whether it will fit a two-month-old baby. Can anyone tell me? It’s 5 inches long. The second sock is still in my head (incase I need modifications).

I am very proud of the evenness of my knitting and my finishing skills.

My poor peacock feather shawl has been hidden at a corner of my yarn closet for, embarrassedly, almost half a year. It saw daylight again today for a photoshoot. I need a better, shaper needle for this project. It’s really hard to do sl2tog, k1, psso knitting in lace weight yarn with a blunt, slippery Inox circular needle.

During the weekend, I learned twined knitting because I surprisingly obtained some Z piled alpaca yarn (it was from Eugeni.x last Christmas, at the time I got it I didn’t noticed it was S spun & Z piled, I figured it out when doing the winding a month ago).

And lace knitting again! A pattern from Yarn Over, I am knitting it with DMC size 30 cotton and a 2.0 mm needle. There is a mistake in the chart, luckily I figured it out right after I finished the mistake round, and it was an easy fix. Easy pattern, no maker is required except one for indicating the beginning of a round!

FO: Mini Argyle Beret
Pattern: My own creation
Yarn: Rown 4ply Soft for background; Lorna’s Lace Sheppard Sock Yarn for argyles
Needle: 3.0mm

Well, I made this because I have to digest my sock yarns.

Part 2 – The first credit card syndrome:

Back in September, I got my first credit card, thus started my massive online shopping (the fact that CAD $$ > US $$ resulted even more online shopping lol). I got yarn and sock blockers from The Loopy Ewe. Well the wood socks blockers are fabulous, but the plastic ones are really bad – too thin, not enough stiffness, not worth the price.

And books from Amazon. I feel really disappointed about “The best of Interweave Knits”. They are not the best!!! A few of them are free patterns already, what’s the point of republishing them? The felted floral bag has appeared in several places, no more duplication, please! Also, do you notice the downfall of printing quality in recent craft magazines? The Interweave Crochet and Spin Off are “stapler bounded” (I don’t know the technical term, but you know what I mean, right?). Some recent pattern books are worse than a magazine. Personally, I prefer a higher price with a book better in both content and printing quality. None of recent knitting books can compete with Alice Starmore’s Aran Knitting, or even Ann Feitelson’s The Art of Fair Isle Knitting.

The Gossamer Webs is an exception. Indeed I love some of IK's traditional/folk knitting series. Sadly, this book was published in 1998, almost one decade ago.

My Month of September

2007-10-04T20:03:00.000-04:00

1. I moved to a house near campus and live with my friends.

2. I cook.

3. I knit.

4. I crochet.

5. I study.

6. I drink lots of tea.

无名火起

2007-09-02T22:06:00.000-04:00

我最近的心情糟透了。为了搬宿舍的事情和妈闹别扭，她总怪我干吗不留在学校的宿舍而要和同学搬出来，还要自己从家里搬床搬台到新的宿舍。

家里换屋顶的roofing shingles，颜色我和妈预先选好了是啡色的。结果那个装修老板打电话来说忘了颜色，然后我妈说你有经验，你选就行了。结果弄来的是灰白色的！！！！！还是半黑半灰白的那种。我当场气死了。和我家的米色石面墙根本不配 -- 看上去整个屋子很轻浮。我闹着要我妈叫叔叔换（那个装修老板是我爸的朋友）。我妈当然不肯也不好意思了。哼。我无言。花一万多钱，得到的又不是想要的。

唉，那也算了，可是这两天换屋顶，那些工人竟很不小心地把我花了整个夏天种的沿着墙根的花圃里的风仙，玫瑰等等都压死了压坏了。我真是欲哭无泪了。我爸还有六天就从国内来度假了。我很想让他看看我种的花 --- 现在都泡汤了。祸不单行，我又发现后院的花看上去皱皱的，像缺水的感觉。一检查，发现连接自动撒水系统的总开关被人关了！！！我本来是调到每天凌晨五点浇花的，现在没水来，阳光又猛，花当然要皱了！一问原来是我妹手多多关了开关！！！

屋顶快完工了，我说从来没见过这么恶心的屋顶。我妈却说不难看 -- 装修叔淑刚做完的那家屋顶就是用这个颜色。我心想，这更要打 -- 他换完人家的，有剩或什么的，拿来就直接可以做我们的屋顶，中间又可以节省时间。

A doll...

2007-08-13T01:32:00.000-04:00

I had no idea why I made this – she took me forever: four sewing classes ($$$) and a great deal of “homework time”. When I “drew” her face this morning, I lost all my mood and gave her a sad looking face…
Honestly, she looks so ugly and looks totally different from the model. I am too shy to show you the model here. Hint: a Japanese pattern by 米山京子。

Although she has no charm, I did not miss even a single detail illustrated in the pattern (except the face, I feel so sorry for her).

I even crocheted a pair of shoes for her to match with the hat!

Amy Butler bags off sewing machine

2007-08-05T00:40:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Clutch Handbag with Fabric Flower, from In Stitches by Amy Butler
Fabric: Home Decor fabric from Fabricland for exterior, and Silk (also from Fabricland) for lining, unknow fibre batting and interfacing.

I guess this bag is great for long knitting needles!

Pattern: Amy Butler's Frenchy Shoulder Bag. (sister of Frenchy Handbag).
Fabric: Again, all from Fabricland.

This bag is great for knitting WIP lol...

The Name Tag Thing!

2007-08-05T00:15:00.000-04:00

I forgot to mention about my name tag for the knitting camp! So here it is:

Front:

Back:
Indeed it is a wrist warmer! And Meg said it is the first wrist warmer name tag she saw in the knitting camp!

Last but obviously not the least, I have to mention about my baby or bear sweater that I made during the camp. I am really proud of myself because I did:
1. EPS for overall design.
2. Crocheted steek for neck line (the Kangaroo-pouch?!).
3. Machine-stitched steek for arm holes.
4. Three-needle-binding-off for one sleeve, and crocheted seam for the other.

STEEKS - I fear no more!

Knitting Camp 2007 - part 2

2007-07-13T23:31:00.000-04:00

Wow! I think one of the best things of going to Meg's camp is to have a chance looking at and trying on those fabulous sweaters designed and made by Elizabeth, Meg, Joyce, and Amy. They put great efforts on refining garment details by employing innovative techniques and tricks: knitting backwards, I-cords, mirror image colour patterning, short-rows... I learned so much everyday (indeed had to take notes and did some research at night to make sure I learned and digested the techniques). Many tricks are new to me: The math formula used for planning increasing/decreasing stitches, doing intarsia in rounds, steeks (both machine and crochet methods), different ways of trapping (colour stranding), applications and variations of I-cords, creative ways of using peony seams, incorporating colour patterns in purl when you can borders, and much more! (Oops, sounds like I am doing advertisement for the camp!) But I am honestly tell you the truth! Every camper was having a good time! Many of us saying that we wanna return! If those techniques are all familiar to you -- well, you would still get a great opportunity to meet knitters as passionate as you, participate in Show and Tell , knit all day and forget everything else! Conclusion: I appreciate every effort they've made, and encourage you to participate!

To prove what I've said, I have pictures to show you!

This is the most fascinating technique I learned - doing intarsia in rounds!

Ahh - love this hat! It's two end knitting.

Three I-cords together make a neat border!

Another way of colour knitting - yarns are trapped thoughout the entire sweater - they call this Amenian knitting. They are going to publish a book on Amenian knitting this fall - can't wait!

Look how the sleeve is attached to the body - nice eh?

The button band is so neat!

Many people might have read the article from knitty telling about the camp. But from my experience, it's different - the camp location is not as rural as you think. There is Wal-mart, Starbucks, and a huge supermarket in Marshfield, and we stayed in a nice and new Holiday Inn with elevators (in addition to Amish buggies). Moreover, Meg is not as generous as "freely gives away patterns, needles and packs of yarn to students" lol – It’s practically impossible, as you know knitters love yarns, just like mice love rice!

Meg's Knitting Camp 2007 - Part 1

2007-07-11T14:48:00.000-04:00

Meg's signing my copy of her book!

With Joyce's help, I finished my first steek "sweater".

My roommate Kellie from Balitmore.

Elisabet from Barcelona with her first colour project - a hat!

Darcie with her flower bib = )

Sam does incredible colour and lace knittings!

Michael is the author of "Knitting with Balls".

Here is our meeting room.

A long long post -

2007-07-02T00:55:00.000-04:00

because I have many things to show you!

Pattern: Amy Butler's Frenchy Handbag
Fabric: Coral Morning Glory for main panels and handles
Lime Tree Poeny for top panels
Cheap Fabricland frabric for lining
Heavy weight cotton fabric (muslin?) for interfacing
Teacher: Sunhee from GaJa Sewing Studio
For: Me Me!

For my friend Jamie's birthday, I made a Tarepanda.

Salina from Vintage Knits is fresh off needle! I used 6 balls Rowan Felted Tweed.

I made more cushions!

Got yarns from Americo.

Sock yarns from Lettuce knit.

And needles from Finery Hand Knitting Yarn & Accessories Ltd.

Playing with colour, I made some swatches.

Cushions

2007-06-17T16:23:00.000-04:00

Thank you for all your encouraging comments on my first sewing projects! Yesterday I proceeded to real sewing projects, and made two cushions.

And knitting: I finished the body of Salina from Vintage Knits.

MEME + My First Sewing Project

2007-06-10T15:28:00.000-04:00

The "8 Things MeMe" tagged by May:

1. I use 4 different languages/ dialects everyday: I speak a Cantonese dialect at home （開平話，四邑話的一種），switch to Cantonese or Mandarin when talking with my friends, and lastly speak English in public. I found that is normal in Toronto.

2. I love nuts.

3. I am 15 years older than my brother.

4. Still, I don’t feel comfortable when knitting in public.

5. I have BIG trouble doing any kinds of car parking. If I get stuck, I cry and panic, and totally have no idea how to adjust my car position properly.

6. My favourite novel is “Dream of the Red Mansion” （紅樓夢）。I can’t live without it.

7. I want to learn flower arrangement, Chinese painting, and silk embroidery someday.

8. I just get started learning how to sew. Here is the proof:

My first sewing proejct.

Stash Update

2007-06-08T00:09:00.000-04:00

For me, summer is the right time to hunt for yarns since almost every LYS (in Toronto) has summer sales. Passionknit Ltd. has thier annual summer sales in June, and I got some really nice goodies:

Jeager Aqua - the best quality handknit cotton yarn I've ever seen.

Rowan 4-ply soft - for socks.

A bag of DB Aran Tweed - $35.

Last week, I also visited two new yarns stores – an Argentina one --> Americo in Queen West, and a Chinese one --> Finery Hand Knitting yarn & Accessories Ltd. in New Century Plaza, Markham. Thank you Lilian for telling me this store. And of course, I got more yarns:

Very fine Japanese cotton yarn.

Twenty balls of traditional wool yarn - $40.

Americo is decorated in a primitive accent, and most of their yarns are handspun.
And more yarns hunted in other places:

And more yarns to exhibit next time...

Lastly, my poor knitting – I finished a Jaywalker:

P.S Beside knitting and crochet and a bit of cross-stitch and embroidery, I am going to learn sewing (finally)!!! I will attend sewing lessons every Saturday this summer. Ah! Isn’t that exciting!

What I've been working on...

2007-05-25T14:36:00.000-04:00

Yes! Bridges! I draw bridges for Professor Gauvreau using Google SketchUp. That's a lot of fun. We are currently working on a "bridge reference library" project that will include basic information (i.e. cross section, longitudinal section, dimension, 3-D perspective) of the bridges selected. This is my first “academic job”. I am working in a really nice office. The only problem with the office is that it’s all made of glass. People walking by can see clearly through the glass walls and observe what I am doing. My other friends are also working in the University and one of them, Sherry, said I am like an animal in a zoo for people to visit. The other unpleasing thing is that I am the ONLY ONE in the office!! I have always wondering where Professor Gauvreau’s other summer students are working at. My job is very flexible – I can even work at home if I wish. But I would not do that, at least for the first month – since I am sure what kind of lazy person I am.

How's everyone's long weekend? I spent the whole Sunday and Monday planting flowers for my garden and ending up almost couldn't get up to work on Tuesday morning. I really want to post the photos I took but there is a problem with my new camera’s memory chip (I used a cheap one that was given to my sister as a gift from a cell phone shop). I would try to figure out what went wrong and post the photos tonight.

Meanwhile I am also crocheting some toys for my friends’ B-days.
Since my mom and my brother went back to China for their “summer vacation”, I have to take care for my family this summer. Hmm… no fun…

FOs...

2007-05-06T20:44:00.000-04:00

It’s a bunny!
Pattern: A Japanese Amigurumi pattern my friend gave me
Yarn: Red – Mission Falls 1824
Pink – Ella Rae Classic
White – Red Heart Acrylic

Hook – 3.75mm and 4.0mm Red Heart Crochet Hook
Modifications: I made the Hat smaller and Scarf shorter because Mission Falls is heavier than Ella Rae Classic.

Somehow the eyes look weird… But I am not going to modify them! I am getting bored and tired with this bunny!

But my brother loves it!

And we took a picture together with the bunny. My bolero was the one I knitted a few weeks ago. The pattern is Cressida by Martin Storey. Instead of using RYC Soft Lux, I used Nashua Ivy – very similar to Soft Lux, but even softer, and no nylon! Also, instead of knitting a long zigzag edge, I simply crocheted a lace border. That way, no seaming was required.

The Post Exam Syndrome

2007-05-03T23:32:00.000-04:00

Finally I finished all my finals last Thursday. Packed everything and moved out residence on that night and went home. Didn’t know there’s a Knitter’s Frolic on Friday until I read the Yarn Harlot’s reminder on Friday morning. Of course I didn’t miss it. I printed out the location map and rushed to the subway station… Yay! I arrived at the Japanese Cultural Center at 2:00 pm, and enjoyed two hours of yarn hunting! It was my first time to the Knitter’s Frolic. I But I didn’t buy “too many” stuffs, since I didn’t actually have a plan ahead about what to buy, and I am currently on a yarn diet – too much yarn is already sitting at my closet and waiting for me to digest! Anyway, I hunted the followings:

A pair of sock blockers - size small. They are kind of small for my feet. But the medium ones are too large! So I bought a small set.

The Yorkshire Fable pattern book - well, all I love are the photographs. I love the vintage effect.
An Addi Turbo needle - I never tried Addi stuff before.

And alpaca lace yarn. I am going to choose one of the shawls to work on - with a secret purpose.

After the Frolic there comes an exciting news: back in the early April I was admitted by the schoolhouse press to the annual knitting camp. I am going to Wisconsin in July and spend 4 days learning from Meg Swansen!

My work term will start next Monday. I am going to spend my whole summer drawing and analyzing bridges designed by my supervisor Professor Gauvreau. Love this job!

Oh Baby!

2007-04-04T23:01:00.000-04:00

After days and days, nights and nights of hardworking, debugging, screaming, and crying...

Hope comes and we are smiling...

Our baby is now fully functional. Tomorrow we will have our final tests, and public demostration will be on next Monday.

But then we still need to write a formal report. Screaming again....
More screams when you get a list of assignments like the following one before final exams:
- Molecular Chemistry assignment
- Quantum Mechanics assignment
- Statistics and Probability assignment
- Praxis final assignment
- Lab report
- Aero final report
- Anthropology midterm
- Design Notebook

All due in 10 days. Collapsed, my poor body.

Well, before my body collapsed, I hurried and finished a simple project.
More details to come this weekend.

Union Square Market Pullover...

2007-03-18T19:18:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Union Square Market Pullover, from IK fall 2005 by Kate Gillbert
Yarn: Drops Alpaca, 5 skeins main colour, 1 skein white
Needle: 2.75mm Inox circular and Clover dpn

FO - Union Square Market Pullover

2007-03-15T21:22:00.000-04:00

It's finished, with a little story...

At first, I folded the front flap as shown on the model and tried it on. I was not satisfied with the fact that you could see the wrong side of the neckline hem.

So I flipped the front flap. Aha! This time the wrong side was completely hidden. Then I washed the pullover with "Soap". That stuff smelled so good.

Now it's dried, and I can't wait to wear it home this weekend.

I am also very happy about the nicely finished details. I hope you like my pullover, too!

Goodies and my baby

2007-03-12T22:31:00.000-04:00

Just finished my Molecular Chemistry midterm and my robot evaluation today, so time for blogging.

It's just fantastic that every weekend I go home, I see yummy stuff on the table! Sometimes it's my favourite Dim Sum, and often, I have knitty goodies. Three weeks ago I received the Phildar 40% off back issues with English translations, and last weekend I got the Keito Dama magazines. I spent the whole night browse through them, although I don't understand any Japanese.

The more the better! Last Saturday was Knitomatic's big sale day. Of course I didn't miss it! I got magazines at $2 each, and books at $10, and some yarns.

Did I say "the more the better"? Right after the Knitomatic big sale, on Sunday afternoon after lunch I walked to Lettuce Knit and got these gorgeous SweetGeorgia sock yarns and Fleece Artist Seewool. They are just too beautiful to resist.

P.S About two years ago I developed a good habit of keeping all the purching receipts into a Ziploc. Usually after one or two months I would pull them out and count how much I've spent on daily utilities as well as knitty goodies. Every time I do this, I scream: evil local yarn stores! Alas, it is just too dangerous to have many LYS around the UT St. George Campus: Romni Wools, Lettuce Knit, Knitomatic, and AlterKnit, to name a few.
Strange! I don't blame myself, I blame the local yarns stores! But I gotta have my own yarn store someday lol...

Knitting Part is over, let's proceed to the "Pipe Inpsection Machine" section. He's Kathy, Ran and me's baby. He is a boy and we are all his mothers. He also has a father, which happens to be kathy's laptop. Ever since he's born, we all feel the pressure of being mothers. He's always sick. We need to take good care for him. We spend a great deal of time nurture him everyweek. He is very handsome though. Here he is.

Kathy and me with our baby.

Our not fully functional baby. See the girl behind our baby? She is Ran, and sitting there soldering circuits for our baby.

See the locks. That's how our baby will open his arm (with hinges at the top) and hug on the pipe. The circuits are H-bridges used to control our baby's walking direction.

Our baby's body. I designed and made it. So proud of myself. You know, before this project I'd never touched a drill press.

Infra-red sensors - our baby's eyes.

Microcontroller - PIC + keypad + LCD. We say that's our baby's brain.

Encoder - a device use to keep track of distance our baby travelled.

Let it snow!

2007-03-01T17:31:00.000-05:00

Snowstorm + freezing rain. Class cancelled tonight. But I will have a midterm tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. Ah!

And here is my pullover in progress. I estimated that I would get three skeins of Drops Alpaca left. hmm... I am not sure whether it's because pattern instructions always list more yarn than required for "just in case"... I always have yarn leftovers for every project that I knit. Strange.

A Little Crocheted Gift Bag

2007-02-23T16:52:00.000-05:00

I felt so boring this afternoon and didn't want to study for quantum mechanics, so I made this little bag using Lopi leftovers and a 3.25mm crochet hook. It's a pattern from Keito Dama fall 2005.
I like it and hang it on my door.

Other knitting reports: I am still working on the Union Square Market Pullover. One sleeve is finished and the other is on going. Almost. Almost.... Wow, this pullover is going to take me one year to finish! I bought the yarn last May, finished the body last December, finished the first sleeve last week, bought the buttons the day before yesterday, and now working on the second sleeve. I admire my patience lol...

Happy Chinese New Year!

2007-02-18T23:39:00.000-05:00

It has been a long time since my last entry. I had so much work, so little time to knit! But, in between busy schedules, I did finish a scarf.

Other than that, I have a celebrating news to share - I was granted a student research award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for this summer and will work for a professor who is specialized in bridge design (he will also be one of my third year professors). Oh how lucky I am! I don't need to worry about how to spend my summer time anymore, and I will get experience for my third year Infrastructure option!

Everyone: Happy Chinese New Year!

Wow! I am making a "Pipe Inspection Machine"

2007-02-04T20:26:00.000-05:00

Yup! This term I have to make a "Pipe Inspection Machine" with two teammates for my AER201 Engineering Design Course. I will be responsible for the electromechanical subsystem, my friend Kathy will be the programmer, and Ran will be designing the circuit for our machine. Tomorrow will be the "individual evaluation" day for our project. Our TA will mark our individual progress. And here is what I've done:

To watch my moving wheel, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCLuBd-wsIM

MEME - SIX WEIRD THINGS ABOUT ME

2007-01-28T00:49:00.000-05:00

I was tagged by Bamboo Sticks long long time ago...

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the ‘6 weird things about you.’ People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says ‘you are tagged’ in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

6. I drink plain tea. I love almost any kind of traditional tea, esp. Chinese green tea. But I never add sugar or milk or anything else to my drinking tea.

5. I never sleep in class, no matter how tired I am. Instead I daydreaming. Not much difference, I guess.

4. I have always dreamed to have my own yarn store.

3. I love Chinese. I don't like English.

2. I don't eat meat except seafood. I don't drink milk. I drink soybean milk.

1. I love anything that is whole wheat or all bran.

0. I like to be tagged, but I don't tag people.

So yeah I moved to North York this month, and guess what! I got a yarn closet! It is still empty at this stage. The Picture shown here is only the corner part of the closet. But I am going to make it to be the home for more and more yarns!

okie... study time.

Clapotis!

2007-01-22T00:08:00.000-05:00

The washed and dried clapotis. No need to block, it's already flat.

Before it was washed, it looked like this.

ahhhh!!! How amazing! It was knitted in Handmaiden's Silk wool, 3 hanks, in 4.00 mm needle. BTW, I did 20 repeats instead of 12 and finally used up all the yarns. That drived me crazy!

The Growing Clapotis!

2007-01-14T17:52:00.000-05:00

...from swatch to ...

and it's still growing...

It's a project for the Naked Sheep. Lorena gave me three hanks of Handmaiden Lady Godiva Silk Wool DK. But the dye lots are different for each hank. I am not sure if that would so negatively affect the outcome of Clapotis. hmm... Also, I am not sure if I should block the shawl?

Blog Anniversary

2007-01-02T21:26:00.000-05:00

The year of 2006 flied so fast and today it’s the first birthday of Knitnerd! 2006 is a bitter sweet year for me… That means A LOT: I went through the toughness of being a first year Engineering Science student (although not very successfully) and proceeded to second year. I met many new friends at campus as well as in the blog world of knitting. I sold my first knitting design to a magazine. I got the chance to knit for local yarn store. I started the "Yarn Shops in Toronto" project. And I learned some advanced knitting techniques.

The happy and unforgettable memories:

And the projects I finished:

And on Dec. 27, 2006, I met Elisabetha of Bamboo Sticks , and we went to Romni Wools together. And I got some yummy stuff.

I got 7 balls of Felted tweed.

And some wonderful books.

Union Square Market Pullover update

2006-12-30T17:44:00.000-05:00

I finished the back and front! Now I am working on the sleeves.

The Street Knit Project

2006-12-20T15:17:00.000-05:00

I joined the Street Knit Project, and I am going to the Charitable Knitting night at the Naked Sheep and donate this vest in a few hours. So excited!

That's a very large vest - 42 inches bust. I used Patons Classic Wool, and the pattern is from a Taiwanese pattern book I borrowed from the public library. Hope the one who gets it would like it!

I used tubular cast on! I also learned from the pattern book that the first two rows after the tubular cast on should be knit one, and slip the purl stitch purlwise. That way, the cast on edge would never be "deformed". But it's too lazy for me to do "tubular cast off" (the sew off way) for the neckbands, etc to match the neat cast on edge. Bad girl.

Yay! I finished finals!

2006-12-19T21:14:00.000-05:00

So Happy, because:
1) I finished finals.
2) My dad just came from China and will stay during the holidays.
3) My family is going to move to a new house (still in Toronto lol).
4) I am so excited about decorating my new house, and shopping for furniture.

And last but not least, I finished my first pair of socks. I am not a good sock knitter though -->there are holes in the heels!!!!!!!!

Then there is a cap...

2006-12-16T19:09:00.000-05:00

It's a very easy cap I designed and made this afternoon using Lamb's Pride and Lett lopi leftovers. I didn't knit in round, which is a dumb choice! While knitting the colour section, it's very troublesome because I can only knit using my left hand, but not purl!!! On all wrong side rows, alas, holding two strands on my right hand is very unpleasing. Lesson learned: knit whenever possible!

But anyway... The seaming is not too bad, right?

something new

2006-12-15T18:39:00.000-05:00

A pattern from Lopi 26
yarn: I used three different yarns:
cream - Nashua Ivy (an alpaca merino yarn, very soft, with shiny sparkles)
charcoal - Lamb's Pride worsted
light brown and dark brown - Lett Lopi

needles: 4.5mm and 4.0mm Inox circulars

problem: I think there is a mistake in the pattern chart! I simply followed the chart and knitted while reading for the Anthropology midterm. When I finished it, I found the centre pattern doesn't match (see the picture). and almost went mad! But it's quick to make though, only took one evening.

And yeah.. when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. I got two new pattern books.

Panic... PANIC

2006-12-08T18:27:00.000-05:00

ah! Exam time. This week is almost over and I've done three finals! And three exams left for the next two weeks. I didn't do well in the exams. Sign... I studied hard, but... I kept making calculation errors... and I was kinda panic during the exams... making my performance even worse... Panic panic... If the final grade for these threes courses are poor... then this term is going to be another bad term... and it would be really hard for me to obtain an engineering related, research based summer job... I am so PANIC...
ah! mercy on me!

Knitting --- I don't have any good knitting to show except this one, the Union Square Market Pullover by Kate Gilbert that I knit as a relax project before going to bed. Well... One term is almost over but I only got that much done. But I will continue knitting this pullover next term. Hope I can finish it by the end of next term lol...

I used to think the construction of this pullover was unique. But guess what! I found the design template in the book "The Knitter's Guide to Sweater Design" by Carmen Michelson and Mary-Ann Davis (an out of print book from Interweave Press). A good reference makes a good design!

Birch

2006-11-26T16:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I quitely put the shawl on her bed. When she saw it, she was amazed lol....

Good News!

2006-11-19T21:16:00.000-05:00

While reviewing for "Vibrations and Waves" midterm, I googled and found a HK/Chinese yarn shop called "Sweet Home" in Toronto that sells Japanese yarns and patterns! Wow! It's in the First Markham Place (萬錦廣場) and very close to my home! Too bad I've never been to 萬錦廣場 for dim sum, so did not know they actually have a yarn shop there! Must have to have a visit there in Christmas!
Then, I found another outlet yarn shop in East York also carries Keito Dama and other Japanese Handknit and machine knitting books, and also very close to my home! Double Chic!

Go back and study.

yarn shops in Toronto Update

2006-11-12T21:00:00.000-05:00

Finally, today I went to Knitomatic and took a picture. Then, I went to visit Alterknit, the newest yarn store (cafe style) in Toronto. These two stores are very closed to each other, and closed to our campus too. It took me less than two hours to visit these two stores.

http://www.yarnshoptoronto.blogspot.com/

Birch...

2006-11-11T22:54:00.000-05:00

It was finally finished a few days ago, but I was too busy and lazy to take a FO picture. I have no pins and wires at rez to block the shawl.

School is still crazily busy. Finals are coming up, plus a series of tests, assignments, final lab report, design report, and final presentation. Everything about engineering science doesn't make any sense to me.

Ah! Cheer up.

霜叶红于二月花

2006-10-29T00:40:00.000-04:00

This is the only red maple tree I saw around our campus, but it's beauriful.

Book shelf was overflowed, so I bought a little shelf to store my craft books and magazines. Still not enough space! Headache...

Remember this? My mom's birthday is coming up. But the Birch Shawl is still (5 months passed) not yet ready. Headache...

I am so tired. Too much study, so little knitting.

Next week, two midterms - Eletricity & Magnetism, and Digital Logics. Headache..........Hectic..

Look! Pentagon Swirled Pullover is finished.

2006-10-10T22:46:00.000-04:00

Lorena is modeling the sweater.
Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Wool, 14 skeins.
Pattern: Pentagon Swirled Pullover from Knittting Nature.
Needles: 4.00 & 4.50 mm circulars & dpns

No changes were made!

Pentagon Pullover - Final Stage!

2006-10-06T18:19:00.000-04:00

Almost!

Target Wave, aonther pair!

2006-09-30T17:49:00.000-04:00

Ahhh! They are so cute!
Let's have a compare and contrast!

Here is my progress on Swirled Pentagon Pullover... I have no idea when I will finish this. It's more complicated than I thought, and I am not sure how I will set in the sleeves.

Finally an update!

2006-09-25T20:33:00.000-04:00

Squeeze some time a day, and I finally finished the body and sleeves. (Lorena! I am so sorry for the snail-paced speed. But you chosed the perfect yarn for this sweater. It's very smooth and sleek and I wish this sweater is for me lol!)

I knitted the pentagons individually using the magic loop method, and I am planning to use the crochet slip stitches to set in the pentagons and sleeves. I am not sure if that's the best way. Any one has any suggestions?

And here is the scribble lace scarf I mentioned last time.

School is no fun! You can feel how I feel if you have to face something like this EVERYDAY. This semester is FULL of calculus. One thing that I discovered recently is that, math, after certain levels, is not about numbers anymore. It is consisted of several dummy variables, and some mathematician's twisted minds... A calculator is useless in those courses, as my Linear Algebra professor last year said he will not give us a question with a solution that has a number greater than 2! Yeah, he kept his promise but I remember how many people failed the final exam!

I am currently reading a Chinese biographic book called "The first lady of Physics - Wu Chien Shiung " (物理学的第一夫人 - 吴健雄). The book itself it's kinda boring but one of the letters written from Hu Shi (胡适) is, I think, very inspiring.

And the other thing that caught me attention is the pictures. Guess what! There are many pictures showing Ms. Wu wearing this arrowhead lace pattern blouse, and another also hand knitted, reverse stock stitch cardigan. My conclusion is, she knits! I love this adorable lace blouse. It matches perfectly with a Qipao - very vintage!

Naked Sheep Knitting

2006-09-17T17:22:00.000-04:00

Look at how lovely the store samples I made for the Naked Sheep:

Pattern: The Target Wave Mitten from Knitting Nature, size large
Yarn: Lamb's Pride worsted, Lorena picked the colour combination for this project.
Needle: 4.00mm & 5.00mm dpns
These are supposed child size mittens, but the lamb's Pride gives a larger gauge, so the finished mittens fit my hands (i.e adult hands) perfectly. I am now making another pair using the blue as the dominant colour. It's a breeze to make these mittens and they are fun to knit!

Another FO for the Naked Sheep is "Loopy" from Knitty winter '02. I don't have a picture showing the finished scarf. Next time I go to Naked Sheep I will take a picture for it!

Next, the Swirled Pentagon Pullover, also from the Knitting Nature, is in progress. The yarn is Mission Falls 1824 Wool. Ahhh! It's a super super super soft yarn! I have no idea what kind of chemical process was done to the wool fibre, to make the yarn that soft and sheeny!

MEME??? - tagged by Bamboo Sticks

2006-09-09T21:06:00.000-04:00

1. One book that changed your life :: 红楼梦
2. One book that you've read more than once :: 张爱玲的短篇，其中的“金锁记”读了n 次。
3. One book that you'd want on a desert island :: 红楼梦 - I think this is the one, the only one, and the ultimate one book that I cannot live without it. It changed my life, made me laugh and cry, and made me drown in Chinese Literature. My 红楼梦 was an antique that my mom gave to me when I was in Grade 5 or 6. I treasure it a lot and I will pass it to my son or daughter someday.
4. One book that made you laugh :: 围城
5. One book that made you cry :: 呼兰河传
6. One book that you wish had been written :: Reading English Novels Make Easy for Angela
7. One book you wish had never been written :: Harry Potter series - I feel embarrassed that I am not a Harry Potter fan and I am not planning to read it in my future. So I wish the name Harry Potter had never been appeared.
8. One book you're currently reading :: American Knits (lol)
9. One book you've been meaning to read :: 千年一叹
10. Tag 6 people :: ... Do it if you like...

Well... I can tell you that my reading taste has not been changed that much since my teenaged years. If I like a book, I can read it over and over again and again and never feel boring or tired.

Skule Orientation 0T6

2006-09-08T23:36:00.000-04:00

I am not a F!rosh, but I volunteered as a F!rosh leader in the University of Toronto Engineering Faculty F!rosh Orientation Week 0T6, err.. for fun! Look at what we did with the F!rosh:

We dyed ourselves into purple.

Well... for us girls, just dying the hands is good enough.

We had a downtown walk around in the afternoon - went to OCAD, Ryerson University, making fun of students in those two universities, esp. ArtScies, then we went through Eaton Center, yelling and singing the engineer's drinking chorus, and finally we stopped at the City Hall and had a little break. Ah! I was so tired, but excited.

Girls in Engineering, yay!
We are, we are, we are, we are, we are the Engineers.
We can, we can, we can, we can demolish forty beers. (I can't lol)
So come, so come, so come, so come, and come along with us,
For we don't give a damn for any old man
who don't give a damn for us.

I went to my first day of second year engineering science class yesterday. OMG! This year must be an extremely tough but boring year! (my friends started counting down for summer holidays already!) I almost fell asleep in the last class - which is Elecricity and Magnetism, the prof is a bad old man:
He stated clearly that there is only one person can speak at a time in his class, either him or one of us the students.
He stated that we have to read the textbook cover to cover.
Then, he began his lecture. I couldn't write anything about it because I didn't understand what he said.

Also yesterday and today I took Calculus III, Vector Calculus, Fluid Mechanics and Transport Phenomena, and Digital Logic. I had no fun in the first three classes because I kinda forgot the partial calculus stuff and the process of solving first order differential equations. Catch up this weekend. The last class we learn something very simple but funny --> 1 + 1 = 1 in boolean algebra! yeah. I think that's all.

Knitting: I got three projects from Lorena yesterday. Two from the Knitting Nature, and one from Knitty. No pictures on WIP yet because I left my usb at home. Gotta finish them asap since skule will be full of work very soon. Ah! how come there is always conflicts between skule and knitting?

A Crocheted Wedding Gown!

2006-09-03T19:34:00.000-04:00

(pictures from Bian Zhi Ren Sheng)
Xiaoling Guo's wedding gown was designed and crocheted by her mom! Her mom used two months to make the wedding gown for her beloved daugther. Ah it's beautiful! Click here , here and here to see more pictures.

Birch on A Birch

2006-08-29T19:11:00.000-04:00

Ahh... It's beautiful.

Before summer ends...

2006-08-26T19:25:00.000-04:00

Alas, four months passed by so quickly! Today I went back to University of Toronto with my classmates and ordered some textbooks. I know, next year will be a big torture, for me, and all my Eng Sci friends. Just take a look at our timetable for the fall term:
We have eight courses in just one term! The conflicts shown are actually not conflicts - we have two courses at the same time spot, each one runs for 1/2 term.

The course names also scare me, like Digital and Computer Systems, Electromagnetism, Vector Calculus, Fluid Mechanics and Transport Phenomena, etc, etc, etc. I have no idea what they are about! My friends, and me, all agree that unless if we are planning to be professors, lots of the "core knowledge" we learn in university would be useless for our future. For me, I am extremely bad at physics, especially electricity, magnetism related stuff. Survival is not an easy job for me in the 2nd year. I know, I should get started on reviewing next week to awake and refresh my memory on calculus, linear algebra, and electromagnetism.

If I don't really look at my book shelf carefully, I can't believe how many pattern books I bought in the last few weeks. My obsession on purchasing patterns books begins this year. It comes quickly after I rediscovered the pleasure of knitting last fall. Before that I was interested in the craft of lace crochet. My pattern source is mostly from the library since there are not many books focused on this topic available on the bookstore. Guilty, guilty arises.

Actual knitting stuff? Here is my progress on Peggy. I took this picture two days ago. The back was finished yesterday and today I was working on the fronts.

Something hilarious

2006-08-20T20:27:00.000-04:00

It's a gift for my friend's birthday.

One plus one is two

2006-08-10T17:06:00.000-04:00

Now I have a pair of socks *^_^*

Tintagel, finished

2006-08-07T01:06:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Tintagel, from Rowan Magazine 40, size 12
Yarn: Romance 8 balls, Baby Soft 2 balls, Kid Silk Haze 1 ball
Needles: Inox 6.00 & 7.00 circular 60mm needles, Clover 6.00 bamboo crochet hooks
Started Date: August 2, 2006
Completed Date: August 6, 2006
Store Sample Project for: The Naked Sheep
Modifications: No big changes except adding one row of crochet slip stitches along the edges between the tie and the body to hide the seam stitches. Also, instead of picking up, knit one row and then binding off on the wrong side along the front bands, I simply crocheted a row of slip stitches (that way, the front bands actually wouldn't curl up).

P.S: I really like the way that the pattern used short rows to shape the fronts, so they "overlap" each other nicely; as well, the tie pattern, a repeat of 20 rows, with a finished length of 225 cm, adds a bit of a challenge to the pattern, making Tintangel a fast and fun project.

Romance is a soft and fuzzy yarn, and Baby Soft blended with Kid Silk Haze is a perfect combination; thus I couldn't stopping knitting Tintagel in the last few days and I so was able to finish it in such a short period of time = )

The sleeves actually dried up quickly and so I was able to set in the sleeves and finished everything tonight. However, I found that the sleeve caps are too shallow for a 21 cm deep armhole. I had to squeeze every two armhole stitches into one sleeve caps stitches to set the sleeves in.

A row of crochet slip stitches was added along the edges between the body and the tie to hide the joining seam, and it looks tidy and neat.