JoyKnitCrochet

Florida Manatees

2012-01-22T13:31:00.013-05:00

After my return from the UK, my hubby asked me what I wanted to do with the first free day we have together in the new year. I said “Let’s go and find a manatee.” Manatees live in Florida and I have always wanted to see one swimming in the open sea. So we drove north 70 miles and visited a manatee center.While we were busy looking for manatees, Poppy was busy checking out bugs in the grass.We have no manatee luck that day. All I managed was to take a picture of a man-made manatee outside the visitor center.Then a week later, when we weren't looking, it happened. We took Poppy for a walk on the beach in Delray, a female manatee swam leisurely by with her calf.This is not my picture and not the manatees we saw...but aren't they the cutest?

My first post for 2012

2012-01-22T09:10:00.011-05:00

2011 was a good year for me. It was busy. I changed jobs in the beginning of the year. At the end of the year I flew back to the United Kingdom to visit my elderly mother and my family. It was so good to see them after nearly 3 years.

I have established a routine; I like routines and feel more settled now. I don't have a to-do project list for 2012. I have been knitting though and am making progress with the green shawl.I want to pick up where I left off with the spider wrap but there is only one spare ball of yarn.So I found the white Dorset Down and started carding...and started spinning again.Using a jumbo flyer and jumbo bobbin for the aran weight yarn.I hope you have a great start to 2012. Wishing you and yours all the very best for the coming year.

My Knitted Florida: Foxtail Palm Seeds

2011-11-20T14:42:00.010-05:00

Hello there, it has been a while since my last post; I hope you are all keeping well.

It has been a busy couple of months for me. My husband was travelling frequently and my work place was in overtime mode. I tried to keep up with my blog reading and with my crafts.

I was sitting outside one day with Poppy and knitting a mohair sweater when I noticed that one of our Foxtail Palm trees was fruiting for the first time.
The seeds are so round and so much bigger than other palm trees. Their color is so beautiful. It ranges from gold, orange, pumpkin, to a deep red as they ripen.
I know I should have carried on with my mohair sweater…but I simply can’t help myself. I just have to make a palm seed or two. I have so much fun. Cute right?

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday?

2011-09-28T21:19:00.008-04:00

What's on my work desk? Two sewing projects: a summer top and some cotton wash bags.
What's in my bath tub? Washing a light grey Suffolk Romney fleece.

This is a whole raw fleece.

What's on my knitting needles? A shawl. I read about some lovely shawl patterns over in Jules's blog Handmade Things. I cast on when we were vacationing at Cape San Blas. Even though I have knitted 118 rows, but with the fine needles, I have only made a small corner.

Also knitting a swatch for a jacket. The yarn color makes me think of red maple leaves.

North Florida: shopping locally

2011-09-18T10:43:00.012-04:00

I didn’t do much shopping during our visit. The nearest Publix supermarket is 30 miles away and 50 miles for a Starbucks. So we only purchased a few supplies locally. Bought some oysters and blue crabs. They sell the oysters by the sack full.

Got a loaf of bread from this shop.I kept seeing the sign "Boiled Peanuts". My curiosity got the better of me.I have to try some, very soft like baked beans, but salty.

North Florida: the southern country

2011-09-18T08:50:00.018-04:00

Even though it is Florida the north is so different to the south. The pace of life is more layback, with big open space and quaint seaside towns.The first time a waitress greeted us with a good morning y’all in her southern accent, I blinked and thought wow, we were in the deep south of the US. I noticed that we were driving past a lot of swampy areas. We were right next to the ocean but you would have to look over the marshy patch before you could see the open sea.

The marsh lands here remind me of the Everglades.

One thing north Florida shares with south Florida: they too have alligators.

North Florida: Cape San Blas

2011-09-15T21:37:00.008-04:00

I have always wanted to visit north Florida. So when my husband and I took a week off work we traveled 500 miles north.

After a long drive, Poppy crashed out when we stayed overnight at a hotel.
Having a break at a pit stop.

Arrived at the beach house.

Poppy checking out her new surroundings.

Taking a walk…

and watching the sunset.

Annie - the baby pink elephant

2011-08-28T21:16:00.009-04:00

I have named my little baby elephant toy Annie. I finished kitting her earlier last week.
Then I realised she doesn’t have a tail. Elephants have tails right? But the knitting instruction did not give direction for a tail. SoI made one up for little Annie.

She is all in order now.

I hope you are too.

Have a great weekend.

* * * * *

Material used: Double knitting

Needle size: 3.50 mm

Pattern: Elijah by Ysolda Teague http://ysolda.com/store/toys/elijah/

Rained In

2011-08-13T14:54:00.009-04:00

It is hurricane season with us and it rains more or less every day now. Turn on the sound loud if you want to hear the rain.

When we get rained in like this, Poppy and I would hide out in my craft room. While I picked up the stitches to make the elephant body… Poppy worked on her treat. Making progress with the little toy.

Doggie Story: Noisy Neighbors

2011-08-10T19:06:00.000-04:00

Last year, on Poppy’s birthday, I posted a doggie story. Well, it is that time of the year again. I will share another story with you.

When we first moved to our home it has this heavy brown front door with a metal frame. The house sits in a large tropical garden.
One late evening my husband and I settled down to watch a movie. Suddenly, we heard a loud noise resonated through the house. It sounded like a wild animal’s mating call, or some sort of strange big bird, I thought it was coming from the tree tops outside in the backyard.

As you can imagine, Poppy went mental and insisted on going out to investigate. I went with her. I used a powerful torch light to scan the tree tops, I couldn’t see anything. Poppy searched the yard and she turned up nothing.

A couple of days later that noise happened again. I was in the kitchen preparing dinner and thought it came from the front garden this time. I went to the front door with Poppy by my side. As I stood there with the door opened, the animal made the noise again. Poppy started sniffing the door up and down and found the source of the noise.

Can you see the white arrow on the door?

A closer look...

Tree frogs. You wouldn’t think these small creatures made those big noises, but they did.

We changed our front door. Poppy can relax now, no more noisy neighbors.

Happy birthday Poppy. Happy seven years' old.

Unfinished business

2011-08-06T09:34:00.008-04:00

I am not a pink person so when I was given some pink yarns they stayed in my stash for a long while. Since I am on a stash busting mission I thought I would use it up by making a jacket. It is a thick yarn it would be a quick project, right?

Here is the back. The left and right front.

The sleeves.

Then the edging.

Just a few more rounds...but I run out of yarn Oooooo%$#@*&^!! I sewed everything in as I went, locking all the threads, so there is no way I am going to undo this.

This yarn is discontinued. Patons Beehive Shetland Chunky Shade 9012 Lot 39210.

Let's hope someone will sell them on the internet. Right now this little unfinished business is going back to stash! Not a quick project after all.

Decoration for my work place

2011-07-16T11:13:00.009-04:00

My current employer is very pet friendly. Poppy visited and stayed with me one Friday afternoon. She was so well behaved. She would give people love and kisses when they wanted to pet her, otherwise she settled down in her corner under my desk.
My work cubicle is rather bare. As it happened we have moved to a new expanded area yesterday. My new station looks the same but it will be my permanent home. I want to decorate it with handmade stuff.

Gathering up scraps and yarn ends.

Using an Embellish Knit to make I-cord…it is very fun to use.

My first butterfly...going to make leaves and flowers now.

Thank you for visiting, until next time, take care and have a great weekend.

Lace Doily

2011-07-05T19:29:00.019-04:00

I finished the doily last week, washed and blocked it over the weekend.
It is about 19" (48cm) across. The pattern is from this Japanese book. I used size 10 cotton thread from Aunt Lydia's which is thicker than what the pattern asks for.

14 July 2011 Reply to a comment

Where to buy the pattern? http://www.yesasia.com/ and search the words "crochet pineapple lace"

In the right frame of mind

2011-06-19T16:17:00.010-04:00

I have not written for more than 2 months. Not that I don't want to, I just needed to be in the right frame of mind to do so.

When Poppy is not well I fret over her. It is not that she has been ill. She was just plain clumsy. She run across a slippery surface one day, her back leg went under her, and she tore a ligament in her knee and injured a toe. It took nearly three weeks for her to heal.

Just when we thought all was well, Poppy started having dizzy spells and one time actually collapsed. It turned out to be an ear infection that affected her inner ear and her balance; after a week of medication Poppy is better now. I can relax and spend time in my craft room.

I have two more rows to do then the doily is done. But the next row is tricky. I would need to join and cut the thread to do 12 separate sections before working the final round. I started another project: it is a little toy elephant. I took it to bed with me, knitting a few rows every night. The head is nearly done.It is hurricane session with us now. It has been raining today. The sky is so grey and dark.But a little bit of rain is not going to stop Poppy waiting outside for the love of her life (my hubby) to come home from the gym.Poppy is good. I hope you are keeping well and are enjoying your summer where ever you are.

Till next time. Take care.

Curtains for my craft room

2011-03-26T12:39:00.015-04:00

Poppy is all better now and she is her happy self again. It is hot outside already. Poppy has chosen a cool spot, checking out a little ant while waiting for my husband to come home from the airport.
Does she really know that her human Daddy is on his way home? If I tell her "Michael, home." "Poppy waits for Michael." then yes, she knows.

While Poppy is on watch duty outside, I started on my craft room curtains inside. I bought a piece of fabric that has the pattern of these leaves.

I finally able to use up the curtain gathering band from my stash.

It looks better in real life.

Curtains are not popular in Florida and I could not find any net curtain easily. So I use voile instead, also from stash.

Here is my finished project.

I am happy with the result. It makes the room more cosy.

A few photos

2011-03-16T22:08:00.006-04:00

In my last post I meant to upload a few photos over the weekend. Then the unexpected happened. We were without water for a couple of days. Poppy injured her paw and my husband had to travel at very short notice. Things are back to normal now. Here are some of the pictures I want to show you.

I am making progress with my crochet.
Took Poppy to the Juno dog beach. Boy, it was so windy. Poppy was on the far left.

Too cold for me to go near the water...and yes, that was when Poppy told me she has done something to her paw.

Don't often have cold and windy days in March. It is warming up though. I know Spring is coming when I see this plant in flowers.

Just love the color.

What's on your work desk Wednesday?

2011-02-23T07:20:00.000-05:00

I had a spring clean-up and have now moved back in my craft room. So happy.

I stayed up late last night to look through my stash and selected yarns for new projects.

I am thinking about making these...

More pictures this weekend. Have a wonderful day.

New Year Progress

2011-02-01T20:48:00.004-05:00

I started the New Year with a new routine. I travel locally to work now every day. Work is about 3 miles away from home. It is close enough for me to come home for lunch and to take care of Poppy.

On my work desk: My doily is at the half-way point.

My house: After the painter finished painting the outside of our house, he started working inside. I have to empty out my craft room and my craft stuff has to stay outside until the painter finishes the job. I am looking forward to have my craft room back.

An egg cracking expert

2011-01-03T17:39:00.006-05:00

New Year day, I gave Poppy a fresh egg as her treat. She used to love this when she was a puppy.

A little while later, I came back out in the yard to check on Poppy and saw that she has left the egg alone. O, I thougth, Poppy has grown out of eating eggs.
How wrong I was...Poppy has carefully cleaned out the egg and left the shell intact.She is quite an egg cracking expert, isn't she?

My Home

2011-01-03T15:11:00.004-05:00

In the run up of the 2009 Christmas my husband and I replaced our kitchen floor. Not sure if we have started a tradition, we worked hard with our 2010 Christmas to get our house ready for an overall paint.

This is before:
This is after.

O, the vine is not growing back. No more snakes on the vine, thank you.

My Stash

2011-01-03T14:32:00.006-05:00

I have always considered 3 as my lucky number. Well, today is 3rd of January. Let's start the New Year in blog land with three posts in one day.

I was so busy last year in my effort to put my career back on track that my home and my needle crafts have been taking a back seat.

My goals for 2011? Only three simple ones: (1) Spend more time for my home and hobbies. (2) Stop buying new patterns. (3) Using up my stash.

Here is one box of yarns and one box of fabrics. I have 9 boxes all together plus a big basket full.

And a closet full of fleeces.Hope you have a great start to 2011 already.

Happy Stitching.

Doily for my coffee table

2010-12-12T12:18:00.004-05:00

Thanksgiving has been and gone and Christmas is just round the corner. I have been so busy. No, not busy preparing for the holiday festivities, but busy job hunting.

The company I currently work for is relocating further south. It would mean having to drive 35 miles each way, navigating through two major busy highways, every day. The move is imminent.

I have been so lucky. This week I have been offered a new job with a growing company which is just a few miles from home.

So this weekend no more job search and I can spend time to take care of my home life and do some crochet. Here is a doily I am making for our coffee table.
This is what it would look like when it’s finished (not my picture).

Thank you for visiting. Have a great weekend.

Flower Coaster

2010-10-24T12:12:00.008-04:00

It has been a long while since I last wrote; I hope you are all keeping well. I am still here and I have been working on my needlework; just that I blog less nowadays.

I crocheted a few flower coasters for co-workers. I made 7 of these, all different color, but forgot to take pictures before giving them away. I did two more today and I remember my camera – pretty, are they?
They are so easy to make, just three rounds and you have a 4" coaster.

I found this pattern from one of my old books. I used 5mm hook and worsted weight cotton yarn. If you want the pattern contact me by leaving a comment with your email address.

Clearwater, Florida

2010-08-21T12:56:00.007-04:00

I finally get round to sew my summer top. New Look pattern 6976; it requires a lot of bias tape. Lucky I have various sizes of bias tape maker from Clover, so I made my own and didn’t have to spend much on sewing notions.
I finished the sewing just in time for our getaway last week to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We headed north and drove through a storm. It was so scary. We could hardly see where we were going. There were thunders and lightning and they were so close to our car. The lightning bolts were striking down either side of the highway, with the light and the crack happened at the same time.

Once we passed the storm it was Florida weather again; hot and sunny with blue sky and white clouds. Our destination: Clearwater on the west coast of Florida, just west of Tampa.

One of the reasons we chose Clearwater was because it is pet friendly. This is the doggie beach at Fort De Soto County Park.

You could tell Poppy loved it, right? She was ready to go for her second swim before we finished setting up camp!

I purchased a few craft things on my travel, going to try them out now.

Thank you for visiting. Have a great weekend.

A natural swimmer

2010-07-28T07:01:00.002-04:00

I want to tell you a story about Poppy and water. It happened when Poppy was very little. I was playing with Poppy one day and I noticed that there’s skin between her toes. I pointed it out to my husband and asked if Poppy has webbed feet. “O yeah” he said “Let’s find out if she is a natural swimmer.” So off we went to the seaside.

The sea was a bit choppy that day and there was a strong wind, so I decided to stay on land. I was a bit concerned that the sea might be too rough for Poppy, but hubby reassured me “Don’t worry. I got her. We’ll be fine.” He picked her up in his arms, carrying her like a baby and started walking into the water. Poppy was only eight weeks old. She was so tiny, all peaches and cream, and just a fluffy ball of fur.

Delray Beach seaside is fairly shallow. You have to walk quite a distance before the water is anywhere near your waist. I was arranging the beach towels and getting comfortable. When I looked up, hubby was far away and the water was about chest deep. He had just stopped and turned around to face me. I looked behind him and to my horror saw a huge wave with foamy white caps rushing towards him. I waved. He waved back. I pointed towards the big open sea. He didn’t see me, by then his attention was on little Poppy and had no idea what was coming. Exasperated, I got up and run to the water’s edge, cupping both hands around my mouth and shouted as loud as I could, “… the wave… hold on to her…”

Too late. The big wave washed over hubby and knocked him off balance. They both went under. When he found his footing and emerged from the water Poppy was gone. There were white foams all around him but no sign of Poppy. He pushed the white foams away to look under the water, no good. He dived under to search but came up empty handed.

Seconds ticked away. I feared the worse. The white foams had died down, and then a few feet away from hubby, out popped a little head and Poppy surfaced. Yeah, she’s a natural swimmer alright. She swam ashore, walked with me to where our bags and beach towels were, planted her butt on solid ground, and that was it. Poppy was done for. She had this fear of water, and whenever we go to the seaside again she wouldn’t even walk on wet sands.

A dog with webbed feet should love water, not to fear it. We have to do something to fix this. Over the following weeks and months, I would get up very early and take Poppy to the beach. I didn’t force her into the water I just let her follow me off leash. Gradually over time she was prepared to walk on the wet sands… let the water touched her toes… this went on for about a year. One day, as usual, we went to the seaside, but this time instead of following me, Poppy rushed pass and hopped into the sea and the water was as high as her chest! I knew then at that moment Poppy has overcome her fear.

Now, you simply can’t stop Poppy from having fun in the sea.

Our furry daughter is 6 years old today. Happy birthday Poppy.

Baby Pink Cardigan

2010-07-24T12:53:00.003-04:00

I have finished the little cardigan a while back but didn’t have a chance to take a photo of it. We have a lot of rain lately.
Now that Tropical Depression Bonnie is moving away, we have good weather today. The baby jacket is very cute.

I am slowly establishing a routine for my craft again, so hopefully I will have more projects to show. Till next time, hope all is well with you and yours, have a great weekend.

Wild Life in Our Garden: a rent free tenant

2010-06-27T12:27:00.009-04:00

It is summer. In Florida that means thunder storms and heavy showers. One day, my husband let Poppy out after they got rained in for a whole afternoon. Poppy rushed to the back of the house. She sniffed around the orchid room, lifted her nose, and started barking at the side of the roof.

The orchid room is an enclosed area with trellis doors, walls and roof which was heavily covered with vines. My husband couldn’t see anything, so he went inside the orchid room and looked up. Would you believe it? A raccoon has decided the best place to keep dry from the rain was the side of our house.

Despite Poppy’s loud barks the raccoon refused to move and carried on napping. That night my husband put a trap out and the raccoon simply couldn’t refuse the fish dinner we put inside the trap.

Raccoons have very sharp claws and they could do serious damage to our property so we don’t like having them around. We don't mind other animals, they live in the yards and stay away from the house. Creatures like this baby opossum can be our rent free tenant. They are cute when they are little, aren’t they?

Back to Normal

2010-06-19T10:42:00.009-04:00

My husband’s uncle and auntie came and stayed with us for a week. They are both 60 this year and are celebrating their 40 years’ wedding anniversary. My husband and I booked time off work, took them to places, wine and dine them every night… and really pushed the boat out to make their visit in Florida special and memorable.

Here is a picture of them enjoying the airboat ride to see the Everglades. They were sitting at the left back row, the uncle in green shirt and the auntie was hidden by the man in blue.
We have done this so many times now that I was happy to wait in the car and to do some knitting. This is what I managed to do while entertaining the relatives. I’ve done the left front, working on the back…just the right front and two little sleeves to go.

When it was time for the uncle and auntie to say goodbye they gave me a surprise gift.

A money box decorated with an abacus for addition, a little drawer to keep the coins, so neat.

After a week back to work, this is the first weekend when things are back to normal. I have my first chance of spending some times in my craft room this morning. I selected my next project, knitting a swatch to test the gauge right now.

Thank you for visiting. Have a great weekend.

Poppy got expelled

2010-05-22T09:38:00.007-04:00

Long time no blog. I still tried to keep up with blog reading but I have not been able to find time to write the posts I have in mind. Poppy has been a concern over the last few weeks.
Florida is in the rainy season now. When the season changes from dry to wet, the garden comes alive. Trees, plants, grass, weeds…suddenly wake up and sprouting new growth in earnest. The place is buzzing with flying insects, crawling bugs, snakes, furry creatures… before I knew it, Poppy was bitten by a bug on her butt. It happened last year and like last year Poppy made the little area worse by licking it and turned it into a sore patch.

One Monday morning 7:30am I dropped Poppy off at the Doggie Day Camp, they sent us home. They refused Poppy because of the hot spot on her butt. I had to take a sick day and stay home with her. Luckily my husband was working from home the rest of that week, so Poppy was able to stay home with daddy.

My husband and I know the drill now. We gave Poppy a summer hair cut, shaved and applied medication on the sore area, put an e-collar on Poppy and she healed quickly. So a week later off to Doggie Day Camp she went.

My husband was travelling this time, so I was relying on Doggie Day Camp to care for Poppy while I was at work. All was well until mid-week. When I collected Poppy in the evening, they told me that Poppy bitted an assistant. Not deep. She nipped the skin and drew blood. Poppy was expelled. I can’t believe it: Poppy got kick out from Doggie Day Care the second time.

I have no friends or families live nearby who could help. Luckily someone we met a few times who does dog walking as a hobby came to my rescue.

Over the weekend we went to see Doggie Day Camp and found out what happened. Poppy didn’t want to play with the other dogs in the big play room and she didn’t want to go back to her own cubicle. She was in a smaller relief room and when staff wanted to move her, Poppy told them no by going for the hand.

Their in-house dog trainer came to speak with us. She asked all sorts of questions…any changes in routines, food, medication, how we interact with Poppy, dog personalities…at the end she concluded that we should not use her crate as a punishment. Poppy is a commend dog. Staffs have to tell Poppy what they want her to do. They cannot man-handle her and should use treat to reward Poppy when she goes to her room. She gave Poppy a reprieve.

My husband said to Poppy, “Come on girl. You’ve been given a second chance, don’t blow it, ok?”

My shopping

2010-04-25T22:55:00.005-04:00

The mail man delivered two parcels last week: 2 craft books and 2 magazines. I came across the Australian Homespun when I was blogging last Christmas. My local book store does not carry Homespun so I took out a year’s subscription. They have beautifully illustrated projects, I can’t make up my mind which project to do first.

I don’t have a lot of free time now, but my life is not the same if I can’t do my craftwork. I am slowly getting used to a new work routine and I even managed to spend time in my craft room this weekend…so nice. I made good progress with my knitting.

Till next time.
Good night and have a great week.

Very little craftwork done

2010-04-11T16:40:00.007-04:00

This work business really isn’t helpful when it comes to my craftwork and my blogging. All I managed was a little knitting for the last three weeks.

I didn’t do any needlework over the last few weekends either. I used the free time to shop for a second car. You wouldn’t believe the number of car dealerships we went to see. Our search came to an end yesterday. We found a little 3 months old Volkswagen GTI we both like. I think Poppy likes the GTI too; she was checking out the inside of the car when we were looking it over. I will have to show you some pictures when we go and collect it this coming Thursday.

The other craft related activity I did was to order some craft books on-line. Two parcels are on their way, one by air and the other by sea, something for me to look forward to :0)

Winter is definitely over with us. It is warming up now, 84ºf / 29ºc for the last couple of days, and the rainy season is just beginning. When it gets hot outside, Poppy stays close to the air-con unit inside.

Well, I hope you're having an easy Sunday.

Take care.

Joyce

White Gnome

2010-03-22T20:00:00.005-04:00

It has been quiet over here, all because I accepted a job offer and have returned to work full time. It all happened so fast, by the time I have the chance to slow down and catch my breath, I have been working for two weeks and I took my first pay check home last Friday. It’s a great feeling, not just the money, but a sense of achievement. I work for a small manufacturing company; lovely people. They gave me such a warm welcome.

Poppy has been great too. I sent her to Doggie Day Care for 4 days in the first week. It was hard for her at first, but she was adjusting to the new routine. The second week was better because she could stay with my husband while he worked from his home office.

Even though it was hectic I still managed to find time to do a little knitting and carried on with my cross stitch. I kept up with my blog reading too. I learned that a blog friend has received my gift which was mailed to her in the beginning of January. Here is what I sent.
It is lovely to know that Ekaterina's children adore the white gnome.

Well, I hope I won't leave it so long next time.

Till then, take care and have a great week.

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday?

2010-03-03T09:26:00.000-05:00

I was reading a post called WOYWW on Diane.W’s blog and it was fun to look at her craft room. When I followed the link to the original author’s site I was laughing out loud as I read Julie’s comment about the “push back” work desk style. Anyway, here is my first WOYWW.

My work desk is hidden away. You will have to walk through the home office before you can go to my craft room.

The home office. Computer on the right of the picture for all those blog entries. I cut out all my sewing patterns on this tile floor.Looking to the left of the home office. Door way to my craft room. The folding table is my spare craft table.

My craft room. The left side has 3 bookcases holding all my craft books and magazines. 3 baskets on the floor, each holding a project and they are all work-in-progress.The right side: work desk and my rocking chair.

Working on the lilac fairy cross-stitch at the moment.

Top view – right half of the work desk. My husband doesn't like that little blonde doll in pink. He said she stares... The sewing instruction at the back for the first summer top. Pink yarn and few rows knitted for a baby cardigan. A ball of white crochet thread (half hidden by the sewing machine) for a doily. Red embroidery threads, white and red fabric for the Wish Quilt by Bronwyn Hayes. Dark blue on white print fabric for the second summer top. The bundle of blue and red fabric near the front is for a fish appliqué…they’re kind of marinating at this little corner.The left half of the work desk. Big round glass jar at the back is my button jar. Animal Crackers card and paper pads for making cards. Small blue box is my table top bin for rubbish. It's Poppy, she is so nosey; I can't have a bin on the floor.My work desk is not normally this busy, honest. I have not put the sewing machine and the over-locker away because I am going to sew the summer tops... soon. They take up a lot of space, right?

OK, then. Thank you for looking.

Hope your week is going well so far.

My latest Projects

2010-03-01T20:00:00.007-05:00

I finally finished the cross stitches of the lilac fairy and am working on the top stitch...so happy.
I made a start on one of the summer tops; I cut the pattern pieces, just need to sew them together now.

I need something to do while watching the television in the evening and knitting is something I could do with dim lighting, so I cast on a cardigan for a baby.

I harvested the tangerines. I was going to leave the fruits on the tree for decoration, but after woken up by two raccoons screaming and fighting over a fallen tangerine at 4:00am in the middle of the night, I changed my mind.

Hopefully I will have a finished project to show you next time.
Till next post, take care and have a great week.

Flopsy Bunny

2010-02-26T17:22:00.004-05:00

It has been a crazy sort of a day for me, did the random number this morning but didn’t have a chance to do the post until now.

So, hi Vicky, please send me your postal address and Flopsy will be on its way to you. You can find my email contact in my profile.

Till next post, take care.

Little Furry Pine Cone

2010-02-19T12:42:00.008-05:00

I was gardening in the front yard the other day. I was just about to pick up a small pine cone when I froze and stared…this little pine cone was furry? What on earth…?
I turned it over with a stick, still not sure what I was looking at.

Then I saw its face. It must have dropped down from the pine tree because of the cold weather overnight.

Not wanting Poppy to come into contact with the bat or me stepping on the little creature, I moved it to a palm tree by the roadside. It was hanging upside-down and it was not happy of being moved.

After a while, it settled down and slept the day away in the shade. Came night fall it was gone.

I have never seen a bat up close before. I am relieved to find out that this bat eats insects and bugs, and it is not a blood sucker.

Name the Bunny

2010-02-12T08:37:00.008-05:00

I was planning to post this on Sunday, but I might not have a chance to do it because it is Chinese New Year, so I will post it now.

It is not often you have Chinese New Year and St. Valentine's Day on the same day. February also marks my first year in Blogland (February 26 to be exact). So to commemorate all three events, I thought it would be a nice gesture to offer bunny girl to a good home.

Here's bunny girl with her little pink dress and red shoes. All 9½ inches tall to the top of her head. 11¾ inches with the ears.
So if you would like bunny girl to join your family, just leave a comment and tell me what you would like to name her if she is yours. Please note: I want bunny girl to go to a loving forever home. Please don’t name her if you don’t intend to keep her. The cut off date for naming the bunny is Friday midnight Florida time on 25 February 2010. The winner will be randomly selected.

Frances, Ekaterina, if you are reading this, you know you and your blog friends are welcome to name the bunny.

Bunny, dress and shoes are all knitted in the rounds, no seams, all embroidery stitched, no button is used.

Dress and shoes can be removed. You put the dress on over the head like you would put on a T-shirt.

Poppy Score

2010-02-11T21:43:00.005-05:00

The economy is not good right now, so looking for work is hard anyway. In my case it is harder still. Potential employers are concerned about my skills because I have not been able to work for the last 6 years.

Late one afternoon I was asked by a recruitment agency to take some on-line tests to assess my accounting and Excel skills. Poppy was hungry and she wanted her walk. But I really needed to do these tests. My husband is working away from home this week. So I could only ask Poppy to wait for me.

The questions got harder as I went along, and still there were more to come…I pushed on, by the time I looked up, it was dark outside. Poppy has been waiting for a long time and was becoming impatient. She came over, nudged me, telling me to stop.

I stopped for a few minutes and gave Poppy some love and attention. I tried telling Poppy, not long to go now, on the last test already, just few more questions.

Next day, I got the test results. I did very well for the first test, OK on the second one, but not so good on the third one. When I took a closer look at the last test score, one question stood out. It showed that I spent 6 minutes on that question. Yup, that’s my Poppy score, 6 minutes of cuddles and kisses.

Perhaps Poppy knew how I was feeling; she stays very close to me this week. We resumed our raking today. The rain stopped work for a few days. Then the weather turned cold and windy again. Areas I have cleared are now covered by fresh fallen pine cones, pine needles and bamboo leaves. When I went outside to deposit the garden waste by the road side, Poppy made sure she was close by. Can you see her?
A close-up. Can you see her now?

She really is my little guardian angel.

Bunny Girl

2010-02-02T15:44:00.010-05:00

The pattern for this bunny is to knit it in flat pieces and then sew them together. I tried to avoid as much sewing as possible by knitting it in the rounds.
The body parts: a head, a body, two ears and a tail. I changed the ears a bit and made up the tail myself rather than using a white pompom as suggested by the pattern.

Here is the bunny girl. I knitted her in the nude.

Since she is a babe, I am covering her modesty with a green leaf for now. I need to sort out her wardrobe next.

We have a week of good weather last week, and then it started raining yesterday. Just as well, I need a rest from all those raking and gardening work.

* * * *

Materials: The pattern asks for Double Knitting yarn. I used Red Heart Sport in fawn beige colour which is slightly thicker than DK.
Knitting needle size: 3.50mm

Pattern: Bunty Bunny by Debi Birkin

My Craft Apron

2010-01-26T19:39:00.006-05:00

I finished my craft apron over the weekend. I love the two big pockets but they don’t show up too well on the photo. I tried it out already. It does a good job in keeping fibre and dust from sticking to my clothes when I do hand-spinning.
I rummaged through my stash and selected these two tops to sew next...

...and just started knitting this little bunny in a brown colour yarn.

I am busy too in the garden. The cold weather brought down a lot of pine needles and leaves (you can see them all over the lawn around Poppy). So I am doing a lot of raking right now, two to three hours per day. It is lovely to have Poppy to keep me company and the weather is warming up so it is quite nice to be outside.

Till next post.

Have a great week.

Little Sausage Dog

2010-01-18T12:06:00.012-05:00

I have been meaning to make this little doggie for a long time. I want to find out how to knit a toy all in one piece with no joining and no sewing. I cast-on on Friday night and once I started I couldn’t put it down.

This is a very clever pattern using many knitting techniques.
The finished toy will look up to you with that doggie begging expression, very cute.

I gave the toy four brown paw pads just like Poppy’s.

The finished size is about 13 ½ inches long from the tip of her nose to the tip of her tail. It is only about 5 inches tall from top of the head to the floor.Materials:
* I hand spun the yarn from a mixture of Jacob and Dorset fleece. 6 wraps per inch so it is about chunky weight.
* 12mm dark brown eyes with safety backing and I purchased them from crscraft.com
Knitting needle size: 4.50mm
Pattern: The pattern is called Victoria and you can download it free from http://zijmaakthet.web-log.nl/zij_maakt_het/

Starting two new projects

2010-01-16T09:50:00.005-05:00

We have some good news this week. The immigration department has approved our application to stay in this country. They have also given me authorisation to work too. So this week I have been working on my resume and have been looking around for suitable work in my local areas.

It has not been a good week for Poppy because I was not doing routine stuff with her. Also after the long break between Christmas and New Year my husband went back to work. After we dropped him off at the airport, when we got home, Poppy went and hid in the garage, in the dark, and sulked. She was missing her human daddy.

By Thursday evening I was ready for a break from the job search and was sorting things out to start some new craft projects; I think Poppy felt that she had had enough too and would not be ignored anymore. She came over to me, stepping on to my sewing paper pattern that was lying on the floor, did a big lazy stretch and proceeded to bark. The result of her complain? The sewing pattern was tear apart by her paws and my plan to do some craftwork was postponed.

Well, her human daddy returned home yesterday. Poppy was a happy puppy again. I managed to tape the pattern together. I want to sew an apron to replace the one I wear when I do hand-spinning. It is the shorter length one in the picture.
Then late last night I started knitting this cutie called Victoria. Go to her blog's sidebar on the left for the free pattern. It is knitted all in one piece. I asked someone who has already done it and she said that it is not simple, at certain points, it can be tricky. So far I have done the two front legs and am working on the body towards the bum.

Unless Poppy is mad with me again, I am hoping to finish these two new projcets quickly. Till next post. Take care.

A cold start to 2010

2010-01-10T16:05:00.007-05:00

We carried on with more home improvement work last week: replacing internal doors, stripping wall papers, painting walls, doors and ceilings…so I have not been doing much craftwork at all.

I did spend time tidying up my craft room though and set up a Work-In-Progress section in my blog’s sidebar. Going through my hobby stuff, I realised that I have finished all the projects I started in 2009, but the three pre-2009 projects are still outstanding. I really would like to complete these in 2010. So I set up the work-in-progress buttons as a way to motivate and to remind myself to get them done.

Last year I have done well with using up my stash of yarns, but I need to sew more and spin more in 2010….yes, I confess… my stash of fleeces and fabrics are just as big.

Also I found that I really enjoy making toys last year. I think my youngest sister knew because she gave me these adorable knitting patterns as my Christmas present. It sure is a good way to use up remnant yarns and I guess I will be making more toys in the New Year.
Talk about gifts, you know how some pet owners say that their cats and dogs bring in presents like dead bird or mouse? Well, thank goodness Poppy is not like that. Otherwise she would have brought in a big dead lizard. This is what she found this morning. Poppy just altered me there is something strange in the yard and I went and checked it out.

The weatherman says that a deep freeze is moving across the world. It is cold here too. Cold blooded reptiles shut down their system when the temperature drops below 40fº/4cº. It was near freezing last night. It was just too cold for them. In case you are wondering, this is what it normally looks like.

It has been a cold start to 2010 and a slow start for me with my craftwork. Let's hope that it is going to warm up soon. OK, I will say bye for now. Take good care of yourself where ever you are. Stay warm and stay safe.

Just in time

2009-12-28T09:22:00.001-05:00

Normally Christmas is easy and cosy with just us and our doggie to please. This year, however, has been busy and all because we wanted to replace the kitchen floor before Christmas.

It was after we ripped up the old floor we realised that it was not going to be a simple removal task because the old floor was glued down.

We managed to put the new floor down just in time for Christmas. Poppy had already decided the best spot to keep an eye on the oven and to wait for dinner.

After a few days of helping my husband doing home improvement I was glad to pick up my needle and thread again and worked on my cross-stitch.

Before I end this post I just want to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Pocket for my Calendar

2009-12-17T21:16:00.007-05:00

This is my 2009 calendar and I keep it in the kitchen. I purchased this because I like the pocket design. It can hold pens, appointment cards, birthday cards to send…etc a very useful organiser for me. My husband likes it too because he can always find a pen in the pocket when he needs one.
I keep meaning to go to a bookshop and buy a 2010 calendar but just have not got round to do it. Then two weeks ago when I went grocery shopping at a Chinese supermarket they gave me a 2010 calendar for free. It is a lovely one too showing both the Chinese and the western dates. The only thing is – it does not have a pocket.

I have been busy this week sorting out Christmas presents and cards. That’s all done now. Sooooo…today I set to work and made a pocket for the new calendar.

I kept it simple, using a fish appliqué design from SummerPond by FatCatPatterns and just quilted the background with two curvy lines to suggest water. Now I have a pocket again to hold my pens and all those little things.

Gnome-in-law's

2009-12-14T13:57:00.011-05:00

I have three younger sisters. This year for the first time I have knitted something for each one of us for Christmas. A gnome for each sister and the gnomes are named after our husbands.

I just finished the last gnome. It has blue eyes and blonde hair - Mike gnome -this one is for me to keep.

I took some group pictures of the gnomes before shipping them away.
The tallest gnome is at the back and the height of the men are in the order too.

銀杏 Ginkgo Biloba

2009-12-11T14:31:00.004-05:00

I love Ginkgo trees. The Chinese name for Ginkgo is 銀杏 and in strict translation it means silver almond. Pretty name and its leaves are pretty too with very unique shapes.

Here is a picture of the leaves from one of my two baby Ginkgo trees.
As a young child I was confused by my mother when she used ginkgo nuts for a Chinese vegetarian dish but she called it white nut. It is not white. Now I know why: it’s white when it still has its shell but yellow when it’s cooked.

So when I came across a crochet pattern for ginkgo leaf and nut, I simply could not resist.

I am going to make more of these then decide what to do with them.

Delray Christmas Tree

2009-12-06T15:11:00.005-05:00

Delray Beach Downtown is very pretty this time of the year, especially in the evening.

I remembered my camera when we walked Poppy down the Avenue last night.
A 100’ man-made tree: children can go inside the tree to visit Santa.

All the palm trees are decorated too. The City also put up a small outdoor ice skating ring next to the tree. So even though we don’t have snow, young children can still do a little ice skating. Isn't that sweet?

Alan Gnome

2009-12-05T12:58:00.007-05:00

We have bad weather lately. The rain was so heavy this morning it actally woke me up. It is very dark outside and looks like it is going to rain some more. You can see how dark it is outside from these pictures I took earlier.

This gnome is for my sister #1.
He is sitting on a fallen Royal Palm frond.

Keeping dry in the tangerine tree...can you see the tangerines? They are still green at the moment.

OK, I am off now to work on my fourth gnome - the last one for this Christmas. Talk about Christmas, they have turned on the light on the 100' Christmas tree at downtown. If I remember to take my camera with me I will post some pictures to show you. Till then, take care and have a great weekend.

Few More Patchwork Flowers

2009-11-28T07:43:00.006-05:00

I was so good. I visited a JoAnn Super-Centre (a fabric and craft store) and could easily spend hours and a lot of money in there but I was there for less than 40 minutes and only purchased items that I really need for my current project – the hexagon patchwork. An added bonus was that everything was on sales, what a bargain.
I cut the new fabric into hexagon shapes already and made a few more flowers.

It is cold today, woke up to 48ºf / 9ºc this morning. Not having my first cup of tea sitting outside with Poppy as I normally do; it’s just too cold.

Well, stay warm and have a great day.

Half & Half Sweater

2009-11-23T13:22:00.003-05:00

I finished the sweater before we went away for our mini vacation at Fort Myers but didn’t get round to wash and press it until now.

The front panel has a tendency to roll up together. I made it stays “open” after using a hot iron on it. I used the heat setting for pure wool and iron the sides but avoiding the actual cables.
I love the low neckline, just need to wait for the weather to turn cold, hopefully around Christmas. It is still too hot to wear woolly jumper right now.

Pattern: Sirdar Ribby Yoke Jumper published in The Knitter magazine Issue One January 2009

Fort Myers, Florida

2009-11-18T22:30:00.002-05:00

My husband took a few days off work and we decided to spend a long weekend at Fort Myers in the west coast of Florida.

The hotel receptionist was so good. She told us that most tourist beaches do not allow dogs, but Poppy can visit City beaches. She gave us map, written directions and marked out all the dog allowed places.

We headed towards a City beach in Sanibel Island and it was not crowded at all.
Poppy just couldn’t wait; she dived right into the water and swam way out.

I was walking slowly, taking in the scenery, was surprised to see so many different kind of sea birds, and there was something else…this fish smell. I was wondering what it was or where it came from. Poppy found it first. The whole shore line has a band of sea shells, mixed with a few dead fish and dead crabs, sea weeds…all baking in the sun.

When we were back at the hotel, hubby wanted to watch the games (American football), Poppy was tired and went straight to bed, and I was happy to work on my patchwork.

Poppy's Snow Shoes

2009-11-09T22:30:00.004-05:00

I want to tell you about Poppy’s snow shoes. I bought them a few years ago when we were living in New Hampshire. They were to protect Poppy from getting ice balls in between her toes. The first time that happened I thought Poppy was injured.

It was early winter and the yard was covered with a foot deep of snow. Poppy went out to play. She was fine at first, then I noticed that she was slowing down. Soon after she was limping, and by the time I got to her she was not able to walk.

The snow had been melted by her body heat and had formed into ice ball between her toes and her paw pad, one ice ball in each paw. They were rock hard and painful for Poppy if I tried to pull it because the ice was compacted and had fused with the sensitive hairs on the underside of her paws.

After that experience, Poppy always wore her shoes when we went out to play with fresh snow.

We live in Florida now and even though it doesn’t snow here Poppy still wears her snow shoes sometimes. This year Poppy had a few episodes of skin problem due to insect bites. Small areas of her skin would become inflamed and sometimes infected.

In our effort to think of ways to stop Poppy from scratching the inflamed areas with her legs, my husband has one of his “think outside the box” moments and said to me “Snow Shoes”.

Here is a picture of Poppy I took back in April. She has an area just behind her right ear that was troubling her. With the snow shoe on her back leg, she could itch herself to get some relief but not able to do any damage. We were able to care for Poppy by applying medication on the infected area and the skin healed very quickly.

Poppy is all better now and has her long coat again.

Poppy's shoes are made by Ruffwear. The soles of the shoes are made of rubber material, have great traction and they really give good protection to her paws.

Half & Half

2009-11-06T07:44:00.006-05:00

The mailman delivered a small parcel yesterday. My sister sent me two balls of yarn with a small hand-made note and some little metal charms. I am so delighted. My stash of yarn is well stocked now to make lots and lots of toys.
The Hayfield Bonus Double Knitting Flesh Tone is considered by some knitters as the best colour for making toy faces. 100% acrylic and it is priced at around £1.30 to £1.65 back in the UK, that’s about $2 to $2.60. However, they are like gold dust over here in the US. Shops are selling them from $9 each.

Anyway, my Ribby Yoke Jumper is coming along. I did this last Sunday.

I did the back and the two sleeves using the chunky knitting machine. I have jointed the pieces together and am going to knit the yoke in the rounds by hands.

I think I should call this my Half & Half Jumper: half hand-knitting and half machine-knitting.

Easy like Sunday morning

2009-11-01T08:31:00.008-05:00

The clock has gone back an hour, but Poppy and I kept to our routine. We woke up early and sat outside in the backyard and enjoyed the morning sun.

This morning I had a cup of tea and the knitting with me and cast-on the front of the Ribby Yoke Jumper.
Quiet and peaceful, even the mosquitoes have left us alone. Moments like these, the lyrics of the Three Little Birds song always come to mind…“Rise up this mornin', Smiled with the risin' sun…

…Don't worry 'bout a thing, 'Cause every little thing gonna be all right."

Take it easy and have a great Sunday.

Simon Gnome

2009-10-29T09:14:00.016-04:00

This is my second Yuletide Gnome toy. It will catch a plane next month going over to the UK to live with my sister number 3.

Sister #3 said that her husband likes all earthy colours like brown, beige, sand, pale blues, navy, grey..etc So this little gnome is wearing Simon’s favourite colour.

I think I got the hat right this time. I turned the hat in such a way that it has a rolled up edge which is how it was in the pattern.

I used double knitting wool and alpaca yarn. This second gnome is softer to the touch than the first one.

Hope your week is going well so far.

* * * * *

Pattern: This is available online from Alan Dart - the toy designer's website. See side bar for the link.

The knitting pattern gives you instruction to knit flat with two needles. I adapted the pattern and knitted the gnome all in the rounds. If interested, you can see how I did it by going to the sidebar and click on a post folder called “Yuletide Gnome in the Rounds”.

Knitting Weather

2009-10-27T12:47:00.006-04:00

We had a cold spell a week ago. It went down to 55ºf/13ºc overnight for a couple of days. Nice. As soon as the weather man said that be sure to take a sweater with you when you go out at night... that was it; time to dig out my bags of wool and start a few knitting projects.

I am working out the tension squares for this Ribby Yoke Jumper. I am nearly there with the hand-knitting square, just need to check out the knitting machine square then I am good to go.
I have started knitting for a few Christmas presents too. This little gnome is almost done. I am using the magic loops method to knit it in the rounds this time. Hopefully I can show you the finished toy in the next post.

Till next time, have a great week.

Thanksgiving Turkey and Christmas Duck

2009-10-20T08:44:00.011-04:00

I finally get round to finish the two toys I started back in September: a Thanksgiving Turkey and a Christmas Duck. We have roast duck at Christmas rather than turkey dinner, hence Christmas Duck.

The little duck is just over 6 inches tall in a sitting position.The turkey is about 8¼ inches tall.

I made some accessories for them: the placards and the head gears. My hubby said that these two are militant protesters.

Materials:

Double Knitting white and peach yarn, Sport weight red and black yarn, and I handspun the brown yarn for the turkey

I found it very helpful to use a small amount of glue to attach the turkey feet to the body and then have a curve needle to sew them together. I used Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive.
Crochet hook size: 3.50mm

Patterns:

* The Duck pattern is free. It is called The Ugly Duckling by Michele Wilcox. You can find it in freepatterns.com You would need to register before you can download the pattern.

* The Turkey pattern is an out of print pattern from 1983 Annie's Pattern Club. It is called Godfrey Gobbler by Betty Blount.

Our niece's Hello Kitty

2009-10-19T20:21:00.011-04:00

When Sarah had booked her tickets to come over to see us, I suggested in an email that I could show her how to knit or to crochet during her stay with us if she was interested.

Sure enough she checked with my sister Frances before coming over and Frances gave her a selection of amigurumi crochet patterns.

Even though we have been busy during the 3 weeks of Sarah’s visit, we found time to crochet.

Here, Sarah cast on her first chain foundation stitches. She started the project towards the end of week 1 at our home in Florida.
This was now week 3 in a hotel when we were visiting Washington DC; Sarah was focusing on her project.Sarah finished her Hello Kitty before flying back home. Isn't it cute?

Her first ever crochet project. Here is a side view.

Sarah is such a quick learner. I have only showed her how to cast on and how to increase, she figured out how to decrease and how to shape the toy all by herself. So proud of Sarah’s achievement.

Sightseeing with our niece – Washington DC

2009-10-18T18:32:00.014-04:00

In week 3 of Sarah’s visit we arrived in Washington DC to see some of the famous monuments.

The Lincoln Memorial

The White House

Capitol Hill

...plus lots of pictures of other places we visited but not showed here.

Did I say that we walked everywhere, and I mean everywhere, for days with Poppy? I was so tired. On the homeward journey Poppy and I crashed out in the back seats of the car.

I think Poppy did better than me; at least she was conscious for the camera. I wasn’t.

Sightseeing with our niece – Savannah Georgia

2009-10-17T20:45:00.007-04:00

During week 2 of Sarah’s stay we visited Savannah Georgia.

We saw some lovely old buildings in historic downtown.
Checked out their Oktoberfest along the River Street.

Enjoyed the view of the water front.

Took Poppy to an old plantation for a walk in the woods.

Tried some southern food: BBQ, fried chicken, banana pudding...all so tasty.

Sightseeing with our niece – Florida

2009-10-15T14:35:00.012-04:00

I just want to share a few photos with you; these were taken when we showed Sarah a few places in south Florida.

We went to the beaches: Delray Beach, Fort Lauderdale and here is Miami South Beach.We had an air-boat ride and saw some of the water ways ...

...an un-usual buggy tour at the Billie Swamp Safari because it was pouring down with rain.

A drive through the sugar cane farming region to see Lake Okeechobee.

We stopped to take some pictures of the sugar cane fields. I asked Sarah to step nearer to the canal edge so that she could be in the centre of the picture. Sarah said that she heard something moved in the water. Just as well she didn’t go any closer; we saw wild alligators in these water ways too.

Slow Going

2009-10-12T23:38:00.006-04:00

It is that time of the years when you start thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. I want to make two toys with the holiday theme. I finished crochet all the pieces very quickly in September and only have the tail to do. But I have only made very slow progress with it after my niece arrived from the UK. She is staying with us for three weeks. We have been out and about, and time flies when you enjoy yourself, right? It is week 3 already and my niece is returning home on Wednesday. I will have my routines back then and have more time to sort out my craftwork.

Smelly Pouches

2009-09-27T18:09:00.006-04:00

There is a Chinese saying that when there is a 陰 yin there will be a 陽 yang: a negative will have a matching positive. So if the butterfly ginger is the positive gorgeous flower, is there a negative one? Oooo, yes!

We purchased our house from a landscape gardener; the gardener collected plants. Since Florida and its flora are new to us we decided to wait a couple of seasons before making any changes to our garden.

There was this big patch of low growing succulents near our front door. It wasn’t much to look at and nothing happened for two years. Then it surprised us by producing these big pouches.One day, when I walked pass the plants I could smell a whiff of stench. I didn’t know what it was and started to investigate. One of the pouches has opened up and it smelled so foul. It’s the smell of rotten meat. That wasn’t the worst part. The next day, I saw maggots wiggling in the centre of the opened pouch flower and a warty toad was sticking its long tongue out to feast on the larva. After that shocking sight I got rid of the smelly plants in record time.

The gardener kept a specimen of this plant in a flower pot far away from the house. I have left it alone. After 6 years it flowers for the first time and it is certainly unusual.

Butterfly Ginger

2009-09-20T16:16:00.008-04:00

Our niece is coming over to stay with us for 3 weeks. We have a belief in our family that the best welcome you can give is to welcome friends and families to a clean house. I was just getting started in sorting out the guest bedroom when our top loading washer died in mid-cycle. So I was having a mini domestic crisis last week and have to delay posting till today.

You know they say that you can trace some of your adult behaviour back to your childhood. I think it was around the time of this picture was taken (I am the one on the right) my mother fenced off a small area of land for me to use as a little garden and my auntie taught me how to cast on and to knit. I grew all sorts of plants in my little plot: ginger, mint, lilies… what I remembered most was the scent of the plants and the perfumes from the flowers.

So when we moved to Florida and live in a house with a big yard, I wanted to grow ginger. The sub-tropical weather here often reminds me of Hong Kong.

I planted these butterfly ginger about two years ago, they flower for the first time…so pretty and the scent so beautiful. The flower shapes like a butterfly too.

Wild Life in Our Garden - Bird of Prey

2009-09-11T09:33:00.008-04:00

Poppy is an excellent watch dog. Normally she is very quiet. If she barks it is for a reason. So one day last week I was working in my craft room and Poppy was snoozing away. I had such a fright when Poppy suddenly gave out a single loud bark.

Thinking that it must be the mailman I went outside with her to check it out. But instead of going to the gate, Poppy went right over to an area near the Chinese bamboo.
Usually it takes a few seconds for the mailman to drive down the lane in his delivery van. I waited, but no van. Puzzled, I asked Poppy “What is it?” In response Poppy did her nose thing, pointing high up at the tree as though to say “It’s up there!”

I looked, and I looked…then I saw the back of it.

I had a better view when I went around the other side of the tree…an owl. I didn’t know Florida has owls; and how on earth Poppy knew about it when she was fast asleep in my craft room? Poppy never ceases to amaze me.

Hat and Flowers

2009-09-10T13:29:00.010-04:00

I made another hat for our local knitting group. They knit and collect hats for a charity for young chemo patients. I kept it simply this time so that it is unisex. The pattern is from Vogue Knitting on the Go Caps & Hats, page 75, it's called the Watch Cap.
I finished sewing the caftan for my husband so I am now free to start other projects. I crochet a few flowers. I love making them. I get so much enjoyment just seeing them materialized from thread to little pretty embellishment.

The pattern for the pink flower is from CrochetPatternCentral. I printed it a long time ago and didn’t make a note of what it was called. There is a long list of free flower patterns on this site.

I made up these blue flowers.

The flowers are made with 100% cotton craft thread and a size 2.00mm crochet hook.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

2009-09-07T13:27:00.006-04:00

We didn’t have a cookout this Labor Day weekend; instead we had a day out in Fort Lauderdale. I remembered to take the camera with me.

Fort Lauderdale Beach is very pretty, well kept and clean.
Poppy looking longingly at the water but dogs are not allowed on the beach.

So many restaurants and most of them will let you sit outside with your dog.

I didn’t realise my husband was taking this picture…we were having a break and waiting for our coffee.

Amigurumi Band from Japan

2009-09-05T09:38:00.009-04:00

Saw this all singing amigurumi band video over at the weloveamigurumi website. So cute. I uploaded it here.

There is a second video just as funny. While I was watching the bear and the bunny singing, I can't help but notice the changes in their expression and the close-up of their finger work over the guitars...so clever!!

My Thimble Collection

2009-09-02T09:50:00.004-04:00

I think because I use thimble when I do embroidery and hand sewing I keep an eye out for them when we travel overseas and would buy a pretty thimble as a souvenir.

Many years ago my husband returned home after working abroad and surprised me with three beautifully decorated thimbles. He visited Jerusalem one weekend, as he wondered in the old city he saw the thimbles and thought of me.

I showed them to my mother-in-laws when she called round to our house. We were all going whooo and waaa over the owl and eagle shaped thimbles. How unusual - we all said. At Christmas that year, my mother-in-law gave me this special display unit plus a selection of China thimbles as Christmas presents. I loved it and couldn’t get over how thoughtful she was.
Sadly my mother-in-law passed away last year. Whenever I see my thimble collection now they remind me of her and of her kindness.

I added one from Greece when we were on our honeymoon, one from Malaysia, one from Turkey and two from Holland on different visits.

Hubby has picked up four more from his travel across the States. He actually threatened to collect one from each state but I asked him not to because space is limited. There are only 4 places left in the display unit.

Do I use them? Yes, and my workhorse thimble is the top right corner one.

Big Round Button Jar

2009-09-01T16:55:00.005-04:00

Just finished crocheting a few things, I am back to my patchwork and sewing now. My husband wants a new nightwear, so I am making him a caftan. I was looking for four small buttons and thought, Oooo, I have to show you the jar I use to hold all my buttons.

It is a massive round jar, almost as big as my sewing machine. Isn’t it cute?
I bought it a few years ago from HomeGoods. I like to group the buttons in separate little clear plastic bags. This way, it is easy to find what I was looking for when I tip it all out.

Small size soap saver or bath scrubber

2009-08-24T13:31:00.008-04:00

This is the original size I made with a very simple loop as the handle. Please do not reproduce the pattern elsewhere.

Abbreviations
Ch = chain Sc = single crochet St = stitch
Material: 100% Cotton yarn, worsted weight. I used less than 1 ball of Peaches & Creme by Elmore-Pisgah
Crochet hook size: 4mm
Finished size: about 4¼" x 6½" excluding the handle loop

Front piece
Cast on 16 ch
Row 1: sc in second ch from hook, and SC in each ch to the end (15 sts)
Row 2: ch 1, 2 sc in first stitch, sc to across to last st, 2 sc in the last st (basically increase 1 st at both ends of the row, 17 sts)
Row 3 – 4: repeat row 2
Row 5: ch 1, sc evenly across the row
Row 6: repeat row 2 (23 st)
Row 7 – 12: ch 1, sc evenly across the row
Row 13: ch 1, sc first 2 sts tog, sc across to last two sts, sc last 2 sts tog
Row 14: ch 1, sc evenly across the row
Row 15 - 17: repeat row 13
Row 18: ch 1, sc evenly across the row. Fasten off.
Place markers at row 2 counting from top and from bottom row and one marker at row 9. (3 markers all together)
Back piece: Make one same as the front but do NOT fasten off.
Putting the pieces together
Working on back piece only, sc the edge, 1 sc per row, to the second marker, ch 50 (ch 40 or less if you want a shorter loop as a handle), slip stitch to back piece at the same marker, sc along the edge of the back piece to the 3rd marker.

At the 3rd marker, put the front piece on top of the back piece, sc through the two pieces together along the edge all the way around until you are back to marker 1 (make 2 sc in the corners of the soap saver if you feel that it needs the increase).

At marker 1 work along the front piece only, sc to marker 2 and ch 6, slip stitch to front piece at the same marker, sc on front piece along edge across to 3rd marker, fasten off. Thread the larger loop through the smaller loop.

Blocking with a Hula Hoop

2009-08-23T17:48:00.020-04:00

When it comes to blocking, the books will tell you to pin the finished item on to a board. I used to do that too. But after moving so many times, my blocking board was long gone; I still have loads of pins though.

Few years ago I needed to block a doily. I was looking around the house for something to use when I had a light bulb moment. I remembered reading a book about the history of Shetland lace and how the islanders made size specific square frame to block their knitted shawls. How about stretching the doily like my embroidery onto a round frame with thread? The hula hoop was the only thing I had that was big enough to use as a frame.

Well, I need to block a new doily and have to wash two old ones, I thought I would take some pictures to show you how I block using the hula hoop.

First thing I did was to soak the doilies in Oxi Magic (a stain removing solution with no bleach) for 10 minutes. I put them in an old pillow case that has a zipper to make sure they all stay inside the case during washing. They went in the washing machine with the rest of the laundry. These are the three doilies after the wash, still damp.

I put a clean bath towel on the floor; place the hula hoop on top of the towel and the doily in the centre of the hula hoop. I used a waste yarn and threaded it through an edging loop of the doily and tied it to the frame at 12 o’clock, stretching a little but tried not to move the doily from the centre.

Then work the opposite end at 6 o’clock. This is an important step: this sets the size of the doily.

You should have an idea about the finished size from the pattern if you use the suggested yarn and crochet hook size. My pattern said that it should be 16 inches. But I used a finer thread and a smaller size hook, so I stretched mine out by feel but still knowing that it should be smaller than 16 inches.

As I pull the thread at the 6 o’clock position, I use my right foot and put my big toe on the thread to keep the thread under tension while I use a measuring tape to determine the diameter of the doily from point to point. I set mine at 15 inches and knotted the thread securely at 6 o’clock. It would be great if you have a friend to help you with this.

I moved myself to work on the 9 o’clock side, followed by 3 o’clock. Again, I measured the doily diameter while I held the 3 o’clock thread under tension with my toe. I would release more thread or pull the thread tighter and would only tie the thread securely when the diameter is exactly 15 inches.

I moved around the doily to work on the major points, always working one end and then the opposite end and measuring each time. Now the frame work of the doily is set, I don’t need to measure any more. I use these major points as a reference to tie the other threads. Also I am now able to lift and move the hula hoop rather than moving myself around to work on the doily.I was about to work on the little doily using an embroidery frame when Poppy came in to check on me and to let me know it’s break time.

I don't normally use starch but one of the doilies is so fine I decided to use it this time; leaving them outside to dry.

Poppy is smelling the starch.

Hula hoop is not ideal because it is flexible; a rigid frame is better. Still it works. The doily might be off centre of the hula hoop, but provided that you stretch the doily to measurement, the doily blocks out good. Just cut the thread to remove the doily. You could recycle the used waste yarn as toy stuffing.

Wheat & Grape Doily...all done

2009-08-23T16:39:00.010-04:00

I omitted linking up a chain loop in round 24, and didn't realise that until I nearly finished round 25. So I had to undo a round and a half, corrected the error and crocheted round 25 all over again.

To learn from my mistake, it would be a good idea to count the number of loops in round 24 before moving on. You should have 96 loops in total. Crochet hook size: 0.75mm

Pattern: Wheat & Grape Doily on page 125 from Heirloom Doilies - A Collection of Favorite Crochet Patterns. Or free from http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtsvintagecrochet/

Large size soap saver or bath scrubber

2009-08-11T10:23:00.029-04:00

I normally use shop purchased soap saver, but my local shops have stopped selling them, so I start making them using some cotton yarn. This is a large size, I also make a smaller one with a different handle, I will post that at a later date.
This is my own design, I would like to share it with you but please do not reproduce the pattern elsewhere.

Abbreviations

Ch = chain
Sc = single crochet
St = stitch

Material: 100% Cotton yarn, worsted weight. I used Peaches & Creme by Elmore-Pisgah

Crochet hook size: 4mm
Finished size: about 5" x just over 7¼" excluding the handle loop

Front piece

Cast on 20 ch
Row 1: sc in second ch from hook, and SC in each ch to the end (19 sts)
Row 2: ch 1, 2 sc in first stitch, sc across to last st, 2 sc in the last st (basically increase 1 st at both ends of the row, 21 sts)
Row 3 – 4: repeat row 2
Row 5: ch 1, sc evenly across the row
Row 6: repeat row 2 (27 st)
Row 7 – 16: ch 1, sc evenly across the row

Row 17: ch 1, sc first 2 sts tog, sc across to last two sts, sc last 2 sts tog
Row 18: ch 1, sc evenly across the row
Row 19 - 21: repeat row 17
Row 22: ch 1, sc evenly across the row. Fasten off.

Place markers at row 2 and 7 counting from top and from bottom row.

Back piece: Make one same as the front but do NOT fasten off.

Now putting the pieces together

Working on back piece only, sc the edge, 1 sc per row, to the second marker, ch 40, slip stitch to back piece on the third marker.

Slip stitch along the 40 ch all the way back to the second marker.

Slip stitch to the back piece and then carry on sc along the edge of the back piece to the 4th marker.

At the 4th marker, put the front piece on top of the back piece, sc through the two pieces together along the edge all the way around until you are back to marker 1. (make 2 sc in the corners of the soap saver if you feel that it needs the increase)

At marker 1 work along the front piece only, sc to marker 2 ...

...and ch 6

wrap the 6 chs around the handle, slip stitch to front piece, sc on front piece along edge across to 3rd marker, ch 6, wrap chs around handle, slip stitch to front piece, sc to marker 4, fasten off.

I kept the markers on to show you the handle and the two loops. I normally take the markers off as I crochet pass them.

The handle and the two loops also act as a lock to stop the soap coming out from the pocket.

These soap savers are handy to have when you travel especially for those hotel size soap.

Wheat & Grape Doily

2009-08-07T08:50:00.008-04:00

I have been good, working methodically through my patchwork. I want to finish the top end of the quilt, so I have been doing some half hexagons.
These half hexagons have sharp corners and are fiddly to do. To give myself a break with hand sewing, I started crocheting a doily.

This Wheat & Grape Doily has 30 rounds and I am on round 15 at the moment. I picked up a second hand book called Heirloom Doilies - A Collection of Favorite Crochet Patterns by House of White Birches and the doily pattern is on page 125.

You can also find this pattern free on-line when you join the Celt's Vintage Crochet and here is their web address http://groups.yahoo.com/group/celtsvintagecrochet/.

Florida summer

2009-08-06T13:33:00.008-04:00

Before we moved to the US, I would think of Florida in terms of the sun, sands and sea, Mickey Mouse and Disney World. Now that we are living here, I would add a few more words like rain, hurricanes, bugs and snakes to describe the Florida summer.

The official hurricane season runs from June to October. So far so good this year, no hurricane, just a few thunder storms and rain more or less every afternoon. We are managing with the bugs. Hubby sprayed the yards with bug killer a couple of times and we could go outside now without feeling we are the walking blood bank for the mosquitoes. But I am seeing more snakes this year. Two have actually come inside the garage and we have to use a broom to chase them out.

My husband and I were doing some gardening last weekend. I was weeding around the flower beds. Hubby was on the ladder trimming back the vine on the garage wall. He called me to go over and have a look. High up on the wall, there was a shed snake skin threading through the vine, all in one piece.
It was like not to be outdone by my husband, Poppy signalled me to take a look at the base of a hibiscus tree, there it was, another perfectly discarded snake skin winding through some lower branches.

I didn’t take photo of the shed snake skins but uploaded two earlier pictures I took of these snakes instead.

These are rat snakes, pretty harmless, nothing like the Burmese pythons that are taking over the Everglades. Florida government is having such a problem in eradicating these predators; this summer they introduced a new hunting season for pythons. It began about three weeks ago on Friday 17th July. A local newspaper reported that the hunters have captured and killed 6 pythons. 150,000 is estimated running loose on the glades, so just 149,994 to go now.

Patchwork

2009-07-27T20:30:00.006-04:00

Even though both the British and the American speak English, they often use different terms for the same thing. For example: what the British calls crisps, the American calls chips. Chips to the British are French fries to the American.

I thought patchwork is patchwork, right? Not so. I just learn that what the British refers to as patchwork, the American calls it English Paper Piecing. American patch-work is generally machine-stitched together in geometrical blocks. English patchwork uses small patches such as hexagons and is usually worked by hand.

My patchwork is of the English variety. I know, on and off…I have been working on it over the years, sooooooooooo s-l-o-w. I picked it up again and made good progress though over the weekend.
I actually did a calculation and worked out that I roughly need 730 pieces. I have done 157 patches, just 573 more hexagons to go…not long now. One can always hope, right?

Nightdress

2009-07-24T11:59:00.006-04:00

It has been so hot lately. In the first two weeks of July it was around 96ºf/36ºc during the day and it only went down to 90ºf/32ºc after ten o'clock at night. It is humid too. This week is slightly better; 90ºf/32ºc now and it will be about 84ºf/29ºc in late evening.

Too hot to play with wool right now, so I am giving knitting a break, done some sewing instead. Made two sets of night wear, good for this hot weather.
Patterns:
Simplicity 9505 (F & H)
McCall’s 4956 (C & D)

Sewing Machines

2009-07-21T10:56:00.010-04:00

I was giving my sewing machines a good clean up and oiling before doing some sewing. Just thought I would tell you about two bright ideas that friends have shared with me.

1: It's a good idea to have a piece of scrap fabric for each machine.
Whenever the machine is not in use, place the fabric between the presser foot and the needle plate and rest the foot. This prevents metal rubbing against metal and helps to prolong the life of the feed-dog teeth.

2: Have a mat for each machine. I made mine from a scrap of kitchen flooring material. I think it is called linoleum or sheet vinyl.

I turned the smaller mat to show the right side of the material. The right side touches the table and the machine sits on the wrong side.

When the machine sits on the mat, you can easily move it about; the heavy machine just simply glides away. Yet it is perfectly stationary when it is in use.

This way, you can easily create room to focus on your work without having to lift the machine, a real back saver.

Wild Life in Our Garden – Squirrel Food

2009-07-17T12:23:00.014-04:00

Squirrel – what do they eat?

Would your answer be...acorn? But the oak tree that has acorn does not grow here; it is too hot for them. We have many palm trees though and they are flowering now. This palm tree has already finished flowering and is producing big bunches of seeds. The seed turns red as it ripens and the squirrels here love them.

As usual Poppy was busy chasing squirrels this morning. In a hurry to get away from Poppy, the little squirrel dropped his breakfast. It’s the green one on the left. The middle one which has been completely hollowed out and the red one must have been last night’s dinner.

So, what do squirrel eat? Now, I would say that it all depends on where they live.

Book Shopping

2009-07-16T13:17:00.011-04:00

I have been doing a bit of internet shopping for knitting and craft books, and a few sewing patterns. I usually buy my books from Amazon.com but not this time. I found better offers elsewhere.
KnitPicks offers 40% discount on all their books. I purchased “Knitting in the Old Way” from them which is cheaper than Amazon. I came across KnitPicks summer book sale by chance, so glad I did because I managed to buy the books I wanted at a really good price. Their book sale ends August 17.

YesAsia has a good selection of Japanese and Chinese craft/crochet books and their prices are nothing like what some ebay sellers are charging. The nice thing about YesAsia is that they offer free international shipping once your order is over US$39. Right now, they have a free shipping promotion for everything. It is air mail too, so it’s pretty fast.

I simply couldn’t resist when I saw this doggie book. It is written in Japanese though. Japanese language incorporates many Chinese characters so I read all the Chinese writing, but that’s only a small part. To overcome this language problem, I first scan the pattern instruction using HP Document Viewer into editable Japanese text, then copy and paste it onto GoogleTranslate so that I could read it in English. The rough translation plus the crochet charts printed on the book really help.

Blue Berry Socks

2009-07-15T11:52:00.005-04:00

When I want to knit in the rounds, I have always used 4 double pointed knitting needles. They normally sold them in sets of fours in the old days (in Hong Kong and in the UK).

After I moved to the U.S. I started using 5 double pointed knitting needles. Go with the flow, I thought, they come in sets of fives here.

Then I came across a discussion forum in Ravelry about knitting in the rounds with magic loops…Magic? I was intrigued.

It’s high time I learn a new knitting technique. I picked out my pattern for a pair of socks and cast on, knitting from the cuff down.
When it came to the parts where no shaping is involved, I was so tempted to move the socks to double pointed needles because I know I could do the knitting faster, but I persisted with this magic loops method.

I didn’t expect the feel good factor when I finished knitting; both socks came off the needles together. It was great.

I must say, I like this magic loops business, think I will use this technique more often from now on.

* * * * * *
Materials: Double Knitting Yarn

Knitting needle size: 3.25mm
Patterns: Berry Season (page 32) from 2-at-a-time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes

My Epic Elephant Task

2009-07-06T17:09:00.010-04:00

When I was working in the accounting department with a UK finance company, the finance director sent the whole department for training in Time Management. That was the first time I came across the term - an “elephant task”. An elephant task, our trainer told us, is a task that is so big, so overwhelming, involves so much effort and time, and very often it is something we want to avoid…so we keep putting it off. But it is also something that must be done if we stand any chance of achieving our goals.

Among my craft projects, I have three projects that are of the elephant size category: a patchwork, a table cloth and a spider wrap.

I first saw the spider pattern back in the 80's. It was far too complicated, and the size of the projcet was too overwhelming, so I carefully removed it from the magazine and safely stored it away…I thought one day.After I had purchased my first spinning wheel I started spinning the yarn required for this project. I showed the pattern to my husband but realised he doesn’t like spiders at all. So I gave up the bed cover but thought a spider shawl would still be nice. Over the years I kept spinning the yarn for the spider wrap, but somehow I always ended up using the yarn for something else.

It’s like I have a mental block, the shawl has become such a big elephant task, I have been putting it off and putting it off….well no more. May this year, I cast on the spider wrap. Hurrah! I have just finished my first spider. If I finish this in 2009 I might even enter it into the “Grand Prize - Epic FO” challenge. On Ravelry the finish-or-frog-it group issued a year-long challenge where you pick a project that you simply can’t frog, but that you’ve ignored for too long. This is a challenging pattern that requires dedication, concentration and determination.

Well, my spider wrap is certainly epic but not so daunting anymore. I am off to do some spinning now for 8 more spiders.

The Lamb Amigos

2009-06-30T14:15:00.017-04:00

I made these yarn a little while ago.

I crocheted a baby lamb.

And then I knitted a spring lamb for it as a friend.

The two amigos…off to somewhere?

They found a sleepy Poppy.

Are you awake, Poppy?

She is now!

The things I do to Poppy…I wonder sometimes why she still loves me so.

* * * * * * *

Materials:
Crochet hook size: 4.50mm
Knitting needle size: 5.00mm and 3.50mm
Patterns: p.45 & p.72 in Treasury of Dolls & Cuddly toys by Australia Family Circle

Holiday Hats

2009-06-18T14:05:00.010-04:00

I learned about a local knitting group via the Ravelry website. They meet twice a month: on the second and the fourth Thursday mornings. The event is organised by the Downtown Delray Library. Anyone interested can just turn up. I went last Thursday and it was my 3rd visit.

This is a friendly group and they make all sorts of things. One of the knitters also acts as a middleman between the knitting group and a charity for children chemo patients. She brings in free yarns, and if you want to make hats, you just help yourself to the yarn. When you give her your finished hats, she takes them back to the charity organiser. But you don’t have to knit hats if you don’t want to; it’s not a prerequisite of joining the group.

Anyway, last Thursday she brought in a big bag of yarns. She announced that it’s for the “Holiday Hats” - red and green yarn for Christmas, blue and white for the Jewish holiday. Delray is pretty much a holiday town and it is off-season now. Many knitters have left Delray and went back up north. The group is much smaller in number. And the thought of little children going through cancer treatment at Christmas time really pulls at the heart string…so I offered to make hats.

Here are the yarns for the holiday hats, weighing 2 lbs…that’s a lot of yarn.
There is only one thing for it…dig out my knitting machine!

I don’t have a ribber, so have to finish the hats by hand, hence the need of making sure the gauge of my hand-knitting and of my machine knitting are the same.

And four little hats.

Patterns:

Red with green top - Berry Baby Hat free from Ravelry

Red - The Kiss in Just Hats by Lion Brand Yarn

Blue - made up by me

White - made up by me

Lacy Summer Cardigan

2009-06-12T14:25:00.009-04:00

The pattern for this cardigan is a chart. Whilst it is not hard to follow the diagram, I didn’t make the job easy by picking a fancy yarn to make this top. The yarn is a mixture of cotton, acrylic, viscose and nylon; in cream color with gold and silver specks and has bumps of white cotton bubbles along the entire length. I didn’t make an accurate cast-on the first attempt simply because it was so difficult to count the chain stitches with this yarn. I did it again and this time I marked the chain stitch for each cluster as I cast-on.
After that, it was straight forward.

I added beads for extra sparkles.

The beads are only sewn around the yoke.

It is actually prettier than what the pictures are showing because I am not able to capture the shine and the sparkles of the beads.

Really happy with how it turns out.

Material: Sirdar SunSeeker Cotton Boutonne DK (A gift from my sister Flo)
Crochet Hook size: 4.0 mm (G)

Pattern: #16 Crochet Cardigan by Puppy Jardin published in European Handknitting 2007 Spring/Summer

Little Little Chunky Star

2009-05-29T10:43:00.013-04:00

Grace-Poppy De LaVillaRoy is a blonde female Hovawart. A dual purpose working dog: as a guardian and as a companion. This breed originates from the Hertz and Black Forest regions of Germany but Poppy was born in Saint-Paul (Québec) Canada. She took a plane to join us when she was only 8 weeks old.
Having a dog is a lifelong commitment, so I did a lot of research before deciding on the breed and the breeder. What none of the books told me was how soft Poppy’s fur is.

Over the first two years, I kept Poppy's fur each time she was bathed and brushed, so the fur was superclean and fluffy soft.

My husband asked me what I intend to do with it all...don't know, a little keepsake of some sort.

Finally got round to spin Poppy's fur into Poppy yarn.

I made a thick yarn, about 8 wraps per inch, similar thickness to Aran or worsted weight.

And I made it into a chunky star, Poppy after all is a big girl.

The pattern is actually a snowflake sachet. You can’t see it from the picture but the centre has two layers and an opening in the back so it could be used as a pocket to hold scented stuff. I think I will fill it with some pine cone flakes. Poppy always gets pine sap on her when she goes out into the garden, and more often than not, she smells of pine.

Pattern: Crochet Snowflake Sachets by Annie's Attic (Leaflet No 87S72)

Blue Ridge, Georgia – a Cabin Vacation

2009-05-24T16:12:00.012-04:00

My husband had been working so hard and he needed a break. Also it was my birthday last week; hubby suggested that we should get away for a week. He wanted me to pick the type of holiday and location…decision, decision…since I have Georgia on my mind (lol, I couldn’t resist) I settled on a cabin retreat somewhere in Blue Ridge, Georgia.

Approximately 720 miles from our Florida home, we drove and headed towards the mountain.
Our first ever cabin vacation.

It might be sunny, I was actually cold. The temperature dropped down to 37ºf (3ºc) at night for a couple of days. But it was fun to light up a fire with real wood!

Side view of the cabin.

View from the other side.

You can't see it from the above pictures, but there were these pretty little flowers all over the place, growing wild.We tried out the southern food like fried green tomatoes, fried chicken livers, cream corns, and banana pudding. Local people were so friendly and made us feel so welcome. My hubby did his best to spoil me and Poppy...this was a great get away and a lovely birthday present.

Blue Ridge GA: Poppy’s First Fish

2009-05-24T13:13:00.009-04:00

We really liked the deck at the back of the cabin which sits over the water.
While hubby set up the lines for fishing

Poppy chilled out on the deck and I did some knitting.

Poppy didn't know what to make of the baby trout.

This was her first live fish and she was watching closely.Releasing the fish back to the river.

Blue Ridge GA: To Chattanooga Tennessee

2009-05-24T12:42:00.010-04:00

After a couple days of chilling and fishing at the cabin we made a day trip to visit Chattanooga in Tennessee. We checked out a dam on our way there.
Poppy and I waiting for hubby to take some pictures.

View of the dam.

Further down the road, having a break so that Poppy could have a swim in the Ocoee Lake.

At Chattanooga Tennessee, walking across a bridge from the art museum. We are no good with height so we didn't like that at all. A river boat.

Blue Ridge GA: Shopping in Main Street

2009-05-24T12:20:00.012-04:00

We had a shopping day one day. We worked our way from one end of Main Street to the other end.

This restuarant let us sit outside with Poppy to have coffee and lunch.

The train station at the other end of Main Street.

Hubby writing a postcard to his dad.

Blue Ridge GA: To Brasstown Bald

2009-05-24T11:18:00.012-04:00

After checking the weather forecast, we decided to stay close to the local area because it was going to rain in the afternoon. Hubby suggested that we should check out the highest point of Georgia: Brasstown Bald.

Did I mention that I am no good at travelling? I get motion sickness. Did I also mention that the mountain roads are like roller coaster rides? And that the roads have sharp zigzag bends? The worst thing was that we took a wrong turn.

So we were in the middle of nowhere, not a soul in sight, not a vehicle nearby. And would you believe it? After I asked hubby to stop our car, and while I was bending over at the side of the road and was about to empty the content of my stomach, a Georgia Sheriff drove towards us. I must have turned green at that point. Poppy showed her concern by sticking her head out of the car window and watched my progress. The Sheriff actually came to a stop to ask if we were ok. Once he understood our situation, in his deep southern voice, he wished us a good day. All I could manage was a weak wave and thought I would certainly try.

When I thought we finally arrived at Brasstown Bald, hubby informed me that the road to the observation tower was closed and that we would need to walk to the top. Can’t believe my luck, I wasn’t even dressed for hiking. But I had come this far now and I wasn't about to give up. So onwards.
Having a break.

Hurrah...made it.

At the observation tower, hubby telling Poppy we were having a break and then a Walk and then DinDin.

Poppy knows the words Walk and DinDin for dinner.

Looking back at the car park where we left our car.

Another view from the top at 4,784 ft.

Blue Ridge GA: Pictures for my Sisters

2009-05-24T10:39:00.005-04:00

I have three younger sisters and one of them has “Piggy” as a nickname. My father gave her that name because she was such a cute baby. Anyway, when we were touring around the areas and I saw the “piggly wiggly” supermarket sign, I just had to take a picture.
And this little pig is right outside a BBQ restaurant.

My sisters love barbecued ribs too. We were waiting for our dinner.

In the past I have threatened to get a pet for my pet. I actually went inside this Feed & Supply store; I nearly came out with an angora rabbit. It was so cute with white fluffy fur.

Wild Life in Our Garden - Soft Shell

2009-05-12T15:37:00.007-04:00

It is getting hot with us now. Some areas of the lawn are drying out. We took a walk around the garden to check up on things and even though it was so hot, Poppy insisted on coming along.

We were walking pass the green bamboo when Poppy started barking. She was on her alert mode, telling us something’s up.
Hubby went to her to take a look. With Daddy by her side, Poppy was brave enough to have a close-up inspection.

We didn’t know what it was at first. Our neighbour told us it is a Florida Soft-Shell Turtle.

He is not very handsome, is he?

Firing up the Dye Pot

2009-05-10T15:06:00.006-04:00

I have been playing with fibre this morning. I divided a Dorset sheep fleece into three batches and dyed each batch with a different colour.

The weather has been so hot lately, all the fleeces dried in no time under the Florida sun.

Notes on Shaping Gnome's Hat

2009-05-05T10:43:00.012-04:00

I knitted the hat in the rounds from the bottom up. Next time I would start from the tail end and knit it in the rounds from the top down. Reasons? Because after knitting the 7 rows for the cuff I had to purl all the way up. Then it was very hard to stuff the tail end. I had to use long tweezers. So knitting from the top down means you could stuff the tail end as you go along and a lot less purl to do.

I used a 100% wool yarn for the hat. It didn't look right when it came off the needles. So I decided to wash it and to block it. After washing it by hands, I put it on a large plastic knitting needle that has been threaded through a funnel; you could see it on the left of this picture. I was waiting for it to dry.
After it's dried, I hand sewed the cuff to the hat by using a running stitch. Then using long tweezers I stuff the tail end very lightly. I don't use any hair spray on my hair so I don't have any. I have some heavy duty starch in the house for the laundry so I sprayed only the tail end of the hat with the starch, and tied it in zigzag shape with a small piece of yarn.

Waiting for the tail end to dry.
Once it's dried the zigzag shape holds quite well.

The hat is so much softer after the wash and it looks OK now to me. I found that the hat sits on the head very well on its own. So I decided not to attach the hat to the head as suggested by the pattern. Instead I give the little gnome eyes. This way he can have a little sleep with the hat down. Or look wide awake with the hat sits a little bit higher up. I thought it would be a nice feature and would be more fun that way.

Kids Tyrolean Jacket

2009-05-04T10:32:00.009-04:00

I finally finished this little jacket. Just as well I placed stitch markers as I was knitting on every 10th rows on the front edges; it made picking up the stitches for the band so much easier with this fancy yarn.
I took these two pictures before I washed the jacket.

These three pictures are taken after the jacket was washed and dried. It looks softer and it also feels softer to the touch.

Materials: A mixed fiber yarn
Knitting needle size: 5.00mm and 5.50mm

Pattern: Kids Tyrolean Jacket page 16 in Kids to Grown-Ups Seamless Sweaters by Mary Rich Goodwin

Gnome's Mitten in the Rounds

2009-05-03T17:53:00.031-04:00

Knitting Techniques used:
- the Thumb method Cast-On
- knitting in the rounds with two circular knitting needles (My needles are different colour, just easier for me to pick up the correct set to knit.)
- three needles bind-off

Crochet Technique used:
- Chain Stitch

I knitted as per instruction, with no reduction in stitches (see more detail notes on boots).

Place a slip knot with a long tail on the needle. Hold the tail in your left hand and wrap it around your thumb. Now, knit into the loop of the left thumb from front to back.
Knit 12 stitches. Move the stitches to the right side of the circular needle. Transfer 6 stitches to the second set of circular needle. Fold the stitches ... and start knitting in the rounds. I did only a few rows to show the arm. When you are ready to change color for the mitten, make sure you leave a long tail of the yarn used for the mitten, about 6 inches long. You have done 4 rows for the mitten and are ready to cast on 4 stitches at the beg of next 2 rows for thumb. Find the long tail yarn and fish it out from the inside and hold it above the mitten. Use a crochet hook 1mm size smaller than your knitting needles. My knitting needles were 3mm so I used a 2mm crochet hook. Place it in between the two knitting needles and push it through below the highest connecting yarn. (Double click on the picture to have a better view)Use the hook to grab the tail yarn and bring it through to the outside of the mitten.
Make 4 chain stitch and fasten off the tail yarn. Back to knitting. With the 4 crocheted chains on your left hand, use the knitting needle to pick up 4 stitches. You have cast on 4 stitches, one from each chain stitch.Now turn the work the other side and use the second set of knitting needles. Use the right side of the circular knitting needle to pick up 4 stitches from the other end of the crocheted chains. Knit across to the end of the grey needle and knit across the silver needle all the way including the extra 4 from the crocheted chains. You have cast on the thumb. Knit another round. This complete the cast on 4 stitches at the beg of next 2 rows for thumb.Carry on with the pattern knitting in the rounds. When you are ready to cast off 3 stitches at beg of next 2 rows, move the work to the wire and turn it inside out, and cast off 2 stitches using three needles cast off method. (Note: the mitten is small, so it is tricky to turn it inside out, needs patience)Now turn the work right side out, you should have 7 stitches each on the left needles and 1 stitch on the right needle. Transfer that 1 stitch from the right needle to the left needle that's further away from you. You should now have 7 stitches on the grey needle, 8 on the silver. Knit a round to the last 2 stitches and knit the two together. 14 stitches. Knit one more round. This completes the cast off 3 stitches at beg of next 2 rows. Continue knitting in the rounds until you are ready to cast off.Move the mitten to the wire, turn it inside out and use three needles cast off all the stitches and fasten off. Turn the mitten right side out and a cute little seamless mitten appears.