F is for Flowers

Happy Valentine's Day!

E is for Emma

Our young pup is now 2.5 years old and healthy as a little pony (a very little pony). She loves running around the backyard chasing birds and squirrels, or looking for the little lizard that appears once in awhile. She keeps her figure by skipping on the kibbles every few days, but she loves rice! No matter where she is in the house, the moment someone brings out rice or even just a dish with some rice, there she is, reporting to the kitchen. It's like magic.

Emma goes to dog training with Henry when the weather is nice. Otherwise she loves a nice long walk down to the lake with me in her little purple harness and squirrel leash. Soon enough the goose babies will be there and she'll have a good time chasing them around.

D is for Date Night

Project:  Date Night 幽会
Pattern:  Date Night by Nikol Lohr, Knitty Fist Fall 2011
Yarn:  Cathy's Handspun
Yardage:  475 yards
Needles: Size 5 & 7
Cast on: November 8, 2014
Cast off: January 27, 2015

Notes: My British Australian Chinese knitterly fibery friend Cathy sent me this lovely gradient handspun yarn last year. I'd never worked with gradient yarn before, but I love the gradual long color changes and wanted to find a way to make the yarn show its best face. Since the yardage was fairly limited, I picked a top down pattern for a little top, so the light colors would be close to the face, and it gradually gets darker down the body. If I ran out of yarn and needed more length I could add some darker colors on the bottom. The top turned out to be the perfect length. I even had enough yarn to cast off the live stitches at the sleeves, and I used the last yard or so to make a little icord flower.

C is for China Blue 北京蓝图

Project:  China Blue 北京蓝图
Pattern:  very roughly based on Tipsy Knitter by Katherine Matthews from Socks Socks Socks
Yarn:  Pagewood Farm Glacier Bay
Yardage:  used less than 400 yards
Needles: Size 2
Cast on: November 16, 2014
Cast off: December 26, 2014

Notes:  When I was a little girl in Beijing I was always cold in the winter. Sometimes my feet were so cold the toes would be numb for days. One year I got horrible frost bites on my left hand and it had to be wrapped in gauze for most of the winter. So when everyone started telling me I'd better have some warm wooly socks for my Beijing trip I took it to heart and cast on the first sock three weeks before the flight. I was hoping I'd finish the socks. I knitted before leaving, while waiting in airports, on the flights, and finally in Beijing. Today's Beijing there is radiant heat in most buildings so it's warm and toasty indoors. The only time I was actually cold was the day I spent outdoors in Summer Palace, but once inside I was fine. I finished the socks with couple of days to spare, and they will forever be associated to my trip to Beijing. 

B is for Beijing

Beijing is my birth place and my childhood. It's also one of the biggest political centers of the world. I ran away from Beijing as soon as I could, and for many years I thought I'd never go back if I could help it.

Maybe my age is getting to me, maybe years gone by had softened our feelings, good and bad. Like they say, time and distance are the best cure. Ultimately I have to prove to myself and the world that I'm still Chinese and can still live as a Chinese person. In December I spent almost three weeks in Beijing and did just that, living as a Chinese person. I ate Chinese everywhere I went, spoke only Chinese except with my American friends, rode public transit enough to become more knowledgeable than some locals!

The purpose of the trip was to attend a memorial ceremony for my maternal grandmother, for her 100th year birthday celebration. I saw my aunts and uncles for the first time since I was a girl, and saw many of my cousins for the very first time. I saw my father in many years and met his "new" wife, who has been with him longer than my parents were together. Family, it's complicated.

I wrote about my grandmother a few years ago here, for your leisure reading. The red book in the picture is a collection of pictures and articles my aunts and uncles put together for the event. It's so great to see my grandmother officially memorialized by her own family.

What's a trip without some yarn shopping! I got in touch with the Beijing knitters early in my planning and Dawn ended up to be my personal tour guide to the yarn market.

This is only portion of the yarn and books I brought home.

A is for Alder

I'm starting a new series of blog entries from A to Z to catch up on knitting and life for the past few months. The idea is to finish the series in 26 days, but it will probably be longer.

Project:  Alder 爱达
Pattern:  Alder by Berroco Design Team
Yarn:  Lion Brand Fisherman's wool, 100% wool, worsted weight
Yardage:  a million yards in stash (I have a habit of using Michael's coupons on this yarn)
Needles: Size 8
Cast on: January 26, 2015

Notes: This is a short sleeve cardigan knitting sideways. Pictured is the back start from the right sleeve going towards middle of the back. After a few months of crazy schedules of working, travelling, sleeping at odd times, this is my "come back to me" project, and of course, it's cable!

Finale: Nymphalidea 蝴蝶

Project:  Nymphalidea 蝴蝶
Pattern:  Nymphalidea by Melinda VerMeer, free Ravelry download
Yarn:  Socks that Rock lightweight (yellow/green) and O-Wool Classic 2-ply (white)
Yardage:  360 + 396 yards, used almost all and the shawl is not as big as I'd like
Needles: Size 6
Cast on: June 15, 2014
Cast off: August 5, 2014

Cost: About $20

Notes: Both yarns are used/recycled/discounted, retail prices would be much higher. The O-Wool Classic is very soft, easy to knit, and would bloom nicely after some washing and wearing. A few people in South Bay Knitters are doing a knit-along of this pattern, even tho I didn't have a chance to join them in the meetings but I decided to knit this pattern any way since it's so pretty. It's a very easy pattern, quite a few knit or purl all the way across rows that put me to sleep every night while I knitted in front of the TV. Since I didn't have enough yarn to knit a full 180 degree, the shawl ended up with a significant hump in the middle. It's still quite wearable, and the hump gives me a chance to play with strategic placements.

Finale: Ogee Tunic 紫山佛塔

Project:  Ogee Tunic 紫山佛塔 Zǐshān fó tǎ
Pattern:  Ogee Tunic from Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan
Yarn:  Ellen's Half Pint Farm Falkland wool, 100% wool, DK weight
Yardage:  1500 yards in stash, used about 1200 yards
Needles: Size 4 & 6
Cast on: March 18, 2014
Cast off: June 29, 2014
Previous entry: May 2

Cost: About $70

Notes: The darker picture is closer to true color. After completing the back of the sweater on size 4 needles (and getting gauge) but not happy with the tight fabric, I decided to switch to size 6 on the front after the ribbing pattern. The front turned out drapier and slightly larger than the back. Logically the front of a woman sweater should take more fabric any way, so I tweaked a bit while sewing together the pieces and now no one can tell the difference. The way the open collar is designed makes the neckline very loose. I thought about putting a big button on top, but a removable pin works much better, and I can use a different one every time. Overall I'm very happy with the supersized cable design, the shaping, and how the yarn and pattern come together. 

Happy Friday again! And if you are in US, Happy July 4th! Join the party on Andrea's blog, Tami's blog, and leave me a comment!

Baby Bootees Finale; New Job; Happy 4th!

Project:  Lina Lou's Bootees
Pattern:  Saartje's Bootees by Saartje de Brujin (Ravelry free download)
Yarn:  Filatura Di Crosa Zarina, sport weight, 100% merino
Yardage:  used less than 100 yards
Needles: Size 4
Cast on: June 18, 2014
Cast off: June 26, 2014
Cost: stash yarn don't count

Notes: I recently picked up a contract gig backfilling a young lady going on maternity leave for her upcoming baby girl, Lina Lou. The training was intense and didn't leave me much brain power to think about anything else for two weeks. But I have been admiring this pattern for a long time so it's an easy decision to make these little bootees for the baby. They worked up so quickly, and I still can't believe a human's feet can fit in something this little!

Happy Friday eve! And if you are in US, Happy July 4th weekend! Join the party on Andrea's blog, Tami's blog, and leave me a comment!

Ogee Tunic 紫山佛塔

Project:  Ogee Tunic 紫山佛塔 Zǐshān fó tǎ
Pattern:  Ogee Tunic from Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan
Yarn:  Ellen's Half Pint Farm Falkland wool, 100% wool, DK weight
Yardage:  1500 yards in stash
Needles: Size 4 & 6
Cast on: March 18, 2014

Notes: The project's Chinese name means Purple Mountain Buddhist Pagoda. The yarn is very saturated red and purple, and purple is Chinese traditional royal and "larger than life" color. The main curve design in this pattern, the ogee, is often used in temples, religious or medieval architectures. I debated whether I should use such a busy variegated yarn for a cable design, but I really want to knit with this fat skein of Ellen's yarn, and I really like this Norah Gaughan design. With the logic that putting everything I like together will produce something I like even more, here is the result. I knitted the back all on size 4 needle to get gauge, but it's a little tight and I'm not completely happy with the fabric. So for the front I've switched to size 6 after the bottom band and it looks much better so far. If the row gauge comes out much different I'll have some fudging to do when I put the pieces together.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday! Join the party on Andrea's blog, and leave me a comment!