What November Made

Usually at the end of each month, I would wonder where the month went. And of course I would moan about how I had squandered my time. November was so different. It went exactly as planned. Yes, planned. I didn't live each day aimlessly.

1. Published one bag pattern.

2. Finished one mini lace shawl.

3. Ran one Etsy bag pattern sale. Thanks to everyone who bought from me!!! <kisses>

4. Started work on a little something for Lammily.

5. Started a small blanket for my daughter but I may have to rethink it as I don't think I have sufficient yarn and the needle is too short. And believe me I don't want to buy another size NINE mm needle.

6. Started work on a few sewing projects including 2 top and a few applique-ish stuff. Finding lots of inspiration in abandoned patchwork found in my storeroom!

7. Completed the technical parts of my next bag pattern. Have chosen the fabric and everything, just waiting to do photography on a nice bright day.

8. Ran 5km FOUR times. Would have been 5 times but the 5th time there was a thunderstorm.

9. Swam FOUR times.

10. Exercised every Tuesday night with my neighbours.

I don't know why I am so full of energy. And I have so many ideas for sewing projects that I fear I may end up with more and more UFOs. So I am dedicating December to finishing stuff. Any WIP I see lying around my home? I'm going to finish it. So expect lots of blog posts next month. The knitted stuff might have to be carried forward to 2019 because I can't knit more than 2 hours a day. Sometimes I ask myself why I craft so much? Is it to make up for something lacking in my real life? Well, who has time to dwell on such issues? I have so many WIPs to juggle. So see you in December.

And what did you do in November?

Spaghetti Pumpkin

Sometime this year, I made pumpkin soup from scratch. It was my first attempt. I followed a recipe and it was a lot of work. My kids tried to drink it. Finally they said, NEVER make this again. My kids rarely make such a request so it must be bad. In the end, no one could drink the soup.

A few days ago, I wanted to buy pumpkin to make another attempt at the make from scratch soup. What can I say? I just can't give up so easily. At the supermarket, there was a food promoter selling 3 kinds of pumpkin. One of the pumpkins I've never seen before.

It's pale and ordinarily I would not give it any attention. But the promoter had cooked some of it and she gave me a teaspoon worth to try. It was not bad. She told me that the pumpkin I had tried can be eaten like spaghetti! I was intrigued and immediately bought half a spaghetti pumpkin. And I also abandoned my plans to make the from scratch pumpkin soup. <my kids must be grateful> The sale promoter's cooking instructions were pretty simple - steam the pumpkin until soft. Then use a fork to run through to create the strands.

My spaghetti pumpkin tasted rather bland. I guess you need to season it.

I decided to eat the pumpkin with vegetables and chicken, kind of pretend it is spaghetti. It was quite good.

I have half of the pumpkin left. Next time I'll bake it in the oven just to see the difference. And yes, I'll add some seasoning. I'm so excited. This is the first "new to me" food I've tried in a long time. I usually don't try new food because I'm so scared I'll get sick. You know me - Miss Sensitive Stomach. What else should I try next?

Etsy Shop Sale

It's on. 20% off EVERYTHING. At my Etsy shop. Ends 26th November 2018, Singapore time.

Mini Lace Shawl

Remember the first lace shawl I made for myself? I made a little version for my Journey Girl doll, Dana.

I changed up the pattern a little, just for amusement. This pattern uses knit, knit2tog and yarn over. I used some leftover baby yarn which I like a whole lot more for this shawl but I don't have much of it and I don't know where to buy more. Otherwise I would knit a human size version with it.

This shawl can be worn as a regular shawl or like a bib.

I missed the opportunity to put a petal dead center down the center spine. I missed it because I have this bad habit of not looking at my work when I'm knitting. By the time I realised my mistake, I had almost done all the binding off. I was really angry with myself. But not angry enough to unravel and redo the petal and binding off.

I feel so pleased with myself that I can knit mini versions of human size stuff for my dolls.

The Crescent Bag Pattern

November rain has come and when it's not raining, it's cloudy. Taking photos has been a challenge. A few days ago, the sun was shining brightly and I seized the chance to go downstairs to take some pics for my new bag pattern because I knew the sun wouldn't last long. I grabbed a stool, a large white board, a big shopping bag to store my stuff and the two bags I wanted to photograph. Of course I had the very heavy DSLR slung around my neck.

I was squatting downstairs arranging my bags when I noticed some thread which needed to be cut off. Oh dear. I was alone and my teeth didn't have the ability to gnaw through the thread. What to do? I didn't want to pack up my stuff and struggle upstairs, grab a pair of scissors and come back down. Finally I decided to leave everything where it was, took my phone and DSLR and took the lift up to my flat. I ran in and thankfully I knew exactly where my embroidery scissors was, grabbed it and made my way down. Of course waiting for the lift was nerve wrecking. In this age of terrorism, you never know, someone might chance upon my bags and think of the worst case scenario (like how we've been constantly groomed to think) and call the police. Actually what I feared more was the unfortunate passer-by may open my bags and guess what this goondu Jane has put in the two bags? All my panties.

Yep. Every pair of panties I've ever owned for the past 2 decades except for the ones in the laundry and on me - all stuffed in the 2 bags. Usually I photograph my bags empty but it's November and the wind can get gusty. I didn't want to chase my bags around the void deck so I thought it was a good idea to stuff the bags, to weigh them down. Only, I was too lazy to search for my bubble wrap or stuffing from shoe boxes. So I grabbed the next best thing (in my mind) - all my panties. I needed each item to be small so I could move them to fill up the gaps. So clever, right?

So while I was waiting for the lift to come, all I could think of was how to explain myself to the imagined police who had examined the contents of the bags.

.........

Nothing happened. No one came by. My bags filled to the brim with panties remained unopened.
I did get bitten by a bunch of mosquitoes.

Oh, on another day, I managed to catch my daughter on her day off school and it so happened to be sunny for an hour. The poor thing got bitten by mosquitoes so I only took a few pics.

Anyway, The Crescent Bag Pattern is now available in my Etsy shop and you can also buy it off my blog. (see bottom)

I've put some details of the pattern in my listing so do me a favour and click on the links if you want more info.

This bag is not easy to make so don't say I didn't warn you. I've included 2 strap widths - 1.25" and 1.5". The 1.25" is much easier to sew on so stick with that if you don't want your blood to boil.

This bag was a craft market favourite back in the days. I hope you manage to learn to make it.

No raw edges of course!

Buy Now

Knitting - Holding Yarn With Your Toes, Continental Style

Jane McLellan was curious how I hold yarn with my toes when I knit so I had my daughter take a few pics.

This is how I thread the yarn over my toes. I can use either legs. Usually I sit with one leg crossed over the other. The leg above controls the yarn. Actually the toes don't have do anything. Just let the yarn glide over. But I noticed sometimes the toes curl a little instinctively. I have pretty dry feet and worry about causing irritation to them. I'm thinking of getting toe socks.

This is a knit. The key is to use my left index finger to position the yarn so that I can hook the yarn with my right needle.

This is a purl. Again my left index finger plays a key role.

When I need to stretch my leg, I just rest it on a table and the knitting goes on.

The tension is slightly tighter when I hold the yarn with my toes so this is how I end up with mixed tension because sometimes I hold yarn with my fingers like a normal human being.

I'm curious if other knitters hold yarn with their toes like me. Ha ha. Obviously I can't do this in public.

What October Made

Dear friends,

I know it's a bit silly to write this post when it's already the 8th November. But I'll feel really weird a couple of years down the road when I read my old posts in 2018 and there isn't a "What October Made" post.

October was a terrible month. I think it started when I asked for rain. The rain came and came. But it would also get very hot - on the same day. Such extremes in weather usually mean one thing - illness. I did get a bit sick - the usual nose block shit. But I never got sick enough to see a doctor. My son though got hit really hard. It started out as a sneezing fit and I wasn't very worried because both my kids have sensitive noses. Then he got sicker and sicker and despite seeing a doctor and taking lots of medicine, he did not recover. He had a constant fever and was coughing all the time. My home smelled of snot and phlegm. I don't think I've ever felt so scared before. As long as my son had a fever, I felt like I couldn't breathe. It was a waiting game. Wait for the medicine to take effect. Wait, wait, wait. Finally we ran out of medicine and went back to the doctor. Another round of antibiotics plus new medicine and finally one day, the fever went away. The day the fever went away, I suddenly felt so tired. Funny, right? His cough hasn't gone away completely. His throat is still sore. But he is on the road to recovery. This is the first time my son got this sick. I think it shook him. It shook me. We had a good talk with him about eating healthy and he's actually taking our advice.

So I didn't do much in October. I spent a lot of time cooking for my son. He had to go on a soft diet so there wasn't much choice.

I did a bit of knitting and completed a lace shawl - sort of.

The shawl should be a lot larger but I wasn't in love with it so I decided to finish it off. I used a cheap acrylic yarn which I had bought decades ago and the texture was quite awful. I know, I know. I should choose better yarn. Hubs took these pics of me yesterday after our swimming session. Thank goodness there was nobody below my flat because a thick shawl in Singapore weather is so ridiculous, right?

This was an easy pattern but I got really bored knitting it. I think my knitting skills have improved a lot and I'm ready for a more complex pattern.

Oh, remember the bag pattern I was working on and almost abandoned? It's all done and I'm just waiting for my daughter to model the bag.

November is a rainy month. So a perfect month for knitting. I have a few knitting projects in progress. I can't seem to knit more more than 2 hours a day. My left wrist will hurt. I knit continental style so I use my left hand quite a bit. I've even resorted to using my toes to hold the yarn. This was what I used to do in the past when I didn't know how to hold the yarn with my left hand. Then one day, I thought why not hold the yarn the same way for crochet? And that's exactly what I do now.

See you soon.