April

Since April 7, we've been in a semi lock-down. Since April 17, it's compulsory to wear masks in public. Since the last time I blogged, April 7th, the number of infections have shot from 1,375 and 6 deaths to 29,364 infections and 22 deaths as of 20th May. Most of the infections occurred among migrant workers who live in dormitories. Despite everything the government did, the number of infections from the workers who live in dorms keep on coming. Outside the dorms in the community, the number of infections has gone down to one digit. This means we're on track to exit our semi lock-down on June 1st.

However, the easing of measures will be done in 3 phases which really means life won't be back to normal on June 2nd. In fact retail and dine-in won't be allowed in phase 1 so to me, it's as good as stay home for another month. Students will be allowed to go back to school, some every day, some on alternate days. The parents must be so relieved. Two things that won't change for a long time - safe distancing and wearing of masks. I'm tired of it but I understand why it's necessary so I will cooperate and do the right thing not just for myself but for everyone.

Hubs will continue to work from home for maybe forever. I don't know. Once retail is open, I'm going to get a new table because I really need my cutting table for sewing. My son signed up for summer school which is conducted online. One of the modules require lab work so... My daughter has started her internship and of course it's work from home. In order words, life will be status quo for this family. #stayhomesg

Since April, I've been diligently improving my skills in knitting. (you can see what I knit in my Instagram) It's been my dream to knit toys and finally I did it. I'm quite surprised I'm able to do it because I tried for many years over the past few decades and always gave up.

I started with the blue cat and then I couldn't stop. The pattern for the tiny cat is from here.

This is Grace with all her possessions. The pattern for Grace is from here. The hat - I winged it. The clothes are cut by placing the fabric against the body and eyeballing it. The dress I made using a pattern I made for my Lammily doll.

The patterns for the bags are from My Knitted Doll book. If I were 10 years younger I would knit human size versions of these bags.

I love the hairband I made for Grace. The pattern is by Laura Nelkin. I will make another one for myself.

And I knitted a few tiny ones. Most patterns are from mochimochiland or from the books Adventures in Mochimochi land and Teeny Tiny Mochi Mochi. I think the yellow chick is from Spud And Chloe at the farm.

I have so many patterns in my desktop waiting to be knitted. But I have to pace myself because I'm not young anymore and I don't want to hurt my hands and wrists. I know I've got a lot more to learn. For one, my tension is horrible. I'm not consistent at all. And I can't seem to handle more than one yarn at a time.

Look what the cat dragged in. Here I was attempting a Christmas ball. The pattern is from here. I would love to do more complex fair isle knitting but oh boy, I can't hold the yarn. I've tried the different methods in youtube but nothing stuck.

And I made one blouse for my daughter. Originally it was meant for her to wear to work but since she's working from home, all she needs is t shirt and shorts! Would you believe this pattern is Shirt No 1 which I've made before for myself?

So, overall, we've managed to survive our semi lock-down quite well. We played mahjong once and the rest of the time, we do our own stuff. The major thing each day is meals. What a headache. For exercise, I've totally stopped running because it's dangerous to do it with the mask on and dangerous to not wear masks as you never know how the public may react. You know who's the scariest people on earth? Vigilante. Sometimes I exercise at home with youtube but I've managed to hurt parts of myself so I've been mostly sitting on my butt a lot. A lot. I've put on massive amount of fat mostly around my tummy. And probably my butt. Anyone else? I think I snack way too much but I can't stop. It's like, I want to stop but then I think, it's a pandemic. So why not?