leila knits

A Knitter's Love Potion

2011-11-17T14:50:00.000-08:00

Laurence and I have not met in person. We send messages to each other to comment on our newly finished knitting projects which we posted on ravelry or just to talk about small things in our lives, hers in France, mine in Canada. This message from her in my raverly box this morning just moved me so much I did cry, tears of appreciation.

"From laulo

Sent at 12:50 PM Today

Hi Leila,
It must be hard to not knitting because of your tendinitis! I don’t know the treatment that your doctor prescribed to you but if you want to decrease the pain and the inflammation with natural medicines you can try this potion ( we made it in our pharmacy and people were quickly relieved):

essential oil of:
- gaulterie 2ml
-eucalyptus citriodora 2ml
-lavandula burnatii 2ml
-mentha piperita 1ml

in 15ml of vegetal oil of arnica.

Apply a few drops of this potion on your wrist 4 times a day and massage.

This potion is “natural” without the side effects of oral anti inflammatory.

And if you really want to knit, I know that there are square needles.They allow to knit without pain when wrists are fragile.

I wish you a speedy recovery and a lovely week.
Take care,
Laurence"

Thank you so much, Laurence. For you, with your too busy a schedule while holding a very important full time job and taking care of two young kids that you can only find time to knit at night, to spend your precious time to give me advice and a prescription of natural medicine ( because you know I love homemade stuff) for my hurt wrists, you give me more than the medicine, you give me love, you give me support. My wrists will be stronger soon, I'm sure. But the more important thing I've discovered, the love of knitting has brought me wonderful friendship from many knitters all over the world who have been with ravelry. And because I know many of us, knitters, have suffered this occupational pain for knitting too much, I think it's just right to share Laurence's loving potion with you. Take care of your hands, knitters, so that you can keep on knitting, keep the loving threads of yarn continue to make wonderful loops of love never ever end.

Petals and Clay

2011-11-15T13:41:00.000-08:00

My doctor has forbiden me from knitting and clicking the mouse (too much) for at least one week. And I also have to wear a wrist band. He said I had been developing tendonitis in my right wrist. He refused to hear my argument that if it happened only in my right wrist, it could not be because of knitting. At the end of my visit, I promised him I wouldn't knit more than fifteen minute long in one sitting and I would learn to use the mouse with my left hand. None of these promises is easy for me to keep, but I have to do for the health of my wrists.

Away from my yarn, I pulled out the soap making drawer and came up with this newest soap which I call "Petals and Clay".

Ingredients: Glycerin soap base, French green clay, aloe vera leaf gel, evening primrose oil, ylang ylang oil and calendular petals.

After cutting the loaf, I got eight 4oz bars of soap, each bar has a different look. This is my favorite one of all. I can really see the beautiful golden petals embedded in soft aloe vera gel swirled in pale green clay.
I'm glad I find some comfort while not knitting from playing with these soap. What would you do if you can't knit?

A Soaper Knitter

2011-11-10T13:44:00.000-08:00

I've been knitting too much, my wrists hurt and my knuckles swell, but I don't plan to stop knitting even for just one day. If it's the price I must pay for making some nice, cozy and pretty shawl like this Mara of mine, I can afford it gladly with the help of some Advil pills.

I knitted up Mara with Madeline Tosh 80/10/10 Sport on Cottage Door, a lovely shade of gray. In the following close-up, I hope to show the pale mossy green streaks here and there in the subtle varigation of this yarn...

Rows and rows of garter stitches, then tons of rib knitting didn't bore me a bit. I love the comforting rhythm of needle clicking and the wonderful soft touch of yarn while watching my favorite movies or listening to my loved audio books. I've learned to de-stress productively!

Talking about productivity, I've spent some time and money on my new hobby recently, making soaps. I've started stocking essential oils: lavender, tea tree, sweet orange...and carrier oil: argan, evening primrose, rosehip, borage...and all the fun additives: calendula petals, all kinds of clay. In the beginning, I made some fun to look at and fabulous smell soaps. The more I learn about soap the more I want to make natural facial soaps that can be used on my extra sensitive skin. I promise myself I will try making cold process soap to craft homemade soap from scratch one day when I get over my fear of working with lye.

This is my Vitamin Soap. Does it look just like mango pudding? So yummy!

In this soap, there are shea butter, carrot oil, wheat germ oil, sea buckthorn oil, willow bark extract, vitamin C, and just a few drops of these essential oils for fragrance: rosemary, lavender and peppermint. And there is no extra colorant.

Should I call myself a soaper knitter.

Carrot Cake Soaps

2011-10-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

Ingredients: glycerin olive soap and milk soap bases, carrot oil, vanilla oil, cranberry seeds, red and yellow lab colors.
Recipe by a cake lover who never bakes in real life.
And I swear, they smell like pieces of cake, vanilla, carrot...yummy...

Carrot Vanilla Cream Cheese Cake Soap

Tea Tree Honey Soap

2011-10-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

Face soap for combination skin, made with liquid honey and tea tree oil on glycerin base soap. No extra colorant or fragrance.

Calendula Ginger Wheat Germ Oil Soap

2011-10-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

The golden color of the soap is from wheat germ oil and dried petals of marigold, the October birth flower. Ginger powder gives the soap a sweet, warm, and comforting aroma. They look just like my favorite sweets, ginger candies...Is there a recipe for edible soap...

This face soap was made with clear glycerin soap base and without any artificial color or synthetic fragrance.

Lemon Olive Soap

2011-09-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

My super natural, super green homemade soap with glycerin soap base, extra virgin olive oil and essential lemon oil. Tested by my own family and myself last night. The result: LOVE IT.

I wish there's a "smell-it" key!

Sea to Sky

2011-09-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

I promise you that I stil knit. I'm working on three shawls alternately , but I can't name them now. For some reasons, every piece that I boasted about in the past never got to see its final day. Never. It must be a curse..
I can sit all day to knit, but it's not healthy that way. While away from yarn and needles, I accidentally tumbled upon some gorgeous google pictures of homemade soap...and that was the beginning of another obsession...Oh soap! I always love soap...if I can only make my own soap...And I have tried. This is my second one.

I even thought of a name for it, "Sea to Sky Goat Milk Soap".It smells like fresh kiwi.I still miss sunny days of summer has just passed.

I don't mind to hand wash my sweaters and shawls from now on, I guess.

First Saturday of Fall

2011-09-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

Welcome Fall. I have never been so ready for you this time. Even though the wind is not cold enough for me to desperately need a cape or a coat, wraps and shawls are just perfect to keep my evening walk a bit longer, especially with my newly done Smoke Wrap, the new lover.

Pattern: Guernsey Wrap by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed
Yarn: Smoke Stack on Madeline Tosh 80/10/10 Sport

Dark and Stormy Capelet

2011-09-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

I don’t think Sarah needs this cute capelet for a while when it’s so nice here in Vancouver. No dark and stormy sky in the next 7 day weather forecast. Followed Thea’s instruction word by word, I knitted this cozy capelet with ease. She’s a great teacher and I trust her always. I love the cables and they only look complicated. There’s a big portion of The Plucky Knitters yarn in my stash, but strangely, this is my first project I use her yarn. Note to self: you should stop petting and admiring beautiful yarn and start knitting them up. I feel so sorry for my daughter who has to get dolled up in this cozy fall season capelet on this warm day of September. Only a daughter understands and forgives her mother's craziness.

Small Happiness

2011-08-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

I got up this morning to see the room filled with sunshine, so bright. Open the window, my shadow was so huge on the wall...I loved to play with shadows when I was a kid. You did, too?

Love small flowers. They are always so humble, but looked very closely, they are amazingly beautiful in their small way. I see a butterfly smiling at me here. She didn't fly away when I was approaching her...

And my true happiness of the day is this parcel of Wollmeise yarn, shopped for and sent to me by my friend, Paola, from Germany. We haven't met each other in person, but through conversations and our knitting chats on ravelry.com, it seems like we both understand each other crazy fiber love.

I don't know what I'm going to knit with these beautiful yarn, but I'm sure I will name one of the projects PAOLA. Such a lovely name. So sweet my yarn angel.

Knitting Lesson

2011-08-21T09:23:00.000-07:00

Melissa, my best friend for 30 years, and her daughter Titi, stayed with us in her visit to Vancouver last week.

Our daughters are about the same age when we first met as university freshmen.

We took lots of pictures together like we used to do in the old days.
Still love to be goofy after all these years.

We had so much fun together.
But, the best part was when she asked me to give her a knitting lesson.

Keep cool and knit on, Melissa!

PS: All the credit of these fabulous photos goes to Kim, my dear husband. He was in the same group of our university friends back then in Saigon, Vietnam. For one week taking our friends around town, we feel like tourists in our own city, beautiful Vancouver.

One Monday in August

2011-08-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

August is a colorful month, when most pretty flowers show off their gorgeous hues in full blooms. Having Monday off. The house is clean. I spent the whole morning outside admiring these natural beauties and at the same time wishing I could have some pretty yarn in these gorgeous colors.

I recall my favorite quote from Eric Hoffer, "To be fully alive is to feel that everything is possible."

Should I start boiling my dye pot...Time to go back to pretty yarn, my lady!

Summer Solitude

2011-07-13T17:18:00.000-07:00

I never put my needles away. Never stop knitting. Even in summer.
How can I rest my fingers while pretty yarn keeps arriving at my door...
These are two skeins of Backroads on Madeline Tosh Pastoral. So pretty. So happy the colors.

I will be happily going out to play, of course, on an evening like this, with friends and family.

And I still prefer to sit alone by my pots of mini roses on the patio with yarn and needles any time I can have some free minutes to enjoy my happy solitude.
While knitting you never feel lonely.

Keep cool and knit on, all summer, knitters!

Still Waiting for Summer

2011-06-24T16:43:00.000-07:00

The first day of Summer was a gorgeous and warm day here in Vancouver and that was it.
Rain came back and stayed many days after...
I am seriously awaiting Summer.
I don't want to feel soggy, moldy, and cold any more.
I've stocked vanilla ice cream.
I've ironed my white linen shirts.
I've put my mini rose pots close to the windows.

I've put all my cold weather knitting projects aside and started a new lacy and bright colored summer scarf for my sweet daughter, Sarah.

Hopefully, by the time I knit up to the last yard of this silky yarn, Summer will be officially here. Must knit faster!

A Summer Death

2011-06-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

To avoid unwanted visits of fruit flies and black ants to my opened kitchen, I put this strawberry bin in the fridge never knew there was this lovely ladybug hiding in it. She was frozen to death. I'm so sorry, Lady Bug!

A Good Yarn Day

2011-06-07T20:52:00.000-07:00

I placed a custom order with Kirsten at Skein for three skeins of Night Owl on Merino/Silk Sport for Heidi's Vitamin D, a soft and fluid Summer cardigan. At the end of row 50, I changed my mind, unraveled the whole thing and cast on CopyKat Shawl from Rose instead. It's hard for me to understand myself why I choose one thing and change my mind in the last minute to do the other. I always seem to be indecisive, especially in knitting. But now, when I'm on the third repeat of the body chart for this lovely shawl, I hope I will knit on until it's done. Just hope so!

The postman brought two parcels of yarn to me today with a big smile and let me know that there might be a postal strike at the end of the week. Oh no! I told him I have at least two more parcels expected to come this week from Etsy. He asked what kind of knitting machine I used to knit so much so fast and where did I sell my knits !!!

While taking pictures of these lovely yarn from the Naragansett Dark and Stormy kit on Merino Lite of The Plucky Knitter and Boxwood on MadelineTosh Pashmina (I may knit Vitamin D with these pretty greens), I daydream of decorating my house with boxes of yarn like these, so I can admire and pet them anytime...but then, I will have a very hard time to find space for so many yarn boxes. And I don't think my dear husband will fully agree with the idea. It's not easy to be a knitter who loves yarn too much!

The Colors of Vietnam

2011-06-07T20:37:00.000-07:00

Fishing Village

Float Houses

Honey Noodles ( Sorry, they are not yarn!)

Incense Sticks

Senior Dance

Junior Break

Reposted photos from www.vietnamtravel.com

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

Beside every happy mother is a super sweet daughter.

Our Cherry Blossom Tree

2011-03-31T13:41:00.000-07:00

One Fine Spring

2011-03-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

What a Show

2011-03-03T23:47:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this. Imagine if you could be there in person. Glorious fashion show.

Thanks to my sister-in-law,Trang, for posting this clip on her Facebook page

Erica in the Snow

2011-02-28T12:08:00.000-08:00

I'm Still Here

2011-02-23T20:09:00.000-08:00

A box of chocolate

A warm and soft shrug

Life sometimes gets in my way of knitting and... blogging about knitting. But I'm still here!

Warmest Wishes

2010-12-24T10:15:00.000-08:00

from me and my family to you and your loved ones in this holiday season.

Kathy's Song

2010-11-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

The last time I came to visit Kathy at St. Michael's Hospice with Sandy and Renuka, Kathy was the one who did the talking most of the time. She even borrowed my cell phone to talk with Kim, my husband, to tell him not to worry so much at work. She was very sick and tired but she was the one who comforted us with her loving and encouraging words of wisdom, as always. She never lost her sense of humour telling us that she was jealous with us who still had body fat while she lost hers. She talked a great deal about her family, especially her dearest grand daughter. That was when I saw tears in her eyes. When we were leaving, she tried to walk us to the door without using her cane. That's our Kathy, always beautiful, gentle, loving, proud and strong to her last day. I turned my head to see her walking back to her room, silently I promised her I would not be so sad even if that was the last time I talked with Kathy. Because every time I feel sad, I know Kathy will be right here to comfort me with her kind words: " Don't worry, Leila, everything will be fine!". Because everytime I feel sad, I will hold Michael, the 21 years old teddy bear, Kathy's first gift to my daughter, Sarah, and feel Kathy's warm hugs again.

November Daybreak

2010-11-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to see this from my window. It looks like there's a huge fire, an inferno in this November sky

Coincidentally, I'm almost finishing my "Winter Solstice" cardigan, which I use Tosh Merino DK in Charcoal, a beautiful colorway of various shades of gray.

But my gray cardigan will be much cooler looking than this scary sky, even though its gorgeous colors make me want to knit a "Daybreak" from Westknits.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-10-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

I'm grateful for having my loving family with me this Thanksgiving.
Blessings are not only things that we can harvest in life but also love that is still growing strong in our heart.

See You Again, September.

2010-09-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

I can not let September go away without saying anything. I want to tell my September that I will miss her very much when she's gone. I've been busy all September, working, knitting, and ...knitting again.

And while knitting, I was always thinking of her, and how beautiful she is, September. And in spite of her mood swings weatherwise, she is saying her farewell to Vancouverites with the brightest smile of a gorgeous sunny day today, her last day of 2010.
See you again, September, and we'll see what inspiration you bring to me as a knitter then.

Saturday Evening on Spanish Banks

2010-08-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

Spanish Banks, my favorite beach in Vancouver, was where we had a very nice picnic yesterday, a farewell party for our guests, eight students and two teachers, from Clara Schumann Music School in Dusseldorf, Germany, after ten wonderful days of their visit including three concerts, trips to Victoria, Whistler, and many small trips around the city and lots of good food and laughter and good time. I have a long story to tell. But for now, I just want to share with you these very quiet moments of a beautiful sunny Saturday evening.

There were not just Sarah and me in this sweet moment, we were smiling for Kim.

They're not just rocks...They are rocks that gloriously glow in the golden sunset rays and rhythmic dance of sparkling sea water over them. I wish I could also record the soothingly meditative music of this everlasting evening song...

Time to go home, doggy...

You Don't Have to Know Vietnamese

2010-08-18T19:39:00.000-07:00

You still can enjoy this beautiful song and the drawings are just so...cute.

Music from a Place I Left Behind a Long Time Ago

2010-08-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

Trang also brought back to me from Saigon the CD of hauntingly beautiful music of Xuan Hieu, a young and talented Vietnamese saxophone player.

This is one of the saddest songs, " Bien Can", or "Shallow Sea" in English.

I cry tonight, Saigon, from missing you so much...

My Golden Flamboyan

2010-08-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

This is not the first time I knit Flamboyan. The first one I frogged just right after I finished 15 inches of its length. I didn't like my choice of colors. Putting it aside, I started to knit Azzu with the beautiful skein of Hand Maiden Casbah Amethyst. Amethyst Azzu is still needed to be blocked. As soon as the blocking kit I ordered from KnitPicks arrive, I will do that.

These skeins of 50/50 silk sock are the first ones that have been winded properly by me using a ball winder. They look so neat and professional and much better than any manually winded skein of yarn I did before, being so proud and stubborn in thinking that I must hand made every single knitting project from start to finish, by hand winding thousands and thousands yards of yarn for the last two years.

I should still feel very proud of the fact that I hand-dyed these skeins of yarn by myself. "Antique Gold" and "Gold" look really pretty and rich in real life with the subtle silky sheen in golden hue. I didn't know exactly how the colors would look like at the end in any of my hand-dyeing play. I could guess, but the result is always a surprise, sometimes stunning and sometimes...blah..., sometimes "Yes!" and sometimes "What!". And that's what keeps me want to come back to play with yarn and color again and again.

For " Antique Gold", after being quite satisfied with "Gold", I added Quick Silver into the dye bath, and used dry yarn instead of wet one. I love both colors but never thought that I would use them in the same project. Now, here they are...like long lost sisters, happy together in my Flamboyan. I'm not going to rush to finish this one. I'm enjoying knitting this interesting shawl stitch by stitch with my own hand-dyed skeins of yarn. There are lots of mistake, missed spots and red dots, but to me, they are perfect, my golden skeins of yarn.

My Yarnie Buddha

2010-08-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

Trang, my favorite sister-in-law, just got back home from a four and a half week long vacation to China and Vietnam yesterday. Still suffering jet lag, she has come to give my family some gifts. She always loves to gift. This is what she has given me, a hand carved marble Buddha statue from Non Nuoc Pagoda in Da Nang, Vietnam. It's not only the gift itself is precious, her carrying this heavy statue from a far away land and gifting it to me is more than a blessing. Blessing of friendship. I know that she really loves me. I feel content in this Sunday afternoon. " They who are content although poor, are rich." And I feel rich with love and gratefulness. I have found a special place for my Buddha, a very colorful place. I hope you agree with me, my dear Trang.

Friday the 13th Hair Cut

2010-08-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

I finally did it. I've just had my hair chopped off. I really like my short hair now. Liberated, at last, on this Friday the 13th.

Caption for these two photos should be "The trick of shooting yourself from the back".

Good bye long hair. I used to love you a lot, but it's time for me to change.

Some hair tricks I love to share since I've been asked quite often:
- I'm not a high maintenance kind of gal.
- I used to cut my own hair when it was long.
- With this short haircut, there's no way I can make it nice and even at the back, so I have to go to the salon.
- I paid C$29.00 before tax and tip for this hair cut including shampoo and blow dry.
- Kal, my newly found talented hairdresser has spent 45 mins to cut my hair. She's a true artist who loves to do hair.
- I never put on high light streaks on my hair. Sitting in the salon for two hours is not my style. The streaks on my hair are actually from my strands of gray hair that take the hair coloring differently.
- I color my hair at home using Garnier Belle Color #50 Medium Brown ( boring but cost effective).
- I shampoo my hair every day with Pantene and use this round brush while blow drying my damp hair.

She's Gray and He's Gray

2010-08-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

The sun has been hidden behind the thick blanket of gray clouds and misty rains in the last few days.
Suddenly, I've got the urge to dye some yarn in grays. I mixed Quick Silver with Lilac to get this feminine shade, and called it She's Gray. I'm not She, my hair is still a gorgeous shade of golden medium brown, excuse me!

She's Gray

I dipped another skein of Cash Sock MCN in the unexhausted dye bath and by luck got this handsome masculine shade of gray, that's what I thought, and named it He's Gray. Well, honestly, Kim's hair still has more black than gray.

He's Gray

Put close together, they look like a couple, yin and yang, Mr. and Mrs. Somebody, so calm, so conservative and very...distinguished. Don't you think so?

Graying Together

Never a Gray Moment

2010-08-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

The sky is gray today, but this rainy Monday can't get me down. I've spent my whole morning taking photos of the new load of my hand dyed yarn. Talking about color therapy here. By looking at the colors I play with, I don't think any color therapist can analyze my personality type !

These are Wool2dye4 fingering Cash Sock MCN (80% merino/ 10% cashmere / 10% nylon) which are so soft, so cushy. I love to watch them gradually fluffing up while being air dried.

Anna Liza

Forsythia

Cerulean

Maui Sky

Rufous

Rose Bo

Sinopia

Roasted Chestnut

Having fun naming them, too. Feel like they are my kids.

My Kind of Sunday

2010-08-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

This is the kind of Sunday I like to have. We all stayed home doing nothing extraordinary most of the day. In the morning, Kim drove me to the farm market to buy lots of fruits and veggies. Than we had lunch together at home with Sarah. Kim played game on his computer. Sarah studied for her final exam. I dyed yarn, lots of yarn, while finishing the laundry and checking Ravelry. We decided to go out for dinner. Then, the day became extraordinary. For the first time ever, neither Kim or I was on the driver seat. I even had to sit at the back. Guess who was driving Mr and Mrs. Dao, our dear daughter, Sarah, for the first ever time. My hand was a bit shaky taking this photo with my iphone...

I had to admit it was an extremely smooth ride. She did a perfect parallel parking, something that I did only once when taking the driving test a long time ago. My daughter has really grown up.

Rainy Sunday Afternoon

2010-08-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Vy, my lovely friend who loves music and everything that is romantic and beautiful...

Summer Rain on Saturday

2010-08-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

My Calla Lily in the Saturday morning summer rain

And my newest dye job with so soft cash sock MCN yarn. My rain forest...so green.

There She Is

2010-08-05T10:03:00.000-07:00

This is the hen that gave us her golden eggs...

These are the eggs...

The Mailman Already Knew

2010-08-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

We have a new Canada Post driver every few months or so. This new courier has just made a few deliveries to us, all of them were my yarn orders. I opened the door to his knocking this morning and this was what he said: " More yarn for you! Happy knitting!" He already knew or maybe he's one of us!

And this is what I've got today, the first shipment of Madeline Tosh sweater club subcription, my glorious MT Sport in Candle Wick.

I could start daydreaming again...

Pink Luck

2010-08-02T15:22:00.000-07:00

I love to stay home, especially alone, if it's not for too long. I have the whole house for myself, the whole kitchen to play with yarn and dyes.

I used Country Classic dye in "Dessert Rose" this morning to dye my second skein of Wool2dye4 Cash Sock MCN. I named her Pink Luck.

It Was a Good Sunday

2010-08-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

In the morning, I played with yarn dying again. I have stocked a big box of Wool2dye4CashSock MCN. My plan is to dye them one skein at a time to knit small shawls only.
Using Country Classic dye in "purple rain", I made a dye bath with one tsp full of dye powder. There were quite a few white spots where I tied the skein. I hand brushed the dye right onto the spots, then wrapped the skein in plastic wrap and steamed it for almost an hour. This is what I've accomplished, a beautiful skein of soft and really deep purple yarn. So happy! I called it "Purple Rain".

In the evening, my super cute nephew, Brando, came to play with us, so that his mom and dad could have a movie date on his dad's birthday. He's a really sweet boy. He loves my camera, and the camera loves him back. I took lots of close-up photo.

One minute, he was thoughtful, daydreaming

The next minute, playful, mischievous

How can I not adore him so much, my super cute nephew, Brando.

Macro Lenses Wonders

2010-08-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

Aging Gracefully

2010-07-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, my beautiful and young Calla Lily looked like this

Today, she looks like this

There are wrinkles. Her color is fading. She's not that young any more. But she's still standing tall and in very good shape, peacefully bathing in the beautiful sun as if it shines only for her in my humble garden.

Sail Away With Me, Shaelyn

2010-07-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

If knitting a sweater is like writing a novel; a shawl, a poem, to me.
" Sail away with me honey..." - David Gray, I listened to this song a hundred times before discovering and stealing "Sail Away - Twist Sock" from Orange Flower. Then, "Shaelyn of Leila Raabe" called my name.
These sources of inspiration didn't come all at once to me, but coincidently they came one after another in a perfect sequence. At the end, I hold my "Sail Away with Me, Shaelyn" very close to my heart.

Mayan Gold Pogona

2010-07-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

When I started knitting my Pogona, there was some kind of heat wave in Vancouver. I thought, there was no way it could be done before Fall. Last week, a storm with strong wind up to 75km an hour brought down many trees in the city and also the temperature. There is nothing more strange than a windstorm in middle of July. I thought I should stop cursing the weather and concentrate on my knitting. And here is my lovely first shawl ever. Done.

Sarah is so nice to model the shawl for me. Her hair is still wet from the shower. Must love my sweet daughter.

The First Calla Lily

2010-07-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

Our first Calla Lily has just blossomed overnight. I didn't see her yesterday. This morning, this is what's waiting for me in our front yard, the one and only gorgeous Calla Lily.

Her colors remind me of Madeline Tosh Magenta and Butter. Her gorgeous curves inspire me to knit a drapey shawl.

It's Not An Easter Egg Hunt...Yet!

2010-07-10T10:22:00.000-07:00

Behide these green bushes, this morning...

look at what we found: nine beautiful golden eggs ( well! they are "golden" to me)...

A very cute but shy chicken has been wandering our neighborhood in the last two months. Nobody knows whom she belongs to or where she comes from. She runs very fast to the other house every time she sees us coming.I haven't had a chance to take her candid photo. Not having seen her for quite a few days, we were wondering where she was. "She might crossed the road to go Joe's house." Kim joked. This morning, after finished cutting the grass, these eggs were what Kim found behind the tall green grass at the left corner of our front yard.

Keep Reading

2010-07-08T12:22:00.000-07:00

I love to read. To see how other people live. To discover their thoughts. To learn how they deal with life problems. I search for messages from the heart, from sad stories, from utter loneliness a writer wants to send out to his readers, to the world. I search for understandings. I search for answers to questions I never know to ask. I search for reason why I am here reading. I keep searching. I keep reading.
I never want to review books. I don't think I'm qualified to judge or to advise if a book is worth reading or not. If I like what I read, I just say so.

I'm reading Chris Cleave's "Little Bee" while knitting my Manu with Squoosh Fibers Rapture in Ochre. It's too hot to knit in this first Summer heat wave in Vancouver, so I read a lot. From the first page of the book, I know "Little Bee" is a great read:
" Most day I wish I was a British pound coin instead of an African girl. Everyone would be pleased to see me coming..."
Thought I should share it with you.

July Garden

2010-07-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

I like to knit when it rains. It rains a lot here, in Vancouver. Last June, there was only one sunny Saturday. I had a good cause to finish two sweaters. Honestly, I didn't mind the rain that much. But I'm so sick of looking at the always gloomy and overcast sky. I need some sunlight. I begged the weather gods please give me some bright light. Let there be light. Let there be lots of color.

I see them today in my garden. Here is my beautiful July garden. I know you will say please..., not flower pictures again, but I can't help showing them off

Pogona in Mayan Gold

2010-07-04T17:31:00.000-07:00

It’s still very gloomy the weather we’re having here in Vancouver. It feels like Autumn. I want to knit something for Fall. I want to be ready.
It seems like we don’t have Summer this year. Maybe if I keep cursing the weather like this, Summer with heat wave days will come back in full vengeance.
Anyway, I’m so excited to start Pogona today using my favorite skein of Orange Flower Twist Sock yarn: Mayan Gold. I always love Sketchbook’s hand dyed yarn. There’s something poetic about her work. One skein for one colorway at a time, most of the times.

This will be my first shawl ever I try to knit and I chose Westknits Pogona for its simplicity and gorgeous drape. I have been following and admiring Stephen West knits since the first day I signed up with Ravelry. He’s one truly talented and original young artist. I wonder if he sketches his knitting design while dancing, too.
I never posted about my WIP project before because I could not stand the stress of looking at my sleeping pieces. But I did this time, I need a good pressure to push me forward in finishing this lovely shawl in time for Fall.

The photo is my laptop screen that is divided into two, so that I can read the pattern and watch my favorite drama ” Cinderella’s Sister” at the same time. Can you read the subtitle: “If he doesn’t return, he won’t have to leave again…” !!!
My goal is to finish both of them at the same time. Wish me luck!

Creme de Menthe on Goodale

2010-07-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

As soon as I saw Cecily's Goodale, I knew I had to knit her, and I had to knit her with Creme de Menthe.
There's something in Goodale that reminds me of the mischievous kid with pockets full of sentimental collectibles: favorite candy wraps, bottle caps, dried flowers, seashells, love notes...
And Creme de Menthe, the color, not the drink, that is so "forever young"...
Sarah saw me taking pictures of my Goodale on the mannequin and so sweetly,my lovely child, offered to model it even though she was still very sick with the cold.
These small things really made my day a day to cherish.

A Colorful Overcast Saturday Morning

2010-06-26T09:54:00.000-07:00

It's an overcast Saturday morning. I don't mind. I've got perfect lighting in my little corner next to the window to take these pictures of my newly harvested crop of yarn.

Now, where's in the world I can find time to knit using these gorgeous yarns if I keep spending all my Saturday morning petting and fondling and drooling over them like this. It's really crazy!

From Orange Flower:

Sail Away Twist Sock

Purple Haze Twist Sock

Mayan Gold Twist Sock

From Squoosh Fibre Art

Fig Preserves Ultra Sock

Ochre Rapture

From Madeline Tosh

Fragrant Tosh Sock

If I'm Not Knitting

2010-06-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

I wish I can sit and knit all day. But, I can only knit on my day off and that only after I finish my weekly house chores: doing the laundry, shopping for grocery, dusting the furniture...

I'm not complaining, even though recently, I've started to think my job is really interfering with my knitting. And I love my job. To my dear Ravelry friends who spend your precious time not to knit but to be here, to your kind attention, I'm going to share with you today, a very small part of my "unpaid" job.

My husband is a goldsmith. He runs a jewellery workshop and a retail store. I'm the one who's taking care of the books and "difficult" customers, and taking inventory pictures.

This is one of many of his custom made jewellery pieces. I am the amateur photographer and Sarah is the model.

Warmer days. Fewer layers of clothes. Short sleeved tops. Tank tops.

A beautiful 14karat white gold bangle bracelet pave set with diamonds in one sparkly straight row, custom made to fit your beautiful wrist perfectly, is just what you need for Summer.

And with a hand crafted clasp so securely done, I can even swim wearing my bangle in the ocean. Let the dolphins be so jealous.

My Garden of Sugar Plum

2010-06-24T16:21:00.000-07:00

In such a sweet coloway, the yarn is so lovely, merino with some cashmere, some silk, so lightweight, so soft. I fell in love with Pashmina Sugar Plum. So many dreams I weaved for this lovely yarn I got since last Christmas.
Garden of Sugar Plum, my version of Garden Tee from Never Not Knitting, fits Sarah like a dream. She loves it so much, and I love to see her in it.

After the Rain

2010-06-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

It was raining everyday in the last few days. Yesterday, the sun suddenly smiled the whole day and all the flowers in my garden seemed to be more beautiful and ready for picture. I know it's boring to see flower pictures, again. But on the day like this, I don't want to be anywhere else but my small garden...

Romancing the Hoodie

2010-06-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

Please don't laugh at my goofiness, but I just learned how to make a musical picture collage.

Personalize a picture collage

Varese in the Afternoon

2010-06-05T12:30:00.000-07:00

I'm a sentimental knitter. I just figured out that's the reason why I have so many unfinished knitting projects. I don't want to finish them. To finish them is to depart with yarns that I love to fondle, to patterns that I adore. I want my play time never ends, even with a very happy "the end".

As Easy Peasy As a Mirth

2010-05-17T11:49:00.000-07:00

It's an easy peasy as a mirth cardi. I'm also surprised how cute it looks with shorter sleeves. Sometimes, being lazy can lead to a pleasant ...uh...knit, too.

Azaleas in the Rain

2010-04-17T16:56:00.001-07:00

In my garden this Saturday afternoon, these Azaleas look like pretty ballerinas performing their first dance in the Spring rain.

A Yellow Lily

2010-03-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

I read that if someone gives you a yellow Lily during Easter, that person wishes you to " live for the moment".
I'm sure Kim didn't know or care about the meaning of giving these Lilies while planting them.
I take it for granted that our garden is looking much better than it was when we first moved in this house two and a half years ago, and keep forgetting to tell Kim how much I admire his gardening skill.

I hope he'll see my love for his flowers in these photos.

Sunny Afternoon

2010-03-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

I'm having knitter's block. Staring at my stash of beautiful yarns, searching in my pile of gorgeous patterns for the last many hours, and still, I couldn't find any thing to knit.

It must be because of the sweet calling of Spring and of her glorious colors in my small garden.

I still can HOPE ...

...DREAM...

...and be at PEACE with my needles !!!

Tea Leaves in Nostalgia

2010-03-17T15:21:00.001-07:00

Nostalgia: 1. A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.
2. The condition of homesick; homesickness.
3. A dreamy mauve with golden beige highlights; which reminds me of many sweet memories, that I can't fully remember, of my childhood, spending summer vacations at my grandma's house, watching her tending to the mauve orchids in her huge garden.

I was beyond happy getting five skeins of Madeline Tosh DK Nostalgia from her etsy shop last month. They are just perfect for Tea Leaves. Mauve is Sarah's favorite color and my most favorite color. I love to knit for her something I know she will love to wear.

Most of my knits are for Sarah. It's my guilt free hobby: knitting for my daughter, where I can spend most of my precious free time and tiny savings.

We wear the same size tops, but everything looks better on her slimmer and taller figure. I love to have her model my knits. Besides, I have more fun with the camera.

It's so nice to have a daughter. She always reminds you of the younger you.

Spring is Here

2010-03-05T17:07:00.001-08:00

Spring Lettuce

2010-03-04T13:51:00.000-08:00

How long would it take me to finish a sweater using sock yarn and size 2 needles. One year and three months. But, don't feel sorry for me. I had lots of fun time playing with this gorgeous yellow green yarn. And I would finish it much earlier if it wouldn't need two sleeves. My goodness, I was drowning in the sea of stocking stitches!
The yarn is Malabrigo sock yarn in lettuce, so soft, so fresh and so lightweight.
The pattern is Amelia from Jenny Watson "Catwalk" book, very classic but not boring.
At least, Sarah agrees it looks very green!

Not So Red

2010-01-31T16:34:00.001-08:00

It's so cute a cardigan. I love the mandarin collar and the lightly flared bottom. Very girly! I'm so glad Sarah doesn't think the white dots that I missed when hand dyeing this yarn are mistakes. They remind her of pomegranate seeds. My daughter was thinking about food while I daydreamed about my greatest achievement so far: knitting something nice with my own hand-dyed yarn.

A Scarlet Lauren for Sarah

2010-01-21T18:02:00.001-08:00

A very early birthday gift for Sarah and she loves it. It's worth all my time and money hearing her cry "It's so nice, mommy!".

A Cowl to Warm My Shoulders

2010-01-09T18:27:00.001-08:00

My first knitted piece of 2010. My first cowl. A present to myself. I wore it to work already and I love how it keep my shoulders warm like a soft hug. I love it.

And these photos are Kim's works. So proud of him.

Silver Fox Cowl

2010-01-07T16:41:00.000-08:00

I have only one more row to knit before I can bind off this funky cabled cowl, the first knitted piece for 2010 on my birthday.

Yarn is Madeline Tosh worsted in Silver Fox, a gorgeous silvery gray.

A Sunny Morning

2010-01-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

It was 7:07 when I woke up this morning to see this gorgeous golden sky with beautiful silvery blue colored clouds from my bedroom window.

On the left side is Burnaby Mountain. Sarah's SFU is up there. On the right hand side, Mt. Baker seems so close, too.

Everything seems to be within my reach or at least my view.

All I have to do is to look at them on the brighter side, and I know I will be happier and I can handle almost anything including turning one year older, today.

Welcome 2010

2010-01-01T00:50:00.001-08:00

May the New Year bring you and your family and friends lots of happiness,

and wonders,

and wonderful surprises.

Most Humbled, Grateful and Blessed

2009-12-31T19:31:00.000-08:00

Like most families, having dinner together must be our most humbled, grateful and blessed activity we try to keep and enjoy as long as we can every day.
And just like the previous New Year's Eve dinners, we prefer to keep things simple and small for three of us, which we each can contribute with our best effort and expertise.
Here is Sarah's Simple and Cool Lettuce, Avocado and Tomato Salad with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar and Montreal Steak Spice Dressing.

My Perfect Al Dente Spaghetti with Kim's "Extra Lean and Still Single" Meat Ball in Lightest Tomato Sauce .

Ah! Although Kim made the sauce , I'm the only one can cook this perfect al dente pasta, the greatest contribution here, don't you see. Kim's Well Done ( for me, especially) Steak with Golden Mushroom Sauce and Red Pepper Drop

We also have some fresh breads and very good red wine, but Kim and Sarah didn't have enough patience for me to take some more pictures of our dinner on the last day of 2009.

Chocolate and Yarn and a Super Cool Husband

2009-12-31T16:04:00.000-08:00

Kim did some grocery shopping early this morning for our New Year's Eve dinner.
These are what he brought in that made me so happy:
Chocolate cake from our favorite bakers at The Valley Bakery, notice the "years", of course we will have more than one happy new year.

Madeline Tosh Pashmina Peppermint Patty delivered to our mailbox. They are so soft and so gorgeous in such a "pretty in pink" hue. The silk really gives the yarn a very soft sheen.
I never wish for anything more.

Lily Regale

2009-12-26T23:50:00.001-08:00

Christmas Prayer

2009-12-25T17:51:00.000-08:00

"As long as there's a Christmas,
I will be in love with you."

Hand made ornament from Bev and George, given to me this Christmas.

Poem is from Jack Zavada.

Seven Days Fool

2009-12-25T14:15:00.000-08:00

Chocolate coated cookie with peanut butter creme filling...

Chocolate coated cookie with coconut creme filling...

Chocolate coated cookie with lemon creme filling...

I surrendered to these yummy treats today. Believe me, between these, I still can knit...

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T11:57:00.000-08:00

Christmas Gifts to a Chocoholic Knitter

2009-12-25T09:55:00.000-08:00

No matter how old I become and how often I tell family and friends not to spend money on me, I still love to receive gifts as much as to give them at Christmas time.

I love hand written Christmas cards...
I love chocolates...

...especially ones that come in pretty package which can be reused as yarn box...

...or yarn bag.

I still have not receive any yarn as Christmas gift...yet, but friends who know me already knew I have too much yarn!!! And I need lots of pretty container to store them. There's the hint.

The Night Before Christmas Eve

2009-12-23T23:54:00.000-08:00

Every year we can count on our dear friends, Greg and Joan from Vernon to send us a beautiful Christmas flower arrangement. It may look very luxurious for our humble dinner table, but we know they are sent with lots of love from our dear friends to us. We treasure every single stem of the gorgeous flower bouquet. As we're admiring them, these flowers speak to us: best wishes for a Christmas full of love, peace and hope. Thank you, dearest friends.

It's Almost Christmas

2009-12-17T15:30:00.000-08:00

I brought home the poinsettia today. Fresh, gorgeously red poinsettia. And I know I'm almost ready for Christmas.

A Christmas Gift to Myself

2009-12-16T16:21:00.001-08:00

These Sundara October fingering silk merino yarns are the Christmas gift I give to myself this year. They are both gorgeous in color and oh! so soft next to the skin.

"Ember Over Flame" like her name is a warm color, very warm, she's hot...

While "Granite Falls" is stunningly beautiful but seems to be so cool, so distant...

I like Sundara yarns not only because of their gorgeous colors, but also for their poetic names. Have you ever made a yarn purchase based on its name?

Brando's Favorite Toy

2009-12-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

We keep a big box of toys for Brando to play with every time he comes to our place. But obviously his favorite one is not from his toy box but mine: my salad spinner.

A Colorful Book Excerpt

2009-12-14T02:04:00.000-08:00

From People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks:

"Blue: intense as a midsummer sky, obtained from grinding precious lapis lazuli carried by camel caravan all the way from the mountains of Afghanistan."
"White: pure, creamy, opaque. Less glamorous, more complicated than the blue. At that time it would still have been made according to the method discovered by ancient Egyptians. You covers lead bars with the dregs of old wine and seal them up in a shed full of animal dung. The acid in the vinegary wine converts lead to its acetate, which in turn combines with the carbon dioxide released by the dung to make basic white lead carbonate, PbCO3."
"There was yellow, made of saffron. That beautiful autumn flower, Crocus sativus Linnaeus, each with just three tiny precious stigmas, had been a prized luxury then and remained one, still. Even if we now know that the rich color comes from a carotene, with a molecular structure of 44 carbon, 64 hydrogen, and 24 oxygen, we still haven't synthesized a substitute as complex and as beautiful. There was malachite green, and red; the intense red known as worm scarlet-tola'at shani in Hebrew- extracted from tree-dwelling insects, crushed up and boiled in lye. Later; when alchemists learned how to make a similar red from sulfur and mercury, they still named the color "little worm"-vermiculum. Some things don't change: we call it vermilion today."

Sunday Flurries

2009-12-13T14:57:00.000-08:00

The frozen petals are still beautiful in the sweetest hue of pink... I want to call it a snow day today...
A wintery shade of green...

Gracefully aging...

Will this frozen bud ever have a chance to bloom, I don't know, but its red color is hauntingly gorgeous.
My petite belle Erica
so small yet so intense in hot pink !

very refreshingly green

Sadly, I'm one of those boring bloggers who filled their posts with crappy flower pictures...

A Very Sweet Pink

2009-12-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

I'm just fooling around with exposure and contrast today on my photos...same image, different tone, new emotion...

My Hydrangea

2009-12-11T09:38:00.000-08:00

The very last petals of my hydrangea have gone now with the strong wind that came last night.

A Pashmina Shawl For The New Year

2009-12-11T07:01:00.000-08:00

Here is my Madelinetosh Pashmina Sugar Plum. Isn't she gorgeous? And she's unbelievably soft. Nothing makes me more happy than picking up parcels of yarn from my mailbox after a long day at work. I can start dreaming again about knitting another new sweater or a shawl. Yes, a pashmina shawl in sugar plum color to start the New Year is not a bad idea. I never knit a shawl before. It's time for me to venture into the world of complicated but excited lace work.
Be not afraid! Be very brave! Knit a shawl!

This Winter I Miss One Summer

2009-12-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

In Dusseldorf

and Cologne

and Bonn

My Flowers

2009-12-03T17:28:00.000-08:00

My newest flowers, Delphinium

...and Mentha...

Mentha

2009-12-03T14:42:00.000-08:00

I used just a tiny bit of China Jade Country Classics dye in lukewarm dye bath and with dry yarn for this colorway. Just have to wait until they are dried to see if it's the palest mint shade I always love. These two skeins are the last ones from wool2dye4 superwash silk sock 50/50 order. They are the best yarn base to me for hand dyeing so far.

It's not like I have nothing to do besides playing with color. There's actually a huge assignment waiting for me on my desk. I try to avoid it until the last minutes. It can wait. Besides, I always perform better approaching deadline and under extreme pressure...

So Blue

2009-12-03T14:16:00.000-08:00

This is a very blue colorway. I want to call her Delphinium.
On the stove...
...on the hanger...

Golden Hues

2009-12-02T21:27:00.001-08:00

A Busy Season

2009-12-02T17:28:00.001-08:00

It may look like I was having all the time and fun in the world to play with yarns and dyes. The truth is I have gone through a dyeing frenzy in the last few days knowing that there won't be any time for me to knit or to dye until after Christmas. We're in retail business, so this season is the busiest time.
Well, if I could still have some insomniac nights like last night, I would think of some crazy hues to color my yarn.
For now, these Gold Silky Merino are my newest addition.

Antique Gold

2009-12-02T16:39:00.000-08:00

I dipped unwetted yarn in a hot dye bath of Country Classics dye Gold, then dipped them again in Quick Silver. The result is a very interesting colorway that looks like a rustic mix of gold and silver, of old gold, antique gold. Well, if I could just turn these lovely silk and merino fibers into real gold. I would be rich, so filthy rich that I could quit my job and dye yarns all day.

Yellow Citrine

2009-12-02T16:28:00.000-08:00

From the stove...

...to the hanger...
I mined my own favorite gemstone: Yellow Citrine:

I just finished dyeing two skeins of silk sock 50/50 in my favorite yellow,Yellow Citrine, this afternoon. I don't wear yellow that much but I love to see them in accessories like a white gold ring with one big yellow citrine in a cluster setting with round brilliant cut diamonds around it. Yay! That one big happy treat!

If I Only Have One Wish

2009-12-02T13:12:00.000-08:00

...or two, I wish for good health to all and that plus just a little bit of extra free time to play with yarns and dyes to me. I have so much fun in hand dyeing. I really abandoned my knitting.
My two skeins of silk and merino yarn Full Moon Blue are dried now and look so pretty. I've got to knit faster. With all the yarn I have dyed, I have lots of knitting to do.

Full Moon Blue

2009-12-02T04:57:00.000-08:00

For quite a few years, I have this half way insomnia. Falling very easily into a deep sleep right after getting into bed, I find myself wild awake at about two or three in the morning, then toss and turn and worry about silly little things for about an hour before falling asleep again. I usually reach for my book to read myself back to sleep again, but this time, I decided to go down into the kitchen to dye some yarns. I blamed it on the full moon to give me this crazy craving for color in this wee hour.

Anyway, here is my Full Moon Blue. I used Country Classics dyes Blueberry and Gold for this colorway.

Back to bed now...

Early Harvest

2009-12-01T10:57:00.001-08:00

It's so nice to start a day with new harvest of your hand dyed yarns.
My new love, Green Tourmaline...

and Vanda Orchid