Paradise via rail and bus

This is going to be a pic-heavy post, because today I went here:

and inside it was this, the top on my list of things to do while in Singapore:


I am a sucker for orchids and I love taking photos of flowers. These gardens were gorgeous, I was moved near tears by the orchid gardens. I will be braving the humidity to visit again and again, for sure. I will try not to turn this into a blog of flower photos, but here is a tiny tiny portion of what I saw today:



Besides visiting the gardens, I have been getting used to using public transportation as my only means of travel. Over the weekend I went downtown and wandered around a bit, found my way to Ikea, did some grocery shopping. This country truly is clean - the MRT (rail) and public buses are freakishly devoid of litter, grime, and graffiti.

Anyway, let's talk about knitting somewhere in this post. This is another WIP I brought with my from the States. It's pretty gloomy here today, and the yarn is grey so excuse the lame pics.

The pattern is Mary Jane from an issue of Twist Collective (Rav). I worked the size that fits my bust but then did some decreases because women with chests my size (DDD) look like barrels without some shaping in their tops. I wanted to keep it simple so I chose to keep doing stockinette until I finished the decreases, I hope this looks alright in the finished top. This is my first knitted sweater, which comes as a surprise to me considering how much knitting I have done in the past five years, and I am hoping I worked the decreases out in a reasonable way. This thing is taking me forever, but I am enjoying it quite a bit. I especially like the Snakeskin stitch pattern:

even moreso now that it reminds me of a going-away present that I received:
It's almost the same stitch pattern on this pouch, knit by my friend Nadine. She's really new to knitting so I know that this pouch was a huge effort for her, which makes me love it more. What really shocked me though, is what my friends chipped in to get which goes inside:

Yep, that's an amazon Kindle. I had been babbling about how badly I wanted one for months, and I am already in love with the thing. I've used the crap out of it too, with all the flying and waiting I've done in the past week.

I have made great progress on the sweater since I arrived in Singapore. It makes so much sense that I am fired up about finishing a sweater now that I am practically ON the equator. Good grief.

Let's revive this sucker!

Well, the blog died. I just felt that I didn't have anything to offer the knitting blogosphere that wasn't already out there. Besides that, I was busy finishing my PhD, being single for the first time as an honest-to-goodness adult, and getting a job.

The job I got is in Singapore, and I just moved here two days ago. It should be more interesting to track how knitting helps me deal with living in such a different culture. I'm from Cincinnati, Ohio, USA and I've never lived abroad before. So, let's get this show on the road, shall we?

Well, first of all let me introduce my second new friend in Singapore.



This cat is always hanging around my temporary housing building. I talk to him/her out my window from time to time, he/she seems to enjoy the attention. (My first new friend is a coworker who was assigned to help me out the first few days. His help is indispensable and I could kiss whoever put that program in place.)

My new university is huge compared to my old one. It is also beautiful.

It makes me think of Tron in paradise.

I brought several WIPs with me, and I have decided to finish them before I allow myself to unpack the yarn I brought. Besides the fact that I would never finish them otherwise, I think it's important for symbolic reasons.

I have been working on a pair of socks for a dear friend of mine for an age, and I finally finished the first one:



The pattern is from Sensational Knitted Socks - 3x3 Cable with Moss Stitch (Rav). It was worked top-down. The yarn is Silja, a bit scratchy but easy to work with (Rav). The color is not easy to photograph though, it's a manly deep gold in person. I think it looks great with this stitch pattern.


I ran into a few troubles on the toe, which is weird because the toe is my favorite part, but I'll discuss it once I have a second toe, hopefully untroubled, to compare it to.

I've also been working on a sweater, but I'll save that for next time.

I'm off to use the public transportation by myself for the first time. As a suburb girl from the midwest, public transportation makes me slightly uncomfortable even at home. But, when in Rome...

Slow, slow progress

Well, my knitting is in chaos right now. I've got WIPs out the wazoo and in disarray. By disarray I mean



And of course, there are a few things I am itching to cast on.

The project that I've been working on the last few days is the Hourglass socks that I've been plinking at for ages. I am on the toe decreases on the first sock, though, and that ups the excitement.



I might actually finish something soon! So what if it's just a single sock. Usually I'd rather knit my socks two-at-a-time, but knitting one-at-a-time at least there is a celebratable halfway point.

Once I finish this sock I will allow myself to cast on for a sweater, Mary Jane from Twist Collective (Rav). I've got a vest on the needles right now (I'll show that another day), but I have never knit a sweater before. I'm going to use Colourmart Merino DK, and I've already swatched:



I usually don't wear a lot of grey, but I think it will work well with the pattern. I'm not sure if the yarn is oiled or not (other Colourmart yarn is), but I washed the swatch in hot soapy water and it softened up considerably. Also, it didn't felt so I'm guessing it's oiled.

The light in my apartment is a little weird right now so I couldn't get good pics of my other WIPs, but let me introduce you to some of my cohabitants. This is Big Boy, a swiss cheese plant/ split leaf philodendron/ monstera that I have been keeping alive for about 6 or 7 years:



Maybe it's weird to name one's plants but Big Boy and I have been through a lot together. My other plants don't get names.
Like this little mini rose, a new addition to the household:



One of my plants died while I was gone so I got this cheery bush to replace it. I never have luck with rose bushes of any kind, so we'll see how long it lasts. If we make it to Valentine's day I'll be happy.

It's 2009? Seriously?

This blog has been quite lame lately.

I have decided to change that.

I have plenty to blog about, so why not just do it?

This post is pic-less, because it's dark out and if I wait to post it will be another eon before I decide to get my a$$ into gear.


So, what have I been up to lately? A lot of traveling. I spent a whole month away from my apartment. Which sounds like great time for knitting, but I actually had very little time to knit (I spent an ungodly number of hours on airplanes, but I can't seem to get much knitting done while flying.) I got back last week, but my bf was in town and he just left this morning. He lives on another continent and I won't see him again until April, so I wasn't spending a whole lot of time knitting then either. I did, however, go out to eat waayyy too many times, since bf wanted to eat at all his favorite restaurants during the ten days he was here.

Anyway, all this time away from knitting has made me realize how much benefit I get from clacking those needles. As a recovering nail-biter, keeping my hands busy prevents me from gnawing my fingertips off. I thought I had beaten this nasty habit, but a few weeks without knitting and my nails are G-O-N-E. That alone is enough to make me cast on for something immediately (as if I don't have too many WIPs already!).

So, now that I am going to have some sense of normalcy for a while, it's time to get back on the wagon and assess my current situation, which means prioritizing my WIPs, many of which were supposed to be Christmas gifts. (Let's not talk about that.)

Next time I will show a few of them. Right now, I am off to my first salsa dancing class. Ciao!

Crazy busy and all I wanna do is knit.

Surely it's common that when the going gets tough, it gets tough to stave off the knitting urge.

But, since it's nearing the holidays, large amounts of knitting is actually a good thing.

So, what have I got on my needles? About a billion things. Some are progressing more quickly than others, especially those projects that are intended as gifts. Like this (excuse the bad photos, it's been gloomy here for a week):




Pattern: Hourglass socks from Knitty (Rav).
Yarn: Mystery yarn which I have noted before.

I started this sock a while ago and for some reason, the pattern and I had no chemistry. I couldn't fall into a rhythm where I didn't have to check the chart constantly. I set it aside for a couple months, and went back at it with a vengeance yesterday. I got 2" or 3" on it in one day, which is lightning fast in my book. And looking back, I cannot tell what my problem was over the summer because the pattern is pretty intuitive.

Anyway, the yarn doesn't seem very strong but the yarn is so soft and this colorway is gorgeous. I think I know the perfect recipient who will really appreciate these socks, even though she isn't a knitter herself.

Also growing are these:



Pattern: 9-to-5 socks from Nicole Hindes (Rav), two at a time on 2 circs
Yarn: Cascade Heritage

These will be a gift for a man, but I am not sure who. I would love to knit socks for all of my friends, but time is limited and I have to prioritize. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it; for now I am just enjoying the pattern. I really like this stitch. It looks like cabling but there is no actual reordering of the stitches, which makes my sore hands very happy.



I also like this yarn. I think when I get around to making socks for myself I will use this yarn. It's relatively cheap and my bf's socks in this yarn are holding up pretty well.

Anyway, the main reason I am so overwhelmed right now is that I am traveling for a month starting Monday. Three weeks in Medellin, Colombia to visit bf and one week in DC for a conference. I've never been to either place before so I'm pretty stoked.

Now, off to find my passport...

Boring FOs

I have actually been knitting quite a bit lately (for me), but I haven't felt like posting. Also, I haven't been taking good pictures lately. But today I am sick, and it looks like I will have plenty of time to stay home, drink tea, eat soup, and knit, so I better catch up before all that.

I've been a commitment-phobe lately with my projects so I have a bunch of things on the needles, but nothing really at an interesting phase yet.

For now, I will just show you my quick 'n easy FOs from the last couple weeks.



In the foreground is Turn a Square from Brooklyn Tweed (Rav). I used Noro Kureyon for the color-changing stripes and (I believe) Cascade 220 for the solid. The hat came out really big, probably because my gauge was off, but I like it that way. I can have my hair up and the hat still fits over it.

Faced with leftovers of both yarns, I decided to use them up by making a matching cowl. I cast on and knit stockinette until I ran out of Noro. I made the stripes a little wider on the cowl to better match the ratio of yarns left over (on the hat it's 3 rows of solid for every 2 rows of Noro; on the cowl I did 5 rows of solid to every 3 rows of Noro). Something I noticed on the hat, but moreso on the cowl, is that my jogless striping is very visible. I read that it would be a little noticeable, but when the cowl is flat you can see it pretty bad:



However, when it's on you can't really see it, and I will just chalk it up to being a novice at the jogless striping thing.
The cowl is humongous but it will keep me warm as I walk to and from school every day. I probably should have made it a little narrower, but it will still do the job.


Ever-so-fashionably. ;)

The sophomore effort is always the lamest.

Between moving, some minor personal catastrophes, and the crazy Ike leftovers that blew through here, it's been a while since my first post. Not a great way to start a blog. And like so many musicians, I feel that my second attempt is going to be less-than-stellar.

Anyway, the holiday gift knitting is well underway. I have 3 projects recently cast-on but they are all in their infancy. This year, I am under extra pressure to finish gifts up early since I'll be out of town for most of December. I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. (Whatever, of course I did! Just like almost every other knitter in the 'verse.)

But, I finally finished these simple socks for the bf. The yarn is Regia Spirit Color, I used 2 skeins.



I'm not too sure I like the color combo, or the way the colors fell on the sock. But the bf really likes them and they fit his giganto feet so I guess they are a success. Of course he is out of town for the next week so I don't have a proper-sized foot to model them right now.



I used Wendy's basic toe-up pattern and Judy's magic cast-on. I tried out Elizabeth Zimmerman's stretchy bind-off, which I found here, and was pleased by the result. I love knitting socks toe-up. Something about watching the toe grow really tickles me. Plus I find it more fun to try on a little toe-let as I go than a little cuff-let.

So, off to prepare for the start of classes at my university. As a grad student I get to experience the "joys" of taking classes and also teaching freshmen. All this gift knitting will come in handy to deal with the stress!