Toni's Favorite Things

Fighting Startitis

2012-05-21T21:07:00.000+08:00

Just a short post to let you know that I am still alive my friends, LOL!

As usual, nothing is new, busy with work as ever. Tho every night, I managed to put in some 100 or more stitches in my Tropical Fruits cross stitch. And despite the slow stitching, my hands are itching to start a project or two.

Here are some doilies I wanted to make:

Sorry for the not-so-nice photos. They were taken by a not-so-nice camera :D

Well, let's see until when I can manage to avoid the Startitis, LOL!

Have a great week ahead my friends.

What's In My WIPs Bag

2012-05-07T22:47:00.000+08:00

First week of April was holiday here due to holy week that Philippines observed yearly. So, I took the opportunity to do some cleaning and tidying up since I noticed that my hobby (cross stitch, crochet and knitting) things are everywhere. Due to being busy, it is only now that I was able to post this.

I put my current WIPs in this paper bag although they are not all of my WIPs. I've got so many scattered almost everywhere in the house. That's what you get when you suffer from Start-itis, LOL! My Tropical Fruits cross stitch is not in there since it won't fit in the bag.

A crochet doily that needs only 4 more rows to finish. Thread is Cebelia No. 30 and hook is Susan Bates No. 7 (1.5mm):

Royale crochet thread no. 30 which I intend to use for a future doily project:

More threads for the Tropical Fruits cross stitch:

Yarns and granny squares for a blanket project:

DMC mini cross stitch kit:

Japanese crochet book, mostly motifs:

Japanese crochet book, mostly doilies:

Lace shawl I started knitting a month ago, with cotton thread no. 10, and Knit Picks Harmony circular needles size 3.25mm:

My cross stitch glass set, reading glass+magnifying glass. With my 43 year old eyes, this set is really a big help:

Can you see that my reading glass needs replacing?

This is all for now and thank you for dropping by, most specially for leaving your comments.

Cross Stitch Update

2012-04-25T21:04:00.000+08:00

I thought my camera has eaten the dust but I found out that it was only the memory stick duo that was defective. I was thinking of replacing it

Sony DSC-W230, 12.1 megapixels

with this

Sony DSC-WX70, 16.2 megapixels

or this

Samsung ST600, 14.2 megapixels

But now that my old camera is properly working, I don't know... I'm still enamored with these two and justifying that one of them will be my back-up just in case my old one will not function anymore. Maybe I am just in love with the colors... We'll see....

Anyway, onto the proper post...

It's been awhile since I last touched my Tropical Fruits cross stitch. Since I started working, I just did crochet and knitting. Then two weeks ago, I did some cleaning and saw my neglected cross stitch, so I started doing it again.

This was my last update as of August 9, 2011

And this is my progress as of last night:

I noticed the fabric got dirty due to dust. Anyway, when I'm done with it, all it needs is some proper washing and I guess the fabric will go back to normal.

Thanks for dropping by. Take care everyone!

Knitting Practice

2012-04-10T20:51:00.002+08:00

There are so many things I wanted to write about yet so little time. . .

When I was learning in Dreams how to crochet, I have classmates who are into knitting and looking at what they're doing, I thought it was hard and said to myself that I will never study it. Then one day I saw a finished piece of a knitted lace shawl done by one of the lovely ladies there and fell in love with it. Sorry wasn't able to take a photo. After seeing that shawl, I changed my mind and asked Ms. Lilli, the owner and teacher of Dreams, to teach me how to knit. And here I wanted to show you my practice piece. It's a dishcloth done in garter stitch. I learned that garter stitch is all knit while stockinette is knit and purl.

Now I wanted to buy a complete set of knitting needles but I was torn between this:

Photo courtesy of: Knit Picks

and this:

Photo courtesy of: Knitting-Warehouse

I know that I wanted pointed needles and Harmony has sharp points while Boye has blunt based on my point of view. I know that I also prefer wood because I don't like the slip of metal. Maybe I'm just drawn to Boye because it's cheaper than Harmony, $45.49 against $84.99. What do you think?

Here's the comparison of the tip of Boye to my bamboo knitting needles,

got this Boye straight needles from a starter kit like this (sorry too tired and lazy to take a photo of mine),

Photo courtesy of: Weekend Kits

I've got some Harmony circular needles to show you for further comparison, but as I've mentioned, right now too tired and lazy to take photos.

Any inputs from you would be greatly appreciated :-)

This is all for now. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week everyone!

Forgotten Doily

2012-04-02T19:39:00.000+08:00

In my previous post I mentioned about a doily that I completely forgotten about. I've done it last year. In the pattern page, it was noted as done June 9, 2011 with 1 & 3/4 balls more or less of DMC Perle Cotton 12 in shade of old rose. Hook used was Susan Bates No. 10 (1.15mm). Pattern was from a Japanese book called Crochet Lace 2009.

Here it is being dried on my styrofoam blocking board (really love those pearly map pins!):

Already dried:

I noticed I didn't blocked it properly and my camera didn't capture the true shade:

This is all for now. Hopefully I can post something again next week.

Thanks for reading and take care everyone.

Liebster Award

2012-03-26T21:22:00.001+08:00

"I know it's been so long since I last posted here" and it seems that I always start my posts with this phrase or something like this.

Work has been stressful as always and although I'm busy all the time, I can assure you that I make sure to find time to do some knitting or crocheting. And oh how I miss cross-stitching big time!

Anyway, yesterday while doing some housework, I was thinking of posting something here. So first, I dig my hobby box, that's what I call the box that I got from Crabtree and Evelyn set (will try to take a photo sometime soon) and saw a forgotten doily that I finished last year. More to that on my next post, hopefully soon. And then after doing the house chores, I logged in to my blog account and to my surprise, there's a comment from Rose of Christmas City Stitcher blog, a friend whom I met at the Cross Stitch Forum of About.Com, telling me that she awarded me the Liebster Blog Award.

Thank you so much my friend for choosing me to pass the award to. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. This is her explanation of the award:

"In case you didn' know (I didn't lol) Liebster, which means 'favorite' in German, it is a way for bloggers to help each other out by spreading the word about their blogs." (Copied from Rose's blog)

Upon further search in the net, beloved, dearest, and sweetheart are also translations of the word liebster.

And to quote Rose, these are the rules of the award:

"As part of the Liebster tradition it is passed along to 5 bloggers that have motivated and inspired you. To accept the award you must -

1. Link back to the person who gave it to you and thank them.
2. Post the award to your blog.
3. Give the award to 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers that you appreciate and value.
4. Leave a comment on the 5 blogs to let them know that they have been offered this award.
5. Share 5 random facts about yourself that people don't know about you. "

Okay, so Rule No. 1 is done. Rule No. 2 also done. Now, onto Rule No. 3 - this one is very hard as all the blogs that I follow are all favorites. Will do my best to choose but I assure you, am finding it the hardest. So, it is my honor to pass the Liebster Blog Award to these 5 bloggers:

1. Kim of Wired To My World blog. She's been with me since the beginning of my blogging and even though both of us are so busy, she never forgets to email me, lending me moral support in this crazy, busy world we live in.

2. Linda of Linda Crochets blog. Oh, how I drool over her doilies, they are all wonderful!!!

3. Knitted Lace. I recently discovered this blog while searching for knitted lace patterns. Lately, I'm very into knitted lace shawls and her finished pieces inspire me on pursuing to learn more about the craft.

4. Donna of Donna's Crafty Cross Stitch Blog. Another fellow cross stitcher who's been with me since the beginning of my blogging. I enjoy following her morning projects.

5. Susan of The Florida Crochet Garden. Her blog photos are all interesting, featuring not only our craft but other interests, places, etc.

If I have my way, I will pass all the awards that's been given to me to all of you my friends :-)

Rule No. 4 - to follow.

Rules No. 5 - Five random facts about me. Actually, there are plenty but I will stick to the rule :-D

1. I love collecting things, in fact, almost everything, LOL! First that comes to mind are makeup, candles, pouches, cute ballpens and notebooks. No need to mention yarns, threads, cross stitch patterns and kits since everyone knows I'm addicted to these things.

2. I prefer writing notebooks over tablets or Ipads. At the office, I call my notebook Ipad, short for "ink pad" as my boss said it.

3. I watched the Bourne movie series several times and never get tired watching over and over again.

4. I cannot wear lipstick without using lipliner first.

5. I cannot walk around the house without slippers. I envy those who can do so.

Again, thank you Rose for the award. And thank you to everyone who always find time to check and read my blog.

Missing You

2011-11-06T21:23:00.001+08:00

I am sorry I am absent for so long. And I really do miss you all my friends. I miss your stopping by, your comments and I miss reading the blogs that I frequently visit. I miss the times when I was not working full-time, I miss waking up late and I miss writing posts on a regular basis. Oh sorry for ranting....

Anyway, last October 1, DMC Philippines held an exhibit in our local mall and they invited stitchers, including me, to showcase their works. Without much ado, here are some of the photos that I took.

And here's my piece (which I have featured here before in one of my posts) that has been shown in the exhibit:

Since it's more than a month since I took the pictures, I cannot recall anymore the details of each of the photos featured. Some of the pieces were done by some of my online friends.

Thanks for dropping by and take care everyone!

I'm Still Alive

2011-09-27T20:06:00.002+08:00

Yeah, I've been absent for a long time and wondering whether you are still there my online friends and fellow crafters. Life's been so busy (with work)...nothing's new... I'm tired...tired...tired... LOL! And no new updates to show you except what happened with the shawl I was knitting and the green doily that I started and have shown you in my last post. And add to that, my laptop that contains all my photos for the blog has bitten the dust. Anyway, remember this shawl from my previous post?

Here's what happened:

My teacher said that I unknowingly added a stitch in every row. So the answer to my previous post whether this will become a shawl or something else is... it became SOMETHING ELSE, LOL! So I just unraveled the whole thing.

Now for the doily. This is the photo from my previous post:

And here's what happened:

It ruffled big time! Based on the look of it, there's no way it will flatten no matter how I will block it. So, another one that I unraveled.

By the way, I just wanted to share with you that I was chosen by DMC Philippines to be their Stitcher of the Month for August. Here is me in their Stitcher's Gallery :-D

This is all for now my friends. Take care all of you!

What I'm Working On

2011-08-09T08:19:00.001+08:00

Well, no accomplishment for last week, no finished piece. The reason is I can't concentrate on one WIP at a time. Added to that, last Wednesday I was on-leave from work, so I took the opportunity to visit Dreams and had a knitting lesson there. Crazy huh?! :-D How in the world can I finish all the things I have, cross stitch, crochet, and now knitting! Oh well, I'm crazy and everyone who's been here with me knows that, LOL!

Here are the pieces that I am working on:

As of today

As of June 20, 2011

For more than a month, that's very little progress.....

And here's my update on my multi-colored flowers shawl:

I started another doily, the one on the cover. The thread is Aunt Lydia's No. 10 crochet cotton thread in Wasabi. It says in the pattern that the doily will ruffle a little but it will flatten after blocking. But my piece ruffles a lot. We will see when I finished and blocked it if it will really becomes flat.

And here's my knitting practice. This is going to be a shawl but we will see if it will become one or something else, LOL!

This is all for now friends! Take care everyone of you :-)

Red Shawl

2011-08-01T15:40:00.000+08:00

Despite being busy, I wanted to finish as much projects as I can otherwise WIPs will pile up and I will get overwhelmed by them. It's my goal to lessen if not finish my WIPs this year. Crossstitch-wise, I am not successful. Crochet-wise, well... not successful either, LOL!

Remember this photo from a previous post?

It's a square motif from this book:

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

Now, here's the finished piece.

Sorry for the messy background :-D

Again, this is all for now. Have a nice week ahead and take care friends!

Doily No. 4

2011-07-25T16:07:00.001+08:00

How are you my friends? I am sorry for being absent for two weeks. As usual, life's so busy. When I was a stay-at-home mom, it seems that there's not enough time to do all the chores at home. And now that I'm working, I want to stop time and do everything that I can and most of all finish all my cross stitch pieces and crochet projects. Oh well, what can I do....

I still crochet regularly at the office during lunch breaks. And the good thing is, I have crochet buddies there so every lunchtime, we eat hurriedly so we can have as much crochet time as we can . And there's one officemate who's into knitting and maybe someday soon, she will teach me how to do it. We will see....

Crossstitch-wise, I do it regularly every night but for only an hour or so, that's why there's not enough progress to show you on my "Tropical Fruits".

I wanted to share with you the photos of my Doily No. 4. I finished it maybe two months ago but it's only recently that I was able to photograph it.

Unwashed and unblocked:

White still wet and being blocked:

Dried and blocked already:

This doily is very textured and the thread I used, DMC Cebelia No. 10, is a bit stiff so I have some struggling with it. I got spoiled by the pearl thread which is soft and very easy to maneuver. But one thing I like so much about Cebelia is that blocking is very easy since the thread is stiff. Anyway, here's the detailed photo:

I've got the pattern from this book:

On my last post, Raine thought that the cat in this photo is a toy:

But it is a measuring tape:

This is all for now my friends. Take care always and have a nice week ahead of us!

P.S. Deb MN was asking about the Tropical Fruits pattern. I think it is only available here in the Philippines as it was published by DMC Philippines.

Busy Weekend and Award No. 3

2011-07-09T17:32:00.003+08:00

I found out that I really cannot do blogging on my lunch breaks at work. It's because our connection is so slow during that time since most of the people are doing their personal surfing. Anyway, last Saturday was my day-off and I've got no makeup work to do so I spent most of the day crocheting and cross stitching. Here's how my bed looked that day:

The yellow cat looks like a toy but it is a tape measure.

And now for the award....

Thank you very much Kim for passing this award to me. It's greatly appreciated:

I'm supposed to write 7 things about myself and pass this award to my favorite bloggers, but right now my head is not working properly, LOL! so I guess I will come back to this again some time soon.

Thank you everyone for always being here with me and thank you so much to all who follow. It means so much to me! Happy weekend and have a great week ahead :-)

Doily No. 3 - Double Pineapple

2011-06-27T21:12:00.001+08:00

I almost cannot make it to post on my blog today. And I am not sure if I can do it again next Monday, but I will do my best to post. The reason is that I've got now a full-time office job and I am still not sure if I can do blogging during my lunch breaks. We'll see in the coming months. And that's also the reason why I wasn't able to read all my favorite blogs and leave a comment. To all my online/blogger friends, I am very sorry for not being able to visit your blogs.

For today, I will feature my doily number 3. I saw this first from Ninu and I fell in love with it immediately. This is Ninu's doily and if you want to make the same, she provided the link to the pattern. Thanks Ninu for the inspiration!

Here's mine, unwashed and still crumpled:

Already washed and being blocked:

Dried and ready for display :-D

I used these Anchor Pearl Cotton No. 8, total of 4 balls or 322 yards. The finished size is 18inches.

And to show you how small a ball is:

On DH hand:

This is all for now friends! Take care always.

Cross Stitch Update

2011-06-20T19:07:00.000+08:00

Life's been so busy that I wasn't able to get online these last few days, and most of all, didn't get to read all the blogs in my list. And it will still be so busy this week and the next. Sometimes, I was thinking of not blogging anymore but I know that I will miss you all my online friends . . . I wish I could stop the clock while blogging, and also while stitching . . .

Anyway, here's my latest progress on the Tropical Fruits. I know it's been awhile since the last time I posted an update and to recap that progress, here it was last May 23:

And here it is now:

It's almost a month and my progress is not that remarkable. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, it's because of my crocheting, LOL! But I'm having fun :-D

Have a nice week everyone!

An Award and My Doily No. 2

2011-06-13T14:21:00.005+08:00

Thank you very much Ninu for passing this award to me. I am so grateful to you. Now, I have to say something about myself and then pass the award to some creative blogs that I love. The only problem is, I love reading so many blogs that choosing only a few will be very hard. Okay, here are some few random facts about me.

I am so much addicted lately to making doilies
I love listening to old music, brings nostalgia, but I love, love Rob Thomas and Matchbox 20's songs
My two favorite authors are Tess Gerritsen and Harlan Coben, love their books!
I love Peter Bishop of the TV series Fringe, can't get enough of him, LOL!
I used to be a makeup/product addict but not anymore, cross stitch and crochet took over
I put handcream and eyecream religiously because they said that true age shows in the hands and eyes of a woman. I don't know if it's true, but nevertheless, I will continue using them all my life :-D
I love, love red nail polish, like fire engine red
Although I am a makeup artist, I am very lazy in putting makeup on my face. Foundation, powder and lipstick will do. Oh, I forgot lipliner. I cannot put lipstick without lipliner.

Now, this will be the hardest part - passing the award to only a few since I follow so many wonderful blogs. So what I will do to make it easier is to pass the award to the two really creative bloggers who's always been there with me and who never fails to leave a comment or two in ALL of my posts.

Kim who does cross stitch, sewing, crochet, hardanger, flower arrangement, the list goes on, LOL!

Lesley who also does wonderful hardanger and cross stitch (Lesley, I know you've said before that you want your blog to be award-free, but I still want to pass this to you)

Now, here is my Doily No. 2. Actually, I'm on my 5th and 6th already, but wasn't able to take good photos of the 3rd, and the 4th is still unwashed.

This is before washing. Noticed how it looked like a potato chip? :-D

Close-up photos. Can you see the raised flower in the center?

After washing and while being blocked

I love looking at these colored pins!

Now dried and on the table

This is the book where the pattern came from

And although the book is in Japanese, the pattern is very easy to follow since it is in a diagram form like this

Thanks for dropping by. Have a nice week ahead and take care!

Goodies Part 3: Doily Madness

2011-06-06T12:10:00.001+08:00

Here's the last part of my recently acquired stash. My hands are itching to start all of these.

Can you tell I am not addicted to doilies? LOL!

And here's some more addictions:

Have a nice week! :-)

Goodies Part 2: Cross Stitch Kits

2011-05-30T17:19:00.001+08:00

I know how hard it is to load a page full of photos, so I did not post all the photos of the goodies that I've recently got. Here are cross stitch kits that I have asked my sister to buy for me:

I really love this one, but I think the only thing that will stop me from starting this are the backstitches :-D

Have a nice week and take care everyone! Thanks so much for dropping by. Hugs to you all :-)

Goodies

2011-05-23T15:01:00.002+08:00

Happiness is . . . having your sister and brother-in-law visit you and bringing with them goodies that you requested them to buy for you.

Here are the goodies:

It is very expensive if I will buy from US online stores and have them ship my items to the Philippines, so I always requested my sister to buy for me. To my sis and her husband, thank you very much!

Now on my Tropical Fruits, here's my progress:

Have a nice week everyone! :-)

Cross Stitch Exhibit

2011-05-16T19:32:00.000+08:00

Last week, DMC Philippines held an exhibit featuring the cross stitch adaptations of the paintings of Fernando Amorsolo, Philippines' 1st National Artist. Here are some photos I've taken during the exhibit and also of the patterns I've bought:

Girl with Mangoes (painting & cross stitch)

Girl with Mangoes (painting)

Girl with Mangoes (cross stitch)

Girl with Mangoes (cross stitch pattern)

Sunset - Return of the Fishermen (cross stitch & painting)

Sunset - Return of the Fishermen (painting)

Sunset - Return of the Fishermen (cross stitch)

Sunset - Return of the Fishermen (cross stitch pattern)

Planting Rice (cross stitch & painting)

Planting Rice (painting)

Planting Rice (cross stitch)

Planting Rice (cross stitch pattern)

Here's another version of Planting Rice cross stitched by the painter's daughter, Helen Amorsolo Martinez. You can read something about her here.

Planting Rice (done by Helen Amorsolo Martinez)

More paintings, cross stitch and patterns...

Winnowing Rice (cross stitch & painting)

Winnowing Rice (painting)

Winnowing Rice (cross stitch)

Winnowing Rice (cross stitch pattern)

Girl with a Banga [earthen water jar] (painting & cross stitch)

Girl with a Banga (painting)

Girl with a Banga (cross stitch)

Girl with a Banga (cross stitch pattern)

Lavandera [laundry lady] (cross stitch & painting)

Lavandera (painting)

Lavandera (cross stitch)

Lavandera (cross stitch pattern)

Tinikling (bamboo) Dance (painting)

Tinikling Dance (cross stitch in progress)

Tinikling Dance (cross stitch pattern)

The following were all stitched by Helen. I'm not sure if they are going to release a pattern for the Mother and Child.

Mother and Child (cross stitched by Helen)

Amorsolo's children

And here's the portrait of the famous painter:

Fernando Amorsolo's portrait (cross stitched by Helen)

Here are some photos of him with his family:

Some more photos of the exhibit:

Another pattern that I bought which was not featured in the exhibit:

Cooking the Noon Day Meal

It was so hard to choose just one or two or three...so I bought all the patterns :-D But if I have to choose one at gunpoint, I think it will be the Tinikling Dance. Sunset is my second favorite.

In a future post, I will write more about the details of each pattern.

Pepperonis!

2011-05-10T10:49:00.000+08:00

That's what my ex-boyfriend (now my husband, LOL!) said when he saw these:

I don't know what made him think of pepperonis? To me, they're more comparable to sliced pickles, right? :-D

Of course they are not pepperonis nor sliced pickles. They are the center of this flower motif:

And here's my progress on the shawl:

Last holy week, on black Friday April 22, my stitching buddy Arlene, visited me at home and we had our stitching session. I want to share with you photos of our work table. Yeah I know, it's messy, but it's fun!

Arlene's crochet project

My cross stitch project and things


Peanuts!

Thanks for dropping by! Take care everyone :-)

Blogs I'm Following

2011-05-04T10:35:00.000+08:00

I've been out of the loop for more than a week and when I logged-in to my blogger dashboard awhile ago, I was shocked to see that all the blogs I'm following were deleted from my list. I don't know how this happened. So, for all the bloggers that I follow, if you see that my name is no longer in your follower's list, please let me know and I will re-follow. I did not intentionally unfollow. Maybe there is something wrong with the system.

I will do my best to post something soon. Sorry for being absent these last few days due to the reason I've mentioned in my previous post.

For the meantime, I want to share a photo of a shirt that I bought several years ago, maybe more than ten years ago. I bought this because of the design and color. I never noticed what was written until recently when I was folding it.

Last but not the least, thank you very much for all your prayers and kindest words of sympathy during these hard times in our life, specially to Kim, Home Is Where My Heart Is, Minibinoy and Stitchstitchknit, as well as to Kirstin and Irene from the cross stitch forum of about.com.

Take care everyone!

Wishing

2011-04-26T11:13:00.000+08:00

Just dropping by to show my progress on Tropical Fruits. Will post more when things go back to normal. My mother-in-law is in the hospital due to leukemia and I am praying, hoping and wishing that she will be alright and that everything will be fine. She's one of the kindest persons I've ever known.

As of April 12, 2011

As of today

Take care everyone!

It's Raining Threads and Yarns!!!

2011-04-19T12:19:00.005+08:00

Yes, it is! Please, read on...

When I enrolled in Dreams for crochet lessons, I met there Arlene, who came to know about Dreams through this blog. She enrolled in Hardanger lessons and we became stitching buddies. She told me about a store where they sell yarns and threads by the kilo. One kilo of cotton thread costs P170 (around US $4.00) and one kilo of yarn is P270 (more or less US $6.00) So, addicted as we are, we went there. Let the photos do the talking:

Yarn and Thread Store in Rosario, Pasig

Outside the store, you'll never know how much yarns and threads inside

I ended up buying 6 kilos of threads, but I will show the photos in another entry soon.

Now, onto my crochet lessons in Dreams. Do you know that it's very hard for me to concentrate on my lessons there as these are all around me:

Yarns and threads in Dreams Yarnshoppe

Because of these, I am always telling my teacher that I need to rest my eyes for awhile, but in truth, I will stand up and stretch and then . . . touch these beauties and think what I will buy before I leave the store. Sick? Yes, I am. And I need my thread medicine!!!

Have a nice week everyone! And to all of you, thank you very much for reading my blog. And big, big thank you to those of you who leave comments as well as to my followers. They mean so much to me and you're my inspiration in my updates here.

Hugs to you all :-)

Being Good, Blocking

2011-04-12T10:32:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, I had colds so I stayed home the whole day being good by finishing all the backstitches on Morning Lake. Isn't it funny that I had to be sick just to finished it? :-D

Here it is being dried:

Now, all it needs is some ironing and then framing:

And I also have some progress on Tropical Fruits, not much, but still progress as they say :-D

Last week's:

As of April 4, 2011

And this week's:

As of April 11, 2011

Also last week, I did post this photo of my doily project which was unwashed and unblocked:

Last Sunday, I washed it and blocked. Kim asked what blocking is all about. You can find here the explanation. But in short, it is the method of “molding” or "stretching" your finished work into the shape that you desire.

I used this styrofoam as my blocking board where I cut my needle organizers from:

Here's the doily being blocked while still wet after washing:

I thought blocking is as easy as 1-2-3. But it is not. I think I've spent more than 30 minutes trying to get the perfect shape and yet, to my eyes, it is still not what I wanted. I counted all the pins I used, it's 96 pieces!

Here it is now on the table and you can now see it's true shape unlike when it was not blocked yet:

With lights on

Without lights

My mother put the candles as decoration. Maybe I will try to look for candles with contrasting colors.

Thanks for reading this week's update. Take care everyone!

Confession, Obsession

2011-04-04T14:41:00.001+08:00

Confession time... I did so little backstitching on the Morning Lake, so there's still no picture to show you. But I did start on Tropical Fruits. Here's my little (so little) progress on it:

I did finish a crochet doily which was my project for my crochet lesson. Here it is, unwashed and unblocked. I used Canon cotton crochet thread no. 10 color SC021 here with Susan Bates crochet hook size B1.

This is the Japanese crochet book where I've gotten the pattern of the above doily:

Lately, I am obsessing over these Japanese crochet flowers that they are all I wanted to make. Last time, I've shown you the multicolored ones and also the green/gold-green combination. Last Friday, I bought from Dreams some yarns:

And these are the flowers I made from the yarns:

They are huge! Please see the difference:

Have a nice week everyone!