Madli - Finished

Hello there!  It's been awhile again since my last post.  Though I am always thinking of posting, there's always something that gets in the way.  Then more than a month ago, my Mother-In-Law passed away.  She's one of the kindest person I ever met and we were heartbroken that I didn't feel like doing anything.

Although I rarely blog, I discovered Instagram and enjoyed it so much because I am seeing so many pictures of needleworks there.

Kim was asking about my Madli Shawl.  Actually, I have finished it more than two or three months ago.  But I wasn't able to take photos.  Here it is finished:

The finished size is: 73 inches x 22 inches unblocked.

Materials used:  Generic yarn, 750 meters with a few meters left.

Needles used:  Wooden knitting needles size 4mm

This is all for now my friends.  Thank you for dropping by.  Hugs to all!

Madli Update

I intend to write this post tomorrow but I don't want to start the month with a rant so I'd rather do it now.  I feel so stressed out in the office that I was thinking is the salary I am getting really worth it?  Is my thinking of "I don't wanna get bored and still want to use my head (don't wanna get it rusty)  with office work" really justify it all?  So many things to attend to...things that don't even concern my life....

I miss those times when I am a full-time housewife with weekend makeup work.  I only get stressed when a client is difficult but it rarely happens.  Right now, I don't want to think about anything anymore.  How I wish I will just stitch/knit/crochet the day away while listening to the tv.

Anyway, I've got some line up of posts but I just don't have the time.  So for the meantime, I will just give you an update on my Madli Shawl.  This was how the shawl looked like on my August 6, 2013 post:

 And this is the progress as of January 14, 2014 :

 It is so much longer now but i don't have the photos yet to show you.  Promise, anytime soon.  This shawl has so many errors good thing the yarn is not light-colored so I am the only one who knows about it, LOL!

This is all for now friends, already feel so sleepy.  Have a great week ahead and take care always :-)

Madli Shawl

Sometime last month, I was feeling stressed out with work and people (what's new, LOL!), so I did what I always do to relax... I went to my favorite yarnshop, Dreams.  The owner/teacher, Ms. Lilli, taught me to do the Madli Shawl, which I always dream of doing.  I am always amazed and in love with lace knitting that I wanted to do all the lace shawls I see everywhere in the web...if only I have all the time in the world.  Anyway, I need her tutorial on this shawl since it's the first time that I will do a shawl with separate parts and also the cast-on of this is not the usual long-tail cast on that I know.  Here's the photo of the shawl taken from my book:

Close-up:

The book where it was taken, Knitted Lace of Estonia, which I like so much.  I love all the shawls in this book.  Again, if I have the time in the future, I will post here photos of all the shawls shown in the book.

My progress so far:

This was taken by another camera (was comparing photos from Sony and Casio cameras).  I think you can see here clearly the design of the shawl.

The yarn I am using.

I still do cross stitch everyday as I wanted to finish the Tropical Fruits soon, but I knit this when I wanted to take a break from cross stitch.

Have a nice week ahead friends and take care always!

Hugs :-)

What's In My WIPs Bag

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.

Knitting Practice

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!

I'm Still Alive

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

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 :-)