Chinese Opera Masks in Chinatown

The mask on the building was new. It was not there the last time I was in Chinatown. It must have been a while. The same type of masks were found hanging as lanterns in a shop nearby. They are colourful. I remember I loved watching Chinese Opera in street fairs when I was young. I could not understand what was said or followed the story but I was mesmerised by the noise, the colours of the costumes and the make up. That seems like ages ago.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #12

This reminds me of a flower but a star is seen in the negative space. Snowflake #12 is Myra Piper's pattern No. 16 on page 6. I am glad that some of the snowflakes are smaller than others. I think a variety of sizes would look better on the tree.

Chopsticks Helper

This is my niece during our recent Chinese New Year dinner. She was showing me how she is learning to use the chopsticks with a chopsticks helper. She uses it for noodles and she is quite good at it.

Third Attempt - Continued

In the book, some designs evolve into larger ones. So I did not mind tatting this three times because I could continue this into a larger one. With the additional two more rounds, this ended up measuring about 8.5 inches across. I love what the 3rd round gave to this design but did not care too much for the 4th round. I still think I should have used a thicker thread to give it more structure. To refresh your memory - 1st, 2nd and 3rd attempts.

Hydrangea

This is my first Hydrangea plant and it has just bloomed. This is one of my favourite flowers. The flowers looks white, light green and light blue. I guess the soil in the pot may not be optimal and my balcony does not get much sun but to me, it still looks beautiful.

And one week later, it began to get more colour. I was quite amazed at how large it bloomed into and the plant is growing bigger. Will have to transplant it into a bigger pot soon.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #11

A unique pattern for a snowflake. This is Myra Piper's pattern No. 14. on page 5. Notice the 3 rings which looks like an 'inverted clover'. I have never seen this in other patterns which I have tatted before.

Four Leaf Clovers

This is Tatting Goddess' Bloomin' Shamrocks pattern. It is way past St Patrick's Day so instead of making 3 petals, I made four for good luck. Both are in green, Size 20 (Coats Floretta #4428) and Size 40 (Lizbeth Spring Green #680). Thank you Gina for sharing the pattern.

Five Petal Pendant - Pink

This is the first pattern in Marilee Rockley's book 'Up and Tat 'Em'. I used Flora Size 20 thread in Col. #207 and 6mm briollete doughnut Swarovski crystals. It measures about 2 inches across. It was a fun pattern to tat but I do prefer the shape of Marilee's Grand Aura and Belle patterns.

Trailing Abutilon

It is also called Chinese lanterns or Abutilon megapotamicum. They seem quite easy to grow but the flowers tend to drop quite fast. Before it blooms, the bud does look like a lantern.

I am waiting for my bleeding heart plant to flower. It has flowered many times but I did not manage to take a photo of it. A new shoot is growing vigorously but it has not bloomed yet.

Did you notice the new background. I have been meaning to change it. It was time. I was using the same background since I started the blog.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #10

I could not decide which photo to post, so here is both. This is pattern No. 44 of Myra Piper's book. Tatted in Milford Size 40 threads using about 3 metres of threads in each shuttle.

There are 47 patterns in this little book and in the introduction, Myra Piper describes that she tatted 300 snowflakes for a church Christmas tree in 1972. I hope Myra Piper knows that her snowflakes will be on many Christmas trees all over the world.

Two Pristine White Blooms

It was 1:00am and I had just watched The English Patient on the cable movie channel and was about to go to bed. I thought I had watched this movie twice but most parts were 'new' (lost in my mind) to me. Anyway, when you watch it at various states of mind, you see and remember it differently.

Back to my story, I was looking out my balcony and remembered that I checked on my plants at 8pm that evening hoping to see my night blooming Epiphyllum. I walked nearer and the whole balcony was filled with a very, very sweet perfume. It has bloomed, not one but two. What a lovely end to my evening. Yes, I took photos at 1am. My neighbours who were still up must be wondering what I was doing. Oh . . . nothing, just feeling happy to see my flowers bloom.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #9

I visited Spulni-blog last week and loved this Austerlitz motif pattern. Thank you for sharing the pattern. It did not take much time to tat this. The pattern called for split Josephine rings. I always use the second stitch to make my Josephine rings. I am calling this snowflake #9.

A note from a blog reader

Last week a blog reader S sent me an e-mail telling me how much she enjoyed this blog. I do thank her for sharing her thoughts about it. Now S is picking up tatting again and she needs all the encouragement. She asked about the Mary Konior patterns which I have tatted.

If you are wondering what I am talking about, it is my quest to tat as many Mary Konior's patterns as I could. The last one I tatted was MK#49 here. S pointed out to me that I had two MK#21s here and here. So the next Mary Konior pattern I tat should be numbered MK#51. Thank you for letting me know. It made me review and it took me about a year to tat 50 Mary Konior patterns.

I think starting with Mary Konior's pattern is a wonderful start. So S, this shuttle is my gift to you. I hope it will inspire you further.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #8

Oooops. This is Snowflake #8. This reminds me of the sun. Myra Piper's pattern No. 6 on page 3. Tatted in 2 rounds. I used 1.5m Size 40 threads in the shuttle for each round.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #7

I am continuing with Myra Piper's patterns. This one is Pattern No. 9 on page 4. A very elegant pattern and tatted in two rounds. Round 1 required less than 1m and Round 2 about 1.5m of size 40 threads. I love the simplicity of this.

My Belle

This is a pattern by Marilee Rockley called Belle from her book 'Up and Tat 'Em'. I tatted this in Lizbeth Size 40 in Linen Medium (#693) with metallic green Delica beads (DB 413), a Swarovski crystal pearl and a green amethyst gemstone. I am going to tat a few more of these in different colours, beads and gemstones. I think they make nice gifts.

News from Japan

Judy asked whether the Japan Earthquake affected us in Singapore. No it did not. No tsunamis hit the shores of Singapore. I was worried for a Japanese friend and e-mailed him yesterday. Just heard that he and his family are safe and sound. A harrowing night for them as power was cut and transportation halted. Most had to spend Friday night at their place of work. He was about an hour north of Tokyo. I was with him visiting Sendai for a conference 15 years ago. From the news footage, the conditions in Sendai after the earthquake are really bad. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #6

I just love this pattern. It looks like a perfect star. One more for the collection. Tatted in Milford Size 40 threads in white, this pattern is from Myra Piper's Tatting book on page 13 / Pattern No. 36. I really liked what I call the 'S' chains which connected the centre clover leaf and the star point. It shaped up beautifully. It was tatted in one round and took about 7.5 meters of thread on the shuttle.

Tillandsia ionantha 'rubra'

I found a temporary stall at the nearby shopping mall selling airplants. Bought a few and hope they do well. I have one which did so well that it has multiplied to a bunch over the years. It must like its little niche in the balcony. This one when I bought it had the reddish leaves and I was told that it was going to flower. Sure enough a few days later it did and one day after I took the photo, another flower bloomed so now there are three. Let's hope the others do well too.

Work in Progress - Completed

Remember this? Mistakes (which hopefully will not be noticed) resulted into these two doilies. Seashell and Shell Pink Medium Lizbeth threads were used. I like the colour combination. I prefer the lower one as was recommended in the book because it better showcases the pattern.

Construction of Gardens by the Bay - Bay South

The Flower Dome

One of 2 conservatories which will house plants from the cool dry climate. The other conservatory named Cloud Forest will house plants from the cool moist climate

Supertrees - vertical gardens

25-50 meters in height

I took these photos weeks ago when we were passing by on the expressway. It has been a while since we drove pass and it looked very different. The site is behind Marina Bay Sands and the development is due to officially open in 2012 but it will host the World Orchid Conference this November. More information here at their official website if you are interested.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #5

Susanne Schwenke's pattern on page 18 of her Spitzen Ideen book. I am tempted to get more of her books. I love her patterns. Are you also a fan?

This will be snowflake #5. Hopefully this month, I will be able tat more snowflakes and not get too distracted by other patterns. This snowflake was fast to tat and very enjoyable. I am quite happy with it. Tatted in size 40 thread in white. This ball is a Japanese brand thread called LaPrimera Cotton Lace Yarn and it is made in Turkey.

Night Blooming Epiphyllum

My mother used to let us stay up to watch this plant bloom when my sister and I were young. It usually bloomed late at night and would only last one night. Mom planted her much larger plant in a dragon pot. I recently bought this plant at the local market and there was one flower which had already bloomed. I took it home to my balcony, watered daily and fertilised it. I soon noticed a large number of flower buds on several leaf margins. I missed the first bloom (see above photo) which bloomed the night before but the I managed to photograph this one. There is a delicate fragrance when it blooms. I had to bring it into the kitchen to photograph it without the flash.

Gifts from Judy

Judy sent me, Umi and Tsuru these lovely gifts she made. Two crocheted mice with a bell inside each and a lovely pink and brown rabbit which she created.

Umi and Tsuru love their crocheted mice and really enjoy themselves playing with it. Thank you so much Judy. They seldom have so much fun with their toys. I had to pull them out from under the sofa several times.

Precious Photos

Dressed in nyonya style sarong kebaya

Dressed in the traditional samfoo

During the Chinese New Year, my mom showed me these old photos. Taken 60 years ago, it shows my mom and her sisters in traditional attire. She could not remember what occasion it was that my grandparents had these photos taken, either Chinese New Year or my grandfather's birthday. I wonder if the boys had a similar photo taken. Yes, mom had a huge family.

Work in Progress

Why are there two, you say? Because I made a mistake in the first one. I simply hate mistakes. Could I go back to tatting it right the first time round?

I am tatting the third round of the pattern now and I ended up with a mistake again, so I guess you will see two motifs the next time I post this WIP. I will change the colours around. But both will have mistakes. This is done in Lizbeth Size 20 in Seashell (#114) and Shell pink medium (#627).

Red Velvet Cake

I recently had a red velvet cupcake at Starbucks. AAA and I, in one of the rare occasions ended up at Starbucks. He knows I love that but often he would rather have coffee at the local coffee shop than Starbucks. This is the very first time I tried this cake and I loved it. Came home, looked for a recipe to bake my own.

Now, I am just wondering if all that food grade red colouring is good for health. After some time, the red began to seep into the cream cheese frosting. The cream cheese frosting could not be left out in our weather for long without melting. It did not taste the same as Starbucks but I still liked it, anyway. Will I bake it again? Sure, I will. I used this recipe.