Christmas 2011 Snowflakes #21 to 23

To end the month of April, I have decided to post three snowflakes. They are smaller than the usual ones and I am happy. These are Myra Piper's patterns No. 21, 15 and 45. Two of these were featured on the front cover of this book. I rather like No. 45 with the small rings. I think I will tat snowflakes from Susanne Schwenke's book in May.

The Flower Tree

Someone said this was quite ugly. I rather liked it. Large metal blooms on a 6m tall tree. It is actually an art installation by a Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa at the promenade of a local shopping complex. I remember seeing a similar flower tree near a Carrefour in Shanghai.

Flowery SCMR Bookmark

I have seen this bookmark tatted up in some of your blogs and thought how pretty this is. It has been on my 'To Tat' list for some time now and in between snowflakes, this was a good diversion. How do you like the colours?

This is a pattern by Jane Eborall and you can find the pattern here. Thank you so much, Jane.

Bougainvilleas

This is a plant that does very well in our weather. It thrives and is a popular roadside plant found in Singapore. This is a photo of an overhead pedestrian bridge near an MRT station. The more you neglect it, the more it flowers. All it needs is an occasional pruning and fertilizer. No need to water other than the amount of rain it gets naturally. If you water it too much it will just grow leaves and not flower. You can hardly see any leaves on these plants here.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #20

Another edging pattern which Myra Piper adapted into a snowflake. Found as pattern No. 2 in her book, Myra called this 'Another Hanky Edge Snowflake'. I used about 3.5m of Size 40 threads in the shuttle. I like how this turned out.

Creme Brulee

What makes a good Creme Brulee? I don't know but this one tasted so good. It was part of the buffet dessert spread and these came in lids of a chinese tea cup. It did not look exceptionally good but it tasted really delicious.

Happy Easter Sunday

New Tatting Books

What wonderful patterns in these 2 new tatting books. I can't wait to tat them. One from Susanne Schwenke and one from Inga Madsen. Tatted Animals is available in the National Library but I have been unsuccessful in borrowing it so I decided to get my own copy. I love Susanne Schwenke's patterns from the Spitzen-Ideen book and I thought I would get her other book as well.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #19

Another pretty design by Myra Piper. This is pattern No. 23 on page 8. Tatted in 2 rounds with size 40 threads. 1.5m on the shuttle in round 1 and 4m for round 2. I hope you find the approximate thread requirements useful. I love it when this is noted in the patterns.

Songbirds

Last weekend we were at the local market for breakfast and saw that the songbirds were out and making beautiful bird songs. These birds have long tails and would flip them around. I think this bird is the murai batu or white-rumped shama thrush.

It reminded me of Tsuru with her bushy tail which she sometimes flicks like a skunk's tail. She usually does that when she is happy.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #18

Myra Piper's pattern No. 41. I thought this looked like a starfish but it is actually called 'Five Point Exquisite Star' in the book on page 15. An interesting design to tat. Done in one round with 8m of size 40 threads on the shuttle.

Quirky Sign

I was at the airport 2 weeks ago and came across this signage at the Arrival Hall.  The photo shows a table with tissue paper packs on it. Are you wondering what this is all about? 

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #17

Myra Piper's pattern No. 38 tatted in 2 rounds. I used size 40 white threads and needed about 2m on the shuttle for round 1 and 5m for round 2. I always note down in the pattern book how much shuttle thread I need in case I want to tat the pattern again. I love this square motif.

Peperomia puteolata

I have not seen this plant before but it reminded me of a Peperomia. Googled and found photos to identify it.  The leaves of this plant are rather leathery and I was afraid it would be a fussy plant to grow but it is still doing well. Some leaves near the soil dropped. The leaves are arranged in a whorl so you may see 3 or 4 leaves from the top. Must remember not to over water it.

Tatted Epoxy Shuttles

  Lizbeth Carribean Front

Side

 Back

 HDT Midnight Oil Front

 Side

Back 

My shuttles finally arrived. There were some problems with production and that is why it took so long but it was definitely worth the wait. I love them. The tatting I sent to Erin looked like this. After the epoxy, the threads looked much darker so if you are going to do this, I suggest you do not use thread colours that are too dark.

Belle - Green Turtle

I have been tatting more of Marilee Rockley's Belle pattern. I thought I would show you this one with the green cloisonne turtle, Delica beads (DB60) and a Swarovski crystal (6mm round Vitrail Medium). This was tatted in Lizbeth Size 40 Spring Green (#680).

Remembering Del (1992 - 1995)

Look at those pink paws.

My first cat was named Del. I adopted him from a pet shop in 1992. He was a stray kitten left at the back door of the pet shop.

Del kept to himself and only came looking for me when he was hungry. He didn't fuss about and only requested his corridor stroll among the potted plants every morning. He loved sitting by the window and watched the traffic go by. We lived on the second floor then and in front of a busy intersection. 

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #16

This is another of Myra Piper's pattern with the 'inverted clover'. I think this is quite pretty with a flower shape in the centre negative space. It will stand out behind the green background of the Christmas tree.

Five Petal Pendant - Beige

I tatted this pattern by Yarnplayer in DMC Perle 12 in Col. 950 (beige pink) with Swarovski crystal pearls in cream and bronze. The cream bead is a little too big for that ring so it does bulge up a bit. Nevertheless, I rather like that effect.

Driftwood Vases

They are more like garden sculptures than functional vases but aren't they cool? Nature's art. The sandstone stands are pretty too. The rest of the garden was lush.
 

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #15

A three arm snowflake. I enjoyed tatting this. Some patterns are like that. I also love the shape of it. This is Pattern No. 39 in Myra Piper's book. I can't imagine tatting 300 snowflakes. If I can tat 40 before Christmas, I would be happy. 25 more to go. Let's hope April will be as productive as March.

My Neighbour's Cat

This cat is my neighbour's. Found him lounging on the balcony as I was walking up to the apartment block lifts one morning. He looked directly at me and did not move so I quickly whipped out my camera and took a shot. He is on the second floor.

He reminds me of Del, a cat I had in the early 1990s. No digital camera then. I will take some photos of the prints and post him another time.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #14

Another 4-arm snowflake. Myra Piper's pattern no. 19. Mine looks more like an 8-arm snowflake than what is shown in the book. Perhaps it is the way the shorter arms were blocked. Sometimes the resulting motif has a life of it's own and just want to look different. Who am I kidding??

Microsaccus griffithii

What joy to see plants flower. The flowers are really tiny and it has a light fragrance. There's a pair of white flowers (1-2mm) at each node. I spray once or twice a day and fertilize ocassionally. It's tied to a piece of driftwood with some sphagnum moss, so it tends to dry out. But it is doing ok. Since I got this miniature orchid, it has flowered twice.

Christmas 2011 Snowflake #13

This is Myra Piper's pattern No. 1. According to Myra, this was an edging pattern which she adapted into a snowflake. Isn't it pretty. I decided to use small picots instead of the usual ones. It looks rather delicate. I am begining to wonder if I should tat all the snowflakes for the tree in white. The tree is green so that wouldn't show up. What about in red? Should I have a few in red? Seems odd to have red snowflakes.

Kuih Pie Tee

One of my favourite Peranakan dishes. It is a crispy deep fried flour shell filled with vegetable filling. The filling is stir fried fatty pork and prawns with shredded Chinese turnip (yam bean/bangkuang) and carrots. Top it with fried garlic and chilli and put the whole thing in your mouth. The crunchy flour cups and and the vegetables make it a delicious combination.

It is a lot of work but peranakan cooking is always a lot of work. Making the flour shells is tedious as each one is made separately by dipping an iron mould in batter and deep fried. These were made by my sister. They are small so it can fit into your mouth in one gulp. Homemade always tastes better.