Test Tatting

I was excited to test tat for Victats. What an opportunity. These are 3 pendant patterns done in Lizbeth Size 40. Aren't they unusual and interesting? It was extremely fun and fast to tat up. I rummaged through my bead stash to find 12mm puff oval beads .

Left - Tatted in Lizbeth #166 Pink Cocoa with a faceted agate bead;
Centre - Tatted in Lizbeth #137 Berry Burst with a white cat's eye bead;
Right - Tatted in Lizbeth #140 Country Grape Swirl with a faceted agate bead

Look out at Vicki's space for these new patterns.

Mooncakes

This is a traditional paper bag which is still used by this company in Chinatown where I bought some mooncakes. They remind me of old times when these were used instead of plastic bags. They also roll the mooncakes up in paper if you do not want those fancy boxes. Mom loves this type of mooncake with the mixed nuts.

Although I like the usual lotus paste ones, this year I was especially looking forward to the Teochew yam ones. I finally found them at the nearby mall. It isn't as sweet as the traditional ones which is good but the flaky pastry shell crumbles when you bite into it.

 

The local supermarket also had some mooncake festival goodies like the pomelos, lanterns, and these water caltrops. I call them buffalo horns. You are suppose to boil them and crack the shell for a nut inside. I have never eaten one, just remembered playing with them when we were young. We were more interested in the lanterns and mooncakes.

Classic Doily WIP

When I saw this doily at Tattyhead's blog, I said I have to tat this, in between the pineapple heaven doily. This is Linda Davis' pattern and you can find it on her blog. Thank you so much, Linda.

At the moment, this isn't done yet. Another WIP. I just finished Round 8 (7.5 inches across) and there are 8 more rounds to tat. This is tatted in Venus Size 40 threads in #365. I have already used up 50 meters of thread. No wonder the pattern required a full ball (25g) of thread. However this ball that I have is only 20g. I hope it is enough. Link here to see Linda's classic doily in its full glory.

Lights in Chinatown

The lanterns were put up to celebrate the mooncake festival which is end of this month. Pastel coloured lanterns look pretty in a mass display. I was looking for the Teochew mooncake - fluffy pastry with yam paste. When I manage to get one, I will show you how it is different from these mooncakes. The usual mooncakes are lotus seed paste/red bean paste with/without duck egg yolks. 

Pineapple Heaven Crazy

Yes, I think the pineapple bug has got me. I want to tat the perfect doily without any mistake. I need all the concentration otherwise I will be unpicking on every round or starting a new doily yet again. Shall I tat them in every colour until I get the perfect doily? It would make great gifts. I am going out of my mind. This one is tatted in Flora Size 20 in Colour #239.

Japanese Classical Doily #23 - Con't

I thought it would be useful for you to see this piece of tatting from the book Tatting Lace by Sumi Fujishige published in 2010. It looks challenging to complete. I am very apprehensive. See my previous post if you are wondering what this is about. If you have tatted this pattern before, please share your photo with us.

Japanese Classical Doily #23

Diane reminded me of a Japanese pattern which I wanted to tat. I wonder if this is the same one Diane was talking about.

The pattern is from this Japanese book on page 28 and 78. I love the design but it is a pattern that is not so easy to tat, however once you get the design structure it should be easy. It is a lot of rings to tat. This is tatted in Lizbeth Size 40 in #682 Country Grape Dark and measures about 4.5 inches across. It took approximately 2m for Round 1 and 16m for Round 2. I wonder if I will continue with the next part to build the doily.

Salad for Dinner

This was dinner tonight. Colourful with dried cranberries, fresh blueberries, brazil nuts, apples, carrots, asparagus, butterhead lettuce leaves and chickpeas. Dash some homemade dressing of olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, chilli flakes and garlic cloves.

Pineapple Heaven Doily - White

It is complete. Slightly less mistakes than the burgundy but still not satisfied. This is tatted in Milford 40 and measures about 7.5 inches across, an inch smaller than the Size 20.

I had both Milford Size 40 and Size 60 thread balls out and when I had to replenish threads in the shutttle for this doily, I had forgotten which size threads I used. I looked at both from the ball and compared it to the shuttle thread and could not distinguish them. In the end I chose Size 40 and hoped for the best. It looks about right.

Tempeh

This is tempeh uncooked and just unwrapped from the leaves where it was fermenting in. It is fungi fermented soybeans which is full of protein and very inexpensive. For more information, link here. 

I first tried tempeh in Bali Indonesia. It was deep fried and then stirred with chilli and black sweet sauce. It was delicious. There are many ways to cook tempeh. Most popular is sambal goreng where tempeh is stir fried with french beans, a dish normally eaten with rice.

The Duchess

This is a test tat for Fox. Thank you, Fox!

Isn't it a pretty pattern. I had some Lizbeth 40 #682 Country Grape Dark thread on the shuttle - so I managed Round 1 with that and Lizbeth 40 #140 Country Grape Swirl for Round 2.

All in all if you are using the same thread for Round 1 and 2 (no need to cut thread between rounds) you will need 2.5m on Shuttle 1 and 6.5m on Shuttle 2.

Making Dessert

I have bought ingredients to make this dessert.  What goes into this? Gingko nuts, soybean sheets, barley and sugar. Boil for an hour and you have this desert which you can have either cold or warm. This particular bowl I had after lunch one day in a cafe.

Pineapple Heaven Doily - Burgundy

While waiting for the white WIP doily to dry, I started a new one and completed it. There are mistakes here and there but it is such a pretty pattern. This is Doretha Albee's Pineapple Heaven Doily and you can find the pattern here on Georgia Seitz's website. Thank you both.

This is tatted in Flora Size 20 threads #222 in burgundy. I used up approximately 45 (shuttle 2) + 35 (shuttle 1) metres of thread and the doily measures about 8.5 inches across. Now to finish the white one learning from the mistakes here.

Reflections

I have been trying to get a presentable photo of this building for sometime now. From a moving car, that is. This photo does not show its unusual architecture. This is a waterfront condominium called Reflections at Keppel Bay. Link here for a pretty picture.

Wilma Bookmarks

Wanda looked prettier than Wilma in Iris Niebach's book Fantasia 3 but when tatted up I preferred Wilma. I chose bright colours of fuchsia pink and orange while the second is in muted greens. I always forget to tat loosely as it is quite difficult to close the Maltese rings. Broke the thread several times. Threads are Venus Size 40.

Episcia Exchange

I have a collection of Episcias but it is lacking the above in light green and pink. If you have this plant and would like to exchange a cutting or know where I can buy a pot in Singapore, do let me know.

On another note, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are in town and have you seen the orchid named after them here?

Doily in Progress - Round 10 Completed

I decided to block this now before tatting any futher. Round 10 completed and 6 more rounds to go. It is progressing well and it was not as I thought or expected - not too challenging. Seems quite easy to tat and not as monotonous as a hanky edging. I think I would take a pattern like this on my next long holiday.

Four Angled Beans

Also called kacang botol. It was planted along a fence in our garden   where we had fun picking the fruits. This is how grandma and mom cooked it. Although grandma and mom would make the chilli from scratch, I scooped it out of a bottle bought from the supermarket. I remember slicing this vegetable the way grandma taught me although mom would say slice it thinner. The young beans can also be eaten raw with sambal belachan (chilli with lime and shrimp paste).

Hoop-la Hanky Edging 2012 - 2 (MK#56)

This edging pattern is called Hoop-la from Mary Konior. I usually prefer to tat the edging onto the hanky as I am tatting but for this pattern, it was not easy to do. So this was sewn in after tatting was completed. Tatted in Milford Size 40 in white. 

The Scarlet Lady

That was what it was called on the menu. Crepes with whipped cream and ice cream with fresh strawberries, wafer, a dash of strawberry coulis and a sprinkling of icing sugar.

It was delicious but it melted before we could finish it, as it was a super hot day in Singapore.

Edged Hand Towel - Petra

I love this edging because of the upside down hearts and  scallops. I edged another white hand towel with this Petra edging. Petra is a pattern in Iris Niebach's book Fantasia 3.

Lace Fern

This is wild. No one planted it but it grew on its own. Rare to find along a planted hedge in a housing estate. It is so pretty in the sun and difficult to capture with such a natural background. It would look so natural and beautiful in a bride's bouquet. But no, it will last longer here. I hope more people will notice its beauty.

Edged Hand Towel - V Blues

This edging was shown here. Most people who commented on this post loved the thread colourway. It is a rather soothing colorway. I used it to edge a white hand towel. 

Cappuccino and Macarons

Macarons look so pretty in pink - rose and beige - fleur de sel caramel. We preferred the rose as it was delicately flavoured, lighter and refreshing.

Edged Hand Towel - Clara

This Clara Edging was posted here earlier. This is what I did with it. Sewn into a soft peach hand towel. It did not take long to sew it in, just that it took me sometime to get it started. But once I did, the second one was completed in no time.