The Moon

 

I was woken up by the moon again one night in October. It isn't a good photo but I thought this is a different view of the moon using a phone camera.

New Doily

It starts with one. It needs 6 more. Do you recognize the pattern? No, it is not a Mary Konior pattern. I am using Milford Size 20 threads. Quite quick and interesting to tat.

Tsuru Misbehaving

I have never seen Tsuru do this but this was captured by friends who were cat sitting for me when we were on holiday. Note the date on this photo. At home she drinks from a bowl. She is allowed to misbehave when she is at her godparents place.

Nyonya Chap Chye

It must be the weather. It has been raining a lot these days and I am in a cooking mood. This is nyonya chap chye. I remember cooking this for the first time many years back following the recipe from this book. 

 

I have not cooked it since. Not that it was not delicious, just that in nyonya cooking, there are a lot of ingredients to buy or collect and process. Anyway it is a dish with cabbage, pork belly, fresh prawns, many different kinds of dried fungi, lily buds, soya bean strips, mungbean vermicelli, shrimp paste, candlenuts and shallots.

 

Serve with hot steaming rice and sambal belachan. You could say this is a one pot dish. Of course on the nyonya dining table there will be a lot of other dishes with this one. I can only manage one.

The cookbook I have is the old edition, bought in the mid 90s. The new edition of the book can be found here.

HDTs from Tat-ilicious

I received these lovely HDTs from Jess and Livi of Tat-ilicious on Saturday. I was tempted to get more with the sale but I must save for other sinful temptations. From top - Punk Princess, Sea Glass, Mindanao Gum, Messy Jess-y, Key Lime Raspberry Parfait, Rainbow-licious, French Country? and Messy Jess-y?? Thank you so much! It is going to be fun.

Linda's Classic Doily Green - Completed

 

This is completed and it measures 15.5 inches across. This time it was much easier to block and it looks closer to the original. Thank you Linda for this lovely pattern.  My first doily was 6 scallops short on the outer most round. That was because I made mistakes in the double rings round and the round before it.

Painting Progress 1



 

Day 0 

Painting by numbers is something I have always wanted to try. Well, this looks challenging.

 

 

Day 4

But by starting this slowly and not painting more than an hour at each sitting, it seems quite doable.

Day 7

 

Any advice would be most appreciated.

 

 

Small Celtic Knot Flower

First,

Happy Thanksgiving

to all my American blogging buddies and readers!!

 

This is still wrong after so many tries. Has anyone tatted this before and have a good method of weaving the ends right. First time I weaved it it ended up just like the photo in the book which illustrated it was wrong. When I finally got the weaving right, somehow the ends were not correct, hence the above. The pattern is from Rozella Linden in her book Celtic Tatting Knots and Patterns.

 

Anyway I continued and made the leaves. Despite the botched weaving, it turned out quite pretty.

Mata Kucing

This is a fruit labelled Thai longan by the supermarket but I know it as mata kuching / cat's eye. This one is a different longan variety endemic to South East Asia. It is sweet with a distinct flavour which is hard to describe. It is not available all year round so when I do see it in season, I try to get some. Of course we can buy the dried longan anytime. Often added to sweet desserts or drinks. I just read that 'longan' actually means dragon's eye in Cantonese.

Celtic Knot Butterfly

This is easier than it looks. This pattern is by Rozella Linden in her book Celtic Tatting Knots and Patterns. I bought this book sometime back but this is the first pattern I am tatting.

Flora Size 20 threads in #218 and Lizbeth Size 20 #164 Blue River Glades were used. A tail was added to make this a bookmark.

Porridge at Home

Plain white porridge with dishes. This time, I cooked three dishes - Minced pork with black beans, ginger, garlic, soya sauce and sesame oil; Spinach (Amaranth) with garlic and pork cube; chai poh (preserved minced radish) omellette; and opened a bottle of pickled lettuce stem. Simple and fast to cook but quite appetizing.

I do remember my Teochew grandfather (aged 70+ then) who would drive to our house in his Morris Minor early in the morning to wake us up so that we can accompany him on his daily morning walks and exercise at the lake gardens. He would walk and exercise with his buddies and later take my sister and I for morning porridge. We usually had fish porridge with the eu char kueh (Chinese crullers).

Pattern Supplement

 

This is to supplement Gina's Gingerbread Boy pattern. I made these notes as I tatted so I hope it helps. The diagram was traced and handwritten. Sorry it just takes me too long to use the graphics software. If you find any mistakes in them, do let me know. You still need to refer to Gina's pattern (from her blog) for additional information. Happy Tatting.

Please click on the image to enlarge. If you would like a pdf copy just drop me an e-mail or leave your e-mail address here.

Gingerbread Boy Tat Along

IsDihara of Ambitatterous has a tat along in progress. The Gingerbread Boy pattern is from the Tatting Goddess. I have always wanted to tat this pattern and now is a good time than any. 

This first smaller boy was tatted in Lizbeth Size 40 #169 Autumn Apple Pie with white icing trim. The second one is tatted in DMC Perle 8 #841 with variegated pink icing trim. The second boy looks like he is running off because he was caught red handed eating a little too much candy. I miscalculated the rings on the body and joined the legs at the wrong ring. I did not add the beads in the tatting because I thought I would add them in later.

Paint by Numbers

 

 

 

I bought one set last year and it is still sitting there. Then last month I bought the above set and thought I would try this first.

What do you think? Too ambitious. It is a lot of little bits to cover with paint but I shall do it leisurely and only when I feel like it (apart from tatting). Let's see how long it will take.

Patchwork and quilting will have to wait, for now.

Linda's Classic Doily - Green WIP

 

 

It is coming along. The 'double ring band' round still looks a little tight. This time, I am quite sure I got it right. Let's hope blocking will help flatten this doily out.

If you scrutinize the photo of the blue one here and this one, you will notice where I went wrong the last time.

Deepavali and Claypot Rice

Today is a public holiday to celebrate Deepavali. This is the scene in little India with the street decor and lights up. We were there on Sunday morning but in the night it would look even more colourful.

So today I decided to cook claypot rice. My claypot has been used to cook stews and porridge and I have burnt it more than once. I remember my grandmother told me that once the pot is burnt, everything else you cook will also get stuck to the bottom of the pot and chars. Well, I think it is true!! Anyway I decided to use the claypot anyway and cook this. Claypot rice seems to taste better with a little char.

My version is simple - marinate for a few hours, the chicken pieces in soya sauce, dark soya sauce, sesame oil, fresh ginger and garlic. Put some oil in the claypot, fry some ginger slices, minced garlic, sliced Chinese sausage and add the marinated chicken. Cook for a few minutes before adding washed rice. Stir and add chicken stock. Boil until all stock has been absorbed (~15 mins), lower the heat and cook for another 10 minutes with lid on. Garnish with spring onions and fried shallots. It is normally served with sliced red chilli but I did not have any today. For a more comprehensive recipe, link here.

Circles & Squares Snowflake

This pattern is from Martha Ess in her book 'Playing with Picots'. I saw Sally tatted it here the same week I was contemplating the pattern. I was hesitating because I was not familiar with the rounded pearl picots of Mrs Mee. But with the instructions in Martha's book, it was a breeze.

However I only got it right in the second snowflake. I read that the picot is 1/8 inch wide on a horizontal gauge but it did not register in my mind. I think the second one is a more accurate interpretation of the pattern. The white one is tatted in Size 40 Milford. The red one is tatted in DMC Perle 8 Col 321. You have to click on photo to enlarge to see the picots. The effect is quite pretty.

Edged Hanky 2012 - 3

This is finally done. I think this is the first time I used a Size 60 for an edging. The lace is very dainty and quite difficult to block. I was not too conscientious about it so the lace isn't well shaped. Also I made my own adjustments for the corners and realized that the chains should be a little longer.

This pattern is Edging #2 from Janet Caroll's book Elegant Tatting Patterns. It is tatted in two rounds and I completed the tatting before attaching it to the hanky. That was not fun to do.

Earrings from Val

Val used free form tatting for a pair of earrings which looked simple and beautiful. I just had to blatantly ask. Val so graciously agreed and we did an exchange. Aren't they fabulous? I love how the doodad looks like a pinwheel with the tatting. Thank you Val.

Cotton Bolls

 

 

Not for tatting but cotton can also be used as table arrangements as seen in this restaurant. Isn't that a simple but stunning display. My photos did not do this restaurant justice. It was very beautiful. What a nice change to the usual flowers.

Pineapple Heaven Doily #5 - Completed

Remember this WIP? It is completed and after five of these Pineapple Heaven doilies, I now surrender. I took my time tatting this one and it is completed without any obvious mistakes so I decided to send it in for the Show n Tell at Tatting Corner. I also sent in two other pieces which I tatted earlier this year. If you see it there, I hope you can recognize them.

Pattern is by Doretha Albee on Georgia Seitz's website. Threads are Lizbeth Size 20 in blue river glades #164. This will be one of my favourite tatting patterns. Please try it if you have not.

Clivia & Aloe Blooms

This is the Clivia lily, a native of South Africa. The orange against the dark green leaves make the flowers very striking. One of the blooms I saw at Gardens by the Bay. I cannot remember if I showed you this before.

 

Another orange bloom which we do not often see.These are the flowers of the Aloe vera plant.

Linda's Classic Doily - Green WIP

I love how this looks at the moment but I want to do this pattern justice so I am going to continue with the pattern and tatting it right this time. Wish me luck! The next 2 rounds are where I made the mistakes in the last one. This is tatted with Olympus Cordonnet Special Size 40 in #200. I love this green, reminds me of the colour of Imperial jade.

Test Tat for Margaret

 

I was very happy to test tat this pattern for Margaret. It is a sweet angel and I am going to hang this on mom's Christmas tree later this year. I used Size 3 Anchor Perle Cotton threads for this one. This thread did not fluff up so well. The pattern is available at Margaret's Etsy shop.

Book Spine Hula Girl

Another window display that I came across in Bangkok. There is a lot of glare from the windows but I hope you can make it out. They stacked a whole lot of books on the floor and painted a hula girl on the book spines. I was trying to capture the photo without attracting too much attention. I forget what the shop was selling but it might be clothing.

HDTs from Tat-ilicious

 Mary Konior's pattern Gemini (MK#57) tatted in Size 40 HDT Macarons from Jess of Tat-ilicious.

Nami's pattern Gold Fish tatted in Size 40 HDT Madder Tatter from Jess of Tat-ilicious.

I am fascinated with Jess' other HDTs Mindanao Gum and Sea Glass.