Dear Umi

 "Are you eating and sleeping well?"

"Is it raining your favourite cat treats?"

"Are you happily chasing birds?"

"Do you get tummy rubs or neck scratches?"

"Are you chomping on bamboo leaves to your heart's content?"

"Is your bed as comfy in pet heaven?"

You are dearly missed here on earth.

 

 

 

 

Love in a Mist #2 Completed

but with mistakes. This is what you get when you are trying to tat and watch a foreign film on TV. Not giving tatting your full attention will result in this.

It is such a shame. Did not notice the mistakes until I was blocking it. I think I should correct it. Sigh . . . . . .

Two Dozen Roses

How would you arrange these roses to incorporate it into a creative arrangement? There are 6 large, 6 medium and 12 small roses. Show me how you would arrange it. Best drawing gets a gift from me. Submit via e-mail by Monday, 4 March 2013.

Chingay 2013

 

 

 

 

 

Chingay is a street parade which occurs during the lunar new year period. The Chingay I remember, is loud Chinese music with a few people showing off their acrobatic skills with a huge flag.

This is our first time at a Chingay Parade in Singapore. Chingay 2013 was a 2-hour spectacular show which opened with a lovely voice, it made your heart melt. It finished with snow (bubbles blown out of towers) and fireworks. Try to catch next year's Chingay if you can.

Raining Red Peonies

Yes it is. Raining red peonies in Paragon, Orchard Road, Singapore. The ones on the fans look more like poppies. Anyway, red and gold are auspicious colours for the new year.

Jane's Playful Cats

 

 

These are the newest patterns from Jane Eborall. Thank you so much Jane. Aren't they adorable? I love how the back legs are formed and the stretching is so life-like. I suppose you can pose them however you like during blocking. I added a yellow bead for the eye and a pink one for the nose. And in the second one I added double picots for the ears. I wanted them to be extra pointy.

Yellow Boxes

 

Tsuru has found more empty boxes to occupy. She especially likes the top smaller one. She curls up in it and can sleep for hours.

Love in a Mist #2 WIP

I had to try this again. Let's see if I can manage to complete at least a glass mat. This one is tatted in Lizbeth Size 40 Country Grape Dark #682. To answer your previous questions . . A glass mat seems to be a smaller version of a doily probably for a side table. Yes, I am apprehensive about blocking the mignonette stitches, each time it is washed.

Words of Wisdom

"Success is achieved once the horse arrives."

 "Happy growing up."

 

 

These are seeds which will hopefully germinate and the sayings may come true?

 

I needed help from a friend to translate these.

I sometimes wish I paid more attention to the short lived once-a-week Chinese lessons I received in school.

 

Windmills - 4 Sets

 

There are 4 sets in four shades although they may look quite similar. I have not decided what I am making or how it will be put together yet. Any suggestions?

Love in a Mist (MK#61)

This Mary Konior pattern comes in two sizes - Place Mat and Glass Mat. This is neither as it is one row short of being a glass mat. I have to stop here as I may not have enough thread to complete the next round. It is pretty, isn't it? Or do you prefer it like this? 

Honeycomb Cookies

Ladytats mentioned making rosettes for Christmas and I remembered that we have a smilar type of cookie. We call it honeycomb cookies. This particular one which I bought for the new year isn't as sweet as others and it has black sesame seeds incorporated into it. This is a once a year treat.

Happy Valentines 2013

 

 

This pattern is Netted Heart by the Tatting Goddess.
Tatted in Size 40 threads.
Measures 4 x 3.5 inches.
 

Remembering the Tatting Goddess

I was pondering which heart to tat for Valentines. I wanted to do one I had not done before. So, I chose this one.

This is Karey Solomon's Rays of Love Heart pattern found in Tatting Times May 2009. This booklet of Tatting Times was a gift from the Tatting Goddess Gina. Gina sent me a package full of goodies back in 2010.

After tatting this, I remembered that Gina had a pattern for a netted heart. I'm almost done tatting that and will post it tommorrow. This is my way of remembering Gina one year on.

Snake Temple

 

 

 

A snake temple in Penang which we visited some time back. I get squemish around snakes. I took these photos with the zoom lens so I did not have to go too near them. Maybe you would appreciate them more.

CNY Decor in Chinatown

 

I took this two weeks ago while I was in Chinatown buying some new year goodies. It is the year of the snake, just in case you are wondering what that was over the street.

Chinese New Year 2013

 

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Kueh Pie Tee Cups

 

 

Mom usually makes this with help from one other person. Dad would help pick up the cups from the oil and drain them. It is a two person job even with one dipping mould.

These flour cups are made one at a time by dipping a heated mould into a batter and deep fried. The trick is getting the oil at the correct temperature so the cups will not blister and it slips out of the mould with a little help of the bamboo chopstick. If the oil temperature is too low, the batter will stick to the mould.

A shredded vegetable (Yam bean/Chinese turnip, carrots, french beans) filling is placed inside the cup and served immediately with garlic chilli on the top. Link here for a previous post. The crunch from the flour cups and the warm vegetable makes a delicious snack. We will be having these for Chinese New Year lunch tomorrow.

Some years back, I got store bought kueh pie tee cups since it is so time consuming to make. Of course mom did not like them. So this year each one of us is tasked to make some. Mom made one recipe by herself, my sister made some with her son/daughter and I made them with Tsuru. Tsuru sits on the kitchen floor and watch while I slave over the stove. It can be a one person job but it is a little tedious. I think I took about 3 hours from making the batter to finishing all the cups for just one recipe of approximately 150 cups. Each cup is small - about 1 inch in size.

Tight Squeeze

 

 

She has a mind of her own. She chooses where she would like to squeeze into. This time it was a plastic basket measuring only 10 by 6 by 4 inches. I don't know how she manages it.

We were clearing some things, spring cleaning and she found a new place to sleep. When she does, she is obsessed with occupying the space fearing that it would be taken away or someone else (e.g. Umi) would take over.

Oxalis

 

 

This is Oxalis corniculata with yellow flowers. This photo was taken in a Singapore garden (not mine). I think I remember seeing this in mom's garden. Mom gave me the other one called purple shamrock. It is in my balcony but isn't presentable for a photo. Not yet!

Ellipse WIP

Row 5 of Ellipse is complete. It is now about 9.5 x 7 inches. Four more rows to go. This pattern by Janet Carroll is to measure 17 x 13 inches in Size 30 threads. I am using Size 40 threads so it should finish a little smaller than that. Just realised a mistake in the first round. Too late to correct it now.

Cat Notice Board

This was a gift from a friend who recently visited Taiwan. The shop she bought it from had all sorts of eco-friendly cat paraphernalia. I love what she got for me. A cat notice board with its own special pins. Thank you so much!

Windmills - 3 Sets

Three shades of green Olympus Size 40 threads. The three sets are not joined yet as I contemplate how to do this. Now all I need is to find more colours of the same type of threads. Hmm . . . might need to go to the thread shop soon.

Wanda's Christmas 2010 Snowflake

I saw this snowflake on Tela Magistrae / Michelle's blog and thought how beautiful it was. It is a pattern by Wanda Salmans.

So I whipped out my shuttle and wound some red thread and tatted it. It is quite large, about 5 inches across. Thank you Wanda for a very lovely snowflake pattern. You can find the free pattern on Wanda's Knotty Thoughts Pattern Page.

I was not pleased with the red coloured thread as it looked pretty vibrant on the ball but when tatted up it lost its vibrancy and looked almost dull.

Silhouette

A silhouette of AAA checking his messages while we wait at a restaurant. Do not tell him about this for if he found out, he would not be pleased. Perhaps he will never know as he never reads my blog posts anyway! I met him 30 years ago. Time has flown by so quickly.