nano-ette and a JL “designer” mohair-sock! they are both gorgeous…!

This is one of the most amazing products, and designs, on earth. Like the VW Beetle, the Morris Minors, the 2G and 3G iPods, some of the Nokia’s of the late 1990s like the 8210, this is a “classic” design and will be much remembered, and revered in time to come.

I didn’t get excited when Apple launched the photo iPods. And I wasn’t terribly amused when the iPod Mini came out but this… this gorgeous, shiny, sophisticated zen-like design source of both aesthetic and aural pleasure… I couldn’t resist. And I’m glad I didn’t - it’s amazing what engineers can do these days with such small “packages”, and do it very well and beautifully.

Funny how the day after my thesis-disaster, God delivers this… One door closes and a nano appears…!

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Update on the state of my iTunes library: 106.06 GBs, 17156 songs/items, 56.6 days of continuous play!

Posted on October 8th, 2005 by jl
Filed under: knitting | 4 Comments »

I haven’t had much to say lately. I’ve been swamped under work due to pressure to make considerable progress on my research. Fortunately it is progressing although it is slow - on the one hand, I’m struggling with filling a lot of “minor” tedious gaps, on the other, I’m struggling with a big conceptual issue that is proving to be quite tricky… Anyway, you don’t want to hear about this.

In the middle of all this, I’ve taken time out here and there to knit - it’s one way of avoiding staring at the computer screen for too long, or reading far too much printed material. I finally completed this black/grey mohair scarf that I had started a few weeks earlier. It will be gifted to a friend who is presently living in Ayer’s Rock. It’s extra long (about 240cm, and about 20cm wide) because that’s what he wanted.

I’m now on to my next knitting project - an open sweater made of cotton blend - for the warm summer evenings that are slowly but surely upon us here in the Land of Oz. The pattern is taken out of this Family Circle book (borrowed from the local library). I’m just not too sure of the colour I’m using - shades of red/pink. It was the only decent colour available of a range of relatively affordable yarn (as it is going to be my first knitting project of “real” clothing, I didn’t want to spend too much on it). I hope to complete this in about two weeks. Pictures to follow…

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Note on pattern for scarf: it’s knitted largely with your basic garter stitch interspersed with 6 rows of the following that create the “holey”/lacy look: p1, [yo, p2tog until the end], purl the last stich. Cast-on an even number to begin the scarf. The scarf was made with 2 balls of yarn, each about 144 metres long.

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Note on price of yarn for you-know-who-you-are: I bought Lang Yarns “Filo” range - 60% cotton and 40% acrylic - at AUD1.49 a ball (Lincraft clearance sale). I needed 13 balls. Unfortunately, the yarn doesn’t seem to be on the manufacturer’s site.

Posted on October 2nd, 2005 by jl
Filed under: knitting | 6 Comments »

Someone help me… someone restrain me… someone please lock me up and never let me see light of day…

First the background: you would know that I picked up knitting at the end of June. What you don’t know is that I have a problem. I have an obsessive problem - I like to collect. At one point, it was academic books. At another it was cake decorating equipment. I’ve also gone through classical music CDs and cookbooks. You would also know of my “fascination” with digital music, i.e. MP3s (read this). Some might even argue that I am also collecting years of education!

I focus on one thing at a time and I colect, colect, colect… That explains my big collection of cookbooks, my cupboard of classical music CDs, my shelves of academic texts, my hard-disk fulls of MP3s etc. I have a problem. I have an obssesive compulsive disorder. Interestingly, I don’t have the same obssession with money or men…

Now… since I picked up knitting, I acquired another category of commodity to collect - knitting yarn. You should see my wardrobe right now - it’s filled with bags and bags and bags of yarn, especially since Lincraft went on a huge two-month long yarn clearance in July. I’m obssessed with them. With how beautiful they are. With their colours - especially the deep purples. And their texture. And how they feel against your skin… I wouldn’t tell you how much I’ve spent on yarn but I’ve got balls … errr… yes… running in the three digits!

Well… tonight, I discovered another source for yarn: evil eBay! I stumbled on an auction that was (then) ending in 13 minutes and after two bids, I won 10 balls of yarn made from kid mohair in a dark plum/purple colour!

On the back of that high, I had hoped to win two other auctions of yarn made from angora (to the uninitiated that means yarn made from rabbit fur) that was (then) closing in an hour. Unfortunately… or fortunately, I didn’t win the auctions (but it certainly wasn’t for want of trying!). I really shouldn’t be spending any more money on yarn, though the angora finally went at really reasonable (cheap?) prices - about AUD4 for a ball. I guess these things come and go… with any luck, I might win three auctions on my “watch list” that will end tomorrow morning at 10H! How’s that for incentive to wake up early and go into the office!

Posted on September 14th, 2005 by jl
Filed under: Life!, knitting | 9 Comments »

I thought I’d write about some “knitting action” I just got myself into. Some of you might find the experience/information useful.

A couple of weeks ago, I had stumbled upon, as you do on the internet, the Denise Knitting Needles. These are supposed to be the rolls royce of knitting needles in terms of versatility. So of course, I wanted a kit, despite the high initial cost (USD47 a kit) - but if you work it out, it’s quite cost effective in the long run considering how much it would cost to buy all the sets of needles that the Denise kit replicates. By the way, does anyone know how cheap/expensive are needles in Malaysia? What’s the range like?

After much online searching, calculating and comparing (I’m very assiduous like that), I decided it was most cost effective to shop from an online store in the US, Showers of Flowers. Yes, it’s cheaper, or at least no more expensive, to buy and ship knitting tools (and for that matter books) from the US even though they are available in Australia. It’s even more true if you are buying quite a bit. Additionally, Showers of Flowers was offering all first time customers a 10% discount if you sign up for their newsletter, something not to be scoffed at when you buy as much as I do!

So, I bought the Denise needles, some needle protectors, some stitch markers, and a (large) variety of double-pointed needles made of wood (from the Brittany Birch brand). I was very happy, both while shopping online and when the delivery was made since delivery took only ONE week from the US to Australia. I was surprised - I thought it would have taken longer. I placed my order on a Tuesday, they shipped it on a Friday and by Monday I had someone knocking on my door with a parcel!

So all in all - I was pleased.

There was another online store, the Yarn Market, that I had considered patronising but decided against because they wouldn’t give me a discount. Prices are otherwise comparable. However, the site is beautifully designed and they do have some nice things that Showers of Flowers didn’t have, e.g. the double-ended stitch holders made by the Japanese Clover brand.

In the middle of all this, I was also busy exploring eBay and looking at what knitting needles were on offer. Someone had put on sale a set of plastic circular needles starting at a very low price. For some irrational rationale, I put a bid on the circular needles that I wanted as well as a set of straight plastic needles that were cheap but I didn’t want as much. Of course, as luck and Murphy would have it, I lost the bid on the circular needles (that I really wanted) but won the bid on the straight needles (that I now no longer need)! Fortunately they were still cheap when I won the bid (about AUD2 a pair), and it was my first eBay bid so I felt magnanimous, but I would be very happy for someone to relieve me of them!

The needles I’m now having to buy via eBay are made by the Australian Birch Haberdashery & Craft company that incidentally has a store on Orchard Road in Singapore (see here). So those of you in Malaysia who travel to Singapore for your supplies, e.g. this one, might want to consider dropping by the store. If you do, tell me what it’s like!

Happy knitting!

Posted on September 1st, 2005 by jl
Filed under: knitting | 7 Comments »

I knitted a new scarf over the last two days. I bought a ball of Cleckheaton’s Studio yarn in colour #23 from Lincraft a couple of weeks ago and thought I’d make a scarf out of it as a practice and test for an upcoming knitting project.

The yarn is made from 50% mohair and 50% acrylic. I love the texture of mohair - it’s so soft and light on your skin. The scarf feels so luxurious. I used one whole ball for the scarf and it turned out to be almost 2 metres long.

However, I’m not sure I like the colour of this scarf. The yarn was dyed a mixture of olive, light green, dark brown and an orange-y brown which resulted in these alternate strips of colour as it was knitted. I’m quite happy with how the pattern of the scarf turned out, I’m just not too keen on the colour. I’m not really a fan of orange (it makes me slightly sick…) and I didn’t know it would show up so prominently in the finished product. I only bought the yarn because it was on sale at a very, very err.. good price.

What shall I do with it…??

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Note on pattern: I cast on 18 stitches and knitted it using only the garter-stitch with a pair of 12 mm needles. After every 10 rows, I added a yarn-over (yo) after every knit-stitch - these were released on the following row in order to get the extra long loops. I think the scarf would look more “dainty” if it was done in stocking-stitches. That’s the next thing to try with a ball of “nicer” coloured yarn!

p/s yes. i am obssessed with knitting at the moment…

Posted on August 21st, 2005 by jl
Filed under: Posts with Photos, knitting | 10 Comments »