Thursday 31 October 2013

Halloween Treat for Tsuru


Tsuru knew that envelope was for her and pulled it down from a pile of mail on the table. What was it? It smelled good. She drooled all over it and licked a hole in the envelope.




Oh lovely packages . . . . what is in it? Can you guess?


Catnip toy from The Dots.
Tsuru went crazy.
Her first encounter with catnip.

Wednesday 30 October 2013

Mint Blue Edging Completed



Made it long enough for a lacy necklace. 
See earlier post for details.
Tatting is done but the necklace . . . . not yet.

Tuesday 29 October 2013

Public Housing



50 storeys with sky bridges and gardens on the 26th and 50th. This is the Pinnacle@Duxton near Chinatown, the tallest public housing building in Singapore.  I remember blogging about it here when it was under construction. Nothing like the public housing that I live in.

Sorry about the raindrops on the car window. Yes, photos from the car, on the move.


Monday 28 October 2013

Mary Konior's Butterfly


I have tatted this pattern before here. The shape of the butterfly is so appealing and they are all rings. I had some thread left from the hand towel edging so decided to tat a butterfly centre for the towel but changed my mind and decided to keep it simple for the towel. I made it into a bookmark instead.

Saturday 26 October 2013

Stawasz Collar I - Completed






I am quite pleased. This is a more neutral colour. It will look great with a light or dark background. Now I am thinking of adding beads to the next collar I tat. 

Friday 25 October 2013

Chendol



Green caterpillars on ice? 

No, its just chendol, another local dessert - Shaved ice with green pandan flour strands, gula Melaka (palm sugar), red beans and coconut cream. You could add additional ingredients e.g. glutinous rice etc. Read hereI like mine traditional and minimal. This particular one was ordered by MC who dislikes red beans (or beans of any sort) so just shaved ice with green caterpillars, coconut cream and gula Melaka, which will be poured on top.

Thursday 24 October 2013

FALL TIAS 2013 Completed

Piccadilly Express tatted by umintsuru 
When I wound shuttles for the TIAS, I hoped it would be enough to complete the TIAS as I had emptied this ball of Manuela Size 20 thread. It was the ball of thread I had learnt tatting with in 2006.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Fall TIAS and am grateful to Sherry for this wonderful pattern and hosting this Fall TIAS.

I think there will be more colourful 'Piccadilly Express' in the workshop.

Wednesday 23 October 2013

Afternoon Nap


Dreaming of a huge bowl of my favourite snack
Hmmm . . . chicken
crab stick
turkey
beef . . . yuck
cheese
salmon
cod . . . only in delicious gravy
tuna . . . yummy
seaweed
kueh bangkit . . . . from Melaka
pork floss
crispy sotong
Have I devoured every piece?
Hmmmm . . . yum!!

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Skipping Ropes (MK#63)


This is a Mary Konior pattern for a cute Milton Home hand towel. The skipping ropes pattern is all chains. Yes, it was a fun pattern and great to show off the colourway. Tatted in Lizbeth 40 Autumn Apple Pie #169.

Monday 21 October 2013

Penang Fried Koay Teow


Not a common occurrence in Singapore but we found this which we liked. When we get a craving, we just drive 30 mins and have a plate for brunch. 

Singapore's version of fried koay teow (flat rice noodles) is seasoned with a black sweet sauce which is quite different from this.

Saturday 19 October 2013

Elderberry Jam Schwenke Motif


Not done yet but isn't it a pretty triangular motif.
Tatted in Lizbeth 40 #177

Friday 18 October 2013

Stone Age

I am not exactly sure what this means. It could be a signature of the stone cutter and the number of stones he has cut. Does anyone have any idea?




Thursday 17 October 2013

Stawasz Collar I - WIP


This is shaping up nicely. 
Another work in progress. 
Tatted in Lizbeth Size 20 in Silver (#605). 

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Tatting on 'The Paradise'


The BBC drama 'The Paradise' has just aired on Singapore's Okto Channel (Friday 10pm). I have been following it. On the first episode, I caught a glimpse of tatting on Katherine's dress. It looked rather elegant.

Tuesday 15 October 2013

Edged Face Towel



This edging pattern is found on page 73 of Occhi Schiffchenspitze Frivolite by Marianne Langwieser and Tatiana Scharowa. It was fast to tat so I decided to edge this face towel with it. The towel was rounded at the edges so no corners. Now looking at it I wished I had used a yellow thread instead of this Size 20 Milford white.

I did not think of its usage. Would the tatted lace be too scratchy for the face? I know some mothers use it like a hanky for the kids. Will it work?

Monday 14 October 2013

Coolies


This is an installation near China Square Mall at Pickering Street. It wasn't there the last time I visited. 

It depicts life of Chinese coolies in Singapore in the early 1900s. Life was difficult then. More images here.

Saturday 12 October 2013

Fish Head Curry


I love papadams and fish head curry. Never cooked it myself. I would not know how to choose and buy a fresh fish head. In the curry there are eggplants and okras.

The other dish was a tauhu telur. It is a crispy deep fried egg omelette and deep fried tofu with blanched bean sprouts and julienned raw cucumber in a sweet sauce.

Friday 11 October 2013

Another WIP - Mint Blue Edging


This time it is a pattern from Susanne Schwenke. On page 18 of her Spitzen Kreationen book is a doily edging tatted in 2 rounds. I used the Daiso thread Size 40 in mint blue and currently in the middle of Round 2.


Tsuru is being so good as she did not once touch it. 

Thursday 10 October 2013

Bus Ride

On a rainy day, on my way to Chinatown.
After 1 hour on the bus, I was getting bored . . .
passed the old fire station . . .
took some quick shots.

Had to crop this one as there was a pickup truck in the foreground blocking the view.
It is no longer a fire station but the Civil Defence Heritage Gallery.
Never been inside though.

Wednesday 9 October 2013

TIAS 2013 Day 7


Posting Day 7's progress here.
It isn't too late to start.
by Sherry Pence.
What do you think it is?

Tuesday 8 October 2013

So Pho







This is the beef pho soup with rice noodles at Jurong East Mall / JEM. Not as good as the ones we had in Melbourne but good enough. I do love the decor of this restaurant especially the patchwork upholstered chairs and the canopy which resembled the waxed paper umbrellas.


Monday 7 October 2013

Pink & Burgundy Flower Edging



Another one from Occhi Schiffchenspitze Frivolite by Marianne Langwieser and Tatiana Scharowa on page 108. It is actually the last row of a collar pattern. I used Flora Size 20 in pink (#207) and burgundy (#222) to match the hand towel. Does it go well? 

I am not too happy with the scale of the pattern to the hand towel. Perhaps I should have used a size 40 thread. I really like the plush feel of this hand towel.

Saturday 5 October 2013

Ikebana Workshop II



After three demonstrations, the instructor showed us what we had to do. Based on the three lines with different lengths and angles, we had to do our own arrangement. Above photos are what the instructor did.



She had prepared a vase for each of us and we then chose our flowers. In just a few minutes, we had finished. She came around to check and adjust our lines and angles. Below are mine before adjustments. 





And viola . . . all done




Friday 4 October 2013

Ikebana Workshop I

It was a 2-hour workshop on a weekday evening. It started with a simple buffet dinner, then the ikebana instructor demonstrated with 3 arrangements. Ikebana means 'to give life' - I guess a second life after being cut from the plant. There is a lot of bending to form, weaving with pinning and wiring.

 

The first one is made with a white vase - cluster of cylinders. She first inserted the red twigs which were gently bent to form, two sprays of white lilies, the light green balloon cotton bush, yellow Oncidiums and finally some fish tail palm leaves.


Second is with an unusual bright turquoise vase. Large bird's nest fern leaves were added into a frog, followed by birds of paradise, purple gladiolus and Dracaena leaves.


The last arrangement started with a lovely frosted bamboo shaped vase with green willow twigs, a beautiful spray of Cymbidium orchid, baby's breath, pandanus and palm leaves.

Part II continues tomorrow.


Thursday 3 October 2013

Preferred Earrings

Remember this. Decided to do a giveaway for one pair of earrings and it goes to . . . .



This pink pair is yours if you like. 
Please send me your mailing address.


Wednesday 2 October 2013

Blue Sapphires and Green Emeralds

Remember the red rubies dessert? I had some water chestnuts left and decided to put my icing colours to good use and made these.