Sent and Received

Just one quick line to the Spring Blooming Purse/Tote Swap: it's nice, it's exciting but somehow I didn't feel as excited as I did in the Fall Purse/Tote Swap I attended last year for many reasons. First of all, my life is different now. I'm no longer do research to procrastinate myself from crocheting. Now it's the other way around: I would be extremely happy just to have one day to crochet, to take my mind off numbers, statistics, data, values, discussions,... With all those said, I don't really have lots of time to make anything nice or enjoy making it anymore. Hence my bag was born in haste. Quality vs. quantity, the age old discussion, again is reigning over me. Number 2, many unfortunate events happened to me during the course of the swap. Therefore I was not a happy camper either. Number 3, I wanted to participate in the swap very badly, but it ended in bad time when I was so loaded with exams that I didn't feel anything at all.

With all said and done, I was happy with the bag I did for Juli nevertheless. That was the bag that I would like to receive myself and I am proud of it. I used Wool of the Andes Bulky in "mauve" from Knit Picks and Joann's Sensation Bellisimo. I particularly like Bellisimo as it has an interesting texture and the colors reminded me of cherry blossoms in DC.

The bag I made for Juli: mauve Knit Pick's Wool of the Andes Bulky and Joann's Bellisimo. This is my first knit/crochet bag ever. The mauve part was knitted while the "cherry blossom" part was crocheted. Then I felted the bag and it came out smaller than I expected. Plus the cables I worked so hard on the front was mostly gone :(

The goodies (clockwise from left to right): Arnica hand lotion from Yves Rocher, Rooboise tea from Archer Farm, (back) Prince of Fire by Daniel Silva, The Book of Books, and a notebook, (middle) 2 skeins of LB Boucle yarn, Bellisimo yarn, (front) felted crochet hook holder, and bath salt in Orange Verbena.

Juli sent me a booga bag she made from Brown Sheep yarn (must be a lot of yarn as the bag is very sturdy). She also sent a variety of tea, one small bag of coffee, 5 hand made stitch markers, one ball of cotton yarn, and the pattern for Booga bag.

Thanks Juli for your kindness. You've been a wonderful partner! I just wished I was not so busy to enjoy the whole experience.

OMG!

I haven't been blogging here for a while. Apparently I am now procrastinating myself from crocheting/knitting to do my research. There were days that I didn't even have energy to make a stitch although the inside of me wanted to grab that hook really bad. Now all I want to do is to have some "me" time to knit, to crochet, to feel the yarn slipping through my fingers. Simple wish but sometimes I just can't do.

I finished the bag for the Spring tote/purse swap already. It turned out like nothing I sketched out but has a very "down-to-earth" look. I used Knitpicks and Bellissimo from Joann's and they looked wonderful together. The Bellissimo has funky texture but its color reminded me of cherry blossoms in DC somehow. I felted once today but the washing machine in the laundry room didn't have hot water => blimey! So right now it looks somewhat Abecrombie and Fitch-y but I believe some couple of washes will do it right.

Right now since the tote is not a finished product, I can't post any pictures. But I will, after my swap partner Juli receives it first. So stay tuned!

Holiday Gift Exchange Package

Fiona,

First of all, I need to learn a lot from Fiona: how much can you stuff into a flat rate box? I always thought to myself that I did such a good job stuffing the flat rate box last time but compared to what Fiona did to me =>


Let me describe to you what Fiona sent me:

6 skeins of Bernat crochet yarn in Neapolitan shades.
1 skein of yellow yarn from China (wool yarn I suspect)
1 skein of pink yarn also from China
1 skein of Fleisher yarn (71% wool, 29% rayon)
Bernat pattern booklet
Some very nice leaflets
Crochet today! magazine first issue
A stocking from granny squares. She's so creative!
A flower pin that's so pretty
3 lipsticks, 1 lipliner, 1 eyeshadow panel, 1 blush panel, 1 nail polish => make me feel like a princess
a hook carrying case from JoAnn's (I'll preserve it for knitting needles if I decide to knit)
a Tinkerbell diary
a Pocky chocolate stick thingy (she probably bought in China or Hong Kong, I used to eat those when I was a kid ), a bag of licorice, a bar of crunchies, and a bar of cookie and twix (will force my roommate to "help" me finishing them )
2 shot glasses: one from Arizona, one from Japan (very cute ones indeed!)
one cocoa classic mix, one cider mix
and last but not least, one bag of flower embellishment.

She also included a handmade card with such cute notes! Fiona, you're such a crafty and clever person. I need to learn how you can stuff a flat rate box like that And thank you so so much for everything you sent me on this replacement box. I hope the first box will go back to you soon, otherwise you need to fill that PS 1510 form at your post office to get it back.

I hope I didn't miss anything. Thank you Fiona for spoiling me rotten I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season and let's keep in touch

Originally posted on 12/19/06 in Crochetville

My Second Swap: Halloween!

I was very happy today and didn't know why, just felt elated... that's all! There's a cute guy in my class who kept on talking to me and looked at me when I didn't look at him. He's cute though, so there's nothing wrong about that. I've been quiet in class, just get in, listen, and get out as soon as the class finishes (don't have parking permit mah, don't run then get a $20 ticket ah ) I don't know if it was my perfume or my raging hormone that turned his head

Came home and I saw a biggish parcel in my mailbox. My Halloween swap package finally arrived . I lugged the box upstair, wondering what my swap partner Danni made for me
And then when I opened, I found an afghan! When signing for the swap, I thought of receiving an afghan but the mod said it would be a lot of work. Then I replied that I would want something more appropriate (ie smaller). But Danni, she had to go all the way to fullfil my dream of receiving an afghan. I was flabergasted for a while and my nose started to feel tingling. I was about to cry!

She is so awesome: besides the afghan, she sent me 2 crochet magazines, a box of Godiva chocolate, a pair of warmest and softest socks ever, 2 skleins of Sugar and cream yarn, some envelope and stationary seals, a booklet of Monet cards, and her handwritten note. I was so touched! The best part is Tallahassee just got cold last night and today I am equipped with all the wonderful and cozy stuff Danni sent me

I swear this is better than love!

Originally posted on October 24, 2006

My First Swap

I have to say I'm addicted to crochet. Everytime I have that I don't invest on my research, I find myself with a hook in my right hand and some yarn in my left hand. Sometimes I'm wondering why I am so enthusiastic in my hobby, not my career?

As I already told you guys, I am now a villager of the ubercool Crochetville which entitles me to swap meets and random act of kindness. Swap meets are events where two (or more) villagers (those who have more than 40 posts) can exchange their crochet products and some extra goodies. And random act of kindness is like having a fairy godmother granting you everything in your wishlist. How cool is that?!

Anyhoo, I became a villager just in time to join the Fall Purse/Tote Swap and had tons of fun. My partner AJ in Wisconsin wanted to have a tote bag so I made her one in chocolate. I used my inspiration from a Chanel bag but it didn't turn out much Chanel as of ChaDao The fun part of the swap was when I tore my head out trying to figure out what she would like. It's like mind-reading I'm telling ya. The wonderful thing about AJ is she's very good in communicating via email so I didn't loose all my hair (see my last post for evidence hehe)

Some pics from Dao's camp:



The lovely tote by itself. It has those very nice orage bows on the side, a charm saying "Make a Wish", and beaded handles. The yarn is the same with those I used on my Choxie bag. Since it behaved very well on my Choxie, I decided to give it another go on this tote.


My camera couldn't get the words engraved in the charm. It said "Make a Wish"


Me in my pj holding the bag. Just for the purpose of scaling



I stole this pic straight from AJ's blog since I didn't have a pic of the tote and the goodies. The goodies include (bottom up, left to right): Nestle hot chocolate, Celestial Seasonings "Honey Lemon Gingsen Green Tea", Martha White strawberry cheesecake muffin mix, a magazine, pumpkin spice candle, beaded necklace, stencil, magnetic fridge note, and a pair of earrings.

I purposely chose the necklace and earrings to match the tote (as my nephew Phillip always said "Women are all about matching!"). I found those two in a tiny boutique in a very unexpected place: near an elementary school! I bet they are handmade (but not from mine).

Here are what AJ gave me. She's very kind to send me such a big box full of fun stuff. I didn't expect so many things in one box!


Everything in the box. She wrapped them very carefully, not like me stuffing everything in that USPS box.


Everything came out of the box. She gave me 2 skeins of yarn from Bernat Softee Chunky. How did she know they're my favorites? Another great mind-reader I guess!


The lovely bag by itself. She couldn't find a crochet pattern to her liking so she knitted me that one. AJ can both knit and crochet! How talented!


She gave me a fan, a crocheted breast cancer pin, and a bookmark (the heart thingie). I especially like the fan since it's supposed to bring good luck (Chinese feng sui or whatever it is). The nice thing about it is my grandma had one, mom has one, and now I have one Someone probably inherited grandma's sandalwood fan already. I'm sure mom still keeps her somewhere in her closet. And now I have mine.

Probably 10 years from today I can tell my kids not to play with mommy's fan because it's precious hehehe


This lady is very nice: she burned 2 CDs full of soothing music for me, gave me 2 crochet pattern booklets, and made me a placemat.


And besides, she gave me candles, bath gel, chocolate and hazelnut tea, and a perfumed sachet. My roomate and I are sharing the candles, placemat, and tea. The rest are mine, mine, mine!

I didn't know swapping can be so much fun when I entered the fall purse/tote swap. However, I came out having fun making and receiving stuff, and know one person in the forum.

To conclude, I consider myself lucky!

Originally posted on September 15th, 2006