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500 Grams of Yarn, 3 Days = 12 Feet

is equal to 2ftx12ft Starburst Table Runner.

Crochet pattern link: http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/starburst-table-runner

Yarn: Monaco 4-ply undyed

Hook size: 3mm

In the middle of doing this project, I realized that it was so stupid of me to say yes to this project. A major achilles heel of mine is that I always underestimate production time of projects.

A friend was looking for a 2ftx12ft table runner, which she would need in a week. No one replied to her.

I love making table runners, doilies, and those kind of stuff, and I had done an 8ft table runner within a week before. So I was like, WHY NOT?!? What’s 4 more feet right???

So without much thinking, I volunteered myself to do it for her.

And, on the 2nd day of doing it, I already felt like banging my head on the wall for saying yes to her. It was just so stupid of me, and tad irresponsible because it might not really be doable and she would end up with nothing for her client.

Anyhow, a hooker never backed out from a fight so I just sucked it up.

And, WOW I MADE IT!!!

My stat was that I could do 2X4feet in a day straight hooking; I just took a break to eat and a little stretching. It was really like a 5-7 work. It kinda remove the happiness of crocheting, but the thrill of being able to make it made up for it. That sounds that I have a masochist in me. 😂

Anyhow, THANKFUL for this! 🙂

2018 Crochet-spiration from KPOP

I’m a comebacking KPOP fan because the daughter discovered BTS 2 years ago. So lately KPOP- related videos has been ruling my youtube timeline.

Yesterday, I came across Girl’s Generation “Why So Lonely” music video. This is probably an old song already because Girls Generation disbanded already. And, I was “WOW” when I saw that the members are wearing crocheted outfit. (Anyhow, this is probably the third KPOP video or drama that I saw actors wearing / doing crochet / knit related. There was even an old music video where Sandara Park or Dara was knitting. I’ll look it up again.)

The cooler thing about it is that their outfits are practically doable to make. I made screenshots of some of the scenes of the music video for “color references” and inspiration. 🙂

Made in Vietnam: Ballet-Neck Tee

Crochet Tee Pattern: Ballet-Neck Tee by Linda Skuya
Links to Pattern: Ravelry > Vogue Knitting Magazine
Yarn: Cotton (No brand but this is quite a common yarn in Vietnam, see here >>.)
Hook: 4mm Clover
Not blocked.

Did I lose my interest in crocheting already? I don’t buy impulsively yarns and other crochet-related items now, which is a good thing. And, generally, I’m just less hooked to my hook and yarns. So lately, it really takes a lot longer time to finish a project.

And, this Ballet-Neck Tee is a testament of how I’m so slow right now in crocheting now. I started this in September during Hanoi trip. I was hoping to get it done for a friend’s birthday but nada.

Then, I got the chance to go back to Vietnam again, this time in Da Nang. I thought it’s cool to have this project started, and then be finished in Vietnam too.

Vietnam has really this pretty coffee places.

Da Nang is pretty. It kinda feels like Cebu 15-20 years ago. But I love more the food scene of Hanoi though; but Da Nang food can be more familiar because seafood is abundant.

Thankfully, I got it done. I probably need to be on a trip to finish a crochet project; if this is the case, my next project will be done after 48 years. @.@

Crochet Wedding Accessories: Arras Pouch & Bride Garter

I had the chance to do wedding accessories for my friends’ wedding, who I consider more of my “bebes.” They were just small pieces but I was just so happy. =)

So these were the items:

Drawstring / Purse for Wedding Coins / Arras

I wanted to embellish the drawstring for the wedding arras with 4-leaf clover as a good luck to the couple. I used MyPicot’s Crochet Shamrock stitch but I modified it to make it 4-leaf. You can find the pattern here >>.

This was made from Sugar Free Fiber Arts’ Mountain of Light Soft Diamond. I added green sewing thread to the “4-leaf clover” part to make them more visible.

Bride / Wedding Garter

At first, I wanted to make a lacy garter. But I was having a hard time finding a lacy but on the fierce side kind of design because I just cannot see Jean, the bride, as that “lacy girly” kind of girl. So I ditched the lacy idea, and made a “Wonder Woman” themed wedding garter. Any how, if it would not suit the bride’s taste, it would really not make a disaster of their wedding. =)

I used Monaco mercerized cotton thread for the wedding garter. For the pattern of this Super Woman wedding bridal garter, I based it from a Wonder Woman beanie / hat which I found from stellabella_crochet’s instagram.

Expectation:

Vlogger @keihlasmom (check out her videos here >>) trying the wedding garter. This is how it’s supposed to be worn.

Reality:

Somehow, they did not get the memo. =)

Doily

I originally made this doily as the arras purse. But I made another one, the one above, because it’s a bit hard to convert it to a drawstring. I just gave it to them; in case, they need something as backdrop for their wedding rings or whatnot.

I used the Sugar Free Fiber Arts’ Mountain of Light Soft Diamond for this too.

Twinning Socks

The 1st twinning project I made for I and the husband was a crocheted beanie which we used when we went to Baguio/Sagada. He wore it one time for photo, and never use it again. 😑

This time, I made twinning knitted socks, which we could use twinning in Sapa. And, he wore it… one time for photo purposes again.

It’s my fault though. The other pair is smaller than the other one because I thought of making it a bit smaller for a tighter fit. I think I have to redo it.

It can also be because I used another needle brand for the other pair. I bought a generic brand because I was not sure if knitting needles can be hand-carried inside the plane. So just in case it would be confiscated on the final check-in, it’s not hard to let go of the needle.

So yes, knitting needles like this aluminum or stainless steel(?) can be hand-carried.

Requested stolen shot…
Knitted socks pattern: Rose City Rollers by Mara Catherine Bryner (I modified it though.)
Needle size: 2.25mm
Yarn: Katia Sock yarn (not sure with the specific name)

I was able to make 2 adult sizes of basic socks from the 1 skein of 100m yarn, and I still have a leftover which probably can make 1 small adult size. But I got 1 packet (5 skeins) of this same yarn color, and I think I might get bored making from the same color. So if anyone interested to buy this yarn, feel free to message. 🙂

MOANA: Just Wing It

This Moana costume made me feel like I’m somehow getting good at crochet. The thing is I’m by-the-book/pattern kind of crocheter; I totally envy when other crocheters can just do projects without any pattern. I usually got tongue-tied when I’d be asked to do this and that, and there’s no crochet pattern (most of the time, when people saw you hold a hook and yarn or crochet a hat; they would then automatically think that you can do any thing like gowns and such.😂).

Though on the other hand, I’m proud of my pattern-reading skills; I can, most of the time, read written or graph. I do enjoy interpreting patterns though; I get a high when I would get a designer’s train of “thought;” it’s like having a glimpse into someone’s head. Once you get their “style” of writing a pattern, it’s like you “get” each other without saying a word.

This Moana costume is the first biggest crochet project that I had to wing out without following a pattern. And, it got me more “anxious” because I’m making it for another human, cute ball of human. 🙂

Anyhow, I’m proud of what I came up (though I’m not sure how it would end up with the recipient.). There are a lot of things I want to change on it after looking at the finished item; but I’m still happy to see that “wow, I wing that out!” 🙂

So thank you to the mom who asked me to do this! 🙂 It feels like I’m the one who recieve a gift, more than you. 🙂

PS. I should really watch Moana soon.

Month 3

Quick update. This Saturday will be our dressmaking class assessment, which I just want to get over with because it’s interfering with my crochet career. Chos!

Honestly, I’m not so happy with how I perform in my dressmaking class. I did not give much effort to it; I was such a mediocre. Chos #2! I was probably more absent than being present at the class. Just getting by is the just the worst way to waste time. I might as well just really waste by doing totally nothing than pretending to be “doing something.” Owkei, let me end my whining here.

So the past week, I have not hold a hook and yarn that much as I’m trying to put my energy on my dressmaking class (I will blog more about it on a separate post.). But I actually just end up watching nonsense clips of Bigbang (KPop) in youtube. #huhubels My daughter’s so into BTS, and she reminds me of my Bigbang moments, and there’s just too much funny and cute and random videos of Bigbang now on youtube so there.

Anyhow, I’m now in Month 3 of Khalista Andrea. I promised her mom that I’ll make her those costume props for that monthly shooting.

I made a “soccer themed” outfit because her dad, my cousin, was a soccer varsity back in high school and college. Hope he can go back to it.

I bought a soccer hat and diaper cover pattern but ditch the whole thing, and just wing it on my own. And looking at my finished project, I CRINGE!!! The soccer hat more looks like a black and white mushroom in Super Mario. I’ll try harder in my 4th month.

This was also my first time to use Gantsilyo Guru’s Dapper Dreamer Stardust, it’s a mix of cotton, silk, acrylic (maybe I should post a reaction/review of it.).

This is really not a quick update! 😂

BAD JOB

Have you give up on a project when you feel like it’s not going right? Is it easy for you throw in the towel?!?

So I’m blogging to let my steam out. I’m so frustrated, disappointed of a very bad job I made of my current project (but I can label it now as ex-project because I’m totally giving up.) .

Expectation:

Reality:

This is actually a relatively easy pattern; and I guess that’s what making me more frustrated because it’s supposed to be easy. But maybe it was not. (I have a twisted perception of easy and not.)

What made me more frustrated because I need to wear it today, later at 3pm for a wedding where I’m going to walk down rhe aisle as secondary sponsor! 😭😭😭

I caught this mistake a day ago, but I thought I could just wing it out by trying to make up with stitches here and there. I was trying to correct a mistake by another mistake. Unfortunately, it ends up a total disaster.

Back

Here are details of this if you want to make it:

Pattern: Seaside Dress by Moon Eldridge
Yarn: Dazzle from Sugarfree
Crochet hook size: 3.5

This is relatively easy pattern. My mistake was (and is always my weakness) that I did not thoroughly read the pattern instructions. This is a seamless pattern BUT There was supposed to be a “TURN” in every row, but what I did was continouosly work in circle / around. Before this, there were already other mistakes. But this mistake could not be easily detected unless you made quite a length of job already. And if you have limited time, frogging could not be an option; all I can do is cry-cry and whine!!!😭😭😭

(It’s not obvious in the earlier part.)

On the bright side, the journey of this bad job was not really bad. It gave me company in SG last week… ( Please watch out for my SG yarn shop hopping in my upcoming blogpost.😊)

…and it ticked off my 1st-world bucketlist: to have a crochet photo in a train. 😂

But I just have to cut the journey short as it no longer makes me happy.

On the other thought, maybe I could pull it off and pretend I’m boho chic. 😂 TOO MUCH EXPECTATION again! 😂

Hooker’s Life in Baguio, Philippines

The weather in my beautiful island in the Pacific, Cebu, is so crazy hot. For a tropical island dweller to complain about the hot weather, it is really burning hot… that I can’t help but keep thinking about Baguio.

Let me make a throwback to my first ever trip to the summer capital of the Philippains to hopefully bring in some coldness to this island.

We’d been wanting to go way further up to the Northern Luzon but long bus rides and the bus accident of Tado made me always put Baguio trip down at the bottom of “bucket list” (which I don’t really have one.). Then came crochet, and the idea of seeing Baguio yarns in its original place bumped it up to top of the list. =)

The first thing that I saw when we landed in Baguio was the “Baguio broom.” I got so excited to see my favorite broom, Baguio broom, in its original place! It’s like visiting a friend in his place; I feel so giddy!

I really prepared for this trip. I made a twinning beanie cat for me and the husband, and a sort-of poncho for me in orange shades, my favorite color. And, it was a big mistake so…

PROTIP #1

Please do not ever wear a beanie and a top / poncho / jacket in orange colors; and wear them all at the same time, unless you want to look like a traffic cone.

PROTIP #2

Traffic-cone fashion or whatever, me no care!

We arrived in Baguio so early in the morning so we just roam around the Burnham Park.

The famous strawberry taho. I was not really crazy over it though.

HANGAR MARKET

The most important thing on that trip was the trip to HANGAR MARKET because YARNS and COFFEE.

YARNS

Honestly, I was kind of disappointed in the yarn department. I think I just did not know my way around that I did not find much that interest me but nevertheless I still ended up with a lot.

The most yarns I found there at that time were the acrylic: the indophil and lanalon. I think the guy in the photo was spinning indophil. I was not able to buy much acrylic because I still had quite a stash at that time. The kilo there (at that time) was P350/kg.

I have not seen much classic straight cotton. They’re probably always sold out, or I did not know my way around.

The other abundant yarns I saw were the Baguio Cotton Kulot / Curly, which was sold at P150/kg. I was not really interested in getting them but these lady has a lot of interesting colors that I ended up with 6 kilos, which was a very wrong decision because I had to ship it in advance via 2GO because we still need to go to Sagada after Baguio. I cannot be lugging around 6kilos of baggage with me. (The prices from online resellers of these yarns can be high but it’s really more practical getting it from them.)

COFFEE

I love coffee. It makes crocheting less lonely; it makes every thing less lonely. =) This was located down below the yarns floor.

Hangar Market is an interesting place. I really wanted to roam around the market but husband was already grumpy carrying the yarns.

HOOKING

We stayed in a Japanese-owned backpacker kind of place, Tala. It was located beside Cafe Yagam, a homey kind of restaurant somewhere in the Mines View area. And, there’s really a big difference when you crochet in a cold weather, compared when you’re in a beach under a blaring hot sun.

It just feels cosy.

BLOGGERPOSE / TREK

And, the rest of what I did in Baguio was #bloggerpose. =)

Morning walk to Mines View Park. Cold-weather really makes trekking and walking and roaming romantic.

Coffee Harvest Tour. It was timely that the place we’re staying, where an NGO about coffee farmers was based, was organizing a coffee farm tour. We were the few Filipinos in a group of Japanese, Koreans, Taiwanese, Chinese.

Baguio has a lot of foreigners, mostly Asian, studying ESL so it’s common to see them around.

The coffee farm was located in Tublay, Benguet.

This woman had a unique baby carrier.

Posing with the women coffee farmers! #girlboss

#Selfie with the coffee cherries.

USA VISA-free trip. I’m in USA… property! =)

We went to Camp John Hay, and trek the Yellow Trail from a friend’s recommendation. Going around the trail, you would find a signage “PROPERTY of USA.” So yeah, that was my first trip to USA… property! =)

And, to culminate our trip to USA property, we had breakfast at a diner. It’s really my wish to eat in a diner, like those in American movies kind of diner.