Crafts: My 1st Crochet Project - Handphone Draw String Pouch

I am usually more into origami. Apart from folding using the common material, which is paper, to fold, I have also used other materials such as straw, toilet paper, etc.

Recently, I venture into a new field: Crochet.

My hubby gifted me my crochet materials recently (=
That really helped me to get started on crocheting.

I did very minimal research before making the purchase. I simply did a search and stumbled upon a webpage[1] which suggested that the fundamental crochet start kits are:

1. Crochet hooks
2. Scissors
3. Darning needle
4. Yarn

The reason behind my being able to do minimal research is because I have a dear friend cum ex-colleague, Marianne Tay-Eng. She has been crocheting for at least 10 years now. So, her advice is definitely useful.

Per her recommendation, I bought a set of crochet hooks that comes packed nicely in a pouch with a scissors, short ruler and 2 darning needles.

So far, I have completed my 1st project, which is a crochet handphone pouch with crochet buttons. After using the crochet hooks for this project, I must say that they are very comfortable to use. Ergonomic would be the best word to describe it. 

My sister confirmed my feelings about the crochet hooks when she commented that her hands were less strained using my crochet hooks (as opposed to hers that she got from Daiso). FYI, this is not a sponsored post and is purely based on my personal experience.

My project is a combination of 3 youtube video tutorials: For instructions on

1. crocheting simple handphone case (but I used one colour only)[2],
2. drawstrings and drawstrings holes[3], 
3. crochet button as decorative for the draw strings[4].

On the hindsight after completing my 1st project, I feel it might be good to have stitch marker. I will probably improvise and use any safety pins as stitch marker instead of buying those specially made for crochet purpose. 

Also, if I were able to make the choice again, I will choose to start with a light colour yarn. Basically, any yarn colour that makes it easy to see where the chains and stitches are. My 1st yarn was of navy colour *sigh*. My eyes hurt so much because I can't make up where the stitches are since it is so DARK *sigh* Definitely not beginner friendly!

Left over yarn wound on remote control

So my personal advice for crochet newbies like me: 

1. Get an ergonomic crochet hook
2. Get a yarn in lighter colour
3. Watch YouTube tutorials (on how to hold crochet hook, yarn, etc.)
4. Source for projects to practise, practise and practise~

Now, back to my next project: a puffy jacket for QW (=

References:

1. Crafts.tutsplus.com: Crochet fundamentals - The must have supplies for your crochet kit
2. YouTube: DIY learn how to crochet easy cell phone...
3. YouTube: Make a cute crochet phone case...
4. YouTube: How to crochet a button

Motherhood: Sharing Websites and FB Support Groups (Tips)

As a new mom, there is a lot to learn about our newest family member, QW. My gut feeling tells me that even as an experienced mom, learning will be on-going as every baby is an unique individual.

I find that information provided by the Internet can get pretty daunting and overwhelming. After a while, I fall into a pattern when I search for information.

Websites wise, tendency is to depend on

• Baby Center (USA)[1] or Baby Centre (UK)[2] for babies related materials (such as weekly development starting as early as foetus stage)
• Kellymom[3] for breastfeeding related materials

I have also shared these websites under my "Some Links" tab

Facebook groups wise, I find that each of them, those which I have joined, have their own quirks that trigger some learning to be done. Hence even observing general etiquette, I usually will observe the below self imposed rules especially if I join a closed group just to play safe (so that I don't get kick out of the group or attract undesired attention):

• Be a silent reader for at least a week - I find that I can observe the "silent rule" (if any) of the group through this method.
• Read all the group info files, especially the rules files (if any).

So far, some groups which I find useful are:

• Babywearing Singapore
• Breastfeeding Mums (open to ladies only)

Do note that there will always be those who make the experience within the group an unpleasant one. Just don't take it to heart or stress yourself over what you read.

Using the Breastfeeding Mums closed group as an example: There are some who will upload photos of their large breast milk output or breast milk stash. I believe they meant it as a source of motivation for us to work towards and not an intentional post for self glorification. But still, some mothers have commented before that those photos sort of stressed them out. So, do take care not to impose stress upon yourself!

Using the Babywearing Singapore closed group as an example: There are many who posted photos to seek advice on whether they wore their child correctly in the carriers of their choice. Well, not everyone will get it right at the first round. Hence, do not despair if there are comments which state what went wrong. Those comments are meant as a word of encouragement to improve on the carries, rather than pointing out your mistakes.

Also, there might be occasion that their response is slower than the Breastfeeding Mums closed group (perhaps because they have lesser members since it is a new budding group).

Yupz, so there you go. My little insights after visiting many websites and joining a few FB support groups. Hope it helps somehow (=

References:

1. Baby Center
2. Baby Centre
3. KellyMom

Motherhood: May 2015 Stash Shot

10 May is around the corner, 2nd Sunday of May. That means, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all mummies out there!!!

Now, for a quickie on my current stash shot:

Left to right, top to bottom (in chronological order):
FibrEssence Wovens[1] Shell Medley, Fidella[2] Persian Paisley Smoke, Little Frog[3] Sunny Agate II,
Didymos[4] Indio Aurora RS, Oscha[5] Tian Ma Clove RS, Yaro[6] Turtle Light-Blue

Anticlockwise direction:
Fidella Persian Paisley Smoke, Yaro Turtle Light-Blue, FibrEssence Wovens Shell Medley,
Little Frog Sunny Agate II, Oscha Tian Ma Clove RS, Didymos Indio Aurora RS

Top to bottom:
Oscha Tian Ma Clove RS, FibrEssence Wovens Shell Medley, Didymos Indio Aurora RS,
Yaro Turtle Light-Blue, Fidella Persian Paisley Smoke, Little Frog Sunny Agate II

The latest addition to the stash is Fidella. As promised in "Motherhood: My 1st Handwoven Baby Wrap". I will now share how it joined the stash... 

It is going to be quite a long "story"... So, you might want to grab yourself a cuppa and sit comfortably.

Now, let's start the "story" proper. Once upon the time, somewhere in Singapore, I was blessed with a Moms In Mind (MIM) RS and 2 DIY pouch slings by a close friend. Unfortunately, MIM's material was not grippy enough, too slippery in fact, and required countless retightening. It caused me to dislike RS at that point in time.

As for the pouch sling, I could never get the hang of it. It just does not tighten up properly for me to be hands-off. My bad. My pregnant brain was not able to absorb my friend's teaching on how to use the pouch sling. It made me hate babywearing. Till now, they are still sitting around somewhere in my wardrobe.

Back then, I was using ErgoBaby[7] most of the time if I ever babywear. But, Ergo is very bulky to bring out. It is so not compact that I can't stuff it into my diaper bag! Too warm to be strapped in it because it won't fit my diaper bag :( So totally not motivated to use it...

Then one day, I just did a random search in Facebook on babywearing. That was how I found and requested to join the Singapore Babywearing Group[8]. From then on, the group rekindled my love for babywearing after being redirected to the tutorials from Wrap You in Love[9].

I took the plunge and bought my first woven wrap, Yaro Light-Blue Turtle size 5 after reading positive reviews from her (and of course because Yaro was said to be more affordable). It came after 2 weeks of travelling from Europe.

Softness was what still attracted me to using Yaro at home. Strictly at home. As mentioned in "Motherhood: Personal Opinions of My Humble Carrier Collection - Apr 2015 Stash Shot", I am an OCD who cannot stand the idea of Yaro's overwhelming length sweeping the floor when I am out. Not very in love with woven wrap at that point in time still...

Next, I got Oscha Tian Ma Clove to commemorate QW's birth (she is born in the year of horse). Not exactly soft out of the box and a bit on the warmer side because of the hemp. Luckily, it was quite easy to break in. It became buttery soft and silky smooth pretty soon after a few wears. And so, that was the start of my falling in love with woven RS.

Following Oscha to join the stash was Didymos Indio Aurora. Its beauty caught my attention and Jars of Fluff[10] was organising a pre-ordering session in the babywearing group. Since I preferred RS at that point in time and it is a limited edition print, I got it so that I have a RS to interchange with whenever Oscha is being washed.

So, I was pretty convinced that I will be a RS girl all-the-way... That remained true until someone in the babywearing group asked about ways to keep their wraps so as to pass it on to their children. You know, like a hands-me-down kind of thing?

Legacy wrap... I like the sound of that. I wanted Tian Ma to be it. That was why I bought it in the first place. Hence, I followed that thread closely. Sadly, I found out that RS would not make good legacy wrap because the seams might be compromised over time. Woven wrap, on the other hand, had the possibility of being a legacy wrap. It was mentioned in the thread that there are some 20 year-old Didy in circulation still!

Being determined to share the benefits of babywearing with QW in future, I thought of trying out a shorty (size 1 to 3). Standing at 1.58m tall, size 3 (usually 3.2m) would probably be my maximum limit. How did I come up with this conclusion? Because I can imagine myself folding the wrap in half and managing 1.6m long of wrap in some sense by sticking it in between my legs, placing it on a chair or in my pocket as I set up the carry. I can imagine it being totally off-the-floor the whole time :)

So, I decided to give a shorty woven wrap a chance. This round, I had a better idea what I was looking for. I wanted a wrap that is toddler worthy (meaning can carry up to toddlerhood or even pre-school stage). A wrap that is easy to differentiate top from bottom rail (because I could not tell them apart with Yaro having the same colour throughout).

With those conditions, I narrowed down to Little Frog Agate. A shorty was indeed the right move. I fell deeply in love with babywearing all over again. Finally! So, it has been decided. My sweet spot is size 3. Period.

Now, I did mention before that 240 gsm Little Frog was still a bit warm, didn't I? Hence, I got attracted and bought Heartiness[11] Entho Blue which is 50% cotton and 50% linen. 2 main reasons for this purchase: 1. Linen = more cooling as many attest to; 2. It was selling at an affordable price which included shipping.

While waiting for Entho Blue, FibrEssence Wovens went on SALES!!! Massive 45% discount!!! I was already drooling over the Shell Medley and always wanted to try a handwoven. So so crazy over it that I would check FibrEssence Wovens facebook page everyday just to see if it was still around. So, the sales really was not helping me from falling into the rabbit hole!!! And of course you know what happened after that....

Now, finally we reach Fidella. Why Fidella? One of the reasons was SALES AGAIN!!! The babywearing group shared a discount code for it. HAHAHA, so totally not helping at all!!! Next reason, it comes with a bag =D

Bag of the same print =D

And the next reason, the top rail and bottom rail can be differentiated! What they did was to hem it in different direction (if you can picture what I meant). Such a genius!

Fidella on most right:
Top rail darker colour, bottom rail lighter

And I shall stop sharing the other reasons =P But, you get the idea... I think... hope...?

Well~ at least I am buying something that I would be using, using my own money, and have a chance of passing it on as a legacy. Justified. *Self assuring cum comforting mode on* *Hee hee*

Yupz, so now, I am waiting for Entho Blue to crawl here from USSR or Russia.

*Drumming my fingers impatiently*

References:

1. Facebook - FibrEssence Wovens
2. Fidella
3. Little Frog
4. Didymos
5. Oscha Slings
6. Slingo Mama - Yaro
7. ErgoBaby
8. Facebook - Babywearing Singapore (Closed Group)
9. Wrap You in Love
10. Jars of Fluff
11. Facebook - Heartines

Motherhood: My 1st Handwoven Baby Wrap

As mentioned in "Motherhood: Personal Opinions of My Humble Carrier Collection - Apr 2015 Stash Shot", I was waiting for my 1st handwoven from Fibressence Wovens[1]. Maria, the weaver, is located in Canada. Hence, Shell Medley (the wrap's name) took almost 2 weeks (sent on 16 Apr, received on 28 Apr) for it to travel here.

Shell Medley brown weft :)

About the weaver, Maria is very responsive and patient with me when I sent her private messages on Facebook prior to my purchase. I like it that she kept me updated once she posted Shell Medley out, and gave me the reference number so that I can have fun tracking it. After I received Shell Medley, Maria remained responsive and patient as I continue to bombard her with further questions. Really glad to have such nice weaver be the one who wove my 1st handwoven wrap :)

What is the first main difference between machine wovens and handwovens that struck me? I am not an expert in this field still, but superficially, the tail caught my attention. Machine wovens usually have tapered (slanted) tails, while handwovens are commonly blunt (straight) tails. Having said that, I did come across some handwovens with tapered tails.

From left to right:
Tapered tails on Fidella and Little Frog;
Blunt tails on FibrEssence Wovens

Another difference is the middle marker (MM). Though there are some weavers who sew tags with their company logo as MM just as machine wovens, MM of handwovens can be quite varied: tactile/blessing thread, weft change, pinstripes, etc. Ok, enough of the geekery and back to Shell Medley. The MM on Shell Medley is tactile thread.

Blue tactile thread

Some like it because it is subtle (like in this case). Others hate it because it can be hard to find. As for me, since many of the carries I like are off-centre, I quite like this MM because the colour really makes it pops.

Weighing at around 265 gsm, Shell Medley can be a bit warm to wear outdoor, especially if Mr. Sun is taking a stroll. The first time I worn it was when we brought QW to Marina Bay Sands (MBS) to watch her first musical, Beauty and the Beast. With the air-con blasting, Shell Medley is the perfect companion to be with. I guess this means that Shell Medley is following us to our upcoming New Zealand trip then ;)

Visibly fluffier (because of 265gsm?)

Shell Medley in poppins hip carry

In fact, I think QW was too comfortable in it that she was sleeping most of the time! Definitely loaded with sleepy dust!

Length wise, it is comparable to Little Frog. Exactly the kind of width I like :)

Oh ya, that's Fidella[2] on the right most. I will write on that in my next post "Motherhood: May 2015 Stash Shot". And ops, I did mention that I was waiting for Shell Medley and Heartiness[3] Entho Blue in "Motherhood: Personal Opinions of My Humble Carrier Collection - Apr 2015 Stash Shot". Errr... Entho Blue is not here yet. I will tell you more about why Fidella joined the stash in that next post too...

Back to Shell Medley again. It is a plain weave which I have been wanting to try after having tried jacquard loose weave (Yaro[4], Oscha[5] and Didymos[6]) and broken twill (Little Frog[7]). Personally, I like it though you would probably think that it does not look fanciful or impressive. I like that it is raw and natural enough for me to be able to track every wrap and weft. Really love how the horizontal pinstripes accentuate the deep seat created for QW.

As you can read, I am really loving Shell Medley at the moment. It has the right amount of grip, such that I do not need to keep readjusting. Very supportive even with single pass. Unlike little frog which gave me a shock for being stiff out of the box, Shell Medley is oh-so-soft and the most "blankety" among my collection :)

"Are there any cons?"  I hear you ask. Come to think of it, the selvedges are almost straight is the main cons I can think of. Other than that, probably just the fact that I cannot wrap as often as I would love to since the weather is usually hot and humid.

After trying plain weave, I wonder how heart, twill (undulating, straight, etc.), diamond, pebble weaves would feel... Hmm...

References:

1. Facebook - FibrEssence Wovens
2. Fidella
3. Facebook - Heartines
4. Slingo Mama - Yaro
5. Oscha Slings
6. Didymos
7. Little Frog