Happy New Year 2016

Happy New Year 2016!!!

This photo was taken in Queenstown, New Zealand last year - 26 Sep 2015. It felt as if we were there yesterday for our holiday~ But here we are~ we just ushered in 2016!!! Time really passes too fast!! 

Looking back, 2015 had been a pretty fruitful year indeed. 

Just listing a few:

- learnt to crochet (sweater, pants, bookmarks, hats, bags, etc.)

- did more freelance jobs (database, publishing, ...)

- QW went from crawling, to standing and now walking/running~

- visited NZ medical center for the 1st time *Opps! I promised to blogged about the trip last year! *

- learnt more about babywearing and tried my hands at being wraps tester

- hubs surprised me with my very 1st Raffles experience at Tiffin Room

and the list goes on... 

*Haa~ Yes~ I am attempting to VERY briefly and "1st minute" (not last minute since 2015 is history now *LOL*) document 2015's highlights*

I hope that 2016 will also be yet another enriching or more enriching year =)

Wishing all that 2016 will be a even better year than 2015 =) 

Once again, Happy 2016 =)

Crafts: Crochet Brim Hat

My crochet mentor introduced me to a pretty useful site with lots of free patterns (crochet, knitting, etc). It is Ravelry[1]. All you need to do to be able to download their patterns is to register/sign up an account with them. Signing up for an account is free as well ;)

This brim hat[2] is one of the free patterns which I downloaded from Ravelry :) I managed to finish within one night. Hence, I feel that this is a pretty easy pattern to follow. On top of that, it requires only a few materials - Just yarn, hook, stitch marker and darning needle.

I would consider this a good project for beginners. It would be even better if this project motivated a beginner to learn how to crochet the magic loop. That I feel is a pretty useful crochet skill.

Here is the model QW looking pleased with her new hat ;)

Front view

Side view

Initially, I had wanted a fancier border. Hence, I ended the project off with scallop/shell border:

But, I quickly reverted back to following the pattern as I faced a problem with this pattern. Without fabric stiffener, the brim droops down because this border was too heavy. Hence, I redid the the border and ended off with reverse stitch border as suggested by the pattern.

To end off this blog post, I would like to share a silly mistake which I made for this project :P *Haha~* Well, here it goes:

The pattern called for 4 mm crochet hook. And so, I picked up a hook with a big "4" and crocheted happily. After I crocheted the body and band, I paused as I wanted to see if it fits my model ;)

Well, that is when I realised that... the hat is TOO tiny!!! *LOL!* Take a look:

Do join me in laughing at this silly mistake which I had made!! *HAHAHA*

Wondering what went wrong, I finally took a good look at my crochet hook and saw this:

Have you realised what I finally figured out back then?
No? Take a look at this next photo:

Have you figured out the mistake which I had made? *Lol~*

Yes!!! I took the wrong sized hook *Hahaha!!!*
The "4" was a 2.50 mm hook!!!
I should have been using the "7" which is the 4 mm hook as suggested by the pattern!!!

Such a funny mistake I made (which cost me 1 more night of re-doing this hat)!

Ah well, it was an interesting lesson learnt :) *hah~*

References:
1. Ravelry
2. Ravelry - Ruffled Brim Sunhat

Crafts: Crochet Puffy Baby Sweater

It has been a while since I last blogged. Got a bit caught up with caring for QW because of her recent MMR vaccination shot.

And... also because I was concentrating on getting my 1st crochet sweater completed.

Here are some of the photos I took throughout the process:

When I 1st ran out of yarn

When I next ran out of yarn

Finally completed

I like this puffy baby sweater pattern[1] because the puff looks like heart shape :) I think that it is pretty sweet to have a heart shape pattern on a sweater :)

Before I sew the buttons on, we did a poll among our family members:

Buttons on the york only

Buttons throughout

As you can see, the version whereby she had the brightest smile won. We decided to go ahead with sewing 5 buttons on (even though the other version had more votes >_<)

Many gave feedback that the colour is a bit dull (or not bright enough) for young babies. Well, I think it didn't turn out that badly. At least, this colour probably won't get dirtied easily.

This project took me longer than the handphone pouch. Partly, it was because it was a much bigger scaled project than my 1st project: this one used almost 3 skeins of yarn, while handphone pouch did not even finished 1 skein of yarn.

Another reason was because I miscalculated the amount of yarn required. So, part of the time was "wasted" on going back and forth to purchase the yarns.

Now that this is completed, on with the next project :)

I am really falling in love with crocheting :) Pretty therapeutic~

Reference:
1. YouTube - How to Crochet a Baby Sweater by Anna Phelps

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