Cross Granny Squares Table Cloth For Ikea PS 2012 Coffee Table

We were really happy that Ikea PS series came just in time when we were furnishing our home about starting of this year, since our home has a touch of industrial theme, metal furniture is a big welcome to our shopping list!

IKEA PS 2012 Coffee Table White

Half year has gone by and we thought maybe it's time we cover the surface of the table since the remote controls slide on it day in day out. As I was wondering what we should cover it with, the Cross Blanket by Pia Wallen came across my mind.

via Story North

 

This is my first time making multiple granny squares and combining them into a bigger piece. At first I thought I could make some black and white squares to form the cross but the design is too big for the a small piece and I'm a little too lazy to combine tiny squares together. In the end I created this Cross pattern in the middle of the granny square and I am really glad it came out right.

I used a total of 45 squares for the table cloth and some more rows to fill up the sides. The fitting were done as I crochet so there were a lot of undo-ing and redo-ing which was kind of texting near the end. It was so near yet so far. I also learnt my lesson to block the squares before I combine them as I had some trouble blocking the whole piece after combining them. It's all good now though. :)

I'm on the way to make an inverted version. Perhaps next time I will attempt a blanket or I might want to buy the Pia Wallen's Blanket! It is in my wishlist!

A little too early?

Hohoho~ A nice mug box from last year's Christmas, I should have punched some eyelets in it a long time ago to hold my yarns. I am glad I kept the box, I am trying hard not to hoard stuff so that it won't clutter up at home. I'm still at my table cloth project, 30 plus more granny squares more to go!

Finding comfort in crocheting

I hold my crochet hooks like pencil when I crochet, I've tried holding them like a knife but I couldn't get use to it. My fingers tend to be stiff and painful when I crochet a bigger project than those that I can finish in a day. I thought I should look into tools that will help ease my pain I get.

When I google for ergonomic crochet hooks, I've come across some hooks that are off nice and comfortable looking handles and I was at the verge of purchasing them until I dig deeper and read reviews... I guess these type of tools might not work for everyone, somehow it's like you either hate it or love it and I don't feel like paying now for something I might not like. So I google again for DIY ergonomic grips crochet hooks and I found some tutorials like this and this.

I purchased some pencil grabs from the stationary store (mine are scented. Now my hooks smell like mango as stated on the packaging but it just smell like something sweet. lol) I followed the tutorial from Instructables to increase the size of my hook with masking tape and then slip on the grip.

I tried it for a little bit, it does increase the grip comfort but it has gotten fat, so I have to get use to the grip size. I can't tell for now if it is ergonomically good for me until I crochet something for a long time and somehow I don't have any projects on my mind at this moment. ^^; So I'll review it some time later I guess.

Lavender Doily

Lavender doily, made it as a gift. I always enjoy making doilies but I only start doing proper blocking now to set the shape correctly. I used to iron my doilies when I first started and end up damaging them, then I just wash them and let them lay flat. I pinned this out and sprayed water on it to block it, it is so much easier to get the shape. :)

Black and White Ripple Curtain

Simple black and white ripple curtain for our bathroom :)

Momo Chan with new body

Some how I forgot to blog about Momo chan with her new Pure Neemo Flection body over the weekend. ^^;

With this body, she feels a little more matured, I guess it is due to all the curves that the body has which is what I like. :)

I did a quick crochet with all my left over linen thread for her in this body. :D It is shorter because that's all I had left. XD After playing with her sometime, her hair is getting a little wavy, I didn't tie her hair, not sure how the waves appear but I guess I might have to iron them straight soon. :)

When the time comes, I will work on the other Obitsu head that I had the hair implanted half way. ^^; Most likely also remove the old face I painted and paint a new face for her. ' U ' Then she can be on the obitsu body.

Momo chan gets new dress and accessories

A rare full body photo of Momo chan. :)

Even though she will be getting a new body soon and this dress will only fit this body, it is ok because the other body-less girl could use the body. :) After referencing online what is possible to create with crocheting for dolly fashion, I just went ahead to improvise as I go. I didn't record the stitches. ^^;

Instead of using the yarns I have, I turned to using sewing threads because they will be softer after I crochet them. I almost finished up my bobbin of 100% linen thread that I bought long ago, thinking that I could use it for packaging but I didn't use it much. Though the whole bobbin is awesome as a prop for photography. Hehe. I love the color and texture of it and it is soft enough after handling it a bit. 

Thick cotton sewing thread was used for the white trims, hat and shawl. It is really soft after crochet! <3 

Maybe I should make a pair of matching shoes for her too. Poor thing is bare footed. : p

Hat keeps her hair less messy and cute! XD

Aww this shawl is super soft! I love touching it. LoL Initially it was suppose to be a shawl plus cardigan but she didn't look good in it as a cardigan. So it just remains as a shawl.

Momo with messy hair! ^^ I like how the dress sticks to her body and is not bulky.

I also discovered another with great lighting to take pictures! The bathroom. XD There is a huge frosted window that defused the sunlight and white tiles bay window! It's an excellent place for me. Wahahaha

One of the Saturdays

Earlier today, it was quite warm with the blue sky and fluffy blue clouds, then the weather gets cooler as the sun sets. I had been crocheting with coasters for ourselves. :) The day ended with a lovely Tuna subway and Mr Bean's bean curd with Tāngyuán in it. Otama kun joined me during dinner. Hehe :D We also enjoyed the sun set together while Mr J went off to run his errand. :P

I had been watching Ghost Adventures while crocheting recently. At first I wasn't really impressed by how dramatic they are in the show but I managed to get used to it and I am at season 4 now. XD It's not something like Ghost Hunters (A fan for the show) but it is interesting because Ghost Adventures would introduce the places they visit, so I'm watching a travel/paranormal show and they are kind of funny too. Hehe

Tomorrow we will be going to Expo to look at some Furniture/Home show, hopefully we can learn some useful information at the show regarding renovation for our future home. :)

Colorful Pyramid Toys (Moved)

Tutorial has been moved to my new blog :) < Clicky

Quiet day

It had been a quiet and cooling day. Pinterest has been keeping me busy lately and the things that I can see there are really inspiring and interesting. :) Especially when there are a lot of DIY, Home and crafts. Whatever people pin there, I can get to the original source to read more about the topics.

I used to blog many years back, I posted random photos about my life and my friends. It was really fun back then, but as the years go by, I started to self-censor myself and finally decided to drop my blogs all together. I guess when I grew older, I want to have more privacy about my life. But I guess it is ok to share bits and pieces about my life and keep this as a diary of some sort.

Now that I want to get back blogging about what I enjoy doing and what I enjoyed with my family. I find it kind of hard to start writing about stuff as I haven't been really writing for years and I kind of forgot what I should write about. It is either I talk too little about something or I talk too much about something (like now). Haha

So please bear with my blogging style while I get use to it all over again. I don't want to bore anyone. :(

Yumie being a darling. Look at her bright eyes. ^^

After a few days, the last keyboard cover is finally completed. :D I am pleased with the colors I chose, gradients of blue can never go wrong. LOL XD According to J, my bro-in-law likes blue, so I gathered my blue scrap and new yarns to make this. After I finish this post, I will continue with my new crochet project before I go to bed. I am quite excited about this project and I will show what I am doing after I figure out the final outcome as I usually jinx stuff after I talk too much about it. XD

Good night.
E

Crochet Ripple Madness

We went out for a small shopping trip yesterday for some camera equipment for J and some yarn shopping for me. :D Then we head to Chinatown for a short photo walk to enjoy the lights in Chinatown before they remove all the Chinese new year decorations.

I had been crocheting covers for our keyboards. Our room tend to get dusty very easily and black keyboards do not help at all. A coat of dust will always be on J's keyboard after I had the window open during the daytime. If I don't use my keyboard for a day, there will be a coat too. XD


I completed his cover and mine. Now I am making the last one for my bro-in-law. :D I can't wait to finish it and go on to my next crochet project which is in the prototype stage, just did some testing today and there are some things that I have to change before I launch it. Hehe.


Some how I wish blogging on iPad can be easier. Safari couldn't load the posting page correctly and Blogger app is too primitive and small. :-\ But I am glad to be using the docking keyboard to type this. I still prefer to type with a real keyboard.

Random idea of our home

Louise relaxing on the ripples.

It is a rainy late afternoon. Recently I have been watching some episodes of Home Maker 2 on xin.msn.com :D Our future home will will ready at the end of the year and ideas for renovation are all helpful now. It is good to gain some ideas here and there so that we can understand a bit about the materials and styles.

Source: 30.media.tumblr.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Source: dashboard.bloglines.com via Megan on Pinterest

Pinterest and Dwelling Gawker are also awesome to gather ideas <3 I've gotten a lot of ideas for kitchen designs. We will most likely only have bottom kitchen cabinets and install some open shelves. ^^

Ripple Crochet

BaBaSheep came back with my darling from New Zealand. :)

I wanted to learn how to make wave/ripple crochet, so I Googled and found this cool pattern by Angie, it is call the Ripples of Happiness :D It is a graphic pattern so it helped me a lot since I am bad at reading alphabets patterns.

Ripple crochet looks intimidating to me but after reading the pattern it is actually very easy. It only involves very basic types of stitches. The wavy pattern makes the blanket looks more interesting.

I used a heavier yarn here, so it looks kind of chunky, I am wondering if I should switch back to the yarns I usually use but for now I'll just go with this. :)

I also found a nice YouTube video that shows how to hide the loose ends without knots. It is extremely useful with whatever crochet project I do. Good bye ugly knots. :D



It is the 7th day of Lunar New Year today also known as 人日. According to Chinese custom, it is actually the day when human beings were created. So Happy Birthday everyone! :D

Welcome to my blog

Hello everyone, I am E and here is another attempt to start blogging again. I hope that I can hang on to blogging again like I used to and record my crafting journey. I might also add in some photos of places I go with my better half and friends. : ) Bear with my writing though, not much of a writer. Hehe.

Lunar New Year is just a few days away and spring cleaning is one of the things to do during this period of time and today I decide to clean up my wardrobe. I came cross a few crafts that were made by recycling old t-shirts into yarn and making them into something. It's pretty cool so I decided to recycle my old t-shirt. :D

I saw this tutorial by Bailey K on making t-shirt yarn and it's really easy. I am planning to make a seat cushion cover out of this but turns out the ball of yarn wasn't enough. Haha I might need 1 or 2 more t-shirts to make a complete seat cushion cover.