Reading - The Devil wears Prada

The Devil wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger



Charmingly unfashionable Andrea Sachs, upon graduating from Brown, finds herself in this precarious position: she's an assistant to the most revered-and hated-woman in fashion, Runway editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly. The self-described "biggest fashion loser to ever hit the scene," Andy takes the job hoping to land at the New Yorker after a year. As the "lowest-paid-but-most-highly-perked assistant in the free world," she soon learns her Nine West loafers won't cut it-everyone wears Jimmy Choos or Manolos-and that the four years she spent memorizing poems and examining prose will not help her in her new role of "finding, fetching, or faxing" whatever the diabolical Miranda wants, immediately. Life is pretty grim for Andy, but Weisberger, whose stint as Anna Wintour's assistant at Vogue couldn't possibly have anything to do with the novel's inspiration, infuses the narrative with plenty of dead-on assessments of fashion's frivolity and realistic, funny portrayals of life as a peon. Andy's mishaps will undoubtedly elicit laughter from readers, and the story's even got a virtuous little moral at its heart.

Reading - Memories of My Melanchoy Whores

Memories of My Melanchoy Whores by
Memories of My Melanchoy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez



"The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin." So begins Memories of My Melancholy Whores.

The girl is 14 and works all day in a factory attaching buttons in order to provide for her family. Rosa gives her a combination of bromide and valerian to drink to calm her nerves, and when the prospective lover arrives, she is sound asleep. Now the story really begins. The nonagenarian is not a sex-starved adventurer; he is a tender voyeur. Throughout his 90th year, he continues to meet the girl and watch her sleep. He says, "This was something new for me. I was ignorant of the arts of seduction and had always chosen my brides for a night at random, more for their price than their charms, and we had made love without love, half-dressed most of the time and always in the dark, so we could imagine ourselves as better than we were ... That night I discovered the improbably pleasure of contemplating the body of a sleeping woman without the urgencies of desire or the obstacles of modesty."

Reading - For One More Day

For One More Day by Mitch Albom



Charlie's been drunk so often and disappointed his daughter so many times that she doesn't invite him to her wedding. He even fails at his suicide. Or does he? When his deceased mother returns to love him unconditionally for one more day, he's not quite sure what's going on. The author reads his book with a deep, resonant voice that matches the sentimental sermonizing in the story. Albom's narration singsongs as Charlie reflects on his mother's past support, his own failings, and the events of a confusing present in which he relishes his mother's care and sees his own life clearly for the first time.

A Crocheted Christmas Tree

Wish you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Reading - Selling the Wheel

Selling the Wheel by Jeff Cox and Howard Stevens



A fledgling old-time entrepreneur named Max who invents the wheel but can't get anybody to buy one. With marketing assistance from his wife ("In the olden days," Cox explains, "women almost always did the marketing"), and guidance from a cave-dwelling wise man, Max ultimately succeeds with help from four distinctly different types of salespeople, dubbed Closer, Wizard, Builder, and Captain. While this may sound silly when taken out of context, the story is entertaining and, more important, filled with sound tips that could help sales professionals and their managers deal with varying evolutionary phases of any product or service.

A bestselling business books that employ engaging fictional tales to advance a slew of practical suggestions.

Reading - Shopaholic & Baby

Shopaholic & Baby by sophie Kinsella



Kinsella's follow-up to Shopaholic & Sister(2004) finds the irrepressible Becky expecting her first child with her dashing husband, Luke. Naturally, there's shopping to be done: Becky is determined that her child will be as stylish as a baby can be. That includes having the best obstetrician, so when Becky learns about Venetia Carter, who caters to models and movie stars, she's determined to get herself into Venetia's practice. She succeeds, only to discover to her dismay that the stunning Venetia dated Luke in college and may still be carrying a torch for him. Becky will go to any length to keep her husband, whether it be intercepting text messages from Venetia in Latin or hiring a private detective to trail Luke and learn whether or not he has actually been unfaithful to her, rendering marriage over before it has really begun.

A-line Jacket Modelling

Dadadada.... It is finally finished. I like the colour very much that it has a strong winter feel.




Spec :
pattern : just take Kim Hargreaves's Wispy as reference and make some changes on it
yarn : Mondial's Delicata Baby (Italy)
material : 100% pure new wool merino
usage : 8 x 50g (each at 215m length)
needle : 3.5mm






I must tell you, this kind of a-line jacket is very popular at this winter at HK. When my friend first look at this, she said to me : " I want one, please knit one for me." Then we right away rush to my favour yarn shop to pick up yarn and discuss the design at a food court. This is how this jacket is produced.

I used 3.5mm needles, which is larger than the yarn label (suggested 2.5-3mm needle), to knit the seed stitches for my friend likes the soft feeling. I have first tried the 3mm needle, the outcome is a little bit tight between seed stitches that the back piece is ripped and reknit.

For the collar and the front border, reverse stockinette stitch is knitted. But it seems that there is no big difference from the body's seed stitches.

For the buttonhole, I take the "6 stitch One-Row Buttonhole" method as printed in IKwinter2006. This is my first time to make such a large buttonhole for an oversized button (the diameter is about 1-1.25 inch) is used.

All progress of this jacket, please tick here.

Reading - The Alchemist

I haven't posted any in my blog for I am fully stained in my friend's A-line jacket. The time is really flied away so quick that when a few rows are knitted per day. May be I am a slow knitter. The jacket is finally finished. But the photos, are in my friend's camera, will be posted when I collect them.

Since I am busy in knitting, I still read.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho


The charming tale of Santiago, a shepherd boy, who dreams of seeing the world, is compelling in its own right, but gains resonance through the many lessons Santiago learns during his adventures. So he's off: leaving Spain to literally follow his dream. He journeys from Spain to Morocco in search of worldly success, and eventually to Egypt, where a fateful encounter with an alchemist brings him at last to self-understanding and spiritual enlightenment.

Along the way he meets many spiritual messengers, who come in unassuming forms such as a camel driver and a well-read Englishman. In one of the Englishman's books, Santiago first learns about the alchemists--men who believed that if a metal were heated for many years, it would free itself of all its individual properties, and what was left would be the "Soul of the World." Of course he does eventually meet an alchemist, and the ensuing student-teacher relationship clarifies much of the boy's misguided agenda, while also emboldening him to stay true to his dreams. "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night.

The story has the comic charm, dramatic tension and psychological intensity of a fairy tale, but it's full of specific wisdom as well, about becoming self-empowered, overcoming depression, and believing in dreams.

A-line Jacket (Half is finished)

The back, left front and one sleeve are finished, the other half is one the way.

Circle, Circle, Circle,...

I have a dinner gathering with my school mates from secondary school for one has travelled back to HK from Toronto for vacation. She will be leaving before Christmas, so I quickly crochet these cup mats for them as a Christmas gift. They are all very surprised and excited to receive these unexpected gifts. It is too bad that I forget to bring the camera to shot the scene that they are choosing their favour one.

Reading - Confessions of a Shopaholic

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella



Becky has what most 25 years old only dream of ; a flat in London's trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous sociality friends, and a closet brimming with the season's must-haves. The only trouble is, she can't actually afford it - not any of it.

Her job writing at Successful Saving Magazine not only bores her to rears, it doesn't pay much at all. Still, how can she resist that perfect pair of shoes ? Or the divine silk blouse in the window of that ultra-trendy boutique ?

But lately Becky's been chased by dismal letters from Visa and the Bank - letters with large red sums she can't bear to read - and they're getting ever harder to ignore. She tries cutting back; she even tries making more money. But not of her efforts succeeds. Her only consolation is to buy herself something ... just a little something ...

A-Line Jacket (The back)

I am now full-force knitting my friend HS's A-Line Jacket for the weather of Hong Kong is getting cooler. Hope that it can be finished and worn on-time. Now, the back side is finished.

You can see the drawn pattern diagram of this jacket, just guess how draws it ? Of course it is not me for I am not good at drawing. It is drawn by the owner (HS) of this jacket. When I first look at this drawing, I am quite surprised how clear and symmetric of this diagram. So, I ask her to draw another one as a template for my future use. Thanks for her at here.

Yarn Basket

Taking a break from my friend HS's A-line jacket, the belowed basket for the yarn is knitted, using my stash. Now, my yarn will not wander around the table or floor any more.

Reading - Shopaholic Abroad

Shopaholic Abroad by Sophie Kinsella
(also named Shopaholic Takes Manhattan)


When Becky moved to New York ! The Museum of Modern Art! The Guggenheim! The Metropolitan Opera House! And Becky does mean to go to them all. Honestly. It's just that it seems silly not to check out a few other famous places first. Like Saks, and Bloomingdales, and Barneys. And one of those fantastic sample sales where you can get a Prada dress for $10. Or was it $100? Is Becky too dazzled to care ?

A-Line Jacket

Thanks for all your suggests about the pattern of A-line jacket. This is for my friend HS and after discussed with her, we choose the "single mosses stitches pattern" for the whole jacket, so there will be no border for the neck, hem and the arm. For the sleeves, they will be about 2 inches above the wrist. This time, again, baby variegated yarn. I don't know why all my friends like to pick the baby variegated yarn, may be it is soft and easy to choose the colour. Oh, the yarn is 215m long per ball, it still has a long way to finish it.

Reading - Shopaholic & Sister

Shopaholic & Sister by Sophie Kinsella

I really love the books of Shopaholic series by Kinsella crazy. It always make me cried with laughter.



What's a round-the-world honeymoon if you can't buy the odd souvenir to ship back home ? Like the Chinese runs and twenty silk dressing gowns Becky found in Hong Kong .... the five kilim rugs from Turkey .... the splendid hand-carved dining table (and ten chairs) from Sri Lanka .... the, um, huge wooden giraffes from Malawi (that her husband Luke expressly forbade her to buy)...

Only now Becky and Luke have returned home to London and Luke is furious. Two truckloads of those souvenirs have cluttered up their usually immaculate loft, and the bills for them are outrageous. Becky's even maxed out on her second secret credit card, and she doesn't have a new job yet !

Luke insists she go on a budget. And worse : here beloved best friend Suze has found a new best friend while becky was away. Becky's feeling rather blue - when her parents deliver some incredible news. What is this ??? Read the book ....

Lacy Checks for vest

My friend-AM's vest is finished.
Let the Baby yarn tells you how it fits to an adult and not limited to baby only.







Pattern : just pick pattern from a stitches patterns book
Stitch pattern : lacy checks
Yarn : Mondial Baby (Italy) - 100% Pure New Wool Merino
Usage : 5 balls x 50g/200m
Needle : 2.75mm for the body, 3mm for the border

Nothing can be said for this vest, just a simple one. Let the pictures tell you .

Re my last post, want to start a A-line shape jacket and still searching the pattern. Any idea ???????

Can you suggest me more ?

Nowaday at Hong Kong, a A-line style jacket, in short length, is very popular at this Fall/winter. So my friends and me would like to have a knitted one. Somethings like Kim Hargreaves's design :



I would like to know are there anymore such design jacket that you can suggest to me, so that my friends and me can have a variety of choice ??????

Thanks.

Reading - The New Woman

The New Woman by Jon Hassler


At the age of eighty-eight, Agatha McGee has grudgingly moved out of her house on River Street and into the Sunset Senior Apartments. She’s not happy about giving up her independence, and Sunset Senior’s arts and crafts activities and weekly excursions to the Blue Sky Casino are hardly a consolation. Meanwhile two of her close friends pass away, her nephew Frederick is drifting into depression, and a kidnapped little girl has suddenly appeared on her doorstep, and a fellow resident has caught her eye.
Coping with the deaths of two close friends and trying to cheer up her depressed nephew Frederick, Agatha inadvertently starts a support group. Within weeks, the group has swelled to include most of Staggerford's citizens, who, along with Agatha, tell their stories and face their demons together.

With characteristic poise and dignity, Agatha takes on her problems and finds that the bonds of friendship and family are still the key to happiness at any age.

Reading - Shopaholic Ties the Knot

Once again by Sophie Kinsella - Shopaholic Ties the Knot



Another entertaining entry in Kinsella's unabashedly fluffy Shopaholic series.

Life could not get any better for Becky Bloomwood, she has managed to parlay her personal and professional passions into a dream job as a personal shopper at Barney's, and her wildly successful boyfriend, Luke live a life of relative peace and prosperity in Manhattan's West Village. Well, at least they would if Becky could manage to curb her extravagant spending habits a bit. They've even opened a joint bank account (although they can't quite agree on whether a Miu Miu skirt counts as a household expense).

Then Luke proposes - and all of a sudden life gets hectic. Becky's cozy mum wants her to get married in Oxshott (at London) and wear her old frilly wedding dress. Luke's frosty society mother wants to host a grand extravaganza at the New York Plaza, complete with woodland glade and the NY Philharmonic.

Two weddings on the same day. Becky knows she has to sit down and decide - but to be honest, it's a lot more fun tasting cake, trying on dresses and registering wedding presents. Time's ticking by, plans are being made both sides of the Atlantic and soon she realises she's in trouble ......

Reading - The Undomestic Goddess

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella



Samantha is a high-powered lawyer in London. She works all hours, has no home life, and cares only about getting a partnership. Until on day .... she makes a mistake. A mistake so huge it'll wreck her career.

She goes into meltdown, walks right out of the office, get on the first train she sees, and finds herself in the middle of nowhere. Asking for direction at a big, beautiful house, she is mistaken for the interviewee housekeeper and finds herself being offered the job. Samantha has no idea how to work the oven, battles with the washing machine... the ironing board... and attempts to cook a cordon-bleu dinner.. But maybe she's not as undomestic as she thought. Maybe, with some help, she can fake it?

Will her employers ever discover their housekeeper is actually a top-flight lawyer ? Will Samantha's old life ever catch up with her?

Baby Variegation Yarn

A baby yarn, but not for me or baby. Again, this is for my friend-AM. She picks this yarn by herself for knitting a vest. She loves this for it is soft, has baby feeling and thin (using 2.75mm needles).

It is very difficult for me to shot a picture to show off the yarn's variegate colour. When the back is finished, it will post again to see whether the colour can come out.

Reading - Nineteen Minute

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult



Peter Houghton, an alienated teen who has been bullied for years by the popular crowd, brings weapons to his high school in Sterling, N.H., one day and opens fire, killing 10 people. Flashbacks reveal how bullying caused Peter to retreat into a world of violent computer games. Alex Cormier, the judge assigned to Peter's case, tries to maintain her objectivity as she struggles to understand her daughter, Josie, one of the surviving witnesses of the shooting.

Modelling

Now, my friend HS is modelling her light yellow bolero. She is happy and likes it very much. Me too. How about you ?
You can click this for all the posts related to this bolero.






Yarn : Sea Queen Cotton Fine (Japanese yarn - lace weighting)
Quantity : 100% cotton
Usage : 7 x 25g/175m

This cotton yarn is very light, soft, very comfortable and suitable to wear under Hong Kong's Summer time.
As per her request, I add 5 buttons along the edge. And I crochet 2 transparency beads at each end of the string, hope you can see them in the picture.

Fuzzy Scarf

A fuzzy yarn, which is bought by my friend A's mother that she wants a scarf.







Yarn : Yarn bee (made in China)
Usage : 2 x 50g/72m
Needle : 6.0mm
Composition : 40% Acrylic, 30% Wool, 20% Mohair & 10% Polyester
Size : 6 " x 60"
You can see, there are 3 difference of thickness within a ball of yarn. Some are thin and some are thick. I have to try several sizes of needles to cope with these thickness. At last, it comes out very nice. Hope my friend's mother likes it, which can keep her warm during winter season.

My other friend's yellow bolero is finished. I will give it to her on this Saturday and post it later.

Reading - Vanishing Acts

Besides knitting, I also read.

Vanishing Acts by jodi Picoult.



On an ordinary day in smalltown New Hampshire, her beloved father, Andrew, is arrested for having kidnapped her, 28 years earlier, from the mother she long thought was dead. Why ?

The yellow bolero

Just some follow up of my friend HS's bolero.



After she has tried it, and due to the tension and size are quite difference with the pattern, I have reknit several times of the underarm to fit her. As per the pattern, I crochet 3 row patterns of the back's underarm instead of 1. At the front's underarm, 2 row pattern is added. I really alter at least 50% of the original pattern, always reknit, reknit, reknit, totally make me mad. But now, you see, it is quite nice and I am satisfied with it. I think this size will suit her and full force to knit the body.

Crocheting, but not for me

This is the bolero that my friend HS likes very much and the pattern is obtained from a Taiwan Yahoo blog. So this crocheting is for her. I am using a Japan cotton fine yarn, like lace weighting, which is very soft and light. At before, I don't like to crochet with cotton yarn for some bad experience, but now my mind is totally changed. This is my first time to crochet a top-down bolero starting with a round yoke.

Since the gauge is not the same as the pattern, I have used much time to test the tension and all the calculation. What you see from the picture is my second trial, hope this size will fit her. I will get her to try it before I go ahead.