Sydney's Dress

Japanese collared/eyelet dress.

Now, that Wendy has received the dress I knit for Sydney, I can finally show it. The pattern was from the Japanese Baby's Knit book. I made the dress from Sirdar's Snuggly yarn in dusty lavender and white (again, you can't go wrong with machine washable soft yarn). Wendy likes the colors: purple and peach. You can't really tell from the picture, but there is a small eyelet pattern on the top of the collar, purple garter stitch rows, and a diamond 4 hole eyelet pattern. The dress bottom has a simple alternating 3 hole eyelet pattern. The plastic, shiny buttons are from a sewing shop in midtown. I think I was very ambitious that these baby knits would be easy and quick, since they're baby knits. But I didn't factor in the frogging (which I do in every project, I'm a perfectionist), and knitting on size 3 needles. Small needles always = long time.



Plus with this particular project, I had to learn to crochet. The edging on the collar is a 3 chain picot. Well, I can crochet, I just can't read crochet patterns, since I was taught by my grandmother when I was 2. I think it turned out pretty nice for a first time effort. The Basic Crochet & Knit book (above) has helped me with crochet patterns and reading graphical patterns. Yes, the picture on the cover scares me too.

I can't wait to see Sydney in the dress. Jon is breathing a huge sigh of relief, as I wrapped up these baby projects. Because, strangely enough, these projects made me think of babies :D

Mangia! Mangia!

First a shout out: Congratulations Wendy and Joe on your second child! I am so happy for you. Welcome to the world, lil' Sydney!


After many, many baby knits, I finally got back to my baby last week, the Marianne Cardigan. Here is the finished back. It is so soft (kidsilk haze=mohair + silk)! It is worth all the effort of frogging slippery, thin yarn. I have started studiously on the left front, which looked WAY too small for me. I was happy to read that I will be adding a ribbed border on the outside and then a crochet edge, that should make it more normal sized. I plan to make the cardigan short sleeved rather than mid-sleeved as shown in the pattern. It's awkward to put on a mid-sleeved cardigan, it always bunches up. I made the cardigan longer than specified (in the torso area). Despite my sporadic romps at the gym, I don't have flat abs. So I'm not going to flash them any time soon. Should I be alarmed that I used up 8o% of 1 ball of yarn for the back, when the whole pattern calls for 4 balls of yarn? Something doesn't seem to add up.



I also cooked every day last week. I indulged my husband and let him have Italian. I used the Silver Spoon recipe book. The photo is of the Chicken Ratatouille, which took a billion chopped vegetables (1 whole hour of cubing), frying chicken in a pan (oil is EVERYWHERE still) and waiting 2 hours for everything to cook. It was good, but not as good as I imagined. Much better was the Steak Pizzaiola. It tasted orgasmic, according to Jon. I'm lazier and grumpier this week, I blame PMS, so I haven't cooked yet. Jon claims it's nothing new, I am grumpy and lazy every day (hardy-har-har! let's see if you get Steak Pizzaiola anytime soon).

Surprise!

There were several nice surprises today. In the morning, Hubby decided to play hooky and spend time with me at home. (I hope his boss doesn't read my blog). Then a package from Takashimaya arrived, addressed to me.

The side view of the box (has a logo cutout).

The box slides out! Ohhhh the anticipation!

Inside are 2 bags of loose tea. One is Peach (it smells like heaven) and the other is Takashimaya Rose. They are either psychic and realized these were the 2 teas I was planning to buy. Or the saleswoman (when I signed up for their mailing list) had noted what I was browsing at the store. This gift prompted hubby to wonder aloud how much I had spent at the store. I didn't spend that much, REALLY! Needless to say, they have won a customer for life.

My friend Rosalynn dropped by today to give me my belated birthday present: an ice cream scooper and cute ice cream sandwich shapers. Now how did she know I didn't have an ice cream scooper and my favorite ice cream treat is indeed ice cream sandwiches. I think she and the people at Takashimaya are psychic. Next time I need to ask Rosalynn for some Lotto numbers.

Teddy!

So, I finished my knit teddy a while ago. I try to imagine their personalities and figure what type of faces, and clothes they would enjoy. I made pants for him from some firefly print fabric I found on Sewzanne's Fabrics. The green chinese clasp button is from Pearl River.

So now that I described part of the planning involved in making these stuffed animals, imagine my horror to hear the recipient's mother describe to me in full detail how her infant abhors stuffed animals (and all conventional toys), the night before I was supposed to give Teddy away. I begged hubby to let me to keep Teddy and purchase the lil' squirt a musical toy. But Jon told me that I should just give him away and hope for the best. So, I met up with Bing + Ming this Saturday for Dim Sum and gave Teddy to Marcus (their adorable 1 year old). They did not unwrap the present there, so I didn't see their reaction. Bing (the mom) left me a message that Marcus loved the toy and was holding him while drinking his milk. I didn't quite believe it, but it made me feel better. :)

日本の週末

Picture we took on the Shinkansen going to Kyoto, last November.

This past weekend was very Japanese themed. It started with my visit to Takashimaya, the Japanese Department store in Midtown on Friday. I went to the tea room in the basement and ate some crispy butter cookies, a pot of rose black tea and pannacotta (which tasted more like flan). I knew I shouldn't pay 4+ dollars for tea, when I have a gazillion teabags + loose leaf teas at home. In fact, I could open a tea shop! But, it was so pleasant. Later hubby and I went to buy some rabbit shaped, Yuzu flavored moon cakes at Minamoto Kitchoan, which was a present for my sister (and brother-in-law).

Jon, Cyn, Bernie and I had reservations for Bond Street (Sushi) on Saturday night. Jon had $150 gift certificate for them, as a reward from Amex. We of course ordered the Omakase (Chef's choices of special dishes). Jon chose the $100 Omakase. To our surprise, we all were forced to have the same Omakase, because when it is ordered it is ordered for the table. We had 6 courses including dessert. I really enjoyed the sushi dish and the dessert. I was not found of the soba dish, since it had red peppercorns that were very strong. All in all, I preferred Morimoto's to Bond St. But, I love that hubby was thoughtful enough to take us there.

On Sunday, we drove to Seton Hall University to view a Japanese Kabuki music/dance festival. Jon's aunt Eiko was helping out. Professional Japanese dancers and musicians were flown in from Japan and California. To my surprise Kabuki music reminded me a lot of Chinese Opera music, which I enjoy very much. The show was very informative and so much fun to watch. Jon said he found Kabuki music very calming. And he would want to research Noh music, where Kabuki originates from.

Happy Labor Day!

Hubby scored 2 free tickets to the US Open night game from an American Express membership promotion. We initially had hoped that Agassi or Roddick would be playing the day we went. But watching both play the day before on TV guaranteed they wouldn't be. We did get to see Serena Williams play Amelie Mauresmo. Even though we were in the nosebleed section and I am deathly afraid of heights, it was a lot of fun. I couldn't help noticing how muscular Serena was, I could see her muscle definition that high up! And I kept remarking to hubby (much to his annoyance) that I would DIE from fear if I showed up to play tennis and saw Serena across the net from me. She was a tank! In contrast Amelie was very thin and very graceful. I was rooting for Serena, and it was close, but she didn't win. After that game, we ran down to better seats as people foolishly left before the men's game. It was Hewitt vs. Gasquet, and though Hewitt was the favorite, Gasquet really hustled it. The game went on to 5 sets, as Gasquet took the 3rd and 4th set. I originally was rooting for Hewitt, but seeing the effort Gasquet was putting in, I was soon rooting for him. Too bad, he had muscle cramping issues and lost the final set. I was glad that I didn't have to go to work the next day, like my poor hubby did. The game ended at 1:15AM.

My sister threw her best friend, Mei a baby shower this labor day weekend in Rochester. I knitted her, a feather and fan vest from the Japanese Baby's Knit book and a pair of baby booties from Debbie Bliss' Baby Cashmerino.

I'm surprised it came out as well as it did, since I can't read Japanese and had to guesstimate a lot of things. The pom-poms were my own touch. I used Sirdar's Snuggly yarn in double knitting weight. It's a very popular baby knits yarn, because it's so soft and it's machine washable. After this project, reading graphical knitting charts is easy as pie!


The booties were cute, and really fun to watch take shape. The Cashmerino yarn wasn't as soft as I imagined it would be when it was knit up, though.