Winter Hat

Actually finished this about a week or so ago, but it took awhile to find the time to post it #momlife

This was an interesting project since it was the first time I knitted for someone other than a toddler. Not only did my husband have a bigger head, but he has sharper eyes and was potentially going to wear this to somewhere that could be seen by his colleagues. The pressure to do well was real!

But, as high as the pressure was (real or self perceived), the project itself wasn’t that difficult and was actually very interesting. It also allowed me to practice a whole lot of knit and purl stitches and sewing the ends together.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with the end product. Unfortunately, we’ve now hit a warm spell so there’s been no need to wear it at all!

Loop de Loop

I found a random ball of blue yarn in my parents’ garage the other day, most likely some remnant from decades past. Figuring that no one would miss it, I decided to use it for my next project.

Technically, this would be my third project, since my idea of an infinity scarf hilariously failed the first time. I totally failed to take into account that in order for my daughter to wear it, she needed to be able to pull it over her head, and the circumference of one’s head is typically a lot bigger than the neck!

And even though this house yarn has the little nubbly bits, I decided to do a seed stitch to practice some more. No one can see if I screwed up the stitches anyway, but I didn’t drop any stitches at all!

Husband is now asking for a knitted hat, so stay tuned and pray for me!

Feeling pretty good about myself right now.

Two loops

New Craft!

After multiple false starts and questioning my sanity a lot, I finally made a presentable looking scarf for my daughter!

I got the idea and instructions from a website I came across but now can’t find anymore, but to whoever you are, thank you!

I’m so proud of myself…

100 Days

For my daughter’s 100 day celebration, we hosted a dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant.

Being from Hong Kong, we really would have preferred to celebrate the “full moon” (one month) rather than the 100 days that seems to be more common these days, but the timing really didn’t work out with the holidays (Christmas then New Year then Chinese New Year!), so…

In retrospect, the extra time also allowed me to fit into some of my old clothes again so I didn’t have to show up wearing stretchy yoga pants.

It also allowed me to recover some sort of “me”, at least to feel like myself enough to make a cake for my baby.

And I went all out.

Up to this point, I had never attempted a multi-layer cake or covered a cake in fondant because both were really intimidating tasks that left very little room for error. But for her, I was willing to try.

I also wanted an elegant yet girly look as opposed to my usual cartoonish designs, because, you know, in case I haven’t repeated myself enough, this was for my baby.

I think I did a pretty good job.

新年快樂 Happy Chinese New Year

Yay to good food, new clothes, and lucky money!  This is supposed to be my lucky year, so here’s hoping for continued good food (from my culinary adventures), more new clothes (due to a successful diet to counteract those successful culinary adventures), and stacks of lucky money (fortune cookie anyone?)!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Season’s Greetings

The stockings have been hung… Presents are wrapped… The tree is lit…

All that’s left is one last little thing…

Giffy Fun

Bye bye summer! Hello knee high leather boots and funky leggings!

(Ok, this was totally an excuse to show off)

*muah*

Unexpected visitors

With the constant good weather over the last two months, I’ve had lots of opportunity to go fishing in the nearby lakes.

I’m used to seeing the occasional doggy paddle from both children and dogs, but my most recent fishing expeditions have led to some really new and shocking scenes.

From Browning Lake, Squamish:

sssssnakesssss

From Lafarge Lake, Coquitlam:

I’m convinced Mr. Beaver’s the reason I didn’t catch anything.

From Brohm Lake, Squamish:

Trust me, you’re lucky to be seeing this

Yeah… sorry, I’m not in the habit of taking photos of naked men, and I’d like to keep this blog PG-13.

 

A final note: For all lake swimmers out there, I’m into fishing because it’s fun.  And it’s not fun when you dive into the water and splash around right next to where I’ve cast my line.  Not because you’ll have scared away all the fish, but because I have no control of water currents and such.  I use a very lightweight line and an invisible leader (according to the manufacturer), with minimal weights and a very sharp hook. The line is thin so that it flows with the current and moves my bait in a way that tricks fish into thinking there’s no line or hook.  

I really don’t want you to tangle yourself in my fishing line, or worse, hurt yourself because you swam into my fishing hook. I also figure that if you’re crazy enough to ignore my fishing rod pointing out towards the water (safe to presume there’s a line and hook extending into the water even if you can’t see it), you’re going to be nuts enough to blame me if you get hurt.

I do lots of research online before going to an area to fish, and I take care to fish only in areas far far away from anyone swimming in the water (if they were there before me). Wherever possible, I only fish in designated areas, but these aren’t always marked and everyone needs to use common sense as well as common courtesy.  

Doughing Crazy

On the heels of my sushi making party, I thought it would be nice to have a physical memory of the experience for myself.

Using the same type of Japanese modelling clay that I’ve worked with off and on over the past year, I made a plate of sushi for myself.  Unfortunately, Daiso didn’t carry a Japanese sushi plate that fit the number of sushi I made, so I had to delve into a bit of woodwork.

Ugh, definitely prefer working with clay.  It took longer to make a straight cut than rolling and gluing each individual “roe” to make the ikura nigri sushi.

My very own sushi combo

Mid-Summer Night’s Dinner

Lacking a bbq grill and a big enough deck to host a party, I decided to invite some friends over for a sushi making party at home 🙂

A lot of laughs, rice covered fingers, and mushy seaweed later:

Sushi entries

Six sushi rolls and one set of nigri sushi entered into the contest for “Best Looking Roll” (no point in tasting since we all had the same ingredients), with the top two winners presented with a little handmade non-perishable plate of sushi to commemorate their efforts.

I also made a few more dishes so that we wouldn’t get tired of eating just sushi, keeping within the Japanese theme, featuring Oyster Motoyaki, Yakisoba, Gyoza, Clams in Sake Broth, and Nasu Dengaku:

Dinner’s ready!

As well as dessert (which led to a very interesting discussion on whether this was Japanese or Taiwanese)…

Pudding or Purin?

Now to come up with ideas for the next theme night!