Knitting has been very zenful and meditative for me lately.

So here is another hat I’ve made with my size 10 (US) 12″ circular bamboo knitting needles.  This knit hat is made with multicolor acrylic yarn for easy care.

I thought the color was cheerful and good for spring.  Note: for a warmer version, use a wool blend yarn and knit it longer.  This way it will cover the ear and can also be folded up.

Next on my knitting adventure:  a nice comfy shawl.  I found these free patterns from Vintage Knitting that I ‘d love to try.

The “Country Club” shawl.

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I’ve managed to accumulated several knitting needles and crochet needles recently. So I decided to make my own roll up needle case to organize them.

This project is really simple and fun to make. Just gather some good size scrap fabrics and make sure it will fit your needles. It’s really simple to make even without instructions. But I’ll write them out here just in case anyone is interested.

Instructions:

Cut out two rectangle fabric.  Make sure one of them is quilted to give your needles padding. I used quilted brocade in teal color.

Cut out 3 strips of fabric. With the bottom and top section being larger then the others.  You can also use pretty ribbons for this section.  As you can see here I’ve used a pink satin ribbon.

Before sewing the strips into the fabric, be sure to pin them so it will be straight.  After all the strips are sewn in, just decide how you want to divide them up.  You can always divide them equally, but I like mine to have various width for a snug fit.

Facing the wrong side fabrics together, sew the 2 larger rectangle fabrics.  Then turn it inside/out with the correct side out. Finish sewing the top section.

Last step is to sew on the ribbons for easy closure.  You do this by sewing it in the middle edge of the right side of the fabric.

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Thanks to B for offering me tips on knitting my first hat. B also suggested changing colors and adding a pom-pom to the top too. I didn’t get to that and just wanted to see how this hat would turn out first.

According to B, all you do is start off with a rectangular knit piece until you get the desired length and height. So no circular needles necessary! And when you get to the last row, just take the yarn and pull (cinch) it together. Then connect (sew or crochet) the back ends together to form a hat.

There’s really no pattern to my first hat. Just an attempt at experimenting with different knit stitches. I started the brim with a garter stitch, followed by lace knit, then double knitted. These are just knitting terms and still really new to me.

It’s more of a late winter/spring beanie knit hat that also looks like it had been crocheted. The lattice were formed by making large lace knit stitches to the hat. To cheer up the gray hat, I also added pink crocheted flower too. Overall I think it came out really cute.

It does stretch out and would fit small to medium head. Or maybe it would be a perfect fit for kids.

I love bamboo and I love all things made of bamboo.  The knitting needles I use are by Takumi and made in Japan, size 9.  Takumi means “craftsmanship” in Japanese.

I like that bamboo knitting needles are lightweight and have nice warm natural touch.  It’s not as slippery as working with aluminum needles.

I was also happy to find part bamboo yarns at Michael’s.  Yarn made in Turkey.  It’s made of 55% viscose from bamboo, 45% wool.

Cleaning instructions for future note:  hand wash gently in cold water; lay flat to dry.

I hope to use this yarn to knit a hat.  Maybe if I get really good I can knit more warm winter hats for my little nieces too.

I found an old scarf I had knitted about five years ago. It was surprisingly very warm and so I thought it would be great to knit another one again this winter.

Years ago, I was lucky to have B teach me the basic steps. But now I really can’t remember much of it. Thank goodness for Youtube I was able to refresh my memory. Even learned a great deal and am on my way to knitting more scarfs.

This stitch took me forever to figure out.  This pattern is called the stockenette and it’s a combination of knit and purl stitch.

These are the basic knitting methods:

- Cast on

- Bind off

- Knit Stitch

- Purl Stitch

I made my first ear warmers/headband using just the knit stitch.  It’s also called the garter stitch. I like that it’s chunky and feels very warm.  The yarn used is 100% acrylic for easy care and softness.

Growing up I didn’t have anyone in the family to teach me how to knit. Since my family is from tropical Asia, the idea of knitting warm clothing was really not necessary. But I still think it’s a craft that’s worth learning.

Knitting has become a way to relax for me.  It’s also neat to see that a ball of yarn has become something nice and practical.

The next thing I would love to learn how to knit is a cute cozy hat.

Introducing the “Chocolate & Sea Salt” handmade soap. It’s fresh off my curing rack.

Ingredients: Oils of coconut, palm, rice bran, and soy. Guava juice, sodium hydroxide, wheat germ and sunflower oil, cocoa powder, and fine Brazilian sea salt.

The guava juice smells fruity, but none of the scent made it to the final bar. So it’s a rather unscented bar with the slight chocolate scent from the cocoa powder. It’s the first time I’ve used guava juice instead of water or milk. Turned out to be a great bar of soap that my skin loved.

Notice the white speckles? They’re from the salt. Only the top portion has the chocolate and looks to be seeping. I’m starting to think it looks a bit creepy, so maybe that’s perfect for Halloween.

The cocoa powder is added because it’s rich in antioxidant and has natural moisturizing properties.

Brazilian Sea Salt. Photo from Amazon.

The salt (Brazilian sea salt) makes it a harder bar. When I was cutting the bar, the bottom edge tend to crack a bit. After several use, the edges smooth out on it’s own.

The salt in the soap also provides a relaxing and soothing effect on the skin. And instead of taking a messy salt scrub shower, why not just use a salt bar instead? Other popular salts being used in soap include Himalayan salt, Dead Sea salt and Hawaiian sea salt.

I love using the Himalayan Honeysuckle as I always feel much more refreshed after each shower. Maybe it’s something to do with the salt?

The only down side with a salt bar is that it doesn’t lather too well. To fix that, just use this soap with a bath sponge and it will produce loads of sud and foam.

So lather up!

I love linen clothing, especially during the summer months. Sadly it took me this long to finally make my first pair of linen pant.

The last time I made pants, they were corduroy fabric. I was trying to duplicate the pattern from another favorite pair of cords. But it didn’t turn out too well.

So this time around I got a real pattern. A pretty easy pattern by Simplicity, on sale at the craft store. Since I am not a good model, I will only share a photo of the top portion of the pant.

The material makes it light and comfortable, great for California’s September weather. Lucky for me, it was a perfect fit and I didn’t have to make any alterations.

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These are my new “Seabuckthorn & Green Tea Handmade Soaps”. Since I was having so much fun with hot process soaping, I decided to make these the same way.

You can usually tell if it’s hp soap by the little bubbles around the surface. This is noticeable even when I made sure to fill the mold all the way with soap. Hot process soap is tricky in that sense.

Ingredients: Olive oil, soybean oil, coconut oil, palm oil, distilled water, seabuckthorn oil, rice bran oil, green tea powder, and green tea melon fragrance. Because they are half circle bars, they fit well in the palm of my hands.

The last Seabuckthorn soap I made was was nice and I added lots of good ingredients. Including red palm oil, which gave it the deep golden color.

For this version, I just kept it simple. Except I also added green tea powder. Green tea is making it’s mark in many cosmetic products due to it’s benefits to skincare.

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I am looking forward to working with this pattern by Simplicity.  So far I have made a summer dress and shirts with patterns by Simplicity with very nice results.  They are easy to understand and sometimes can be done in a weekend, if not sooner.

Photo from Simplicity.  Misses & Miss Petite Dress, Jacket, Pants, Shorts and Tie Belt.  The pattern retails for $10, but I always get them on sale at the fabric shop for only $1. This year the price was increased to $2.

The pants require at least 2 1/2 yards of fabric.  And the jacket requires only 1 1/2.  Since I am loving linen at the moment, I am hoping to make both the jacket and pant with medium weight linen.

I am also loving bamboo fabrics too.  But I don’t know how it will hold up with the blouse pattern.  So I will stick with cotton.  In case I change my mind, there is an online fabric shop that has bamboo fabrics here.

Hope to post updates/reviews later. So stay tune!