Lauri With Hat

Ini tingkah Lauri kalo lagi maen. Di foto ini dia lagi pake kaosku dan pake topi nya Bipa (alias grand-pa).

Kalo aku lagi melipat baju yang kering, biasanya aku suruh dia membantu. Nggak membantu yang repot-repot, cuma nyuruh dia ngambilin baju dan dikasihkan ke aku. Kalo aku udah selesai melipat satu baju, aku bilang : “Lauri” pasti dia cepetan ngambilin baju yang belon dilipat dari tumpukan. Tapi celakanya, kalo dia senang sama baju itu, dia pasti minta dipakaikan. Contohnya ya kayak di foto itu. Dia senang sama kaos merah ku. Akhirnya ya dipakai sama dia.

Pas Hari Raya kemarin, Lauri dan aku diajak James ke apartmentnya temen James (Andrew) dalam rangka kumpul-kumpul aja. Aku sama James udah kuatir aja kalo Lauri nakal. Apalagi di sana banyak barang barang kecil mudah pecah keleleran. Ini pertama kali nya sih aku sama James ke sana sejak Andrew pindah 3 tahun yang lalu.

Tapi ternyata Lauri lumayan nggak nakal. Pertama dia duduk di sofa anteng. Tapi mana bisa dia duduk diam diam lebih dari setengah jam. Tapi paling nggak kalo dia mulai mau megang barang, aku bilang NO, dia masih mau nurut. Jadi 3 jam di sana nggak ada barang pecah kok, hehehehehe. Ini pertama kali dia berkunjung ke rumah orang yang bukan family.

Cross-Stitch

My camera has not back yet. So, I can’t show my progress. I actually can use my handphone camera, but the result not so clear. So, better I wait until I got my camera back.

Since I don’t have camera to show photo, I used my scanner to scan these two cross stitch FO. Actually these are belong to my husband. He made them when he was 8 years old (I think). All these years, my mother in law still keep them. Now, she gave it to me and ask me to keep. Aren’t they precious.


The other day, I asked him whether he is interested to learn to knit. Too bad that he is not interested.

But, after more thinking, probably it’s a good thing he is not interested. Otherwise, he would ended up using my favourite needle or using my yarn. I think I let him stick to his golf.

Lauri's Hair

Rambutnya Lauri sudah lumayan panjang, ya? Biasanya kalo aku ajak dia pergi, pasti aku ikat pake karet. Kadang kuncir satu, kadang kuncir dua. Dia juga udah ngerti kalo mau jalan-jalan mesti ikat rambut dulu. Makanya, kalo dia liat aku salin, pasti dia tanya: “Kai kai? (maksudnya jalan-jalan dalam kantonese). Kalo aku bilang iya, dia bilang: “Mommy hair” maksudnya dia minta rambutnya untuk disisir dan diikat.

Akhir-akhir ini dia juga kalo habis bangun pagi, bisa nyanyi nyanyi sendiri. Kalimatnya sih nggak jelas, tapi ada nadanya. Kadang dia nyanyi: This Old Man atau Old McDonald has a Farm, atau kadang juga nyanyi Tammy.

Minggu kemarin dia ke Dokter untuk imunisasi. Berat dia sekarang 14.7 kg. Seperti biasa waktu disuntik nangis. Belon disuntik aja udah tau kalo bakal disuntik dan udah pasang muka mau nangis.

Next Project?

I am thinking to make this for my next project (after I have finished the current projects on hand hopefully).

Ivy from Knitty

The pattern called for Alpaca yarn. However, can you imagine wearing alpaca in this kind of climate? I don’t think so. I will be sweating like a pig. Or it will ended up in the closet.

So, I am thinking to substitute the yarn with cotton yarn. I bought cotton yarn from Elann. The yarn itself is very cheap, but the shipping cost is quite a fortune. I decided to ship using surface shipping, so it will quite sometimes before I got it (I need to finish the currect project anyway).

I choose this purple color (they call it Victorian Grape) because I want to match it with the necklace that my hubby bought for me recently.

My WIP news: it’s quite slow on my blue crocheted cardigan. This week I concentrated on my red knitted top. I almost finish the body part. Probably next week, I can start the sleeves. No picture because my camera is on repair. Need a month or so before I can get my camera back.

Mooncake Festival

Minggu lalu di dekat rumah ada pameran lantern dalam rangka menyambut Mid-Autumn Festival atau Mooncake Festival. Aku sama James bawa Lauri ke sana. Dapet lentera dari kertas, terus beberapa snack dari sponsor. Nggak lama di sana soalnya kebanyakan orang, jadi nggak isa relax.

Lauri was posing in front of one of the lantern. Very difficult to ask her to look at the camera as she kept looking at the lantern.

Habis dari sana kita ke Pizza Hut. Aduh, Lauri maunya makan sendiri. Padahal mangkuk, piringnya dari porselen. Aku takut kalo jatuh aja itu mangkuk. Tapi dilihat dari cara Lauri megang mangkuk sup, kayak dia udah ahli aja. Padahal ini pertama kalinya dia pegang itu mangkuk lho.

Lauri in Pizza HUT. This time she sat on the normal chair but she had no difficulty to reach food on the table

Hari Minggu yang lalu, Lauri diajak naik ferry dari mainland to Penang. Dia agak takut dan minta digendong terus, padahal biasanya dia minta jalan sendiri. Mungkin karena kapalnya goyang ato mungkin karena anginnya kenceng makanya dia takut.

Ride a ferry the first time. A bit afraid.

Film kartun favorit Lauri sekarang Shrek. Tiap kali aku mau nyetel TV pasti dia teriak: "Mommy Shrek". Kalo aku nyetel lainnya pasti dia protes: "Don’t want, don’t want this!" Terus kalo aku tanya: "Oh you want to see Shrek?" Dia jawab sambil ketawa: "OK, Shrek."

Terus dia juga paling hobby makan es batu. Kalo aku minum air pake es, pasti es nya diminta. Makanya aku sekarang menghindari minum pake es.

Finish the Back (of the Blue Crochet Cardigan)

I manage to finish the back of my blue crochet cardigan. I blocked it right away to make sure that everything is OK and the sizing is correct. The result? I love it. The drape, the softness, the stretch, everything. Knitting yarn is definitely softer than crochet yarn.

The shaping modification that I did also works well. This is the first time I modify the shaping. Normally, I am too lazy to do some modification. Afraid that if it’s not working, I have to rip the whole thing. However, I want this to be something that I will wear a lot and not something that only occupy my closet and never see sunlight, so I have to make sure it fit well on me.

By the way, the handphone on the photo was only to keep the book to stay open.

Lauri is 2-Years Old

Yesterday, Lauri was celebrating her second birthday. Time flew so fast.

Keeping in Touch

My friend A from Thailand (she has a very long name, so we are just called her A) just e-mail me saying that she is getting married next month. She was my class mate in US. Beside her, I still keep in touch with the other class mate. Sophie from China and May Ling from Taiwan. We were the only international student in the class. It happens that all of us are girls.

Thanks to the internet, we are still able to keep in touch.

My mother once told me that her grandfather, in order to get a better life, went back to China and left the pregnant wife and 4 childrens. The plan was, once he settled, he would pick them all. However, somehow there were no news from him EVER. Probably the ship sunk and he died. Another possibility was that he made it to China and somehow could not contact the wife, then got married and started a new life. There was no phone, no e-mail, no internet connection at that time.

The possibility that I might have relative that I never know make me freak out.

Anyway, the blue cardigan is making a nice progress. I almost reach the armpit decrease. Oh ya, before I forgot, here the pattern that I attempt to make:

The other day, when I am about to take this photo my battery is off, so I have to recharge my battery first. It’s from the same book as the white cardigan. However, the original pattern does not have shaping on the waist, so I made some modification there.

Bola

Lauri akhir akhir ini senang sama bola. Bola apa saja, kecil besar pokoknya bentuknya bulat. Padahal dulu pertama kali dibelikan bola dia nggak tertarik sama sekali. Sekarang dia paling seneng. Tidurpun maunya megang bola.

Nah yang untuk tidur ini aku pinjam bola golfnya James. Supaya dia bisa tidur sambil megang bola. Kalo bola biasa soalnya kegedean. Kalo bola golf khan enak, bisa digenggam sama dia.


Satu lagi, Lauri sekarang paling seneng makan es batu. Kalo aku minum air es, dia minta es batunya.

Daster yang dipake Lauri di atas adalah daster yang aku beli di Tunjungan Plaza pas pulang pertama kali sama Lauri. Cuma Rp 6000. Murah ya.

New Projects

Since I have finished my Kiri Shawl, I can start another project. I started not only 1 but 2 project at the same time. One is crochet and the other is knit project.

Let me describe the crochet first. Remember Lauri Cardigan? I love the Miami Four Season yarn, so I kind of wondering how it looks if I use it for crochet project. However, this yarn is kind of thick for crochet. For crochet I like to work with thin yarn/thread so the result not too bulky although it is time consuming to finish. When I was working with Four Season yarn, I found the yarn split a lot. It’s nine ply yarn. I experimenting with this yarn by splitting it by three (see the photo on the left side). Thus, I got 3-ply yarn. Just a nice thickness to crochet. I know…I know… I am crazy, but after crochet several row, I like the result. So, I will continue doing it. By the way, I am making cardigan again since I like the result on my white cardigan project and I wear it a lot.

As for the knitting project, I found this yarn on cheap sale. It’s Croft Nylon DK, 100% nylon, 20 gram each and made in England. The best part is each only cost me RM 0.80 or USD 0.22! Yup very cheap. After swatching using my 3.5 mm Addi needle, I found that it is too tight and bulky, so again I split the yarn (somehow splitting yarn become a habit). I plan to make a top using this yarn using a top-down knitting method. I don’t know how it looks like yet. Hopefully it will turn out nice.

Lauri in Toy-R-Us

Ini gaya Lauri kalo ke Toy-R-Us. Dia suka maen di sana, terutama ke bagian soft toys. Dia juga suka mencet mencet kalo ada tombolnya. Kalo pas dipencet keluar music dia pasti joged. Suatu ketika pas dia mainan ada anak lain (cowo dan kayaknya lebih tua dari Lauri) yang juga pengen dengan mainan itu. Tapi mainan yang dia pegang nggak bisa keluar musik (wong belon dipencet tombolnya). Berhubung maenan dia nggak bisa keluar music, dia ngrebut maenan yang dipegang Lauri. Sama Lauri dikasihkan, terus dia ambil maenan lainnya. Celakanya, mainan yang direbut ini setelah musicnya habis, dia nggak tahu cara mencet tombolnya lagi. Jadi dia berusaha ngrebut maenan yang lagi dipegang Lauri. Kali ini aku turun tangan dan Lauri aku gandeng pergi ke tempat lain jauh dari anak itu.


Lauri lagi senang senang nya belajar ngomong. Kalo dia nggak tau apa nama barang yang lagi dipegang, dia suka tanya. Caranya tanya: Dia pegang barang itu ato ditunjuk sambil ngomong: “This is ……..? (terus dia liat aku). Kalo aku bilang: Shoes, sama dia diulang lagi: This is shoes.

Suatu saat waktu aku nyetel filem cartoon Mulan untuk Lauri, dia tanya: This is….? Aku jawab Mulan. Nah seminggu kemudian waktu aku nyetel Mulan lagi, pas filem baru mulai adegan pertama tiba-tiba dia bilang: This is Mulan. Sampe aku kaget kok dia masih ingat kalo itu filem Mulan.

Lauri juga suka memperhatikan orang kali lagi pake sepatu. Terutama kalo James pake sepatu dia perhatikan. James khan sebelum pake kaos kaki, dia pake talcum powder (untuk kaki). Nah, suatu hari pas Lauri lagi mainan di lantai, James mau pergi dan pake sepatu. Pas James mau pake kaos kaki, sama Lauri bedaknya dikasihkan ke papa nya. Dia ingat kalo sebelum kaos kaki harus pake bedak duluan. Hehehehehehe.

My First Shawl

Finally my Kiri is DONE….or I decided that I got enough of it and done with it after 18 repeats. This was my first attempt of making shawl. I kind of like it. Although the beginning was very slow since I haven’t memorize the pattern yet and keep looking at the instruction.

Pattern: Kiri Shawl
Source: Here
Materials: 100% Cotton DMC Tradition Natural color (2 balls x 400 yards)
Needles: 3.75 mm Pony circular needle
Total Cost: RM 12.5 x 2 = RM25 or USD 6.75
Start Date: 29 July 2006
Finish Date: 14 Sep 2006

During the process of blocking, to my horror, I realized that the color of the shawl is different, I mean the shawl has 2 different shade of color. I checked my stash and I found out that the 10 balls of DMC that I got from e-bay has 2 different lot numbers and 5 balls has darker color compare to the other 5 balls. Just my luck that I picked up 2 different balls when I knitted this shawl. Now, I have 3 choices: unravel until the part when the color is different and continue with the matching color, dye the shawl with darker color, or leave it as it is and think the 2 tone color is on purpose.

From this above picture, you can see the 2 different shade colors

I tied the shawl on the back to get the shrug effect and freed my hand

Anyway, I saw this and this finished shawl and make me want to make another one. I was thinking to use the Sundara yarn. But, after checking out the price: WOW. That is too expensive for my pocket (not to mention have to add the shipping cost).

Lauri's Favourite Fruits

Kecil-kecil dia udah punya buah favourite lho. Dia paling doyan makan lengkeng. Kalo udah liat lengkeng wah dia langsung ketawa ketawa. Selain lengkeng dia juga seneng makan jeruk. Kalo udah liat jeruk, pasti dia minta: Orange...orange... want.....

Selain itu dia juga suka mangga. Dia bisa ngabisin mangga separo sekali makan. Kalo jeruk bisa habis satu biji. Kalo lengkeng aku batasin 5 ato 6 biji sekali makan. Soale khan takut panas.

Sekarang Lauri sukanya ngomong: WHY? Kalo aku nyuruh dia apa, selalu dijawab Why? Cara ngomong why juga kayak orang beneran tanya.

Di TV khan ada iklan "Miss World Vote For Me". Terus ada adegan salah satu peserta ngacungkan jari sambil bilang "Vote for Me!!". Lauri tiap kali liat iklan itu juga selalu ikutan teriak: Vote for Me!! sambil ngacungkan tangan juga.

Just my thought

Have you ever experienced that when you want to write something you ended up writing totally different thing? It happened to me on my previous entry.

After wrote that post, I still keep thinking about the past. How was the life in close community. When everybody knows everybody. They knows who did what and who bought what or who fighting with who. They all very busy body too. No such thing like mind your own business.

If you have big argument with your husband for example, you will find a bunch of people in front of your house looking at you. Yes really. I am not joking.

If you are a stranger and you happen to pass by, you can be assured that many eyes will following your step.

I just thinking, if you happen to live in this kind of neighborhood, probably you will finish your project faster. Otherwise, everybody start talking about it. Or at least you will think that way.

Eerrr, my kiri is not done yet. Here is the photo with a lifeline dangling. I need to put a lifeline as although I am a slow knitter, I am still capable to make mistake. I always count the stiches everytime I finish one row. Most of the time, my stiches was not add up. Managed to forgot the YO several times (OK, very often).

Safety Belt

Kadang-kadang kalo makan di coffe shop, baby chair nya kotor-kotor. Jadi daripada kena hand foot and mouth desease lagi, mending aku nggak pake baby chair.
Aku pake kursi biasa ditumpuk dua ato tiga, terus supaya Lauri nggak merosot jatuh, aku pake safety belt alias belt nya koper hehehehe.

No High Chair in Cofee Shop

Minggu ini Lauri rewel sekali. Makan nggak mau. Jadi tidurnya juga terganggu. Jam 5 ato 6 pagi bangun, minta susu. Terus celakanya nggak isa tidur lagi. Kayaknya dia perut sakit. Nggak tau salah makan apa. Kalo nggak perut sakit, pantatnya gatel. Jadi minta garuk. Dia frustasi nggak bisa garuk sendiri berhubung ada diaper. jadi akhirnya diapernya aku buka selama 30 menit. Lucunya begitu dia puas nggaruk, dia minta sendiri untuk dipasangi diaper lagi. Dia bilang: Diaper... diaper.....

Kemarin, dia top rewelnya. Nggak mau makan sesendok pun. Mungkin karena nggak senang sama makanannya. Akhirnya aku bikinkan Indoe Mie Goreng. Aku bikin 2 biji. Satu setengah porsi untuk aku, yang setengah untuk dia. Khusus untuk lauri cuma aku kasih kecap dan minyaknya aja. Bumbunya nggak aku kasih karena "high sodium content". Malamnya dia tidur pulas sampe 11 siang.

Pose The FOs

Per Doreen request to model the Anthropology Capelet, I updated my last post. Pls click here.
And as I was in the modelling mood and my hubby was around to take the picture, I also modelled my white crocheted cardigan. Please click here.

Another FO: Anthropologie-inspired capelet

I had these 2 balls of DMC Senso that my sister in law brought from US. I did not know what to do with it since it was only 2 balls. So, I made Anthropologie-inspired capelet. I know..I know…probably you are bored looking at it since everybody else already made this item. Actually this is intended for me, but I run out of yarn and could not make the body long enough. So, probably my daughter will end up wearing it and she still can grow into it since it is too big for her.

Actually, I started this for sometime while I was waiting for my Addi circular needle to arrive. So, I am not a fast knitter.

Flat on my bed before I put the leather string on

On the hanger

Close up on the hanger

Pattern: Anthropologie-inspired capelet
Source: This site
Materials: 60% Cotton 40% Acrylic DMC Senso Denim 2 Balls (43gr/150yard/ball)
Needles: 3.5 mm Bamboo and 3.5 mm Addi circular
Total Cost: USD2.5 x 2 plus = USD 5
Start Date: 28 July 2006
Finish Date: 25 August 2006

This is my first experience to knit top down and no seaming to do. Too bad that I don’t have enough yarn, otherwise this would be perfect for me.

Up-date on 5 Sept 06

This is how it looks on me:

Lauri Fell Down

Hari Rabu lalu Lauri jatuh dari Cot dia. Aku pas ke kamar mandi, tiba-tiba aku denger ada barang jatuh. Ternyata Lauri udah di lantai. Dia nangis, cepetan aku angkat dan aku peluk. Dia nggak nangis setelah aku peluk, terus keluar keringat dingin. Mungkin saking kagetnya. Habis itu dia lemes. Aku liat dia ada beset di dahi. Jadi ada kemungkinan dia jatuh kepala duluan. Karena kuatir, aku bawa dia ke Dokter.

Kata dokter, dimonitor selama 24 jam. Kalo dia muntah-muntah harus segera dibawa ke rumah sakit untuk di scan.

Untungnya selama 24 jam berikutnya dia nggak muntah blas dan aktif seperti biasa.

Tapi……
See below pictures:

Mommy, I got big booger on my left nose. Can you pick it up for me. It's itchy and annoyed me.

(BTW: Can you see the red mark on my forehead because I fell down yesterday?)

I can't wait anymore, I will pick it up myself!!

Berhubung dia nggak bias ngambil itu upil, dan mungkin karena gatal ato ngganjel, sama dia sedotan yang dimasukkan di idung. Hasilnya: Mimisen alias Nose Bleed. Aduuh ada ada aja.

Oh ya, dari photo di atas juga keliatan beret merah di dahi karena jatuh. Tapi besoknya udah nggak ada. Juga nggak ada benjol ato lebam. Nothing.

Perkembangan dia yang terakhir:
Kalo misalnya aku lagi lari terus tiba-tiba berhenti, ato aku tiba-tiba nutup wajah pake tangan, dia pasti berhenti ngelakuin apa yang lagi dia buat, terus mendekati aku sambil menunjukkan wajah serius dan bertanya: Why? What is wrong?

Memory

I was about 5 years old when I started to learn how to crochet. It’s nothing fancy, just made a chain. I learned from my auntie. I normally did my crochet in the terrace of my grandparent's (from my mother side) house. It’s one of those “kampung” houses. So a lot of people passed by. Normally they would stop and looked at me crocheting and asked me what I was making. Then I would reply that I was making tablecloths. Then they laughed. At that time, I did not understand why they laughed as I was not joking when I said I want to make tablecloths. I was very serious. Now, I can understand why they laughed.

About 4 or 5 houses away from my grandparent's house, there was an old lady who also loved to sit in the terrace and did her knitting (it’s not crochet as she was using 2 needles). I loved to watch her knitting and actually wanted to learn to knit. But, I was to shy to ask.

About 5 years ago, my mother in law was trying to teach me to knit. I could make a knit but kept forgetting how to make a purl. Also, I didn’t understand the concept. So, I gave up.

Only recently that I found out there is a site that teach you how to knit complete with the video. Not only that, I also found out there are several method to knit. Soon, I found out that I prefer continental method. It suits me better.

Anyway, at this moment I am making the famous Kiri shawl. Here is the picture:


I am using DMC cotton tread size 10 from my stash and use 3.75 mm circular needle. At this moment I am at 10 repeat, but since I am using smaller needle it still not large enough. I am anxious to see the result.

Koala Backpack

Sekarang kalo keluar jalan-jalan ato belanja, Lauri bawa tas sendiri. Isinya? Diaper plus permen. Diaper buat jaga-jaga kalo dia kebobolan. Permen, kalo dia rewel karena bosen ato ngantuk. Sebetulnya aku juga bawa tas yang lengkap dengan botol susu, air panas, dan bubuk susu, dll. Tapi itu sekarang aku tinggal di mobil. Tas nya itu James yang dapet gratisan dari Hard Rock Cafe Melbourne. Soale pas itu dia beli banyak kaos, minta diskon nggak dikasih, tapi dikasih tas ini. Lucu ya? Dapetnya sih duluuuu pas Lauri belon ada.

Lauri tried to ride bicycle in Giant Supermarket with Koala bear back pack. Notice that now she has new hairstyle. Tied one on the back rather than two on the sides

Sekarang Lauri udah nggak makan bubur lagi. Udah peningkatan. Makan nasi. Sejak makan nasi dia nggak pernah bangun jam 5 ato 6 pagi lagi. Bangunnya jam 10 ato 11 siang. Jadi non stop. Tapi tetep makannya susah.

Apa lagi ya? Oh ya dia kalo nonton video Disney kadang dia hapal dialognya. Jadi sebelon dialog diucapkan, dia udah duluan ngomong. Jangan dibayangkan dialog yang panjang-panjang. Ya dialog yang cuma satu kata. Misalnya: adegan di "Huchback of Notredame II" pas anaknya si Kapten diculik, khan teriak "Papa..!" Nah sebelum teriak papa, Lauri duluan teriak papa. Atau pas adegan si "Mulan II" ngajarin anak-anak kecil silat sambil teriak "Hah..Hah, Lauri teriak duluan. Ato kalo video lagu anak anak, dia kadang hapal lho lagu berikutnya apa.

Terus kamarin dulu, dia khan lagi mau tidur siang. Mata udah merem, tapi belon pulas. Ehh tiba-tiba hujan deres. Tau tau dia bilang : Raining. Lho, aku sampai bingung. Padahal nggak ada yang ngajarin lho, dia tau darimana kalo itu hujan.

Kalo lagi kejar-kejaran sama aku, dia nggak cuma ngomong "move" aja, tapi sekarang ditambahi: Come on mommy, come on....

Selain itu Lauri juga lembeng. Kalo ada baju baru, sama dia dipegang, terus bilang: Ooooh.. Nice! Terus sama dia minta dipake. Setelah dipakai, muter-muter dia sambil kepalanya di miring-miringkan. Lembeng!