Green Crochet Ball

This thing... It makes me wish I have a cat to give it to.

Work In Progress

This is what I've made over the weekend. Another custom order...




Hopefully I got the colours right...

My Baby Brother

This is my baby stepbrother. He is 21 and a half years younger than me. And next month, he'll be one years old.

Proudly Presents...

Baggy Boy!!!
(named so cos he looks like wearing baggy pants)

He is the first ever doodle that I actually made into the real thing. One of the few that I thought might be good enough. (If you've seen most of my other drawings, you'll know what I'm talking about.)


This is the first time I sew the borders with different colors too. I've been wanting to do that for a while. So happy with how it turns out.


Here is the picture of the doodle! Not quite like the final thing yea?
Go on, tell me whether it's any good. Increase my confidence, show me some support, or just tell me anything.


This dog is not as cute as I thought it would be. Not quite like what the pattern suggests. (Got it from a book).
This one looks like it's been punched in the eye. No?
Dunno why, I like making dogs that are blue. When I think of dogs, I always think they should be blue. Maybe because of that Blues Clues cartoon series. Love it, such a cute dog.


Just so you know how small it is.


Group photo! My recent accomplishments.

Forbidden Kingdom - Jackie Chan & Jet Li

Jackie Chan and Jet Li! My favourite actors of all time! In one movie! I love it I love it I love it! They should do collaborations more often.

If there's anyone that should be immortal, it's them. Yep, definitely. Honestly, I feel sad to see them getting old.

Just curious, Jackie Chan vs Jet Li, if they fight for real, who will win?

My Personality???

You Are An ISTP

The Mechanic You are calm and collected, even in the most difficult of situations. A person of action and self-direction, you love being independent. To outsiders you seem impulsive, surprising, and unpredictable. You are good at understanding how all things work, except for people. In love, you tend to be very easy going and flexible. The only thing you can't stand for is someone trying to change you or your life. At work, you can stay completely calm under pressure. You handle stress well. You would make an excellent pilot, forensic pathologist, or athlete. How you see yourself: Logical, flexible, and unconventional When other people don't get you, they see you as: Indecisive, flippant, and disrespctful

What's Your Personality Type?

New Accomplishments! Purple Octopus & Donut!

Hooray! I finally have a chance to use the wiggly eyes I bought so long-long time ago.
Grape jam donut anyone?

This donut is made from felt/flanel. Anyway, I really need more practice sewing with whip stitch. It is so hard to do. And if you look closely, it is not exactly rounded. Maybe I should have used some other colour as background. I'm really not good at this colour matching thing.


Purple goes with yellow. Yes?
Anyway, it looks better on the photo. When I first done it, it looks lopsided. Maybe I'm going to call it Oopstopus (Opps, it's lopsided octopus). lol
Btw, this is another of what my bf drew for me. Thanks hunbun!


I dunno why, I'm in purple-lovin mode.
Hmm.. What am I going to make next?

Bird Family

These are NOT made by me. All I did was cut out the pattern. I taught a friend of mine to make these things. She sewed and stuffed it. So happy to be able to share/impart knowledge to others.

As a side note, I teach too. I tutor English for some of my fellow students in campus.

Blog Reviews on a Blog

Norski here is so nice, I know him from blogcatalog and he's made a review of my blog in his blog.

Here is the link to the post. See the rest of his blogs too. Really nice.

Earth Day

Reminder for Me!

see more crazy cat pics

Sleepy....

You know what, I really must make (force) myself to sleep earlier every day. Or I'll literally kill myself from lack of sleep. And then maybe I can wake up in the morning..

Hooooray!!! Finally done!

This is made for a custom order... From someone at my office. Another satisfied customer, I hope. ;op
Sorry I took too long to finish this...

Plastic Crocheted Coaster

Here it is, my first attempt at crocheting with plastic bag yarn. Turns out my yarn was too short though, so it's a three-quarter coaster. Why? Because I don't have the same kind of plastic bag anymore.
It kinda looks like a lollypop, with the red stripes. :p

Here is the pattern I was following.

One thing I've learnt, DO NOT use thick plastic bags. Or at least, make sure you cut them into thinner strips or use one strand instead. You don't want to hurt yourself. Believe me. Even now my fingers are still sore from struggling with it.
I don't know what will happen if I make yarn out of different kinds of plastic bags, but for now, I'll avoid that. I got the feeling it's not advisable. Not easy though, cos I usually don't have many of the same kind, let alone the same color.
Another thing, use non-printed plastic bags when available. The paint will came off and stick on your hook.

How to make Yarn from Plastic Bag

This is such a wonderful thing to found out that I have to share it with you. I found this link from hooksandneedles who found gooseflesh from crochetme.

It is a tutorial on how to make yarn you can crochet with using plastic bags. I thought it's such a wonderful idea. I'm going to do it the moment I reach home today. It's like so in line with the reduce philosophy.
Here is the link to the tutorial.

Or if it's not clear enough, I found another one from myrecycledbags which I found from blogcatalog.
Here is the link.

Yeap, crafting with recycled materials is the in thing for me now.
Let's we all feel challenged!!!!!!

Savasana

I want to share this with you, I've been suffering from insomnia for such a long-long time that I don't remember when it starts and why it starts. (Well, I do have a vague idea actually, but that's not to be shared here.)
Anyway, about a month or so ago I read this magazine about yoga and inside I saw a picture showing this pose:



And I thought, that looks like a nice pose to sleep in. And I did.
And you know what, it works. It really works.
I can really feel a difference when I go to sleep with or without the pose. When I sleep with the pose, I have less bad dreams and I woke up feeling more refreshed than if I sleep curled up (or any other pose).



To tell you the truth, I didn't read the article in the magazine at all. I only looked at the pictures and imitated it. In fact, today is the first time I found out the name of the yoga pose. I didn't buy the magazine and when I wanted to, it was gone. I had wanted to scan the picture so that I can share it here. I did thought of searching for pictures at the internet instead, but I kept forgetting about it until now.

Anyway, for fellow insomniacs out there, may we all find peace.

Comments Day

I've not been making many things these days... Not as productive as I'd like to be.
Anyway, I've been reading all the blogs I've subscribed to using my Google Reader. If there's one thing Google Reader lack, it's the ability to leave comments. Anyway I've been wishing that there will be many people who leaves comments on my blog, but how can it be when I don't leave comments on their blogs? So today I've decided to go through all the blogs in my Google Reader from top to bottom and leave a comment on each of them. I'll write anything. Just for the sake of leaving a comment. Cos we just love comments, no matter what it says. Yes?
Hm... Maybe no. I reckon most people would prefer a more intelligent or constructive comments, but for me, it's not that easy. Anyway, for the moment, I'd love any kinds of comments, just so my blog is more alive.

Failed crochets?

This time, I don't know what I did wrong again. Perhaps I used a yarn that's too thick, cos it looks nothing like the finished picture of the pattern. Rather, it looks like a misshapen thing, and I thought it can just look like a sore finger.

Or a pear?
Here is the pattern that I was trying to follow.

This is another question mark. Did I do it right? How am I supposed to single crochet around for the border? It looks like a rotten heart. Here is the pattern that I'm trying to follow.

Crocheted Rose!!

I made this by following a pattern I found in the internet. Quite pleased with it, considering I was not sure whether I interpreted the pattern correctly or not. Since it came out well, perhaps I did.
I gave this to my grandma. Attached a pin to the back with the glue gun. Hopefully she'll wore it to a party or some major event someday.
When I gave her this, there were 2 of my aunts and my grandma went and took out a bird origami mobile I gave her years and years ago. She said that the birds are so tiny, she won't know how to do it. My grandma almost never throw anything away, so she's really the perfect person to give anything to. Especially something you've made yourself, she'll appreciate and cherish.

Listen to The Lyrics of This Song

Counting Crows - Big Yellow Taxi

They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot

They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them
No, no, no, don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone
They paved paradise, and put up a parkin' lot

Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT
I don't care about spots on my apples,
Leave me the birds and the bees - please
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey now, they've paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Why not?

Listen, late last night, I heard the screen door swing,
And a big yellow taxi took my girl away
Now don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Hey now now, don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
They paved paradise to put up a parking lot
Why not, they paved paradise
They put up a parking lot
Hey hey hey, paved paradise and put up a parking lot

I don't wanna give it
Why you wanna give it
Why you wanna givin it all away
Hey, hey, hey
Now you wanna give it
I should wanna give it
Cuz you're givin it all away, no no

I don't wanna give it
Why you wanna give it
Why you wanna givin it all away
Cuz you're givin it all givin it all away yeah yeah
Cuz You're givin it all away hey, hey, hey

Hey, paved paradise, to put up a parking lot
la,la, la, la, la, la, la ,la ,la ,la ,la
Paved paradise, and put up a parking lot

Hippo 'hang up'

Hippo 'hang up', originally uploaded by Neet Designs.

Here comes the special features number 5. Hmm... are 10 first commenters a too high target? Oh well, anyway, I love this hippo. Especially the flower and the heart tail. Cute!

Crochet Flowers Flowers Flowers!

Seems I miscounted when I made the light green flower. I found one extra stitch at the end...
I love the dark green one, though I made it too tightly, supposed to be floppy...


Personally, I like the pink one the best. Which is your favourite?

Finally!! I made something that actually resembles a ball. Can't wait till I manage to make a real amigurumi.

What We Can Do To Save Our Earth

I've been thinking about the Story of Stuff these few days, and this is what I came up with:

1. Buy basic necessities only
2. Buy natural stuff (not manufactured with toxins)
3. Buy things only when your old ones are totally unusable already, like your shoes, bags, other wearables.
4. Do not have the same things more than one, like shoes, bags and the like. I mean, how many pair of shoes do you actually need? How many bags do u actually use?
5. Do not let commercials affect you.
6. Do not follow fashion.
7. Challenge yourself to resist buying all those things you "want" and not need.
8. Support responsible manufacturing companies.
9. Recycle.
10. Remove that 'consumer' label we have on ourselves. We don't want to contribute to that 'huge fat golden arrow'.
11. Support tourism. It makes people conserve.

You see, if we stop buying, a.k.a no demand, then there'll be no supply = no exploitation.

Not easy I know, for me too, but I'm challenging everybody who reads this blog to "RESIST BUYING UNNECESSITIES". For example, those unusable cute little not-clean erasers I saw little kids buying at the bookshops, those big cute notebooks that are so tempting but they just end up sitting in my cupboard, cute decorative stickers and many many many thousands more.

You know what, working for a bookshop got me thinking too, like: where is the tree that this book came from? and what about all those wasteful brochures, thousands of them that we gave away and then people just threw them away just like that?

Makes me feel quilty for buying those cheap cute unusable stuff like the plastic turtle and the bajaj that I posted days ago. Sigh.

More Crochets

First flower crochet!! So excited. I did this after I watched the how-to video at YouTube. Gonna make many many more!!!

Why is my supposed-to-be-round amigurumi is triangular???? I must have done something wrong. LOL
Oh well, it looks like a cute hat. And my round marker looks cute too so I leave it there.

Flower and hat combined = flower on a hill?

This is a heart-wanna-be but I did too many stitches at the beginning so I stopped when it looks like a fan. LOL!

This is all my current crochets photographed together. I arranged them in such a way... it looks like a face. It's really ugly I know... But I can't resist..

My First Crochet!!!!

I just started picking up crocheting again after such a long long time. My mom taught me how to do it when I was still a small kid. All the amigurumis that I saw here really fired me up. So I watched these crocheting videos on utube and last night I did this ball. I forget how I did it, it simply just happens.

Then I did this:

And this:

And this:

I'm calling these Remember Me Crochet Coins, and I'm going to give them to people so that they can stick it into their wallets and remember me.

There's Another WAY.

Support sustainable production and consumption! Go green!!!

Watch the video about The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard. It'll open your eyes to many things. (Or you can see it at youtube here)

I'm putting this article below so that we can all start immediately. Let's do our part.

Here is where I first found it.

Another Way by Annie Leonard

Many people who have seen The Story of Stuff have asked what they can do to address the problems identified in the film.

Each of us can promote sustainability and justice at multiple levels: as an individual, as a teacher or parent, a community member, a national citizen, and as a global citizen. As Annie says in the film, “the good thing about such an all pervasive problem is that there are so many points of intervention.” That means that there are lots and lots of places to plug in, to get involved, and to make a difference. There is no single simple thing to do, because the set of problems we’re addressing just isn’t simple. But everyone can make a difference, but the bigger your action the bigger the difference you’ll make. Here are some ideas:

10 Little and Big Things You Can Do

1. Power down! A great deal of the resources we use and the waste we create is in the energy we consume. Look for opportunities in your life to significantly reduce energy use: drive less, fly less, turn off lights, buy local seasonal food (food takes energy to grow, package, store and transport), wear a sweater instead of turning up the heat, use a clothesline instead of a dryer, vacation closer to home, buy used or borrow things before buying new, recycle. All these things save energy and save you money. And, if you can switch to alternative energy by supporting a company that sells green energy to the grid or by installing solar panels on your home, bravo!
2. Waste less. Per capita waste production in the U.S. just keeps growing. There are hundreds of opportunities each day to nurture a Zero Waste culture in your home, school, workplace, church, community. This takes developing new habits which soon become second nature. Use both sides of the paper, carry your own mugs and shopping bags, get printer cartridges refilled instead of replaced, compost food scraps, avoid bottled water and other over packaged products, upgrade computers rather than buying new ones, repair and mend rather than replace….the list is endless! The more we visibly engage in re-use over wasting, the more we cultivate a new cultural norm, or actually, reclaim an old one!
3. Talk to everyone about these issues. At school, your neighbors, in line at the supermarket, on the bus…A student once asked Cesar Chavez how he organized. He said, “First, I talk to one person. Then I talk to another person.” “No,” said the student, “how do you organize?” Chavez answered, “First I talk to one person. Then I talk to another person.” You get the point. Talking about these issues raises awareness, builds community and can inspire others to action.
4. Make Your Voice Heard. Write letters to the editor and submit articles to local press. In the last two years, and especially with Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the media has been forced to write about Climate Change. As individuals, we can influence the media to better represent other important issues as well. Letters to the editor are a great way to help newspaper readers make connections they might not make without your help. Also local papers are often willing to print book and film reviews, interviews and articles by community members. Let’s get the issues we care about in the news.
5. DeTox your body, DeTox your home, and DeTox the Economy. Many of today’s consumer products – from children’s pajamas to lipstick – contain toxic chemical additives that simply aren’t necessary. Research online (for example, http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/) before you buy to be sure you’re not inadvertently introducing toxics into your home and body. Then tell your friends about toxics in consumer products. Together, ask the businesses why they’re using toxic chemicals without any warning labels. And ask your elected officials why they are permitting this practice. The European Union has adopted strong policies that require toxics to be removed from many products. So, while our electronic gadgets and cosmetics have toxics in them, people in Europe can buy the same things toxics-free. Let’s demand the same thing here. Getting the toxics out of production at the source is the best way to ensure they don’t get into any home and body.
6. Unplug (the TV and internet) and Plug In (the community). The average person in the U.S. watches T.V. over 4 hours a day. Four hours per day filled with messages about stuff we should buy. That is four hours a day that could be spent with family, friends and in our community. On-line activism is a good start, but spending time in face-to-face civic or community activities strengthens the community and many studies show that a stronger community is a source of social and logistical support, greater security and happiness. A strong community is also critical to having a strong, active democracy.
7. Park your car and walk…and when necessary MARCH! Car-centric land use policies and life styles lead to more greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel extraction, conversion of agricultural and wildlands to roads and parking lots. Driving less and walking more is good for the climate, the planet, your health, and your wallet. But sometimes we don’t have an option to leave the car home because of inadequate bike lanes or public transportation options. Then, we may need to march, to join with others to demand sustainable transportation options. Throughout U.S. history, peaceful non-violent marches have played a powerful role in raising awareness about issues, mobilizing people, and sending messages to decision makers.
8. Change your lightbulbs…and then, change your paradigm. Changing lightbulbs is quick and easy. Energy efficient lightbulbs use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than conventional ones. That’s a no-brainer. But changing lightbulbs is just tinkering at the margins of a fundamentally flawed system unless we also change our paradigm. A paradigm is a collection of assumptions, concepts, beliefs and values that together make up a community’s way of viewing reality. Our current paradigm dictates that more stuff is better, that infinite economic growth is desirable and possible, and that pollution is the price of progress. To really turn things around, we need to nurture a different paradigm based on the values of sustainability, justice, health, and community.
9. Recycle your trash…and, recycle your elected officials. Recycling saves energy and reduces both waste and the pressure to harvest and mine new stuff. Unfortunately, many cities still don’t have adequate recycling systems in place. In that case you can usually find some recycling options in the phone book to start recycling while you’re pressuring your local government to support recycling city-wide. Also, many products – for example, most electronics - are designed not to be recycled or contain toxics so recycling is hazardous. In these cases, we need to lobby government to prohibit toxics in consumer products and to enact Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, as is happening in Europe. EPR is a policy which holds producers responsible for the entire lifecycle of their products, so that electronics company who use toxics in their products, have to take them back. That is a great incentive for them to get the toxics out!
10. Buy Green, Buy Fair, Buy Local, Buy Used, and most importantly, Buy Less. Shopping is not the solution to the environmental problems we currently face because the real changes we need just aren’t for sale in even the greenest shop. But, when we do shop, we should ensure our dollars support businesses that protect the environment and worker rights. Look beyond vague claims on packages like “all natural” to find hard facts. Is it organic? Is it free of super-toxic PVC plastic? When you can, buy local products from local stores, which keeps more of our hard earned money in the community. Buying used items keeps them out of the trash and avoids the upstream waste created during extraction and production. But, buying less may be the best option of all. Less pollution. Less Waste. Less time working to pay for the stuff. Sometimes, less really is more.

Random Photos

This is a photo of the mouse (or is it a rat?) that fell above my bathroom screen (anybody knows the right name for it?). It finally escaped through the hole you can see at the corner, fall beside my toilet, and ran out of the door. Never seen it ever again.


This is my foolish (is it?) attempt to photograph a spider. With no way to change the settings on my digital camera (the toggle button is retired), this is the best I can get. Interesting though.

The Emperor's Large Palace

This is a print screen picture of a game I've been playing recently. The game is Emperor - The Rise of the Middle Kingdom. I think the graphics is really great, and it looks so beautiful that I want to share it with you.

Recycled Felted Corsage

I'm so excited about getting many comments on my blog. This is the fourth special feature from overmilkwood!


recycled felted corsage, originally uploaded by overmilkwood.

Don't you think it's very sweet and beautiful?

Blue Donut?????

What, a blue donut??? Nope, it's not. It's a letter O that's going to be a part of a name hanging.
And I thought making a perfect circle with whip stitch is hard. Turns out doing it with blanket stitch is even harder.
Quite pleased with it though, not really that out of shape...

Fat Cat Camp - Vonvonz

Fat Cat Camp, originally uploaded by vonvonz.

The third special feature! Cats = cuteness!! Fat cat = double cuteness!!
Actually Vonvonz makes so many cute stuff that I had a hard time choosing my favourite, but I finally settled on this one.