life in 553

This morning, I woke up with an inexplicable urge to cut something. I don’t know what possessed me but I decided to cut my hair. I like to think that this is my updated S/S 08 look. But in reality, I feel like a bowl, a close cup mushroom and like I’m back in primary school all at once. No matter, it was pretty fun. Hair grows anyway!

I missed Daddy a lot while I was making and eating this.

I really appreciate the special effort he makes to give me the “chao ta” (burnt) edges when we eat char siew, because he knows how much I love it (albeit carcinogenic).

I shared my char siew over dinner with two lovely friends. J cooked nonya curry - the coconut milk was delightful! I only get to enjoy curry when someone else cooks it because I hate the way the smell of curry sticks to you and makes you feel very full. We also had stir fried broad beans contributed by A.

It’s ironic how food makes me miss home and comforts me at the same time.

This book is so enjoyable just to read. Imagine how satisfying it’ll be to embark on the projects!

I really enjoyed reading the chapter “exploring color”. It’s a well-written introduction to colour and includes a wee bit about fabric prints. Hoverson explains the concept of colour with none of the scientist-unfriendly technical jargon of artists. “Related”, “Complementary” and “True” are as technical as she gets. She happily tells you that a true colour is “nothing more than a concept”. How sweet. Hoverson’s concise writing is much more informative than Elizabeth Zimmerman’s verbose prose (in the Knitter’s Almanac). Unlike Zimmerman who concludes that the appeal of colours is subjective to the individual, Hoverson inspires by encouraging her readers to explore the relationship between colours and to the recipient. I suppose what sets the two writers apart is the 33 years between the birth of each book and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale.

Elsewhere, she writes, “I recommend that you give yourself as much time as possible to finish each project so that you can enjoy the process…”. These words convicted me of my worst offense - impatience. I’m both goal-oriented and a perfectionists (read: numerous abandoned projects). This is the worst combination to have if one aspires to be a successful craftster. I am always way too eager to see the finished product and once I screw up a little, I move on to something else. I just can’t deal with blemishes. Even that one stitch that is facing the wrong direction irks me by screaming “I’M HERE BUT YOU CAN’T FIX ME!”. I’m determined to make a conscious effort from now on to “enjoy the process”.

Patience and Discipline.

Felting, more accurately called fulling, to distinguish it from “needle felting”, fascinates me! Today I dumbed my first 100% wool swatch into a basin full of hot water with biological detergent. Then I swirled, kneaded, squeezed, agitated and abused the swatch for a good 3 minutes. I got this hairy mess, I guess it would have been more solid if I continued abusing it for a while longer. Also, I’m suppose to be using washing up liquid but I was too lazy to go to the kitchen. Hand felting is very therapeutic indeed.

I WANT TO GO SKIING AGAIN.