Kiam Chye Soup

This was what mom cooked for lunch on the first day of the Chinese New Year. It is a pork bone soup stock with one pig hock (front) and 2 pig tails, meat balls, mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes, cauliflower, brocolli, young corn, salted mustard greens, pickled plums, assam gelugor pieces. It is a soup which is slightly salty, sour and yummy. You can have it on its own or with rice. It was a huge pot of soup and you can store it for days. It gets even more delicious after that.

Dragon Paper Cutting

This is now hanging on mom's front door. Bought this from the local supermarket a couple of weeks back. Now we have them in plastic cut outs and decal stickers but nothing like the authentic paper cutting. This year I did not have time to buy plants except for one stalk of the lucky bamboo.

Mountain of Pork

Turn away now, raw meat ahead. . . .

We were at the local market on the eve of the last market day before the Chinese New Year and this was the amount of meat being prepared for sale. In the old, old days, it was only at Chinese New Year that we feasted on meat and wore new clothes and so the tradition lives on. 

Flower Medallions Set 2

That was Set 1, this is Set 2. Set 1 was tatted in Lizbeth Size 40 threads in #635 Violet Pink Dark and #157 Raspberry Frappe.

Set 2 is tatted in Lizbeth Size 40 #145 Pink Parade and #157 Raspberry Frappe. Fox asked why the picots looked different. Well, these flower medallions have not been blocked.

Also some medallions look larger than others. It could be the colours playing a trick on the eye or my tension is just off. No worries, we are all imperfect!

Anne Bruvold's Chinese Dragon

In all, I tatted 3 Chinese dragons from Anne's pattern which can be found here.

Dragon #1 was posted a few days ago and was tatted in Lizbeth Size 40 #147 Red Burst and I used a Swarovski crystal for the sun.
 

Dragon #2 was used as a Chinese New Year e-card sent to family and friends. This one was tatted in Altin Basak Size 50 - #2328 (red with gold strand) and #2347 (gold with gold strand) for the sun.

Dragon #3 was tatted using Lizbeth Size 20 #611 Gold and Flora Size 20 #244 Charcoal for a black pearl.

They all seem slightly different with its own personality.

Chinese Ink Brush Painting Framed

Remember this from last year? Finally, I had the painting scroll-mounted and framed. I had wanted a bamboo design for the frame but the shop did not have it and for convenience, I had it done by the same person. Not many framers can do Chinese scroll-mounting.
I have kept the painting rolled up for nearly a year and thought it was about time it saw daylight. I wish I had a more well-kept house to show you the rest of it.

If you are interested in getting a painting from Song Qi Xian, you can as he is currently at Vivocity Singapore till mid February 2012. His paintings this time round are more colourful but I still do prefer his bamboos. Drop by and see him paint.

Chinese New Year Cards

I sent some cards to a few people this year. I try to do this every year but sometimes, time just slips by so quickly. Dragon year is normally a fertile year meaning more Chinese babies will be born this year. Read about the dragon in the Chinese zodiac here.

Happy Chinese New Year

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Nami's Gold Fish

I joined the dorsal fin at the wrong place. A lot of tie and cut as I did not use the split chain method. I can imagine a lot of fishes in different colours from this pattern. I think I will try to tat this again and add a larger bead for the eye. This one was tatted in Altin Basak Size 50 in gold with gold strand (#2351) and Lizbeth Size 40 #147 Red Burst. Link to Nami's blog for the pattern. Thank you Nami.

Miltoniopsis Orchid

These remind me of pansies but this is actually a Miltoniopsis orchid. It is also called the pansy orchid and it is related to the Oncidiums. I hope I did not mislead you to think that I grew these orchids. I have no green fingers and orchids seems to die on me rather quickly.

Valentine Coaster from Annie

Don't you love the quilted Valentine coaster? What a pretty colour palette and the heart was so carefully hand stitched. This came in the mail from Annie today. The card with the hummingbird has an important message - "Every moment of the year has its own beauty". I will try to remember that. Thank you so much, Annie!

Mary Konior Tatting Book Collection Complete

Finally I got this hardcover book after months of searching for it. It completes the collection. Did Mary Konior publish 4 tatting books? Otherwise I have to change the blog post title.

This is also the first Mary Konior tatting book I refered to when I borrowed it from the National Library years back. That book was a softcover and it was so well used, I was afraid it would lose some pages. This one I have is of course second hand but it is in very good condition and looks almost brand new. I was so delighted to get it from Barter Books, UK and I received excellent sales service too. Thank you, Nicola.

Flower Medallions

I have been tatting these flower medallions in between other tatting projects. I am using Lizbeth 40 in various colours. Perhaps it will keep me wondering how each colour would turn out. That way I would get less bored. Anyway it is quite fast to tat. Two medallions can be made in one night's sitting of TV, if I devote myself to tatting and not surf the web looking for jewellery. I have been looking to replace my broken ring.

Ruth Scharf's Books

Thank you for all your comments on this post. A friend shared this pattern with me. I did not know where the pattern was from but was intrigued because it was quite unusual. It was not till much later while reading tatting blogs that it was identified as a Ruth Scharf pattern. I looked for the books and finally obtained the above two books from Georgia Seitz.

So for those of you still looking for her books, you might want to check with Georgia or you may want to e-mail Ruth Scharf directly. I do have her e-mail as listed in the book. E-mail me separately. By the way the book is in German.

It is interesting how a variegated thread tatted looked like stripes in this pattern. You either love it or hate it.


I have this doily with me but it was easier to look for the photo than the actual doily. So if you have this book, are you up for a challenge? I am starting a new project from book 1. Would anyone like to join me?

Canopy

I first saw the Canopy bookmark when Gina tatted and posted it on her blog. At that time, I was waiting for Martha's book to arrive. It reminded me of the architectural drawing symbols for trees. I used Lizbeth Size 40 Pink Parade #145. I like the subtle color changes in this thread.

One day . . . . . is here!!

If you read yesterday's post, then you would not think the title strange. Well, since I found the photo, I wanted to show you this. The pattern is from Ruth Scharf and this was one doily I tatted all by myself after my tatting classes in 2006. I was intrigued at why I chose these colours but here it is . . . . bright and colourful. Both colours are from Olympus. There are mistakes so it looks a little warped. I am sure you can spot it. And this is one piece which could not lay flat without blocking. It was a mess!

Hugs #2

Hugs #2 is tatted in Olympus thread in a shade of variegated pink. I threw away the plastic wrapping with the colour # so no reference here. Unlike other threads, there isn't a label but I remember getting this colour because I loved the pink. I used it to tat a Ruth Scharf doily pattern years back. I should show you that one day.

Green Slipper Orchid Blooms

Aren't they beautiful? Green and white. Perfect centrepiece for a table arrangement. That way you need not cut it from the plant.

Hugs Bookmark

From Martha Ess' book Playing with Picots, this pattern called HUGS was easy and quick to tat. I used the Altin Basak Size 50 threads that Margaretha sent me. This one is #3001, the same one I used for the owl earlier. I put tassels on both ends.

Pink Roses Letter Openers

I wanted to add a personal touch to these bone china letter openers before giving them away. These were motifs which I tatted sometime back and you always seem to get questions 'What are you going to do with them?' Well you could use it this way.

The top pattern is by Ruth Scharf and the bottom is a Mary Konior.

More Critters on the Block - Gecko

I love how the pattern created the tail of this gecko. The tatting pattern started from the tip of the tail and the stitches gradually increased. Amazing! Tatted in two different colours, first one is in DMC perle cotton 8 Col 69 and the second is in Lizbeth 40 Autumn Apple Pie (#169).

Nyonya Kueh for Dessert

Colourful and yummy too. My favourite is the blue and white one with kaya (coconut jam). These are all local peranakan nonya kueh.

From the back row, left to right - Kueh lapis (layered), Seri muka (glutinous rice and pandan leaf custard), Kueh bingka (tapioca), coconut candy (shredded coconut with condensed milk);
Centre row, left to right - Kueh talam and Ang ku kueh;
Front row - Nagasari (the blue dye is extracted from the Clitorea ternatea flowers).

More Critters on the Block - Skunk

I really wanted to tat this when I first saw it but thought it might be more difficult than others but it wasn't so. Not difficult at all.

Tsuru sometimes flicks her tail and because she is black and white, I often call it her skunk tail.

More Critters on the Block - Dachshund

This is a light brown Dachshund. Pattern is by Martha Ess from the above titled book. This is tatted in DMC perle cotton 8 Col. 841. All these bookmarks have been given away as gifts. I had a busy time tatting during the weeks leading up to Christmas but they are quite quick to tat up and makes a nice gift, I think. I hope the recipients loved it.

Post Last Week

Who does not love receiving post. Especially when they are from friends far away. Look what came in the mail early last week. 

A wool snowflake handsewn by Judy and a handmade card from Margaret.

Thank you both.

Two Little Lambs

Now I definitely know I made a mistake somewhere . . . . as both these lambs look different. A slip of the mind and concentration. What are these to be? They are just about 0.75 inches in length. Tiny! Tatted in Size 40 threads from Martha's book.

Happy New Year

As we welcome 2012,

I wish you all the very best in this coming year.