Salihan is now blogging at SALIHAN.COM

I will no longer be blogging at A Simple Abundant Life. I have now moved to Salihan.com aka Salihan Crafts. To celebrate the re-launch of my blog, I'm giving away this pretty little scarf. Simply leave a comment THERE. See you soon!


http://salihan.com/2009/02/bow-knot-scarf-giveaway/

P.S. Don't forget to change your RSS subsciption to Salihan.com or click here to add it to your RSS reader.

This post about the Knitting Needle Knitting Bag has moved to:
http://salihan.com/2009/01/berry-stitch-knitting-bag-revisited/

Richard had to work in Melbourne on our anniversary so I decided to fly down with him and join him on his little trip. It was my first time there and I absolutely loved it! It was very different to any other Australian city I've been to. I suppose it's due to the high number of international students around. It is very multicultural and it felt good to blend in.


Melbourne was vibrant and alive. It felt a lot safer than Sydney at night. We walked from Lygon Street to the Federation Square after dinner and there were so many people out and about on a Wednesday night! There were people sitting around chatting in the park and having coffees at cafes. The tram was busy too when we were heading back to the hotel after 10pm.




And the best thing was that I was absolutely spoiled for choice when it came to food. There were two Muslim Singaporean/Malaysian restaurants opposite my hotel at Swanston! And the art! I was just visually overloaded with colours, sculptures and architecture. Richard said he has NEVER seen me so happy and energetic! I was bursting with excitement!



I traveled by myself when he had to go to work in the morning and it was so easy to find my way around. The Melbourne weather lived up to its reputation of having all four seasons in one day. Definitely have to dress in layers there. It didn't bother me much cos I was just having too much fun!

Click here for more photos

Melbourne has everything I want in a city. Good food, shopping, art, culture, sports, nature and a multicultural society. I can't wait to go there again and visit the suburbs and see how people live there. We've been toying with the idea of moving there in a couple of years. So, Sydney or Melbourne?

There are several ways to starch your knitted and crocheted projects as explained in this article. I have used the spray starch method quite a few times on handmade bookmarks and coasters. The objects were stiffer but still pliable. The results were not permanent and had to be reapplied after washing.

This time I had two bookmarks - one made from mercerized cotton and the other from wool. The cotton bookmark is my first Fan Bookmark which didn't turn out quite what I wanted it to. The woolen one was a Triple Chevron Bookmark I knitted for Richard. It curled too much around the edges despite being heavily blocked.

I wanted to try starching these bookmarks using the white glue and water method. The results were permanent and I expected the bookmarks to be very stiff. Basically, mix equal parts of white glue and water, dip the items in the mixture, squeeze out excess and lay flat on a hard surface to dry. Easy peasy.



From a distance, both bookmarks looked like they were starched successfully. Both were very stiff and I could easily hold them up without them flopping over. However, on closer inspection, the results were not the same after the all.

The Fan Bookmark crocheted with mercerized cotton had a smooth, flat finish.


The Triple Chevron Bookmark knitted with 3ply wool, on the other hand, had a rough, very uneven finish. The animal fibres when coated with the white glue and water mixture became much more prominent and tend to stand upright, despite being flattened and smoothed before drying.


In the future, I will definitely use this method of starching on cotton, especially mercerised, but not on yarn with animal fibres. Has anyone else have any interesting experiences starching their projects?

My mum and two of my brothers, Hakiim and Irfan, came to visit us late last year. It was their second visit to Australia, which made it much more relaxed than when they were here the first time. We travelled from the Hunter Valley down to the South Coast, beach after beach after beach.


We stayed at a holiday park on the South Coast for the weekend. Our cabin was just by the Crooked River, Gerroa, and the sunsets were stunning! This was my most favourite part of the entire holidays. South Coast really impressed me with their picturesque valleys and rolling hills.



The holiday park was very close to Seven Mile Beach too and the sand on the South Coast seemed darker and not as soft as those found on the Central Coast. The beach was huge and flat. Perfect for young families, I think.




VIDEO 1
VIDEO 2

As it was nearing Christmas, Richard's mum put on an early Christmas dinner for us. It was the first time for my family to experience how Christmas is celebrated here. We had quite a few laughs over dinner with reindeer ears, funny hats and cheesy Christmas crackers jokes!


In general, there were lots of mucking around (done mostly by the two boys) and doing heaps of nothing-ness. Quite a neccesity in our otherwise very busy lives.



More holiday photos found on Flickr

Two years ago, I struggled to find a simple calendar online to print and had to make my own. Not surprisingly, I couldn't find one to print today! So I gave up the search and made my own. The first one is really basic and generic for anyone in the world.
Basic 2009 Calendar

The second one I added Australia public holidays, NSW schools term dates and the celebrations most relevant to me, including Mother's Day and Hari Raya Puasa (Eid Mubarak).
2009 Calendar & NSW Holidays
Happy New Year everyone!

P.S. To print calendars, mouse over the arrow next to "iPaper".

I was reading my RSS feeds and came across this blog post by Laughing Purple Goldfish. She knitted a pretty beaded wire bracelet and she made it sound so easy! I thought that I should give it a go too!

I bought some inexpensive beads and 28 gauge wire. I had old knitting needles that I was willing to sacrifice for wire knitting. I had a few false starts, trying hard to loosen the way I knit. I eventually got the hang of it and produced this simple purple bracelet.


I hunted around for a way to close this bracelet off and found this knitted wire cuff. I bought thicker wire and a few basic jewellery making tools. I've never worked with wire before so the closure ended up a little wonky and uneven. But I can live with that.

Details on Ravelry

I thought to myself, "Hmm... that's very pretty but what if the beads were not random?" So the next bracelet I planned a more structured look. The beads were all the same and placed in a simple zig zag pattern. This time I used a simple closure that I bought. Rather nice, isn't it? Almost gothic.


Details on Ravelry

I hunted around the internet for more guidance on how to knit with wire. This website from Stitch Diva Studios was excellent! It really explained the basics in a clear, concise way for a newbie like me to understand. I saw this Coco Knits pattern that I really wanted to try using my new found knowledge. Off to the craft shop for more supplies and a couple of hours later, voila! Isn't she precious! I love it!

Details on Ravelry

I haven't knitted with wire since then. It really needs a clear head and a block of free time. It's also quite hard on my wrist and elbow as wire isn't as pliable and forgiving as wool. But I'm sure I'll dabble with it again. Give it a go. It's not as hard as it looks!

I have been away for a while unintentionally. Life just got really busy. My family visited me from Singapore for two weeks so I was busy before, during and after the visit. Back to work for a little while then our anniversary came around and we went away for a quickie in Melbourne. I'm finally on school holidays but I'm still very exhausted and a bit sick. Stomach's been playing up from eating too much take away and sinuses are sore from the ever changing weather.

But I am getting better and over the next few weeks of my school holidays, I will catch up with my blogging and post regularly. Below is what I plan to blog about:

1. Knitting with wire
2. Family holiday
   
3. Trip to Melbourne
4. Knitted dishcloths
5. Christmas
6. New Year
   
7. Vegetable garden update

So my apologies for disappearing but do stay tuned!