A Homemaker’s Diary

I have this current addiction to buy yarns..well, at least I could say that because the other day while checking out a craft/sewing items store as recommended by a fellow blogger (after attending a friend’s Raya open house), I spent almost RM100 just to buy yarns at the shop..huhu!

You see, yarns come in different types and sizes. Some are only suited to be made into certain items. For example, if you were to crochet a bookmark, you will need yarn that is soft and thin, not something that you would crochet an afghan or flower. Thus I have been accumulating different yarns in different colors for different projects.

I am still learning a thing or two about which yarns that I love to crochet with. Since I have been making bookmarks and flowers for embellishment, I have only been able to experiment with few types. So far I have tried DMC Babylo, DMC Senso, Anchor #8 and DMC Cotton Perle #8. I also bought a few types of cotton and acrylic yarns at Daiso. I even bought the cheap acrylic one (less than RM2 per skein) brand Minlon at a nearby sewing shop but found that they are not a joy to crochet with. At first glance, the outcome of the crocheted material looks the same but the feel is not.

Thanks to Rita Harris of Rita@Work, I tried another type of Minlon yarns – Minlon Polly. It is sold at RM7.50 per skein. So far I have crocheted flowers and edging using the yarns. It is not as great as DMC Cotton Perle or DMC Babylo but for such a price, I think it’s good enough.

I will keep on experimenting until I find the best yarns that suit each and every project I love to try. I hope in times I will be able to share my experience especially with other beginners in crochet.

I’ve been meaning to update this blog, well, at least once a week…but many things happened since the last update.

I’ve been planning to share about this great book – Sleepless in America: Is Your Child Misbehaving…or Missing Sleep? by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka that I have been reading, only a few more chapters to be completed.

Most people I know don’t really have problem with their children sleeping time, but I do have big issue about that. Most are blessed with easy-to-sleep children who can simply sleep anywhere, anytime. But not with my son, though.

One of the traits of high need child is their reluctance to nap and go to sleep at night. It seems that they are wired that way. Their heads are bubbling with ideas and excitement and the more tired they are, the harder it gets for them to fall asleep.

After I finish reading this book, I’m going to buy another book by the same author, specifically for spirited child – Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, Energetic.

It will help me understand my son better and in time I hope I could help him be a better, well adjusted person as well.

BTW, I managed to crochet this blue bookmark while waiting for him to fall asleep..heh! There were days when I have to let him play or watch cartoon at 4am or we simply lie down and try to be ready to sleep (in many cases, I pretend to be asleep), and those time that keeping me awake, I try to keep myself occupied (and not fall asleep) by crocheting.

Well, having a spirited child like mine really inspires me to learn many, many new things in life. Life with him around sometimes means sleepless nights but it is a never boring one, trust me!

I have progressed from making felt hair clip with crochet flower towards headband with crochet flower.

And these are two headbands ordered by a friend for her daughters.

Can’t wait to see how they look wearing those headbands.

Putting the flower on the headband is much more easier compared to making the felt cover, less sewing and it is much faster to be completed.

The headband in white with big red crochet flower will be posted hopefully this Saturday. Still searching for ways to make it more presentable to the customer, whether to put it in handmade envelope, or plastic packaging, am thinking of doing a display card to put the headband on like what I’ve seen on Etsy. Perhaps it’s time that I buy the printer..heh!

Finally the Raya season is slowly coming back to normal pace as people getting back to work after a long break and daily routine is on…pheww!

We made ketupat palas as usual for Raya though this time our ketupat tend to be lembik and lack of rasa lemak because I put too little salt in the santan..huhu! And daun palas we bought from pasar were all too small, some were like 3-4 jalur.

Nevertheless I considered the mission to make ketupat palas a success since it was really challenging trying to cook with an active toddler like our son. Hopefully next year it will be better and less stressful..sigh!

Well, how many ketupat or lemang you guys had during this year Raya? I wonder if people still make ketupat for open house..haha!

(Please click the picture to see a bigger size)

Since we are planning to go to the zoo this week, I just remember that I haven’t completed the second part of the KL Bird Park entry done in June.

My son really enjoyed feeding the koi. I liked the area as well since there was no scary bird..haha!

This was taken around the area where we fed the fish. Can’t help noticing the bright red flowers. Actually there were a few hummingbirds (kelicap) around the plant, but it was so hard to take their pictures.

As we walked back to the exit, we passed by the feeding point of the free birds.

I can’t remember the name of this bird. I think it belongs to the pheasant family. Asked Hubby whether he can recall this burung biru, mata merah, he also can’t remember. Maybe next time we should bring some paper and pen and jot down notes like reporter so that I can write an accurate entry. Macam lawatan sambil belajar gitu..haha!

Hopefully our plan to visit the zoo this week will come true. My last visit to Zoo Negara was like 20 years ago..huhu!