Types of Wool Yarn

Knitting is often done with wool yarn from sheep. There are many different grades to choose from, from the baby lamb's hypoallergenic wool to the first shearing of the season. Raw wool has to be further treated in order to be machine washable.

Some other types of wool are derived from the breed. Icelandic Wool also known as Lopi yarn is one of the warmest available and is made by processing the water-resistant outer layer with the soft inner layer.

Merino Wool is the softest wool you can find and suitable for all seasons. Hence, it is often used to make baby clothes and accessories. Super cute, the sheep too.

Shetland Wool is derived from sheep grown in the Scottish Highlands. A high quality wool that takes to dyes and can be spun finely. Heard that this is one breed that can produce a pure black yarn without dyeing.

Hand Spinning Yarn

Another back to basics trend is hand spinning your own yarn. Usually farms sell their wool, fleece, fur to factories for the spinning to be done by machines. Nowadays, hobbyists buy raw materials from farms online and do the spinning into yarn themselves. It's time-consuming and quality is not assured but you get the satisfaction of making an item from scratch and wearing or gifting something made with love.

Before actual spinning is done, the raw material needs to be prepared, mainly cleaned. Dyeing can be done before or after spinning.

Hand Carding, is when raw fleece is brushed between 2 paddles to separate the fleece from its original form to create soft, fluffy, almost felt like mats.

Drum Carding is an easier way of carding than by hand. Just crank that handle and run the fleece a few times through this machine for beautifully fine wool.

Now you are ready to start spinning yarn and most hobbyist use a drop spindle. It's a compact and handheld device that you can carry anywhere to work with.

Once you take to this new hobby, you can invest in a spinning wheel. It's supposed to be faster and easier to work with as you just need to manipulate the wool being fed into the wheel.

Artisans that spin their own yarn for sale usually offer gorgeous novelty yarns - multi-texture, thick & thin, charms. Either that or its customized colouring that you can't get anywhere else. 

One tool I have to mention is the Hair Braider often sold at toy sections for little girls. You can use it to spin the final yarn for a 2 ply strand or to weave in other colours.

Twisted Stockinette Double Knit

Twisted Double Knit is a figure 8 ewrap and knitover.

What you get is a basket weave-like effect, that is thick and double-sided. Strangely, 1 side shows the standard straight stockinette pattern and the other side shows the twisted stockinette pattern. I don't think you can get the twisted stockinette design on both sides.

Saint Laurent S/S 2013 Fashion

Saint Laurent formerly known as Yves Saint Laurent, showcases a Spring Summer collection that is markedly different from its previous collections. It's a pilgrim inspired wardrobe for the rocker chick in sombre black & glitter, although those wide brim hats make me think of witches. An ode to the wild 60s.

Saint Laurent Menswear this season mirrors what you see in the Womens-wear. Not often that designers do this but here it is.

Air Purifiers

Seems apt that with the haze situation reaching a peak here in Singapore (PSI 400, what?!!) we should start thinking about air purifiers. Most aircons come equipped with air purifiers (please check that yours does as well) and I have mine switched on all the time these days.

But, nothing is as powerful as an air purifier unit. Seeing how this haze comes around once a year, we might want to invest in one. It comes in handy if you live near a highway, have neighbors that are renovating or just aimed at the kitchen all the time to eliminate food odors. 

Smaller USB units seem to be popular as most of us are near the computer all day.

Kardashian Kollection @ Dorothy Perkins

The Kardashian Sisters are back with a new capsule collection for Dorothy Perkins. They are soo stylish, I guess if you are famous for being famous than your clothes must really say something.

Expect lots of black & white with rocker chic attitude.

Tim Ho Wan

I joined the queue and finally had a chance to try this place. The best items are the Cha Siew Bao, Congee and Osmanthus Herbal Jelly. The pairings are a little unusual and even the carrot cake came apart in shredded pieces and was really soft. If you are looking for a change, this is the place for you.

Great Singapore Sale 2013

Because of the haze I will be shopping online this year. But, if you are interested in hitting the stores, check out the promotions.

SMS your entry to 146077877 in the following format:

SPHGSS <space> NRIC <space> Date of Purchase <space> Amount Spent <space> Place of Purchase

Example: SPHGSS S1234567J 31052013 55.60 VivoCity

Charge to MasterCard to double your chances of winning!

If you charged your purchases to MasterCard, key in “M” after Place of Purchase.

Example: SPHGSS S1234567J 31052013 55.60 VivoCity M

Participating Outlets:
313@Somerset
Alexandra Retail Centre

Anchorpoint
Bedok Point
Bugis Junction
Bugis+
Causeway Point
Changi City Point
CHIJmes
China Square Central
Chinatown Point
Compass Point
Forum
Funan Digitalife Mall
Harbourfront
I12 Katong
IMM
Jcube
Marina Square
North Point
OG Pte Ltd
Paragon
Park Mall
Parkway Parade

People's Park Complex
People's Park Traders Association
Plaza Singapura
Robertson Walk
Scotts Square
Suntec City
Tampines Mall
The Centrepoint
The Clementi Mall
United Square
Valley Point
Velocity
Vivocity
Wheelock Place
Wisma Atria
Yew Tee Point

For GSS 20th anniversary, it has teamed up with Mastercard to find the biggest spender, register your mastercard first. I have never ever won the SPH draw before, so I don't bother with it.

Wisma Atria 

Credit Card Promotion : Citibank

Lucky Draw : minimum $200 spend, win staycations or high-tea at W Hotel Sentosa Cove and Samsung Galaxy S4 mobile phones.

Paragon

Credit Card Promotion : Citibank, redeem champagne or wallets with min spending.

Lucky Draw : N.A.

Mandarin Gallery

Credit Card Promotion : N.A.

Lucky Draw : Guess the look contest, open to everyone.

Scotts Square

Credit Card Promotion : N.A.

Lucky Draw : min $100 spend to win up to $50 shopping vouchers.

Tangs
Credit Card Promotion : Tangs Citibank Cards get 12% rebate
Promotions: 50% off 2nd main course at Island Cafe
Lucky Draw : N.A.

Wheelock Place

Credit Card Promotion : N.A.

Lucky Draw : min $80 spend for lucky dip to win up to $20 in vouchers.

Marina Square

Credit Card Promotion : UOB

Promotions: Individual stores have their own lucky draws. E.G. Home-Fix min $20 spend to win $20k cash.

Lucky Draw : Min $50 spend to win Gc Watches.

Suntec City

Credit Card Promotion : HSBC

Lucky Draw : min $30 spend to win instant prizes. min $120 spend to redeem $10 voucher.

Raffles City S.C.

Credit Card Promotion : Mastercard

Lucky Draw : Min $50 Spend to win a Costa Cruise Holiday of 7N Mediterranean, 7N Bali or 4N Phuket.

Orchard Central

Credit Card Promotion : N.A.

Promotion: 10% off OC vouchers and min spend $200 to purchase shop's vouchers at 50% discount.

Lucky Draw : min $50 spend and flash mailer to win vouchers from shops.

313 Somerset

Credit Card Promotion : N.A.

Lucky Draw : individual stores have their own promotions and lucky draws. E.G. Billabong min $70 spend to win a 3D/2N Bali trip to attend a surf competition and learn how to surf, along with $300 cash.

Centrepoint

Credit Card Promotion : N.A.

Lucky Draw : For Frasers Rewards cardholders. Min $30 spend to win 1 of 6 prizes, Opel Astra Car/2 Superstar Virgo Family Cruises/3 Free n Easy Holidays to Bangkok or Perth or Seoul.

Marina Bay Sands The Shoppes

Credit Card Promotion : Amex

Lucky Draw : Register your Amex card and spend to win a Mazda 6 car or $1k shopping vouchers.

Vivocity

Credit Card Promotion : Amex

Lucky Draw : Min $30 spend to win an Osim uDivine Massage Chair or Osim uPhoria Leg Massagers 

Promotion: QR code, scan and win daily.

Harbourfront

Credit Card Promotion : N.A.

Lucky Draw : min $60 spend to win a vacation 4D/3N Ayers Rock Australia, 4D/3N Maldives, 3D/2N Malaysia. 

Promotions : Daily instant wins on Facebook and min $100 spend in stores. Spend $200 and redeem $10 voucher, spend $150 and redeem memo pad.

SMRT
Credit Card Promotion : SMRT Citibank Credit Card
Lucky Draw : Spend $10 and win a Trafalgar holiday for 4 to either 9D Spain, 8D Greece or 7D Ireland.

Knitting Equipment

An average knitter would have built up a selection of knitting needles in different sizes, so a carrying case to keep all of it in one place will be appreciated.

 An item knitters love to use is the yarn holder. So your yarn isn't running all over the place and gets protected from dust. A handle allows you to move it around conveniently.

A knitting bag to put all your knitting items in. I have one for beading, gift wrapping and even sewing. So one more for knitting to keep your stuff organized. Also handy for crafting parties.

A yarn holder and knitting bag in one, it gets even better!

Subscription to a knitting magazine or knitting pattern book to try out all the new designs and patterns. Great for beginners as we always need the inspiration.

Cushion inserts for making huggables. You might want to consider microfibre fill for making soft toys as well.

Specialty cleaning solution to care for your handmade knits. I know you definitely need special detergent and settings on your washing machine for homemade knits and not everyone has such things in their home.

Non-slip latex to make your home knitted socks non-slip.

Liqui Sew is a permanent fabric glue to bind the ends down and together.

Fray stop to prevent the edges from fraying, an alternative to sewing the seams down.