R&S Birthday

We all got little cupcakes in the afternoon and a big rainbow sprinkles chocolate cake at the party that tasted like Ferrero Rocher. All food and desserts by Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

White Lace Mesh Beret

This is the S. Charles Collezione Dusty Beret pattern available for free that uses fine merino wool (TINKA) and a fluffy alpaca blend yarn (NATASHA) to great effect. It's pretty and unique. I won't be following the pattern exactly as I plan to use a white lace mesh to create the fluffy part of the beret.

I knitted the band with Moda Vera CHANTILLY a milk protein blend yarn in creamy white and ROSIE mesh yarn in white for the ruffles part. The new stitches here are slip 1, increase 1 and decrease 1.

Slip 1 is to lift the loop off peg and place the working yarn behind peg than put back the loop onto peg.
Increase 1 is also known as Make 1 where you lift & twist the yarn running from one peg to the next and place it on the empty peg in the middle.
Decrease 1 is knit 2 together.

The pattern instructions provided starts and ends ok, but there are some amendments that have to be made that I am sure you can figure out. So here are some adjustments I made:

(1) 14.5 inches isn't long enough to go around my head so I increased it to 20 inches.

(2) I knitted the brim on the straight side instead of the curved side.

(3) I attached the mesh yarn on the curved side.

(4) Wet block the knitted piece to get it into shape, otherwise it's just flat.

(5) Sew the 2 ends together to get the base of the beret.

Transfer the blocked piece onto a circle loom to attach the mesh yarn.

This beret used 6 skeins of yarn! It's pretty heavy and the mesh part looks tighter than I imagined it would be. 

Doesn't it look like a chef's hat? I love it, you can't buy this one in stores.

Versace A/W 2013 Fashion

Versace brings lots of black & white patent into autumn/winter with occasional pieces in tartan print, mustard yellow, coral red and grape purple. As usual, there are lots of slashes and studs. However, they went a little more streamlined with tight fitting dresses and pants.

Versace Menswear is a little more interesting with lingerie for men - see-through lace tops, shorts and underwear.

Lots of puffy sports wear, double breasted suits and fluffy fur coats for that mafia don look. Hello printed suits...hahaha.

Food Processors

The food processor, an essential kitchen helper that chops, grinds and purees. There are attachments that come with it that may or may not be useful for you like juicers, mills etc.

My family uses it to chop up vegetables for slaw to stew for popiah and deep-fry into pancakes.

Continue shredding those vegetables and you can make salsa or relish.

Blend it even more finely to create smoothies, spice pastes and soup bases.

Lee Hwa Jewellery

Lee Hwa was one of the first Singapore Goldsmiths to modernize and brand itself. A frequent participant of jewellery exhibitions and fashion shows, Lee Hwa marries dedicated craftsmenship with beautiful designs. We really couldn't ask for more from a local company and brand.

Lee Hwa is the only jeweller in the world to offer Purple Gold, a patented process.

Lee Hwa also carries regular GIA certified diamonds in addition to 2 perfect cuts - Forevermark and Destinee. Every now and then a special design comes out and my absolute favorite is the Forevermark Diamond Jubilee Elizabeth Ring, created to commemorate 60 years of reign by Queen Elizabeth II.

Lee Hwa is also known to collaborate with local celebrities to create special jewellery lines. The most recent is it's 2nd collection with London based designer Ashley Isham.

Lee Hwa is also exclusive distributor for Furrer-Jacot wedding jewellery.

Dinner @ CUT again

I just can't seem to get a seat in the restaurant, the hostess keeps seating me at the bar and I get to chat with the bartenders throughout my dinner.

The bread selection is getting better and the waiters recommended the prawn cocktail with wasabi gelee that was really delicious.

They whipped up this rose & raspberry cocktail Forbidden Kiss. It was like drinking perfume albeit with less alcohol, roses, good stuff.

Mustard and Sauces selection were served without prompting. I ordered steak frites, check out the portion. Steak was good, tender without being bloody.

Black Forest Baked Alaska for dessert. Switched my camera to flash as it was getting dark.

FabulousYarn.com Haul

I saw a couple of knitting patterns online that I wanted to make and using the recommended Tilli Thomas yarns for it seemed natural. When I hit the search button, Fabulous Yarns website pops up! I featured this site before for its great discounts and shipping, so I was happy to put in my order for some Tilli Tomas Symphony Lace yarns in Natural/Silver and Tilli Tomas Voile de la Mer yarns in Whisper.

TT Voile de la Mer is a 70% silk and 30% seacell that costs USD$18 for a 50gm skein. I bought 3 skeins for USD$40.50 after discounts.

TT Symphony Lace is a 63% kid mohair, 10% silk, 18% metallic nylon, 8% wool blend that has metallic strands inside and is beaded. Retail Price is USD$39 per skein, I bought 4 skeins for USD$117 after discounts.

Shipping to Singapore came up to USD$24.