Love is a Simple Melody

Frogs and crickets made it to this original song? Yeah, they sure did. So did my boyfriend's acoustic guitar with the name Mann on its headstock, which has been a great inspiration with a really nice warm tone. When you can't write a love letter nor even make a phone call to see how the other person is for two weeks, you could write a song and sing it to the stars. The heavens would listen. It's kind of like that song from American Tale: Somewhere Out There.

When Recipes don't look like they ought to be...

This is a video on HOW to crotchet a circle.

And NOT this:

According to the pattern I have, I was supposed to:
First Motif
Chain 6, Join with Slip stitch to form circle. (This was where I went very wrong. I slipped stitched the entire chain.)
First round
Chain 3, 23 double crochet in ring. Slip stitch in top of chain 3. (This is where I'm like, WHAT? How do you even crochet a circle?!?!)
Second round
Chain 3. 1 double crotchet in each double crotchet to end of round. Slip stitch in top of chain3. 24 stitches. (This is where it starts becoming gibberish. There are even more steps after this second round for the third round..! ACK!)

When books don't do enough justice to visual presentation, I am so thankful for people who take the initiative to upload help videos. Well, I guess it's back to ripping my stitches apart for the umpteenth time....

So, after ripping it apart three times while trying to get the hang of crocheting a circle, this is how my first strip looks like:

On Crotchet and Knitting

I USED TO crotchet. All I knew was how to make a chain, single crotchet or double crotchet. However, now is all but a faint memory of not touching it for more than 5 years -- I have a quarter-finished scarf that I was crotcheting while I was on my concert choir tour in BC -- in an attempt to give it to a girlfriend for her birthday then. Please bear with me as I am adding patterns that catches my eye. I am going to have a fun time trying to understand the abbreviations in crotchet. I suppose you could request some of the patterns I post to be done -- it would be a good challenge.

Baby's First Teddy Bear
By Suzy Rigby Copyright 1997

This is the perfect quick gift for that new baby or for a Saturday shower! Since there are no loose parts, it is wonderful for the crib. It will quickly become your babies best friend!
Materials:
2 oz main color yarn
sm amt. 2nd color yarn
Size G hook
Yarn needle

Note: Bear is worked in 2 rnd granny squares.

You will need:

9 of mc and 2 of 2nd color. You will also have the "face" square.

Motif
Ch 4, sl st in first ch to form ring.Rnd 1: Ch 3. (counts as first dc now and throughout) 2 dc in ring. *ch 3, 3 dc in ring. Repeat from * 2 times more. Ch 3 and sl st to beginning ch 3. >
Rnd 2: Sl st to corner space, ch 3, 2 dc , ch 3, 3 dc in same sp. *Ch 1, 3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc in next corner. Repeat from * 2 x more. Ch 1, sl st to top of beginning ch 3. Finish off.

Face Motif.
For the face, start with the 2nd color, ch 4, sl st to form ring. Ch 3, 2 dc ch 3, 3 dc in ring. Join mc in top of last dc, and fasten off 2nd color. Repeat as for regular motif. This will give the impression of eyes.
Ears:
Ch 4. Row 1: 3 dc in last ch. Ch 3, turn.
Row 2: 2 dc in each dc across. 8 dc . Fasten off, leaving long end for sewing.

Joining.

Crochet or Sew all squares together as shown in picture. There will be a front, with the face, and a back with 2 white squares (one for back of head, one for back of belly) Then, sl st around entire piece to join front to back. Sew ears to top of head.

Your Past Can Come Back to Haunt You

Out of curiosity, I googled myself. I'm happy to see that this blog has made it to being somewhere within the first two pages of the search list. Nonetheless, my gutsy-ness never fails to haunt me: I was surprised to be able to find myself on the first page of the search when I typed in my full name. There it was: four delegates from my high school representing the debate club in the model legislature. http://www.shep.net/newsletters/Feb2002.PDF If you were to persuade me into joining a debate club now, I would have to think more than TWICE before saying yes. Debates, however, are fun, but only when you have got the facts right.

A newsletter from (oh, gosh) 6 years ago!! There is supposedly a Shep's 50th reunion this fall, but I'm not going (despite it being a great networking opportunity). I guess I've had enough of eating expensive rubbery chicken at the Northlands Agricom. I wouldn't want to relive my Grade 12 grad if I could help it. That chapter has been long closed even though I still ocassionally keep in touch with a few people I've met from that high school.

Well, one day when my butt starts to sag due to age and gravity, I hope what I am doing right now would not come back to haunt me. Well, I know a few poems from my childhood and teenagehood have. Most of us had those kind of moments: what the hell were we thinking??

Yep, if we say before we think, we will think too much later before we say. Therefore, we can say that conclusively it is better to think before we walk the talk. After all, as the old saying goes, empty vessels make more sound; kinda like this blog entry -- there is no actual meaningful content. Wait, I am contradicting myself, aren't I? Have I lost you yet?

An Excerpt from Love is A Simple Melody

Love is a Simple Melody. Media: Charcoal (Click for a larger image.)

An excerpt from an original song I wrote on June 1, 2008. It would take me a while to get the song figured out. Stay tuned for more.....

Stronger

An illustration of the headlands in Tintagel, Cornwall, South-east coast of the United Kingdom. Media: conte

I'm usually a pretty level-headed girl,
but I can't carry the whole world up on my shoulders
I know I'm strong, but sometimes I'm wrong
because I'm stubborn and let pride get along the way

I'm definitely stronger because of You
The ghosts of yesterday are slowly gone;
I feel so safe when I'm with you
You make me stronger
So much stronger, like the rock after endless storms

I'm still standing stronger because of the sand breaking the waves;
The grass is like friends that holds the rainwater,
preventing me from breaking down any further.

The sun is definitely shining brighter, longer and stronger
because of you, you and you.

- Cynthia Chiew, February 24, 2008

This is me visiting England alone on a whim in January 2008. It was a wet, windy, and an unpleasantly cold day to visit the ruins of Tintagel castle, which was believed to be the legendary King Arthur's castle, but I had three hours to kill after a long train ride from London. I was the first visitor that day, brave enough to go despite a rainy hail-storm. The stairs to the castle were difficult and uneven; it was sort of poetic that way. It reminded me of life -- not each step is the same nor it is easy to climb, but once you get to the top, the view is marvellous. I was deeply humbled by the headlands -- they have been here for many centuries. When I saw the ruins of Tintagel Castle, I was even more humbled by the strength of nature: waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

Cynful Comics: Curiosity doesn't always kill a cat in Cat & Mouse