So I'm currently sat in the hotel room having already packed (well...my husband has packed for us both!) for our 4am departure. Our flight leaves in about 12 hours and I'm feeling a little reflective.
China was a great way to start our adventure 3 years ago and I'm thrilled that it will be continuing in Indonesia. Leaving the UK 3 years ago was very difficult. The run up to it was very strange, hectic and somewhat surreal. I hadn't given the job or the move a great deal of thought right up until we left - this may sound strange as it was a monumental move but I was so busy with finishing off the teaching term that I didn't have the time or the energy to really process what I was about to embark on.
As I said goodbye to colleagues and various friends I didn't cry as I thought I would do because it still hadn't hit me that our life was going to be completely different. Saying goodbye to my parents at the airport made it much more real though; walking away from them (my mum and I both crying) was when it finally sunk in. I was moving a long way away from everything I had ever known; I had a one way ticket to a country and a continent that I'd never set foot in; I had no idea when I'd see my friends and family again. It was one of the scariest and hardest things I've ever done. It was hands down the best decision I've ever made. Now I'm on the edge of another move. Leaving China was sad and soon I'll have to figure out my new workplace, begin to learn the language (I have the numbers 0-5 down!), work out where is good to eat/shop/get my hair done and start making friends again. Has it hit me yet? Sort of...but it's not a complete unknown anymore so perhaps it's going to be easier this time? One thing I can tell you is that right now I'm really excited about it and ready for a new adventure! No doubt I'll keep you posted!
As I said it would be last week knitting and spinning is rather thin on the ground this week. I've done a few sets of increases on my cardigan sleeves but that's about it. Today though I wanted to show you pictures of the Botanical Gardens. Yesterday my husband and I went for a walk but due to him having hay fever and no antihistamines with us we cut the trip short. Needless to say he wasn't feeling like going back today so I went by myself this afternoon.
If you're ever in Singapore and you like looking round gardens and seeing lots of amazing flora and fauna then you absolutely must go! The grounds are huge though, so be prepared to either spend a whole day there or to go back over a few days. It's free aside from the Orchid Garden which was only 5S$ - a bargain if you ask me!
There are several different routes you can take and some of them are themed, e.g the rainforest or evolution walks. Areas such as Swan Lake and the Sundial Garden are interspersed throughout the paths and provide something different in each one.
Monitor lizards, birds, butterflies, moths, dragonflies and many other animals can be seen on the various walks although you will need to pay attention as some of them stay hidden amongst the trees and bushes.
Flower fanatics will be swept away by the grounds as well as the Orchid Garden where there are over 1000 species of orchids to be seen! Inside the Orchid Garden is the Cool House which mimics a tropical highland cloud forest and is home to pitcher plants and other cool climate plants. It provides a welcome break from the heat too so is worth exploring.
There isn't much more to say about it, but I hope you enjoy the pictures that I took and that they give you some idea of how wonderful a place it is.
For the Tour de Fleece one of my goals was to finish spinning and plying my Fondant Fibre punis. On Monday I finished plying the last of them so that's this week's FO! I love the colour of the yarn and have been hankering after some green for a while. The punis were quite easy to spin although I found the tighter ones quite difficult to draft smoothly. However, while I love the finished yarn I am disappointed with the yardage as there's only about 295y for the 100g of light fingering weight yarn. Before I counted the yardage I was hoping to knit a shawl with it but I don't think that's realistic anymore unless I were to pair it with another colour, which means buying more yarn. If you have any suggestions for what I could knit please leave a comment below! In other news we are in Singapore now! Our plans are quite loose at the moment although we will definitely be going to the zoo at some point which I'm really looking forward to. I'm also hoping to get to the botanical gardens too! Hopefully I'll be back here with some lovely photos however spinning and knitting might be a bit thin on the ground!
Currently we're on our way back to Bangkok. We're taking the train, first class again, although it leaves at 21.04 so we won't get to see much scenery. Koh Samui has been wonderful and if we didn't need to get back to Bangkok then we'd definitely stay another week! We'll be applying for our Indonesian visas when we're there but have no idea at the moment how long that process takes. After that we're going to head to Singapore for a week or so! Needless to say I can't wait!
My biggest WIP at the moment is definitely my Custom Fit Cardigan. I swatched a while ago using some beautiful yarn from Inked Yarn that was custom dyed for me. It's a gorgeous blend of 55% BFL and 45% silk. My hope is that it is cool enough, due to the silk, to be worn in air conditioning. If not...well I'll most likely tolerate it anyway!! This is the third attempt at a cardigan for me, the firsttwo were failures and frogged fairly early on in their short lives. Fingers crossed for this one please everyone!
So far I've done the back and one sleeve...not much considering I started it in May, but I'm cautiously knitting on my projects as I won't get my stash until about October. I have cast on the second sleeve but as I'm not in a hurry to finish it I've only done one row! Obviously the pieces haven't been blocked yet and won't be until I've finished all of them and am ready to seam. Although I've found some of the pattern a little challenging to get my head around I have enjoyed this so far. The pattern is very detailed and provides you with row counts for each section. I'm feeling hopeful that this will turn out well!
The other WIP that I have with me is my beaded shawl, Rivoli. It's a stunning beaded, lace shawl by Anniken Allis. I'm knitting it using Lotus Yarns Forest Dew in a light grey. To compliment the yarn I am using silver beads; subtle but absolutely gorgeous.
While I was busy/tired/stressed during the last term of work the shawl was barely looked at, never mind knit on. However now that I have free time/have the mental energy/am relaxed I'm getting a few rows done a day. I've now completed 2 of the 4 repeats and am nearly finished with my 3rd. One more full repeat to go and then I get to the easy part! I've no idea where I think I'm going to be wearing a shawl made from a blend of angora, merino, tencel and cashmere in Indonesia but look at it....how could I resist?!
As many of you may know its Tour de France right now, which means it's also Tour de Fleece over on Ravelry. I'm participating in some unofficial teams this year and wanted to share what I'm spinning.
My first goal is to spin my yellow stonecrop batt by Nunoco.
I'm currently half way through that and have wound off the singles I've
done so far, so I can start the next half. It's a blend of merino, soya
and silk noil and it's lovely to spin. It drafts easily and the noils
and soya add some textural interest to the grey merino. The yellow and
turquoise (it's showing as more blue than it really is here) will eventually be plied together.
Next up is a WIP I've been spinning for a couple of months, my Fondant Fibre
punis. I've finished spinning and plying about 2/3 of the fibre and am
on my last 5 punis. I brought this with me as the yarn will be finished, and perhaps knitted with, before my stash arrives in Jakarta.
I've also been spinning on my Ixchel Bunny
No. 5 although as it's so slippery and quite a challenge I find I don't
go to it very often. It's gorgeous though and I'm sure it'll be a
pleasure to knit when it's done.
