Eureka!!

Well, it has been about 1 year and 2 months, and I think I can safely say that learning Cantonese is not easy. Maybe it is all the crochet I do while listening to podcasts, and although I now count my stitches in Gongdongwah, for ages I did not feel I was progressing.

However, last night I dreamed in Cantonese - admittedly some of it was nonsense made up by my brain, but a lot of it made sense. And just this very second I had a momentous breakthrough.

Tag questions in English are examples of the positvie-negative verb question structure in Cantonese. You present the verb in positive and negative, and you answer, not only with yes or no, but with the verb... in it's positive or negative form.

So,
Did you feed the cat?
becomes tag question,
You did feed the cat, didn't you?
or the Cantonese direct transliteration,
You give not give food to the cat?

...What am I talking about?

I'm talking about me getting to grips with Cantonese. All by myself. Well, if that isn't worth a pat on the back and a lay down, then I don't know what is. There is even an apocolyptic thunderstorm drawing in to make my mad professor moment perfect.

An Octopus, A Chick in Egg and Two Tiny White Rabbits

Here are the pictures of the little creatures I made recently. The octopus and chick in an egg are taken from Ana Paula Rimoli's book 'Amigurumi World' - they were fun and fairly easy to make, although my egg is a little mis-shapen.





The octopus and chick are made with a supersoft acrylic that came free with a craft magazine a while ago, and the egg shell is made with a left over bit of DK too - possibly wool, probably acrylic. The pattern uses plastic eyes, but these are for an under 3 year-old so I had to do what I could with a bit of cotton. The octopus's legs are woven on and I will stitch them on with sewing cotton to make him really baby-proof.

The little white rabbits:



They were made with a 2.00mm hook and cotton DK (at least that's what the label says but it is much finer than any cotton DK I've seen). Obviously inspired by Studio Ghibli! They were originally going to be stitched onto a hairslide, when I realised they really need to be on something washable as they are white.

Here is a photo of them with a twenty pence piece for scale:

Hong Kong Here We Come!

Yes, it's almost time to dust off the Octopus Card and switch to Menthols! Flight booked, hotel booked and Cantonese.... mmmarginally better than this time last year.
In three months time I will be here:


Or here:


And I will definitely be visiting this honourable establishment:


Needless to say, I am excited and not least of all because I am going to meet a certain little 6 month old baby, whose Cantonese might be on the same level as mine.

Meeting a baby calls for some fun and quick crochet projects courtesy of Ana Paula Rimoli's Amigurumi World - and I have notched up a chick inside an egg and an octopus so far! Pictures to follow.

Abacus Necklace

I have gone through some old jewellery that I don't wear anymore and made it into new pieces. All the beads were originally on very chunky and uncomfortable bracelets - they looked really funky but were too impractical to wear. So I strung them loose onto nylon coated cable wire. The beads make a fantastic clunking noise when they slide into each other and remind me of an abacus. Hence the name 'Abacus Necklace' - which I'm a bit proud of, but will probably find out it has already been used for something else.

There is a definite gambling/hustling theme here with 8-ball pool beads and dice.

I also re-strung a domino bracelet onto beading wire. I had it on thin shearing elastic before and never wore it because I was afraid of it breaking. It is much more sturdy now.

Once again, all these things will be available in the gift shop - but they are OOAK (One Of A Kind) so get in quick!

Crocheted Clutch

I have just finished crocheting two clutch bags or make-up purses in a beautifully soft cotton DK (Wendy Supreme Luxury Cotton DK). The colours are beautiful and the yarns has a beautiful sheen to it. It is also really soft, and such a pleasure to work with using a bamboo hook. It is a heavy material, but this is perfect for a bag, as it feels substantial and pretty durable.

I decorated one bag with leaves, a rose and a bud (two-colour ball button). The second bag, inspired by the filigree button closure, has appliqued forget-me-nots which I made using DMC embroidery 'silks' (100% cotton). I used a 2mm metal hook and the change in size, yarn and hook material made making these little delights a dubious pleasure. However, when I look at the finished products, it was well worth it - and it was great fun mixing and matching patterns.

Both bags are lined, and I found the best way to do this was by hand. By the time I would have set up the sewing machine for 12" of seaming I could have finished the running stitch by hand. The lining fabric I found for the second bag was a serendipitous match, it's a tiny cotton flower print taken from an old dress. (Washed, of course!)

Both bags are in the gift shop now.

Study 1, 2006
These tapestry studies develop the visual theme of the key by fusing the individual images and, therefore, their meanings.
A more expressive style was used in order to draw the original 'key' together, and to create more complex messages.

Study 2, 2006
Coarser fibres, tertiary colours and varied stitching add visual complexity. This approach engages the viewer's imagination, rather than demanding their co-operation as in the original series.

Study 3, 2006
The complete coverage of the canvas creates an environment for the items composed from 'The Key'. The semantic and visual landscape makes the 'Frankenstein' subjects more removed from reality and encourages the suspension of logic.
However, these studies and 'The Key' can still be viewed together as one project. The semantic loopholes purposely evident in 'The Key', add depth to the interpretation of these studies and future work.