i am taking a little break from blogging. several reasons, but mostly because of life. i hate to write half-hearted posts which serves no purpose to my readers, who come here for inspiration and to share ideas.

anyway, the weather is getting cold, my sunrise circle jacket is not too far away from being finished. the quilt has been layout and cut. i may need to get a quilter's presser foot before i start sewing (should i?). i am also going to start this cutest cardigan (which of course was inspired by pam).

another reason of taking a blog break was because of ravelry. that was so much fun. i hope there would be a sewing equivalent version.

hopefully i will be energized when i return. and have many interesting craft to share!

xox

p.s.
this is actually the 250th post. no wonder i feel like i needed a break. i also just discovered that my 3000th commenter was one of my long time loyal readers, whom i also considered a friend. i hope to prepare something for that person during the break. stay tuned!

Posted by blossom at 04:34 PM | Comments (11)

outside the forbidden city, next to the inner golden river, this tree speaks to me in a very lonesome, wintery kind of way

thanks for voicing your preference of my "adding a tree" theme here. i was very surprised to see that my favorite was totally different from most of your choices. everyone appreciates art differently, let alone having to select only one. anyway, i thought this is quite a fun exercise for all of us who has a bit of artist inside.

in the end, it's brooke's tree that completely captured my heart. her wispy, whimsical tree. the banner will be updated shortly! thank you, everyone, for participating.

meanwhile, i've joined the flickr community. it's just a matter of time, really! i've added some pictures of our trip, if you would like to get a taste of china. will be adding comments to photos, and more pictures whenever time permits. and, ultimately some craft related goods from the other side of the world.

two and a half weeks of traveling, i only knitted one sock.

Posted by blossom at 11:51 AM | Comments (6)

the tree post had yielded some trees from some talented bloggers! thank you all very much, ladies! i thought the selection would be easy, but not at all! i love all of them. even hege had suggested that i should knit a mini-tree and incorporated that. which, is likely to be for next year.

so here are the trees i have received:

1. from vanessa at coloursknits

2. from brooke at the daily purl

3. from petulant feminine

and with some manipulations i did:

which one is your favorite? i think i have one already. not sure if your favorites would change my mind.

Posted by blossom at 10:39 AM | Comments (23)

i have now returned from the east. this trip was fabulous, and of course with tales and adventures worth sharing. until i have the pictures ready, i would like to begin this little tree drawing contest mentioned in the previous post.

two years of sharing my crafty passion with you have taught me a lot of things with the most valuable one being loving what i create, and the beauty of hand-crafted imperfection. i also have deep appreciation of being part of this wonderful community. as such, i would like to include your creativity and involvement as part of my blog. draw me a tree.

if you'd like to partake this task. please send me (blossom at whisperingpine dot org) a picture file of your version of a tree to accompany this existing patchwork one created by diana. file should not be too big (>100Kb), and should be easily manipulated to add on to the existing banner. the contest will end at 11.59pm jan 31th. i will compile all trees together for sharing and select the one i love the most and add them to my banner. i will ask the chosen artist to provide a little paragraph like diana did, and post them here.

a lovely package will send to the chosen artist, which will consist silk fabric, yarn and crafty related goodies!

thanks for reading my blog, being part of my craft and i look forward to seeing some trees.

Posted by blossom at 03:45 PM | Comments (6)

so have i at least inspired some of you to sew? please say yes! my goal this summer is to knit a top and then sew a skirt to match the top. actually, this is hege's idea. she is a great enabler for my sewing, just look at these loveliest fabrics she gave me!!! and, a close up on the ultrasuede. the prettiest powdery pink. i am not sure what this will become, but i think it matches pretty well with this cutest baby face that belongs to my niece.

i know we fiber enthusiasts are all about yarn and fiber porns. unfortunately my old site has recently been maliciously revived into an adult version. and i can't begin to tell you how awful but helpless i feel! blogger is not going to care about my complain so i can only ask you to update your links to this one. thank you!

Posted by blossom at 01:56 PM | Comments (14)

peter mayle's a year in provence is so charming, i can only hope that the year in whispering pine had brought you half as much fun and light hearted pleasures. knitting pleasures, that is.

in three days, i will be blogging about my knitting for one year. this year, compared to many years of my life in the past, is definitely one of the best ones; knitting or not. if my world is like a cake, knitting, blogging about knitting and shopping for yarns are definitely the cream and cherries of the cake, the best part.

i have learned how to spend my time carefully as it will become a valuable commodity as i grow old. i have chosen to spend my time with knitting, and i think i will continue to do so for the years to come. why? because knitting and friends of this knitting world have brought me so much joy and friendship, just two steps shy from the love i got from my husband and cats.

as such, i think my journal deserves a better home. so here i am, i have bought a piece of property in the cyberspace. i now have my new, independent blog.

thank you, diana, for enabling me a fabulous space here. i love the tree. and i am adding on a new one annually. it may grow into a forest. who knows?

my dear readers, you shall know how to find me, i don't want you losing your way in the forest.

happy knitting.

Posted by blossom at 07:38 AM | Comments (54)

thank you for the overwhelming words of my elfine. it is so warm here today but i am waiting for a perfect day to wear them. which will be the happy day for my feet.

this and the following couple posts will be about my 2006 aspirations, mostly knitting, little on life. but first and being the foremost, my blog. i am considering switching my current platform to movable type. a year of blogging has proven to me (and my husband) that this activity will be part of my life for a while, so i am ready to invest in my hobby now. hopefully i will be able to gather enough information in the next couple weeks to enable this transition. while keeping in mind that my html knowledge is like two sentences long, i welcome all advice, suggestions and help.

so blogging. bigger and better. aim: quality posts for self and leave meaningful comments for others. continue to knit with love and passion to enable good blogging. keep seeking inspirations from the talented and be kind to all knitters alike.

aside from the blog, january is going to be taken up by a couple baby knits. at least for the first part.

rabbit tank top (baby knits book)

cotton fleece, the yarn i am using for the second time, gives such beautiful and crisp stitch definition. i will make an effort to use this yarn more frequently in the future. also, this yarn is perfect for tubular cast on, see? it can almost passed as a machine knit garment.

i am loving how fast this project goes. one more reason to knit for nieces and nephews before they all grow up.

monkeysuit for my baby niece is also coming. i am exercising the "first come, first serve" rule, as such, nephew's tank top first, niece's jacket is currently holding a number.

Posted by blossom at 12:49 PM | Comments (18)

i've gotten my act together and put up a gallery of my FOs of 2005 (see side bar). blogger does not have the fancy albums as seen in typepad, so this is the best i can do. i'm still ignorant about html stuff, maybe it will eventually get better! who knows.

Posted by blossom at 03:20 PM | Comments (9)

i can probably knit a hat in a couple hours, but it takes me longer than that to figure out how to custom my site feed (only 10 minutes ago i found out what "site feed" means. and, i'm not sure if i have completely figured it out yet).

life is a forever learning experience.

looking to get a reference book for weblog last night, instead, i got "knit lit". loved melanie falick's foreword.

Posted by blossom at 03:28 PM | Comments (1)