Taipei, part 1: Ah-ma's funeral

Erg, I've been trying to post for over 2 days now, but blogger has been having problems. :(
Anyway, Ah-ma's (grandmother) funeral was a little different from Ah-gong's (grandfather). Tradition and culture still require a praying and prostration session every 7 days, a funeral praying day, the funeral, a 49th and 100th day praying session. Ah-ma's funeral was a mix of Mahayana Buddhist (but more Taiwanese-style), Daoist beliefts and practices, Taiwan cultural and family traditional practices. It should be noted that general Taiwanese spirituality and culture include some Confucian beliefs and philosophies. Above: The altar on the funeral day at the funeral home. There were flowers all around the entire room. Each person that sent a flower arrangement (all done in lillies and orchids) had a placards with their name and relation. Below: The sons and daughters-in-law paying homage to their mother through a series of offerings and eventually also through kowtows. Ah-ma did not have any daughters. Note that the men stand in front of the women and they stand in order of status (oldest male to youngest male) and then the women stand in order of status (their marriage to sons). If Ah-ma had daughters, they would stand between the last son and the highest-status daughter-in-law. The entire funeral process is all quite complicated and I doubt that my generation would likely carry on these practices unless it's an explicit expressed interest of the parent. The prayer days (depending on the day) could mean that you stand, kneel and kowtow to the various gods/buddhas and the spirit of the deceased from 5 minutes to 3 hours to 6-8 hours. And if you are like me with asthma and allergies galore, the burning of incense and paper money will not agree with your lungs and body.

There was an open-casket viewing, which was a little daunting and definitely depressing. I already had to see my own mother's body as she wasted away for 2 years, and in the end, she was mere skin draped over a skeleton in her casket when she passed. It was a scary sight and she resembled a 1000 year old ice mummy. (btw- mom's funeral was simple and without fanfare or real ceremony, just as she requested.) Even though I really wasn't all that close to Ah-ma and she certainly looked much better than mom in the casket, I definitely dreaded looking at her. I had no choice. We had to stand around her casket while the monk performed various ceremonies. (It was easier at Ah-gong's funeral, when it was a closed casket.)

We had to wear these ribbon with old coins around our wrists and these little fabric things on our shoulders for the funeral and every time we had a praying ceremony for Ah-ma. I do not know the real reason for wearing them, but I must say all the differentiation in different styles and colors between grandsons and granddaughters are all very sexiest. This is a traditional and cultural practice that should be done away with in the modern world where women do and work more than men, and thus women should be valued more.
Click on photos above for explanation regarding the things we had to wear.
Left: Burning money after a 2.5 hour praying ceremony for Ah-ma.

Ah-gong's funeral definitely did not include religious Dao practices and there was no burning of money. His funeral was closer to an actual Mahayana Buddhist practices flavored by Taiwanese culture and family tradition. He chose to be buried. (Currently in a temporary, but beautifully designed, plot and will be dug up in 3 years to be put with the rest of the family tombs where all our ancestors are buried.) Ah-ma chose to be cremated (but not to full ashes) and her bones were collected and sealed in a green marble urn. After a year, those remains will also be moved to be with the ancestral tomb. Then every year, their tombs, along with other ancestral tombs, will be swept and cleaned on the Tomb Sweeping Festival. My dad and his brothers take turns sweeping the tombs. We don't know who will end up doing it when their generation passes.

Dear Readers

Dear Friends and Readers of my blog,
Thank you for visiting and reading! I will be going to Taiwan for a week for my grandmother's funeral. An since I don't have any cool family that live there, I won't be able to blog. Unless... My dad wants my sis and I to get some stuff done at the Taipei City Hall in Neihu where there are 2 sloooow computer stations for free use. Or, I could go to an extremely smokey (*cough*hack*cough) internet cafe full of nerdy Taiwanese boys playing some game or something. I am asthmatic so the latter really won't do. For those who know the politics surrounding Taiwan, and I don't really want to rant politics or history, but I feel the need to say (and educate) that I am for Taiwan independence. China is big, selfish and unjust bully.

Anyways, I am an addict, a knitting fiend, a yarn whore, whatever you want to call it. When I found out I had to go, I later thought...I wonder if there's a Stitch n Bitch group in Taiwan? (Mind you, I'm leaving tomorrow, coming back the following Saturday!) None are listed. I love search engines! I found Erin, with whom I've been corresponding, and I'm planning to meet up with her to go Yarn and Knitting Store shopping! Yeah!! I'm interested in looking for Chinese and Japanese knitting books. Hopefully, I'll have lots to report on this mini-adventure.

Do you need to ask? Of course I am bringing some knitting project for the 17-18 hour trip (counting time going to and waiting at airport, and travelling to hotel)!

Happy Knitting until then,
Anne

Painted Goodwill Sweater

These are photos of the dried and finished hand-dyed and hand-painted reclaimed/recycled yarn from a brand-new sweater I found at a thrift store, as I had posted a few days ago. I love Goodwill, and it's not just because of the sweater finds. Philosophically, I support their mission and their accomplishments in empowering the people they serve through their job training and opportunities program.


Top Left: A composite showing the yarns in different views. The 2 on the left were dyed in the same pot in the same manner. The one to the right is shown spread out in the next picture. Top Right: I hand-painted this one to get more frequent and random color change. Bottom: Another view, with one partially wound.

My "29th" Barfday

Barfday is what my sister calls birthdays, so it kinda stuck with me. Lately, the sun has not been to sunny on my side of the world. Luckily for me, I am generally peppy and optimistic, so "barfday" had been a fitting name for the past 2 years. (I spent the last b-day in isolation caring for a very ill family member.) But it's a little different this year! My birthday was yesterday and not so barfy afterall. My very sweet hubby sent me NINE dozen tulips and 1 dozen sunflowers. One of my friends added to my flower collection by getting be gorgeous orchids. I should open a florist shop in my office! My friends took me out to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Mama's Hot Tamales. Besides the cool name, Mama's is a non-profit training restaurant for people in the community and they have awesome food made from fresh produce from farmers markets and/or are certified organic!

Top: View from my chair, behind the desk. (The sunflowers had dye in it, hence the pink water. There are 3 dozen tulips in each vase (minus the ones had given to some coworkers to brighten the entire office) Bottom: View from the door, in front of my desk.

So, I had a good birthday.

Stinky Silk Woes, Part 2

So I decided to be a masochist and tried to dye my silk again. This time I read the section of my dye book on dyeing silk and silk-blended yarns. I soaked (really, I did) my yarn OVERNIGHT and with soap. I started with my snafoo yarn from last time, which leached blue-green water (go figure, because it was baby blue).

Above Left: 1st Snafoo, Part 2, attempt 1: I painted it darker blue (shown) and other shades of teal, turquiose and algae green. After 40 looong minutes and lots of citric acid, the color still wouldn't take, so I tried a different approach.
Above Right: 1st Snafoo, Part 2, attempt 2: I put it in a steamer basket and re-hand-painted all the colors which also was laced with acid. I steamed for about 40 minutes. I still have a Baby Blue Bomb. I can't even see any green. Why? see below!


Above Left: Although I think my water level was a little bit high (only barely touched part of yarn when on high boil), it should not have leached green water. I still have baby blue yarn, albeit a darker baby blue, and it still is not colorfast. :( boo hoo.
Above Right: I am really a masochist. I didn't think nearly 2 hours of Stinky Silk was enough. hmm, maybe something is wrong with that yarn. I should try the extra hank I soaked last night. So I did. I painstakingly hand-painted the yarn, all 500 yds of the 50/50 silk/wool, put less water and steamed for 50-60 minutes. Towards the last 20 minutes, I threw in the Baby Blue Bomb. This one is a little better than Baby Blue Bomb, but it is still leaching color since it hasn't set.

Wait, there IS a rainbow! I miraculously have the gift of foresight and somehow knew that I would be disappointed. So before doing the silk, I unraveled an embroidered thrift store find (new w/tags!) made in Scotland from shetland wool. It was cut and then stitched from the armpits up (maybe b/c of embroidery), so I couldn't really unravel the top third without getting a pile of short yarn pieces that my kitties would drool over. I treated those parts like fabric.

My house smells awful. What's worse? Hot Stinky Silk or Hot Vinegar? Yuck.


Left: The sweater. Right: What I got.

I dyed some of the sweater parts and yarn. Success!! What's even better is that I am able to multi-task and had the Stinky Silk and wool dyeing at the same time. Right: A picture of all the yarns in the drying process. (Click on it and any other picture for better detail.)

Above: The top back of the sweater. I painted the stripes and will be felting it for a clutch.

Red Booties

Here's the picture of the finished red baby booties. It'll probably fit a 6 mo+ old baby. I think I need to make the black ties shorter. They look a bit long. 100% Cotton, US 4 needles.

I have not re-cast the baby alpaca baby booties. The reason I had to frog it in the first place is because the pattern did not make any sense when it come to the toe shaping. The pattern just says "toe shaping is done by working in short rows," but gives no instructions on how many rows or stitches! I hate poorly written patterns! I want to find a good baby bootie pattern done on double pointed needles. Until then, I'll do the alpaca booties on 2 straights.

I spent this evening dyeing yarn. I actually tried to take pics of the dye process. It was Stinky Silk Woes (pic) all over again! Quite dismal and disappointing. I don't have time to reformat all the pics now, and since it's late, I'll have to rant about my Stinky Silk Adventure, Part 2 later. I'm going to cry now.

Soap Opera Drama

When did I end up in a soap opera? I don't even know if I should write about it in my blog. It's mostly about work and about some girl who is causing quite a stir. "KAy" (see post below for explanation). What a trip. KAy is a liar and sort of a thief. I am not exaggerating. I guess I'll sleep on it and see if I'm still pissed before I devote more words to KAy -- she's certainly racking up those negative points!

On a crafty note, I finished the red booties. Woohoo! I'll post a pic this weekend. I still have to decide who to give it to. I'm going to spend the rest of this evening unwinding (literally) -- I'm going to unravel a thrift store wool sweater.

EDIT, 4/14/06:I have not confronted KAy for the 2 things she did. I'm more annoyed at the more recent thing she did to me. She's kind of stupid or delusional for thinking that I or other people would not find out about stuff she says or does. She lacks integrity. Anyway, someone suggested I confront her. I'm not going to. There's really no need; she knows that I know the truth. Her contract ends in 5-6 weeks. And you know those sayings: You dig your own grave. You lie in the bed you make. Sooner or later, she's going get stuck in her own web. I'm going to stop bitchin' and ranting. In my 6 years at this job, I have NEVER seen such behavior. So junior high. KAy is like 28 0r 29. I actually feel sorry for her now.

Crap, Crap, Crap!

My crappy day consisted of ...

• A visit to a client in a psych ward of a hospital regarding services my colleague and I are trying to get for him through the county. The stench of his room was awful-- smelled like shit, literally, and urine. And as usual, because the hospital is not an appropriate placement for him and can't provide the level of services he needs, he was is restraints. A depressing visit to say the least.
• Spending over $1,000 on a close-to-last minute ticket to go to Asia for the funeral of my paternal grandmother who just passed away unexpectedly.
• Having to deal with the 3rd passing of a family member in 9 months. Paternal grandpa, mother and now grandma.
• Having to rearrange coverage and other things at work in preparation for my trip next week.
• A co-worker that is causing so much drama and problems for the short amount of time she has been in our office. (Although, she kisses up to some people higher on the totem pole. Hence we dubbed her "KAy").
• A terrible aching back on top of my usual chronic back pain.
• PMSing.
• Frogging a nearly half-done baby bootie. This was the bootie I was knitting out of the baby alpaca yarn.
• Coming home to a dirty and neglected house, which I have not cleaned in a while.

Well, there are worse things. C'est la vie...

Babies of All Sorts

I'm a proud momma. First of all, I finished my Clapotis late Thursday night. As holey as it is, it's actually pretty warm. I am TOTALLY happy with the colorway and the turn out. I probably should block it since it's rolling a bit, but not before I wear it a couple more times. :) I knitted the sport weight Cashmere/Merino yarn on US 7 needles.

Left: The finished project.
Below: Close-up view. Aren't the colors are lovely?



Scored! Despite having worked in LaLaLand (aka Plastic Land and Silicon City) for the past 5 years, I have never shopped in the Fashion District or in most areas in LA -- walked and passed through, but no real shopping. I'm a transplant, so I don't have many friends here to go with me, and it's not like my short-attention-spanned hubby will indulge me in something like this. So of course, I said yes when 2 friends woke me from my slumber this morning.

Anyhow, I've always though the Hermes Birkin bags were cute. Ever since I saw a colleague with a knock-off she bought from NYC, I've had my eyes on one. Of course, even if I won the lotto, I don't think I would spend even $1000 on a purse or tote, let alone spend thousands upon thousands!! (BTW- the real bags go anywhere from $4,000 to $40,000 for the larger crocodile totes.) I found this lovely and fairly well-made orange one for a bargain $25. There was a green one too, but the orange one is prettier. Rachel got a really nice black Salvatore Ferragamo for $18. We tried to bargain more, but the guy would not go any lower and he was the lower-priced venue. We came across another store that also has Birkins (and even a blue one), but the store charges $35.



Above: Ms. Brownie modeling the purse.

Babies Galore. I am at that age where all my friends are having babies or getting married. In the apst 2 years or so, I've had to deal with a lot personal stuff, so I have been terrible at calling and sending gifts, cards, and other congratulatory gestures. So now that things have calmed a bit, I'm finally making long overdue baby gifts. It's a good thing baby booties are fast to knit, except the ones requiring knitting in the round. I am going to be busy! I would like to make gifts for...

1. ...Nyssa, Tedd's girl, around 1 year old
2. ...Baby, Ann's, sex unknown, expected this May
3. ...Madeline, Kay's girl, now about 2 or 3 ? years old
4. ...Baby, Kay's 2nd, expected Fall 2007 (probably)
5. ...Danny, Nguyen's boy, around 1 year old -- technically our godchild. I am a terrible godmother. Hubby is much worse. He bought Danny a Winnie the Pooh for Christmas and did not give it to him until I put it by the front door to remind him 2 weeks ago!
6. ...Grant, Amy's boy, age 2 months.

Below: I don't know who this will be for yet. It's out of 100% cotton yarn on US 4 needles. I still need to sew it up, but I think I will wait until my next knitting group meeting so I can get some sage guidance on proper seaming.

Below: I think this one will be for Ann's soon-to-be-popped baby. She and her hubby want to be surprised by the sex, so any gifts would have to be unisex. And since this is use what you have month, I'm using this fingering weight 100% baby alpaca yarn that I got about 6 months ago from The Hunger Site, a cool place to shop, support a nonprofit and fight hunger. What's more is that this a fair trade product. I've only made the sole so far. I find it a little challenging to knit in the round with teeny tiny US 1 needles.

Backward Knitting

Someone from my knitting group taught me how to knit backwards last night. AWESOME! I didn't even know that you could do that! I wished I learned to do it before I got so far on my Clapotis and thus, I would've saved myself some finger arthritis from all those hated purl rows. (I knit continental and when I purl, I pull the yarn over the needle with my left index finger.) Now I may consider another Clap in the future. I still have many projects that I want to do and make up! Here's a nice backwards knitting and purling online tutorial.

Awww *blush*
What's also really cool is that I posted and linked my yarn swift pattern on Craftster. I got really cool comments and feedback from people. I hope more people realize how easy it is to make one (and cheap!)

Is it Friday yet?

Argh. It's only Tuesday and I've aleady had a looong busy and draining week at work. I haven't had much down time, except ripping out a project. (Although I did buy a pair of lovely Via Spigas :) while running errands today.) I'm making time now and updating my blog and photos. I just uploaded the photos of some purses I made for donation recently. This one is my favorites, which I called Wild Poppies - inspired by wild poppies (go figure). It's of my own pattern and design. Hand dyed & painted using yarn I recycled from a sweater. Top darker colored section is felted. Lower half is knitted with purl ridges. Bottom of purse sits flat - knitted that way, no extra sewing. The tag says Sugar Apple Creations, which I had asked my talented and artistic sister to design for me. Isn't that cool? I have that website, but I haven't learned how to create a site yet. Learning to do this blog was challenge enough!