Malaysian vegetable pickle and Kitty love

 I made Malaysian style Acar Vegetable pickle adapted from my Malaysian cookbook .Its great to eat with barbecued meat or as part of a chinese meal .I used rice vinegar to blanch the vegetables as the first time I made it with ordinary white vinegar, the taste was too strong. I also substitute peanut butter, natural and crunchy for the ground peanuts.

My finished Kitty love washcloth,from a free Ravelry pattern ,designed by Cheryl Lacey .Its for my daughter Kat and I'm very pleased with the results. I used size 5mm needles instead of 4.5mm as recommended, and Rowan all seasons cotton 10 ply .It knitted up really quickly and used just one 50g ball.

Ravelry

I love the idea of creating mini knitting pictures all in one colour by using different stitches, so have added 14 wash/ dish cloths to my favourites and can't wait to buy wool [10 ply cotton]. I also want to knit mini Christmas stockings and mini teddies using the free Ravelry little cotton rabbits designs. Pictures of results to follow!

Postcrossing, a selection of recently received cards

A bird from Belarus!

this picturesque scene is from Poland

This vibrant city from Brazil

I love this card of an ancient building in Russia

cornflowers fom Finland

My favourite, yarn bombing in the U.S.A. Does this happen in the U.K?

Learning a language

I've just discovered Memrise , an amazing website  which is a great way to learn languages .You can learn from other people or start your own course .I started trying to learn Chinese characters (Simplified forms) last year and am continuing to try to improve my basic knowledge of spoken Cantonese.I am now learning both on Memrise which is a great way of retaining more vocabulary as it constantly tests your knowledge in different ways and it has many languages to choose from.

Limerick

London is bursting with pride
during this Olympic ride.
Economic gloom
and tidings of doom,
as the crowds cheer,their fears put aside.

Alilee 2012

Postcrossing

 First postcard received from Germany,sadly a little damaged in the post!

 A beautiful oriental park in Seattle.

I love this card from Australia with the Silhouettes

 This card from Lapland with the reindeer is amazing too

 The scenery in the Ural looks very peaceful

and finally Gothic fantasy from France.I'm loving receiving postcards from all over the world.

London 2012 Olympics.Ladies hockey and basketball at Stratford and ladies volleyball at Earls Court