{at the Flower market}

{IFC mall}

{in Prince’s Building Heather&March shop window display}

{Tiffany & Co. window}

{Christmas carols at the Festival Walk mall in Kowloon Tong}

{Festival Walk mall always has the tallest Christmas tree}

My absolute favorite holiday display however, is in the Landmark shopping mall in Central – a Christmas village in the snow covered mountains with a mechanical train riding through it. It is the work of American interior designer Preston Bailey.
Here is what he’s said about it: “For the last few years, I’ve been designing a holiday installation of my own for The Landmark, an impressive business and shopping complex in Hong Kong. I think this year’s designs turned out pretty well. I wanted them to be festive and fun for shoppers, and I think we accomplished that.” You can read more about Preston Bailey’s work on his blog.

Down to business right away.

My first knitted Christmas ball.

It was not sitting on the Styrofoam ball as snugly as I would like it to be. But again it was the first one and I was trying to gauge. And this is no big deal since I’ve used wool that can be felted, and voilà – perfect shape.
After this one, I used different yarn and needles, so the next Christmas balls come out in just the right size.

There are five of them made so far. Some of these are gifts and some are to stay.

I plan to knit some more.
I like them so much, it’s going to be hard to stop me now. I also have some ideas on how to modify them with metallic yarn that I still have to go buy.

{FREE Christmas ball pattern can be found here.}

I love to knit around since the stitches come out neater than when I knit right and wrong side. That’s one of the reasons I have chosen Point Gammon pullover, besides the recipient likes it too.

On the picture below, you can see as soon as the knitting around is over and when it’s right-and-wrong-side-knitting starts, then the stitches become wiggly (the top of knitting) .

I cannot figure out why it is, but is has been always like that with my knitting. I have tried to knit through back and front of a stitch but it does not make any difference. The good thing is that washing and stretching will work its magic and the stitches will look strait. But it’s still bothering me.

The other thing with this particular design is that it does look small, well yes, because of the ribbing. I have moments of doubting the size. To assure myself I’m knitting it in the right size, I have to ask my son to try it on and on again. And it does look fine! It is exactly like Elinor Brown said “do not second guess yourself.”

Every time I knit a sweater, I wish that I own a jumper stretcher. I’m looking for it all over the Internet. There is one I really love on Jamieson&Smith website but the shipping coast of hundred and forty pounds threw this idea out. My hope is realistically slim that I can find one in Hong Kong. So it is more likely it will be blocking as usual, on the blankets and towels (heavy sigh here).

Back to my wiggly stitches tonight. Am I glad the sleeves are knitted in the round?

Every late fall, without fail, I feel an urge for knitting. That is normal I guess, except the temperature outside was still around 30 degrees Celsius and people were swimming in the swimming pool outside my window.
It didn’t bother me.
And as soon as I saw Point Gammon Pullover designed by Elinor Brown, I knew this is it – the project, a sweater for my son.

Next step – to find yarn. I opened my wicker trunk that is brimming of yarn in all colors . Apparently most of it are left overs and not enough for a pullover. Fortunately, the trunk is not the only place where one can find yarn in our apartment. So the chest’s drawers got pulled out and here it was – two BIG balls of Shetland wool plus another ball that had an unfinished sock dangling on! ‘Mo montay’ *, that can be ripped off. I was pretty sure I had enough yarn for a sweater, rolled up my sleeves and started knitting on the spot.

Well, that BIG ball of yarn was getting smaller and smaller too fast though. Then I remembered that I had used the same yarn to knit this:

and this:

{from these pictures the color of Shetland wool looks different on the two projects, but it is actually the same yarn}

After continuing with my knitting for a while and pretending there might be still enough yarn, I’ve realized I better stop fooling myself.

@#$&!*&^&*@

I had to go out and get myself another yarn and better in the right amount.

It’s Peruvian wool this time in the same ecru color as the Shetland wool.
Here is my happy knitting so far:

My helper that I had to keep an eye on, so he doesn’t get himself in trouble and I have to start the third time over.

*for those who’s wondering – ‘no problem’ in Cantonese.

It was made sometime before the WWII. It is in a wonderful condition, has Parisian furniture maker plaque on that speaks of its quality. The only thing that needed to be changed – its upholstery. Besides being old and faded, the silk upholstery was pink color that the young man of mine was protesting against.

I spent endless hours looking for an upholstery fabric for this bed. I had so many ideas! One of them was to have it in chinoiserie fabric. I almost decided, went ahead and bought Chinese Rustic by Schumacher. By the time the fabric arrived, I rethought the upholstery idea. It must be classic elegant style. So, back looking.

The fabric I found this time was a beautiful Italian silk/cotton damask fabric, exactly how I had imagined it.

For the next few days: the usual two-people team on their knees with the bed in the middle of our living room. Depending on the task, either with staple gun or a glue gun in our hands. Endless stops to admire and praise our work.

The custom size mattresses arrived this morning, bed sheets on, mission accomplished.

First, two handymen with a powerful drill came to install heavy duty hooks for the chandeliers. Then my husband had to connect the chandeliers and install the ceiling medallions. With a screw driver in his hand he was balancing on the very top of the ladder and me trying to show support and asking a million times if he switched off the main switch on the circuit breaker.
Then it was my turn to climb that ladder. I had to finish the medallion job plastering small cracks between the medallions and the ceiling first and then sanding it smooth the next day.
Well, I can say I’m happy with how it all turned out and that it actually is done.

This is it – the one in the master bedroom.

These two are of the same style and in my son’s room now.

And here is my plastering job. Not bad, don’t you think?

When the dealer told me the price, I thought it was a good deal.
The other thought was ‘I don’t have any room in my apartment for it.”
Lesson learnt – if you really love it, buy it.
Unfortunately, it is too late for these two.

I wished I could say that everything has found its permanent spot. But the reality is far from it. The chandeliers are in the boxes, the frames either leaning on walls, lying on the table or on the window sill, the bed waiting to be reupholstered.
Here are some of the things that I picked up last June in Provence and Paris. They’ve found their new home and I love them all.

A small vintage marquetry night stand with marble top and bronze decoration that first landed in the kitchen but now is in the right spot.

A beautifully embroidered turn-of-the-century chair. Can someone not admire the colors, pattern and workmanship on it? It is in a very good shape for its age. It’s crazy, but I much prefer to look at it rather than sitting on it.

Tapestry close-up:

Antique middle and late XIX c. wooden frames. Aren’t they gorgeous?

It’s all in the details.

And here is the elegant lady – long legs, wearing pink, with pretty bronze details and gold embossed leather top.

Thank you to Candy, a Chinese lady from my morning dancing class, for offering us a cooking lesson on making Moon cakes. Six of us spent a few hours making total of one hundred cakes, joking that we could open a Moon cake factory. We had so much fun!

{ready to go into the oven}

They came out beautiful and oh, so tasty!

{ready for tea time}

To learn more about the Moon cakes go here.
The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 13th this year and it is one of the four most important Chinese festivals.

Enjoy!

{this is one of my first photos of HK. I took it from Victoria Peak in 2001 a few days after our arrival in HK}

{“небоскребы, небоскребы, а я маленький такой”}

{lovely #1}

{lovely #2}

{D&G boutique’s window last Christmas}

{this used to be our apartment view for five years}

{Canton Road always has nice flower arrangements along the street}