I finally got my ChumChum! I have been waiting for days for it to arrive and there it is at my doorstep today! It’s so adorable!

Wait, have I mention what my ChumChum is?  I guess I have skipped that part. =)

As part of my birthday presents this year, along with a John McCain birthday card, I received a Chumby.  =P But on my birthday, I think it was still in transit somewhere above the Pacific Ocean.  It took a few days for it to be shipped from China to California.  Meanwhile, I was already checking out the widgets and costumes.  It just felt so natural that I started calling it ChumChum.  Finally, today, it arrived safely at my doorstep, in one piece.

When I was opening the box, my first impression of it was how earth friendly the wrapper was.  There’s no fancy box, no hard plastic cover, just a simple yet sturdy cloth bag.  The Chumby Charms and AC Adapter were in two smaller, and equally simple pouches.  Nothing complicated.  No scissors involved, no trash to throw away.  You would think cloth bags and pouches must feel like cheap wrapping.  But quite the opposite, it feels special, because it reminds me of hand-made bags that friends would make as little gifts.

The setup was simple and straightforward.  A thin “get connected” booklet with large and clear fonts provided all the information I needed to get ChumChum setup and start loading widgets.  The booklet’s recycled-paper-cover gave the same earth friendly message.

I just started loaded some widgets to it and cannot wait to find out more use about it.  For now, check out my ChumChum page to see my virtual pet. =)

My dear friend Tracy is pregnant and is expecting her first baby girl this October.  I thought, what a perfect chance for me to make a baby blanket!  So I set out the mission to make one.

Once I made the decision, I realized that I have never made a baby blanket before.  Strangely, I have done two or three adult size afghans, but never a baby one.  I guess I just never had a friend having a baby before. So I went for a quest to find a nice and easy pattern…

Boy that proved to be hard.  I don’t particularly like the granny square ones.  I prefer something simple and clean looking, at the same time pretty and practical.  Am I asking for too much?  *sigh… I spent a few days digging online to find the “perfect” pattern.

At the end I set my eyes on a teddy bear one.  Oh it is so cute!  I picked Bernat Softee Baby yarn in pink to do it, but it just looked too pink for me.  So after trying with 3 or 4 other yarns and colors, I ended up using one strand of white and one strand of pink.  The color looks girlish but not too pink. I kind of like it.   Here is a picture of what it is supposed to look like.

Teddy Bear baby blanket

While working on this blanket, I discovered another pattern that I just LOVE.

Knit baby blanket

I am starting on both patterns now.  How I would love to get both of them finished this month.  I just can’t wait.

Here are the links to these two patterns:

• Teddy bear pattern: http://www.knittingonthenet.com/patterns/babyafbear.htm
• Baby blanket pattern: http://andreatung.blogspot.com/2007/08/baby-blanket-pattern.html

And here are all knitting and crochet patterns I have found online: http://www.evernote.com/pub/sandyq/KnittingAndCrochetPatterns/

Sorry if you were looking for the photo gallery or the forums but they simply disappeared in the thin air!

You are not imagining things, I am sure. I am in the middle of moving web hosting company so there’s a lot more things for me to be done still. Be patient and check back from time to time. I promise the contents will be back soon!

Cheers!