Fats, Vitamins and Minerals

February nearly went by without a single blog post! Suddenly, there was just too much to do - after getting my new Crochetology.net website sorted, new immigration and medical duties had to be dealt with. Luckily, I’ve been able to do some crocheting in between and have been updating Crochetology.net more often.

Also, Eric just rang and reminded me of my blog posts on Malaysia and Singapore - which I never finished… and now I started thinking about those again… Sometimes, one takes for granted such experiences that simply get lumped under the category “tours and travel abroad.” Indeed, staying in Seri Kembangan isn’t just “tours and travel abroad…” - it gave me a kind of reference for experiencing differently what normally constitutes “tours and travel abroad.”

The Petronas Twin Towers, KL’s jewels.

I never went near KL’s jewels but did get to see blue fern at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia. The trek into the FRIM’s forest really wore us out but it was worth the visit. I’m not very fond of forests, but when I’m there I can’t help but just enjoy it. Trevor is more fond of forests - he was the one who convinced me to visit Forêt de Finges/Pfynwald in Switzerland several years ago, and I’m glad we went there.

The blue fern, Microsorum thailandicum, at FRIM.

Chuyuan asked me to take this photo of these amazing trees at FRIM.

There is always something new, something different to see and experience in the forest. Unlike cities where it is always the same shopping malls and restaurants, in KL or Manila or Singapore.

But there was one really strange city we visited - Putrajaya.

The Prime Ministers Office in Putrajaya.

We took the bus from Seri Kembangan to the Mines Resort and then another bus into Putrajaya. Chuyuan said it was a surreal place. When we got there, it was surreal and utterly depressing. It was the future of cities in Asia.

Facade of the Ministry of Finance complex in Putrajaya

We passed along what were called “precincts” which were basically residential spaces - large blocks of look-alike houses, rather reasonably designed, in bungalow, two, three or four storeys. They had gardens, common playgrounds, balconies and small commercial centers.

The precincts surrounded the city center where all the government offices, business establishments and foreign embassies are located. Spaces were enormous, buildings were enormous, the streets were paved with marble and street corners even seemed gilded. Street lights and traffic lights looked like creatures from outer space.

I cannot really express the sight and experience of Putrajaya - it was just beyond my expectations of opulence, surfeit, overwhelming order. It seemed I have experienced in a single state, the stages of civilisation - from the secondary forest at FRIM, the “new village” of Seri kembangan, the chaos of Petaling street and the booming mall-cities of KL, and the “abundant sterility” of Putrajaya.

We did pass one place in Putrajaya that seemed alive with humanity - a place near something called Diplomatic Road, a place which resembled so much Little India in Singapore. The bus drive stopped there for a drink - Indian tea most probably - and we saw that the small buildings had business going about, mostly food, and there were people, many of them of Indian descent, walking about, talking, eating.

Our favorite tea drink.

I suddenly missed Seri kembangan, and Kedai Roshidha, the Indian food stall near the house we stayed at.

Kedai Stall Roshidha in Seri Kembangan - our fave Indian place

There I realized how special small villages were, and also felt that they are probably endangered. Perhaps civilisation dictates that they evolve into cities, into malls and into prosaic high-tech prisons.

Market in Seri Kembangan

Chickens at Seri Kembangan Market

But if one is not used to markets and chaos then one could just as well be unhappy in the village, always craving for the concrete jungle or the marble pavements. It must be conditioning, simply conditioning…

Until civilisation collapses. And then people will just move one or two of the remaining structures to a museum or a park.

A beautiful ancestral Malay house, one of several transferred from their original locations. This house is now at FRIM.

Since finishing the pineapple cowl, I’ve started a new project using the baby pink crochet cotton threads that I got almost a year ago at Quiapo. There are a number of shops in the district that sell threads, beads, notions, crochet hooks, knitting needles, etc. Actually, it was there that I got a few afghan crochet hooks of different sizes.

Anyway, the crochet cotton thread I got was mercerized cotton from Monaco, a kilo of which cost just a little over 200 pesos. I guess if one is buying lots of threads it’s best to get it in Quiapo where they’re cheaper (but check among the many stores first because a few stores have much higher prices). I’ve used the pink threads much earlier to make a crocheted dress that turned into a disaster! Perhaps later I’ll need to get back on that dress and fix or else unravel it, and start a new project with it (although people advise that it is not good to reuse threads because they would of course be much weaker).

The pattern I am exploring at the moment is “gilded arches” and the pattern diagram should be legible in the photograph above. It is quite a lovely lace pattern. However, I still don’t know what will turn out of this exploration.

My new hairpin staple!

Then just a few days ago, a visit to “Craftworld” at Megamall produced something that I’ve been looking for for quite some time now - an adjustable hairpin staple (used in hairpin lace crochet also known as Maltese crochet). Fantastic, I thought - so now I can make larger hairpin lace! The last time I visited “Craftworld” I got a (probably locally-made) hairpin staple which had a fixed size of about 2/3 inch. The one I got this time has adjustable sizes up to 4 inches.

My old hairpin staple.

Of course, one can also make one’s own adjustable hairpin staple. My husband and I tried looking around the neighborhood for someone who could do the metal work but almost everyone of them work with steel reinforcements for concrete (too large!) and automobile, jeepney and tricycle body construction!

Well, now that I got a much bigger hairpin staple, I can start exploring hairpin lace more. I’ve done a couple of pieces earlier - a silver coin purse for my mom, a yellow purse for a friend’s daughter and a stole for Edward.

Although I’ve not yet been completely satisfied with my work on hairpin lace, I am willing to give it another try. There isn’t much material out there on hairpin lace crochet. Some of the few I’ve found are in Therese de Dillmont’s “Complete Encyclopedia of Needlework“, “The Priscilla Yoke Book’s” nightgown yoke in Malteste crcohet (page 30) and Free Vintage Crochet’s Goldcoast shawl pattern, Esplanade shawl pattern, Metropolitan shawl pattern, Hairpin Lace stole pattern , and the beautiful Waltz shawl pattern.

Anyway, just last week, my husband and I had the opportunity to visit Quiapo and the laces and thread shop there along Carlos Palanca Street. The shop called Mostwell Enterprises was where I got my big baby pink thread nearly a year ago. This time, I decided to get a whole lot more.

More threads from Quiapo, Manila

Above photo show some of the threads that I got. The smaller ones (200 grams) are rayon threads from Monaco (105 pesos each), and the two big ones (1 kilo) are mercerized cotton also from Monaco (190 pesos for white, and 205 pesos for beige). I decided to get the mercerized cotton because they were actually thinner - the baby pink mercerized cotton thread that I got last year was a 3-ply thread and these are 2-ply threads. The rayon threads are all 3-ply.

I thought that I could experiment with the slightly thinner threads - perhaps to make lace and other such things. The owner of the shop told me that they had a customer who always bought the 2-ply threads for making baby booties.

It was really quite nice talking to the shop owner about all the people who crochet and bought threads in the shop. There were people who crocheted for business, others for pleasure.

So now I have so many threads and so little time!

Orien Ang said
on March 15, 2009

Hi!

I stumbled across your blog when I googled ‘Crochet Philippines’. I am going to be visiting for the holidays soon and thought that I could pick up some much cheaper crochet thread while I was there. I’d be very interested in your recommendations for stores to visit in Quiapo!

Thanks!
Orien

Fatima Lasay said
on March 17, 2009

There are quite a lot along Palanca street, but I think the best is Mostwell enterprises. It shouldn’t be hard to find. Do you have a blog/website of your crocheted works? I’ve been planning a visit to Monaco threads to see their rayon manufacturing plant, but would like to visit with others who are interested.

Orien Ang said
on March 17, 2009

Palanca Street…I hope my friend knows where that is! I am from Korea, but am visiting because my boyfriend is studying there. Whenever he comes back to Korea, he always brings huge cones of thread for me and he tells me they are very cheap compared to Seoul! Thanks so much!

I don’t have a blog, but I should start! I find yours very interesting! Especially when you wrote of the cheap Japanese pattern books there! Again, they are several thousand Won here and I do hope I can find some in the bookstore you have mentioned! Your site is very helpful!

Fatima Lasay said
on March 23, 2009

Thanks, Orien, and please let me know when you set-up your blog/website. The bookstore that sells the Japanese crochet books is called “National Bookstore” and there are many branches all over Metro Manila. Some branches don’t have as many of the Japanese books in stock, but I do know that National Bookstore along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City (across Ateneo de Manila University) still have quite a lot

annabelle mariano said
on March 29, 2009

Hi, im not really familiar with the streets in quiapo, but palanca street should be easy to find. ill ask around. thanks for sharing…..i love your designs…. it’s good to find designers like you in the Philippines….

Fatima Lasay said
on April 1, 2009

Palanca Street is the same street where you find that fantastic Chinese ham shop - Excellente! Thanks for visiting crochetolog.net, and for sharing your crochet blog/website!

Oh and I should add that at the Mostwell Enterprises shop where they sell really cheap crochet threads, the shop owner Josephine knows a number of avid crocheters, and she mentioned a really good crocheter, an African woman, who makes her own glorious crocheted clothes! I asked Josephine to ask her to leave a photo of her work. I was really curious!

bheng said
on April 2, 2009

i found the mostwell store … .thank you for sharing.. although, im also loking for the afghan hooks…. but the sales lady does not know what im talking about hahahahaha… i bought a big cone of thread……I love the corset you made…

Fatima Lasay said
on April 2, 2009

I found Afghan hooks along another street near Palanca … Naku, I forgot na the name of the street/shop, but the street is the same one where they sell plenty of beads, that shop called Welmanson. There’s a shop there near Welmanson where they have a box-full of afghan hooks of several sizes, all dusty and old, nobody is buying! I think 35 pesos each …