Sew it Swift, Sew it Sweet

Last year, I made these pillows for loved ones, but stitching them by hand took hours:

So this spring, I asked MJ to teach me how to use her sewing machine. I practiced my first machine-made stitches along these letters:

With the sewing machine, it was speedy to make this pillow for my skull-loving hair stylist:

For Mother's Day, I sewed a clef note my musical mom, and a peanut for MJ's elephant-loving mom:

MJ then showed me some YouTube tutorials on how to sew animals from socks.

So I sewed her a bunny from a sock:

Then I made an otter:

And this summer, I sewed a queen bee for MJ's birthday:

It's super when we learn new ways to make gifts for loved ones, swiftly!

Last Drop

On August 3rd, 2011, I received this email:

Renato attached these photos of his mom's beautiful crochet work:

I gratefully replied, and Renato sent me another email:

I accepted his kind invitation, and suggested we meet at the garden where the Raining Cats and Dogs were installed 1.5 years ago. One raindrop remained:

Susan the Bull Terrier

Renato's girlfriend, Weiping, took photos while MJ recorded this video of our meet:

August 17, 2011

And here are the intricately-crocheted gifts that Renato's mom, Anita, made in Brazil...

An angel:

A pouch with rosary beads:

Thank you, Renato, for arranging our first meeting, which also became a fitting farewell for the last raindrop. And thank you, Anita, for reaching out and sharing your divine yarn creations!

Photos by Weiping, taken at Davie Village Community Garden 
in Vancouver on August 17, 2011

And so—on this sunny summer day—a raindrop fell and the distance between two continents (& two crocheters) was bridged by a few feet of yarn!


UPDATE - Sept 12, 2011:

Renato just sent me this email, after viewing the latest blog entry:

Here are photos of Anita with her fun family, two raindrops (Shorty & Susan), and some WooWork trinkets (including an early ice cream cone):

And here are new photos of Anita's creations, including the vinyl record she crocheted for her musical son, Nedu:

All my gratitude and good wishes to Anita's kind-hearted and creative family!

MJ-Power Bracelet

For MJ's birthday, I made her this band:

With a familiar face on the front and a velcro strip on the side, it can be worn like an I.D. wristband.

Since MJ is a videogamer, I wrapped the band around this Nintendo 3DS that my mom and I got for her:

Here's a video of MJ opening her birthday gifts:

MJ didn't limit the band to her wrist:

Also, she named it the "MJ-Power Bracelet".  She jokingly explains: "I don't get powers from the bracelet; it gets its power from ME!"

Here's a 3D photo that was captured with the 3DS, with more pix on MJ's 3D photo page:

Happy Birthday, MJ! Only you can transform a humble I.D. wristband into your Power Bracelet!

Bird is the Word

My mom and MJ's mom are both songbirds...

My mom plays classical music on the piano and harp, and sings when she strums folk music on the guitar.  My girlfriend's mom listens and sings to a wide range of music, from 1940s jazz standards to 1970s disco to 1980s rock ballads. Her ringtone is a recent hip-hop song.

For Mother's Day, I made two songbirds for two songbirds:

Here's a video of both moms doing some bird-spotting:

In the same week, my hairstylist (since 1993) celebrated her birthday. Jeannie and I play a Scrabble-like word game called "Words With Friends" on our gadgets. For her birthday gift, I crocheted a word tile of the most valuable letter in Jeannie's name:

*Chirp-Chirp* to our moms, and *Triple-word Scores* to our friends, all year long!

Jumping from 2001 through 2011

I first met MJ on February 8th, 2001. We had spoken online and on the phone for weeks before deciding to meet over coffee. Later that day, her friend snapped this photo of us at a nearby park:

Feb 8th, 2001 - MJ and I, jumping/landing on the first day we met.

We impulsively became BF-GF ten days later, broke up three months later, grew as friends for two years, and reunited as a couple on February 18th, 2003.

This Valentine's Day, MJ and I visited the park where our first photo was taken, and took a new photo:

Feb 14th, 2011 - MJ and I, jumping on our 10th year since meeting.

Then I surprised MJ with this portrait that I crocheted:

Video - "Surprise Jump"

There are both too many words and not enough words to express how I feel about MJ. But MJ said it best when I asked how she felt about meeting each other ten years ago. "It feels just like yesterday," she replied.

It looks that way too!

Happy 10th Year of Knowing You, MJ! xo

Speaking of my Grandfather

On the same week I visited my dad, I attended my grandfather's funeral. Though it was a sad event, my grandfather lived a full and happy life. He had the opportunity to say goodbye to everyone before passing away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones. He was 89 years old.

My grandfather with my dad in the late sixties.

My grandmother and my grandfather in the nineties.

Here's a video of our family (with Woomi) visiting him two years ago to celebrate his birthday:

He was fluent in the Ningbo and Shanghai dialect of Chinese, and spoke basic English. Every time I visited my Grandfather, he would ask me: "So, you cannot speak Chinese anymore?" I'd reply that I could understand the language but not speak it well. Eventually, I just said: "No, not really."

For a farewell gift, I wanted to say something to him in Chinese.  So I crocheted him this speech bubble with something he and I shared: our last name.

"Woo" is embroidered as its Chinese character: 鄔

I felt fortunate to place the speech bubble in his casket before the cremation ceremony.

Most of the eulogies were spoken in Chinese, where I learned he was married to my grandma for sixty-nine years, that he spent cautiously on himself but was generous to others, that he loved practicing calligraphy and listening to Chinese operas, that he was an even-tempered dad, and that he treated his six daughters and one son equally. He taught them to keep their promises, as he was was a man of his word.

Hsien Teh Woo, 1921-2010

May you rest in peace, Grandfather.