The finished bag with all of Ally's ballet things inside, with room to spare.

After looking at some patterns online, I decided that a simple, roomy tote would be easiest to make and the most practical for her needs. I used a tutorial from Skip to My Lou, but modified the dimensions to 14″ by 14″ because that is the exact measurement of my quilting square ruler, so I didn’t have to fiddle with measurements. I also added medium-weight interfacing to the outside fabric to give the bag a bit more shape. The beauty of this tutorial is that you can make the bag any size you want – just remember to modify the length of the fabric to make the strap accordingly or you could end up with a 6″ by 6″ bag with a 10″ strap drop!

Emily then got a wastepaper basket and trapped the mouse inside it, before scooping it up with her bare hands and dumping it unceremoniously into a plastic bag. The rest – well, let’s just say the mouse is history.

A few hours before this drama happened, I finished making a basket for the girls’ Sylvanian Families critters and whatever other small toy animals can fit inside it. I used this free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn, with off-white, beige and pink acrylic “deodorant” yarn from Daiso. Purists may scoff at using $2 yarn for crocheting, but I think it’s just perfect for small toy projects like this, which get tossed about and eventually tossed out when the kids grow out of it. Plus, if I screw up, I have no qualms about junking whatever I’ve made and starting over.

No harm in cheap yarn. Even my size 6 crochet hook is from Daiso.

This project took me perhaps 4 hours to make, over yesterday evening and this afternoon. The only thing I’m not happy about is the sloppy way I attached the handles to the basket. One side of the handle had too short a tail to sew into the basket body properly, so I had to improvise. I was also in a bit of a rush to get to ballet lessons, so I wasn’t as meticulous as I should have been. The girls couldn’t care less though – Alison brushed me off when I said I wanted to redo the handles. So I guess it’ll do. If I make another basket I’ll pay more attention to the finishing.

Alison and her Persian Cat family in the finished basket.

I’ve figured out that part of the reason I like crochet better than cross-stitching is its portability. I’ve been doing most of my crocheting on my bed, either propped up with pillows or lying down when I feel like it. I can’t do that with stitching because I can’t stitch in hand and always need good light, excellent back support, a chart holder and my K’s creations lap frame to feel comfortable. Plus, crochet lets me make things that are actually useful, whereas stitched objects are mostly decorative. That’s not to say I’ll abandon cross-stitch altogether, though. There are still projects I wanted to start and complete, and hopefully I’ll be able to do that sometime this year.

When I got there, the kitchen was already in full swing, with people cooking food and packing it, and others peeling, chopping and washing vegetables. I found myself at an empty vegetable station, in front of a basketful of cabbage. This was where my complete and utter lack of presence in the kitchen showed itself – I had no clue how to cut the cabbage and had to look at what other volunteers were doing. Once I figured things out, I chopped my way through so many cabbage heads that after a while, I was working in a blur.

As we neared the bottom of the cabbage pile, a lorry drove up and offloaded crates of half-rotten leeks. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” one volunteer told me. Apparently, peeling potatoes is worse. So is broccoli because it comes in crates filled with melted ice cubes, which makes the veg rot. The veg comes from the market where stallholders donate their unsold produce, which explains the slimey soggy mess. Anyway, since I have no frame of reference, the leeks were pretty darn bad. And the smell of them! But there was still good, edible veg to be had under all that slime, so we put our hands to work. I think there were nine crates in all. I helped with three or four then called it a day at 10am. I have never cut so many vegetables in my life.

The soup kitchen cooks and delivers 2,500 packets of food daily to needy families all over Singapore. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the best days to go, because that’s apparently when fewer volunteers show up. Things wind down by 10.30am to 11am, so going at 7.30am will give you 3 solid hours of work. I’m planning to go again next Tuesday and Thursday. If you’re going, let me know!

Willing Hearts soup kitchen is at HighPoint Community Services Association at Block 1 Lorong 23 Geylang Road. The person to call if you have any questions is Tony Tay at 9690 2086.

It took me about two hours to make this. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to do the hanging loop the way the tutorial says to do it, so I improvised with chain stitches.

Now that I know the basics, the world of amigurumi has suddenly opened up! So much to crochet, so little time. My next project is all lined up, though. I’ll be making Zoe a crown using this tutorial.

I also found time to make some soft flannel covered rice pillows for my mom, who wanted them for my sister’s soon-to-be-born twins. These pillows are like bean sprout pillows - rice makes sense for my sister’s babies because they live in a temperate country and the pillows can be warmed in a microwave or toaster if necessary. I used this tutorial but made some modifications. At my mom’s request, I sewed the rice into the two ends of the pillow so that the middle portion would be empty. I also reduced the width of the pillows by an inch because babies have short torsos.

Zoe's Build-a-Bear models the boy twin's pillow with a cute robot slipcover.

I am really liking the time I have for crafting now. Hopefully, I’ll be able to turn my hand to other crafty things in the next two weeks. Apart from doing more crochet, I also want to make a cover for my sewing machine, and finish the lunch bag I’ve been promising Alison. All the pieces are cut already; they just need assembling!