Friday, November 11, 2011

November full moon shines ^_^

November full moon shines,
Loi Krathong, Loi Krathong,
and the water's high
in the river and local klong,

Loi Loi Krathong,
Loi Loi Krathong,
Loi Krathong is here and everybody's full of cheer,

We're together at the klong,
We're together at the klong,

Each one with this krathong,
As we put away we pray,
We can see a better day.

Remark : loi [V] float; bob
                krathong [N] floating basket
                klomg [N] canal; waterway; watercourse   



Loi Krathong is a festival celebrate annually on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar (usually in November in the western calendar). On this night, the tide in the river is highest and the moon at its brightness. 

Loi literally means 'to float', while krathong refers to the lotus-shaped receptacle which can float on the water. Originally, the krathong was made of banana leaves or the layer of trunk of banana tree and contains food, flowers, betel nuts, 3 joss sticks, candle and coins. The making krathong is much more creative these days as many more materials available such as bread etc. A bread krathong will disintegrate in a few days and be eaten by fish and other animals. Nowadays a krathong will be decorated only with flowers, 3 incense sticks and candle. A coin is sometimes included as an offering to the river spirits. The Loi Krathong is a simple one. One need only to light the candle and the joss sticks, make one's wishes and let it float away with the current of a river or a canal. Then watch intently as the float drifts silently downstream, hoping that the candle will not go out. Its flame is said to signify longevity, fulfillment of wishes and release from sins. Altogether it is considered a romantic night for couples or lovers. Couples who make a wish together on Loi Krathong are thought to stay together in the future. 


Different legends surround the origins of Loi Krathong. The most popular version is it was an expression of gratitude to the goodness of water 'Pra Mae Khongkha' for having extensively used, and sometimes polluted, the water from the rivers and canals. It is also in part a thanksgiving for her bounty in providing water for the livelihood of the people. 

Whatever the true origin, the practice of Loi Krathong first began first began in the ancient kingdom of Sukhothai in the 13th century. A young queen name Nang Noppamas was believed to be the one who made a small boat laden with candles and incense and floated it down to the river. The name Nang Noppamas has been associated with Loi Krathong ever since.

In addition, there are fireworks and beauty contests during the celebration of the festival. The beauty contests are known as "Noppamas Queen contests". 

My humble krathong 
I don't have much memories about Loi Krathong because I have rarely loi(ed) Krathong in childhood. When I grew up, I have no experience about Loi Krathong as young lovers :D and personally I quite don't like to go to where crowded but this year I loi krathong with my friends, Non, Nui and Erb at Thareeta resort where belong to Non. Besides us there were only Non's family and some resort's guests so it was quite private. We started making krathong in early evening. Nui and Erb concentrated their's  attention on krathong but I was just lazy ... hey ... wait for it ... finally I made my own krathong, little  and simple but chic I think :D We also tried to float Krathong Sai, krathong sai is different from a general krathong. Krathong's format depends on a material in that area. Fibrous layer on the trunk of the banana tree was used as its body and an incense stick dipped with fuel. Then we floated them away in  a line along the klong in front of the resort. To make them in a line, we had to wait current. We floated them around 9 O'clock but they were not in a line ... ha ha ha ... and it's worse that the incense was not  light a fire :( After krathong sai we floated our individual krathongs, I totally forgot to make a wish and put coin in my krathong -*- but my krathong floated smoothly and the candle was light all the way long :)  
The 2011 Loi Krathong was my first impressive Loi Krathong ^_^ Thank you all you guys, you made the night AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEE 




sources : 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loi_Krathong
http://www.thailand.com/travel/festival/festivals_loykratong.htm

Monday, November 7, 2011

Aladdin scarf


I do love to knit ^_^ The best moment of knitting is when seeing the receiver's smile ^___________^ so most of my knitting's are for others, not for myself :) I will show some of them later :D

Well ... back to this one. This is an Aladdin scarf :) I got this yarn from a stall on the street at Amphawa Floating Market  during an outing with my friends, Non and Nui :) It was good that they were with me because I actually wanted to knit a scarf for Non's Korea trip, so I let them choose the yarn ... and got this ... Aladdin

After getting the yarn then its time to the find pattern :) I wanted to make it simple but still be stylish ... :) This pattern is easy, all you need to know is cast on, knit, purl and bind off. It knits up quickly. It can be a great last-minute present for your friend :)

Pattern :

Cast on 24 or 28, 32, ... stitches depend on how wide you want the scarf to be :)
just need to remember that this pattern is worked in series of 4 stitches.

Row 1 : Knit all stitches
Row 2 : Knit 1 stitch, purl 3 stitches, repeat to end
Row 3 : Knit 2 stitches, purl 2 stitches, repeat to end
Row 4 : Knit 3 stitches, purl 1 stitch repeat to end

Continue this pattern till you get the desired length, bind off and weave in the stray end and all loose yarn with the darning needle.

Tie around neck
Enjoy :)

ps I think the surface looks like a magic carpet :D :D :D