All the Small things

The Flowerbasket Shawl

I got home after dark today so no new photos. In fact, now that autumn is here, I always leave the house before the sun rises and come home after sunset. I'm not going to see much sun before or after work until late spring. How's that for a depressing thought.

The shawl is knit in black shetland yarn. It's equivalent to a 4 ply yarn. I just used one strand. I got it during a visit to the Nancy Vale Studio (Thanks Yvonne) in Eltham. I'll tell you more about the Eltham raid this weekend. Rowanette Jill is away at the moment, so I'm not likely to get into trouble for telling tales ;-).

Large Man Raglan in a very small gauge

While the gauge is small, this raglan is man-sized. I'm going to have loads of memories every time I see this sweater. It's traveled with me to the US twice and it's visited many tourist destinations throughout Austria and the UK.

It's true (at least to me), what people say about knitting. If it's got bad memories for you, give it away, or throw it away. If it's got good memories, keep it forever.

Raglans are a particularly good sleeve shape for the broad-shouldered. This is one shape where you don't have to adjust the width at the shoulders to get the seams to sit properly. You might have to adjust the sleeve length thought, but that's much easier to do. Raglans are also more interesting to knit. You at least get to decrease, and over a large swatch of plan knitting, the more excitement the merrier.

Only the front to finish before the big sew-up. I usually hate sewing up, but this baby might be an exception. Looks like I might use up all 15 skeins of Rowan 4 ply soft. It knits like a dream and super springy (good for hiding tension problems). I'm hoping to have it done in about a week and a half's time. It will be a labour of love and in many ways, I'll be a bit sad to see this one off the needles.

More on my sister's wedding ...better get a coffee.

You always see double happiness for weddings.

How to Select Food for a Chinese Wedding Banquet
A lot of thoughts goes into planning a Chinese wedding banquet. All the food selected, are chosen for their ability to convey deeper meaning, like the tea ceremony, the themes remain the same, fertility, longevity and happiness.

The traditional banquet will have 8 course. 8 is a very lucky number. It sounds just like the word wealth.

Normally, you start with the piggy platter. This is a cold appetiser, with roast suckling pig, sliced beef, jelly fish and ham. The pig is symbolic for purity.

The next course is usually the shark's fin soup. This is a very expensive delicacy and is a sign of wealth. If you're very lucky, you get bird's nest soup.

Lobster and chicken are always included. Lobster in chinese is compose of 2 words, mean dragon shrimp. In chinese wedding, you always have the dragon and phoenix, symbolic of yin and yang. It follows the notion of balance. The chicken is symbolic of the phoenix. (Have you ever eaten phoenex claws for your dimsum?). Together the represent the balance in the union between the husband and wife. The chicken is normally fried so that the skin takes a red hue. Red of course is a lucky colour. Both these dishes would be served with head and tail intact. Wholeness/completeness is important.

Sea cucumber, another delicacy is also served. It represents selflessness and sound like 'good heart'. Like marriage, it's symbolic of give and take and to work together to avoid conflicts.

Abalone and scallops are often served. These 2 delicacies represent wealth. Peking duck is sometimes served, the red skin signifies happiness. It is served with the head and butt intact. (Although I know this to be traditional, it's been a long time since I've had this at a banquet.) Squab (aka pigeon) is served to represent peace.

Fish is usually the last dish served. It sounds like abundance (wealth) in chinese.

At the end of this comes the noodles (for longevity) and rice.

For dessert, you get fruit and hot sweet red bean soup with lotus(year) seeds (heirs) and bak hop (a bark-like vegetable) to ensure that your marriage lasts. Don't forget to save room for the cake ;-).

So what did Sis have at her wedding?

Cold platter (roast piggy, jelly fish, roast beef)
Shark's fin soup
Lobster salad
Crab claw
Chicken
Sea Cucumber
Fish
Abalone and Conch
Lotus Wrapped Rice & Noodles
Oranges and watermelon
Lotus paste sweet soup
Cake.

Yes, there was a lot of food. Being practical people, the doggie bags come with the first course. The guests are expected to pack up and take home any left-overs. We are not wasteful people! It's a sign of the host's generosity and the guest aren't supposed to be able to eat everything.

A few observations

1. The banquet is traditionally paid for by the groom's family. The bride's family negotiates for a certain number of tables. Should they wish to invite more than alloted, they have to pick up the tab of the extra guests.
2. The tables are always round, symbolic of longevity of the marriage, like the ring / alliance.
3. Westerners buy too much food from supermarkets without a thought to where the food came from. Many of the westerners at the banquet were grossed out by the lobster and chicken heads. I think that the menu had too many delicacies. Expensive but not enjoyed by many of the guests. (Could someone please pass me a peanut butter sandwich?)
4. The bride and groom didn't get to eat much of the meal. They are always obligated to go around for a toast with each table. When you have over 30 tables, you end up toasting the whole evening and eating nothing. (and the wiskey coloured liquid in the glass, is a concoction of coke and sprite.)
5. The bride changes her dress several times. It was a statement of wealth to be able to afford several outfits just for the wedding. My sister had 3 dresses for her wedding. (Although dresses can be passed down, my mother is 5'2" and weighed about 85 lbs when she got married. I could wear her wedding dress when I was about 10 years old. When I got married it would had fitted perfectly, on one of my thighs. )
6. To go to a banquet, in chinese is translated to 'to drink alcohol'. So in addition to eating, you also get to drink too.
7. Weddings are family affairs. Children are encouraged to come. (You invite the head of the household and family. You don't list the names, this is considered rude, whereas in western culture, not listing names is considered rude. )

8. And because Ida and Rev Jen asked....here's my sister on the way to the church. She's going to kill me for publishing an **unapproved** photo, but I don't care, I think she looks gorgeous.

Posted by atu at October 14, 2004 11:58 PM | TrackBack