A Hearty Welcome

What with becoming a blogger, starting a new blog, debating about my style of writing and trying to get good photos, I just realised that I have been remiss as a host. A casual glance at the sidebar showed me that I now had 25 followers! And I had never taken the time to greet them.

So today I would like to extend a hearty welcome to all my friends on Google connect. Trust me, I have visited each one of you and enjoyed your blogs (sometimes with help from Google Translate). I also enjoy reading your comments on my blog and really look forward to them. Do keep writing in and let us keep visiting and chatting.

Also a warm welcome to all my readers and visitors. 

If anybody has suggestions about how I can improve my blog, I would certainly love to hear them. At present I am doing up my blog in a trial and error, learn as you go method...LOL. There are many things that I have still not tried and there is so much to learn.

Until I became a blogger, I had no idea about Google connect and "Following". I would bookmark my fave blogs, so you can imagine what a huge bookmark list I had. Once I understood what it meant I promptly "joined" all my favourite blogs. Now it is so easy and so much fun to be up to date on their blog activities. But on a personal note, I had never expected to have so many friends and that too, so soon. I am absolutely thrilled. Having moved to a new city, I really missed my friends back home. Not anymore, my virtual friends bring me so much joy. Plus I have managed to contact a couple of my bloggy friends personally!! Isn't that just great.

Thank you friends for making me feel welcome.

What?!... a post without crochet. How is that possible? 

This is what I am currently working on. 

This is my own design and I will reveal it to you if it works out right.  No, don't worry no guessing games this time. But, I will give you a hint - this item is for my dear hubby, that is if it turns out to be okay. Wish me luck.

Bye for now, Take care.

Love xxx

It's a .....

Hello there, I hope you are having a lovely day today (did I hear someone say Monday blues?). I spent the Sunday gorging on lovely ripe golden Alphonso mangoes. I guess I went a little overboard, but the desperation comes from knowing the fact that they will soon be gone! And then will come the long wait of 9-10 months for the next mango season. Oh well, good things come to those who wait.

Let me thank all of you who waited for me to reveal my new project.

Actually it is not something grand, it is a simple pin cushion.

I am not very good at sewing and my sewing machine is used only for mending clothes and maybe hemming new towels and seaming store bought garments. So it is not like I really need a pin cushion. 

But for my last project - the pen tablet cover I was using these pins  for sewing the lining. Every time I was done using a pin I would carefully put it back in the holder, you know those round discs, so that it was not lying around ready to poke anyone. 

 

And each time I had to put them back in colour coded manner (yes, I am crazy like that), hence my sewing was moving at a very slow pace. So I thought of making a pin cushion and of course....it had to be a crocheted one. 

I am totally in love with the hexagon motif which I am using for my Hexagon Blanket so I decided to use the same motif and join them to form the pin cushion. I needed eight hexagons for it and I used the join-as-you-go method to make it. I have used Bliss knitting cotton and a 2.50 mm hook.

Do you like my pin cushion? Do let me know!

And now, let me digress. Today morning I had a visitor ..... of the feathered kind.

This is the Common Indian Myna and it belongs to the Starling family of birds. Mynas are  regarded as symbols of undying love, because they often pair for life. Upon googling for more info I was saddened to know that they are considered a nuisance for various reasons but I will not go into them today.

Bye for now...see you soon.

Love xxx

My first custom order !

Hi everybody! Do I sound cheerful! Well, that is because the heat is easing up and the temperature is falling. We are having cloudy weather here in Ahmedabad and there were the occasional showers though I still wouldn't say that monsoons have "arrived'. But any relief from the killing heat is welcome. The only regret is that the lovely golden summery mangoes are also on their way out.

In one of my posts I mentioned my first custom order - a pen tablet cover.

I am so used to gifting my crochet items that I cannot tell you how thrilled I was when I got an order for a pen tablet cover from my son's classmate Dev, who is also a fan of my blog. It really feels great to be paid for doing something you love to do. 

The navy blue colour was his choice and the pattern is my own design. I clicked many photos of it, with and without flash, and with and without sunlight but I think the real colour of the yarn could not be captured as it was quite a dark blue. So anyway here are the pics;

I worked diagonal rows of popcorn stitches for texture and to protect the drawing surface.

The lining of the cover with pockets for the stylus, the connecting cable and CDs.

Like I said, none of the photos have captured the true colour. Did I mention that Dev is utterly delighted with it...so that is one job well done.

Already started working on the next project. Okay... you can have a peep at it.

Can you guess what it is...? Do let me know, I am waiting for your comments.

See you later, crocheters!
Love....

Knitting in public

For the past few days I have been reading a lot about knitting in public, yarn bombing, knit in public day etc, on the internet. Upon delving further I realised that the concept of yarn bombing does not hold any appeal for me. I mean why waste good yarn to cover things in public and then make them uglier than they were!! Things like cars, lamp posts, statues in parks etc,etc ?! And with the price I pay for my yarn, you will never see me yarn bombing Anything.

I also realised that I have always been crocheting in public, even before I came to know that there is a fancy term for it. I was working for a bank in Mumbai for 12 years. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) in spite of working in different branches my commute was always in the range of 15 to 22 kms. This meant long hours of travel either by train or bus. So the minute I got a good place to stand in the train (travelling in the local trains of Mumbai means 90 % of the time you are standing thru'out the whole trip) or a seat on the bus, I would pull out my hook and yarn and crochet away. This was the only thing that made the commute bearable. Also the fact that I usually prefer not to talk to my fellow commuters definitely helped matters...(ha ha).

It is difficult to follow patterns on a moving vehicle and fine thread too is difficult to manage, so I ended up doing projects which involved thicker yarn and repetitions.

Here are a few items I made during my long commutes to work:

 This maroon purse is my favourite. It has plastic tubing in the handles to keep their shape.

This is an ombre bucket shaped purse.

Lemon yellow purse with columns of bobbles.

Silver purse, the yarn is sparkly but it is not visible in the photo.

The lining for these purses was done by the yarn shop which included a small pocket on the inside and zippers. All these items have since been gifted away by me so these photos are all that I have now.

I must make a few more purses. I will keep you posted as and when I do that.

See you soon. Ta-ta.
Love.....

I've got Mail...!!

Well,actually it is a package. From the Pony Craft Store!

 Pony crochet hooks and knitting needles are easily the best you can get. Even though they were available on foreign sites, none of the craft shops I visited across states, seemed to have the whole range in spite of the fact that the needles are produced in India! So, when I saw that Pony now had an online store I rubbed my hands with glee. I placed my order as soon as possible.
Would you like to see the goodies in my parcel?

1. Set of crochet hooks with plastic handles. I have been on the look out for crochet grips or pencil grips for the past few months but sadly they are not available in India, so I ordered these hooks instead. I only wish the handles were in rainbow colors, the set would have looked gorgeous.

Already have all these sizes, but these hooks were ordered in anticipation that in the distant future I will be needing thicker grips.

2. Hairpin crochet set

 Hairpin crochet has been on my to-learn list for a long time and a shawl is what I plan to try out.
Wish me luck.

3. Crochet hook size 20 mm.

What a fantastic looking hook! I have purchased this for dual purposes - as a giant crochet hook and I hope to use the handle for broomstick crochet which is also on my to-learn list.

4. Circular and double pointed knitting needles.

This purchase has been inspired by Monika of Smoking Hot Needles. She makes the most fantastic socks that I have ever seen and she must be knitting really fast as literally every post has a new pair of socks!! Even if I make only one pair of socks I will feel that the needles have been worth while. She also creates magic with her spinning skills, which I do not hope to learn in this lifetime.

5. Assorted knitting helpers.

Have been looking for these knick-knacks for a long time....finally I have them!

6. Rotary Cutter

I recently purchased a book on quilting and I hope to make atleast one quilt in this life. But before that I will have to learn how to use the rotary cutter.... ha ha.

7. Cross stitch towel kit.

Always wanted to flaunt beautiful guest towels and brag that I did the embroidery !!


Well, now that I have created excuses for each and every item I bought I can rest in peace :)

Hope you enjoyed this online shopping with me.

Liebster Blog Award

I was pleasantly surprised to see that I have been awarded the Liebster Blog Award by Mira of Mira's Talent Gallery.

I accept it gratefully (gleefully). Many thanks dear Mira. I am so thrilled....(blush,blush), I was not expecting an award so soon.

The origins of the Liebster Blog award are somewhat unclear but the general consensus is that it originated in Germany, "Liebster" meaning favorite or dearest, to showcase bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. Upon accepting the award the recipient must then pass it on to five more blogs of note.


Here are the rules:
1- Choose FIVE up and coming blogs to which you award the Liebster. Blogs must have less than 200 followers.

2- Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

3-Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you gave the award to with links to their sites

Here are my nominees for the Liebster Blog Award:
1. Uma from Creative Mau. Uma dabbles in a lot of crafts including crochet and I just love her lamasa work.

2. Lisa from My world of crochet who has a crochet blog in German. I like Lisa's crochet work which is very neat and her posts about life in general.

3. Mousumi from Love for Krafts. Mousumi is a true crafter and has varied interests like candle making, claywork and crochet.

4. Rajeshwari of Diaper Mum. Rajeshwari has a lovely choice of colour plus I like the little glimpses she gives us into her life.

5. Monali from Delta-Zelta. Monali makes the cutest amigurumi.

Congratulations to all!

And thank you Mira, once again for the honour. Mira is a versatile crafter and one could be lost in her blog for hours. I especially like her kolam designs and Twilight hours.

Well, off I go to bask in the glory of the award. Have a nice day. See you soon.
Love :)

One month old!!

Yes!! my blog has crossed the one month mark. I had hoped to write atleast two posts per week and maybe get a few visitors. Now with eleven posts, twenty two comments, eleven followers and nearly seven hundred pageviews later, I am feeling great. Things do move very fast in Blogland! Well, I will definitely try to post a little faster now.

This post has been a long time in coming as I was busy with a custom order. It is the pen tablet cover which you had a sneak peek at in my last post. I have been experiencing a tingling sensation down my left arm due to my cervical spondylosis, so work was proceeding at a very slow pace. Finally it is done and I have handed it over to its owner who, I may add is quite pleased with it. As I have not uploaded the pics I will give you the deets next time.

Blogging makes the world seem like a small place. When I see visitors from different parts of the world, it seems as if they are visiting me at home and chatting with me. If only we could share a virtual cup of tea... that would be great! I have discovered so many new blogs by following my "Followers". So, a Big Thank You to all my readers/visitors out there for making me feel welcome.

Okay, so now you know that I enjoy blogging and making friends and blah, blah ... let us get on to the crochet stuff. This is a potholder I made recently from a pattern called Raised Rose potholder which can now be found in the wayback internet archive. I have tried this pattern three times with beautiful results each time. The first two which were made with a pink and cream combination are now with Aruna and Madhuri, my two closest friends. I decided to make a third one just to practice the pattern again, but the colors I chose this time are not as pretty. But anyway here it is;

I just love the rippling edge don't you? So there it is, a lovely pattern made in not so lovely colors. Maybe I will just make one more with some better colors this time.

Would you like to try this? Here is the link to the pattern at Ravelry. Hope you enjoy making it.

See you soon.
Love xxxx
P.S. If anybody out there knows that crochet and cervical spondylosis are not compatible, please don't tell me, and definitely don't talk to my dear hubby.... ha ha, just joking!

Book Nook

The sweltering summer of Ahmedabad has put all thoughts of outdoor activity out of my mind. The temperatures are in the range of 35 to 40 deg Celsius and coupled with the dry climate it is scorching out there. I am not even venturing out for shopping...just imagine! So over the last weekend I decided to tidy up my craft room. Not kidding there... when we moved from Mumbai to Ahmedabad my hubby actually gave me a room, all to my self, and it  is now filled with my heaps of yarn, my books, sewing machine, music system, fabric stash and all other related paraphernalia.

As I was cleaning the room I came across some framed Anchor long stitch pictures done when we were in our teens. By "We", I mean my brother and me. I thought I will share the pictures with you.
This lovely lady was done by me.

Kamini

When my brother, who is a dental surgeon , saw me doing this he thought it was a brilliant project to improve hand and eye co-ordination which in turn would ensure neat stitches during suturing. This beautiful waterscape is the project he chose.

Blue Lake

Sorry about the reflection of the flash, as the pictures are already framed I could not avoid it.

Let me also share the treasures I recently added to my book collection.

My current favourite...Mary Higgins Clark.

I was lusting for these two afghan books for a long time. Finally got them for a very good price at a book fair in Ahmedabad.

This book by Angela King has some very cute items which are just calling out to be made.

Sewing and knitting are not really my favourite pastimes. If my hands are not crocheting then they are definitely holding a murder mystery. But these two books seemed like "must-haves" for any self proclaimed crafter's library, so I had to have them.

These two "vintage" books were sourced for me by my brother. For both of us, a relaxing weekend consists of hours of browsing through book fairs and bargain book stores. Never mind the swollen ankles and painful feet, at the end of the day it is all worthwhile.

So, do you like my collection. My mouth waters just by looking at these books.
Mmmm... hours of beautiful activity.

A "guided tour" through some of the books is definitely on the cards but at a later date. Right now I am busy with a project for my son's classmate and here is a sneak peek at it.

Yes, it is a pen tablet cover. I am making diagonal lines of popcorn stitch for texture.

Well, I have to go back to playing hooky so see you later. Have a nice day.