Doily Round up

Hi Girls, I am sure all of you are looking forward to the weekend especially those of you who have full time jobs. Yeah... I remember the feeling. But ever since I have become a SAHM my feelings about the weekends has changed. Because you see I was "Born to crochet, Forced to cook"..... okay, just joking there! In fact on Sundays we have really special lunches which always includes fish as my hubby is a fish gourmand.

A big hug to Carina from Carinas Virkning and Lizzie Kate at Grandma's Grapevine. Welcome aboard.

Oh God! Another week is coming to an end. So many patterns, so little time. I am adding the finishing touches to a crochet purse. So, today I will let my doilies do the talking. This is a round up of all the doilies that I have already spoken about somewhere on the blog, just to have them together in one place.

So here goes.

That is all for today. I know you must be busy with your plans for Sunday.  Do let me know if you were playing hooky and share the pics. 

See you later, crocheters
Love xxx

Rainbow Mandala

Hi friends, I finished the Rainbow mandala yesterday, but as it was a public holiday here I decided to spend the day with the Boys.

Yesterday was Raksha Bandhan which is essentially a celebration of the bond between brothers and sisters. This is one festival which transcends religious barriers and people of all faiths celebrate it. The sister ties a rakhi (sacred thread) on her brother's wrist to show her love for her brother, while praying for his well being. The brother promises to always protect and take care of his sister/s. Raksha in Hindi means to Protect. The brother also gives gifts to the sister which can be anything from chocolates, clothes, books or even jewellery depending on the sister's taste.

Raksha Bandhan does not require a biological connection between brothers and sisters, so while it can be celebrated between cousins, step siblings and even distant relatives, we also have Hindu sisters tying rakhis to Muslim brothers and Christian sisters tying rakhis to Hindu brothers and so on. I think we need more such festivals in India where people are not segregated depending on their religion, caste, creed or race.

This is what a Rakhi looks like:

And now let me welcome two sisters in arms hooks, Sophie from Sophie's Paradise and Barbara from Made in K-town.

Now on to the topic of mandala. I got a few queries about the mandala which I will try to answer in brief.

Mandal is a Sanskrit word meaning Circle. The mandala has spiritual and ritual significance and can often be seen in Hindu, Buddhist and Tibetan religious art. The word mandala has become a generic term for any circular pattern and for us crocheters it means a circular pattern with beautiful concentric designs.

And while on the topic of mandalas do visit Barbara who has a fantastic pattern for a gorgeous Spring Mandala. I am definitely going to make this one.

The inspiration for my present mandala can be found HERE at Crochet with Raymond. I wanted a Rainbow Mandala and these are the shades of Laura Knitting cotton I chose.

Here is my "cool" mandala before I added the warm colours,

This is the completed mandala without the edging, does look like a rainbow, doesn't it?

 

I tried 2-3 edging patterns before deciding on a simple sc and picot edging which would not distract from the beauty of the mandala. 

And ta-da, my beautiful, lovely Rainbow Mandala,

 

Serene Buddha on a beautiful mandala.

 

I used a 3.50 mm crochet hook this time to get a flexible fabric. The mandala is 13 inches in diameter.

 Slice of Rainbow pizza, anyone?

 

So, how do you like  my handmade rainbow?

This is my second post today so do scroll down to meet my cute little friends who came to party.

As per dear Charlotte's suggestion I have added my email address to my profile page so now you have one more way to contact me.

See you soon and Happy hooking.

Love xxx