A Trip and a Trophy

WARNING!!! LONG POST HEAVILY LADEN WITH PHOTOS

(You might want to get that cup of tea) 

Hi friends!! I hope March has been treating you well so far. I am guilty of going MIA, but that is because I had a lot of WIPs and no FOs. Things are not going so well on the crochet front. But more on that later.

Today I thought of sharing something non-crochet. That's right...its about a trip and a trophy. As a Valentine's Day gift, hubby took me for a short trip to Udaipur. Udaipur is a beautiful city in the neighbouring state of Rajasthan. Very picturesque and laden with history. But before that let me tell you why we went on this trip.

My son had gone to Mumbai to attend a four day All India animation workshop arranged by his Institute. He extended his stay for a further 10 days to catch up with old friends and to generally soak up the Mumbai atmosphere which he dearly missed. While he was having fun, I was bored out of my skull. Yes, because inspite of the arguments, pranks, ribbings and fights, he is the only company I have for a better part of the day.

Sonny boy returned just in time for his twentieth birthday which turned into a double celebration, as he had come home with a trophy!! He had won the Star Talent Award (for UI & UX design for Mobile) which IS an achievement considering that the event was attended by around 300 students.
Definitely a Proud Mom moment!

While he was away, hubby arranged a two day trip to Udaipur. Let me share some pics .....

Exquisite carvings on the outer walls of the Shamlaji Temple on the way. Photography is prohibited inside Indian temples.

A camel welcoming us into the hotel.  :)
As soon as we checked in we made a beeline for the City palace which was a five minute walk from the hotel.

Impressive... isn't it!

The main entrance

The royal emblem and coat of arms (I think)

A view of the Lake palace on Lake Pichola (now a luxury hotel) from the City palace

These windows called "Jharokhas" are typical of Rajasthani architecture and are seen all over the city.

A view of the kingdom sure to please any king...

Hubby helping another couple (unknown) with their photo

A fountain in the middle of the palace, maybe as a relief from the heat

Those are colourful mirrors you see on the walls of this beautiful room

The king's study. Can you see that wonderful fan on the right side? Obviously there was no electricity in those days... so how do you think this fan worked?
Using kerosene... ingenious!

I just love these mosaic peacocks in the courtyard. There are a few more in different poses.

Can you see the intricate, neat and painstaking work done on them?

It must have been a pleasure to live in such an ornate, beautifully decorated palace!

The detailing is mind blowing..

This beautiful chandelier is part of the princess' parlour (below) where she entertained other royal ladies...

To visit all these rooms you have to go through a labyrinth of steep narrow staircases like this one. The royals must have been quite fit... and slim too  ;)

The exit doorway...

I hope you enjoyed these pics. There are heaps more photos which I will share later (don't want to burden you too much on one day).

As I mentioned earlier all is not well on the crochet front as "another one bites the dust". (Not a Freddie Mercury fan...... okay(smile), never mind!) The white and aqua baby frock, which all of you guessed so correctly, was not turning out so well, with the skirt becoming ginormous with each row finally had to be frogged. Can't imagine any baby going around with such a huge skirt. I must say, you crocheters are so clever to guess it right away. Actually if you crochet (or craft) you have to be clever... isn't it?!! A little shameless back patting there ;)

But I was not going to let those cute granny squares go to waste. So what do I do.... nothing, just make some more grannys. And now they are all joined to form a lovely baby blanket. I will be blocking the blanket over the weekend and will be sharing it soon.
Thank you, lovely people for your wonderful comments about my yellow purse. I am glad all of you liked it and took a minute to write to me. The pattern is very nice so do try it out.

A big welcome to all the new friends who have joined us.
Wishing everybody a fantastic fun filled weekend. Phew... that was one long post, I hope you are still with me  :)

See ya soon,

Golden yellow crochet purse

Hello friends, I hope you had a lovely weekend. I have been busy trying out various patterns which may be the reason I have not blogged as frequently as I really want to. 

But unfortunately my crocheting has not gone as planned and I have frogged 3-4 projects recently as the results were not as expected. All the said projects have been for tops or boleros. For a long time now I have been wanting to make something wearable, something with measurements, something that is supposed to fit you. I know what you are thinking...there are tons of patterns out there. Yes, I know, but somehow the ones I like are on foreign language sites - Japanese or Russian with only diagrams for reference. So far I have not been successful in properly deciphering any of those patterns. Very frustrating and also a loss of precious time!!  :(

Inspite of all this, my WIPs basket is overflowing with the dozen odd projects going on simultaneously. But enough about PhDs, now I want to show you the FO I promised the last time. Yes the crochet purse that I was working on. 

I was going to show you the purse after finishing it up with a lining and zipper. But no... I have still not gotten over my fear of my sewing machine. And zippers!!!.....certainly on my bucket list but just not right now.  :(

So here is the Golden Yellow Crochet Purse:

I knew I had to make it when I saw THIS PATTERN.  The material is a cord, easily available in Mumbai as purse making cord. Also known as macrame cord. I used a 4.5 mm crochet hook.

The handle is a Pin-spiration i.e. an idea I found on Pinterest. It is made by braiding three cords and to make the cord I did 200 chains and then sc into each chain.

Here is a link to the TUTORIAL for the braid. If you are planning to use this method for a bag handle remember to make the cords a few inches longer than required as the resulting braid will be much shorter. My cords were 40 inches each and the resulting plait is 34 inches.

I am quite happy with the result of combining two different tutorials. What do you think?
Hmmm... a lining and zipper would really make this purse look so finished and lovely. Maybe I will give it a try soon.

And now, would you like a peep into my WIPs basket? Hehe...as if I need to ask!!

Any guesses what this might be?

I am not sure I have got the "heart" right, so will post about it after working on it some more.  :)

So, what have you been up to? Do write to me. I love your comments (a big Thanks to all of you) and I really look forward to them. 

If you come across a good pattern for a bolero do send me a link. Here's wishing you a happy successful week ahead.
I selected this post to be featured on Blog Nation. Please visit the site and vote for my blog!