My first ever knit baby sweater ( part 2)
Remember a while back I was talking about my first knit baby sweater in this post? Well and then in this other post I showed pictures from the book ? Well, for those who have not yet lost their patience with me , I finally have the picture of the sweater I knit.




The rolling edges was a problem with the stockinette stitch and yes the crocheted edge solved the problem. So the finshed version is here.


This sweater was esy and fast enough to make but the part that got me stumped was seaming the different pieces together and the rolling did not help! But well, I'm glad I have my knit sweater done and out of the way. Now to tackle other projets on my list. Did I mention that I'm leaning toward lace knitting? I know it's crazy but I love the look of it and who knows how long a knit lace projects will take. I'll take me forever to get it done .....But I'll brave it anyways.

Winds of change
There has been a significant change in the temps around here and it feels like Summer is Officially begun. It's getting hotter by the day. Ofcourse it also means a shift in the crafting medium. It's more of threads and cottons rather than other yarns.
The evenings are a bit cooler and it's nice for walks in the park and kids have a great time playing outdoors. Sadly this might last only for a couple of weeks and then it gets too hot to even step outside.
On the knitting front , things have been sort of adventurous. I had started out the February lady sweater as a KAL along with my online UAE knitting group and made a huge mess of it. The lace part was totally ruined in my hands and had to put it away. But then I decided to do the baby version of it - hoping it will help. So I'm already working at it. It's an Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern called 'Baby sweater on two needles' from Knitters
Almanac. I'm still at the yolk part and scared of the sleeve separation row. But I've had some really good advice and support from my online friends and hopefully I can tackle this one.
No pictures yet......just busy knitting and frogging !

For my little boy
who loves Spiderman. This was his request and granted! Jibbs loves it and loves to lay on top of it picturing himself as the Superhero!





I used up every bit of Red Heart yarn that I had- we do not get it out here. And now I'm really sad ! Yarn is not available out here- I've said this like a million times and everytime anyone mentions yarn -it's the same thing that comes to mind.
I've been hearing about a yarn store opening out here. I hope it's true , truly hope so.

The promised pictures

They are late in coming and this time round I'll totally blame the virus that is so loyal and kind of sticking with us indefinately. Its like a crazy circle .... Anyways, luckily all of us finally over the fever, cold , cough round ! I've been waiting for days to post these pictures.
The sweater I'm making :



My pieces all done and being blocked- note to self: Acrylic yarn does not block : confirmed and praying that the crochet edging will change the look!



See the rolling - proof that blocking does not work for acrylic yarn. I have been reading about this but this is my personal experience.



This book has been one of mentors and I've been working my beginners projects from here


It's a great book , a very nice size to carry along and has projects which ate simple with good and clear instructions and illustration.
These are my projects done from this book . I'm sorry that I cannot show the pictures of the ones I knit as they were grabbed almost as soon I finished them. A baby overload presently in our family and freinds circle.







This has been my knitting venture so far...okay I know I'm not showing some of other stuff but thats just because I'm trying to protect my friends so that they are not put off with knitting for life!
I'll put up the pictures of my finished baby sweater real soon and also show you my latest knittting project - This time I'm being very brave! You'll see ...what I mean , soon enough! But I really appreciate all the encouragement and cheers from my frinds in blogland. It's what makes me keep trying.

My first ever 'KNIT' baby sweater- An advenure !
I've been dreaming about this for long enough and so finally decided to take the plunge. Since natural fibres are not available out here I went ahead with the acrylic yarn that I had in my stash.
Did I tell you that I'm fairly new to knitting? I picked up a simple beginner pattern from my current 'mentor' book. It's called vogue knitting beginner basic. Great book and this is my fourth project from this book.I've tackled two hats and a pair of booties so far from this book.
Okay, so I'm in the learner stage and learning a lot. Some of it I love and some I totally hate. I loved the new techniques, the different textures in knitting and that so far I've noted that knitting takes up lesser yarn than crochet- ( is this true???) What I hate is my lastest lesson: when you work stockinette stitch in acrylic you are stuck big time with a rolling mess!!!
I have knitted the back , the left frpont, right front and the sleeves and I have ended up with five peices that are all rolling in!!! I'm trying to figure out how to block it. I pinned it and sprayed it liberally with water until it is almost drenched. Lets hope it is blocked when it dries up ...or else ....I'm thinking I'm going to kill it!! I'm lost .
I was reading up on blocking and everywhere it says acrylic doesn't block. If it doesn't block how will I stitch the peices together? Any suggestions??Please? I try and post pictures of my effort :( .

Remember me?
Won't be surprised if you don't! I've been missing in action a long enough time now and I've had my wonderful and caring blog friends being so understanding, loving and supportive. Thank you so much for your caring messages and support. It's why I want to keep blogging.
Wishing you all a very Happy New Year !
Lets hope this year is better and prosperous for each one of us.

Looking back ......
The year that was 2008. A lot happened. Some wonderful and some truly sad. The greatest moment being the birth of my niece at the start of the year and the most painful being the losing my father in law at the end of the year. good and bad go hand in hand , I guess and accept it too. Then I guess the next step is to move on forward. Which I hope to do and I'm trying to!
So maybe I should say looking forwrd ..... to the days ahead. As usaul I first think of repairing the messes I make. I've been a bad blogger all year and that's the first thing I want to change!! Lol..I hope this year will be more bloggered (? ) Are we allowed to make up new words? I really don't know whether I have any readers anymore! And I cannot blame them ....who likes to read a blog where no one writes? If I do have any readers left (I'll be very grateful for their patience with me !)I promise to show my latest projects.
First of all I want to catch up with reading. Lately I've been trying to get back to it and it's just not happening.I miss reading.There are talks of a book club out here and I'm hoping so much that it materializes. Books here are expensive and I cannot afford to keep buying each one .
But seriously,on the crafts front, I do intend to make more progress and learn a some more on knitting. I've been knitting and have actually braved it out to knit a baby sweater on my own.Wish me luck friends ...I'm so excited and scared too. And I'm so proud to have learn't a few knit techniques like picking up stitches, and a little bit of shaping etc.
I've been toying around with the sewing machine and though I don't seem to be too neat , I'm starting to like it. No my attempts tell a totally different story , I know. But I think this is another craft I'd like to persue.
There are so many things and I really don't want to make this too long. So I'll keep updating you with my many interests and hobbies and hopefully some projects too.

Life Will Find A Way
It's strange how things turn out totally different from what we expect, what we plan and what really follows. Life teaches you so many lessons by just pushing circumstances on you and catching you so unaware that it takes a while to simply recover from the shock and actually feel the impact of our experiences. Anyways, its a good thing that God has given us a nature to bounce back and catch up with our lives and our usual activities. I do not want to be too specific ..... ( I still am not upto talking about it ) but there has been a turn of events .I'm in Bangalore right now on an emergency leave until probably the end of the month.
All I can say is that I'm doing a lot of growing up and learning ...and I think 'growing up' was sure over rated when we were kids lol !!! All the gramour of the freedom of adults was what made sense ...the responsibilty factor was hiding far behind in the shadows. Ok...I know I'm going on and on ...sorry about that ..just letting off some steam, venting ..etc.

Many many doilies
This was the special projects I was talking about - these are doilies and coasters and of various sizes and shapes with fabric and fine hand embroidery. It had crocheted edging.
This was a gift for a very good friend who really appreciates and values handmade things.I'm not going to make this a huge picture heavy post so I've just put up a few pictures only and a picture with all 12 pieces.





These were fun to make. And my friend loved them.
As of now, I'm working on various small projects and working towards making stuff for the craft fair. It'll be my first one and I'm all excited. Hardly any time left to go and so many ideas and so many things to make. I'm making stuff with all of my original designs and so enjoying it. I hope I end up selling at least a bit:).Wish me luck !