Waves candle holder
A votive candle holder with a ruffled doily base. Yes,this is my own pattern too. But then again I cannot take much credit for it as it is not really all that original an idea. I used a ruffled edging to a simple doily and and made a cover for the votive candle holder addind beads to the edging. All in all, I'm happy with the result but I don't think I'll make many of these. The ruffled edging was just a bit tedious. Maybe next time I'll make it a little simpler .....well, it's always a learning experience !
So here it is :



I'd love to hear your views on it. Please do comment and suggest improvements too. I'm looking forward to improve on this project.

Sunshine Baby Halter
There is always an attraction towards the baby clothes! And halter tops for the little ones are probably the cutest things ever besides the baby sandals. This little set is another such inspiration.




Another Baby Halter

It's my own design and was very easy to make. I have few more ideas floating around but haven't found their way to the hooks yet. Hopefully, someday, I'll turn up a whole new baby collection!

Beach Babe

A wee halter top and matching head scarf for a little beach babe. Out here it's still quite nice to spend a day at the beach- yes still warm enough outside!!!


And then there is more - flip flops for the pretty little feet as well.

Bag it - 3

Another bag to show off. This time of course it's based on the ever popular "Fat Bottom Bag". Ofcourse since the required yarn is not available out here I had to make some modifications to the pattern in order to get the size and depth that I wanted. I used some purse yarn from India and I'm very happy with this yarn. The picture does no justice to bag at all. In person it is very delightful and eye catching.



The toughest part about this bag is perhaps the lining. I had heard almost everyone complain about the difficulty of lining this bag. But the magic solution was provided by a very talented online friend KEL in her post here.
Thank you, Kel, for your very ,very helpful tutorial. It made the job extremely easy.

Bag it! - 2
Is it just me are all women bag crazy? It's been a bag crazy time for me....either buying one or making one! My son call it 'the bag fever'. Seriously, I wonder if there is such a thing.
Sometime back , in one of the crochet groups we had a little 'fun' contest. We were given a free online square pattern and asked to design something, anything but we had to use this square pattern in our design. This is what I came up with. I call it the Inspiration bag.




This is one my own designs and this bag has given me a lot of inspiration to design various bags - hence the name. I'm still working on most of them. More big and small bags in the works:)

Crochet Cradle Bag





Sometimes you just have to make something just because it so cute, you can't resist.Well, that was the case when I saw all the cute little cradle bags all over the cyberspace. I was inspired by the bags here and here.I had to make one ....so I made three ! Just that each one was claimed almost off the hook. This is the only one that spent a short time with me before it was too claimed by a friends little girl.
I'll make a few more of these , I just know it. I love how the little girls get all excited to get them- they make great gifts!

BAG IT !

Haekelbeutel Bag
Not a recent FO but long overdue pictures of the famous Haekelbeutel pattern. So here it is all done and lined - ready to go !

That's my Little Beach Babe !








ETA: Wondering why there are more than one post in a day ? Yup, gotta make up for lots of lost time. I've been a bad blogger :(. But for those of you who have not given on me and still been visiting me here I have a lot to make up for! Thank you for being so supportive.



I had made a scarf for a friend a while back and had fallen in love with the yarn. This halter was made with the leftover yarn. When I saw it I knew I had to make a little something with it for my niece and what better than a halter for the summers out here? the best part was there was still some more left over which was just right for the head scarf and ties for her little flip flops. This was one of those quick projects which I had managed to finish during a 2 hours drive from Abu Dhabi to Dubai.

Broomstick Lace
Learning new techniques or old ones actually , but which are new to me. Some of my dear crochet friends are afraid of losing me to knitting , so this post is specially for them. (This and the next few posts too.)I have been crocheting away non- stop. Especially more since I"ve started knitting. Whenever I have problems in my knitting and get a low morale crochet comes to my rescue. I find peace and solace in old familiar territory. Like coming home.






I enjoyed this technique and I am looking forward to doing a few more projects in this method. Maybe a baby afghan.....lets see. As usual I did not have the tools required and improvising has become a necessity. This time I used my sons Jumbo pencil. I made a smilar scarf earlier too when I was learning the stitch but that was way too uneven and amateur. I'm happy with this one.

Is this lace I'm knitting ????




Yay ! Finally managed to knit lace. My very first lace knitting .....I'm so thrilled. This was a project which was a through and through learning experience for me. Now ofcourse for those of you who are accomplished and pro at knitting his would seem like a joke. But this one had me frogging constantly at the lace part. No matter how hard I tried I messed it up. Something, somewhere always went wrong and mostly it was the counting. I've never had such a complex before.
Anyways, persistence pays and I kept trying, hoping , frogging on and on. Finally , I think even God felt bad for me ..lol! I was at this Book shop and I came across a little packet with a row counter. I had never seen one but I thought maybe it would help. And believe me it did. Once I slid it on my knitting needle and started working on my lace it was a breeze! Not once did I have to frog it out and I didn't even use a lifeline.
Most important of all , I lost the fear of knitting lace- I'm on my next lace knit project.
I learnt how to use circular needles- even though the pattern calls for straight needles , I had to use circs because thats the one that worked best for the yarn.
I learned to seam the knitted sleeves- which I was not very good at .
I learn't that persistence pays off.

So here it is my first lace knit project : Elizabeth Zimmerman's February baby sweater.

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.