Another tissue box cover



Okay , I know I tend to get obsessed with making stuff of the same kind sometimes. First it was doilies, baby stuff , bags , coasters and now it is tissue box covers! I hope this is the last one for now. This is also my own design based on a stitch pattern that looks like a mesh. I loved the stitch pattern and the look of it and had to apply it in something! So there you go - the cover had a solid dc base cover and this is just decorative over cover. I liked making this and have to hold myself back from making more. I'm also planning on using the spider web design on something ...can't decide yet !
It's been long since I have made doilies. I got one done yesterday. And now planning to start another one this evening. Hopefully, I'll post the pictures on Saturday.
I've been trying different knitting techniques too. Last night I learn't to make the i-cord on circular needles. It was easy and I loved making it.Then I tried working further on circular needles to make a basic cap and messed it up totally! I guess I need to check out more sources and get some help for this.

Kimberly's Weaved Hot pad

This looked very tempting from the moment I saw it in Kimberly's post. You can find her free pattern here. I wanted to make this hot pad but first had to finish off a couple of UFOs. Since I make it a point to keep at least one UFO working alongside a new project I usually have one UFO finished with every new project.
For this pattern, I looked around for some cotton yarn thick enough to be suitable for a hot pad but no luck.I have used 3 strands of size 10 crochet cotton thread instead. The problem with this is that even though it make the piece strong and sturdy , it also makes it very heavy. I got some dish cloths made in sugar n cream yarn (in some of the swaps ) and those yarns are so light ! I wish we got them here. Any hoo, I enjoyed working this project and thank you Kimberly for a lovely pattern and your generosity in sharing it.




The pictures are not very clear ...the colour is deep purple and here it looks almost black. That's my photography skills , I guess.
And on the knitting front , I'm still learning. I have now started knitting simple lace patterns. I've just finished a faggot lace swatch . I tried it many times until I finally got it right. Now to move on to more lace patterns. I haven't made any real projects in knitting as yet - just some dish cloths to practice the different stitch patterns . a couple of small bags in garter stitch and a sampler scarf. I'll show the pics , I promise , but let me have something worth showing first...lol!

Beaded coasters
Now that I'm enjoying working without patterns ( I wonder how long this new madness will go on ) I'm enjoying making my little projects especially since I can call them my own designs.Here goes....my new sets of beaded coasters.
Scallop beaded coasters


With the very limited supply of beads here ,it was difficult to find beads to go with this pastel pink. Finally, I had to settle for these clear glass beads with a rainbow shine. I wasn't happy with it initially but once I crocheted it to the doily I just loved the look.
How could I stop with just one set of coasters? Ofcourse I had to make another one too- this time a little more lacy .Its called Crytal beaded coaster.




I'm planning on another set of coasters just waiting to get the right beads.

Onto other stuff, I'm just so excited about the secret pal swap at the Crochet Mania. It's my first ever Secret pal exchange and as you can imagine I'm just way beyond excited. I mailed out my pals puffy last week. It should be there in a day or so. I really hope that she likes it.
Speaking of mailing , I was shocked at the postal charges....OMG! It was always high for international postage but this is ridiculous! It's at the craziest high right now. The prices of things have been shooting up recently, well, for about a year now. It's really getting difficult for people in UAE.
With the increase ( and I mean about 50% and more increase )in all products, especially food and essentials which is bad enough in itself, the people in Dubai have to live with rise in cost of every other thing like transport, school fees, road tolls in the city , service charges everywhere !!! It hurts to see so many people suffer to make ends meet.
Sorry about the ranting .....I won't bore you all any more.

Tissue Box covers
With Ravelry blocked and my spirits really crashing down I've been not blogging much. Actually I'm still wondering at the loss of ravelry...it's where I had my main to do list and so many projects going !!!! Oh well, what can I say, life goes on, so I have to move on too. But why does it feel so demotivating. Maybe because now I have another huge pile of WIPs - well, yes I had many crochet alongs going on :( !!!
So I drowned my sorrows in crocheting harder than ever before and to get even with the situation I have been not following any patterns what so ever...not even stitch patterns ! This time it is strictly as you go method. Just kept it the way I liked it and ripped out whatever felt out of place. So here : another couple of projects done among the many more ( I'll post those later - been crocheting more than taking pictures! )
My latest projects are for a friend who requested me to make them for her. And I'm so glad she truly likes my work and actually appreciates the effort and time that goes into crocheting things or any other handmade stuff. Now, thats the kind of people I love to crochet for.




This one is called Waves because the bottom ruffles remind me of waves and the colours too. This yarn was just lovely to work with. The pictures don't show the blue so well except in the last picture. This yarn is called 4 Seasons by King Cole.It's a cotton and acrylic mix and a dream to work with. I loved working with this yarn and hope to get some of these in the near future for more projects.

The next one here is called Lacy Boudoir. Now I have no idea why this name popped in mind when I finished it. Again a ' make as it goes' pattern. Shall I call it my own design? Well, atleast to me it seems like my own as I had no idea what I was making until I was quite far ahead. I like the way it turned out. The yarn is so pretty it hardly required any detailing in pattern. Infact just a solid dc base would have looked wonderful but I had to make do with the quantity I had as I could not risk running out of yarn especially since it's not available out here. My friend got it from Australia.And coincidentally the yarn is called ASTRALIA by DMC and is a mix of cotton and acrylic with a single shining fibre running throughout it's length. All in all, nice yarn and very pretty effects too. But unfortunately it's been discontinued by DMC. I can never understand why discontinue the pretty stuff?
Anyways, let me know what you think of this design.

Made me smile

I came across this post on Through the priszm blog this morning and enjoyed it so much. Thought you'd like a smile too.

1. Birds of a feather flock together and crap on your car.

2. When I’m feeling down, I like to whistle. It makes the neighbour’s dog run to the end of his chain and gag himself.

3.A penny saved is a government oversight.

4. The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

5. .The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.

6. The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement. (This is very true, it happened recently with one of my crochet hooks :) )

7. He who hesitates is probably right.

8. Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are ‘XL.’

9. If you think there is good in everybody, you haven’t met everybody.

10. If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

11. The sole purpose of a child’s middle name is so he can tell when he’s really in trouble. (This brings back memories)

12. There’s always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it For example I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don’t hurt .

13. Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words ‘The’ and ‘IRS’ together it spells ‘Theirs.’

14 .Aging: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.

15. The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.

16. Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know ‘why’ I look this way. I’ve traveled a long way and some of the roads weren’t paved.

17. When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.

18. You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.

19. One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.

20. Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.

21. First you forget names, then you forget faces. Then you forget to pull up your zipper. It’s worse when you forget to pull it down.

22. Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today, it’s called golf.

Enjoy!

Have a great day!

Another buttoned cushion cover
Most of the patterns I see for pillow / cushion covers have a zipper attachment.Now that bothers me a big deal because I'm a buttons person! I try my best to incorporate buttons whenever a zipper is required. Believe it or not, I go to great lengths to achieve this! This ap[plies to everything including various covers, garments, bags etc...What is it about zippers that I don't like ? Well, for starters, I hate it when zippers get stuck or when the yarn gets caught is the zipper , or maybe it's just because I'm not comfortable with attaching a zip to fabric. I usually make a mess of it.
So here is my latest cushion cover with buttons. Now I really wish we had all those gorgeous buttons available out here. Especially the big sized ones. I would go nuts collecting them!
This one is made to go with the granny afghan I made a while back for my friend's daughter.

Yet another one
I call this Snow Lace Doily. This is another one of my attempts at designing doilies from simple motifs. This is going to be a tray doily for a friend. I hope she like it. I've used Aunt Lydia's size 10 thread... and I'm feeling bad that now it's almost over!I must say , I love working with this thread. And made the most of it while it lasted. I used it for some of my best projects.Anyways, here is the picture of the doily-

I have been visiting a lot of food and recipes blogs lately. And Wow! there are some amazing blogs out there. I'm getting interested in cooking all over again. I enjoy cooking but at times lose interest in the daily mundane cooking! All these new recipes are tempting me to experiment. So don't be surprised to read about food stuff out here!
While I've been checking out stuff ( especially since Ravelry is blocked- don't want ot talk abt this ...it makes me very upset!),I'm also doing my favourite pass time - checking out all the new crochet/ knitting supplies online and drooling over them.And basically envying anybody in blogland who mentions new acquisitions like yarn, hooks, accessories etc. My target today has been Amazon and it's been amazing !!! It's unbelievable the amount of things available and to think of it you don't get any of the stuff out here. It's not surprising as crafting is really not too popular out here. But the good news is things are changing and I now find a few crocheter/ knitters who blog and live in UAE. That has been great ...now I just hope someday we can work out some kind of arrangement or get together for all of us. I'm hoping!!

Doilies to show

I've been crocheting like there is some kind of race going on ....Is this what happens before you get a burnout? You go on crocheting like crazy and have a dozen more projects to work up next until eventually to end up having a crochet breakdown. I've seen many of my blog friends go through this and I hope I don't end up in a slump! Though right now every single minute I'm fighting the urge to pick up the hook.
Anyhoos, here is my latest doily. I have seen dozens of motifs looking like this and whipped up this one based on those. The rest is just a matter of putting them together and giving it an edging! So can I say I designed it myself ...I wonder!




This one next is based on a pattern stitch I really like. I've seen this stitch used on various garments, shawls and tops etc. I wanted to experiment it on a doily - more like a tray cloth.Hmmm... I had wanted to give it a frilly edging but ran out of thread :(. And you know by now ....that I have to improvise in such circumstances as there is absolutely no chance what so ever to be able to get that thread here.


There's more to show ...so don't forget to check back!

More to show
I know my blog posts are coming in slow these days. The weird reason being that I'm getting more crochet done and that's why I lose out on Blogging time. This one is new for me ....I'm more used to spending more time on PC drooling over patterns and supplies and yarn rather than actually crocheting!
This is a chair caddy done as one of the quick results projects. It's a quick and easy pattern. I'd say a good one beginners. And real handy too.It's already made it's home on my arm chair and has begun it's loyal service as well.



And now for the goodies. Kids have their own set of logic and reasons and nothing said can change that. Sometimes I'm at a loss of words and shamefully resort to treats!! So when faced with a tough situation : A donut does the trick , at least for now! What would we do n a world without donuts and chocolates?

Jibbs loved the chair caddy and has decided to make one himself. Of course, that means he will learn to crochet and he wants to learn so badly. I've tried explaining to him that 5 years is to young for this but then like I said : they have their own logic! He says , if he is old enough to make his own bed then he is old enough to crochet! Besides, I know he loves to play around with my hooks! I find the missing ones in his stuff. The little fella has begun to make his claim on my yarn too lately...I'm not sure this mommy wants to share!!! I'm very possessive about my hooks , yarn and threads....after all we don't get them here!

A few of my crocheted things

It's not cold out here at all , in fact summer is in full glory and yet I have afghans to show!! Ironic , but that's how it is ! This an afghan I finished recently for a friend. It's a basic granny pattern and worked up in a Jiffy.So I really enjoyed it except for feeling very hot while I had to have it on lap. Thank goodness for Central air conditioning !


And then matching pillows ,of course ,follow. This one is called charming clusters. And it worked like a charm!


I've worked with the same yarn as the previous floral buttoned pillow and the same King Cole Magnum chunky yarn.The pillow measures about 16 inches and the afghan is about 63 inches.
One thing I learnt in this project is that making afghans is not at all bad and can be quite fun too. If you know me , you'd know how I run away from making afghans. I guess it stems from the shortage of yarns and threads out here. And prefer to make full use of it! And the amount of yarn needed for an afghan actually scares me! And chunky is not my favourite type of yarn still looks and feels great for afghans. Now that's a whole lot of Ands....
Another yarn project finished recently is a an apple coaster - but since I used really thick yarn it's more of a potholder!


Not that I'm complaining , who doesn't need yet another potholder? I like to make a bunch of these as gifts. My friends appreciate it and i gives me the excuse to make more;).

THANK YOU MIMI !
I got your Pay It Forward Package yesterday and so totally loved it. The book is gorgeous...there is something so dainty and feminine about Japanese designs, rt? And I was thrilled to be a proud owner of your own Original design. I drove dh nuts ..kept showing him that I have a friend who designs stuff and gets them published too. So proud of you. And once again, thank you so much.
Here are the pictures of the lovely package from Mimi.

You can see Mimi's name printed out here. Way to go , girl! I have to get this bag done , it's so pretty.

Floral Buttoned Pillow



As promised more pictures for you. This is, again ,my own pattern and I guess I'm pleased with the way it's turned out. As you might have already guessed by now that I've not written down a pattern yet! But then any crocheter with a little bit of crocheting experience ca whip up this little unoriginal pattern..lol! I'm working on a matching afghan too. Ofcourse, I'll be posting the pictures real soon as it is almost done. It feels so good to have projects rolling by ....ahh! the feel of having FOs to show.
This time around I've got to use some really pretty yarn. Its called MAGNUM CHUNKY - King Cole.When I saw it first I must admit I thought it looked a bit rough and brushy . But once I began working with it all doubts dispersed. I enjoyed working with this yarn. How do you like it?

Sweetheart Roses Baby Layette





I fell in love with this pattern as soon as I set eyes on it. I had to wait a long while to get this pattern. I had tried various sources and given up. But I did out it up in this post on this blog expressing my absolute desire for it. And before I could imagine I had an angel looking out for me. And Shari got back in touch with me and mailed the book to me. Wasn't that the sweetest? Thank you so much Shari, I really appreciate your kindness and generosity.
I made this little layette for my one and only niece born this February. It was her 'Coming Home ' outfit but she turned out to be way too tiny to wear this! But now she has finally grown into it and looks thoroughly adorable. I love the little shrug....it looks so cute! All in all, I'd say this is an amazing pattern- really quick and easy to follow. Great job by the designer .
Once the set was done I had to add a berret too. I've seen many online and whipped this one up. It looks way too much like many of the other designs I've seen on line. So I just crocheted it up looking at the pictures. I love the way it turned out.



Many more projects are actually making their transition from UFO to FO finally! Can't tell you how proud that makes me. I'll be putting out more pictures really soon.

Pineapple Soap Sachet




Latest project off my hook! This a real quickie and pretty cute to make too. So I ended up making two. I'm planning on making more of these for gifts. I love the smell of soap in my cupboards. You'll find many of these tucked away in all the various rooms in my house ...I know it's weird but then I told you I love the smell of some soaps. Since I have extremely sensitive skin and I cannot use them, I use them to keep my clothes and towels fragrant!
The pattern is not all that well written. I had to rewrite it to make it easily understandable . This one was worked as a thread special project with a friend. I also like to call it my stash buster project. I used up my scrap threads!

Tidal Flow Afghan



This is the second full adult sized afghan I've made so far. The first one was given away before I could take pictures :( . But now I'm learning and improving. I take pictures immediately after completing the projects. Yes sometimes even before blocking. As in this case....as I'm sure you'll note . This one is already in it's new home and I couldn't post the pictures before my friend received it .
This pattern is called Tidal flow and that's all I know of it. I had seen it long back and made a few swatches of it with different colours. I just followed the pattern from my swatch and made the Afghan.If anybody happens to know the source of this pattern, please let me know . I'd love to credit the designer . It's alovely pattern and fun to work and surprisingly quick too.
My son call it the sun and sea afghan because of the colours. I think it's an apt name , it does remind me of the beach in summer. We have a lot of summer days spent on the beaches. If you are interested in the close up of the pattern stitch , here you are :



And if you are wondering about my previous post about the Ring Cushion - Well, it got there in time . I delivered it personally , my own sweet self!! I had promised to get it delivered on time ...and sooo I'm glad I could!!

ROST PEACHY RING BEARER PILLOW



This is just off my hooks! The latest project. It's for a friend and this time I got the picture before giving it away !! Learning from experience. It's one of those urgent requests and I hope it get to her in time and that she likes it.
For those of you interested to know the details : I've used Aunt Lydia's thread -white- size 10. And the inner lining is done in white silk. Yes , stitched by my own self!!! This time the pattern too is an original -right to the stitch pattern!! Oh yes, how much original can you get in making a cushion??? ;) !
And now for the Ranting part of the story.....I'm really mad at Aramex courier service. Since this was a top urgently required item I had been after these guys to collect it from me and deliver it to Dubai ( which happens to be merely 1 and half hour drive from here !!!! ) and after stalling me for a whole day , now they tell me it cannot be delivered by tonight !! And what's worse they cannot be sure whether they can deliver it by tomorrow evening. Ofcourse I get all mad and worked up and ask them what I can do? And would you believe it ...they ask to lodge a complaint!!!Ah well...how intelligent , like that would get my package there. I'm so MAD right now and sorry too for ranting on and on out here but those of you thinking of using Aramex -think again. I'd say stay away.

April Showers !
Where are they? There aren't any rains out here and looks like summer has made an early start this year.My poor plants are already suffering the heat and it is showing too ( this could also be the results of poor gardening skills!)
I came across a nice Give Away at Ana's blog of Lullabies and lace. It's her 400 th post - Do drop in and check out her blog . She is a very creative woman and I so enjoy her blog and love to see her various projects in crochet and sewing and other crafts too. She has some really gorgeous patterns on her site.

NO EXCUSES !

Absolutely no excuses for it - I've been neglecting my poor poor blog lately to the point that it has begun to shrivel up and dry just like my balcony garden! I've not been neglecting my garden but the dry summer wind is to be blamed. I haven't given up - atleast not yet!
Things have been moving very fast and life is very happening at the moment , thankfully all good stuff. Looks like a week from now I'll be having some free time to be online more often.
I've been crocheting away like a nut but I cannot put up the pictures out here yet. These are surprise gifts , don't want to ruin it ! I've been reading a lot too lately.A whole of Erma Bombeck . I think she was one of the greatest writers ever!I've been reading her books since my teens and everytime I get a wonderful feeling reading it.

Pay it Forward
I came across this on Mimi's blog and signed up for it.I love sending out gifts and haven't been able to participate in exchanges due to time restraints. But this special concept gives me a one year (Wow! 12 whole months ) time period to send out my gifts. I have received some really wonderful gifts from some very generous online friends. Well, I figure it time to pay it forward :).

Now for my Pay-it-Forward rules:
* I will send a gift to 3 people who leave a comment here requesting to join this PIF exchange.

I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within this year, that is my promise!

* The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Want to participate?

* Leave a comment on this post.

* Make the same promise on your own blog.

A new contest!
Not on my blog, atleast not yet! I'm still caught up with some projects and the deadline is zooming .So unfortunately blogging has been slow...really slow lately.
But life is on the fast track ,thankfully! And lots of good things happening and it's been fun. I'm going to an aunt for the first time.....so all excited as you can imagine,Like I needed anu reason to make more baby stuff!!!!!
Before I forget , I came across this really cool contest at Ravelry. Check it out and maybe enter too. The deadline is 9th of February. Anyways the blog is cool and lots of lovely work done there. Here is the link CONTEST - Enjoy!