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.