VACATION TIME !!!!

Yes , finally , I'm off to India. A little break and time to spend with my family.I dont think I'll be able to acess internet while I'm gone. So,until I'm back........take care. Be good. Tata!

A pleasant surprise today ! New kid on the blog!
I came across a new blog today by, Vims, a friend I know from Crochet India. It's called THREADS FROM INDIA. Vims is a very talented crocheter and a sweet person too. It was a very nice surprise. Good to see another new Indian blogger. I wish you all the best with blogging, Vims. And look forward to see what you are upto and get updates on you.

It's May - Its Green !!!
May has already begun and this is my first entry for the month ...blush ! I'm just not being regular about my bloging. Its not because I've been lazy ( which is often the case) but because I've been madly busy! With hubby dearest at work most time , I have to organise and plan out our trip to India ( which I'm very excited about ) and do most of the sorting , packing and gift buying etc.
But on the crochet front things have been moving fast as well. I'm working on a doily for a doily Swap at Crochet India. It's coming along quite nice about 3/4 done.....just to get the flowers worked.And another UFO is under process too. I'm so glad I've managed to keep my New Year's resolution of completing one UFO for every new project I work. That way I have my WIPs reducing steadily.





I have to find the greens out of my stash now! It's a tough call as I'm not much on the colour...I hardly have any of it. Maybe this would be a great opportunity to get more threads. I have some lovely yarn in soft pastel green ( love it ). Lets see what that one gets done into!! But thread in green ....I have to see.

PROJECT SPECTRUM: APRIL- Colour: ORANGE















I've not forgotten about it at all. And I do have my projects for the month of April , done in ORANGE all ready for display. Since this is not one of my frequently used colours , I did find it difficult to choose projects for these colours which would appeal to me.
This is again another one of my own super easy designs . One of these days I"m going to add patterns to the blog as well. Well, I could try !!!










How can I not do a thread job whenever I work with yarn???? I just have to do some thread after and during any yarn project. Here is the lovely bookmark I came across at CROCHETVILLE (linked to at the bottom left of the blog).
OK ! I have no idea why the pictures are all showing up in odd places ...that is not where I intended to keep them.But oh well!!! Blogger has it's own mind sometimes .

A little Jewellery Pouch :

Another pink project !! Totally unplanned but all in pink.This is the third pink project in a row now.I am in the pouches and bags mode so just fulfilling that urge! Its a simple enough , all sc pattern. Just something I whipped up during our drive yesterday. The next will have to be beaded ....just getting that URGE ! Oh well....the WIPs are still glaring at me . I'll get to them soon ...just after the next one .

Pretty Pink Booties - Crochet again! Feels great to hold that hook.


There is something so irresistible about baby things for girls. There are no baby girls around but I just can't stop myself from making girl things !!! They are just so darned cute !!!!! This pair of booties was done as a Crochet Along with Pearlin and it was fun to do. We should do more of these crochet Alongs!!!

I'm still Knitting !

And here is the prrof. Yes ,with everything that been going on......I've still been knitting( I havent given up ). I'm really slow but doing it steadily. Remember I showed my efforts last time here, it has now grown to become a completed project. It is now officially a baby bib, very basic ,ofcourse. The picture looks more like a purse.....maybe if I can find a cute enough botton for the tie up, it might look more like a bib. Or may be I could add some emblishment ???

Contest winnings

                     I am so excited! The contest was such fun . And now the second part of it is in progress. Here is what I chose. From the yarn entries , I'm going for this pretty tissue holder   made by Micki.

                         And from the thread entries, I picked this gorgeous doily made by Sandi. It's her original pattern too. Isnt it just so pretty?

The thread entries in order of their standing. The pictures  are clickable. Dont miss the details.

 So here are the lovelies for eye candy! Which one would you pick?

 

Contest Entries for Yarn

             Here are the entries for the Yarn categories in order of their standing after being judged. Arent they all just precious?

                                                                                        
            
        

                                                                                    

            

 

         

The contest results are out. And I have done better in the thread category than yarn...( nothing surprising there, my first love being thread crochet). In the thread category I stand 6 out of 12. And in the yarn ....I'm second from the end ..lol...I'm at 5 out of 6. But then the entries were all very nice and to pick out winners very difficult. I had great fun on this one. Ooooh the winning entries are so pretty.
I still have to post the pictures of the latest WIP I comleted. And also the pictures of my snowflakes for Snowflake Mondays. I'm working on one today.

More progress on my knitting. I've now learnt how to do the decrease. And I hope my little project will be completed soon. I'll post the pictures of it as soon as I get it done.

          I came across a fabulous idea at Lolly's blog. The Project Spectrum Idea . I signed up immediately. I love colours! And now I'm a member of the Project Spectrum. I love the idea of using colour play in my work. and what better way to appreciate the feel of a colour than working at it and creating ? The colours for the month of April are  Orange and Yellow. Not the colours I use frequently! But then this perfect opportunity to try to like these colours. Off I go to find something to make in these warm colors.....
                                                   

Here's the plan:

March - Red and Pink
April - Orange and Yellow
May - Green
June - Blue
July - Violet / Purple
August - Neutrals / Black & White

              

                    

 

Knitting Project 1

                    Learning is a continuous process, they say. Well, here is the continuation to my learning process on Knitting. This is my latest update  : swatch # 3 done in all purl stitch(every row). This is going to be my first project....ofcourse there is no pattern..not yet. I'ts almost a square . I'll figure out what to do with it, I hope. Now , for those of you who wonder why I'm not making a beginners small projest like a dish cloth ...We do not get cotton yarn here. Just fine threads and acrylic yarns( very limited variety) is what I have access to.

                   Doesn't this look better than the earlier attempts? Atleast the stitches are  getting even now.....but not very smooth! I wonder why. I seem to get the stitches done very comfortably now. But I guess I'll need more practice to get the tension right . 

                    And here is the close up of the stitches. They look much better now! I think. Anyways ,I'll keep trying and probably one day I just might be good and be able to tackle all those gorgeous patterns I see online. Until then , for me , it'll be try , try, try and try !

Spring Contest at The Crocheter's Treasure Box

Spring Contest at The Crocheter's Treasure Box

                                  I had mentioned sometime back about the spring contest I was participating in ....so now here are the pictures of my entries. There are two categories:

1. THREAD

                    This is my doily for the contest. Its called Carnation Rose doily from the book A Dozen and One Floral Doilies. The original did  not have the beads in the doily but I just added them on to make it prettier. The picture does no justice to the doily , I'm afraid. Anyways, the close up picture seems to have come better.
 

So here is the close up to give a full detailed account. I've used pearl beads for the centre of the Roses . and little green pearly beads for edging trims.

 

2). YARN

                   Now this is no new item for my usual blog friend . I've been posting the progress on this Draw-string Bag as I was making it. This is my own pattern . It was quick and fun to make too. I've added on  a rose as an emblishment and ofcourse used rainbow toned blue beads ( you cant really see in the picture that well).

                                   The contest will be ending on April 15th. And the results to be announced on the 16th of April. So please wish me luck. No really, I dont mind not winning at all, this was such fun. And the best part is we all get to pick one of the entries. First the one voted as No. 1 gets to take her pick from the contest entries, then the one voted as No.2 gets to pick her choice out of the remaining entries and so on...This is so exciting and such fun.              

Step one - Knit

    Yes here is the laughs I promised!!! This is my first step ...knit, knit , knit! It's a a swatch done with just knit every stitch. And yes I learnt to bind off as well. Not at all neat but I didnt miss or drop any stitch . All I dropped was the knitting needle once in a while.
 

         And this next picture is the swatch of all purl stitch. This seemed easier to do! I wonder why? This one is slightly bigger and I learnt to bind off in purl stitch on this one .

          There is one thing I dont understand...both the knit swatch and the purl swatch look the same when you see it. Is this how it should be or have I messed up? And another thing I cannot figure out which is the back and which is the front!!!!

          Maybe now I'll tackle a simple pattern for beginners with just these stitches to apply. Well, more laughs , I guess. So watch out.

           Did I also tell u I knit awfully slow? I had to curb the need to grab a hook !

I TAKE THE PLUNGE !
Now I've decided to brave it ! I'm going to be no chicken....I'll do it . I'm not talking about my WIPs ( which thankfully are slowly getting to be FOs- finish offs, not frogged off). I'm talking about something which i've been running away from and feeling scared off--- KNITTING !
I have this huge problem ...I cannot give up on something until I get it. And I'm tired of running away from it....I might as well jump at it and grab it by the needles? So , Knitting World , for better or worse , I'm here! And this time I'll stick around.
And my dear blog friends , you are in for a treat too. You get the pleasure / torture of seeing some ugly knitting . Oh well, a little laugh will keep you happy too. Think of it this way, I'm giving you laughs for the day.
And those of you who knit, I'd love to hear your comments on my knitting. I'm good at taking criticism , it's needed inorder to learn well. I'd appreciate any suggestions too.

A weekend break to Ras Al Khaima

                        I've not been updating my blog for quite sometime now. A few busy and nice days  kept me away from the computer.  Here is what's been going on in the mean while. 

                         We had a lovely weekend trip to Ras Al Khaima. A truly beautiful place with a historic background. There are lovely beaches and beautiful hills and hot springs too.And there are so many cool places to see and visit here.

                   We satyed at the lovely AL HAMRA FORT HOTEL.  It's gorgeous place , arabian architecture and luckily we had good weather too. Here are a few pictures....

               

And here is my little beach boy all set for some sand and surf!

         and then ofcourse with Spiderman in the pool!!!

        

                             Now with all the holidaying I've been good too. On the crochet front , I mean. I've manged to finish off another WIP. I'll be posting the pictures later. Boy! this has been a long post indeed!!

First Day of Kindergarten

                    Last Saturday , the first of April was my son's first day at Kindergarten. This is a picture of him just before he left for school. Looks a little tensed, doesn't he? Well, he loved his pre-school and thinks there can never be a better place!!!!
 

                      And here he is after I immitated his pose in the previous picture! Now, isnt a smiling child better ? I love how his eyes light up when he smiles.

                     Okay, the picture does no justice to his eyes, but I'm not much of a photographer at 7:10 am!!!! I am glad he returned home at the end of the school day with the very same smile. Oh Yes, he says this school is good but not better than my pre-school.

Swan Lake doily

           I've got an order to make a swan lake doily by a nice lady who lives nearby. She happened to see some of my doilies and was so impressed that she ordered immediately. She wanted to buy off the one I have but I could not give it as I've already promised to give this doily to another friend. So here the picture of the doily she wants. Its ofcourse inspired by so many swan doilies I've seen online .

                 

 

Proud Moment

                  And here is my little Winner with his medal and certificate! Its for  50 m flat race at his pre- school. I'm having a Proud Mommy moment !! I couldnt resist sharing this.