Diaper Bag- the last of the Nursery Project.

I have not posted in a while now. I've been working hard and crocheting even harder. It's been busy days with Ramadan and the school day finishing early. With the additional episode of flu and a season of cold,fever and dry cough all in a combined package. It's good to be feeling better again.
And finally the last of the peices of the nursery set I was working on. This is the diaper bag which took longer than I had thought - it was easy enough a pattern to work up but I had made some ( really silly ) mistakes.I was getting the bag right but the even look was not there ...somehow it looked 'traumatised'. And then eventually I did figure out the problem.....the yarn and hooksize were just not compatible!! This is the first time I came across such a thing. I kept working on the bag and it just didn't seem right , the look was not there. Then finally , it struck. I switched hooks and it was suddenly looking better. Funny how a simple project can make you sweat so much ,especially since you've done so many complicated projects before and that too without running into much difficulty.
I had expected this bag to be a breeze and put it off as the easy end project , but then I guess it was meant to be the other way around. Looking at it you'd never guess that such a simple pattern could give so much of work.Actually it wasn't the pattern at all, I made the basic error of using incompatible hook and yarn. Another lesson learn't ! Designing is no peice of cake.
Oh well, after that boring account of the making of the bag , you can now have a look at the pictures. Here they are as promised.
The front view and the back view



















And then the top of the bag. As you can see I opted for using the buttons as closure. I had wanted to use a zip but I hate it when the zip snags at the yarn and it happens so often. I wanted to keep the baskety look of the bag and had to have a proper closure too because being a diaper bag , I had to make sure that nothing fell out of it when little hand get to exploring.

I'm busy Crocheting......crocheting ....

And here is the proof ! Hot off my hooks is the Baby Short Round Poncho and matching headband. This is a lovely pattern by Dot.She has some really amazing and beautiful patterns. And her directions are great to follow, easy , clear and simple.
I loved working this pattern. It was fun and quick too. Instant gratification is what drives me to crochet. Maybe that's why I enjoy making baby things so much. They are quick to make and I love little kids.






And here is the close up of the flower on the poncho. I've put in a square crystal in base colour to give it a shine. But it doesn't really show in the picture. The next picture shows the crystal better. It's the flower on the head band. This set is going to a friends pretty little three years old girl. I hope she likes it .

Broomstick Lace
I've been checking out broomstick lace for quite sometime but honestly didn't like it enough to learn it . But all that changed when I came across Kimberly's post about it. In her post HERE , she has posted pictures of her swatches of this lace and I loved the look of it. That was inspiration enough ! I got out my yarn and my son's plastic ruler ( ofcourse , I do not have a large enough broomstick needle- and I cannot even hope to get it out here !) I followed the crochet cabana tutorial . I must say it's a very good tutorial with pictures that makes it very easy to follow. And there I was making the bromstick / Jiffy Lace. Yay ! Ofcourse it's no where as neat and pretty as Kimberly's but , hey it's my very first try! Thanks to you Kimberly , now I have learn't a new technique.
Once I got the hang of the stitch , I started on a project right away. Yes, I was so inspired by Kimberly's post that I'm making a similar scarf for a dear friend. Here it is ....almost halfway through.






Broomstick Lace

Cottage Rose Nursery set
This is the matching afghan to go with the baby bassinet that I had given off without taking the pictures. There is also a smaller baby blanket to match. My friend has sent me the picture of the afghan. This is the best I could get ....it was a picture taken from her cell phone. I can promise you the real things much better than this picture :).




I have also finished off making the matching Tissue box covers for the nursery. And here are the pictures. Atleast these pictures are much clearer.



I'm still working on the diaper bag. It's turning out trickier than expected. Well, I'm still new to the designing world and I have a lot to learn. I'll post pictures when I'm done.

That does it !!



Swapnae had posted this picture for me - of a yarn winder that she got ! And you guessed it , I want one too. Infact this led me check out various things on line that I really, really want ( mind you, I'm filled with greed right now !) and I keep looking at and drooling over !
Any idea friends where I can find this particular thing? Now I'm going to Rant as well....most of these online stores do not ship things and books abroad . Isn't that such a bummer? Especially since there are hardly any supplies available out here !
Speaking of supplies , there are so many online stores that won't even mail out Susan Bates yarn hooks! And here is another book I'm looking around for. I want to make a layette for the same baby that I made the carriage cover for.




Another thing I"ve been looking around without any success is a Good book of Knitting which will help me to learn knitting on my own with simple beginners projects. Any help would be appreciated.

Baby , baby !
Warning: Picture heavy post.

I've been making a lot of baby stuff but blankets and afghans for babies I prefer to avoid. The reasons being :
1) Big Projects distract me very easily- ADD at the topmost level
2) The weather here is too hot most of the year - almost 8 months summer
3) Good Yarn is not available in variety and and is priced too high as well. I've ended up with couple of projects put aside midway as I ran out of yarn and haven't seen or heard of the yarn used ever since I first got it. The only yarn available easily locally is an inferior quality which just is not worth putting so much time and effort into.
But as of now , I'm working on a baby Nursery Ensemble. It includes a baby blankie,matching hat, a baby afghan, a bottle cover, Baby Moses Basket cot cover with hood , tissue box covers, and a diaper bag.
This is the basket cot cover . It was fairly simple to make , except the hood which was a little tricky to size up. But all in all, it was fun to work.















Details:
Yarn : Yasmine yarn by the Company name : AB, in colours beige - gold, hot pink, and olive green.
Hooks: Susan bates - 5.00mm, 505 mm, 6.00 mm and 6.5 mm.
Pattern: Inspired by so many squares seen online

I had no idea !


I came across this test at Swapnae's blog. And this is what I found out about myself ! I had no idea I was so little open to experience :)

My Personality Neuroticism 62 Extraversion 76 Openness To Experience 55 Agreeableness 62 Conscientiousness 66 Test Yourself Compare Yourself View Full Report Find your soulmate / pysch twin Ugg Boots, Friendster and Survey Software

AUDREY



Meet my last ADAL , Audrey! For those of you who are not fimiliar with the term ADAL, it stands for 'Advanced Doily Along' . This was done in the group Gathering Threads . This was a an advanced pattern but pretty much fun to work and fast as well. I used the silk thread I got from India and size 1.25 mm hook.Here is a close up view....




This picture here shows the silky look the doily has that doesn't show in the other two pictures. I love doilies done in this thread. It's fun to work with and the doilies look so elegant as well.

Pretty Doily in my Mailbox !


Yes! This beauty came in mail box today . And Am I spell bound with it's beauty. Its a beautiful intricate pattern. My guess is that it looks like a P.K Doily design. This beautiful doily was sent by Debra at Gathering Threads. She does some beautiful crochet and I'm lucky to have her as my partner.
Once again for my curious buddies a different view of the doily showing the stitches and the texture .Isn't it so pretty?



Thank you Debra. This one adorns my bedside table ( strictly my own space).

Another months has flown by!

It's September already and more than half way through too! Unbelievable how time flies! It's the back to school Rush....and back to routine too. And I haven't blogged in a loooong time. What can I say ...life is getting busier and internet isn't getting any friendlier!!
Long time since I blogged so there is a lot to blog about .Just how many times did I use the word ' blog'? So u can be prepared for many entries at a shot.
First of all , a huge relief that Jibbs, DS , doesn't hate school anymore. Infact , pleasantly shocking though, he has begun to look forward to it. And I really an thanking my lucky Starts for this.
After a long wait I finally got my swap doilies. Though I am still waiting for mine to reach safely.
I received this wonderful package from Denise at the Crochetville Doily Swap. It's an usual spiderweb pattern and I am wondering where I could get it. I'd love to make this doily.
Denise has also sent along a really beautiful floral doily book. There are gorgeous doilies in this one and I can hardly wait to start on it. There is also some green tea . This would be the first time I'll be trying it. Hmm....I like to try out different stuff. Thank you Denise , it's a lovely puffy.



And for those of you who like to inspect things closely , here is a detail picture of the doily and you can see how pretty it is. It's done in a very pretty shade of blue but the picture here makes the colour look washed out. It is a very beautiful blue in person.

Summers Promise



This beautiful design was created by KATHY . She was kind enough to let me do pattern testing with this doily. I must say it was fun and a I learn't a new technique too. Thank you Kathy for the trusrting me with this one.This is the first time I've tested a pattern for Kathy and it was a wonderful experience. And here is the picture of the details on the doily....


As for the other details : I've used thread size 20 , 1 mm hook and the colours are dusty rose and pearl cream in cotton Anchor.
I love the name of this doily.....very dreamy and romantic.

Meme - 6 weird things!
I've been tagged by Swapnae and this is the first meme at my blog. Now to narrow down my weird things about me to just six.....thats a tough call.

1. I love chocolates but can never eat more than three bites at a time. I almost never finish a bar of chocolate at one go.

2. I cannot sleep unless I'm covered with a cotton sheet totally from ears to toes.......even when it is very hot ( which it is for most part of the year out here). I guess this weirdness is a common one among my blog friends!

3. I can never be barefoot unless I'm walking on the grass or the sand.I have different slippers for the bedroom, the rest of the house, the balcony, the kitchen and ofcourse the bathroom! I always walk bare footed on the grass and the beach sand!!!

4. I hate to see anybody brushing their teeth!! Makes me feel sick! Seriously ...I cannot take it.

5. I spot even the tiniest of bugs anywhere in a room before anybody else does ! Bugs, creepy crawlies and specially worms eeek me out totally !!

6. I have to watch a comedy .....anything like movie, a show ,a funny serial or even read a funny book ... every single day.

So much for me being weird! Dh says he can think of atleast 60 things! So now it's my turn to tag and I tag

Ulla

Vik

Tandi

Jaishree

Sue

THANK YOU CHRIS !
Finally, Lady Luck smiles on me. And I got my puffy from Chris. Aren't these just beautiful? I would have posted these yesterday if only Blogger would be more cooperative. Its a crocheted doily and a machine made Callalilly doily and bowl. The picture does no justice to this beauty. I love it ...and it's found its new home on my dresser holding my jewellery!

















Here is the close up of the bowl and doily . Thankyou , Chris , for the lovely gifts.

Lone Star Doily


This doily is called LONE STAR DOILY from the CDS series.
I fell in love with it at first sight . I just love the shape and the look of it. It's an easy enough doily to make and whipped up really fast too. I was thinking of a different colour , but then some doilies I think look best in white. This I felt is one of them ' white doilies'.
I'm working on more projects but still not completed them ..will post them with pictures asap. Incase if you are wondering whether they are doilies again , then I 'd say you are right ....I'm in desperate doily urge!!!

The next thing I'm going nuts about right now are exchanges. I really want to do a secret pal exchange as well. But then whoever is my secret pal would in all probability find out it's me from the very first package from me. How many people from UAE are actually there in any group? Usually , its just me ! So there , that means secret pal is definately not for me . But I'm joining many swaps right now ....and I'm loving it!It is so much fun to make things for exchange partners...the big thrill is in actually making something for someone ...it feels so special!

Hot off the hooks!!


Okay...here I present my latest doily ! This was done as a Doily Along project in the group Gathering Threads. This was such a fun doily to make. So fast to work and turned out neat too.
The doily was a mystery pattern. I used Coats Omega thread in size 10. The colour looks more pinkish than lavender in the picture. The size in 17.5 " in diameter. This was fun and I can hardly wait to start the next DAL.

Doily Thoughts!
Not that there are many other kinds these days. But the thoughts relating to crochet appear to be the best to me right now.....or at any other time too!! There have been no recent picture posts of my projects. I'm still working at finishing off projects. Just finished a doily from a Crochet Along. It's blocked and still drying.
And then , another new Doily Swap , yay!!! I dont seem to get enough of these swaps & I'm such a sucker for doilies. Actually it more like a round robin. I really wanted to make this gorgeous floral and butterfly doily for my ' to send ' partner but turns out she prefers a doily in white or Ecru. So it looks like the flowers and butterfly doily will have to wait until another time. So I'm busy looking for a pattern of single coloured doily. There are so many beautiful ones , it gets more and more confusing!!! I want to make them all.
Aaaaaah! I get so mad when I run out of thread in between making a doily ...who doesn't? But what makes matters worse is that this thread isnt available here. I got it from India. I can always order for more but then you know what that means , waiting !!! And that is soooo bugging. I had checked out the thread requirement in the pattern and checked out the thread label. And believe me according to the label just one and a half balls of the thread would've been sufficient for the doily and I had three balls of it. And still it looks like it wont be enough !! So there are some misleading labels here.
The thread baby dress is coming along great. It's going slow , the pattern is quite labour intensive. But I'm enjoying it so so much. I know that it'll turn out just great. But still a long way to go before it's all done.

Serial bomb blasts in Mumbai
It's heart breaking, shocking and distressing to see the kind of terror that is taking place. It's so disgusting !!! ...totally...what is expected to be gained from killing hundreds of innocent people??? Can such acts ever be justified??? I DON'T think so...nothing justifies killing, hurting and ruining innocent people .
I guess I'm just too upset to write anymore today about this or anything else. Just watching the news makes me want to cry. I cannot, for the life of me, understand what is acheived from this sheer cruelty...except for pain and death. What possible 'cause' could this help???

Busy Days!!!
I have not been ignoring my blog ......just been too busy with life. Had a fantastic week of shopping the whole day and watching the Football matches at night. Now , if you are wondering what the extensive shopping is for, it my brother's wedding soon. And Dubai being the shopper's paradise, I was merely enjoying it. Dubai probably has the best choice of Indian outfits and sarees out of India. We managed to get a whole load of gifts and Sarees for the Bride.Not too many of silks but a lot of trendy chiffons and sequins and crystal work. Maybe I should take pictures of it ....hey no I can't ! The bride sometimes visits me here!!!
And the World Cup season was wonderful. And my son, too, is bitten by the bug. He, ofcourse, supports Italy since they won the CUP.That was one amazing Final. And other extremely exciting match was between Italy and Germany. We used to go in a huge big group of cousins and friend to the Conventional Hall at the World Trade Centre , Dubai. The set up was entirely like a stadium and the atmosphere to match. It was such fun. Now , we are all waiting for the Cricket World Cup next year.
On the crochet front, I'm still working on the same projects that I was a couple of weeks back. With having so much , there was hardly time to crochet.
I'm also teaching crochet now .And I'm so happy that it is going so well. The students seem pretty keen and eager to learn and doing really well for a beginner.
And another thing I discovered....the Postal Authority hates me!!! I still havent received the exchange package which was sent by my partner weeks back...actually almost a whole month!! I'm checking at the post everyday ...but no package. By now , the package counter people signal to me even before I enter that ' you dont need to park and come out , nothing in the post for you !!!'. And I have been so polite all the time . How upsetting is that ? I know my partner has put in so much of love and effort into the puffy , I just hope it reaches safely.

Knit Knit ...My new toy!
















Okay , so I know this is a kid's toy, but I've been dying to get one for sooooo long. I still drool over girlie toys and barbies and accessories for the same. I even got my four years old son to knit with me. He didnt seem much impressed by it. Here is the first attempt of knitting on this new knitting machine.

Rose and popcorn doily


I'm so glad my swap partner finally got puffy I sent her. I can now post the picture here. So this is the doily which I was talking about. It is now in Australia...totally the other side of the globe!!! This pattern is from the book A Dozen and one Floral Doilies. This book has some really lovely patterns. I have to make more doilies from here. I've used Coats mercerised thread, in honey beige and maroon. For some reason the picture makes the doily look off-white!



and here : the close up of the stitches. The roses in the doily are made differently from the usual roses and have a lovely effect to it.