JSOW : I am very busy !!

Warning : heavily loaded with text and images (at the end).

First of all , I would like to extend a very big Thank You ! to all of you for posting sweet comments on my little projects :)

I know , I know , you all are busy bees :) Forget about crochet , it has become difficult to even find time for my JSOW - it is a women's club for happy activities . Just kidding ;) JSOW is my very own Just Something On Wednesday :)




This is my current status !! ;)

Anyways , if not crochet or cross stitch, I have something to share . But let me first share two things that made me happy. 


1. Covering new school books for Anshita 's new session :)

2. My router got fixed ; my Wi-Fi is working fast now and after months , since I created my Pinterest account , I was able to open and enjoy pinning :)

I have kept Pinterest for my personal use and don't bother about statistics there . If you are interested to visit and repin anything, just click on this link . I will in turn visit yours and repin . I don't expect you to follow me there and I may not do that either.....I just cannot manage multiple social networks  :)

Hmm.....about being busy , well , all hell=work broke loose on me since March . Here are few glimpses :

• My maid left job. Although I use dishwasher and washing machine and she did had a little work only but Indian terrain requires a daily brooming/sweeping of house unless and until, it is fully air conditioned. So I am missing that extra time :(

• Anshita’s school was running half days since March and from this week her summer vacation has started; that means, I am supposed to cook fresh food in morning daily. Otherwise, both Raj and Anshita ate in their canteens and I cooked extra at night for my next day lunch. So that extra time has also gone :( Am I a bad momma for saying that?

• I am compiling and publishing a book of published articles which were written by my father as part of his hobby. They are highly literature based written in Marathi language with lot of Sanskrit terms. We have hired a publishing person who is retyping and I have to proof read them. It takes one hour for one article to check word by word with the original copy as I am not so good with the language.

• I have to be ready with my final interior design for my new flat by May...I am terribly falling behind the schedule :((

• I started writing as part of my hobby, but so far only one got published out of 5 odd articles that I had sent in last one year. I am very lazy in sending submissions. I have written a novel of 65000 words but it is just lying in some folder. Raj is very upset about my degrading reading and writing activities. If you are interested, you can read my published article in 'Child' magazine. Click here to know about the magazine and click here to read the PDF sent by the editor to me. Pls do tell me if you read it.

I was on the verge of getting my children story book published by a leading publisher when after seven months of mail exchange they said that they love to publish but they have many right now. Strangely, I did not feel bad because I am not taking writing as seriously as my needlework.

• On Sunday, I washed all the toys for Anshita including 50+ dolls and their 150+ odd dresses. I must say I have pampered her a lot as far as toys are concerned. Her favourites are dinosaurs. She wants to become a palaeontologist. Someday, I will tell about  her dino books.

Well that cleaning stuff left me with lot of body pain for 2 days. And above all, Raj is having heavy workload and is sleeping by 2am daily so I cannot scream for help although I don't stop nagging either.

I can hear you say, how the hell she got time to write this big post ? :)
Wait, it is just half the post :)))

I am working on some of my WIPs and wish to share when I complete them; hopefully, at least one by Monday.

Don't worry, the remaining post will have some glittering images which will cool down your temper after reading the first half of my post ( I can see your wicked smile and the cruel scroll button which you just used to jump right here :))))) he-he-he .

These images are of handcrafted lacquer bangles which are one of the specialties of Hyderabad. There is a 400 year old bangle market in the old city here known as 'Laad bazar' which has shops lined up in a long street. Mostly they are worn for festivals and marriages especially by Indian brides. It is quite far away from my place. It has been years I visited the market. Aren't those beautiful?

Next time, I will tell you about this special museum in the city.

Sorry for the long post, but I would love to hear some words from you.

Tired of reading? I can help you write comments too …here are some of the samples which you can copy paste ;)

1. Nice post, thanks for sharing!
2. Great pictures! best wishes for your WIPs!
3. Had fun reading your post! Fully sympathise with your situation .   ( I guess no one will write this)
4.What a post! Thanks for sharing   (That leaves me thinking what kind of post was it ;)

There goes one realistic one….
5. Lovely pictures! Long post….hats off to my (reader’s) patience:)))

I hope you will not block me after this post :)

Happy blogging!
Preeti :)

Tag It !!!! :))

Hello and a warm welcome to my new and old friends !! :)

While I was waiting endlessly to finish my big crochet projects ( big , as for me ) , I quickly whipped up few crochet cuties .

Couple of months back , Raj asked me to create a tag for him . He finds it a bit difficult and an irritating task to identify his baggage while travelling . He generally uses some scrap of wool from my stash and ties it up on his baggage . When he asked me to create one , I rejected it outrightly considering it as a small and boring project . Yeah,  I could hear some of you say , ‘ How mean ? ’ Anyways , last week when I was thinking of some quick crochet recipe , since I was in no mood to work on big projects , I decided to make one . It is a simple band made of SCs , with a border of 2 DCs in each stitch .

I embroidered the letter ‘ R ’ on it and stitched few buttons . It turned out to be a decorative tag and he was very happy with it !! :)  I guess this will be of some use to him . Thank God , he can identify me in a crowd without any tag ! ;)

How can I escape just making one ? There was another request from Anshita , all with embroidery , beads and a stuffed one .

 I took this heart pattern from here designed by Kara from Petals to Picots . I made two hearts of maximum size given in the pattern ; embroidered , stitched buttons , joined both pieces and stuffed it .  I made the border with HDCs : 3HDCs in each stitch and 2HDC in the top-middle of the heart . I added some beads at the bottom and the lovely heart was ready !!

Looks better while hanging !

If you turn it around , Ta-dah !! I worked both the sides !! :) I have used the buttons sent by Debi for both of these little things :)  Thanks Kara and Debi !

I also made this flower last month for my daughter’s purse . The tutorial for this can be found  here. I love its vibrant colors !!

Pls ignore the places where I haven’t done proper weaving-in . I haven’t blocked or washed any of these items . For all the projects , I have used 2 strands of Anchor knitting cotton and the border with single strand .  I have found a better way now to get the required thickness as that of Laura cotton. Anchor has luster and is colorfast too , so I find this more cost effective . Your project grows faster and the amount of yarn used for a project remains same even if you use double strands .

Hope you liked my mini projects!! :)

Happy blogging!!
Preeti :)

Turtle Trot 2013 April Update !

It is time for Turtle Trot 2013 SAL update . Every 13th of the month we share the progress on our chosen 13 projects for this SAL . Ok , I know , today is not 13th but since I will be travelling out Friday evening, therefore, I thought of updating it upfront.

See here to know about my 13 projects . To read about and sign up for this SAL , visit BAP Attack blog .

This time I managed to work on 6 pieces ; a great progress for me!!:)

1. Nature's charm by Dimensions 


Chart



Before

After

Some more progress on the bunch of leaves.

2. Floral border from the book 'Variegated floral borders', Leisure arts. 

Chart

Started and did 2 flowers. This is a colour variation (shaded colors) chart. I could not find the Anchor equivalent color variations so I chose as per my choice and availability. I let go the colors play their own magic;)

3. Humming Bird Quartet by Frankie Buckley, Leisure arts.

Chart

Started. I loved working on this colorful project very much :)

4. A floral border from the book "Embroideries and patterns from 19th Century Vienna"

Chart

Just started . I found that the chart given in the book is actually a mirror image of the picture . So my finished piece will look different :)


5.  Couple of pets from the book ‘ 100 more Lovable pets’ by Linda Gillum, Leisure arts.
I have chosen these two charts for this SAL. 
  

Chart 1





Chart 2

Started on Chart 2 . Completed the mommy dog . I did the quarter stitches for the first time and I just didn 't like making those . But I can very well see the effect on the finished piece . Do you see a small brown stitch in the eyes of the mommy? I have never done so much detailing earlier .

6.   ‘Drama Queen’ from the book, ‘Smirk attitudes A to Z’ by Kyla May,  Leisure arts.
I had earlier mentioned my 13th project as a secret project, but now I have added this chart to the list.



Chart



I changed the color of dress :)

Since I picked up my needlework few months back so all my projects are new! Out of 13, four are still in the queue for the first stitch. I guess I am doing well and hope will start the remaining four charts too by next month.

I am ready with my needles and threads for next month but before that I will complete some of my crochet projects too :) I am happy that both Crochet and Cross Stitch work patiently with me without any clashes!  I will be back on Sunday to catch up with your stitching :)

Have a happy weekend !
Preeti

Cross stitched floral table runner!

Hello friends !!

Few months back , I had cross stitched this floral table runner but did not share as the lining for same was pending for a long time . I stitched this on a left over 11 count aida patch .  I took the pattern from Anchor Needle n thread magazine from India . The pattern was for a flower vase wrap . I used the theme and changed colors and also the placement of few motifs according to my choice .

I added a double crochet border with Anchor pearl cotton size 20 with rounded edges. I wanted to keep a simple border for this , kind of , just an outilne . I have just washed it and not done any blocking .

The twinkles on the right side are the reflection of the chandelier . I like this runner, simple yet stylish....isn't it ?

We are gearing up for hot summers in India with temperatures already touching a maximum of 40 ° C ( 104 °F ) There would be a rise of another 7-8 degrees to touch the peak . The schools are running half days and summer vacation will start from last week of April until mid June .

Yesterday , I tried the bullion stitch in crochet but everytime it turns out to be too frustrating . I have tried many techniques and tutorials from the internet , but just few stitches go fine and then again it is Urgghhhhh ! Have you made bullions in crochet ? Tell me , if there is an easy way to do it .

Do write in .
Happy week ahead !!
Preeti :)

Note : I will be reorganizing few labels in my old posts. In case if my old posts pop up again, pls ignore. You are welcome if you want to see them again :)

LOL : Lovely Origami Lotus and a Magic Circle !! :)

Just wanted to share this beautiful Origami Lotus made by my 10-year-old daughter , Anshita :)

 

She also made this unending magic circle . I don’t have the video to show it but have created a stop gap animation from the images she took .

The video tutorials for making these are available here and here .

Hope you enjoyed these !
Happy weekend !!
Preeti :)


 

A Gorgeous PK doily !!

Hello friends !! Hope you celebrated a happy Easter with your family and friends on the weekend  :)

I made this Crochet doily called ‘ Windsor Round ’ from the book ‘ Absolutely Gorgeous Doilies ’ by Patricia Kristoffersen .

Made with size 10 crochet cotton and 1.75 mm hook size, this doily measures 13.5 inches across .

I tried to take the above picture with the camera option ' Foliage ' to capture the actual yellow color , but it was difficult to take and most of the images turned blur . This was somewhat ok ; I love those spring colors :)

I am working on some more crochet projects . Hope to share with you as soon as I complete and don’t intend to start any new ones . But , while writing this post when I opened the book to find the doily details , I was again tempted to start one more :)

I am trying to keep control over my crochet anxiety disorder and I want to concentrate more on cross stitch in coming week for my turtle trot update . And when I work on cross stitch , I feel tempted to try some more new cross stitch projects :) Nevertheless , I have decided that whatever WIP count I reach , I will finish at least one of them per month . If that doesn’t happen….then…ummm…I can always forgive myself  ;)  But seriously , I mean to complete and I guess I have achieved a decent success rate so far .

Do write in .
Happy week !!
Preeti  :)