Tuesday 22 March 2016

A new attempt !!! :)

Thank you for your comments on my last post !! :)

I am still on to attempting new things and this time I made this crocheted hand purse with clasp and Chenille yarn . Both the yarn and the clasp were purchased long back . I got the purse handle with sew-in holes from JoAnn's and the variegated Jumbo chenille yarn is from itsybitsy craft store in India . I used 12mm hook size for this yarn .

Crochet purse with clasp and chenille yarn
 There are many ways to attach the clasp and most conventional way is to make the purse and then attach it . I did the reverse way - cast the stitches first and then crochet .

I was fine with the stitches showing up on the clasp .  I made a rectangular crochet band with Anchor knitting cotton and 2.5 mm hook . I made the chenile yarn bottom separately and and then I sewed it onto that rectangular band . It wasn't a quick and easy thing to sew with half open clasp :(  There isn't much space in it , just enough for my phone and some currency notes .

Anshita got all A1s again in grade VIII making us feel proud :) and has moved to grade IX now .

I could not do much stitching last week , hopefully this week I will have some more done .

Have a crafty day!
Preeti :)


Monday 14 March 2016

Aren't we cute ? :)

I am sure this mom & baby image of cute owls will bring a smile on your face :) 

 

This is made with craft felt which I have been stashing for a long time . I saw it on pinterest and made a free hand drawing on paper . Lesson learnt for next time -  make a proper template for each part . Anyways , with trial and error , I successfully completed on weekend .



I started working on Julia blackwork . I wanted to make it larger size and also since I was new to blackwork I decided it will be easier to work on bigger count and I was already done with failed attempts on 18, 16 and 14 counts :(


This is what it will look when completed .

Blackwork can be done with both backstitching and Holbein stitch . Ideally it is done with Holbein stitch when the pattern is reversible . The chart mentioned the use of Holbein stitch but I could not track the stitching back at many points, I think partially because the design is not an easy fill . So rather than getting frustrated, I am stitching with a combination of both stitches because I don't need it to be reversible . The only thing I need to take care is not to jump long stitches from the back side . So far it is looking fine , not great . Have you done blackwork before and are you good at Holbein stitch?

Yesterday , I wore my fitbit for the first time and I completed 10,104 steps but the major chunk came from my morning walk . So the days I am going on walk, it is not difficult to hit the minimum count. Other days, I try to burn the equivalent amount of calories even if the steps are less . To reduce weight , I think I need 30k-40k steps everyday :) But I have learned a hard lesson from my previous ways of reducing weight that slow and steady lasts longer, and I am making a reasonable progress there :)

Have a crafty week ahead!
Preeti :)


Wednesday 9 March 2016

Recycle Rush !! :D

There isn't any 'Gold Rush' happening and as an avid crazy crafter I will always prefer a 'Recycle Rush' turning 'just unwanted things' into 'beautiful unwanted things' :D

Well, I woke up to a hard realization that my home isn't going to get any cleaner or clutter free just by pinning homemaking tips on Pinterest . That's what I (we, considering he did his part) was doing last two weeks - clothes and kitchen . I gave away items in good condition and now I know what's there in the loft too . I no longer throw 'don't know' looks at Raj when I ask him to pull something from the loft. Always, the entire content of loft is brought down whenever I need one small thing which I strongly anticipate that it is hiding in one of the corners of the loft . Sadly, that doesn't happen and we have three such big lofts .

I had plans to recycle these boxes of multi-flavored cheese wedges into something crafty as they are good to make decorative button shape boxes . Anshita likes flavored cheese wedges and we usually get very often for her snacks . But I kept only two to recycle .

I have tried to take good pictures as they do in many DIY sites to make the easy-peasy craft look exotic ;)

Recycled boxes button shape

Box before

Painted as a large button and added a lace on the edge .

My first quilling attempt , I deliberately let it roll in any direction inside not following the quilling concepts.


I also made good progress on my height chart : completed flower, monkey face and started the giraffe on the top .


I have been collecting many items for recycling purpose and I think it is time to declutter that as well.

Thank you for your comments on my last post, I will be closing the Messy to Classy link party tab . I need to update my cross stitch finishes on the blog . So far , I have been updating on the right side bar for easy access to someone who is new to my blog but now I am thinking to add tab for finishes, both crochet and cross stitch . However, in mobile version both the tabs and sidebar aren't visible . How do you prefer to display?

Anshita's annual exams will be over this Friday and then I will have a leisure weekend to design and write some crochet patterns for my website . I haven't done much after I first released it .

Have a crafty day !
Preeti :)





Tuesday 1 March 2016

A little something for my blogger friend:))

Remember , I mentioned about a secret gift for someone that I was making in the last few posts ? Well , I am glad that it reached its destination and the person who received the surprise was one of my blogger friends , Daniela in Slovakia :)

She was surprised to receive it and it took a long time to reach her but I was glad it wasn't lost anywhere . I also sent few little things but forgot to take pics . You can see on her blogpost . I secretly got her address from our common blogger friend Nurdan . She doesn't blog anymore . Thanks for keeping the secret , Nurdan :)


Colorful little crochet doilies, pattern by Patricia Kristoffersen

This gift was for participating in my Messy to Classy link party . I had promised that I will give handmade gift to two persons but since there were less people who participated , I decided to give to only one person . She posted without fail each month . Although her posts went beyond just craft organization she ensured that it was related to decor . More than that , I was touched by her simplicity to stick with me and stand for me even when I wasn't posting :)  Thank you so much , Daniela !!:)) Thank you to others as well who participated and even if it was once, it meant a lot to me :) But I hope you won't mind my decision to give to the person who deserved more than just selecting through a draw as stated earlier .

Colorful little crochet doilies, pattern by Patricia Kristoffersen


Colorful little crochet doilies, pattern by Patricia Kristoffersen

The pattern for these doilies is from the book  99 little doilies by Patricia Kristoffersen. I made with Anchor knitting cotton and 2 .75 mm hook .

Thanks to all, for your comments !! I started replying but then again I am back to my usual laziness .

Anshita's annual exams have started and I have been busy a bit in other things too. I will have some progress to show next week .

Have a great day!
Preeti :)


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