February Mosaic

A cold and rainy month here in the Diapermum's world. Added a lot of color everywhere to brighten up the atmosphere and drive away the greys n blues.

A WIP blanket, star bunting, 2 lovely picture frames, 1 colorful pen stand, yummy yarn, a school of fish( for which i am having lotsa ideas but not able to complete it as i want to get the blanket into some shape) - a month well spent indoors i must say!

Wanted : Sunshine

One of the first things i do as soon as i log on to the world wide web is to check the weather in my city hoping to see the not so familiar "sunny" face. But no, just have to wait some more.

Here's a view of the Victoria Harbor from my cozy room.
Not a pretty sight. Hong Kong's skyline is supposed to be the best in the world. Well i see it daily from my house and let me tell you one thing, in this weather it isn't the best! Wishing for some sunshine therapy. Actually waiting, praying, hoping each day would be better put.

 

The rain did not spare the terrace garden, looks isolated even during peak hours.

Water droplets on my window. Am truly amazed by the designs each day and Little Miss loves to clean off the water droplets every morning.

This is a picture of an apartment close by, best shot what with the fog and rain.

 

Its in such scenarios that memories come to help. I remember one sunny day when we all visited the Peak. It was extremely windy and sunny too. Loved the warmth and basked in the sun while it lasted. My girl wore a very pretty flowery top. Made courtesy her stay-at-home mom :) The flower pattern was from here. This was a pattern for a pot holder actually, but i used embroidery threads and ended up with a cute flower for accessorizing a girl's top. Added a pink button and the effect was pretty neat.

Made up the leaves on my own

 You can get the pattern for the butterfly from here
I tweaked it a little to make it smaller..and here's the entire stuff.

My doll wearing it now.

 Mamma enough she says!

Ending on a sunny note, the Peak during a sunny, splendid, wishfully awaited morning.

Fishy Business

Its been a busy weekend with the family. Weekends are days when either I can get a lot of hooky work done or none at all. If the little ones bond well with the Dad, its my day off..else its double the trouble!

We have an agreement that Sunday is Momma's day off :-) That means I can crochet away to glory, but its often not the case. With my helper off for most of the day, i can hardly get anything done.
 
But this weekend my kids were good, snoozed off at the same time and I had a few brief hours of blissful playtime at hand.

So out came the creative mind, have been caught up with this crochet bunting. Really cute projects, fun to do and they color up any room. Also the project gets done quickly, i am happy and so arethe kids. They love playing with the buntings.

 

Here she is teaching him numbers and colors at the same time:)

Have been wanting to do a fish bunting for a while. Ravelry and Google dint give me a happy pattern, so hooked this one on my own. First wanted to make various color fishes, then thought of keeping them blue and outlining them in colors of the rainbow.

All lined up and looking soo cheerful and colorful!I have blocked them and also lined each of the fish with a layer of ordinary white glue to give it some firmness so that they don't droop off.

 

The only thing remaining is to sew them together and voila! they are ready to go up on my wall. By the way, this has been a special request from Little Miss. Waiting to see her expression when i am all done and it is hanging colorfully below her window:)

Meanwhile house hold work cannot be put off forever right? Oh how i wish that would be possible, but yeah need to take a reality check and get some stuff out of the way so that i can start off with the Blanket again.

A new table cloth for the dining table was a long due purchase. Went out to get it before laziness and other habits catch up. Think the bright yellow flowers did the trick. Curious to know if Banker would notice the new addition :)

Hopefully can get the fish line done today and start off on the blanket too.

Rain rain go away

Hong Kong is really the Fashioners Paradise. It works both ways i feel, the demand and supply is well balanced. What all the fashion world dishes out, the fashion crazy public here lap it up.And God's own hand is dealt here too. There are 4 distinct weather conditions here.

Winter is really cold with temperatures of 3-6 degrees also. So out comes all the Coats and winter wear. The various kinds of leg warmers, gloves, scarves, caps, knee length coats - you name it and its on the people here.

Then the rainy season. Until i moved to HK, i dint know that there were 2 types of umbrellas - one for the rain and one for the sun! So all the rainy umbrellas come out and the water proof boots and the raincoats..they have raincoats for their purses too..I am currently stuck in the middle of this RAIN. Its been raining and raining and raining and rai...you get the picture right?
Its gloomy and depressing and wet everywhere...It just doesn't go along with me or my 2 children. A forced house arrest is very boring for them. We have a club house in the apartment complex, but nothing like fresh air and bright sun to play around in.

The Spring is lovely. The wardrobe shift happens again, there are the Capris and Skirts and jackets and silk scarves. I am yet to stay a spring here.

The Summer! Oh for the love of God, i am waiting eagerly for this season. Its HOT and HUMID. Cannot stay indoors without the air conditioner on. But its sooo good! The kids can be in just the minimum clothes and have fun! Walks to the park, the waterfront - all activities i am looking forward to in the summer months.

So coming back to my Crochet, after a lot of small projects, i decided to hook a Blanket/rug for our living room. Not essentially one to put down through out the day, but for a special purpose. We have our weekly puja schedule and are always short of the rug to sit upon. I thought it should be good to get one done for this use. I had with me quite a stock of acrylic yarn in shades of blue, green, white and purple.

Actually had planned a sweater for my boy in blue-green and a frock for the girl in white-purple. somehow i lost interest in both these projects. So instead of letting the yarn sit idly, i thought why not whip up a rug. Wanted a simple pattern, something relaxing and brainless yet at the same time serene and beautiful. Found the perfect pattern in this book. It has amazing stitch patterns and never fails me!

So here's a first glimpse of the rug.

 

 

Mr Smiley was all over it, somehow managed a few quick shots!!

Now, this is my rainy day project. Something to fill in the dull hours and the occasional time when both the kids are off me(physically off i mean).

Will keep the progress updated :)

 

Wall of Love

This project is a reallly small one, just 2 flowers, 2  hearts, 2 frames, some beads and 2 lovely smiling oh soooo cute photographs of my most loved people!

I got the flower pattern from here and the heart pattern from here. The frame was done using thick sheets from an old Little Miss's trucks book. She loved that book and used to make us read it over n over again. The crochet frame was made up by me on the go..The beads were the expensive stuff . Bought it from ToysRUs.

It is a very small project but it took me over 2 weeks, mainly because i did not dare to open the beads when the Little Miss was awake and could not open it when she was asleep as Mr Smiley was awake and would make a run for the colorful stack! Ufff...when both were off to dreamlandzz..the light was not good enough to plan the entire layout!

This is the initial layout

and these are the beads!!! Arent they so pretty, the butterfly ones and the flower ones..have lotsa projects in mind...head is buzzzzinnnnggggg..

 

Added a layer of glue when i blocked the wall hanging. It really helped in stiffening the entire piece and gave it a brand new look. 

So here's the reveal!!!

This has already been certified by my girl as "Arey wahhh....so cute! Everybody smiling!"

Love it love it love it.........

Weekend gone by...

Yesterday was officially my first night out with just the little people. The father being out on a business trip, I was left at the mercy of my two little ones. Hooky work took s back seat as i had to get 3 meals and bed times organised :) Oh boy! these kids know how to drive away the boredom blues. Not a spare minute between the two. And being a Sunday, it was time off for my domestic helper too..Why do sundays come once a week??? They should come once a month. Honestly i do miss her..and the Little Miss's moods swings are exponentially proportionally to her absence! Well i did not get a single chain done today, but i managed the meals and the sleeps..Mr Smiley, a food lover, rejected his dinner tho.Ahh you cant have it all i said to myself.

Back to some hooky business, there has been this color combination running in my head for a long time. Thought of making up a pen stand jacket before moving on to bigger things. This was done a while ago, but putting it up now.

SO got a simple stand, this was the cheapest one available at the local store.

 

...and now this is how it looks!

 

One happy little project to fill in some mindless minutes. You can also catch a glimpse of Mr. Smiley reaching out for his new toy.

PS : Mr smiley sat up on his own today!!! Yiee...how time flies!He is already standing with support since a week, and today he is sitting completely on his own...Now Running-around-the-house time is officially on for both the kids! The brighter side - i am gonna loose some baby weight(hopefully!!) 

 

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

There is something magical about stars and childhood. Counting the stars is one random activity which is invariably associated with our blissful years. When I was a child and the world was a much greener place to dwell, I used to count the stars from my room window and often drift off to a twinkling dream. Now looking at Little Miss I feel she misses out on so many simple joys of life! She has an iPad to play with but may never discover the joy of a chalk piece and blackboard. Every month(almost) she has something new to wear and does not look forward to those special days when wearing a new dress was part of a traditional ritual. As a parent, i am partly to blame. The growing economy and spending powers vested in me spoil her for choices.
But I try my level best to keep her grounded. She still enjoys chasing birds down the road, still enjoys taking a bath in the garden sprinkler Innocence of a 2 year old is visible all over her. Thankfully she still keeps asking ME, “mamma, what is this, mamma what is that”, and hasn’t resorted to goggling for the same!
Rambling thoughts are like a free flowing river. Thanks to the internet medium people can share all their thoughts to anyone with an internet access. Now I am feeling like I am wandering off again, so I will come right back to where this all started, STARS * *.

So since we rarely get to see stars from our apartment, i decided to crochet some of them for my children to play around with. On a cold grey day I sat sipped on hot coffee trying to see life move past me by my window. It struck me that the view inside too is pretty grey.Decided to hang up a garland by the window to brighten up the white walls. Logged on to my trusted friendly website Ravelry and found a very pretty Grandma Twinkle pattern . Off i went to crochet these utterly cute stars. Decided to make mine in multi colors.

The corners got rounded so here’s a first view of the stars, blocked.

Cant seem to get enough of my STARS

 

And here i have stacked them, ahhh soo prettty.

 ..and after waiting for them to dry like for eternity, here they are, all blocked and looking happily at me:)

Joined them all together with a simple chain and voila!! My window is all decked up and very starry
tonight!!!

 

Well thats it for now. Hope you all have wonderful star filled dreams tonight! And if you need to reconnect with simple joys of life, its very easy..just look up to the stars on a clear night and when they twinkle on you, i am sure you would be a happier person …

Twinkle Twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky!!!

Yummy Yarn

It is said that Retail Therapy is the best therapy for a woman. I couldn’t agree more with this. An otherwise dull n boring day filled with motherly duties can transform into an oh so lovely sunshine atmosphere . I do love my children and they are my most important priority right now, but hey!No harm in indulging oneself in some shopping.
The weather hasn’t been very pleasant these days here. Cold spells, nothing too severe but not a good time if you are a toddler. After my Little Miss was done with her lunch we chanced to look outside  our window and were pleasantly surprised to see the sun smiling on us. But Little Miss being in her terrible twos decided she wanted to nap and not come out to shop, so I let her be and looked at Mr Smiley. He was all up for an afternoon of adventure with his mom. Mamma’s boy I must say! So off we went, all jolly and nice. There was this yarn shop I have been wanting to check out for many months and thought why not go there. The name of the shop is Paris Singlets Co. I was pretty disappointed with the collection there. Turned back to my favorite shop in Hong Kong, Tailor and Alteration Needlework Club . One word for this shop-I love love looooooooooove it !!!!! Simply cannot resist the yummy yarn and crochet threads they have. Without any further ado I am going to be kind enough to let your eyes feast on the purchases. I needed some colorful rather bright crochet colors to add to my stash.

The blues and greens and pinks……yummmmmm.

And can I just walk away with thread. No absolutely not!!! Little miss has over a dozen sweaters, but hey this pink is irresistible. Are you asking me the price? Now that’s a question I chose to ignore. Look at the yarn, it’s pure BLISSSSS. So what if it comes at HK$ 68 a ball. It’s worth it, every penny of it.

 

And I don’t know what I am gonna do with it. No hurry, little miss is not going anywhere I tell myself.

So now can I not buy for my Mr Smiley? Sublime yarn in shades of blue and lime for the handsome man please

 

A bag full of yarn + a poorer husband = a hoppingly happily mad me!
For anyone who says Mathematics is a though one, I have simple equations for them.

Anybody out there who wants to shop yarn, go ahead and indulge yourselves in some yummy food

Spring Time

Time flies! Its been long since I have wanted to blog. Lots of things came in the way.. One child…a baby demands your attention 24×7. A year later, I thought, maybe now is a good time to pick up a few things…But again life tells you that you are not in control. I was expecting my second bundle of joy.Since he has arrived it has been a whirlpool of activities, when the sun rises and when it sets I do not get to see. Now he is 7 months old. Again I am hoping to pick things up This blog is a start. Hope time becomes my friend again.

Made a cute dress for an otherwise boring wall clock. The winter months are grey and cold here in Hong Kong. Needed some color in the living room. Came upon this lovely wreath pattern from dear Lucy at Attic24. Decided to bribe TIME with a new sweater, as my girl says, “Mummy ne gadi ko sweater pehnadiya”. Crocheted a circular base with green and brown threads and made japanese flowers (pdf link) with all the possible color combinations. Stitched the flowers on to the base,fixed the base to the clock with the help of a few elastic bands. Now that is something which we will not see here Voila a lovely flowery clock in the living room. Cannot help but smile whenever I look at the time now.

The very first

Welcome to my world! I am a mom of 2, trying to fit bringing up children, crocheting, scrapbooking, cooking, crafting, quilling..hmm this list is endless..all into my life! Ramblings will sure follow. This is the 3rd blog i have started, Hoping it would be third time lucky for me. All your comments and suggestions are welcome