..heading to a close..

Hello my dear LOVELY friends!

Hope you guys have had a great festive season, lots of special times, amazing food and also wonderful feelings of love :)

The year is drawing to a close, a time to reflect on what i have achieved this year and what i need to do in the coming year! All my goals and aspirations are now tied to my little ones. And i am happy to keep it that way for a couple more years..the time when they need me the most..

Well...i am almost close to finishing a great huge project...

 Have another 3 rounds of the border to hook.
I am waiting to show you guys the finished result!!

Seeing all the yummy photos going round the blogger world, i could not resist the temptation to bake. This is a modified version of the Chocolate chip muffin from Love Food Eat - an amazing website for foodies who are concious of what they eat. The lady writes lotsa food which are yummy and very very healthy!

DO check it out!!
Fair to say that half the cake was finished before it was even allowed to cool down :)

Till then, happy hooking and have an awesome last weekend of the year with family and loved ones..
Don't forget to get some hooky done...

Love,
xxx

Happy Holidays!

My dear lovely friends!

This year has been extra special because i have met you all :)
Hope to continue this awesome relationship in the years to come...

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2013!!!

See you guys next year with lots of crochet wonder and crafty delights!
Be merry, safe and give extra love to all your loved ones!

Love,
xxx

Crocheted Olek wonder!

Good morning my LOVELY beautiful people!

How was your weekend? Hope you guys had a fun filled, happy and colorful time and managed to get some creative work done too :)

We had been to a mall in our city, Elements and there was a wonderful, faboulous and i am not finding the words to describe..huge and almost immposible crochet piece of work, rather art on display at the mall..

Can you guys imagine this set. It is entirely covered in crochet art. This is done by a lady known as Agata Oleksiak and known professionally as Crocheted Olek. She is a  Polish-born artist living in the US. You can read more about her amazing life and work HERE and find her website HERE. I so wish you guys could come and see this work with me. I was left speechless by her talent and dedication.

 Happiness is an inside job she says! And i agree 100%!

 Any takers for a lunch @ this wonderful crocheted table?

 Beautiful Christmas tree complete with lights and other decorations.

 Check out the details. Even the glasses and dinner ware is crocheted.

 

In 2009, she stated:
I think crochet, the way I create it, is a metaphor for the complexity and interconnectedness of our body and its systems and psychology. The connections are stronger as one fabric as opposed to separate strands, but, if you cut one, the whole thing will fall apart. Relationships are complex and greatly vary situation to situation. They are developmental journeys of growth, and transformation. Time passes, great distances are surpassed and the fabric which individuals are composed of compiles and unravels simultaneously. 

You can find the same below:
Isn't the philosophy beautiful :) Loved the way she has written about it!

 

 Another Christmas decoration in place. The tree is made of yarn balls and i wish i could own one such tree :)

Hope you guys had a fun time today in my world!

Lotsa love,

xxx.

Rainbow buntings and an award

Hello my DEAR lovely people!

How are you doing today? Hope everyone is in the spirit of the season :) The year end is always special, when we review the year which has gone by, wait for the next year to unfold. Hopes, dreams, aspirations and the like :) Time for resolutions i think. I had a great list of things to be done this year. But maybe all that in another post :)

For now, i am happy - no in fact i am gleefully and super duper pleased with how this little project turned out.

 What started as an idle afternoon's triangle making...

 Turned into a rainbow of triangles, which in turn turned into..

 A happy rainbow bunting of course!! :) I think bunting is one of the cutest things you can do with crochet and i am unhappy with myself for not trying it earlier.

 The wall of the living room now looks festive now, my little girl is super happy with her mommy for getting a rainbow into her home. Ahh...pleasures of a stay at home mom i must say!!

Speaking of pleasures, i was thrilled and super pleased to receive an award from a dear blogger friend Anna of Hindustanka's Sunny Indian Days. She is a very talented lady, living in India but originally from Russia. She has a very beautiful and magical love story:)

Thank you so much Anna!! Will do the questions and the nominations soon!

Till then, take care..lotsa love and cheer,
xxx

Kusudama Flowers Wreath and a new craft love

Hello my dear friends and fellow bloggers!!

How are you guys, i am really missing all the fun and action of blogging thanks to my domestic crisis...but but the end is near..i have less than a month to go now till i can craft more and hook even more! My giant granny blanket is still waiting for me patiently and i am just controlling the urge to put everything else down and have a go at it...**sigh**

Anyways...coming back, are you guys getting sucked in the Christmas Festivities and Jolly Season? Though our family does not celebrate this festival as per our religion i always enjoy this festival. I studied in a convent school and we used to have Christmas plays and i used to soo look forward to those events. Also the carol singing part was my favorite! Times have changed and now i am an adult and a mom so i enjoy the discounts and the sales. Best time of the year to pick up great deals in HK. My favorite brands all on 50% off and the whole decorations and lights makes me cherry and happy. Also the weather is getting colder here, ideal for lotsa n lotsa crocheting therapy! Just missing a fire:)

My girl's school had a christmas hanging 3D decoration competition and this is what i came up with!

These are the Japanese Kusudama Flowers. Done from paper - Origami is my new craft love. It is really amazing what you can do with paper. I rarely do paper craft these days as it is a bit difficult with toddlers around. But stayed up one night and finished this. This was originally my mother-in-law's idea and i am happy to have been able to execute it. I had lotsa fun making this wreath. Did the flowers by following the instructions HERE.

 Made a wreath base from therm-col sheets.  Wrapped the base in brown stretchable crepe paper. Did the flowers and pierced a hole to glue them on the wreath. Tied 2 bows and lo and behold! A simple and so beautiful piece. You must try these flowers. They are very very addictive :)

Let the festivities and shopping begin! Have a great season ahead and much more to come!!

Love,
xxx

Color Burst Potholder

Hello my lovely people!

Has winter set in your city? How cold is it getting there? In HK its pretty bad, rain rain and some more rain. The temperatures have dropped to 15 degrees and all the woolen ware is out! Tho i should be loving the winter as we all deal with yarn and such things, i am a sucker for summer. Ask any mom with 2 small kids and i am sure they would say the same. I am putting 3 layers already for my children and oh boy its such a chore..the inners and jackets and sweaters and socks..and the list is endless..Only good thing is - i can enjoy yum food and hot cupsa coffee and Tea at any time of the day :)

Seeing rain all over i was inspired for making a spot of color.

 

You can find the free pattern HERE. The pattern is not for beginners and also the instructions are not very clear. You need to make 2 of the same circular shells and then join them both together using a combination of SCs and Chains. It gets a bit tough as you need to hold both the discs in your hand and balance the hook too. I could not follow much of the outlining from the pattern but saw a few pics and think figured it out!

Here is the back of the potholder. You can see the way the SCs have made neat lines over the edgings. Hope this pic helps you in figuring out the joining method.

Not a very happy parting shot..Lotsa rain and cold. Well i better not complain so soon as i have a good 3 months more of thie weather to deal with!!

Wishing for some sunny days, i am off now to do some domestic chores..Happy hooking, crafting, sewing, knitting..whatever you guys are up too :)

Love,
xxx

Bag IT

Helllo my lovely lovely people!!

How are you guys doing on a Monday? I have not been blogging as much as i would have liked recently, thanks to the domestic chores and the helper shortage! Boy i have missed it! Hope you guys are happy, hooking and having lotsa creative space and time in which ever part of the world you are in..

But, be it all the work from 6 in the morning till 12 in the night, the 4 odd meals, the 10 odd feeding sessions, the playing, fighting, cleaning, dirtying, school work, bouts of illness...i still cannot keep the hook down. My mother-in-law bought the lovely package of Laura Cotton which i had ordered from India. Looking at all the colors, the first thing that came to my mind was THIS bag. I am sure you guys have all seen it, admired it, hooked it - thanks to the lovely Lucy who is so kind and thoughtful in providing us with hooky delights and all  her lovely tutorials. Here's my version of it..

I wanted a market bag, being Eco-friendly is something which i am trying to adapt into my living style and trying to do away with plastic bags is a step in that direction. Tho the hubby feels otherwise about the yarn and the ordering and the postage and such money matters..tut tut..

.

I have modified the pattern to be a bit more broader at the base and tapering towards the top. To do this, after increasing in the base rounds, i decreased in the body rounds to get a more fall feel to the bag. Can you make out the way it flops over and has those waves like the other leather bags? I wanted that look rather than a plain A cut kinda look...

 Isn't the bed cover lovely? It s a gift from my MIL from India. Indian textiles, especially cotton, is well known all over the world. And Gujarat is one of the best states in India to go for cotton fabric shopping!

True to the Lucy style, i could not help but attach some flowers to pretty up the whole thing..

Stack of leaves and flowers. You can find the leaf pattern HERE and the flower pattern HERE.

 Attached to the bag and straps using some buttons from my stash...

 Love all the colors of this bag, the cotton thread is real value for money and i am already in a frenzy over what all i need to order and do next!! Oh i forgot, i have some 45 days more till my other pair of hands return...Waiting...it will PASS!!!

 The straps are just 4 rounds of SC in sober colors.

 Lining too for the bag as i cannot risk the spill of liquids with 2 toddlers in hand.

Parting shot of me with the bag. Can you see how good a size it is? Would be sufficient for all my day to day market needs :) I am very pleased with it! What are you guys hooking, sewing, crafting right now? Would love to hear from you, as usual your words make blogging worth it!!

Love and more,

xxx

Good news and Bad news

Hello my lovely people!

How are you guys doing? Hope all is sunny and bright(at least the last few sunny days before winter sets in)! I have missed blogging and not been able to post much. Reasons follow...

Good news - My MIL is here, this means lotsa shopping albeit windows :), lotsa eating junk, lotsa seeing murder and mystery series and in general great to have an adult company!
Bad news - My full time helper has gone back to her hometown for a 2 month break. This translates into me doing the house hold chores and oh boy they are endless! Also translates into very less hooky and fun time for me :(( Sigh..i am managing!

Good news - Have pieced together almost 2/3rds of my Giant Granny Patch blanket both horizontally and vertically. I decided to use a SC in back loops. Was i even in any frame of mind? Rather did i even have a mind when i decided this?? But its my favorite way of joining squares. You can find the method HERE .
Bad news - I am out of yarn again and am slowly working on completing the remaining part of joining my squares.

Good news - I got my stash of Laura Knitting Cotton from India.
Bad news - Not able to even think of doing a project with it, thanks to my total lack of time!!

I am having so so so many ideas in my mind for using the Laura Cotton - so many that i just shut out that part of my brain and put a self timed lock of 2 months (till my helper comes back)

Good news - My little miss won her first prize in her school Halloween dress-up competition. She is the cutest little orange witch for me :)
Bad news - Hey!! none wrt the kids..

With small kids i have realized that no full time helper = not much crochet time! Might not be posting or making as much as i would like with my hook. But hey that can wait right? Will be back more often once the usual routine sets in. Till then, do take care and keep hooking and keep blogging. Will definitely be checking all your lovely blogs for inspiration and crochet instant gratification :)

Taata..
Love,
xxx