Pink and Purple and some Grey too

Firstly me lovely people, thank you so so so much for such kind words for me and my little man! He surely is feeling in the pink of health and i hope it remains so :)

My little princess is turning 4 next month. I had hooked a blanket for her when she was an infant and it lasted her this long. But now, its really short and she has been asking me for a new one. She is a BIG girl now and wanted only in pink and purple. How can I refuse her colors? Least she may not end up using it!!

 

You can find the pattern for the squares , the source that is in one of my previous posts HERE .

 Each block measures approx 6". Hoping it would be a 60 x 72 " blanket for her. I am sure it will not get done by Sept. But maybe by this winter for sure :)

On a more experimental note, have always wanted to try Tapestry Crochet. It looks so wonderfully mysterious to me...am trying this wonderful pattern from Crochet Today. Link HERE for the free PDF pattern..

In ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥!!!

What are you guys crafting??

Love,
xxx

Finally I am here & a Nana Square Cushion

My dear people!

How i have missed this blogging world!! I have been gone away a long time...a bit too long a time. Hope it is not a reason for all you lovely people to forget me. I have hardly had the time to do anything these past few weeks...

If you want to know what kept me and my hook and my blogging separate, read on...Else skip to just read my last hooky adventure!

All was going fine, until disaster struck in the form of an angry young man - my little man - my son! He slammed a heavy door on his hand and there was a deep cut, along with a mad dash to the hospital. The doctor put on 5 teeny tiny stitches and told me again and again that everything will be back to normal. They had to remove his nail but he said that the root is intact and it would all seem the same in 2-3 months time.. But i was scared, the most i have ever been, and fell ill with a viral fever.

Till the stitches were removed, i used to baby sit him like he was a month old infant! In between this, we had lots of traveling to do, visiting my mother-in-laws place. On a more tragic note, she lost her mother to a paralytic attack and had to travel to her home town for the last rites. I was at my sister-in-laws place and then again we moved to my MIL's place... So in short, it has been a hectic, worrisome, tiring month for me!

But now, my son is fine, his nail is actually growing. The scar of the stitches is long gone and he is back to his naughty days.. In-fact he was back on the day his stitches were put too!! Also i am back in Hong Kong now.. Back to my sweet small home, and more importantly kids are back with their daddy dear and i am back with my helper! So all is well now :)

Ufff.....sorry for the long explanation.. Before all this happened, i had completed a cushion for my mom's house and had even clicked the snaps. But am posting it now, after more than 1 month..

A few details :

Yarn used : Stylecraft Special DK
Pattern : Nana square from The Royal Sisters HERE.
No of squares : 7 x 7 = 49
Joined using SCs holding RS together.

I joined the squares together and then when it was a 7 x 7 blanket i sewed it on to an existing cushion cover! Clever na, in that way i did not have to hook the back, the zipper on the existing cover provided a closure method and i also re-used an old item :)

Gosh, i missed blogging and more than that i missed visiting other blogs and reading about your crafty adventures :) I promise to cover my back log and set off on a blogger-land spree!! Do write in always and all ways, i love hearing from my lovely friends...

Love,
xxx

Sweet Flower Collar

Hello my lovely dear friends!

Monday morning and already into the 2nd week of July ... Oh where oh where is the time flying i am wondering...I am in my city, My Bangalore. But i do not recognize it at all.. India is fast developing nation and the billions that live here are welcoming the new trends and life style changes a bit too readily! It has been over a year since i came to my city and all seemed to have changed. Especially the prices. With living costs spiraling exponentially, i am left wondering as to what is the real value of happiness these days?

Anyways, this space is not about price rise right, so let me show you something new i did over the last few days...Sorry for the crumpled look as the top was well worn before this photo shoot and i did not find the iron :(

A closer look at the collar.
I used a 2.0mm hook and mondial cotton thread for making the collar. The pattern is my own tho i drew inspiration from HERE. I changed the flower pattern and did a 2 color effect for it.

 Collar all around and not just at the front...

 My pretty model, who loved the outfit as it is in her favourite colors - PINK n PURPLE :)

 

A more serious expression before she hopped skipped and jumped away to have fun!

I am not having much time for crafting these days.. What with going shopping, visiting relatives, catching up with friends and eating at my favourite hang-outs.. all managing with 2 small ones in tow.. not an easy task i must tell you..The little man is not playing still in the parks here, a bit of mud and he comes running ..Mamma...che che...ha ha

The lady is having a swinging time tho :)

He finally consents to play a little bit of his slide.. But can you spot the sorry expression? he he

A few clicks from my next project, i am having lots of fun making these Nana squares. Hopefully i ll show it to you guys in a couple of days! 

Till then, have fun..
Keep crafting, keep smiling and do read the below LINK. It has some crochet rules and i agree with all of them TOTALLY!!

Do write in and let me know whats going on in your sunny space :)

Love,
xxx...

Baby girl Blanket - WIP

Hello my dear friends!
Howz u guys, has the summer sun hit you guys yet? Its been on and off here, with bouts of rain in between.. But I am waiting for the proper summer to start and it is surprising that it hasn't yet started here.

My little girl suddenly has red rashes all over her body and i don't know what it is because of. Two visits to the doctor have not exactly been useful as the rashes go in the morning and come back later in the night. She is very uncomfortable and keeps scratching the rashes and is generally irritated at home. The doctor has adviced to stay indoors and that is proving very difficult for a outdoor person like her. Lots of games and craft at home is happening at home front and even more messy times. But seeing rashes all over her body come and go is making me a bit frustrated and am waiting to see her back to her normal self. Kids falling ill is the worse i feel, until they get well you can't do much literally as the mind keeps hovering in thoughts about them..

I haven't been crafting as much as i hoped, not as the miss is unwell, but mainly because of the little devil known as Pinterest. I have spent so much time browsing for a granny square pattern. My close friend is expecting a girl baby end of next month and i want to gift her a crochet blanket. So i had a few specifications for this blanket :

** had to be pink **
** not many holes as in a plain granny square **
** blocks and not a continuous project like a ripple **

So began the hunt...loads of hours spent in searching and trying sample squares.
Then finally i hit jackpot with my book - 200 crochet blocks for blankets by Jan Eaton.
This is a gem of a book, a must have for every blanket maker! I have picked a mix of 2 squares for this and you can see below the start of my blanket.

The layout is "Eastern Promise". I am using the corner square and square no:35 for this instead of the one recommended in this layout.

I am not planning on making the full size by more of a 6x8 squares as it is for a baby after all. Can you make out that i have started at the centre??

I so love this block. It is a three hooks block and it is a bit confusing at first, but after 1 or 2 blocks it becomes more easy. In general each block takes about 30-40 mins at a stretch and that does not include weaving in the ends.. I am happy it is a small blanket :)

 

Have been a good girl and decided to weave in after 16 squares. I am having way too much fun with this project. Just the right about of green and brown to give it some soul and some color. Else it is a pink riot all the way!

 Also, i went ahead and for the first time purchased the famous overlay mandala from CAROCreated HERE.

Will be having a crack at this soon, as soon as my house is alseep and i have all the time and space for myself!

Till then, happy crafting my lovely friends and do write in and let me know if you have every purchased paid patterns and did you feel it was worth it?

Love,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Something Pretty

Hello my dear lovelies!!

HOW ARE YOU guys?? I know I know, I took off and did not bother to write in the last few days(weeks??).. Somehow I did check blogger-land every now and then, but did not find my mojo to write or do anything creative. I was lazy, I was just unwinding with my ripple and browsing a LOT. I blame Pinterest and such equally **bad** things for not blogging more often...

Also, I have started a strict work out schedule and strive to keep up to it at least for 5 days of the week. So in short, lotsa things to do, lotsa holidays as the little miss is having her Easter break and lotsa stuff to share with you guys - my adventures over the last few days..

This is my "something pretty" cushion. You can find the pattern for this pretty square HERE. From a long time I wanted to make this square and now doing my ripple I realized that I had lots of blue yarn in lovely yummy scrummy shades to spare and decided to have a go at the same.

I have done 4 x 4 squares with the following shades :

Aspen
Turquoise
Bluebell
Cloud Blue

The last row is in Cream.

The joining is in Meadow. All yarn is from StyleCraft Special DK.

I wanted the back of the cushion also to be useable. I made granny squares of 4 rounds with the join-as-you-go method.

For a closure I used buttons, alternated the blue and green ones and the button holes were 2 chains and followed with a row of SCs. Be sure to make buttons at small intervals so that the seam does show up.

I did a small border using THIS pattern. I am in love with the effect it has as a whole. The squares, the puff stitch flowers and the simple peek-a-boo border :)

This is my first cushion and I am smitten!! Bring it on...I have already started on my second one.. Another famous pattern - African Hexagon Flower. You can find it HERE.

Currently on my hook...

 

 

What is on your hook today?

Do write in as I love hearing from you my dear readers..



and a warm welcome to all my new friends from equally delightful places!

Love and more,
xxx

 

Garden of Flowers Jacket

Hello my lovely people!

Are you enjoying the weather outside. I must say that its been wonderful here, about 20 degrees with loads of sunshine in the day time. A great time of the year before the horrid humid summer n rainy season set in.

Hope your hooks have been busy and your crafty juices flowing and livening up your lives and homes and studios and whatever space you own :)

I was always smitten by the traditional granny square but when ever i wanted to hook a wearable, it was never a granny as i did not find any good patterns online or in print. Finally i came across an inspiration from the book Granny Crochet Favourites and this is the result..

 ...oooops...he sneaked in somehow.. :)
and is puzzled by what his mom's doing!

Some awesome flower therapy - the Gerbera daisies. They add a dash of color to any dull space and they are my latest favorite flowers, bought from the local fresh market...

 

Wearable crochet is always tricky i feel, especially when you are doing your own pattern and do not know how it will turn out...

I will try to give some info on how this jacket can be hooked. But this is just for idea and NOT an exact pattern. I am too lazy to click step-by-step pics :P

So here goes nothing...

1.Try to read the below diagrams..

 This was the draft for my project. If you click on the image, you will get a more readable size i hope! Basically the first step is to determine the chest size and the length. Crochet a patch of any type of granny squares to meet the requirements. You need to horn your maths my dear friends for this...Not a pleasant zone i hear you say!! Couldn't agree more with you...

Crochet 2 such patches. You can see the color blocks in the pic above.

2. Determine the sleeve to sleeve length and the width of the sleeves. Begin with a starting chain = width of sleeve and do SC's while turning the work after every row.

3. After you reach the length required, you are going to do the back yoke. This was half the width for me. Continue doing SC's till you reach the length = width of chest. NOTE : This yoke length should be equal to the width of your granny patch.

4.Continue with next sleeve by chaining the additional half chains and then working SC's again till you reach the end of the sleeve. Fasten off.

5. Refer to fig again to know where to begin the front yoke and the neck decreases. Any question, feel free to pop in! 

6.Attach the 2 granny patches and your jacket would look something like this now..

 

7.I used SC to attach the two sleeves and the front and back patches too. 

8. Crocheted a simple border of 2 rows of granny stripe around sleeves and jacket ends.

 

9. Also a border of 2 rows of SC around the neck and fastened off with a button to keep it in place.

 

And here comes the Ta-daaah!!!

 ..

.

.

.

.

 

 

 My girl was extra extra happy and gave me loads of kisses and said she will not share this jacket with anyone! Silly things to make my day :)

Some more details:

Yarn used : Sublime baby cashmere merino silk DK in various shades of spring + 4 balls in cream for the sleeves and yoke.

Hook size : 3.5mm

Granny Flower Pattern LINK here. Tweaked this pattern a bit so that it looks more solid and less spotty.

Little Miss:  Totally cute and flower girly types.

Me:  Blissful, satisfied, totally happy as something which i formed in my head and later on paper yielded the exact results i was expecting!!! Yipeeeeeee

 Flower : Sad and broken @ Little Miss's hands.

Hope you guys found some sense in what i have tried to explain. 

Love to hear from you guys as always.. Hope you are safe, happy and crafty...

Lotsa love,

xxx.