The lost art of blogging..

My dear bloggers, i have missed out on the action these days and how!!!

Well the post title says it all....I seem to have lost my mojo to blog or even to craft. I just cannot keep rambling right? There is not a single event which seem to have made me forget blogger land. I was visiting pages and having a blast on Pinterest. Infact there is so much of inspiration that i was lost...

If you are here for the crochet...skip ahead..i am all set to ramble :)))

* Visited my home country, India, for 2 weeks.
* Recovered my my first attack of cold in years.
* Pushed children through the rainy dreary months of Feb in Hong Kong.
* Developed a new love, HAND EMBROIDERY!!

*** Little Miss swallowed a metallic ball of approx 1cm in diameter and spent a night in hospital waiting for our turn to get her X-rayed and spent another anxious day waiting for the foreign object to pass through her digestive track!!

* Been exercising and seem to have lost 2-3 inches around the tummy!
* Eating fruits and loadss of veggies and drinking mugs of green Tea.. It really keeps you fresh from the inside!!

So that's why i have been missing. But but but....now i am back. Hope to catch up and read all the lovely posts and stop by @ your creative spaces..

Having a growing girl at home means constant demands on the crafty side. Little Miss wanted a heart, a rainbow one of all..To hang on her bag..So this is what i made

 

 

The buttons were all selected and placed as per Little Miss's planning. I especially liked the rainbow charm. Suits her to a button. The brown button signifies "chocolate" - her favorite item for dessert.

She asked for her name to be stitched and in white thread..So her wish becomes my command.

Especially in love with this tag. Oh how i am gonna miss shopping in HK :((

Its really very simple, just crochet two hearts, embellish it to your hearts content and the stitch it together.. Make the little one stuff it with cotton and stitch it up! There you go, a perfectly hand made heart for your little Angel!

These days I seem to be attracted to making hearts...

This is my new love, Hand Embroidery. 

More of this in my next post...

Keep writing to me as i have really missed hearing from you guys. I feel like i have missed out a part of myself as blogging is really me, just my space on this wide world web..

Love and more,
xxx

Crocheting in 2014

My dear readers!

Wishing you all a happy, crafty, prosperous and healthy new year 2014!!

How are you in this new year so far? I have been reading about the chill blast going on in the US, UK and Canada. It is very cosy to sit at home by a fire and do lovely things with family during this time. I do wish for sunshine tho..really not a winter person, except when I get to drink my coffee :) In my home city, Bangalore, we always had perfect weather. Sharing a cuppa with a loved one was one of the best things you could do...

Hmm anyways before i go on...Have you guys made your NYR? New Year Resolution i mean ;) I am not a believe of these things, but one thing I know is that i want to make more, love more, live more, craft more and laugh more! And I want to buy less, eat less and get angry less. Lets see...the key word is MORE and LESS but need to get the objects right, you know what I mean...SEEEE this is what dull weather does to me :||||||||||

So the other day, i wanted to try doilies and searched a lot for lotsa patterns. But finally decided to go ahead with my tried pattern of Rose Doily - pattern link HERE.

Spotted my polymer hook? Crocheting with a 2.0 mm hook is so much easier with this hook.

This year I want to do lots of projects, but smaller scale ones...No more biggies ;)

So what is the first thing you did in this new year?

Keep writing as every word gives me encouragement and sunshine!

Love,
xxx

My first ever shawl..!

Dear people,

First of all let me start by wishing all my blogger friends a very happy holiday season. Which ever part of the world you are in and what ever manner you are celebrating this season, hope it is going to be merry and filled with love, laughter and all the really matters!

I have something to show you today, a finished garment. This took me a LONGGGGGGGGgg time to make, mainly because I used a 3.00 mm hook whereas the pattern called for a 6.00mm. But, the result is so worth it! It is soo smooth and drapey and I love snuggling in it.

So here it is, my first every shawl!

The pattern in Mother of Bride shawl and the free pattern can be found HERE.

It really is a simple repeat of this shell stitch.

Particularly happy with the border. Did you like it? It was on my own, just let the hook and the yarn do the talking..

The shawl fully spread out...

Its been a while he was featured here :P He loves snuggling in my shawl and calls it his cosy blanket!

Thats it from me my dearies!

I have 2 weeks of holidays + kids @ home + cold brrrr cold weather + awesome sales + 2 colorful hooky things + lots of yummy food to keep me company.. Hope you are are more blessed than me :)

Love and more,
xxx

Meet @ Made in K-Town

My dear friends!

To all the crochet enthusiasts out there, Barbara from Made in K-Town is no stranger. She has a very colorful and inspirational blog and i love all her patterns and also look forward to reading her blog. It was such a pleasant surprise when she asked me to do a guest post for her blog.

Snippets from the post :

"My name is Rajeswari and besides being happily married and mom of 2 kids, I own my happy space at “Diapermum”. My home country is India but I live in Hong Kong right now. I used to be a run-off-the-mill IT consultant before I was blessed with my little angel and later on with my charming prince. Crocheting and crafting were my passions since childhood days and being a stay at home mom gave me the perfect opportunity to get back to my crafty adventures. Blogging has been my creative outlet and has connected me with so many amazing and talented people from all over the world."

To read more, grab a cuppa and a nice warm blanket, and head over to Made in K-Town HERE.

Will be back soon with a finished project that i am waiting to share with you guys and hear your lovely comments and words!

Love,
xxx

Joy of Gifting

Its that season of the year again, the Christmas season, the festive season. Though we do not celebrate Christmas, i LOVE LOVE to see the Christmas spirit all around me. In HK there are lot of Christmas decorations floating around, the whole town is twinkling and the best part - SALES!! Everywhere...and why not take advantage of it :)

I really have been meaning to blog more my dear friends, but somehow these days time seems to be a precious commodity... Also I have been crafting more and blogging less..!! MUST mend it..

A dear friend of mine requested a small crochet item from me. Have a look at it..

 

Can you guess what it is?

It is a set of scarfs for the deity she worships. The deities are dressed in resplendent clothes and they even have seasonal outfits. Since the onset of winter, she wanted to put some warm clothes on for them and asked me to do some for her. She picked the colors and I picked the pattern. The white scarf is from the free pattern HERE and the red one is basically STAR STITCH, a very good video for the same can be found HERE. I was so glad that my handiwork was getting put to such special use!

Also in the little princess school we had to give a hanging 3D Christmas decoration.

Made this Flower Star for her. It was truly a joint effort as the Hubby punched the flowers, the little miss put the tiny stars into the golden pins and I pinned it into the thermocol star.

 

She also wrote Merry Christmas on it! 

Topped it with a red bow and voila it was all done :)

Hope you all are getting ready for the festive season, one way or the other!
Love to read and share all your adventures as always...

Love,
xxx

Cosy Times

Today is officially the start of winter here in Hong Kong. It is very windy and there is a chill in the air. Not so cold but a very pleasant chill which makes you want a cuppa, a book and a blanket.

Few things keeping me cozy and comfortable these days...

A new project..a crochet shawl for me...

 

A cozy corner i planned for months and finally executed! Stuck lotsa stickers with my little miss on rice paper lanterns and hung it up. Also did up a stream of pictures of our family and precious and silly moments together :)

 

 

Forgive the crappy clicks as there was literally no light. All the light is thanks to Picasa !

Created a custom banner for my blog. Had a fun morning playing with all my crafty bits while the little ones were off to school :) Bad mommy...!! he he

Did you guys like my new banner?

Also did up a pinboard made of thermocol and fabric sometime back to display the arts and crafts of my little ones..

Whats keeping you cozy and comfy these chilly days?

Love to hear from you as always!

Cheers,
xxx

Flower Blanket Ta-daah!!

Hellooo my dear lovelies!

Do you remember me? Remotely at least?
I know i pulled off the disappearing act and this time i have no solid excuse of being off blogging. Actually i have many excuses :P Firstly i was off to my home town to attend a cousin's wedding. And then my helper's mom was not well and she had to take 2 weeks off to attend to her. Then i just got used to NOT blogging. Then i was suffering from bloggers block and then I was very close to finishing a special blanket. Then we had the festival of lights - Diwali. Then it was raining and i could not get good clicks. So finally we had a few spells of sunshine and here i am, with my latest Pink and Purple Flower Blanket.. Here it goes..Ready or  not...

Ta-daah!!!!

This blanket was such a fun project. Mainly because it was not repetitive. I used 11 square patterns in all, 3 shades each of pink and purple. Every square was a mini project of sorts. I did not get the color combinations right at the first go and there were lot of failed attempts. But still i was not sure how the end result would be. It was after i joined all the squares that i looked back and smiled at my little princess. She was thrilled to bits and has been using this pink and purple blankie ever since :)
 

The most difficult question after finishing such a blanket it what to do for the border. I thought a lot and tried a few with shells and picots. But finally settled on the border from the book Around the Crochet Borders by Edie Eckman. This is a wonderful must have book because it tells you how to get the perfect corners for your blanket and also because it has charts which i find it so easy to read and hook from :)

The weather is pretty gloomy so i had to go to the garden to get some decent shots of the blanket.

and i am so happy i did that as the outdoor light brings such a added dimension to this picture.

 

My unwilling model who refused to have any decent clicks with me.

What a bribe of candy did to her :P

So for all my dear blogger friends who encourage me and my little creative space so much with their kind and appreciative words, here are a few additional details :

Yarn used : The trusted Stylecraft Special DK in the following shades.

Pink shades -
1. Candy Floss - 1130
2. Fondant - 1241
3. Pomegranate - 1083

Purple shades -
1.Cream - 1005
2.Clematis - 1390
3.Magenta - 1084 

Pattern for the squares :

From the book 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton - Waterlily - 16, Wisteria - 113, Granny in the middle - 117, Criss Cross - 137, Solid Willow- 189 and from the blog Annie's Place with the link HERE.

From the Internet ( Free Patterns ) - Sunburst Granny from HERE, African Flower Square from HERE and a heavily modified Circle of Friends Square from HERE

Hook : 4.0 mm

Joining technique : SC with the RS held together using Pomegranate color yarn.

Border : # 121 from Around the Corner Crochet Borders by Edie Eckman.

Me : Totally satisfied, feeling very very girlie with the new blanket and so happy that i could use my free time to do something for my little precious girl!!


Phew!!! That's one load off my chest. Today i sleep in peace. Everday i used to think that i did not blog/post today. Neither did i follow and comment on all the lovely projects that you guys have been doing. I am going to start back tracking and visiting my lovely fellow bloggers space. With a cup of warm tea :)

Here's wishing you all a happy evening/day depending on which part of the world you are.
Do write in as it makes me feel so happy to hear from you, seriously!! 

Love,
xxx