Colorburst Collar

My dear friends!

Thank you so much for your words, they did make me feel better and breathe deeply and relax a bit more...Infact i felt that every mother will go through this and I should grin n smile and bear it and now things are becoming a bit better. I feel the more I compartmentalize and prioritize, the easier the going gets :)

While working on my Little Miss's Pink n Purple blanket, I was distracted by the colorful thoughts of making a collar. It refused to go away and I had to hook this for a simple t-shirt of hers.

 

 The pattern is from the head of yours truly. But its really very simple. I am sure all your smart ladies out there can figure it out!

Intended to make this as the sleeve of her sleeve-less shirt. But in the last couple of days my girl has just had a growth spurt and none of her clothes, i literally mean none, be it her jeans or right down to her bare essentials, all are TIGHT! So now i need another shirt for this collar. What color do you guys suggest?

The latest addition to the blanket are these squares. This is the very lovely pattern known as Circle of Friends pattern by Priscilla Hewitt. You can find the free pattern HERE.

It really is a very easy pattern and not at all as complicated as it looks. The color combination options are endless and each will produce awesome effects! Highly recommended pattern :)

 

So off my friends I go, to attend my motherly duties now. The feeding and the cleaning and the sleeping and the story telling! Get crafty and save your sanity, it is working wonders for me :) and blog about it also, it helps a lot to just vent out somewhere..

Love and more...

xxx

 

DIY Yarn Lights

Ok my friends!

I have officially lost it. Can you find it anywhere? Any store where it is  available at a discount or a buy 1 get 1 free offer?? Any advice on how to regain it back? Have you lovely people been in this position before? In case you are still with me.. and want to find out what I have lost.. here goes nothing..

and also I do not understand what my kids want anymore..
I always knew raising 2 small kids would be a challenge, but now a days my little man is in his terrible two's and my little princess hasn't yet grown up from her terrible two's! Its been so frustrating for me as a mother. I really don't know sometimes if I am doing the right thing. Is it more important that they follow rules or eat their food? I am trying to get my girl to eat on her own and that is requiring a lot of effort. My son just refuses to sit in one place even for 5 minutes!! Why are their batteries always fully charged?? Uff!!

 Anyways, I remember to take a deep breath and imagine that they will grow up and I will laugh about this post :) SO coming back to my crafty pursuits, I had done this with all the spare yarn. More specifically cotton threads with me.

I followed this link HERE and a bit of my own research and experiments to make this lantern lights. Added a string of lights inside to complete the picture.

This was done for my son's school - DIY Lantern from Recycled materials. It is a very VERY messy affair to do it. But the results are just amazing. Go ahead and have some fun, try to include your kiddo in this process, I am sure they will have a blast!

 

So I am off to set my house straight...It really looks like a hurricane crashed into it ..he he!

Hope you have a pleasant weekend ahead. We have a long weekend here for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Did I say long weekend, yes 3 days of 3 (2+ 1 hubby) kids all the time in the house...ahhhh.. wish me LUCK!!!

Love,
xxx

Tapestry Crochet Fascination - A pouch

Hello there..my lovely crafty hooky people!

Hope the weekend was a sunny side up one for all you folks..We had a long and tiring weekend.. Shopping is NOT easy with 2 little ones i must tell you :)  We spent less time in the shops and more time in feeding, cleaning, playing and entertaining them..But it was fun alright!

Now, coming to my crafty adventures..there are quite a few i am doing..But can only share this one with you as it is a FO.This project was such a joy to work...well that is a bit on the exaggeration side of things..To be true to myself and my dear friends..Tapestry crochet is NOT my cup of  tea/coffee..what ever you prefer! You need to be patient as it is mostly SC and we all know how slowly that progresses. Also the knots..the color threads keep getting entangled and it used to bug me :(

But the end result was worth it..

Want to have look??

Here it is..

Tapestry Pouch Ta-daaah!!!
(I am actually saying Ta-daah as it took long enough to deserve one)

Did you like my polka dotted zipper? he he...advantages of living in HK :)

A closer look at the hard work..

Anybody interested in doing this pouch can find the link to the free pattern HERE.

My little miss birthday is fast approaching and we are busy making a castle and decorations.. More of that soon..Hope you guys had a fantastic weekend and do let me know your hooky projects as i love to hear from you!

Love,
xxx

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...

Crochet Rainbow Clip Organizer

Can a girl have enough clips?

Can she...no never...Being in one of the fashion capitals i feel there is just too much accessories in HK, heck people even accessorize their accessories here!! Do you know what i mean? Like they buy a smart phone case. And then they decorate it with bling, then they add more cartoons and such stuff to the case. Add some sparkles. They they put the mobile in a pouch, then they add some stuff to the pouch..and then the pouch goes into a LV/Prada/Gucci/Coach bag..!!

But having girls as your kids is so much fun, there is a street in HK known as Fa Yuen Street where you have more than 100 shops just selling clips and hair bands and what nots for girls.. I scumb to temptation and go there once in 2 months ...cos i know i ll just go crazy there and buy too many things..This weekend i had been there and ended up with dozens of hair bands and even more clips..All of them by the end of the day were lying scattered all through the house and my daughter even managed to put allll the clips on her head once!!

I decided to CLEAN and get organized and that's when it struck me! Why does she throw all her clips? She is a girl, she needs to see the entire store before she picks an item :) So i thought, why not make a clip organizer for her clips?

Wanna see it...

Rainbow clip organizer.. Ta-daaah!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me tell you girls...I had so so so much FUN doing this..

It is pretty easy..will let you know how to whip up one in a few hours!!
Get your hook and make your girl this organizer. She will love it :)

My girl says, "Mamma, this is for my clips?"
I say, "Yes, sweety!".
She says, "Wow, its so beautiful, now i can select my clips on my own!"

Ha ha ha..Hurray for small independence :)

My accessories for decorating this piece of joy..

Want to know how to make it??


Yarn :: Rico Creative Design in rainbow shades and cream. But you can use any cotton yarn. I feel cotton is better as it is a decor item.
Hook size :: Matching to your yarn, gauge is really not important here, its more of a fun thing right?
Lots of buttons and beads and cute animals
Some ribbons/ Ric-racs
Sewing needle and thread.

Warning :: A bit of simple sewing is needed. Just to attach the ribbons to make the racks for pinning the clips.

How to make this color blast clip case:

1. Start with a simple chain of 48 stitches. You can do any other width to suit your needs.
2. SC in second chain from hook and SC throughout.
3. Turn, chain 2. SC in next chain and throughout.
4. Repeat step 3 till the piece measures about 1.5 inches.
5. Turn, chain 4. TRC (triple crochet) in the next stitch and through out.
6. Turn, chain 2 and SC throughout.
7. Repeat step 6 till piece measures 1.5 inches.
8. Repeat step 5 again.

Continue this till you get to the length you desire. Its all very simple and flexible. Treat this as a guidline and do your own fun thing basically. I used a row of TRC's in between to loop my ric-racs. Can you see it below? This way, i stitch the ends of the ric racs or ribbons if you wish and i get a row of band to clip the clips! Hope i am talking sense..Else let the picture guide you guys :)

I even made to pockets and added them for storing rubber bands.
Clipped on my clips at the end..Cheeky mommy - thats me for sure!

Hooked bands of SC's and added a button hole on the last row.
Stitched some buttons on and used a hanger to hang it all up!!

Decorate it as you please.
Use other color combinations and stitches, maybe granny squares too..So many options..Sigh!!

On another totally unrelated front, the summer holidays are here and i am SO HAPPY to be going to India!!! Yahoooooooooo... India calling!!

No more cooking...

No more getting up in the mornings..

No more attending to what is missing in the house...

No more wifey duties...

No more running to school to drop/pick up

More of eating my mom's yummy food..

More of sleeping late and just playing with kids..

More of friends and family...

More of shopping..

I am travelling to Bangalore tomorrow and i am yet to start packing... Let alone the cleaning i need to do...So i better rush!

Stay creative, stay happy, feed your family!

Have a great weekend...

Love,
xxx.