Squared Away

Hi Girls, How are you? Waiting for the week to end.... yeah I know.

The company that DH works for has a six day week so we really look forward to Sundays as that is the only day he can relax...poor thing.

A warm hug to Kara from Petals to Picots. Kara has a wonderful site with lot of crochet info, resources, patterns and tutorials. A must visit site for any crochet addict.

During my coaster mania I showed you these Square coasters. I made these coasters using Bliss Knitting Cotton. As I really like this pattern I decided to make it once again using Laura knitting cotton this time. Laura is thicker than Bliss so I got a thicker and slightly larger coaster/doily.

This is as per the original pattern. It has four picots in the center of each petal. I thought the design might look better without the picots, so here is the second one I made.

 

Personally I like the second one better as I like picots only on the outer edge. When used within the design I feel picots look crowded.

So here are both the doilies.

And here they are "on duty".

In this next pic you can see the difference between Bliss knitting cotton and Laura knitting cotton.

Now for a not so pretty picture. I did mention that the reaction to the antibiotics caused my hands to swell with redness and irritation. The swelling and redness has gone away but as is always the case the skin now starts peeling away and this is what my palms look like.

 

Not a pleasant sight I know, and sorry about that. But this time I got away lightly with only the finger tips. This also means no contact with detergents, chillies, spices and any abrasive stuff for a few days. 

As this has happened in the past, DH has hired somebody to help with the cooking for a few weeks. Isn't that absolutely sweet of him?!!

I have yet to dig out all the bag handles from my stash so maybe tomorrow I will put up pictures of the handles.

PS: Is anybody watching/has watched the tele serial "Make It or Break It" a story about elite gymnasts preparing for the Olympics? I just love/adore Payson Keeler. Who is your favourite character?

So ciao until next time. Happy hooking. Take care.
Love xxx

Anybody but myself

Hello there, my lovely friends. I am back after another forced hiatus, this time due to an adverse reaction to antibiotics. Inspite of informing my doctor that antibiotics don't suit me, he insisted on giving me amoxycillin and as the evening progressed my face and hands were swollen and my legs were covered with an angry red rash. Next morning he saw my condition, injected me with an antihistamine and told me to stop taking the antibiotics, well things were closed from his end. And now I have to bear this itchiness and peeling skin for the next 7-8 days. Can't beat what is destined, I suppose!

This reminds me of the quotation "Man proposes, God disposes", well Woman in this case. Would you believe it, I had decided to try and write one post a day in the month of August, just to see if I could actually manage 31 posts in a month. I think competition starts with yourself, trying to better your own record, whether it is finishing a report in the shortest time possible, cooking for the largest dinner party you have ever hosted, crocheting a tablemat in 6 days or even writing 31 posts in a month. In short I don't have to compete with anybody but myself.

Crochet was out of question for the last few days due to red, irritated palms, so I will let you in on the details of a mini competition I had some time back, with myself of course.

Last year we went to Mumbai on a short 6 day trip. As usual my hook and yarns accompanied me. I had chosen two colors, a cream and a coral colored yarn. I had these yarns in my stash since the past 16 years!! The three items I had made with these yarns had already been grabbed by my friends, so I decided to use the remainder yarn to make a shawl for myself or atleast a scarf. I had found a lovely motif pattern and I decided to make two color motifs and join them even though I hate weaving in ends. 

I managed to make about 5 or 6 motifs on the way to Mumbai. Upon reaching Mumbai, my brother had one look at the WIP and said that since the colors match his curtains he wants it for his centre table and that I should cut short any ideas of shawls or scarfs and make it into a table mat. The colors did match his curtains perfectly so I agreed with him. But I had only 4 days left and sending it to him by courier from Ahmedabad would have cost more than the mat. So there was nothing left to do but start working at top speed, which meant crocheting in every spare moment I could get.

Well, I did manage to complete it, weaving in the last few ends exactly two minutes before we were due to start on our return journey!! As there was no time for "posed" photos, be prepared for some shabby photos taken with my mobile phone camera.

 

A close up of the motifs. My brother and my sister-in-law both are pleased with it, so I can safely say Mission accomplished :)

Now on to the next competition. As soon as the soreness of my my palms is gone I am going to try to make another Granny mandala in one day as the last one took me two days. Isn't that going to be fun?! I just can't wait!

That is all for today. I am still hoping to get the maximum number of posts up for the month of August, or whatever is left of it.

Till then take care, happy hooking and lots of smiling.

Lovexxx

Doily Round up

Hi Girls, I am sure all of you are looking forward to the weekend especially those of you who have full time jobs. Yeah... I remember the feeling. But ever since I have become a SAHM my feelings about the weekends has changed. Because you see I was "Born to crochet, Forced to cook"..... okay, just joking there! In fact on Sundays we have really special lunches which always includes fish as my hubby is a fish gourmand.

A big hug to Carina from Carinas Virkning and Lizzie Kate at Grandma's Grapevine. Welcome aboard.

Oh God! Another week is coming to an end. So many patterns, so little time. I am adding the finishing touches to a crochet purse. So, today I will let my doilies do the talking. This is a round up of all the doilies that I have already spoken about somewhere on the blog, just to have them together in one place.

So here goes.

That is all for today. I know you must be busy with your plans for Sunday.  Do let me know if you were playing hooky and share the pics. 

See you later, crocheters
Love xxx

Let's take a tour

Hi there! How are you? Aren't you glad that the weekend is approaching?! Can't say I am looking forward to the weekend as hubby is out of town on a business trip, so it is just sonny boy and me at home.

I had expected to get a lot of crochet done as DH was away and sonny is happy with any one dish meal I can conjure up at the last minute. But sadly that did not happen, due to sundry aches and pains I had through out the week. 

Never mind, I will share one of my lovely books with you today.

So, get ready for the tour of "Crochet Mesh". This is a lovely book by Ondori and I just loved it the moment I laid eyes on it. There was a slight hesitation to buy it due to the high cost, but I am the kind who will gladly sacrifice a new outfit for a gorgeous new book so now the book stands proudly on my book shelf. Have I mentioned earlier that books make my mouth water and that I get goose pimples whenever I turn the crisp pages of a new book, and oh... that lovely smell of a fresh book.  Ok, ok I know, too much blah blah.....let's get on with it.

Ondori Crochet Mesh

This doily is the first one I tried from the book. It looked deceptively simple but gosh it was quite complicated. The last few rows required a lot of fastening off and joining thread and if there is one thing I hate to do it is weaving in the ends. So I was relieved to complete this one.

Here is the end result. It has survived years of use and washing and now I don't even bother to block it, poor thing.

The next doily or should I say centerpiece is what I attempted next. Today when I see it, I can't imagine how I actually managed to complete it.  You see I am notorious for accumulating WIPs and normally I have 6 to 7 projects going on at a time. Yeah... sometimes I do manage to get some of them done and sometimes I keep them pending just to remind myself that I am alive and I still have a lot to do!! Did that make any sense to you?

 Ta da, here is my masterpiece. As usual, too lazy to block it. Do you think it looks like the original? I would love to hear your opinion.

 Here are a few more pages from the book. Projects that I hope to make some time in the future, like these lovely cushions.

These cushions are lovely too, don't you think so?

This bedspread is one page that I love to open often and just stare at longingly. I wonder if one lifetime will be adequate to finish making it. Maybe a group effort with the ladies in the family might do the trick. Sadly, that is so not happening!

These coasters look cute.

When I was in my hometown Mumbai I used to conduct crochet classes from home and the runner on the next page was made by one of my  students but I don't have any photo of the finished piece :(

 

This runner with roses is definitely tempting.

Don't you just love the cats on the piano cover?

The next photo is not very clear but I added it anyway.

I hope you enjoyed the tour through Meshland. I do like filet crochet as it requires only chains and dcs and does not call for clusters, popcorns, pineapples or any other edibles!! But I think sometimes the designs are too subtle and do not stand out against the mesh. And in that sense I feel filet crochet can be tricky at times.

I hope I complete my Phd (Projects Half Done) soon and have something to share with you the next time. 

Till then, lotsa luv. Have a great weekend and do write to me. 

My Favourite Book

Reading used to be the greatest passion in my life till crocheting took over. As it was simply not possible to read and crochet at the same time, books had to take the back seat. The other reason being that it is so much easier to crochet and watch TV at the same time. But I still love books very much and am always on the lookout for new books to buy.

Today I am going to show you my most favourite crochet book  Lovely Lace. 

This book was a  birthday present from my dear friend Malati, in the year 1988. Since then I have made many beautiful doilies from this book.

Here are a few pages from the book and some of my doilies;

 

This doily is now with my mom gracing her centre table.

This doily was an experiment in colour.

The last doily has since been frogged as the shaded pink was not doing justice to the beautiful pattern. As if it was not evident in the first few rounds... I completed the whole pattern before unraveling it ...duh?!

Here is a small tip for crocheters who use pattern books. I never crochet directly from the book. I always use a copy of the pattern and then put the book back in my library. I find it easier to mark my place, note down any modifications, write down the size of thread and hook etc on the copy.  So now you can see that my book is in excellent condition even after 24 years!

Did you find this tip to be useful? Do let me know.

Happy crocheting. xxx