My first custom order !

Hi everybody! Do I sound cheerful! Well, that is because the heat is easing up and the temperature is falling. We are having cloudy weather here in Ahmedabad and there were the occasional showers though I still wouldn't say that monsoons have "arrived'. But any relief from the killing heat is welcome. The only regret is that the lovely golden summery mangoes are also on their way out.

In one of my posts I mentioned my first custom order - a pen tablet cover.

I am so used to gifting my crochet items that I cannot tell you how thrilled I was when I got an order for a pen tablet cover from my son's classmate Dev, who is also a fan of my blog. It really feels great to be paid for doing something you love to do. 

The navy blue colour was his choice and the pattern is my own design. I clicked many photos of it, with and without flash, and with and without sunlight but I think the real colour of the yarn could not be captured as it was quite a dark blue. So anyway here are the pics;

I worked diagonal rows of popcorn stitches for texture and to protect the drawing surface.

The lining of the cover with pockets for the stylus, the connecting cable and CDs.

Like I said, none of the photos have captured the true colour. Did I mention that Dev is utterly delighted with it...so that is one job well done.

Already started working on the next project. Okay... you can have a peep at it.

Can you guess what it is...? Do let me know, I am waiting for your comments.

See you later, crocheters!
Love....

Book Nook

The sweltering summer of Ahmedabad has put all thoughts of outdoor activity out of my mind. The temperatures are in the range of 35 to 40 deg Celsius and coupled with the dry climate it is scorching out there. I am not even venturing out for shopping...just imagine! So over the last weekend I decided to tidy up my craft room. Not kidding there... when we moved from Mumbai to Ahmedabad my hubby actually gave me a room, all to my self, and it  is now filled with my heaps of yarn, my books, sewing machine, music system, fabric stash and all other related paraphernalia.

As I was cleaning the room I came across some framed Anchor long stitch pictures done when we were in our teens. By "We", I mean my brother and me. I thought I will share the pictures with you.
This lovely lady was done by me.

Kamini

When my brother, who is a dental surgeon , saw me doing this he thought it was a brilliant project to improve hand and eye co-ordination which in turn would ensure neat stitches during suturing. This beautiful waterscape is the project he chose.

Blue Lake

Sorry about the reflection of the flash, as the pictures are already framed I could not avoid it.

Let me also share the treasures I recently added to my book collection.

My current favourite...Mary Higgins Clark.

I was lusting for these two afghan books for a long time. Finally got them for a very good price at a book fair in Ahmedabad.

This book by Angela King has some very cute items which are just calling out to be made.

Sewing and knitting are not really my favourite pastimes. If my hands are not crocheting then they are definitely holding a murder mystery. But these two books seemed like "must-haves" for any self proclaimed crafter's library, so I had to have them.

These two "vintage" books were sourced for me by my brother. For both of us, a relaxing weekend consists of hours of browsing through book fairs and bargain book stores. Never mind the swollen ankles and painful feet, at the end of the day it is all worthwhile.

So, do you like my collection. My mouth waters just by looking at these books.
Mmmm... hours of beautiful activity.

A "guided tour" through some of the books is definitely on the cards but at a later date. Right now I am busy with a project for my son's classmate and here is a sneak peek at it.

Yes, it is a pen tablet cover. I am making diagonal lines of popcorn stitch for texture.

Well, I have to go back to playing hooky so see you later. Have a nice day.

One for the little boy who...

Today's post is about my boy A, who is not really "little" anymore. Over the past 20-22 years I have crocheted dozens of items and then gifted them away to family and friends, but I had never actually made anything for my son.

So last year when we got him a laptop I was more thrilled than him, as I wanted to make a laptop cozy/sleeve for him. Inspite of showing him the lovely photos on Google, he gave me a horrified look and declared that he was never carrying his laptop in any "girly crocheted cover". I was very disappointed, but not for long.

As my son is pursuing a degree in "Animation and Multimedia" my cousin gifted him a  Wacom Bamboo Pen Tablet

Luckily for me (and unfortunately for him...he he), it came without any kind of cover, and I managed to convince him that the drawing pad would get damaged without a cover.

Now for a non-girly yarn! I dug into my stash and came up with this yarn I had purchased in 1993. The yarn was meant for a sweater for my husband, but the texture of the yarn did not seem right for a garment, so it remained in my stash all the years.

And...(drum-roll) here is the final product!

The first row was a length of chains equal to the breadth of the pen tablet. Then I just made dcs in the round so that there would be no seams to sew later. The back of the cover is plain as shown in the pic below...

On the front side I decided to create some texture to protect the drawing surface. For this I used a simple pattern of 1Fpdc, 3 dc and by shifting the Fpdc to the centre of the 3 dc in the next row managed to create a lattice effect. The picture is not really clear but you will get an idea.

Upon completion I decided to use my sewing skills (which are actually zero), to make a lining for the cover. The pen tablet came with a stylus, cable and of course CDs, so three pockets were made for them.

Phew... finally it is done.

Here are a couple of projects done by sonny boy using the pen tablet.

Bye for now. See my obedient fish follow your mouse at the bottom of this page... don't forget to feed them.