Hi, I am back

Hello there, my lovely friends. How are you? Did you miss me? Well. I sure hope so, because I really missed all of you.

I am back from a two week trip to Mumbai for Ganeshotsav. We had a very nice time down there and caught up with a lot of our friends and relatives. But on a personal note, the trip was not very successful for me. More about that later.

First let me welcome our new friends;
           Angelique (please let me have the link, if you have a blog, dear)
           Sherin Deepu from Kuk's Kitchen
           Anna from Hindustanka's Sunny Indian Days
   and  Linda  from Linda Crochets (if you love thread crochet you must visit Linda to admire her perfect doilies).
 (A small note to all my fellow bloggers and followers: Please write a small comment when you join my blog and also don't forget to state the name of your blog, so that I can follow you too. Thank you.) 
 
Okay, now I have a little confession, I was back last Friday ie: 28th September. Then, how come I had not posted anything so far? Well. you know how it is sometimes, you have so much to say that you don't know where to start. 

So firstly, let me start by telling you why my trip was not so "successful". I had planned to use the second week of our trip to visit an ongoing book fair and the wholesale yarn and bag making supplies market with my brother. But, come Monday I was down with viral fever with high temperature and terrible bodyache. And even if I was ready to drag myself to the market in this condition, my brother got a huge swollen toe after stubbing it against some furniture. It was the same toe he had fractured some time back, so he was in real agony. So there went my yarn and book buying trips down the drain. (To the secret delight of my husband !!).

I was also supposed to meet a couple of my school friends for lunch, but that program too flopped because of the viral fever. I was really looking forward to that as it has been ages since we met each other. So, maybe next time :(

We had decided to start back on Friday, of course my hubby very sweetly suggested staying back for one more day so that I could visit the yarn market. But that would have been very selfish of me as it would have meant that he would miss the two days of rest at home before resuming duties on Monday. 

So, you see I was in a bit of a blue funk and sort of sulking in a corner. Sadly I could not blame anybody for this situation, which made it even worse!! He he... ;)

Secondly I wanted to start posting with a finished project. Yes my Rose doily is finally complete. But being the Queen of Procrastination that I am it took me two days to weave in the ends. 

But finally Ta-Da:

Rose doily

Don't you just love the colors on that rose! I think I will make a couple more doilies, maybe with orange roses or yellow? What do you say?

If you would like to try this doily, HERE is the link to the pattern I used. Have fun.

It feels so good to be back with all of you. My husband calls me an internet addict and I confess I am guilty as charged! I spent the last few days visiting all of you and I see that some of you have posted about some lovely things, crochet and otherwise.

That's all for today. Do write to me, I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Take care and Happy Hooking.
Love xxx

Rose Doily

Hello beautiful people,

I hope you had a great week. I did not have access to the internet therefore I am a wee bit late in welcoming Cristina from My world of wool  and Giodina from Con le Lenti Rosa.
Both of them have very colorful, lovely crochet items, so do visit them.

I finally decided on a pattern to start my tryst with thread crochet. I was a bit apprehensive as it has been a long time since I worked with such a fine thread. Since I had made a lot of flat doilies in the past, I wanted to try something 3D as in Irish crochet.

And this is the pattern I chose;

Progress has been slow, as I have still not visited my optician for my new glasses.

As of now, I can work with thread only if I take off my glasses. Well. glasses or no glasses, do you think the doily is turning out fine? Do let me know. I am anxious to see the final product and I am too impatient to weave in the ends.

I hope you are having some great hooky time too. I will be visiting all of you very soon. So until then take care, have a fabulous weekend and share your lovely times with us. And do keep writing to me, I will get back shortly.

Love xxx

Welcoming Lord Ganesh

Hello friends, come join me in the celebrations to welcome Lord Ganesh also known as Ganapati.

Today 19th September is Ganesh Chaturthi, it is the Hindu festival celebrating the birthday of Lord Ganesh, the son of Parvati and Shiva. The festival lasts for ten days ending on Anant Chaturdashi, during which the Lord is said to shower his devotees with blessings.

Lord Ganesh is considered to be superior to all the other gods and He is also the lord of wisdom, learning, prosperity and good fortune. He is considered the remover of obstacles. Any new venture like house warming, a new business, start of travels, marriage or any other pooja(worship) will start with a prayer to Lord Ganapati.

During the Ganeshotsav (utsav means festival) lots of goodies are made as offerings. The main offering made everywhere without fail is the Modak known as the Lord's favourite. The modak can be a steamed rice flour dumpling filled with coconut, jaggery, dry fruits and cardamom OR a deep fried wheat flour dumpling having the same filling. Of course in a vast country like India, every region has its own completely unique version of the modak.

This festival is celebrated in homes or on a larger scale in public places in which case it is open to all and anybody can visit the venue. Festivities start with bringing the idol which can be of clay or plaster of Paris. After celebrating with much pomp and splendor, on the last day the idol is immersed in water- lakes, rivers or the sea, to mark the end of the festival.  The idol is taken through the streets for immersion accompanied with song, dancing and merriment.

The immersion is said to signify his return to his heavenly abode and also the never ending cosmic cycle. 

Reams can be written about Lord Ganesh, the legends, significance of his forms, his 1000 names and so much more. At a recent visit to a book fair, I got a book about the Lord and today I will share some pictures from the book with you.

Front Cover

Back Cover

Siddhivinayak at Mumbai

Ganapati at Titwala

Three headed Ganesh

Five headed Ganesh

Idol being taken for immersion

You can imagine the size of the statue by seeing the tiny people in the crowd!

I hope you liked these photos of my favourite deity.   Now I have lots of places to visit and pay my respects, and lots of goodies to taste. I will see you soon with my next thread project.

Do keep writing to me.

Have a lovely week. Take care.

Love xxx