The Cold and The Beautiful

Hallooo there!! Oh please, walk right in.....I can see you peeking in, wondering where I have disappeared. Well, I am right here...alive and kicking, or should I say alive and crocheting!  :)

After coming back from a wonderful vacation it took us some time to slip into our regular routine. But once we settled down, calender pages just seemed to fly and before I knew it June had made way for July. And I had not written a single post!!! You have to forgive me for that, but I guess once in a while everybody gets caught up in domestic duties. I did finish a lot of new crochet projects but those are for another post.

First things first, I want to share the lovely pics of my trip with you. As Aishwarya and Preeti rightly guessed in the last post, my holiday destination was the Cold and the Beautiful Ladakh. "La" means pass and Ladakh - meaning Land of High Passes is a part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in northern India. Ladakh is known for its scenic beauty and enchanting culture. Buddhism is the predominant religion.

The very first glimpses of Ladakh from the plane, had everybody scrambling for their cameras, mobile phones and what not, and then rushing from window to window to get the best photos. I was fervently praying that the plane would not tilt to one side, as in the movies. :) Truly breathtaking!

The first day was spent inside the hotel room, lying in bed to get acclimatized to the high altitude (3000 ft) and the low level of atmospheric oxygen. This is absolutely necessary as otherwise the consequences can be fatal.

Our hotel  - Hotel Grand Willow, Leh.

Sightseeing started from Day 2 onwards.

Shanti Stupa at Leh

Apricot Blossoms:

Sankar Gompa monastery with its gold spire

Leh Palace - built in the 17th century in the grand tradition of Tibetan architecture.

Day 3: We proceeded to Nubra Valley

Brrrrr..... it was freezing and it was a relief to finally reach the Diskit monastery....

the giant statue of Maitreya Buddha - the tallest in Ladakh

The white sand dunes at Hunder

We reached the camp at Nubra just before nightfall. Good thing those tents were sturdy and waterproof as it rained cats and dogs during the night.

Most of Day 4 was spent on the return journey to Leh via Khardungla Pass, said to be the highest motorable pass in the world at nearly 18000 ft.

Day 5: 

 Shey Palace and monastery, the 15th century summer palace of Leh's royal family

 No visit to Ladakh will be complete without a visit to the Druk White Lotus School. Confused?? Well, maybe it is better known as Rancho school from the Hindi movie "3 Idiots"  :)

The entrance to the museum at Thiksey monastery. I loved the painting and the Leh costumes.

Changla Pass the third highest motorable road in the world at 17586 feet.

Finally we reached our destination camp for the night - Pangong Lake. The lake is 134 Km long and 60% of its length lies in China.

This was our camp for the night. It was directly facing the lake and you wouldn't know from the photo but icy winds were blowing and as you can see the terrain, there is no place to hide. There was a small, teeny weeny, embarrassing incident with someone crying "I want to go HOME". Okay that was me.....hehe. What can I say.....I don't like being cold.

If this place looks familiar to you then you are a confirmed Hindi movie buff as scenes from "3 Idiots" and "Jab Tak Hain Jaan" were picturised here.

A gazebo at Pangong lake

The Brown headed gull - a migratory bird from Central Asia.

Day 6: Return to Ladakh from Pangong Lake

   Tibetan Wild Ass

    Grazing Yak

Day 7:

We proceeded to Alchi - a small quaint village in the Indus valley. Enroute we saw the majestic Sangam (which means confluence), here one can see the Indus river flowing and becoming one with the Zanskar river. Can you see the different colours of the water before they merge?

Alchi village - after days of seeing bare brown and white snow covered mountains, this greenery was a sight for sore eyes!

This path leading to the Alchi monastery was lined with 80 prayer wheels. (And yes, I turned each one of them).

Prayers wheels and stupas are common in Ladakh and you can find them just about anywhere. Giant prayer wheels are seen alongside the streets and marketplaces. It is believed that spinning the prayer wheel is equal to reciting the prayers and hence helps accumulate good karma.

Magnetic Hill - alleged to have magnetic properties strong enough to pull cars uphill, which was demonstrated to us by the driver of our vehicle.

Our sightseeing ended with a visit to Gurudwara Pathar Sahib (a Sikh place of worship) where one can see the huge boulder (pathar) hurled at Guru Nanak Dev ji by a demon while he was meditating. The rock turned soft like wax and did not harm him and one can see the imprint of Guru Nanak ji on the rock.

And the Military Hall of Fame, which is a MUST visit place.

A farewell gesture by the travel company - a cultural program which showcased the various song and dance forms of Ladakh.

What an incredibly long post!!! I have tried (with great difficulty) to keep my jibber jabber to a minimum, hoping that the photos will speak for themselves. I hope my pics have captured your imagination and your hearts and that Ladakh will be on your list of places to see.

Lots of crochet goodies to share with you in my next post. Until then, take care and happy crafting.

Crochet Pineapple Neck warmer

Hello gorgeous people, how are you today? I hope the month of May has begun well for you. For me, this is a special month as today I complete 365 days of having a blog. Yes, my blog is one year old and Today is my Blog Anniversary!!

Seems like it was just yesterday that I gathered all my courage and decided to put my thoughts onto the blogosphere and share my crochet handiwork with the whole wide world. Of course there was a lot of apprehension and also doubts whether I would be able to keep it going. But now at the end of one year it all seems so easy and certainly lot of fun. Here is a link to my very first blog post, just for nostalgia. Sometimes when I go back and read some of my old posts I do laugh out aloud at some of the things I have written. But, you my friends have made it all worthwhile. What is a blog without its readers. So today I want to thank all my readers, followers, Facebook fans for your encouragement, comments and love. 

The best part about this one year of blogging has been the countless friends I made along the way, all over the globe, across continents, across language and age barriers. Bloggers are so generous, loving and warm hearted, inviting you right inside their homes, sharing their life, their lovely pics, their wonderful recipes and of course their gorgeous patterns.

Yes, a blog anniversary is definitely a milestone. But as we are busy planning and packing for our big vacation which was due for a long long time, all celebrations will have to be put on hold until the month end or maybe even the first week of June. Of course a giveaway is in order, and I hope to gather something lovely on my travels.

Even though we have been looking forward to this vacation for a long time, I am a bit apprehensive about how we will adjust to this place. You see, the present temperature in Ahmedabad is 43 deg C and this place has daytime temperatures in the range of zero to minus 4. Also as it is high up in the mountains (almost near the Himalayas) the air is thin and has low levels of atmospheric oxygen, so fingers crossed that everything goes well and we come back only with pleasant memories!! (Hehe....... yes I am still being mean, and not divulging the name of my holiday destination.)

What I am going to share, is this lovely pineapple scarf I made from a Portuguese crochet site. It is actually a scarflette or neck warmer. 

So, Ta-dah.....

Crochet Pineapple Scarf

I call it the Handsfree neck warmer because of its keyhole feature. 

Just insert one of the pineapples into the keyhole and your hands are free, to  ride your bike, hang on to your kids, hold your shopping bags, whatever....

This is not a new concept but I just loved this pattern. It is so feminine and delicate. The scarf pattern comes with a flower to hide the crossover, which I feel makes it look really elegant.

I used a regular safety pin at the back of the flower so that it could also be used as a brooch without the scarf. Next time I will hunt for one of those brooch pins which are actually used.

I love the shimmery cream rose. Looks cute...no?

The stitches between the shells are worked as Fpdc forming these two lovely 3D ridges.

My trusty Tupperware bowl has agreed to model the scarf for me, so drumroll.......

Hehe.... looks so funny....no?

That is all for now. I cannot really predict when my next post will follow as we will be leaving soon and I may not have access to internet. So until then buh-bye. I hope to have lots of lovely photos to share with you.

Take care and keep crafting.

A Tale of Two (Eggcentri)Cities

Hi friends. Oh! don't be confused with the title. It is just a egg centric tale. Or rather, a story centered around the two pigeon eggs in my balcony...hehe.

You already know the story that a pigeon had laid two eggs in my potted plant and much against my husband's wishes I decided to let them be. This gave me the chance to do a little "Avian Planet" photo shoot of my own.

So here goes. Feel free to give me your comments about my (attempted) photo documentary.

Look Ma, ....no downy fuzz...

Hmmm... so this is the Big Bad World

Should we venture out?

Maybe not just yet...a few practice flights inside the balcony.

Yay! we are ready to take the plunge today, under the watchful eyes of Mama and Pops.

The brown plank you see on the top left is the famous swing where all crochet projects are finally declared as "Completed"...lol. The two white dots you can see on Mom and Pops' beaks are not yet white but still grey on the twins. That is how I could tell them apart.

On Saturday, after being fully convinced that they can now fly, I finally shooed them away as the mess and stink was getting too much for me. This story spans around 45 days!

Also, can you see the green mat like curtain in the top right corner. It is made of out bamboo and you can see it in most houses in Ahmedabad. It keeps the harsh sunlight away, thus reducing the temperature in the house by atleast 4 - 5 degrees Celsius, I think. But the main reason we installed them last week is that construction activity has started in full swing on the vacant plot right next to our building. Which means tons of dust is now going to blow into the house through all nooks and crannies, so a small attempt to keep the dust away.

Till the pigeons were there I could not close it completely. But now finally I can close it and heave a sigh of relief. That's it, no more wildlife preservation attempts from me in the future. I think I have done my good deed....for now.

Hope you enjoyed my pigeon story. Write to me, make my day.

Question: How many of you have pets at home?

I love dogs, but I am not sure I can actually look after one. Maybe one day when my "little bird" has flown the nest. :)

Temptation, Thy name is.....

Stylecraft!!!
Yup! Finally succumbed to the lure of this yarn.

Hello friends, busy enjoying the weekend?

Another Stash Saturday and I am going to show you the Stylecraft Special DK yarn which has just arrived. (Oh..the joys of online shopping!!!).

Well, with everybody in Crochetland going gaga and then some more ga, how long could I resist. So I went ahead and ordered some for myself from Deramores. I have to thank Rajeswari for actually working out the cost vis-a-vis Indian yarns and encouraging me to go ahead. Also there was a 15% discount in that particular week.....and I took that as a positive sign from above!!

Here is my gorgeous collection;

After the yarn arrived it did look like a bit too much. But that is NOT my fault!!.....(my most favourite line when Anything happens).  :) It is their fault. Who are they? Stylecraft of course.

Not only do they have the most gorgeous colours, they have to name their colours instead of numbering them. How can you resist Saffron, Pomegranate, Apricot, Candyfloss, Sunshine and... Lipstick. The names were driving me crazy.

Want a closer look, I know you do :) I have clicked the pics with the names showing so that you can see which is which.

That's Jaffa, Matador, Apricot, Shrimp and Lipstick

Bright Pink, Candyfloss, Claret, Pomegranate, Raspberry

Saffron, Meadow, Camel, Sunshine, Citron

Sherbet, Royal, Cloud Blue, Aspen, Turquoise and of course White.

Aren't they just darling!!

The yarn is very soft and the colours are of course just gorgeous. I will do more oohs and aahs when I actually start working with the yarn. Right now it is safe in my secret hiding place (the pleasures of having a room to myself for my crafting!). 

I have not yet decided on a project for the yarn but most probably it is going to be an afghan/blanket. Right now I am very busy......doing what?!! Well, thinking of the "right" answer to explain the entry in the credit card statement to my dear hubby.......hehe.  ;)

Also succumbed to the lure of a lovely scarf pattern on a Portuguese? site. Will be sharing it with you soon.

[Note: A warm welcome to all new friends who have joined me. I am sorry that I have not been able to join your blogs even though I have visited all of you and signed up by email wherever possible. Inspite of trying a lot of tricks, still having trouble with left click. Not sure whether problem is with Blogger, Firefox or just my PC. So, please bear with me. This same problem is also not letting me make any changes to my blog layout...very frustrating. But I am still in the process of research and trying something new everyday, so hopefully soon........ ]

Nobody has guessed my holiday destination. So, here are some more clues:

The place is a desert, in India. I have to take a flight from Delhi to reach it and the landscape is beautiful. Come on girls, rack your brains.  :)

Do write to me, your comments add joy to my day. Hope you are having a fun weekend.

Rippling Success

Hello there, Glad you joined me today.

I have a lovely finished project to share today. Something that I have been working on for a couple of weeks. Actually that is too quick for me, but the reason this project reached completion is because it was an Afghan challenge at The Crochet Crowd.

So, here goes my latest Ta-Dah......

Ocean Waves Throw

This is my very first attempt at a ripple pattern and I am quite happy with the result. This is also my first large, mammoth project after my Aqua and White granny square baby Blanket. 


The ripple consists of two rows. The first row is worked in the back loops only. This gave a 3D effect of waves rippling and lapping against the shore.

Maybe that is the reason it is named the Ocean Waves Throw. The pattern is free on Red Heart.com. The CAL is open till 17th May 2013 in case any one wants to join in.

The blanket is approximately 36" by 60".
The yarns are from this stash. 
It used up around 625 grams of yarn and has a total of 80 rows.
It took me about 15 days to complete, which is something new for a procrastinator like me! Most projects get started and then they languish in the WIPs basket till I "feel the love" for them again.  LOL!

I think Rajeswari's idea of adding a border and lining the blankets is a good one and I may try it later. Right now I just want to relax and admire my handiwork.

And of course all completed projects have to be clicked in my favourite spot - the swing. Only then can it be called an FO.

Now off I go to visit my favourite blogs and see what you all have been up to. I have found two lovely scarf patterns that I am dying to try but my WIPs basket is beckoning me  :(

I will be going on vacation in the month of May. Where?... can you guess if I give you a clue? Okay... it is the only place where you can get frostbite and sunburn at the same time!!! Let me have your guesses....hehe. Yeah I know...I am so wicked!

By the way, I am having some problem with Google Friend Connect and am unable to follow other blogs even if I click the "Join this site" button. Is this problem related to the discontinuation of Google Reader...any ideas? Would love to have any suggestions on this matter.  :)

Looking forward to hearing from you. Have a great week. Make time for craft everyday.