First Crochet Bag

  Oh... I was working hard the whole last week, so even use to forget about having food..) Well,  it wasn't like this, though I spent plenty of time on my first crochet bag! And here it is, my lovely pink and white summer bag. I started from a small granny square and read in the internet that "You can expand it then as MUCH as you want", so this was exactly what I did! Also I made a small red rose outlined with a thin  pink yarn. This bag was supposed to be used as a yarn store (you can see yarn through the wholes), but I guess I can take it out sometime.

The Woman in Black in our town

 Well, time to tell about our outing and quality time we spent day before yesterday! Me and my husband went to the PVR cinema to watch... The Woman in Black! Why this?
Explaining. First of all, horror, thriller are my favourite movie genres, and even my husband started liking them. hehe. Second - we both are fans of Harry Potter and of course couldn't miss the movie with Daniel Radcliffe! Third - we have never seen a horror/thriller on a big screen.
 There were not many people who came to see The Woman in Black, but the less were those who came with such special interest like we.
 I was expecting some certain things to be shown in this film like gloomy interiors, grim faces, creepy sounds and all. But beside these constant attributes of  every horror there was something particular in this one. I really liked the English landscape and the weather shown, both to enrich the atmosphere of a tragedy which is happening with the main hero and people around him. I liked the attention to the details of furnishing and interiors of different houses. For example, in the very beginning of the movie when three girls are playing a tea party with dolls in the attic,  you can see girls apparel of that time and toy tea set, the old carpet on the floor and later, when girls, called by an invisible power, start approaching the window, there is an old vintage cupboard with a few scratches on it...
 Another detail I noticed was directly linked to my present hobby. One of the characters - an old lady who lost her son under mystic circumstances, was wearing a white night gown with crocheted laces on it! Isn't it so?

Everything and everyone looked very real and you can't get rid of the thought that the events are real too and could have happened. What made me feel creeps was old toys! I never thought that toys can look scary and make so scary sounds!
Daniel Radcliffe's role in this movie was another attempt to overcome everyone's impression about him as Harry Potter of course. Few times I  did connect some moments of the movie with Harry Potter, but only visual ones like engine (Hogwarts Express) taking the main hero to the village and some other details. That happened only because of J.K. Rowling's realism (!) in her books when she picked up all the peculiarities of English life and brought them in front of us in an interesting form. Daniel Radcliffe DID look different and much mature now:

 I liked the movie overall because it felt  like you were reading a good horror novel.
Next time we are going to see One Week with Marylin which stars... Emma Watson!!! :)

Yarn shopping

  I think that crochet is taking over me... and I am happy! I went for yarn shopping in one of the markets of Chandigarh, in sector 38, yesterday evening. I purchased eight colors and I  love them all! They all are pretty different, but I think I can combine them in an advantageous way.
 There were so many kinds of yarn , I,  honestly, couldn't stop buying! Big thanks to my husband for supporting me in my interests as we were choosing the colors together :) Now have a look at what I got.

Crochet Decor Pieces

Can't imagine how happy I am that I have resumed my hobby in India! These are two cro-cre (crochet creations) so far.
My first crochet table mat! I was quiet confused when making it, because I didn't really know I'd have this in the end. Though I am happy to have this small decor piece on my table now :)

I used remaining yarn of pink and dark purple color, started to knit from the circle using only single and double crochets. Yes, it was an easy way of making a table mat, but a successful one I guess!

cro-cre: crochet table mat

table mat detail

Another cro-cre (crochet creation) of mine is this box suit. It took me one evening to crochet this watch box suit.

cro-cre: small box suit 

flower detail

  I used yarn of three colors to knit it: blue, navy blue and white. Once again even with small amounts of yarn you can create some nice things! 

 So, these are my small achievements in crochet knitting, more are coming!

Valentine's day impressions

 I had a wonderful 2012 St. Valentine's day!
 This is one part of my husband's surprise: a bouquet of roses, which was brought to the office, where I work, and gifted to me by my hubby himself! Should you have known how much nervous, shy and happy I was at the moment of receiving it! And even my Indian boy said he got nervous too!
The second part was when we were having a lovely walk in the city centre. I took the bouquet with me and what was important, I didn't see any other lady with flowers! I was feeling very special!
We kept on walking, got tired a bit, when suddenly our way turned to some less crowded street and slowly we reached a restaurant!
No need to say that we had romantic time with each other and were delighted with a delicious dinner after which had a nice walk back.
I can never forget those moments and I am blessed to have such caring and loving husband!
Happy Valentine's days ahead!

To Work or Not to Work?

Yes, this dilemma becomes really serious sometimes.Last year, when I was sitting at home for more than one month, I use to get so much  bored and was getting some kind of depression, though I was trying to rehab my hobbies and all... Then I found internship again and was sooo happy! Now I got another one and it lasted for six month already. I am earning some money as well. But I think that my work is boring now! That I want to stay home and do my hobbies, because I don't simply have time for them. Even if I am doing some nice handmade stuff, it's like in a hurry, as I know I have limited time for doing it! How to solve this? Hmmm, I have some ideas and me and my husband are dreaming of that day when we both will be doing what we LIKE! They say "like what you do" too, but it's difficult to achieve it when what you do is not exactly YOURS.
We have choices in our life, so there is a choice whether "to work or not to work", you just have to find your way in all these jobs and hobbies. May be your way will be a silk one too, just like mine ;)

Happy Valentine's Day in India

Happy Valentine's Day!
I couldn't miss it because it is really very special to me and I am really grateful that my husband supports me in celebrating it!

   St. Valentine's day is going to be a second one for me in India. Last year my husband surprised me and made me shy a lot on 14th of February by sending bunch of flowers to the school where I was doing my internship! All the teachers were envying I guess (hehe), someone asked whether it was my birthday or what, and I was so proud to say, no, I got this bouquet from my husband for St. Valentine's Day!
 My husband got a lovely handmade card from me last year. This year I gifted him a crochet heart.
 I have no idea yet how we are going to mark this day this year, but my D. already said he invented something. Now I am feeling excited and curious about it.Can't wait till my office will be over for today!
Love you, my D.!

Changing Chandigarh

Two big projects are being planned to be implemented in Chandigarh soon. My brief thinking about it.

METRO: 

It's known to all the city residents that the United Territory administration is going to built a metro in Chandigarh!  Work on project will begin in 2013, next year: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/11831150.cms 

 Everyone has their own opinion about this new facility in the city. So do I. I think that metro system will definitely unload city roads and will give opportunity to people to move from one place to another freely,  avoiding all the inconveniences related to traffic: pollution, noise, heat in the summer and cold in the winter. I know what it is like going by rickshaw as I use it everyday to get home after office. I don't mean to say that it's so bad, but not that comfortable.

Well, good points about having a metro and being proud citizens have been highlighted.What about disadvantages? I guess, that they are: we will be standing in a long queue to buy tokens or tickets (the way it's happening in Delhi metro), then, with the grows of the city, we will be spending one hour in metro, changing the stations, hmmm... then metro will change the city's look of course, and we will be resembling Mumbai or Delhi.

INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT:
The second big change expected to happen is a launch of Chandigarh  International Airport. Especially for me this change is going to be quiet pleasant, because I can easily fly home, to Kazakhstan, straight from the city I live in! Me and many other people are going to save loads of time 

and nerves, because you won't need to go to Delhi first, worrying for being at IGI on time.Surely that International airport will increase

prestige (along with metro, remember?)of the city. 

Somehow international flights from Chandigarh haven't started yet, because of some political issues:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Politics-keeps-airport-grounded/articleshow/11855850.cms Let's see how the events are going to develop.

The main concern,  whether we like these changes or not, we can't escape from them, 

we have to accept, we can't leave them hence we have to love them!

Delhi Days - 3 - Akshardham

   Delhi days were going to end and leave us with good memories about this extraordinary city. The city of "modern and old"...Remember? And how would you like "modern and old" unified in one construction? I'm talking about Akshardham, a unique hindu architectural complex built by 2005 year, which was our destination on the last day in Delhi.

  My husband made a research in the Internet about Akshardham, and we were amazed with it's beauty and greatness in the pictures. Inspired yet only by virtual scenes of this sight seeing we understood how much  greater it was in real! 

  We went to the place by metro, alighted on the "Akshardham" metro station and then took rikshaw for 10 rupees till the entry of the complex.  We had to walk for a while to reach the main gates. To our surprise there were very strict rules for visitors: no camera, mobile or any other electronic devices were allowed in the complex. We had to give all our "equipment" to the special window and get a token instead which we had to return afterwards to get our stuff back. 

   There was also a very good security, which checked almost all your clothes in order to find/not to find any undesirable article.

  Ended up with all these security arrangements we continued our way. We entered a beautiful arch and appeared to be in a wonderful garden with big palm trees and many flowers growing on the flower beds. My D. said :"I feel like I'm in ancient times!". It felt so because besides all the plants over there, the architecture itself, all those tiny details on the walls of the garden: small elephants and petals and flowers.. Ah... difficult to describe it!
   The wisest amongst all the managerial  inventions in Akshardham is that you can't take a single photo of the complex! Why is it so good? Very simple: in order to imbued with the atmosphere of the complex and it's surroundings, you have to concentrate on them and not on your looks in the picture!

Swaminarayan

  Akshardham in Delhi is a mixed creation of human mind, deeply sophisticated, as the main idea, transfusing the entire complex, is devotion to Hindu philosophy and religion in the figure of Swaminarayan, who's entity seems to be alive in the walls of the complex. In many ways Swami ji is indeed present there! This effect is being created by numerous small and big images of him situated in the main temple, in the cinema and theatre area.
   Yes, I have to say a couple of words about theatre and cinema, located in a separate building. As I had said,  whatever you see and listen in Akshardham, all these will lead you towards the description of Swaminarayan's life. The theatre where you will go along with many other tourists, won't have any actors!...Live actors... because all the actors there will be human-looking dolls, controlled by computer. You will have a great opportunity to see Swami ji himself, starting from his childhood and further in the ages of him becoming a spiritual and social leader! You will hear conversations between him and people of that far time, all visibly articulated by the movements of dolls's lips... I was getting weird feelings while watching this "acting".
   You will be shown a unique movie about Swaminarayans' life in the cinema, explaining the ways that lead him on the way of holy existence.
   One of the most beautiful activities in Akshardham is a boat ride along the river, when on the both shores  of it you can see life of Indians many centuries back: "people" are talking, trading, doing house work, stitching something, harvesting, plowing, performing medical treatments, carrying water, teaching. You are able to see ancient Indian scientists surrounded by their pupils and performance of bharatanatyam!
 In the end of excursion you visit Swaminarayan temple of Akshardham. As it's known, the architecture of the whole complex and the temple is reproduced in the ancient style. Even untutored person will understand the beauty of tiny details curved on the walls of the temple!
  We spent almost  four hours in Akshardham that day and were very satisfied with our tour. To our pleasure, Akshradham had a lovely canteen with loads of food in it and at reasonable prices. Our day went very happily and we still had strength for the way back home in the evening.
   However, the toughest was to get to bus stand as we had few bags with us and were struggling to carry them till metro station from our hotel at Karol Bagh. But it was also a part of a journey, of our 3 day adventure, so we were enjoying each minute spent together!