All Together - Blanket, Birthday and Tangerines

Life definitely decided to take over in the past few weeks. I was caught up in its events, unexpected turns and many new beginnings. Besides I did it -- I finished my BIG Summer Blanket. Well, it was completed on the 21st of November, but I could post about it only now. I am not making it a huge Ta-dah, and somehow other things now seemed more important than this afghan. But yes, I can't believe I actually have it now and I am so thrilled to be able to make this myself.

As you see it is sunny in India still, especially around 10 in the morning, it is such a pleasant time to be outside. Here my D helping to present the blanket he liked a lot too, and already cuddled up inside it few evenings ago. 

This was taken on the chairs at the back yard. I love the colors!

Seems endless in this picture. It took me nearly 10 month for complete finishing of it, I might not attempt something like this soon.

And not so spread on our bed. I think it is okay as it was not intended to be used as a bed cover. It is enough for both of us to comfortable be under it.

It was my birthday on the 26th, and this is a small rose my D gifted me after the clock stroke 00.00. The rose is still so fresh and has become even more beautiful as petals unfolded. He also gifted me a pack of 6 handmade neem soaps. Oh, what else can be better than a fragrance filled shower? :) Though he says he doesn't know how to choose gifts, he knows my choice well now. Come on, it's been more than 3 years!

May be you remember me mentioning our citrus tree. So here are its fruits we collected yesterday morning. Fragrant, fresh, juicy tangerines as I call them. Mmm... :) 

That's all in this post of mine, but more is coming. I have started small cross stitch projects, and another crochet afghan, a smaller one this time. I am in a winter holidays mood that much that I even saw a snowfall at our back yard in my dream, and could breathe in fresh slightly frosty air... in my dream. What can I do? I am a winter type of a girl. 

I am missing all of you a lot, my friends, but I tried to visit some of your posts and comment. Hope everything is fine in your corner of the world. Take care and have an awesome week ahead! Happy December!

Wednesday Blanket Update - Beating The Ailment

I am happy to be back here...again. I don't know what exactly happened, but October brought me certain health issues. In my last about drawstring bag I mentioned that I was not feeling well. Little I knew back then that I was going to spend next two weeks at home, curing... chicken pox! At this age (I am 26) it was a very tough experience, but I am completely fine and back to office, though had to spend few more days at home due to flue I got straight after first recovery. Well, I am a strong girl, and I got good support from my family in India and Kazakhstan. Thanks to them!

The only pleasant thing in past two weeks was that I had given attention to my blanket! I couldn't decide whether I shall do this post or wait till I have that "ta-dah" moment. But, ok, you, my dears, already saw the blanket many times, and updating the progress for my own record will not do any harm, isn't it? To the deal.
Does it actually burst with colors into your eyes? I love HOW colorful it is coming along, and this is the effect I didn't expect. When I bought those 6 skeins, they didn't promise to be that variegated looking together. When you look at the blanket from the top, it seems a chaotic arrangement of the blocks, however you notice the certain pattern - alternation of the blocks in each round.

 As I had told you before, I used slip stitch method of joining and it looks this way from the back side. I still have to trim and weave few ends, and give a border to overall product. Aww, I cannot believe I am SO close to accomplishing this huge (for me) project!My husband seeing me with a pile of blanket on my laps, while I was sewing the blocks, said that this is so much of hard work. Yes, it is, but very pleasant kind of hard work. My D also asked me whether we can use the blanket in winter any time soon... :) If free time is on my side, we will have this soft yarny creation by the mid of November maximum. And then I will head to the making of a throw, consisting of 9 big squares. I even chose the colors already, crazy me, but will limit myself only up to maximum of 4 of them.

 My beauty, waiting to be "whole" in a few days. What would you suggest about lining it? Shall I go for flannel fabrics? Or shall I leave the blanket purely made of yarn? It is coming to be pretty heavy, and I am concerned that it might get stretched with use. As you see the blanket most probably will not be hanging from the sides, our bed is really very broad, and I don't wan tot give too wide border. Like this, it will probably cover only the top surface, anyway I don't think I'll be using as a bed cover much. I wish we had a trailer to take this blankie with us to travels and cozy up the atmosphere there :)

Tomorrow is All Hallows eve, unfortunately I didn't decorate the house that much as last year, plus I am not able to find half of the things I made. I hope to get a pumpkin at least and carve a jack-o-lantern. Diwali, an Indian festival of lights is on 4th of November, so we will be celebrating it too. After that I will start preparing for New Year and Christmas, and miss my home a lot...
Have a wonderful day, my dears! Thanks for your support and encouragement, and welcome to my new followers! I appreciate you find my blog worth reading :)
P.S. Yesterday I published the Raffled Rastafarian Doily pattern on Ravelry, have a look, if you are interested. Honestly, the pattern might have errors, so testing required. 

Color on Tuesday - Blanket and Nail Art

Tomorrow, when I am supposed to do blanket progress update post, never comes, hence let's grab today and live today. As you all well know, I have been crocheting a big blanket for the past few months, and I haven't finished it yet, lol. To disappoint you - no Ta-dah news today, but  a glimpse (or two or three) of the  process. 

One achievement I can be certainly proud of is that I have started joining the blocks! You can see a pile of them, which makes already 3 rows of 8 blocks in each (total 24 blocks). However they have been attached only length wise, width wise will come afterwards, when I have all 8 rows together. I had a chance to experience how much warm the blanket is, as part of it was lying on my laps while I joined the other blocks. Believe me, it IS warm, just like real wool, and also soft. 

I like the view from this angle, the repetition of the pattern in different colors, the way the blocks' edges are attached kind of makes me happy :) Probably it is madness, or excitement, or I simply love the colors of this yarn.

Imagining this blanket spread on the bed, and making our room bright at once! My husband likes it too, already. Lately he asked why didn't I do yarn shopping for so long, it somehow worried him (hehe). Last weekend I bought 4 colors which didn't seem suffice to finish the blanket purely for the purpose of removing all the worries from his head. I am relieved now, my D too I bet.

For those who might be interested I am using slip stitch joining method for blocks, and very happy with how it turned out - it is a neat and strong join I believe. You can notice the crimson line of stitches between yellow and lilac. 

Next  is just an abandoned hobby of mine - nail art. I am in a long nails phase now, and I have some pretty nail polishes which make up a great duet (though it is not that you cannot do nail art when having short nails of course). Some doodling with nail polish few days ago - nothing special, but made me immensely proud of my nails look. I used dotting technique tool - a ball pen, for making of the design. 

I became a little lazy with taking of the photos of our weekends and so, but we have an interesting event coming up this week - an International Coffee Festival! So apparently, I will be there for... a cup of the brew of Gods. Otherwise, the yearly Hindu festival hustle is more than a month away, so I am enjoying the cooling off of the weather, and quiet days, and of course getting ready for Autumn and Halloween.

Have a blissful day and be safe wherever you are!

Only 40 Squares Left - Wednesday Blanket Update

Feels like ages since the last post about my blanket progress. It is progressing, believe me :) Though I had days completely crochet-free, I then had to overtake them in order to face at least some "deadlines", you know, I put such for myself. Here are fresh photos of the summer blanket - I love it so far! Can't wait when I finish last 40 squares, join them into blocks and make a soft snug blankie!

 One more photo for the history, just kidding. I know people make much more beautiful and complicated crochet things, but feeling of something you make with your own hands, and okay, this something is useful and is looking good, is one of the best feelings in the world (after love of course). I am sure it'll look much more impressive once I make a suitable border. The intuition says me that I will make until the winter starts... again. Then I can continue/commence other projects, many of which unfortunately haven't found any manifestation yet.

Just a short note that we are safe here in the foot hills of Himalayas during these early monsoon rains. Thanks for showing your care, my dears! I hope that Ganga will stop its devastating floods in Uttarakhand state, and let people obtain sanctuary and security again.

Wishing you all be safe whenever you are! Hugs!

Achieving Something and Another Cheshire Heart - Wednesday Blanket Update

It is not easy to get everything you plan done. Not easy but possible, same as possible to get my crochet blanket growing and updates being posted :) I hope you can see the difference between the last update and this one. I didn't crochet much though and added only few more squares. I haven't sewed any of them into  the blocks yet. If my calculations were correct I'd be able to finish crocheting all the squares in 5 weeks' time, making 20 squares per day (no weekend crochet). What in its turn means that the blanket will be definitely ready by suppose August-September. I can't wait to see  it spread on our big bed!

 My side project of the last week was made for an American lady, our preschool's mentor I told you about in the last to last post. I wanted to give her something what would be cute and light in weight... I am grateful that I am able to make such thing myself. I couldn't help but crocheted this Cheshire heart which will fly across the ocean to the Key West in a couple of days! The lady liked it very much, especially the colors. I was more than pleased to get this feedback :) 

I have gifted few of these hearts already to the friends in India and abroad as a gift-symbol of love and care. My husband though seeing this (another such) heart, asked why did I make it so long, and suggested to make it broader and perhaps shorter... I tried to explain it was my style, design and so on... but he just looked at it and my slightly disappointed face ( I am very sensitive towards critics:)) and said that it was still beautiful and good for gifting. Thank you, D! :) I am also thinking of designing something new soon and sharing a pattern. The Cheshire Heart pattern is here if you wish.

Last weekend I was experimenting with new art forms and would be sharing what I had done soon.
Bye till then and have an enjoyable second half of the week, my dears! 

Turning Into Second Half - Wednesday Blanket Update on Thursday

I would not like to sound ungrateful or something but happened so that all my in-laws went to the wedding and we stayed home ALONE for few days!We had a pleasurable weekend with my D spent with friends and with each other. We had family like deals to do: shopping, food preparation, watching TV... I enjoyed all that so much! Day before yesterday my D made (with my help. hehe) a yummy kadai paneer - a kind of cheese common in South Asian cuisine. I'd like to repeat this tasty experience soon.

However the circumstances played with me again and I was not able to give a blanket progress update this week on time. It disappoints me, because I thought it would be a consistent weekly post.

 I achieved something with the blanket - started to making a second half of the squares. It seemed like after this the progress went far faster and I can  feel that it will not take me long to finish the project. It was noticed by my D as well when I put all the blocks and squares on the bed.  This is going to be a thrilling blanket, the room would definitely look brighter and more cheerful :) We went to buy more yarn for the blanket last weekend, because I was worried it wouldn't be sufficient when I start making the border. These are the squares waiting to be made into blocks of 4.

I purchased some yarn  for a dream clothing project I am planning  to engage with pretty soon. Yes, I want to continue my ventures in cloth crocheting, as I had already made that Bolero last year. Crocheting of the clothing items is not scary once you get the gauge right. When  I tried to crochet first rows with this yarn I got scared that I wouldn't be able to SEE the stitches as it has all those lashes which fill up the spaces, but I found the way out by simply feeling the next stitches with my finger tips and counting every stitch as I crochet the rows.

 Some closer look of the thread - all way fluffy and soft! Can't wait to wrap myself into a coat made from it!

Nothing more to tell about, just same routine of office, coming home and lazying around...I feel very hot here this Summer, like I can't avoid feeling hot as soon as I go out of the AC room. They promise even higher temperatures this year, like around +50 C!!! In this case I will go to my native place and stay there as long as possible :)
Stay safe and happy wherever you are! Hope you all had a n enjoyable weekend and have some good plans for the coming up :)

Summer Blanket and Something New - Wednesday Update

There is not even a single day without us hearing that some tragedy has happened.Yes, I am talking about the attack in Boston, the earthquake in Iran... the waves of the latter we felt even here, in Chandigarh. All the news channels concentrate on these two "events", creating more anxiety and hopelessness. I am really grateful that me and my family are able to start this day and enjoy its beauty. But I wish we all could...I wish we could live without fear being attacked or killed or hurt...

But as we are here now, we keep on living and dreaming... and blogging. We have to bring more happiness in the world. And many of us do. With the idea of 52 weeks of Happy for example, or by posting nice pictures and saying kind words to each other. I really feel that the blogger community can make the world better, let's think how.

Day before yesterday I was sitting in my room in the evening and heard a strong deep meow at our backyard... I smiled. It meant that some cat came to us. I rushed there and saw a grey furry creature standing on the wall and looking right back at me. I hurried back to pick my camera and took few snaps. Here in India people usually don't keep cats as pets, so you would generally see pet dogs, but cats.. they just come and go. Last year there was another cat who used to come to us and we used to feed it, but then she disappeared... For me, a cat lover, meeting a half wild cat, and moreover, almost in our house, is such a treat!

Oh yea, you must have recognized this already. It has started having a more blanket-y look. I feel it is going to be a great result  thanks to all of you who made me believe in this. If I continue working in this tempo, I'll 

Here is how many more squares have come up and need to be stitched together soon. This way I'd have 23 blocks. I got a little bored with blanket crocheting and decided to make some little side project.

Here are three squares I crocheted yesterday evening. There will be only three of them. So could you guess what is it going to be?:) I will give a link to the square pattern later, when I find it in my laptop.

I am using DK acrylic yarn of Indian brand Vardhman. I like its colors and texture reminds wool a lot. I think of making a throw out of this yarn later on. There are lovely patterns on the Red Heart website which I pinned in my Crochet patterns. I like this one and this one the most, but others are also so pretty, aren't they?

Well, let's first rest our fingers and finish this small something. I am sure it'll be a useful thing in my room. Okay, enough hints for you now. I am off to do my job and look forward being back home and crocheting. Also I didn't forget about a promised giveaway on achieving 100 followers, so it'll happen soon.

Wish you to have a peaceful day, be safe and happy! 

Blanket is Growing..Slowly - Wednesday Update

I know, it is already evening (here) and I am a little late with Wednesday crochet blanket update. I didn't have time to take pics in the morning, so did it just now. Hence you have an incredible opportunity to witness awesomely fresh photos of my Summer blanket! Yey!

Okay, there is not much reason for happiness, because I am almost at the same point where I was last week.

Today I'd like to show the manner in which I'm going to sew the blocks. Here is a plan of  actions...hmmm...in Russian, as I think much better in my native language.

Okay, whatever I plan, I think I'm going to change it anyway. But the main thought is to alternate blocks for outer row/round, and so on. Better see the picture.

I also managed to make few more squares for the next lot of the blocks. I do like yellow squares a lot, and thinking of putting them in the middle of the blanket.

 Finally almost all the yarn from the first stash has finished, and I have  started using a second one. I have two more stored, and hope that it'll be enough for the whole project, otherwise I might not get exact colors in the market now.

That's what I have achieved in a week's time. Not so much but not so bad, considering that I was busy in the office, and we had a great party on Saturday, which means that that day was absolutely crochet-free. While making of this blanket I also made a note for future to use less number of colors for a big project. This one really has given me trouble with color match and now - arrangement of the squares. But this is a part of a learning process, and I am happy to learn!
Have an awesome day, and I hope the Spring has touched your part of the world! Or if you have Autumn now - it is also a good time of the year :))

Summer Blanket - Wednesday Progress Update

I'm very proud of myself, because I keep my promise (to myself first of all) to update the blanket progress. Here is what I've reached so far: 48 squares sewed into 12 blocks. I have only 16 squares left, and after attaching them together, I will start making another lot of them, what will be a REAL progress then. Otherwise, a baby blanket can come up pretty easily with this much done. But we are aiming for bigger goals, aren't we? It is becoming hot here, around +35 in the day time, and fans are already in full working mode. Therefore, even I finish the blanket only by the end of this year :O, it'll be perfectly fine for a start of the winter season.

 I am still deciding how to arrange the blocks, and the latest idea I had was to attach the same blocks to each other, and perhaps, doing it in the rounds, like the outer round will have blocks of one color, the next - blocks of another color. Let's see, I need to count how many of each squares, hence, blocks, I need to make in this case. Also, do I have to block the blocks? They seem fine otherwise.

I plan to make at least 2 cm between the blocks, and of course, a border, a wide one, to frame the blanket... well, just let me finish it :)

As you might have seen the party button, I'm participating in Pagan Culture's bologoversary celebration under the name "Witches in Fiction... To The Bone", so you can come and check various interesting posts here.

Have a nice week ahead!

Colorful Holi Blanket

Hello, dears! Hope you all are doing fine and busy in pleasant activities. Today is an Indian festival Holi, and we have day off, so I found few minutes to share this in my blog :) We already "played Holi" (as it is said here) three times, and it means, that we were all in colorful powder and water from head to toe. Unfortunately I never have opportunity to take pictures of our celebration, because I am simply too occupied with it. 

Hence I invented how to mark this holiday and show my granny square blanket progress at the same time. I'm planning to give updates about my latest work in progress and so on every Wednesday. Now here I began to stitch ready granny squares together, only 24 so far. Crocheters know that stitching squares one by takes loads of time, but I'm not hurrying and enjoying the process. Anyway, as Indian summer is pretty hot, we will need this blanket only in winter months, I still have plenty of time to accomplish it.

Hope these colorful squares brightened up your day a little :) 

 

Happy Holi and may your life be colorful, cheerful and happy!