Bonjour!

Nothing much has been happening here. All usual mundane stuff, busy home-spent weekend, busy week ahead, plans for coming up weekend again. Days are rolling and rolling. Little A continues his playschool in a same positive mood, thank god. He learned quite much in just 2 weeks of attending it. W,e in our turn, teach him some things at home too, like colors, counting etc. I try to involve him in Russian books' reading everyday and we learned many Russian words too.  I hope that this trend will continue till his speech establishes properly.

D and I joined French language classes... Hence the post title "Bonjour!" :) Phew! The language is awesome but I barely get time to revise and repeat and learn new lessons. It's been also only two weeks (we joined classes the same day as A joined school) but learned quite a few phrases, and we can read and write (slowly).

On a crafty side, I have been rather slow but on purpose. I said myself not to rush into completing the  blankie but to enjoy making it, one square at a time. I am using a 7 mm aluminium crochet hook of a Russian company "Gamma". These have been the best crochet hooks to work with.

I also managed to create few so to say "side projects". One of them is a long-planned crochet owl!!! Little A picked up that owl сraze his mommy has (we have owls everywhere around the house, including my jewelry, and numerous owls in children's books, lol), so he became very happy when I gave him this:

Should I say that having another owl in our rooms brings enormous joy to me as well :) I have to make few more, probably, as X-mas gifts. In plans to create an autumn leaf garland using this awesome (fast and easy) crochet fall leaves pattern. One leaf  takes hardly 10 minutes to complete. Once I am done with the garland I will definitely showcase it. 

This weekend I should as well buy material for A's cape and a few skeins of yarn for my blanket because some ran out already. Going to be occupied with homely deals as usual. :)

Have a great week!

Autumn Feeling

Hello dear friends! I believe that the place we were born in and belonged to once always leaves a life-long impression on our body and mind. Even though it is hot and humid in India, and it seems that the summer will never end, my whole inner world has tuned into Autumn. I just feel it so much everywhere I go. I think of making some Autumn projects so that little A can be involved in them. His preschool is going to celebrate Halloween, and this is such a happy thought for me because in India  many schools don't do this. I am thinking of designing a really easy costume for him, and the main challenge is to make a cape. I thought of dressing little A up as a wizard or a superhero. I am going to use this Tutorial: DIY Superhero Capes.
What concerns my ongoing projects, I do have one. Perhaps it also appeared because of all the autumnal longing for cozy stuff. I have been very inspired till now. Once again, after having a long crochet-block I told myself that if I don't start crocheting again I will never start it. And I felt very sad and lost. Hence I searched for some eye-candy projects on the net, sucked in all the colors and patterns I saw, and thought of making something for myself like this Movie Night Cocoon Cardi. I liked its' cozy name, and considered it would be indeed great if went out for a movie soon, and me flaunting this handmade shrug. Alas! I never made it, and instead...

I have made 9 squares so far, and planning to make total of 25. If the  pace is the same as now the blanket shall be ready by mid October :) I must say that feeling yarn and a hook in my hands again gave me so much energy and positiveness! This time I haven't bought any special stash but combined and used the skeins left from the previous blankets. Somehow I am very pleased with the color combinations this time. I also did a BIG step in crocheting - I started crocheting in front of little A :) I had some kind of fear before he would start asking for the hooks and yarn, he does of course, so I give him another ones (which I am not using) and he plays with yarn as with a ball :) Hence I can spare a few minutes of crochet this way, without waiting when the night falls.

To bring on more Autumn feel, here are the photos sent by my parents. Autumn flowers blooming at dacha.

 Canna flower started blooming quite late because the summer was rainy and cold.

 Typical dacha style snack -  fried zuccini circles with tomato and garlic. It is so delicious! I wish oh so much to be there again! One month of trip home was not enough.

Have a wonderful week ahead, keep on crafting!

Cakes, crochet and flowers

First of all, Happy New Year to all! May it be happier than the previous one and bring you all the things you wish for! Aww... I have a guilt for abandoning blogging, and lets admit, you my friends... but you never left my mind! Every day I'd think whether I had something ineteresting to tell about, I took pictures but they ended up being locked up in the camera memory card. I freed them today. I so to say freed myself in these last 3 months as My Indian Prince grew a little more. We started going out, I visited my friends, I resumed my hobbies, I started working from home for my company, I recently colored my hair burgundy, and also they are showing "The Desperate Housewives" and "The Big Bang Theory".. So life has got better, touch wood. :) Plus an immense pleasure of being a mom to my little boy who grows up so fast, and Today he is 6 months old :)))

So here what I have been all these months. We went to Kasauli hills few times back in November. Once it was foggy, damp, and a little cold. Some parts of the hills looked like in a dark fairytale... I'm having goose bumps when seeing that fog veiling the trees...

And the abundance of colorful flowers all scattered on the hill side was a pleasant view.

I suppose that once the dahlia seeds were spread by wind from some garden,and since then they have become wild dahlias.

The other time it was sunny and warm, but the night was cold and I couldn't keep my baby out for long. The night in the hills is so different from the one in the city! When our son was sound asleep we spent some time at the balcony, star gazing and watching at the glittering lights in the hills.

The last time we made the trip with our friend and her kids. I even had an opportunity to go for a walk with her and my D without my baby! We admired various flowers growing on the road side.

These reminded me of a tomato plant. I don't know its name though.

Oh,I baked  these days ! I tried out banand cake recipe, eggless, and it turned out great! Also I baked my mom's favorite apple Sharlotka. All made from atta (Indian flour).

As I had said I visited my friends too, and especially enjoyed baking by Lebanese friend. So now I know a little bit of Lebanese kitchen too. 

When the weather started getting colder I made two pairs of crochet slippers.

This pair was made for my sister-in-law.

And yea, I finally finished the throw I began last year.. before  i got to know I was pregnant. I am not a fast crocheter, lol.

This is only my second crochet blanket.  I wanted to incorporate lavender color and beige. If interested, it is the Red heart square pattern I used. Looks totally different from the one on the website. My squares are also smaller.

Dear friends, I will tell more about latest events, how we are trying to implement cultures' chord, what challenges are there when bringing up a child in a multicultural, multilingual family. Till then take care and I miss you all a lot!

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! 

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!