Small sweater and cap for little one

This is a seamless sweater made from machine washable superwash 100% wool for school in school colors. Came out quite good. Pleased with the result. Also made a matching cap to go with it using the knifty knitter.

Diyas for Diwali

These are Diyas or lamps i had made a few years back. I use them every diwali and store them back. These are made from the smallest pot holders from walmart. All i did was went to town with a couple of basic colors to form a palette and colored various patterns. Later when dry added glue and sprinkled glitter to give it the bling.

Usually these are oil lamps, but due to the flame being such a hazard in western countries i put the tealight battery operated candles and place these all around the home to make the festival of lights truly festive.

The completed Shawl

I finally got to take a pitcure of the shawl with all pieces of the puzzle joined and sides completed using the rainey sisters border. It does look really good. Pleased with the final result and a sense of accomplishment.

Selecting a border - hard decision.

I made these 2 borders sample borders to select which one would suit best for the shawl.

The first is a part of the square (i did not make that one) from Betty Salpekar and the other is the border from the Rainey sisters. I need a 3" border to get a decent width for the shawl. The first one got the most votes. I'm still thinking..... hmmm, "in-pin safety pin"

My 10th and last Square for the shawl by Vicki Server

This square personifies Love for the heart, anchor for hope and the last one for faith. All three essentials to support anything that is important cause for anyone. Without these support is not possible. Be it for any kind of struggle....

Made it as the last square but was glad to have it done to complete it.

Now that i have the 10 squares its time to connect them and get the border going.

My 9th Square by Barbara McIntire

These cables went well with the rest, so made it in time available. Liked the fluidity of the cables. These are a bit similar to the ones on my laptop, so though it was not totally new, the results look a lot difference and boosted my confidence.

Handle for a water bottle to hold horizontal

The problem: A water bottle for school with a hole for a finger as the handle.
The need: Handle to hold it horizontally over the shoulder.

The Solution : To Crochet a holder on my own.

The color was the choice of the end user - Bright Blue. This project was a happy break from the knitting, a quick one that got done fast but needed a whole lot of thinking to get right.

My 8th Square by Ann McCauley

This square turned our prettier than i expected was a little long and less wide but after blocking turned out to be the right size.

My 7th Square by Julie H. Levy

I liked the cabling in this square and wanted some of the ones that were neat cabling patterns besides the centered ones so that the pomegranate ones have company. Liked making this pattern and the result. Pleasant experience.

My 6th Square by Janet Martin

Making this one i was skeptical as the net is a lot of cabling and if i would get it right. I called it the "fishy the fish square", a TV serial one of the characters loves in Miss B G a kids serial, somehow that stuck. It was not a difficult square, took a bit. Into it is also knitted in a doctors office visit :).

My Fifth Square by Georgia Vincent

This was a different one in the sense that it was made in the circular frogged it many
times had a challenge completing it and did not enjoy making it. The output did not meet the amount of effort i put in. This square is not something i will be making again- for sure. Knew it will be a bull but just took it by the horns. I was very happy when it was complete.

My Fourth Square by Dagmara Berztiss

This square went in well followed the pattern and it just presented itself. Followed the flow of the pattern like a stream of water. This has a very early morning associated and a knitting meet with lots of conversations knitted in :).

My third square by Judy Summer

After the house wanted to try another representative square that was a challenge so this was next. Adored the way it came out especially the spider and bugs. My memory on this ones is a mistake i decided to keep after discovering it 10 lines down as it was made in conversation with a dear friend i spoke to after 20 years!.

My Second Square by Suzanne Atkinson

I had the repetitiveness of the first so decided to go in for a neat looking one. This one was considered difficult but it was easier to me the Sun Rays on the O need to be added but the rest is complete. I changed the church steeple to have a flag, This was knit over the July 4th weekend too!. Loved how it came out. The ribbing lower and the reverse stockinette made this a little difficult to block. Any ways, enjoyed making this square.

My First Square by Ann Strong

I have starting blocking the squares and with each is a thought of what went on at that time. I decided to begin the shawl with the first block being one of the easy ones. Loved the seed stitch, was easy to do no frogging and decided that this was the yarn i would go with. Easy to care and easy to knit.

Home made Rakhis for Raksha Bandhan

There is a different charm and value to rakhis made by hand and is appreciated for the effort and thought. This one i made from crochet and added in iron on rhinestones for the "bling" factor. It was a quick evening project, liked the way it turned out.

A shawl with a few squares from - The Great American Aran Afghan

Ive started on the GAAA as it is called but am not gonna make the whole thing, just enough for a wrap to use at my desk. The air conditioning gets me really cold.

Ive completed a couple of squares but they are not yet blocked so not photographed. Will post after photographing. Maybe a commentary on what i have done and my experience with it.

It surely has been a learning experience and an enjoyable one with different techniques to learn as well as the project not getting too monotonous to drop off.

Girrafe on demand

This was a quick - on demand project for my kid. Thorughly enjoyed creating it

in 4 days straight.

Laptop cover/sleeve - completed project

My laptop was in need of a cover. Search led to aran cabled cover. Started it and learnt so much from this project like cabling and icord.

It took way way longer than expected almost every second stich is different. Trust my love for challenges as long as it comes out good!.

Anyways all is well that comes out well.

An embriodered bookmark

As in the earlier post i had mentioned that i will try to do kasuthi, i did complete the bookmark. This was supposed to be an afternoon project but instead became a snatched a moment here and a moment there one. I purposely took the image above that way to highlight how it looks exactly the same on both sides so ideal for things that show on both sides.

PS: The material is one of the standard bookmarks one finds in the craft stores.

Kasuti it is....

I had the good opportunity to learn this traditional embroidery pattern from an aunty who was visiting her son from India. This is basically done by ladies that are construction workers, I'm told, not sure though. However , It is a neat embroidery that looks the same on both sides of the fabric. This is mostly done on Sarees and is beautiful to look at.

The above image is a part of the sampler i had made with all the patterns learned. The next time i had put it to use was at Diwali when i had made cards with this embroidery and sent out to family back India. Just that i did not take any pictures so did not post.

So now that i have the supplies for making a bookmark from the craft store, i will go ahead with making one. Now the time to count and decide, the decision - what pattern and how it fits on the bookmark..... One thing though, as lovely as it looks its addictive too, just like a say a good book difficult to put down and difficult to get off your mind.

a little knitting after ages

Its been a long time that i have blogged, not for the reason that i have not been doing stuff, its just that sometimes there is lots of things going on.
Looks like we need o search to get wool. Half the things we wear have synthetic in them. My mom asked me to get a couple of skeins of wool for her back in India for her to knit as she is not satisfied what is available there. So as i went to buy the wool i wanted some for myself loved the feel for the material. So i got some Lion Yarn and began knitting a multi directional scarf with directions from a dear colleague of mine. it is also found here its about 7" wide and 68" long.

Once completed, i also made a hat with the left over wool with a nifty knitter. I just took up the needles after years.

There were many firsts in the exercise. Learning to knit multi directional. Learning the loom for making the matching hat and reading the knitting terms. It was an interesting journey. If i do make the scarf next time it will be in variegated yarn to show off the directions. Also learned that a tighter knit makes more slipped stitches - knitting loose makes a wonderful fabric and something that just goes by.

So motivated was i that i decided to go in for a challenge. Through the years i have seen my mom and grand moms - avid knitters- bless their heart, do some wonderful designs. They made a couple of items a year, i usually got one sweater every year. So when i do see a design - i am reminded of a design i have seen somewhere in the past. However when i saw the brioche stitch i was hooked. Loved the stitch and the result as i have never seen anything like it. So began by trying to swatch, and learn myself, a challenge.

The scarf is reversible double coloured ribbing one very thick and very stretchable, much more than the 2knit - 2 purl or 1knit-1purl ones.

What i learned as part of this was the Italian cast on this took a while to get right but the seam is very very flexible. The cast off was also a first, the Kitchener's cast off, a flexible cast off. Since the pattern changed so much i had to constantly check for it and me careful as it is very easy to make mistakes an very difficult to correct them.

Now thinking whats next - crochet?, kasuti? or a cap for the reversible scarf - yet to decide. Currently just enjoying the accomplishment.