Angry and Sad. That’s what I feel.
The terrorist attack in Mumbai that is ongoing is mindless, cruel, cowardly and unthinkable. I cannot imagine how people can be so evil!!
A fellow Raveler‘s parents are being held hostage at the Taj Hotel. My prayers and thoughts are with the innocents who are going through this harrowing ordeal.
Today is the day that so many of our friends are celebrating reasons to be thankful for.
Does evil always have to win over good? NAY, I say!
Kirtana turned 1 last week. Surrounded by lots of love, family, friends and homemade cake (thanks to my wonderful MIL!!) our little one had a lovely day.
It’s hard to believe that this little teeny bundle who was born underweight is now a walking, babbling, exploring toddler and brings us so much joy.
We waited for her arrival for such a long time (8 years is a long time!!!!) and now she’s made our little family complete:)
Kiki-Bee…Mama, Daddy and Prithvi “anna” love you sooo much.
Happy. That’s how I’ve been feeling lately. Happy and thankful for so many things that. Maybe it’s the season, or the optimism about change and hope in these uncertain times.
I’m on a bitty knitting kick lately where all the projects I want to knit are, well, itty bitty. I think when knittng minutes in every day are few, they become precious and so embarking on a large scale project will just make me feel like I will never get anything finished.
I’ve had this self-striping cotton yarn in my stash for a while and so I cast on for this easy and fun dress that I call “Happy”. This is what “KiKi” thought about her doll’s dress…
Hmmm, she wears a diaper too
I can stick my finger in her mouth
Maybe I will gnaw on her foot
More happy knitting on the needles and I’ll share soon.
I think that I have come to realize what was obvious to everyone other than myself…I blog only when I knit or mostly when I have something knitting related to share.
Knitting, while being an integral part of who I am, does not define me.
I am wife, mama, toy-picker-uper, boo-boo-kisser, homework companion, cook (well, occasionally), laundry agent, grocery shopper, playmate, homemaker, knitter and so much more that each woman/wife/mama/friend is made up of. I think that I was hiding behind my knitting and maintaining a degree of anonymity. Funny that this is what the internet helps us do. It’s difficult to put yourself out there and possibly face rejection? But, this blogging thing, it makes me happy and so I think I will crawl out of my shell and talk more. Maybe?
On a lighter note…
1. Where is your cell phone? Dining Table
2. Where is your significant other? Work
3. Your hair color? Black
4. Your mother? India
5. Your father? Missed
6. Your favorite thing? My family
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your dream/goal? Travel the world
9. The room you’re in? Living Room
10. Your hobby? Knitting
11. Your fear? Death of my loved ones
12. Where do you want to be in six years? Beautiful BC (I miss Canada)
13. Where were you last night? At home
14. What you’re not? Patient
15. One of your wish list items? More sleep
16. Where you grew up? Bangalore, India
17. The last thing you did? Make coffee
18. What are you wearing? Jeans n T-shirt
19. Your TV? Grey’s Anatomy (when I can)
20. Your pet? None
21. Your computer? HP
22. Your mood? Happy
23. Missing someone? Vineet
24. Your car? VW Passat
25. Something you’re not wearing? Socks
26. Favorite store? Souk Madinat
27. Your favorite season? Fall
28. Your favorite color? Pink (I know, ewww!)
29. When is the last time you laughed? This morning with Kirtana
30. Last time you cried? Can’t remember
If you want, you can play along:)
Awhile ago I signed up for a swap on Ravelry organized by the newly-wed Rima (hi Rima!!!). I got to make a new crafting friend and enjoyed knitting something for someone else.
My swap pal was Huda who is an dental-whizz-scientist and get this, has been crocheting for the past 16 years, no pressure there!!!! Initially, I was stumped for ideas because Huda lives in southern India where warm woolies are a no-no given the tropical temps, so accessory type knitting it had to be.
After lots of Ravelry trawling, this is what literally flew off the needles.
I knit the Montego Bay Scarf for which I used almost 2 skeins of Koigu KPPPM and 5.5mm needles (US size 9). It turned out light and airy and squishy at the same time because Koigu has the quality of being squishy when knit up. Me like Koigu!! I cannot tell you how fast this scarf knit up – the open lace pattern coupled with big knitting logs needles and a simple 4-row repeat helped.
But that’s not all!! I got my package from Huda yesterday and I have to say, I was blown away by all of the goodies she sent me. There is a towel that she crocheted an edging for and these dainty roses she embroidered as a monogram. The sweet roses are also embroidered on a crocheted coin pouch which is lined with silk and a tank top with the same rose detail.
She included some knitting cotton too in colors that I love!! To top it all, there was this cute little fella – an amigurumi mouse!! WOW, thanks Huda!!!
Isn’t he just adorable?
A nasty bug has been making its rounds at our household – first it was the hubster, then the kids and now it’s my turn. To get through the nasties I thought a strong dose of chocolate gooiness and a good book would be great. So I baked a batch of brownies – the fudgy, warm, chewy kind and curled up with The Friday Night Knitting Club. I’m really liking the book so far, can’t wait for the movie to come out. It’s got Julia Roberts in it and she’s a knitter!!
I also decided to knit me a bit of happy with this colorful tiny ball of yarn that I had laying around. I think that it will make a cute dress for Kirtana’s doll. Hmm, let’s see what comes out of it, what with the fuzziness of my anti-histamine infused brain and all.
There’s something wrong with this picture…
I am knitting socks!!! I’m using DPNs to knit these socks!!!
Isn’t this the Sandlands where it’s perpetual flip-flops weather???
Isn’t knitting in the round with size 2 DPNs just like a game of pick-up-sticks (a game that I suck at, let me add)???
I’ll let you know what happens once I’m done knitting the cuff. Let me tell you, small circumference knitting with so many sticks involved is scary stuff!! Any tips from sock knitters out there are always welcome.
By the way, on my needlesssssss is the humble beginnings of the Through The Loops Mystery Sock celebrating Socktoberfest. I’ve cast on with some lovely Sweet Georgia Superwash Merino yarn.
Since it’s hot and humid here in Dubai 9 months out of the year, I have often been drawn towards knitting tank top patterns. However, I never seem to wear them out often enough, no particular reason, just never do. So, when we went on our recent mini vacation, I was determined to dig these tanks out of my closet and wear them already!!! And I did.
Here beginneth the tank top parade…
First up, Smooch from the Rowan All Seasons Cotton Collection. It was my first time working waist shaping into a garment and I loved how this type of nip-tuck knitting can transform the wearability of a garment. I have not turned away from waist shaping since. The yarn I used was the lovely Rowan ASC and is one of the better cotton yarns that I’ve knit with. I don’t remember much else about the project details in terms of needle size used and any changes that I made because I knit this about three years ago, but I still *heart* this tank.
An even older knit that I worked on in my pre-waist-shaping days was this halter tank using Phildar Copacabana. It was an easy pattern that I just made up as I went along. I remember using big plastic needles with this yarn and I hated how the yarn actually squeaked as the stitches slid along the needle. Eeww!! This was no fault of the yarn but purely to do with the plastic needles. This yarn is a tape yarn which feels papery currently discontinued by Phildar. I think that I used just under 4 skeins for this tank top.
Then there was another Phildar pattern for the Kate Halter waaaaaay back. I knit this with Phildar Aviso and I have to say that I don’t care too much for this yarn, it’s splity, heavy and tends to pill. This was another tank that was knit on huge honkin’ needles and so basically was done in no time. The collar/straps construction was a first for me since most Phildar patterns have you work the collar separate after which you attach the live stitches <<eeeek>> to the main body one by one. It’s knitting surgery and can cause a lot of cussing and a painful noggin, very easy to botch up. So, if you’re ever going this route, proceed with caution or maybe throw caution to the wind and proceed after a stiff shot of a strong brew!
Lastly, remember when I cast on for this tank? Apparently, I finished it but don’t think that it ever showed up on my blog. I used Sublime yarn for this which is a merino yarn and so didn’t end up with the problem of it being too heavy or “blooming” after use like my other tank tops. This pattern too was made up using an all over eyelet design and some waist shaping detail. The back and front are identical and so I could have knit this in the round and saved my self some seaming, but I wanted a bit of sturdiness that only seams can give a garment to accentuate the waist shaping. I seamed the sides, no biggie!
Here endeth the tank top parade!
PS: I don’t know why lately all my images on WordPress look washed out, maybe a bug that needs tweaking. But if you click on each image you will be able to see the actual color.
That’s all folks!!
It seems like ages since I blogged because I’ve been swamped under a myriad of things that needed to get done, I’m still nowhere close to done, but I’ve missed blogging and that’s why I’m here:)
There was a fun swap on Ravelry that I was a part of. It was my first official swap and the best part was getting to make a new crafting friend. My swap partner was the talented and lovely Soulcrochet. Check out the jewelry she’s handcrafted on her Rav projects page. I can’t reveal what I knitted for her yet and so that post is for another time. My package is ready to be mailed first thing tomorrow and I’m excited to see what she thinks about it.
Our family took a mini vacation over the Eid holidays which was much needed – surf, sand, great food, yummy cocktails and plenty-o-sun not to mention the amazing view we had of the Arabian Sea from our equally amazing apartment right on the beach, we couldn’t ask for more!! But what I will cherish the most was the sweet moments we shared together as a family enjoying laughs and walks on the beach and general monkeying around.
In knitting news, I can’t seem to stop with these cute little knit bits and there’s more cute stuff that’s on Julie’s website that I will definitely make soon. I’ve felt the need to do a bit of crafting as each day tumbles into the next and I never realized before how happy these crafting moments make me feel. These knit bits are the perfect projects for limited knitting time.
As you can see, I sort of messed up on the red and white stocking with the color change. Um…I forgot to work the color change after the heel shaping. But that’s ok, it still turned out cute. The yarn I used for these were bits of acrylic in my stash and I love that these are knit flat and then seamed. No messing around with 4 dpns, 2 circs, magic loop, nothing! Just plain, fun knitting, even though Christmas is still a couple months away.
My stash – I’m running out of hiding places for it!!! Small projects that are quick have been on my needles as a means to get rid of stash and I don’t think that I’ve had this many active WIPs anytime. But I’m happy that there has been progress on each project which I hope are not going to hide at the bottom of my knitting basket <ahem..Printed Silk Cardi..ahem>!!!
First up, this scarf that I was working on eons ago? Ripped…
Soon to become this
Then there was this project that was great fun to knit on and was meant for Kirtana to wear when she was still a wee infant. Well, she grew up quick and that’s when I lost steam on that (seaming and icords left). There were some leftover skeins of yarn from that project which I’ve used for a few quick projects.
I’m usually not a dishcloth/washcloth knitter. But I think that knitting quick projects with my cotton stash could be my way of “going green”.
A couple more projects can be classified stealth knitting meant as gifts and so blogging about them will have to be done later.
Stashbusting, it’s a good thing!
