No one can hook just one...

..No i really mean it.

Do you guys have this world famous book? 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton? If you do, then you know where i am coming from.. You simply CANNOT ,for the love of dear god ,settle down on a single square!!

Here is my list of hooking fun from this book :

Oooppssss!! Not this one.. This is the Sunburst Granny from Priscilla's crochet with a great photo tutorial HERE. This is one of my all time favorite and i had to include it!!

This one below in purple shades and the one below it in plain single color..

 #113 Wisteria

#137 Criss Cross

 #16 Waterlily

#81 Sunshine and Showers

African Flower - Another personal favourite from dear Barbara of Made in K-town. Find the great pattern HERE.

#117 Granny in the middle

 

Now my hands were itching to make a blanket again... The temptation is too great. I have to have a big project going on else i feel restless and the small projects do satisfy my creative urge but i spend hordes of time browsing and then even more time regretting that i browsed so much instead of hooking/crafting!! After many trials and errors i decided i am going to do a sampler blanket. But not an ordinary total sampler blanket. Because i need to have order even in chaos!!!

I need a plan..

I need to know how each square will look..

I need to lay them down and test the combinations..

I need to know which block looks good next to which and in which shade..

I was limited in colors and this is for my princess and she wants it only in PINK N PURPLE!! 

I do not want patterns which are too complex and which need a reading after every round and a counting after every few stitches..

I concluded that i am a crocheter from diagrams and NOT FROM WRITTEN PATTERNS!!

I threw out the idea of a hexagon blanket in muted shades with spots of red, blue, green amidst the greys and browns n tans...

I finally decided on a gingham kind of sampler with 1 row of purple blocks and 1 row of pink blocks, alternating the dark pattern blocks with simpler mostly single shaded blocks..

The pattern squares are below:

The simple , mostly single shaded squares are below...

The pinks are on order from the store..and i am eagerly waiting for my mail!!

These are my favourite blocks for a sampler afghan.. There are n number of pretty blocks out there, but i did not want very holey or lacy ones..at the same time not too solid ones..

I have modified each pattern in the book so that my block measures 5" instead of the 6" in the book.. Again a silly quirk of mine in which i feel a 6" block looks too big for the blanket and i wanted only a max of 5 " block..

How is your crafty space? Do write in as i love reading from you guys :)

PS: Love all of you for such sweet words on my Puff Flower Bag.

♥

♥

Thanks Kara from Petals to Picots for the feature too..You can see it HERE .

Love,
xxx

Vibrant Cotton and a Must-Have Book

Helllo my LOVELY people.

Hope you ladies are fine and all that...

Today, its a bit of a rush post as my hands are waiting to hook - i have an almost 99% finished ripple to show off and yummy delicious cotton threads waiting to be made into something fun, useful and decorative!

I had to show you guys my new yarn. Its the RICO Creative Cotton ordered from Deramores. Link HERE.

 

The colors..oh the colors...they are toooo good to be true...Yummy, colorful and delightful. Every crocheter's delight! For my readers who are in India, the thickness is very similar to the Laura Cotton you are familiar with. But the texture, it is very different.

Very soft and very thin threads not so split y as Laura but it is much softer than Laura. The color shades are much wider here and have a great finish to it. But the similarity is that both are fast colors. I tested the usual suspect - Red and Purple, first wash of the strand yielded a bit of color bleed, the second time not much. So guess the first wash has to be at the dry-cleaners :) Recommended for home decor projects, mandalas , buntings, purses and such stuff. Not recommended for use on clothing.

Now, as i promised earlier - A Book Review of Around the Corner Crochet Borders by Edie Eckman.
A must have book for any one who loves making blankets and adding a touch of crochet to home items.

Doing the border from my ripple using the Border #42.

 Best part of this book is how she has told us to do the corners. I now have a perfect cornered blanket :)
2 more rows to go and i will have a Ta-daah for you very soon!!

 The hand towel is done with Border #73 and Rico Cotton.

A few more on my to-do list..

 This would look great as an edging for any girl's dress, what say?

There you are my lovelies... New yarn, new projects, new books - a world of possibilities i must say :)

Finally, a dear fellow blogger Nata from Nata's Nest gave me a pleasant surprise and passed on a sweet award to me HERE.

Thank you so much dear for this appreciation! She is very creative and you must pop over at her place for a visit and wont be disappointed!!

So off i am dearies, got to get busy with the border and be done with it.
Till then, have fun, be crafty and stay happy :)

Kusudama Flowers Wreath and a new craft love

Hello my dear friends and fellow bloggers!!

How are you guys, i am really missing all the fun and action of blogging thanks to my domestic crisis...but but the end is near..i have less than a month to go now till i can craft more and hook even more! My giant granny blanket is still waiting for me patiently and i am just controlling the urge to put everything else down and have a go at it...**sigh**

Anyways...coming back, are you guys getting sucked in the Christmas Festivities and Jolly Season? Though our family does not celebrate this festival as per our religion i always enjoy this festival. I studied in a convent school and we used to have Christmas plays and i used to soo look forward to those events. Also the carol singing part was my favorite! Times have changed and now i am an adult and a mom so i enjoy the discounts and the sales. Best time of the year to pick up great deals in HK. My favorite brands all on 50% off and the whole decorations and lights makes me cherry and happy. Also the weather is getting colder here, ideal for lotsa n lotsa crocheting therapy! Just missing a fire:)

My girl's school had a christmas hanging 3D decoration competition and this is what i came up with!

These are the Japanese Kusudama Flowers. Done from paper - Origami is my new craft love. It is really amazing what you can do with paper. I rarely do paper craft these days as it is a bit difficult with toddlers around. But stayed up one night and finished this. This was originally my mother-in-law's idea and i am happy to have been able to execute it. I had lotsa fun making this wreath. Did the flowers by following the instructions HERE.

 Made a wreath base from therm-col sheets.  Wrapped the base in brown stretchable crepe paper. Did the flowers and pierced a hole to glue them on the wreath. Tied 2 bows and lo and behold! A simple and so beautiful piece. You must try these flowers. They are very very addictive :)

Let the festivities and shopping begin! Have a great season ahead and much more to come!!

Love,
xxx

Magical Mondays

I know i know, there is nothing magical about a monday, especially as it comes after a weekend!! But read on..

A good day to all my dear friends :)
Welcoming my new blogger friends -

Mihael  from MihaelARTCrochet - your crochet laces and bead work is simply out of this world

Anna from me.anna - do check out her blog to understand what me.anna means!!

Eileen from Crochet Attic - true eye candy blog. Cant wait to see more of your inspirations.

Barbara from Made in K-Town - love love your blog and all your ideas :)

Kara from Petals to Picots - amazing work and an inspiring blog!

Rajeswari Jaghamani from http://jaghamani.blogspot.com

Melissa Richardson - welcome into the daiper mom's world

Mor Lotte from familien geleff fonnesbech 

Global nomad from PigTails - please teach me how to click photos! love all your snaps on blog.

This means i havn't blogged for a while now :) But its soo good to meet new people and make friends and learn about different cultures and people all over the world. Isn't it magical? So isn't the monday magical?

 

Finished this table mat come square doily. Toyed with the idea for a while and decided on making this a square table piece, used 3 different patterns from my favorite book of blocks - you can read about it here.

Loved working all the 3 blocks. But especially enjoyed the Light and Shadow blocks. It is such a simple pattern done in 1 color but has such a special look about it. Magical isn't it?

 

Found my new favorite granny pattern - the center piece. Maybe i will use this block pattern for my next big blanket project :)

 

My son's most used toy. The joy of small things i must say - yes its magical :)

Not my usual bright colors. Wanted a sober look so that i could high light the flowers on top. Used a simple shell border to finish things off..

Here are the flowers and my old fashioned phone. That has to be ignored :) 

My lovely girl, with lovely orchids :) Magical isn't it??

 

 Pretty flowers for all my lovely readers! And my helper is back after her day off and it makes it the most magical as i don't need to attend to house hold chores and can sit back and blog and connect with the world after a work filled weekend :)) Magical!! Bring me my cup of Tea now!!!

Lots of love,

xxx

Granny goodness

Good Morning my lovely people!

Woke up to this bunch of lovely roses and carnations.

Little people woke up to this bunch of playful balloons.
Guess its all happy down here then :)

I have been planning a new huge granny square blanket. Contemplating on the yarn and pattern.
After reading so much on other yarn and crochet blogs about StyleCraft Special DK i had it ordered and soon after it arrived in the mail. This yarn is what everyone say it plus some more!! I just love love love love the texture, feel and the easy with which one can hook this up. Liked all the colors of this batch i ordered except the pink. It is a bit tooo bright for my palate. 

 

Made these granny squares from this book. You can read about this lovely book in my previous post .

 

Which is your favourite among the four?

My favourite one is this below.

 

Excuse the colors thoo.... Imagine the pink in read and the blue is varigated pink and the yellow in a pastel pink. Wow, it would look lovely. Waiting to get my hands on the new order which i have placed for my StyleCraft DK...

There are lots of ways to join these granny squares.

The Crafty Tortoise lists a few of there here.
Dear Lucy provides a beautiful tutorial for the same here.  This is my personal favourite way to join squares. Very easy and also i feel very stable and secure method.

One can also do the single crochet method of joining by holding the wrong sides together to get a wonderful ridge appearance in the front. This gives every square a ridge border and looks fantastic.
I have done the same here. Notice the yellow ridges giving a totally new look to the dish cloth.

Joining granny squares is very therapeutic.Crochet therapy at its best infact.
I have had my dose of this today. Hope you do so too !!

Love,
xxx.

Beyond the Square Motif

Hello my dear fellow bloggers!
Hope you all have been having a sunny and fun filled day :)

 A view of the finest harbour fronts. Buildings and mountain terrain at the same time. Probably the only one in the world. The view for my coffee cant get any better ;)

Here's something that will surely brighten up the dull day - A book. This is one of the smartest purchases i have made in the recent past. "Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs". You can go ahead and have a sneak peak at this Amazon link. For the people in India you can order this book at Flipkart. Here's the link. Best part of ordering in flipkart is the option of cash on delivery :)

Coming back to the book, it is truly amazing, has unbelievable motifs and my mind went buzzzzzzzzzzzz with ideas and things to do after seeing this book in my hands. Opening the parcel and turning each page over and over again, i am still not able to soak in this book completely. You see what i mean by ideas right??

Learnt a new technique from this book. Known as Sliding Loop, think it is the best way to start your motifs as you can adjust the size of your beginning circle.

I was pleasantly surprised to see this challenge by Barbara of Make in K-town. You can read more about this here.

Readily joined in and here is my first motif:

Category : Squares
Motif No # 89

Hope you guys have a look at the book and join me in this adventure of motifs and beyond!