The Latest off my hook

A lot of crocheting has been happening but, I need a blocking , weaving in finishing off Fairy .Please send her this way as soon as you get hold of her .ok?

While I am waiting for her to arrive, I decided to make this potholder that didn’t need any blocking or had too many weaving in ,just so I’d have something crocheted to show.

Another Close Up

Project Details

Pattern : Potholders Japanese Book.

Thread: I used the thread that Marvie sent me for centre.And the Varigated thread is Anchor Lifestyle Thread I bought from Mimi KAM15, I think.

(M took off the thread wrapper.His way of getting back at me is hiding my stuff here and there )

Hook: 1.75 mm

A nice quick project , it has shells in it !so whats there not to love?.

This book is really great and I have so many patterns I want to make from it.

It has a cute chicken, those adorable dresses and bloomers and also a scotty pattern in it which made me think of VIKand her Molly.

Being used to the Ondori Japanese books with its charts and instructions in English it takes a while to get used to the instructions in Japanese. But you can figure out most of the stuff with help the charts. Its no big deal.

Another potholder that I found on a blog as a vintage pattern is also there.Will update the link, once I remember where I saw it.

The only thing I wished when making this potholder was , that we get the sugar and cream type cotton yarns more here. With Sugar and Cream or Bernat Cotton, this would be perfect.

Thread actually makes it look small.I should have used two or three strands of thread held together.

I personally like the cotton yarn instead of using several strands of thread held together.

In other news, I’ve got my computer back which is great , but my internet is still flaky,I’ve been reading all the blogs but for some reason havn’t been able to comment. Sorry about that.Will do so as soon as I can

The quilt as you go quilt is coming out nicely too.Sitting on the floor and cutting is so comfortable .The thing that I need to do asap, is to figure out a way to make the excited imp I have , sit and watch instead of jumping across my rotary cutter holding hands on the floor.

The bad nanny story I heard over the weekend has disturbed me so much that I’ve lost sleep and am going around with a headache that won’t go away.Its specially hard when you know the baby right from the time it was concieved .

finally flowers from a flower show we went to some time back.

I wonder if ‘A host of golden daffodils’, looked like this????.There must have been more, no?

Of all the different colours of roses , this one looked so perfect.

And did you know?When the sun goes down, they actually switch off the Sun switch and switch on the Moon switch?. Yup , that is what happens up there in the sky !!

Who would be doing that, you wonder?

Why? God ofcourse, what else would He be doing UP there? Except Playing with switches!!!!

So you wanna know

how the world around, looks in a dust storm ?

This is how!!!

This will give you an idea of how this same place looks in good weather

For two boisterous imps stuck in the home, with a mom, who is no mood to entertain them or lets them jump around the home ,its no fun at all. Trust me.

So ………

Mary Poppins has come in to rescue the poor hapless kiddies for the Nth time!!! And while she merrily sings “a spoon ful of sugar makes the medicine go down”, they sing along and go about their business of reading a book or playing with their toys.

Tat Memoirs

Long back , when I was a little girl of about nine or ten, we went on a family trip to a rubber estate on the side of a forest to spend our summer vacation.There, we met the wife of the forest ranger by chance and she took us to her cottage right in the middle of the jungle.

Inside the cottage ,the furniture was mostly rattan,but very tastefully decorated with hand embroidered cushions, crocheted chair backs and tatted tablecloths, handmade curtains, hand painted pictures adorned the wall. To my young mind,the little home looked like it was taken straight out of a fairy tale book!!!! frills and laces and beads ……it became my dream home!!!! .(although rt now , my home is anything but laces and frills )

I remember my mom and my aunts going ga ga over all the lace on display.Thats when they saw the tatted table cloth , asked what it was and she proceeded to give a little demo on how to tat.She gave each of them a little shuttle.I don’t think my mom learnt how to tat, but she brought back the shuttle with her and still has it in her sewing box. I donot know if she still remembers, but I do ,coz I was so fascinated by all the hand made beauty I saw in every nook at that home.

Well I have ever since wanted to tat, but the powers that be have this penchant for spoiling all my attempts at trying to learn a new art.So , as usual, either I couldn’t find a teacher or when I did, I couldn’t go!

When I came here , and with not much to do , taught myself to crochet, and partly to knit . Tried to teach myself to Tat , with no success.Then I learnt of this wonderful place where there was a Tatting workshop too. I bugged all that I could get hold of, to ask when it was starting, when it did start, you guessed it, I couldn’t go!!

Lot of organizing, some tear works (yea , yea, I can be a baby and a difficult one at that too ,if I want to ) later,I did manage to go after all.And the teacher was very kind to postpone the class so I could attend.Sweet.

The workshop consisted of two ,three hour classes, held over a period of two weeks.

First it seemed like it was very hard getting the knots and I couldn’t get the stitch knots at all.Then the teacher, told us that tatting was a ‘Dance of the fingers’ and showed us how (btw, she has beautiful fingers that when she showed us how, looked indeed like a dance of the fingers and I forgot to breathe for a few seconds at how fast she was !)after which it seemed easy.And I got the knots right. You know what, I was the only one, of the two students that got it right. Yay!!

I really couldn’t put the shuttle down after i came back home and kept at it .Next class, I was the only one in class.Lots of personal attention!!

However, the class didn’t go like I thought it would.

While I was at the workshop, I got that dreadful Phone call ,and I was caught between wanting to go back home and not knowing what to do, since my teacher had put aside all her appointments for this workshop.

Earlier she had stated that having a workshop for just one person wasn’t worth her time and here she was doing exactly that for me.It just didn’t feel right to go. Always taught to put duty before emotions, I decided to stay on . And the secret reason was I didn’t want to go home and stay alone too.

So I decided to stay back at the workshop and the teacher took it upon herself to distract me and taught me the rest of the things while she talked about her own loss and tried to make me feel better in every possible way.Extremely sweet again.

It just felt nice to hear someone talk and not think about what happened. Especially when I could not get hold of dh on the phone and ask him to come back home to be with me.

What happened after the phone call is a blur and though I went through the motions of learning, I really did not know what I was doing .After returning back from the workshop, I never practised .It took a while before I could touch the shuttle without getting into some sort of a sinking feeling.

However ,when I decided to see if I still remembered something from the workshop, I was surprised I did!! She had taught me well

I still have a loooooong way to go . I am glad I ‘ve made a start and now whatever I make out of it depends entirely on how much I practice.I am still trying to get the stitches right.

This is what we did on the first day of the workshop.

Second day of the workshop, I brought this back with me.

And these are what I made to practise.

White can get boring after a while and varigated thread to the rescue. Love how the colours unfold and bring variety to the simple pattern.

When I was going through my Needle &Thread Mag, there was a tutorial on how to make this motif.Since I didnot find instructions how to finish the motif, it is very clumsily finished.

This is the latest string of lace I am making……

Some improvement huh?

Those who came looking for crochet stuff, please don’t go away stomping like Rumpelstiltskin, some crochet show and tell is on it way

Talked too soon????

* TMI post*

I thought M loved school , from day one.Boy was I wrong?!

Week one- went well, no tears, no tantrums, with just a simple statement thrown in once in a while, that he would like to stay at home instead of going to school .Overall he seemed quite happy and I was happy, that he was finally settling in.

Week two- came the dreadful dust storms, and inspite of all the preventives he ’s on, he got sick.Trips back and forth to the hospital, medicines and obviously no school followed. And then when he got a little better, he didn’t want to go anymore as he had got comfortable to the pampering he got at home.

Week three- a big fight and buckets of tears later, he agreed to go if his dad got him a Cupcake for his school tiffin.”Oh that is all he wants”!!! we heaved a sigh of relief -dad skipped hopped and jumped to the nearby store and got all the flavours of cupcakes he could grab there- and His Royal Highness finally smiled and took his bag and went to school cheerily waving to all of us.

Came back from school with a note that he had loose motion,He had soiled his underpants and came back without it and had spent the  hour at the school clinic complaining of stomach ache. So they sent him home early.You wouldn’t have guessed something was wrong if you looked at him when he came back.He was all smiles!!!!Back at home, he was perfectly fine. No more loose motion or stomach ache or anything.

Next day we decided to give him a break. And no nothing at all happened.He was perfectly fine.

Now he says he is done with school and doesn’t want to go anymore coz he likes staying at home!!!! Sigh.

And so we are back to square one.

My mother still cribs that I refused to even turn back and say bye to her on my first day at K.G. for fear of being taken back home!! I always loved school.So much so that no school was a punishment my mom often threatened me with!

As a kid,I was a fussy eater and all my mom had to do to make me gobbled up all that was on my plate and lick it clean even, was say the Magic word , ‘you won’t go to school if you don’t do this’ Never stayed at home for punishment however. Just saying the words was enough.

I always think I am just as No nonsense as my mom if not more but none of the things that worked with us for my mom seem to work for me.

When I try that trick on my kids, they smile widely, let out a whoop and settle down happily to spend the day at home.I am at my wits ends!!!!!

Dh thinks I am the wierd one for liking school so much.And we just need to be patient and let him stay at home if he wants for some more time, coz he is going to be studying all his life once he starts school.But then he has to start somewhere rt?

Dh is the softie, of us two ,with the children and they always know how to play their cards with him.All it takes is just a puppy dog look from them to melt him into a puddle .

Now that this week is over,I am keeping my fingers crossed that he will finally get the message that he cannot just stay on at home and that he has to go to school.

Not that he does not like to study. He likes to write and draw and colour and look at all his books and repeat the numbers and alphabets say the ryhmes etc , and has me read his books all day long,but all that he wants to do at home and not in the school.Its frustrating!

Just praying the weather gods throw dust on our plans!

A quiltin’ we will go

This is the mini quilt I did in the Quilt Workshop.Its called London Stairs.I love this quilt for how easy it is to make once you get the hang of it.

I was thrilled that my teacher thought I had done such a good job on it!!!! I matched the seams really well this time around and also matched the blocks without the teacher’s help.

I had picked up a lovely poinsettia fabric sometime back during the last workshop and also had some Fat Quarters ( ones, my dh got from the US without me asking him to!).So I wanted to use that for this workshop and the result is this very christmasy Sampler Quilt.

The gold band which brings out the vibrant colours of the quilt blocks so well ,was my teacher’s idea.I love how it turned out and I’ve even decided where I want to display it for Christmas.Talk about getting an early start on Christmas preparations

My teacher had incooperated easy ways to make the blocks into this workshop and when she mentioned it was just for me, I was extremely touched!.I must say that her passion for quilting is so infectious that you get so fascinated right from the start and come back totally smitten with the art of quilting!.

She taught me another quilt which is called Quilt as you go quilt which I’m making for M.Right when the workshop was coming to a close, my brand new Brother Machine gave up its ghost! Given my luck, I think I had picked up a machine that was doomed die young ! Anyways, I have a now got another machine, but I havn’t seriously started working on it yet.

I learnt quite a bit about fabric too this time , who would have otherwise known that such things as coordinating fabric existed had not the teacher mentioned it. Now shopping for fabric is more fun.( When was it not ???!!!! )

This was such a fun workshop , one that I wanted to go on and on and on…… and I can’t wait to start the Intermediate workshop.Only thing ,with the mess that is happening in our life just now, I am not sure when I will be able to go back there .Maybe that is a blessing in disguise to practise the basics over and over and keep me in stitches ? hmmmmmm could be

I didn’t mean it to happen

But it did!!!

I mean the disappearing act I did.It wasn’t planned. Sometimes Life has a way of stopping you on your tracks and saying ” Honey you need to take a crash course on Life’s Little Lessons before you turn forty”

So we were dragged in , unwillingly ofcourse, but at the end of it I am grateful for what I have and also for what I don’t !

Anyways ,this week M started Lower K.G. I was rather worried how he would like getting back to school .After his sickness, he had gotten so used to staying at home with me. I needn’t have worried , he went very cheerfully the whole of last week.No crying on the first day either .

For crying out loud,I was the one who didn’t know what to do in the empty house.I survived tho’ and now I am enjoying the me- time I have.

I got a giggle out of the fact, he went and asked his class teacher when his quilting lessons will start. The Poor guy still thinks quilting is part of his curriculam . He had been collecting my table linen ,asking if it was cotton and could be used for quilting and also wanted a new sewing Machine ,all week before school started!

Remember I said we were all settled now?, well,I jumped the gun a bit, we still donot have our telephone connection and since I was using dial Up, my internet connection also went with it.

I wonder how I lived before I knew the internet world!!.I nearly went insane not being able to chat with my friends and family and not being able to read my favourite blogs.Now I have a temporary arrangement. But I still cannot use my computer.I am pretty territorial about my stuff so its hard.But something is better than nothing right?

Oh ,and the VBS was loads of fun .

We sang , danced and watched the children dance in glee.I almost started missing my days as a K.G teacher as I helped the kids with their crafts and watched them enjoying it all.I surprised myself being so patient with the kids there.I thought I had lost that virtue after the arrival of my kids!!!!

I found out a fellow teacher there, also crochets.Infact she is an art teacher for the past 25 yrs at a reputed school here.Someone had shown her the bookmark I had made for all the sundayschool teachers sometime back and wanted me to show her how to make it.Since I know this pattern by heart now, I showed her.She later made a bunch of them to give away to the volunteers at the VBS, which I thought was  very cool !

For Easter,we had a little surprise Easter Party for A and his five friends. I made Pizza at home.and got the arabic platter , cake and cold drinks from outside .Had a egg hunt, bunny hop race and also a egg shell breaking race. The children got to take home little goody bags filled with cute stationary things. A was mighty pleased as they all had a blast.

Ok I think I have covered pretty much everything that happened in my life while I was away.Will be back with some pictures soon.

Vazhapoo Srilankan Style

This is a very tasty recipe I learnt from a Srilankan Tamil girl from Colombo.As in most Indian recipes, she told me just the ingredients that went into it and I added the measurements to suit my family’s taste buds.

Ingredients:

1small valapoo

1tbsp tomato paste

3/4. cup thick coconut milk ( I use Maggi Coconut Powder)

Dry red chillies

2 medium onions chopped finely

Mustard and salt curry leaves

Method:

Wash and Chop the heart of the banana flower as shown in this recipe.

In a pan add the chopped valapoo, tomato paste and a little water(just enough to cover the ingredients)

and cook till all the water evaporates.

Keep aside.

In a pan heat oil, add dry red chillies, mustard seeds and curry leaves.As soon as mustard splutters add the chopped onions.Saute till the onions turn light brown.

Now add cooked valapoo/tomato mix and saute for a couple of minutes till it is dry.

Add the coconut milk.

Mix well.

Stir fry till dry but not completely dry.

Serve with rice.

It got the thumbs up from family and I have already made it twice this week

We ‘re all settled now

This is the view from our balcony.Lots of sunlight ,space , and a swimming pool (only I can’t swim!).If you look hard enough, you can see the sea at a distance in the picture.

I like to sit and stare at the sea through the window when the world around is still quiet at the break of day.Such peace!!

There are still things lying around,for which I need to find a place, but we can live with that till I make up my mind. I discovered one thing about my dh, which I either didn’t know or wasn’t willing to accept.He is better than me at arranging stuff around the house,and beautifying it.

Its final assessment time for A plus its time for Vacation Bible School. This year I am a volunteer in the crafts section. Should be fun.

I found a college friend and a couple of school friends online. Big surprise !.It was wonderful filling up each other with the years gone by .I am so happy they are all doing great in their careers and life

You sure he is mine?!

M loves eating cashewnuts. So he had finished two packs and was eyeing the third pack of roasted cashews when I said he had had enough and put it up beyond his reach.

M : Mumma just one more I will not ask anymore plueeeeeeez

Me :ok , here take , here’s one.thats it no more!

M : quickly puts out the other hand and asks for one more

Me: you remember , you only asked for one more and if I give you this , that would be two?

M: yea I know, but this is not # 2 this is just another One!!

Anyone want a little monkey for free?

Things are a changing.

The latest trend here, is to bring down old buildings with spacious flats and replace them with taller buildings , smaller flats with exorbitant rents.

The only old building in our area, still intact, is ours.Its going to be a matter of a few more months ,before it is pulled down as well. Its there in the air.I wanted to move before they give us notice to move.

Moreover, our little family has outgrown this teeny tiny apartment we have lived in for over five years .this was the right time to move.

Off we went looking for apartments, and all the ones that were within our budget turns out to be a pigeon hole with no space for kids to walk , leave alone play .

Driving through the entire neighbourhood,we either didn’t like the location or the apt, or it was too far away from school _ worse ,near work camps.

Dh found a place that seemed ideal , close to the Jamiya,(co-op) hospital and school. Only drawback, old building- which means more moving in the future.

Just when we were thinking , we are at a dead end, a colleague called up to inform us about this place, which we went to see.Neat Place.

Funny thing is , we drove so many times past this place_ me saying, it would be really wonderful if we found a place there; dh saying, itwas rented out to American camps.

Turns out the American camp contract got over,they did not use a large part of the building and we are occupying a brand new flat as its first ever occupants.See , every flat we have rented so far ,we ‘ve been the first occupants, except in our own house!!

We cannot own property here_ if we could , this would be the kind of flat I would think about buying.

So ,we are shifting tent which means a load of things, other than just change of address……….With sorting, pretending not to notice, but blushing in all shades of purple when hubby shakes his head in disbelief at the huge cartons of my hobby supplies , Packing ,moving happening in full swing,and loads of other things associated with shifting places, no crafting of any sort has taken place.

A is already moaning having to leave his long time friends here.

We had so many lovely memories in this home ,lots of good times and very little bad ones actually so little, I can hardly remember any.

Feeling kind of nostalgic when we find things long forgotten about, like M’s little blue hospital wristband and the pregnancy test kits. How casually I tested for pregnancy_,after years of being disappointed _ without really expecting another pink line.How surprised I was at seeing the pink line,that I rushed out and got a couple more test kits to double check that there was no mistake.

This little book I had ,where I wrote everyday of the blessings we had for that day ever since we got married.Had forgotten all about its existence.Every life’s little pleasures I take so much for granted these days are there on the list_ something as simple or silly as finding a window seat in a crowded train or eating ice cream from the wayside vendor ! Note to self : start writing it again once settled in the new home.

Tons of letters dh and I wrote each other for the six months he was here while I was in India.chocolate wrappers, cards, wonky crochet projects , my first real crocheted bag torn here and there. books books and more books ….. so many more things with so many memories attached to them.

Little things that remind me that miracles happen when you least expect it and to take time to enjoy the simple things in life.

It doesn’t make sense to collect all these things in a country where you are not allowed to put down roots .Now I will just carry the memories .I have as much things I have left behind in India when we moved here.

Being the sentimental fool that I am , getting attached to places and people and stuff easily, its quite hard to throw out all the stuff and leave a home I considered lucky for us. Then I console myself that I would be devastated to see it being pulled down, which is true .

I still cannot find it in me to give up any of my hobby supplies and we are taking them all even if three fourth of the stuff is mine.Its scaring me now, this pack rat habit of mine.I have decided that I will consciously try to be clutter free in the new house.

I have decided

• that I will not buy anymore yarn or books or anything else until I use up all the things I already have
• buy only for that project I have in mind when I am about to start working on it

Its almost feels like we are moving to another country .Thank you God we are not!!

We are excited about the new home.

Wish us luck at our new place