IHSW February 2019 check-in

Hello dear friends,

It's time to show what I stitched for International Hermit & Stitch weekend . If you don't know what  IHSW is, its a SAL which was started by Joysze at Random Ramblings .Here is how she describes it "International Hermit and Stitch Weekend takes place every 3rd full weekend of each month, from Friday till Sunday. In our very busy and hectic lives, IHSW is a chance for us to squirrel some time away for ourselves and "Hermit and Stitch." It is a time set aside to take care of us and our love for stitching."

Joysze hasn't been posting regularly so our blog SAL savior Jo provides a blog link up and also runs facebook group for the SAL. 
Weekend in my part of the world is on Friday & Saturday, so I will be stitching from Thursday to Saturday and post on Sundays whenever I participate in IHSW.

Well its well past Sunday , but late post is better than no post, right?

Here is what I stitched...A new start:February Owl from Lesley Teare's monthly SAL . The SAL is free and you can join anytime.

Start on Thursday night

Start on Saturday morning, I put in 15 stitches after this :)

Well everyone knows how much I love stitching owls for my husband. The moment I saw the SAL announcement, I had to join.

But I will be honest that I'm a bit overwhelmed about the number of colors in these small designs.The February one has 17 colors. All the color changes are killing my stitching bug . I know many of you are clever enough to change colors and adapt designs to suit your stitching style but I like to follow patterns (even recipes) to the T. 
I may not stitch any more pattern from this SAL ..will have to see...

Apart from stitching , the weekend was good. Its been raining here in Kuwait regularly. In fact the amount of rain I have seen since November is 10 times more than what Kuwait must have seen in last 20 years. Is this a sign of global warming?

We didn't have any celebration for Valentine's day as we both were sick. However we did go for brunch for our engagement anniversary on 16th.This is what we ate at The Breakfast Club.

Toffee and Pecan Pancakes

Avo Sandwich

February is month of celebration of National day and Liberation day in Kuwait, called Hala Feb. We will have a long weekend off from Friday to Tuesday except Sunday. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the decorations, though I have never dared to attend the main celebrations in the city because of the crowd and bad things I have heard.
I will try to share pictures if I click some decent ones..if interested you can see pictures from past year here.

Have a good week everyone.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL February 2019 update

Hello Friends,

It's that time of the month when we show what gifts we have been working on or/and what crafty gifts we have received. If you don't know what I'm talking about , check Jo's blog for more info. This is a easy SAL where you have choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

The gifts I worked on this month are these wedding cards for a snail mail friend and husband's cousin , both got married in December. The plan was to stitch these before the weddings but you know how some plans never get executed . Better late than never ..ha !

Both designs are from Cross stitch Crazy Magazine,Issue 202, patterns by Durene Jones.
Last month I forgot to show you what I got in my Instagram cross stitch swap with my one of snail mail buddy.She stitched a wee little penguin for me ..she knows me well.

A tiny crochet heart , a gift from my craft group friend Z for Valentine's day.

Thank you for the comments on the "Let People Choose SAL-Hearts" post. I asked you which one of my heart finishes is your favorite. Here are the results :

Roses in Heart -4

Gazette94 -5

Floral Sachet -2

Heart Biscornu -1

Knitted one -2

Now to a part which may interest you..a giveaway.As its my birthday month and month of love, I would like to thank you all my blog friends for their love by offering this pattern.This pattern is up for grabs ...the pattern was bought second hand but has never been used by me.

Here are the rules:

1. Be a follower. I'm pretty confused how the following things works but I can only see people who follow me thru Dashboard or google accounts.

2. Don't become a follower just to win this pattern and disappear on me (I have had this happened to me in past)

3. Let me know in comments if you are interested.

4.Winner will be randomly picked on my birthday,27th February.

5. I would appreciate if you would share this on your blog.

6. The pattern will be sent to you thru registered mail but still it can take minimum of 40-50 days to reach depending on where you are.

7. Send me your address thru email by clicking info in side bar, I will not follow up with you to ask for your address.

This weekend is IHSW and I will try to get some stitching done. Join me and other stitchers virtually for hermitting and stitching .

Have a good weekend everyone.

One Saturday morning when I stepped out of the house :)

Hello Friends,

Today I want to share with you some pictures of Saturday which was well spent catching up with my craft group and exploring Kuwait.

Last few months have been very busy at work front and I have been working most weekends. This led to missing my craft meetings which is the last thing I like to do. Weather has been pleasant (and cold) since December and working on weekends led to frustration of not being able to be out in open. Every year I look forward to winter season so that I can attend all the craft bazaars, fairs, open markets and this is what helps me get thru the horrid summer here.

Thursday I decided not to work on weekend and explore some new places . Saturday morning I attended my craft group meet up at Luna & Beau . Its a pet friendly cafe where one can bring their pets , hang out for coffee, play with the resident cats and use the grooming services.

Here are some pics:

After the meetup , we took a quick stop at new to me park -Yarmouk Public Garden which has some recycled art. Its a small park , nicely maintained . We enjoyed a stroll thru the park ,I love how the pics turned out with overcast sky.It has been raining here regularly , with temperatures dipping but high humidity.

Next stop was Kuwait Marine Museum ,also called Al Heshami Marine Muesum. This museum is built next to "Al Hashemi II " which is world's largest dhow with its name entered in Guinness World Records. 

Al Hashemi II

Al Hashemi II is a Baghlah, which is is a large deep-sea dhow, a traditional Arabic sailing vessel. 

The Pearling Boom

The museum houses replicas of traditional Kuwaiti boats like the Boom of different kind , trading boats used in Arabic peninsula,a viking boat and pictorial journey of how the Al Hashemi II was built.

Details on a Vikings boat

Details on a Vikings boat

Mohammedi II- Kuwaiti boom style boat

The museum is small , one of the main reasons people think it would be boring. However, big or small , I'm yet to find a museum where I didn't learn something new.

For people in Kuwait , please use following information:
Location: Inside Radisson Blu , however you can enter the museum without entering the hotel. Ask for direction once you reach the hotel.
Entrance Fees:  Free
Opening hours: Everyday 10 am to 5 pm
Photography: Allowed

If you fancy a luxurious meal, you can dine at the Al Boom or Al Heshami Ball room :)

We came back home after making memories ...a beautiful morning well spent exploring around. I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I enjoyed visiting these places.

Let the people choose-February-Hearts

Hello Friends,

Today I join Jo for another SAL she is hosting called THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE SAL. You can read about it on her blog.

I didn't see a sign up page for this SAL, however I'm tempted to join for some of the themes, so I will post whenever I can shoe horn on the selected theme.

The theme for February is Hearts..what a surprise 😀. I'm always attracted towards designs with hearts and unknowingly have stitched a few.

Pattern source: Cross Stitch Crazy, Issue 217

Annee Du Lapin
Pattern source: Gazette94

Pattern name :Roses in heart by Vervaco

Floral Sachet
Cover kit by The World of Cross Stitching Magazine ,Christmas 2008

Heart Biscornu
Designer: Faby Reilly

Baby Love Motif stitched on a pouch
Pattern from The World of Cross Stitching ,Issue no 245,Sept 2016

I have even knitted hearts...!!!

I haven't included the ones I stitched in 2018 as you saw then recently.

Do you have a favorite amongst these? let me know in comments.

Hope you have a love filled February and your heart is full of hope and happiness.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL January 2019 update

Hello Friends,
Welcome to the first check-in of my favorite SAL, Gifted Gorgeousness hosted by Jo of .
I just realized I have been participating in this SAL since it started, well almost, one month after it was started 😁.

I’m at my parents house now and it is coldddd.. not the cold winter where it snows but  where one has to wear two layer of warm garments inside the house.Houses in India are still not equipped with heating , we use traditional methods of putting on layers, thick blankets and closing windows to avoid the chill.
Most parts of India celebrated the harvest festival with different names Lohri, Makar Sakranti or Pongal yesterday or today.
Its time to get together and celebrate the harvest and eat traditional winter foods.
I was fortunate enough to celebrate Lohri with my family (parents, brother, sister in law and nephew) this year . Lohri is the name of the harvest festival in states of Punjab , Haryana and Delhi.
A bonfire is lit outdoors with wood and cowdung cakes, prayers are offered and lots of dancing to folk songs is involved.Lohri is celebrated with offering popcorns, raw flattened rice(poha), peanuts 🥜, rebdi (sweet made of jaggery and sesame) to the fire.

I know you must be thinking that why I’m telling you all this in a GG post, well I think it is one of life’s biggest gift to be together with family on festivals and special occasions. I’m sure many of you agree.

I was able to gift my mom the birthday gift I made for her 60th birthday in September. Though she still thinks she has completed 58 😂.

This is how it looks framed. I bought a photo frame from a sale and just fitted the fabric in the frame with no glue .
I have a small gift planned , all kitted up , just need to be started.

That’s it for GG post, I will try to visit blogs and comment while on vacation .
If you see this post, that means I’m able to write a blog post and successfully post it first time from my mobile .

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL December Update

Hello Friends,

It's that time of the month when we show what gifts we have been working on or/and what crafty gifts we have received. If you don't know what I'm talking about , check Jo's blog for more info. This is a easy SAL where you have choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

Sorry for the late post. I'm too busy at work since last month. I have been working on weekends and extended hours on weekdays. I haven't been crafting because I'm very tired after work.

Anyways , here is my tiny contribution to the GG SAL this month. I started this scarf in February, picked it up again as knitting is an easier craft to do when one is tired. The yarn was gift from my husband:

These tiny ornaments were decorations on the cake at Christmas lunch organised in my office. I couldn't see them being thrown in dustbin, so brought them home 😀

Earlier this month, Immediate media company was offering December 2017 edition of The World of Cross Stitching and Cross Stitch Crazy free for 2 days. I was quick to download them on my phone app. A free issue is a gift right? LOL

I'm sure I have mentioned before that I love exchanges/swaps. A few days before, I asked one of my snail mail friends if she wanted to do a small cross stitch exchange and she said yes!

Here is what I sent her, you have seen this before though:

Project Name: Felt kit -Pink bow
Pattern source: The World of Cross Stitching Magazine
Kit was a Gift from Kerry in July 2017

As this is the last post for this SAL, I will  show all my finishes and WIPs which I used (or could have used) in the posts for the SAL throughout this year. I'm travelling next week and will not be able to do a wrap up post for the year, so I thought it would be good to include these in this post.

Project Name : Feather
Gift for a girl who helped me with knitting
Finished on 4th Jan 2018

Project Name : Most beautiful things
Gift for my best friend
Finished on 6th Feb 2018

Birthday gift for Tammy
Finished on 8th Feb 2018

Pattern source: All-occasion charts, The World of Cross Stitching Magazine,Issue 203 which was a exchange gift from Jo in 2016

Project Name : Love
Valentine day's gift for Husband
Finished on 12th Feb 2018

Project Name : Finn
Birthday gift for Husband
Finished on 19th Mar 2018

Project Name : Gorgeous Gingham
Birthday gift for Zhraa
Finished on 30th Mar 2018
Pattern source: CrossStitcher Issue 212, Magazine was a gift from a cross stitcher I met virtually through facebook and then in person in London in April 2015 

Project Name : Beef Eater
Birthday gift for Rakhee
Finished on 13th Apr 2018

Birthday gift for Karen
Finished on 6th June 2018

Pattern was a gift from Jo in 2016

Project Name : Flower Mason Jar
Eid gift for my ex neighbours
Finished on 16th June 2018

Kit was a gift from my USA pen pal in May 2018

Project Name : Fabulous Florals
Birthday gift for my mother
Finished on 11th Sept 2018

Pattern source: The World of Cross Stitching Issue 245, was a gift from Tammy

Fabric : 18ct aida was gift from a cross stitcher I met virtually thru facebook and then in person in London in April 2015 

Birthday card for my snail mail friend in Japan
Finished on 15th Sept 2018

Pattern source: Kit was a gift from Tammy in June 2017

Project Name :Luggage tag
Birthday gift for my pen pal in India
Finished on 29th Sept 2018

Project Name : Let it Snow-Penguin
ATC exchange
Finished on 19th Nov 2018

Pattern source: CrossStitcher Issue 217, Magazine was a gift from a cross stitcher I met virtually thru facebook and then in person in London in April 2015 

I hope you like this parade of my finishes. Which one do you like most?
2018 was certainly not a very crafty year when I look at my record of how many days I stitched. Hopefully things get better next year.

Wishing my blog friends a Happy New year !