Gifted Gorgeousness SAL June update

Hello lovelies,
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.

First, baby blanket which I'm knitting for my friend's baby due in Aug, however the target is to finish by next week. It seems almost impossible now, even though I have been knitting it every free second of my time. I carry it in car to utilise the 15 mins of commute to office, at least I'm trying.
This is how I look it after 26 days....

DH and I have joke where we say "oh it looks like its grown to 15 inches" and find it to be always shorter by 2 inch of our guess 😁. Any guesses how long is it now?

I had to think very hard what else can I show you for this post and I remember that I missed showing some gifts I gave and received like the next two:

Presenting my first ever design....ok I know its pretty simple and is not a big deal for many of you, however for a person who doesn't have a single creative bone, it is a big deal!!

One day strolling thru one of the dollar tree equivalent shops in Kuwait , I spotted blank luggage tags. I bought a few to stitch something and insert in it. I gifted this to Expat Panda , fellow Kuwait expat bloggers who is an avid traveller.

My friend Z also an avid traveller brought this cute traditional ornament from Ukraine for me, she knows me well..addicted to cross stitch.

I'm lucky to have friends who bring me gifts from their travels..like this magazine CrossStitcher , Issue 317, my friend Tammy bought from Jordan .

Thursday I started reading the magazine with a motto to select designs which I can stitch in future. Of course ,first is the cover kit designed by Susan Penny.

Next is the cushion design called "Floral Fancy" by Emma Congdon.

The magazine has started new series of four house pillows , one for every season designed by Becky Spencer. This is the Spring one

This unusual design caught my attention, good for people who like word puzzles.

Next not a theme I would usually stitch but very appropriate for a cat crazy friend of mine.Designed by ThuHA Designs.

Again not my style but this birth sampler is cute and I may stitch it someday. Not too primitive or vintage ..Designed by Faye Walsh, Little Dove Designs.

Last but not the least, a design by Becky Spencer again , such beautiful use of colors.

What I liked about this issue is how the magazine have provided patterns by new designers. I don't buy many magazines however from various internet sources I find that magazines these days are publishing patterns by 3-4 designers with single issue containing multiple patterns by same designer. I don't have anything against these popular designers but it makes me wonder what happened to the designers who were popular a few years back.

Have you heard of these new designers I mentioned? While writing this post, I started thinking how many different designers have I actually stitched? I will try to get this number for my next post, join me and let me know how many have you stitched in your next post as well.

That's it my friends for this time, wishing you all a happy and relaxing weekend.

Lovely exchange with Preeti

Good morning friends ,

New day and a new month... where is the time flying.

I'm still recovering from my amazing holiday in the Himalayas , living in cottages overlooking rives/valleys , eating simple local food and soaking in the peace of the mountains away from internet , mobile etc.

One of the added advantages of travelling outside Kuwait is sending and receiving goodies to friends and fellow crafters.

One such goodie bag I received was from Preeti , we have been talking about an exchange since long, however the timing never clicked. I have been persistent and asked Preeti this February  again for the swap. This time it did work out.

Here is what Preeti sent me

We agreed on 2 handmade+ 5 extras for the swap. Look at the beautiful bird cross stitch Preeti made for me, so pretty and colorful (and  big as per swap standards). Lesley Teare is one of my favourite designers, and Preeti chose a perfect pattern to stitch for the swap.

As Preeti and I do crochet and knitting respectively in addition to cross stitch, we added items made using these crafts.

Goodies sent by Preeti include burlap ribbons, cookie cutters, crochet diya hanging -very appropriate for Diwali celebrations,  buttons ,easel and a postcard.

Thank you Preeti, I love everything in the package and the cross stitch and heart hangings are already adorning the walls of my house.

You must have seen what I sent to Preeti on her blog, just a quick round up here

I made a biscornu for the cross stitch handmade , my first and I'm pretty happy the way it turned out. I have always been intrigued and intimated by biscornus , so I decided to  come out of comfort zone and try making one for the swap. Biscornu expert Kerry was consulted in the process and the result is here.

Pattern by Faby Reilly

The design called for beads, which I didn't have but I think it looks good without beads . What do you think?
For the second hand made I made some knitted coasters , again a first for me.

For the goodies I added some linen, backing fabric, Mill hill kit , needle minder, scissor fob, stationery to the package.
I'm happy to say that the gifts have been well received .

The easy part about the swap with Preeti was that we have similar tastes and choices of what themes we don't stitch or make. As we both are from same cultural background it was easy to understand what the other person likes.Not that I don't like swapping with my crafty friends across the globe 😁

Preeti , thank you for the wonderful swap . I throughly enjoyed making these little items for you and I look forward to more such swaps in future.

May crafting report

Hello friends,

Thank you for your lovely comments on my last post, I'm glad you liked the "Mini me" as much as I do.

In case anyone noticed, I have been away from blog land for a month now. Nothing to worry, just a short break from the daily routine. Yesterday I came back from an amazing trip to Himalayas and I'm charged up to spend few more months in this hustle bustle before I take another break.

I have been crafting, however not much to have separate posts for GG and Theme-tas-stitch SALs . This post is my check in for both SALs.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL is hosted by Jo. For this SAL, we show what hand crafted gifts we made or receive every month.

I received a wonderful package from Shami in Dec 2016.However their was a bit mismatch in timing , so the package was at my parent's place since then. I collected the package last week during my visit to India .

Shami sent me two cross stitched items,Anchor metallic and variegated threads, fridge magnet and postcards. I love the goodies , specially the flower cross stitch. Thank you Shami!

I started a new gift for a friend's baby due in July- a knitted baby blanket. I'm having difficulty in concentrating on cross stitch and have had regular frog visits. So I decided to start a project which requires less counting.

Here is my progress so far:26 rows knitted . The yarn is Indian Ice Batik .I would like to shoe horn this as my entry for Monochrome May -Theme-tas-stitch 2017 hosted by Kerry. Well this is all I made in May with single skein of yarn ☺

My next post will be about a swap I participated in with a fellow blogger.Stay tuned.

Meet "Mini me"

Isn't that an interesting title, probably brings a lot of diff thoughts in the reader's mind.

Well I'm talking about a doll which my friend Z made for my birthday.

Let me explain why its Mini Me. The doll is wearing the same kurta (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurta) ,leggings, peep toe footwear which I was wearing the last I met Z before my birthday. The hair is similar to mine. Talking about attention to details: she is holding a hoop and needle, wearing earrings like me and the cherry on the cake is the mole on the cheek ,similar to one on my face.
The moment I saw her , I couldn't believe the resemblance, not to forget the talent my friend has to replicate me in a crochet doll. This is the best handcrafted gift I have received till now.

                    

Here she is trying to finish my UFO

Thank you Z for the love..I'm falling short of words to thank you.
Z will be celebrating her birthday on Sunday  and I made few things for her, nothing as beautiful as the doll. Z is a coffee lover and I hope she likes the gifts.

Coffee Lover: Freebie from Kincavel Krosses
Stitched on 32 count Cognac Linen (gifted by Diya )
Using Anchor Variegated Floss

I have been trying to make some knitted items and in the process learning new stitches. This cup cozy uses seed stitch which gives a good texture to the finished piece.

Handmade tag using old calendar bookmark , which was a gift from a fellow cross stitcher

If you haven't guessed it until now, this post is my entry for Gifted Gorgeousness SAL for the month of April,run by our fav blog host Jo. For this SAL, we show what hand crafted gifts we made or received every month.

I have some more gifts to show , however I would save it for next month as I don't want to take attention away from my beautiful doll.

I hope everyone is having a good stitchy weekend in their corner of the world.

The Alphabet Club Catch up post : Letter M

Hello Friends,
Here I am with a very late entry for the Alphabet Club Letter M. This is going to be a long post, as so many interesting words that start with letter M.

M is for Maa , Hindi word for mother ( Pronunciation similar to how its said in English). I'm sure not many can deny the importance of a mother in a living being's existence. Personally I can't even imagine where I would be without my mother: from loving selflessly, to fighting with society to let me choose what I wanted to be, to accepting who I am , to teach me how to take care of family and last but not the least, passing down the love of crafts like embroidery, home decor and cooking .I always thought I was a papa's gal , but as I grow old I can't help but see how similar I am to my mother.
One day ,after a break of few years from cross stitching , I was looking for information on DMC on the Internet. My mother would often mention how DMC thread was available in India in her young age and how good the quality was. I was amazed to find so many beautiful designs on Internet . I started searching for a pattern to make for my mother's 60th birthday which was "then" in 10 years. This is the pattern I selected .

Design by Katherine Martin Tripp

Though my taste has changed ,since I have found the new world of cross stitch designers , I still may stitch this for my mother.

M for Mushakal- a vegetarian Fatayer. Its a turnover pastry/ sandwich made of pizza base type dough and baked in oven. As you know, I am a big foodie and when we shifted to Kuwait, I was looking for new Arabic vegetarian dishes to try . An acquaintance suggested why don't I try Mushakal. Since then its one of my favourite Arabic food,nothing beats the taste of oven baked closed sandwich stuffed with potato fries, fried egg plant and falafel served with pickled vegetables.

Cheese fatayer

M for Mujaddara is a Lebanese dish made of lentils and rice served with fried onions. You know how we Indians love lentils and rice , so any new way this combination is served excites me.

M for Ma'amoul is a middle eastern sweet delicacy. These are stuffed cookies made from semolina with ground date, pistachio or walnut filling. Shaped in a wooden mould called a tabi.

Ma'amoul

M is for Mor or Mayur( Mor has the same pronunciation as English word More), Hindi word for peacock. Peacock is national bird of India , found in dry areas like Rajasthan ,Gujarat. It is believed that a peacock dances during rain or to invite rain . There are many folk and movie songs about rainy season and peacock in India . 
I currently have one peacock WIP , I'm having so much fun stitching with blended threads, half stitches , still long way to go though.

Indian Peacock by Dimensions

Another peacock design I have my in stash

Stunning Peacock by Amanda Gregory, Published in The World of Cross Stitching, Issue 245

One of my favourite designer is Maria Demina who designs under the name Little Room in the attic. Though I have only stitched one design of hers, her water color designs are drool worthy.

Paisley freebie from Maria Demina, stitched in Aug 2015

Aren't these lovely?

That's it my friends for letter M, I will be back for next alphabet entry.

Theme-tas-stitch 2017 : March Madness check-in

Hello Friends,

Another month has flown by... and here I am with my check in for Theme-tas-stitch SAL: March Madness being hosted by Kerry.I didn't forget to post about the SAL , I was trying to get a few projects started/finished for the check-in. I'm essentially a OAAT stitcher , so this theme was difficult to meet.

I don't how but the march madness actually made me mad. Ya real mad. Mr. Frog has been in the house , sitting on my shoulder and bothering me. First I had to frog 400 stitches in my Candamar project and that almost killed my mojo.

As if that wasn't enough , Mr. Frog decided to interfere in a very simple swap piece I'm stitching. I'm telling you never in the past I had to cut the thread while frogging...but this time that too happened. At least my ORT Jar is happy.

I started three new small projects this month , one is FFOed, second is finished(can't show as its for a exchange)  and third I just started today to show you guys.

Started :4th March 2017
Finished :12th March 2017

New start , 31st March 2017

ORTs from the swap project

Fourth project I worked on or rather re stitched on after the frogging was the Candamar design WIP.

Candamar Project

The portion circled black is off by 1 row but I'm not going to frog it. Portoin circled pink was frogged and restitched.

Not a very good report, but I'm happy that I stitched most of the days in the month which is shown in the monthly pie chart.

March 2017 Stitching pie

Change in plans

If you remember from my Jan goals post, I decided to start a Soda Stitch pattern for Tour de Designers SAL in April for Stitch Maynia FB SAL. This project also fitted the theme for Theme-tas-stitch : April Showers.

Well I have decided to withdraw out of the SAL and not start this piece. I have to work on 3 smalls in April, given my speed I know that will take the whole month. I don't want to start a new project and stitch it for a day and add to my WIP basket.

I hope you have a productive April stitching wise.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL March 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.

As you know it was my birthday last month, I received a wonderful package from Tammy when we last met at our craft meetup in the Secret Garden. What's the Secret Garden, well I would like to write a post about that ..

The package contains goodies she brought me from Sri Lanka:tea, cinnamon,soap, and hand crafted crochet heart, doily , wash cloth, brooch. My favourite is the heart 💗

Yesterday was my husband's birthday, and I made him a card. He loves Owls and has requested me to stitch owls in the past.. This was a surprise for him and why do I mention it specifically ? Well my friends, my husband and I are together 24 hrs a day(not complaining). We work in the same office , in the same department and even can see each other's computer screen. So arranging surprises is tricky.

Designer:Jayne Schofield
Pattern: Cross Stitch Crazy, May 2015

Whenever I want to stitch a surprise for him, I have to wait until he sleeps or goes for grocery shopping... ha ha. See what I did here, I want you to steal some limelight as DH has been getting all the praises for the gifts he has given me in last few months which I showed here on blog😁

Not much else to show, I have a new start and tiny progress on a WIP which I will save for the March Madness post.

We were hit by worst of dust storms on Tuesday. The visibility was very low and driving was a challenge. Thankfully it has subsided now..but it marks the start of summer , not a welcome season in this part of the world.
I have been reading on blogs how the weather has been unpredictable in other parts of the world, blizzard, snow or high temperatures.Sometimes these things make me sad and wonder is it global warming ? I hope you are safe in your part of the world.