Valentine's Day

It's that time of the year again! So much fun reminding yourself what a blessed life you have and not to mention the 'heartfelt' (read heart shaped)gifts you get. It can't get any better if your favorite colors are red and/or pink. Or black or white!

Guess what my last year's gift was - roomba, a vacuuming robot! It's a nice gift, but hey what this has got to do with Valentine's. But you know what, after being married for double-digit number of years, things evolve to a completely different level.

Many of the things come so very naturally that you cannot feel more grateful for the wonderful life you have as an individual and as a couple. Ok, so where was I? At the gift - right! I am not so sure about this year's surprise but I guess something sparkling and wearable would make a great gift *hint, hint*

What do I want to give

I am one of those people who celebrate, just because! What's there not to cherish anyway. I wanna give a collection of 'our' songs to DH, selected, burnt, and well-wrapped. Let's see if that works out. To my little angel, I wanna make a heart-in-the-middle sweater (don't tell me you already guessed that one!) but then again, that means another trip to the local yarnstore and with my broken car I have to rethink on that one. But something valentinish definitely would pop out of this mommy.

Front of Mauve Sweater Completed

The front measures 22" when on machine and I'm ready to bind off. The texture feels rather harsh than when I knitted the same yarn with needles. I am thinking of making the back by hands. Not sure though as I am quite pressed for the time for knitting.

The cables look quite pretty despite the mistake and all :-) I am not too sure what would I do with that. Shall I leave it at that or try to redo it for the second time.


You need to have a closer look to pinpoint the mistake. Here is one -

Legwarmers and Jumper Dress

I saw these on Craftzine and love it.
I had seen another pair where the top resembled high boots. Can't find a pic of it. Anyways, I know what it was and thus, I will post my own pic if done.

One of those days when I will have plenty of both time and yarn, I will make this dress for self -

Right now the main goal is to finish what's on my Bond.

Machine Knitting

I am loving the machine knitting. I know it cannot replace the fun and relaxed way of needle knitting but the part I really love is the speed and consistency it gives to the garment. Some people, however, have the notion that you throw a skein of yarn at the machine and all it returns back is a finished piece. Well, it just doesn't work that way. You need patience, practice, and basic knitting skills for a desired effect.

This is my machine

I have the basic model and I am quite happy with its output. Guess what I saw a couple of minutes ago, a super knitting machine.

And this is a robot

I have yet to find out what this thing is and hoe it works, it looks quite robot-like nonetheless. What gives?

Hats galore

Wanna see a happy hat family? Here it is -

Papa Hat

Mama Hat

Baby Hat


I made the blue hat on my machine, brown one using circular needles and crocheted the baby headgear.

Link Test

What's on...

My needles - a red multicolored child's sweater

On my crochet - a hat in two colors

On Bond - My cable sweater

I am loving the output of cables. It's looking pretty from the back side as well.


Hmmm, I feel better already. Isn't it amazing how good it feels when you have accomplished something.

Knitted Pants & Pompom Scarf

I just saw these in Craftzine. I am thinking of making these sometime soon.

Three Same Themed Paintings

I am thinking of working on three canvases simultaneously. The idea is to have a common theme for all the three. Something like Fire, Earth and Sky or may be all three in different shades of blue. There would be some harmony among all...may be all have human figures in different moods...

What's New

A crocheted multicolored hat

Part of my new year's resolution (Learning 9 new things in 2009)I crocheted a hat. Guess what, this is my first crochet project! So, I guess, one on the list is under my belt. One down and 8 more to go...

I made this with acrylic easy care yarn and used three colors. It's my new year's gift to Adya.



As always, the pattern is free and drop me a line if you'd be interested in one. I have updated this project in Ravelry too.

Upcoming Projects

I am working on a cable sweater and a pullover. I will keep updating. I have yet to put my notes and pics together for the recently completed knitted hats. Will do it in next week or so.

Modular Knits

Modular Knits: New Techniques for Today's Knitters
Author: Iris Schreier
Price: $17 (check price)

This book has a novel approach to make the knits in modular formats. When I first read this book, I wasn't very confident about the modular knitting and didn't quite understand the technique. So I gave this book a 2 star rating.

I guess, I would revisit it sometime soon and will post updated review.

Book of Yarn: The Encyclopedia of Yarn

The Knitter's Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn
Author:Clara Parkes
Price: $20

The best yarn book you'd ever read. This is not a typical knitting book with info about yarns and patterns (well it has that too) but it deals with origin, treatment, and final outcome of the yarn when it appears on the shop-shelves. It's more of reference book but very readable. I am sure you won't be able to put it down until you have finished the last page.
Well written, very explanatory and worth reading.

Bottomline
If you are a not just a knitter but a complete knitting lover, you may definitely consider buying this book. Two thumbs way up!

Joining New Knitting Forums

I just joined a group in Ravelry. Let's see how things move with it.



The main idea is to find a group of fellow knitters to knit together and have fun!

New Slip

I just finished a slip for Adya. Thanks to my Bond, it's done in just two sittings!

Pictures coming soon...

Stitionary Series

Stitionary 1

Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume One: Knit & Purl: The Ultimate Stitch Dictionary from the Editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine (Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Series) (Hardcover)
Trisha Malcolm (Editor)
Price: $19.77 (Check for deals for all books)

This book has a good number of stitches to learn from, all using knit and purl skills. I have had almost all of these but what I like about this series is the layout and the presentation. They chose very nice colored swatches to go with each stitch type. That instantly hooks you up. The swatches also are not very crowded, just two per pages. So the roomy look of every page is visually very inviting. You would want to duplicate it right away.

Stitionary 2


The Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume Two: Cables: The Ultimate Stitch Dictionary from the Editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine (Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Series)
Author: Vogue Knitting Magazine
Price: $23.48

What can be better than Stitionary for a knitter? Stitionary 2 ofcourse! This one has all the cable pattens all over. Starting from an easy cables to very complicated cables, they have it all.

Stitionary 3


The Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Volume Three: Color Knitting: The Ultimate Stitch Dictionary from the Editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine (Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Series)
Author: Vogue Knitting Magazine
Price: $19.77

This book is a total color blast. The layout is more or less same as the last two books on this series. But it has some interesting color combinations for knits.

New Year is Here!

Yay! It's new year! Can you believe it? I mean when you look back it's all seem like a dream, it's really hard o imagine how fast the time is flying by... I guess that's the best part of it. When you have a what you always wished for you lose track of the time and years seem to slide by so quickly.

Well, for the new year, I got these fancy earrings from my husband.


Quite cool, right?

New year brings back the time of introspection, sense of gratitude and a hopeful uncertainty for the future. This year I didn't make any resolutions, which I usually did in the past many years. I guess, I would want to learn atleast 9 new things this year.

Resolution for 2009

Why 9 things? Well, no points for guessing! 'Cuz it's 2009, that's why. I have to come up with what those 9 things are going to be. Well, with my Bond machine and a newfound interest for crochet, 2009 is a good start, nonetheless. Happy new year!

The Knitting Machine

Yes! That's what I got as my Christmas present! I am so loving it...

The assembly was a little on the hard side but thanks to hubby dear, it's all set up and ready to go.

My first thought for the machine are - woah, I can make everything so fast now...I don't have to wait for the days to check what's coming out of my knit, knit, knit effort. One swipe and you have one row finished. Wow, that's quicker than I thought!

On the downside -being a handknitter I kind of miss the connection that the yarn and the process brings. :-( But hey, think about the possibilities :-)And I cannot imagine what a completed project would feel like...

Pink and Blue Cardigan revisited

Behind the scenes


I started this sweater when Adya was almost 5 months or so old. I wanted to try the 'Feather and Fan' pattern and so I experimented with these two colors. The result was superb. The wavelike effect looked very nice on the sweater. I used US 10.5 and thus the sweater grew quickly. I finished the back within a week's time.

Then I started the front and when I reached near completion, I realized it was hard to make the neck because it would end in a wave. I tried many ways to fix it but in vain. Frustrated, I gave up on this piece.

It was lying in some dark corner of the closet until this year I showed it to someone for the pattern info. That's when I decided to work on it again. One day my husband suggested why didn't I make the neck in a square and finish it off. I looked at the piece and guess what, it was the excellent advice! That was the only way to make the neck in a complicated wavy pattern!

So, I picked up stitches from the front end and made a u-neck with all pointed edges. Then I joined the shoulders in invisible join stitch. And finished the sweater by making the front button-strip.

I was never this happy to get a sweater completed than this one. And what's more satisfying is that it fits her well even after a year. And special thanks to hubby dear! :-)

The front view of the cardigan


The back of the sweater - there is no neck band in this part

Legwarmers completed

Here are the pic of the completed legwarmers.

Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book

Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book
Vogue Knitting Magazine Editors (Author)
Price: $25 (check the site for deals)

I had seen this reference book in the bookstore and liked it. When I finally got a better look later at the local library I loved the description, detail and the lucidity of the instructions in it. So, I asked my husband to buy this for me. He ordered it online and had it delivered a couple of days prior to Mother's Day! So this is my official gift :-)

I opened it like a treasure and turned the pages with utmost care. The smell of a new book is as pleasing to a reader as a well-done pizza to a food-lover!

I am enjoying this book ever since. Being the first and the only knitting book that I own this book has topped the list of books to be reviewed.

The Review

As I said before, this book has everything in very clear detail. It can very well be used and appreciated by a new or an experienced knitter. The book has knitting instructions from simple cast-on, binding off and everything in between.

There are multiple techniques explained with example and the format is easy to follow. So if you are a beginner, all you have to do is, understand the terminology and walk along the steps mentioned and in no time, you would be able to knit a simple scarf. When you gain some confidence in holding the needles and ready for something more challenging, there are patterns and samples that you can refer to. For an experienced knitter, there are the advanced techniques elaborated.

The most important thing that I loved about the book is that it teaches you how to have an estimate of the yarn you would need for some project. That's something I hardly found in any other book. Another nice thing is the special section devoted to the designing of a knitwear. Right from the basic guidelines to intricate patterns and their desired effects, the book has it all.

I will surely recommend this book to anyone who has interest in knitting and would want to experiment with style. There are many new things one can learn at any experience level.

Bottom line

If you are a knitter, want to learn to knit, or just looking for a reference book to give to someone who loves to knit, yes, go ahead, buy this book. It's worth it.