FUN ' N FRENZY IN FEBRUARY
February saw the Winter
Olympics come to Sochi and on Ravelry too we had our own version of the Olympic
Games. We had the Ravellenic Games 2014!
Thank you for joining me.
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Materials used : Today I’ve used Vardhaman as well as Oswal acrylic yarns, with a 3 mm crochet hook ; embroidery needle
For Indians : You could use Red rose , 4-ply knitting cotton , or unbranded knitting cotton or White Rose or bamboo knitting cotton , Milk cotton ; Silk yarns ; Baby soft acrylic yarn , Ganga Spectrum as well
General yarn info : The yarn used today is not specific to this pattern.
You can use any yarn with a suitable hook to make this project to any size.
International yarns : Among the international yarns I have used in this thickness, I’d suggest Aunt Lydia Cotton 10, Aunt Lydia Bamboo-Viscose 10, DMC Petra, Sullivans knitting cotton (Australia), Milford Soft, Hilaza Rustica Eclat , Alize cotton yarn and Alize bamboo yarn , Lily Sugar n' Cream cotton yarn, Caron Simply Soft , Bernat Softee chunky.
The Ravellenic Games are, (I’m told) , an usual event – and every time there’s an International Game or event, we, on the
Ravelry are treated to ‘our own creative and crafty’ version of it – thanks to
the creative and geeky blokes who have set this super group up.
So for a quick look at
what categories the Ravellenics Games 2014 had, do visit http://www.ravelry.com/groups/ravellenic-winter-games-2014.
This was my first
event.. and my first ‘games’ on Ravelry, and as usual, I entered with full
gusto. I joined the Happy Hookers Hangout team, and decided to not just
enter as many ‘events’ as I could, but also design new patterns for as many
events as I could
Night and day became
one, as the mind worked faster than the fingers could.. and my (now tatty)
handy little note pad was my constant companion!
I designed a cute little
headband – that looks superb in two colours, but works in single colour
too. It’s a quick project that uses a lovely stitch that looks like
little ‘berries’ – so was born my “Very Berry Headband”. This was also
one of the first projects that I actually put up for sale at a friend’s
daughter’s school gala – and she was sad that I could only give her a few
pieces (frankly, I did not think she’d manage to sell any!
Not doubting her
‘sale’ skills or my super (ahem) craft skills.. jus saying)
So my cute little
headband is available in my Ravelry store at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/my-berry-headband
called My Berry Headband
Valentines Day Mug Hug
February and Valentines day.. super
time for crochet and craft.. make something really ‘nice’ and ‘special’ just
for that special someone, right?
Now everyone loves
a hot mug of beverage.. and a ‘mug hug’ is the ideal gift that can be whipped
up really quickly, and is oh, so cute.
To add the ‘Valentine’s day cheer’
to it, I designed a mug hug that had tiny little hearts in it, and I made mine
red n white
Oh yes, the mug hug also qualified
for an event in the Ravellenic Games and won me a ‘medal’ too
So my Valentines Day Mug Hug is available in my Ravelry store at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/for-my-love-mug-hug
Yet another quick gift
for Valentine’s Day (or a ‘no reason, no occasion day’?) is a mobile
pouch. I’ve designed several already, and then thought of one using
the star stitch.. so here is my Star Spangled Mobile Pouch for you at my Ravelry store at
During my last trip abroad, I found
it extremely tedious to take out all my neatly packed toiletries and then
‘re-assemble’ them into the ‘given zip-lock pouches’ for security screening at
the airport. Now I am totally FOR the hard work that goes into the
screening procedures and the care taken to protect the general public in every
way, so rather than complain about it, I thought I’d ‘use’ this as a chance to
design something new.. and LO! My Havai Jahaj Secure Bag.
“Havai Jahaj” is the word for
‘aeroplane’ in Hindi.
This is a simple pouch that I just jazzed up using
two colours, but it is easily made in one colour as well. The top is
pulled shut with a ‘rope’ made from the same yarn as the bag, so there are no
‘metal parts’ to go a-beeping and troubling the screening process. You
can make separate bags to fit individual little zip-lock bags, or you can have
one large bag into which you put in all your little zip lock bags. This
pattern is easily adaptable and information for sizing is given in the pattern.
Get my pattern in my Ravelry store at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/havai-jahaj-secure-bag
Easy & Comfy shoes
During a recent trip to
Australia, a dear friend Pat was wearing these really comfy looking shoes at
home.. and as they were obviously hand-made, it peeked my curiosity. Mary
told me that her aunt had made these for Pat, but sadly she was no more and she
wondered where she’d manage to get these for Pat now.
Needless to say, I
offered to try and make them in crochet. She mentioned her aunt did these
in ‘tri-cot’.. and I had no clue what that was! So Mary
gave me an old, well-worn pair and on my return home, I unraveled the shoe to
figure out the stitch pattern.. sadly, it was difficult as the yarn had worn
thin.. and felted.. and well, I couldn’t. But I figured out what ‘tri-cot’ was
!
So I thought I’d make
some shoes for dear Pat and thanks to him, I designed three pairs of shoes –
all of which fit him and he’s thrilled
The ones that were
tested in February during the Ravellenic Games though were the Easy &
Comfy shoes. These shoes are easily made by even a beginner level
crocheter as there are very simple stitches involved and there’s a photo
tutorial along with the written pattern.
As with all my patterns,
this one too uses U.S terminology.
Get this pattern in my Ravelry store at https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/easy--comfy-shoes
Shankh Necklace
The Ravellenic Games had
a category for Jewellery. I thought of making a pair of ear-rings.. fast
and quick.. and then thought that especially during the ‘games’, the
availability of items needed to make an ear ring would deter a tester to try
and work on this test.. and the idea of designing an item specially for the
Games would then be lost.
As I mulled over what I could make, I chanced
upon a cute little conch shell (or the tiny ‘shankh’ as we call shell in
Hindi.). I thought it’d be lovely if I could figure a way to ‘string along
a few shells’.. and so I ‘made’ a tiny shell with crochet, and with simple
chains to hold these little shells together, I designed my Shankh Necklace.
As with most of my
designs, though I made a certain size, I have given information on the pattern
sheet for increase and decreases, so that this pattern too is pretty
versatile.. or should I say pretty and versatile?
The Shankh necklace was
tested during the Ravellenic Games as well.
Get this free pattern in my Ravelry store at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/shankh-necklace
Checkered fingerless gloves
The fingerless mitts are my
favourite gloves. In January, I’d designed a scarf and hat for a friend
using the ‘checkered’ pattern or the ‘hounds-tooth’ pattern.
As I’d said
there too, I don’t like the idea of a ‘hounds tooth’ around my neck or
head, and had called that pattern ‘Holding hands scarf n hat’ http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/holding-hands-scarf-3
So I thought I’d design a set of
gloves to match and complete that set.
My checkered fingerless gloves or mitts
is an easy pattern, even for beginners.
Get this free pattern in my Ravelry store at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/checkered-fingerless-mitts
Of course our Ravellenic
Games also included scarves and shawls.. and as I love designing those, I had
four of them up.
Once again, using the
extremely beautiful Star stitch, I designed the diagonal star studded scarf
that I aptly called Sitaren which means *stars* in Hindi.
As with my other
patterns, this pattern has been tested, and is written in U.S terminology. It
comes with a photo tutorial as well.
Get the Sitaren Scarf pattern in my Ravelry store at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sitaren-scarf
Double Crossed Möbius and the Crossed Over Möbius Cowl
The Möbius is a fascinating thing.. just a simple ‘different’
attachment and you end up with an ‘unending circle’. How beautiful is
that? It has fascinated me.. and it took me a long time to figure out a
pattern to make this just right.
My
Double Crossed Möbius and the Crossed Over Möbius Cowl make me smile
I’m
really proud of this achievement too – as with the medal this one got me during
the Ravellenic Games.
My
testers who helped test this also said that they have received a lot of praise
when they wore their creations.. so big smiley faces all around
Get this pattern in my Ravelry store at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/crossed-over-mobius-cowl
My final pattern for
February, which was also tested during the Games, was inspired by my old love
rom com “You’ve got mail”
The movie has two of my
favourite actors – Tom Hanks looks gorgeous and young.. and they make
such a wonderfully romantic couple. Towards the end, when Meg Ryan falls
ill, Tom Hanks visits her with a bouquet of daisies – her favourite
flower. There’s just something so calming and pretty about the daisies..
so unassuming and yet so beautiful. I used the picture of these flowers
as well as the ‘lazy daisy stitch’ in embroidery to design my Daisy kerchief.
Get this gorgeous pattern in my Ravelry store at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/daisy-kerchief
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Here are some of my other miscellaneous home use patterns you may like to look at
