shalom cardigan - finally

Once upon a time, I started crocheting a sweater for myself. I had a change of heart somewhere along the way and asked you what I should do. 

Yes, that was in October. I somehow ended up doing the unthinkable. I frogged my almost finished sweater (it had no sleeves at that point) and pulled out my circular knitting needles. I was inspired by my blog friend to knit this.

I learnt new stitches and I loved the circulars just like Jenni once said I would!

It has a very handmade look. But that's completely fine with me! I had holes in it too which I mended. Knitters, what did I do wrong? Was I just not paying attention to the tension or did I skip a stitch?


While this project was on the go, I loved the Debbie Bliss cotton so much, that as you know, these two were made as well!

Yes, I really loved that yarn!

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grey day

It's so very grey here today, There is dust and sand everywhere. It started yesterday and it doesn't look like it's stopping any time soon. Schools closed and some hygiene masks were given out.

Something about grey weather makes me want to sip tea and craft. So I added some bolder rounds to my Wool Eater (or Cotton Eater, I should say). It might look strange now but I think it's heading in the right direction.

My Mum bought this lovely outfit ma sha Allah and she asked me to add a little crochet detail to it. It's probably one of the best things she could ask me to do for her.

I hope she likes it!

A fellow Raveler had some queries about the star stitch pattern, so I'm trying to put some visual clarifications together.


I did manage to get up and get moving and realised that my 9 year old son does a good job motivating me when it comes to working out ma sha Allah. 

These Fig Newton-y slices were made with brown flour when the weather was better. 


Now I have to find things for the kids to do!


I hope the weather is faring well where you are.

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my creative space - *cough*

Oh well, what can I say. After my last post, my littlest got better and I got worse. Alhamdulillah. But somewhere in amongst the vinegar (yes, I drink vinegar in hot water to curb the tonsilitis and it's brilliant!), we managed to make fruity dinners and yummy smoothies. 

One day, my Mum and Dad stopped by with a  bottle of laban (fermented milk or buttermilk, I think) and a bottle of 7 UP! After calling out for a jug, my Mum poured out the two, gave the mix a stir and served the refreshing drink to us all! She got the idea from her best friend and it was great! We put another spin on it and added strawberries and pineapple chunks. I'm not  in to carbonated drinks so I left out the fizzy. Try it!

Since we had strawberries, we also tried a new salad idea of combining the straws with cucumber and yoghurt, which seemed to be a hit.

  
 It seems as though food photography is becoming a given in this home. I found this on my phone, courtesy of my first born! Home-made English Muffins!

As I rested, I did a few rounds of the wool eater crochet-along. I had a few gaping holes in mine, so I re-did what I had done, using 4ch instead of 5 (thanks to a tip from a fellow raveler).I also found that the Drops Paris cotton sat better without a ch2 before and after each scallop. This thing is going to take absolutely AGES! It's a bit dull, so I'm injecting a bit of colour in the next couple of rounds! 

And yesterday, I felt a lot better alhamdulillah that I could join in with the run around at the park, with 8 kids although they all outran me including the almost-two-year-old. A couple of boys set this school project up, took photos of it and left!

"We're all in this together". It's a nice message, don't you think?


And here's something funny (because we all need a laugh from time to time), I just realised that when I read blogs that I know are written by Americans I read them in an American accent! Ok, I just checked out an Aussie blog to see if I do the same, and I think I kind of do! Weird? I suppose this is the kind of thing that happens when you grow up in an expat community.


As always, more creative spaces right here (I said that in my head as I typed it in an Aussie accent)!

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my creative space - t'was cold!

I don't know where the time goes. But it goes. Somehow I managed to spend a bit of time with family, but the cooler weather round these parts seems to have brought a bit of illness with it. Bronchitis and pneumonia are seemingly doing the rounds in this part of a desert country! I've been juggling a few things which I may tell you about at a later date (or I may not ... insert evil laugh here ... of course I joke!)

In the meantime here's something I tried out just for the challenge. No I didn't knit around a dinner plate! I did block this beret on a dinner plate though. 

I have no idea when I would wear it but I loved that I got to knit a hat and also learnt some new techniques:

• the double start cast on
• knitting cable-less cables (that are explained in the pattern)
• and I loved the effect that knitting in the back loops had on the ribbing (this is also one of the features of the Shalom Cardigan that I loved - I need a better button before I blog that!)
• I used dpns as I didn't have small enough circulars, so it was a bit of work, but worth it in the end!

So as I go and tackle the cold (Today's cold reminds me of winter mornings in England when you wash your hands and feel the chill right down to the bone!), since it's crochet month, here's a bit of crochet I spotted! It was used to cover some food my mum's neighbour sent her.

More creative spaces here!

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my creative space - enjoying

crocheting outdoors

crocheting indoors (I've succumbed to joining this crochet-along!)

and then sharing the crochet love with others

with rushed, scribbly explanations

nevertheless, the did a decent job 

we hennaed

 we ate

beautiful company ma sha Allah 


and I might continue some of this

lots more creativity here!

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it's all good!

It really is, 
when my friend sends me a photo of her little baby wearing a dress that I made!


when I get a package from my bloggy friend, Helen (after the first one she sent out didn't reach me) of handmade goodness

Blogger is doing strange things and not rotating some of my pictures!

when I get to play around with some yarn and a hook

when I finish a project to send to far away lands (aka Canada) for a new baby

when I get to make some new cards 

with blanket stitched paper envelopes

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when we stay over at Mum's and eat cake

tres leches cake!

and more

not my creation but my sil's!

and get pep talks about getting healthy :)
That week just flew by! 


Now it's time to burn some calories.

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my creative space - green

Happy to finish a knit project after so long. Needs blocking! Pattern here.

It's been cold in other parts of the world. Here too. It's been snowing in other parts of the world. Not here though. Here, we've had cool weather, then cold-snuggle-under-duvet kind of weather, then the sand and dust got swept all over the place and in to our homes through the little cracks. Now? It's hot again. 

Knitting, I have been enjoying you!

At times I wished I was in the snow. I haven't been in snow since 2003. But people are freezing and some of the effects of the snow have been fatal. As they saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side. 

But crochet, I have missed you! 

It happens a lot that I think of what I don't have and I have to smack myself back to appreciating what I do have. Alhamdulillah. How is it where you are? I hope you can enjoy the weather wherever you are.

Can you tell I've been loving the greens?
More creative spaces here!

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