before I left Algiers ... I started dyeing yarn ...

... and I seriously don't know what had taken me so long! I fell in love instantly! Since then, I've been experimenting, I dyed yarn in my parents' kitchen and sent out my first order to the States and then opened up an etsy shop! Yes ... the deed is done! Fruitful Fusion Dyes is open! Anyone that follows me on instagram will probably be aware of my dye pot adventures. 

Although the shop has been open, it had to take a back-burner until this month, with moving my whole family over and getting everyone settled into school and what have you. But Alhamdulillah things are falling slowly into place. So let me share some of my colourful creations with you! 

Alger La Blanche 

As I was leaving Algiers, I felt even more compelled to create a little tribute to my home city for the last 4 years and dyed up Alger La Blanche (Algiers The White). 

Lavender Lemonade

I also dyed up Lavender Lemonade and went on to use it in a faded Pavement sweater.

Yarns used: Ultimate Booger by Casual Fashion Queen, Commander by Dusty Dimples, Moonstone by Black Elephant, Lavender Lemonade by Fruitful Fusion Dyes :) and Bohemia by CFQ

Other colourways:

Experimenting with different colours and techniques

A Spring inspired colourway

Blossom

Cherry Garcia

Indian Summer

There are others in the etsy shop but for now, I'm thinking of using these in a Fading Point Shawl!
No, they're not my usual colours for accessories or garments but I'm enjoying exploring new colour combinations.

I have all of these in the shop to make up a Fading Point kit just let me know if you're interested

The Fading Point Shawl by Joji Locatelli

And with all my macbook woes, I called on the talented Farhana of Sketched Soul and she came to the rescue with this ...

Do check out the shop and let me know what you think. It's still a little baby of a shop but I have ideas brewing in my mind for new colourways, some sets and even collaborations! I love the creative community! And can I just say, I've really missed this space <3 nbsp="" p="">

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now

After seeing the taking stock post on Meet Me At Mikes, I thought a quick capture of where I am right now would be fun (and a nice way of getting back in to blogging). I've used some of Pip's prompts but not all, so if you'd like to take part, check out her post for the full list.

Making: things to keep little ones warm

Cooking: stuffed peppers with tomato sauce

Drinking: herbal tea - This is really good!

Reading: Daring Greatly by Brene Brown - an eye-opener to say the least

Trawling: paleo sites - no matter how far I stray, I love going back!

Wanting: to get everything done

Looking: forward

Deciding: on which way to go

Wishing: peace to all

Enjoying: Sherlock 

Waiting: for things to pan out

Liking: bullet journaling 

Wondering: when the water company will turn the water back on :(

Loving: The Year Compass 

Watching: my baby take dramatics to another level!

Marvelling: at my friend's stairs

Needing: more hours in the day?

Smelling: a scented candle from a beautiful friend

Wearing: hand-knit socks 

Noticing: composition - for a little photography club I've joined

Knowing: that I don't know what's best for my family ... only Allah (God) does 

Admiring: the efforts of so many regarding the Syrian crisis

Celebrating: community and friendship

Embracing: winter - well, trying to!

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my knitting or crochet hero - 3KCBWDAY3

I've never seen my mum knit but she bought me a pair of needles and some yarn when I was 10 years old and taught me to cast on. She saw me through the frustration of learning to knit a stitch. Then my aunt, her sister, who used to be an avid knitter, taught me how to purl and create a little box pattern. She bought me some yarn too in bright, vibrant colours. Twenty years later, I went at that yarn with a hook!

I'd seen my nan crochet very briefly. I saw the beautiful yarn creations of others and once I started seeking out guides on the net, that was it!

My journey through crochet has been one that I've thoroughly enjoyed. And funnily enough it took me back to knitting too!

So, who's my hero? There is no way I could pick one! No way!
My heroes are
- the ones that share and in turn inspire through all of their craft work, be it on beautiful blogs or by working on something in public, whatever
- the ones that design the gorgeous work
- the ones that teach it via youtube, or come to the aid of fellow yarncrafters on ravelry, on how-to sites, on blogs and of course, old school,real life classes :)
And most importantly
- the ones that encourage us by starting us off, giving us the gift of learning a new skill, accepting our humble, handmade gifts, graciously, by asking us about our crafts and by pushing us to keep crafting

Is this a cheat answer to day 3's question?



I can't help it. It's just not simple!

posted from Bloggeroid

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pretty packaging

... is something I'm always drawn too. I really like these.

Bottlegreen drinks. The pomegranate and elderflower tastes good too! Yes, they have it here for a whopping 6 riyals (which is about £1 but it's "whopping" because most drinks cost between 2 and 4 riyals).

And they had this limited edition pink bottle last month.


I saw this during the summer and had to have a sniff just because of the bottle. The scent is a lovely jasmine-y one.


source


I like Zain's new, fun look too. No, not enough to make me switch. I don't fall into marketing traps that easily! 

source


What do you think? What are you drawn too?

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where's that mojo?

Thank you so much for your comments to my last post. It's not a life or death situation but it's nice to read encouraging words when you just don't know where that mojo is. I've heard people say they can't find theirs. Where do they look? Do you know? Have you ever lost your crafting mojo?

It's Ramadan. We're fasting and trying to tune more into spirituality. We're making and baking, the little people and I. It is heart-warming to see them working together to get things done. It doesn't happen often enough. The other half makes cool, refreshing drinks. He experiments on us! 

But back to my crafting, I have ideas in my head. I need to put them on paper. I think I might lose them. Forever. 

I have been inspired lately by all the lovely projects on flickr. And not only crochet. There are great inspirational shots and quotes like this. I think Julian Bialowas' work is amazing!


I've been working on an older project, but when the rounds and rounds of double crochets get a bit dull, little motifs are the way to go.  My photos are still horrible because I've used my phone. 


I crocheted the heart after I saw this, loved it and analysed it. 

I don't know if mine is the same but I think it's close enough.

This is something unusual I really wanted to try. I saw it on flickr and asked about the pattern. Malatri kindly posted it soon after. It turned out to be SO simple. It just looks different. 

And Mollie Flowers are so cute and versatile. I want to make bucket loads of them!

I might just be alright with the mojo issue. I hope.

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the good, the bad and the beautiful

I'm gutted once again! Somehow, I managed to let my computer die without backing up all of my recent files. None. I'm quite fortunate that some of it is online (on flickr, in my email outbox, on FB or here). But I tend to save lots and lots of inspiring images and bookmarks. Of course, I lost them all. And a quite a few things I was working on, on Illustrator. I don't know why I didn't get an external hard drive. I'm thinking of getting a new laptop. What do you think?

The day before the fatality I managed to email this off. Alhamdulillah. 

And now something else to brighten my mood, here are some blog beauties I've come across recently ...


A laptop bag tutorial 

Blooming Hairpins

Wire jewellery

My friend's dad's art!

And don't forget, the giveaway closes tomorrow!!! 


 

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follow me

I've been blogging for a while now, but never thought to add the follow widget on the side bar. I, personally, use Google Reader for all of my "following" but Helen expressed that she couldn't "follow" me. So there it is. In the side bar. Do you see it? You spotted something else below it? Yes, a Facebook like button. Fruitful Fusion has actually been on Facebook for a while too but I kept shying away from publicising it. I don't know why. I guess, I wasn't 100% sure where I was heading with it. But then I thought, what difference does it make? It's there. I should tell my friends about it. I'm still not completely sure what will become of it but I've always liked the "business" idea, whether it's to do with crafting or graphics design. I've been reading this 

So many great ideas and so many familiar names!


What do you think about all this? I'd love to hear from you. Do you feel that it's ok to venture in to business doing something that you love or does the pressure take away from the joy of creating. Does it make you more biased and less objective when you combine something that you enjoy doing with an income-generating project? Do share! And yes, go ahead and follow me!    

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scent

The other day, I happened to walk past The Body Shop in a mall and casually, strolled in. Something very strange happened. I noticed this. 

 "Here's a blast from the past ..."

Dewberry. It wasn't my favourite scent. My favourite was always White Musk. But was it nostalgic or what! It took me back, back to when every teenaged girl in Jeddah was crazy about The Body Shop. I remember being gifted so many "smelly" soaps and lotions that the sweet aroma of them all would envelope me as I'd walk in to my room. I bought the Dewberry lotion purely for that reason. It got me thinking. We've been capturing images for so long with all sorts of cameras, camcorders and now mobile phones. Are our visual memories really memories? Or do we think they are memories because we've seen certain photographs? 

Scents on the other hand, can't be reproduced as easily. Which is why I think the memory of a scent is something extraordinary. A quick rub of this simple lotion over my hands, reminded me of events that took place about fifteen years ago. I know there are certain smells and scents that make me think of certain people. The wonderful thing is that they are people that are or were very close to me. And just as bright, colourful visuals brighten my mood, so do fresh, floral or fruity fragrances and warm, woody ones too. Isn't the smell of cinnamon so deeply, warm? Do particular scents remind you of particular people? Which fragrances ignite your fondest memories? Have you ever tried to visualise a scent? I've never tried it but I think it would make a very interesting project and something I'd love to try with the kids!       

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my creative space - wrapping it

Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, has begun.  So I've been wrapping a couple of little gifts.  But no, there is another sort of wrapping going on ...

Oh yes! It's THE wrap vest.  But instead of a warm and snug wrap, I have a light and airy one here that I thought would be most suitable for where we are.

It's for one of my girls and of course the other one wants one too!

I need to get rid of some rows though!  And yes, she gets a matching crochet cuff made with the left over cotton.

Wrap vests I've been admiring:

From top left: Two and Six, Raglan Guld, Joyce Lives Here, Myrtle and Eunice, Kootoyoo, Foxs Lane

I just have to bring your attention to this wonderful little blog I've just discovered (via a Ravelry group)!!! If you LOVE crochet, you will LOVE this!!! 

Check out more creative spaces at Kirsty's. 

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coming soon: alphabet walk blog hop!!!

Have you ever heard of an alphabet walk?  Piper at One Sydney Road blogged about it here (and here) and I thought it was a great idea for turning an ordinary walk in to something more interesting and FUN!  The kids LOVED it!  They edited their photos and put the alphabet together themselves.

Now there's an alphabet walk blog hop coming up.  Doesn't that sound like fun?  I've signed up and I have the letter "U"!!! "U"???  Hmmmm.

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