Similar Blog

I found this blog online with a similar flavor. It's really nice to find someone else blogging about this stuff.
http://easycrafts.blogspot.com/

Mehendi hai rachne waali

L. is kind of fed up with this song, since he has to listen to me singing it all the time. Poor thing, he needs a break. But I can't help it. It's been playing in my head since the day my parents consented to our marriage. And then came Diwali. This year, I couldn't celebrate it as I would have liked due to a deadline. We ended up celebrating it with our close friends S&S, for whom this Diwali was even more special. It was the first Diwali after their wedding, and they decorated their home beautifully. It was a very special Diwali, so I had to do something beautiful. So, I did Mehendi. First reason was that non-stop song playing in my head. And the second reason was that Mehendi has a way to make any occasion very special and festive.



This time I used the mehendi powder I bought from Hydrabad during my last trip to India. The best part was that I did not need to sieve it. I boiled some water, added tea leaves, boiled some more and strained the liquid. I added fresh lime juice, eucalyptus oil and clove oil to the mix. I also added a tsp. of honey, to make it more elastic. Mixed well, let it sit, covered on the counter for about 5-6 hours and then made the cones. Every Mehendi waali has her secret recipe for soaking mehendi. I think this is going to be mine. However, I still don't know how to make cones very well..but it was ok...Later that night, I applied mehendi to S. and me, while the guys watched a movie. We came home at 4.00 in the morning. It truely was a happy Diwali.

Diwali wishes

I actually wanted to make Diwali cards for my entire family and all my friends this year. If you're my family or friend and reading this, then you know that that didn't happen. Instead, I ended up making just one card .. for a very special family. Yeah, you guessed it right. L.'s family. I am totally falling in love with this style of making cards..Also since I haven't seen anyone else using this exact technique, I feel it is my very own unique expression. I really hope they like it. (I don't know when I'm going to learn the art of basic photography?)

Warmth..for someone special

L. and I were walking down the main street in beautiful downtown Tarrytown one late Summer Sunday afternoon, when we stumbled on this store. I found was some interesting yarn and asked him to pick a color. I did have green in mind, cause he likes green. I also had formal in mind, so this dark olive was perfect. I picked the contrasting cement gray ('very boring' by my standards, which I figured might translate into 'formal' for him). I consider it to be a major achievement, since L. has a very sophisticated sense of style and I always struggle to keep up with him.

The yarn felt good. It was bulky Lamb's pride (blend of 85% soft wool and 15% Mohair). I think the shades were Deep Pine and Pistachio. It is the most expensive yarn that I have worked with so far. It's like eating real Parmigiana Reggiano. Just as you hate using regular ingredients after using gourmet ones, I don't feel like knitting with ordinary yarn after knitting with this one. And I know this is just the beginning. It opened up a whole world of interesting yarns beyond the standard worsted weight ones. It was also the first time I knit with such large needles. And that too bamboo ones. That was so addictive! The speed with which this project worked, totally made me lazy and not want me to work on smaller sized, metal needles. I guess, I can't get so used to the luxuries of knitting yet. Oh, and it was also the first time I used cables, and now I'm totally hooked. Someone please bring me back to reality.

It took me a lot of research, designing and false starts to get the pattern right. And then there was also the tight budget of yarn. I did the scarf first and then the hat, but should have done the other way round to reduce the anxiety related to not being able to finish the hat. Anyways, in the end it all worked out. Here are the patterns I used. (Inspired by a design I saw online, I think, on knitty.com)

Scarf (for colors, see the picture):

Cable-and-Rib pattern: (multiples of 10 + 4sts)

Cast 24 stiches.

Row 1: k1, (k2, p2, k4, p2) to last 3 stitches, k2, sl1 as if to purl
Row 2: p1, (p2, k2, p4, k2) to last 3 stitches, p2, sl1
Row 3: Repeat Row 1
Row 4: Repeat Row 2
Row 5: k1, (k2, p2, slip next 2 sts to cable needle and hold in FRONT of work, knit next 2 sts, then knit 2 st from cable needle, p2)to last 3 stitches, k2, sl1 as if to purl
Row 6: Repeat Row 2

Repeat rows 1-6 to desired length


Hat (for colors, see the picture):
co 62 - 6 = 56 stiches
k2p2 ribbing for 4 rows
increase 6 stiches. (k9+ inc)*k2 (=62 stiches)
start pattern
6 cables 7 ribs for 2 cables (18 rows)
Shaping: (I think this is right)
decrease 6 stiches
(K2tg K6)*

(K2tg K5)*
(k2tg K4)*
(k2g K3)*
(k2g k2)*
(k2g k1)*
(k2g)*

Sew in the ends.


Even though this project was a little expensive, it was worth every bit, given that L. now uses the scarf (it's not cold enough for the hat yet)..and looks absolutely smashing wearing it. Plus I know that every stitch that I knit, I also knit in my love to keep him warm during the harsh winter. (Ok, it is a bit too cheesy!)
(Pictures coming soon!)

A bridge across cultures

This past summer, I visited Vancouver for a conference. I was living on the UBC campus and visited the famous Nitobe memorial zen garden.
The garden is a tribute to Dr. Nitobe, who worked all his life as a cultural bridge between the two countries.



I was fortunate to meet a woman there who carried forward the work (maybe without even knowing about it). She was actually the person at the ticket booth (right next to the entrance in the picture). She was selling these incredibly cute handmade Japanese dolls. I asked her how I could learn to make them, and she said that she had made them, so she could teach me. She immediately cut a small piece of paper from a notebook and taught me how to make it. (She even gave me the template). I finally managed to make my own today, and it clearly isn't as pretty as hers, but I'm very happy to have made it. This also introduced me to the wonderful art of Chiyogami. The material used for this doll is Chiyogami paper, card board, black crepe paper for the hair, small silk thread and glue. I wonder how many people in this world are living bridges across cultures?

More reproductions

Please see my previous posts here and here about how I got into this kind of painting. This one is a difficult one by Kandinsky that I haven't been able to finish. It's from the book that L. gave me. This time I sketched it free hand!



This one is actually an enlarged version of a small part of one of Kandinsky's early works. I'm absolutely in love with the intense colors used in this.




This one was done on a greeting card for my sister-in law on the first birthday after the birth of my niece. I simply can't remember the name of the painter. J., I wrote it on the card, can you please tell me what it is?



Here I'm experimenting with Pastels. Another Kandinsky. Am I in love with him or what? I think so, cause I named my laptop after him. (My advisor is partially to be blamed for this. We have the 'artist' theme running in our lab..the name of the lab is 'IESL' (Information Extraction and Synthesis Lab), the grad students are called 'artists' (As in, hey artists, I'm not going to be able to make it to the lab meeting today), and all the machines (including servers) are named after famous painters. There is certainly something about computer scientists and art.

My all time favorite

See my previous post about how I got into painting. After that experience, I kind of really got going. I started reading about painters and started thinking about what I liked and what I did not like. L. as usual was very supportive and even gifted me two books - one about painting techniques and the other about my favorite painters Kandinsky and Munter.

Here's another painting that I did (started in the third class, and even finished it afterwards). I've really liked their work and this one remains one of my all time favorites. This also reminds me of the lazy summer in which I did these paintings.