Crafts, leisure and happiness

Cool huh? Took me forever to finish it though. Men's sweaters can be quite monotonous to knit. The sweater I knitted Originally uploaded by vin E Yarn: Paton's Merino Wool Pattern: Inspired (made quite a few modifications) by the pattern on the Berroco patterns site. Here's the link. Doesn't look quite so much like the one on the Berroco site. The sleeves of my sweater are shorter and the whole sweater should have had a closer fit. Nevertheless doesn't look too bad on the whole.

Kimono sweater Originally uploaded by vin E This little sweater was inspired by a pattern I found on the berroco site. Here's the pattern. Made a few modifications to fit Bubba, looks like its going to be too big for him right now. He seems to like it though. When I tried it on him, the first thing he did was spit up on it.

Check out this link http://www.schmap.com/sandiego/sights_roseville/#p=41956&i=41956_6.jpg Has one of the pictures of Harbor Island, San Diego that either I clicked or Vishu clicked I'm not sure (though I took all the credit for this on this website).

Babette blanket made by Mom Originally uploaded by vin E Babette blanket made by Mom. She made it for my soon to arrive baby. I'm inspired to make one too now. This one is made from yarn bought in Bangalore, India. Looks like some mix of cotton and wool, not sure though. Turned out really soft and warm and huge - 42" X 40" !! Will last my baby a long time! Henceforth this blanket shall be called - "The Ajji Blanket". Click on the pic for more photos on my flickr page.

To all you Harry Potter fans. Tales of Beedle the Bard is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Has two versions - Standard Hard Cover that costs just $7.59 and a Collector's edition that looks beautiful and costs $100.00! The book is scheduled to release on December 4, 2008. Another long wait!

Here's what Kusuma is upto these days. Churning out beautiful things like a factory. This birdie is just so adorable I had to tell the world! She just sent me the link with the pattern to add to this blog. So here it is if you want to make a birdie. crocheted-bird Originally uploaded by kusumaghoshdastidar

Yellow pepper beanie finished Originally uploaded by vin E I picked this pattern from knitchicks . I went to Michael's looking for an appropriate red yarn for this. Could not find one that I liked. So here's a Yellow Pepper beanie instead of a strawberry or tomato beanie. I hope it fits my soon to arrive little one. Here's what I used Needles : US size 6 DPNs all the way. Yarn : Swish DK from knitpicks , colors Pale Lemon and Asparagus. Used half of the Pale Lemon 50 gms ball and maybe a quarter of the Asparagus 50 gms ball. Finished size: The circumference is 14".

Today I'm about to start looking for a car seat for the new arrival. And these are the questions I hope are answered during my research How should I choose one? What should I look for? Turns out there are tons of resources online to decide how to choose one. Most of them echo the same ideas. Car seats should be easy to install and use, there should be a 5 point restraint system, should be comfortable, the baby's head should be well supported, they should be washable. I liked the baby center articles on car seats. Here's one of them. There are two kinds of car seats that are suitable for infants - Infant Car Seats and Convertible Car Seats . Baby center has detailed information on each of these as well. I also liked the website of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). NHTSA has used a five star rating system to rate ease of use of certain car seats. This has made short listing really easy for me. Check this out. Which ones are safest? There are so ...

Saw this cool pattern on www.knitty.com . Actually I think I liked the picture more than anything and this flickr page full of Sheldons and decided I MUST make one. And so went and bought all the needles I needed to and used some yarn that I had with me. So far this is how he looks. Will keep updating this post Pieces of Sheldon's shell. To be put together Originally uploaded by vin E Sheldon's attachment piece close up Originally uploaded by vin E Sheldon's shell Originally uploaded by vin E Here's how far he's come along - Shell all done. Body left. Shell all done Originally uploaded by vin E Sheldon's shell upside down. Originally uploaded by vin E Sheldon's body - blind and limbless!! Sheldon's body Originally uploaded by vin E Blind Limbless Sheldon Originally uploaded by vin E Sheldon All DONE!!! Check out my flickr page for Sheldon modeling some more. Shell-less Sheldon Originally uploaded by vin E Sheldon modelling Originally uploaded by...

To Sir with Love by E. R. Braithwaite My review rating: 4 of 5 stars Its a very simply written book and a well written one. I expected it to be a melodramatic, overly expressive book, but it wasn't. The simple descriptions gave a wonderful picture of the environment in which the children were brought up, their school and also a good idea of how east London looked. There are a lot of movies on the same theme and I believe we begin to in a way sub-consciously expect the same kind of drama in older books. And that's what I was afraid of when I picked it up. This book needed no drama to keep me interested in it until I finished it. If I were to tell you what I think of this book in one word that word would be "Simple". View all my reviews.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer My review rating: 2 of 5 stars The style of writing in this book seems more for a movie than for a children's book. The writing style IS interesting, not the book itself. It is more a children's book, unlike some other young adult fantasies like Harry Potter, Eragon or His Dark Materials which are interesting to adults as well. But then again it may not be the ideal book for the impressionable minds of children either. The protagonist is the evil character and may not set a great example for kids. Still would I read this book out to my child, of course I will. The more the inputs to a child's mind, the smarter and more well rounded he is. View all my reviews.

Did you know that all BMTC buses have tracking devices installed in them. And CL Infotech has provided a service that allows the public to find out where the bus they are waiting for is, whenever they want. I think this is pretty amazing and useful if you use the BMTC service. Currently this service is available only to track Volvo buses. Hopefully they will upgrade soon. All you have to do is SMS the service with the route number and you will get an update immediately (while running from your home to the bus-stop). So here is the link with the details. Spread the word. This website also has route info http://www.clinf.com/yi/YI_BMTC/Index.html

Vishu's pet hippo - Bubba Originally uploaded by vin E

I absolutely love visiting a craft supplies store out here in the USA. For one thing it kindles my creativity and another, its fun just going over the hordes of stuff that people do and need supplies for. I'm sure most people from India would feel the same way. I remember when I was in school and needed supplies for a project all I had to do was run to the neighborhood "fancy" store, yeah that's what they were called, atleast in Bangalore, and ask for the specific item I was looking for. If I needed craft paper (or more aptly color paper) there was only 1 kind, at the most 2 and one kind of glue and one kind of card board - K.G card board (if that's the way it is spelt and hmm, I wonder why it was called that). Every aunty I knew in my neighborhood had an interest in art and craft. My mom knew how to emboss on metal, to sew and knit and my neighbors and family friends could knit, crochet, paint on canvas, on cloth, on ceramics, embroider, whole saris sometimes, m...

The rain, the sea, flowers, autumn, spring, summer, coloring books, books, running babies that have just learnt to walk, drooling babies, potpourri, lights, candles, watching the rain, snow, babies, me, friends, toys, lakes, rivers, mountains, sunsets, long drives, long drives in the rain, music, ginger-tea, paint, colors, stacks of towels, stacks of yarn, green lawns, puppies, kittens, wrapping paper, receiving packages in the mail, the Sunday morning extended ginger-tea-time in bed looking out at our tree from the window, the leaves on the road in fall, watching the rain in Bangalore, a summer afternoon at home in Bangalore reading the Sunday Times with the musical background of the street vendors' voices outside, Vishu and me sitting quietly engrossed in our own thoughts in the living room, an intense game of risk with my friends, emails from friends, ingredient listings on the back of grocery cartons, milk, chips, chocolate, chocolate ice-cream, chocolate fantasy at Coffee Day...

Trail Originally uploaded by vin E Who would have guessed that on Thanks Giving day, the Bailey Cove trail near Redding, CA would be deserted. It was mere luck that led my husband and me there when we were looking for something to do. The changing coldth (I refuse to use the spell check suggested word here) and warmth of the trail gave us a perspective of the sun's hide and seek with the sides of the mountains. The silence interrupted only by the tread of our shoes on the thick carpet of leaves and our controlled whispers of awe. The smells were green and brown. The colors, damp and dry. A chirp, here, a glimpse of a deer sprinting away, there. The afternoon sun reflecting against the now reduced waters of the gigantic lake Shasta. The fallen acorns, some of which now adorn the petri dish in my living room. It was indeed a thankful Thanksgiving.

I've always been interested in craft work, probably because my mom would enroll me in different courses during summers. I never had the time or the resources earlier to pursue this interest until I moved to the US and found I had a lot of weekends and evenings on my hands. So I started to knit. This post is for anyone who has always wanted to knit and did not know how to go about starting it. This is what I did and I hope it helps Pick your project. Pick an easy or intermediate project Pick one where the size of the finished project need not be accurate for it to be usable. For instance a sweater or cardigan may not be a good idea, but a blanket or scarf or bib might be. Pick your project from one of the many available projects online. I picked my project from http://www.michaels.com/ . This was a baby blanket and it involved knitting the same pattern over and over again. Click here for instructions . Pick something that does not involve more than one color. Joining new colored yar...