Buttercup Bag

Despite being on a project diet for the month of Ramadan, I could not resist the chance of sewing up this bag, while I had my sewing machine out for the final haul on kids' Eid clothes. I had chanced on the pattern recently and I had just the right material for it- the fabric leftover from a recent sofa upholstering at our home. Rather than following the measurements in the pattern, I freehandedly cut out my pieces, quite a bit larger. As the fabric is quite sturdy, I opted for a simple cotton lining. I used a ribbon to line the strap. For the final snazz, I used over sized buttons as embellishment on both sides.

I think it turned out pretty well and it was fast ( the real fun of sewing ), done in one sitting!

Sunburst Cardigan

 So, it has been test knit and put up for sale at my ravelry store. It is the adult version of my earlier Sunburst Coat. I had a great set of test knitter for this one too and you can also see their FOs at the store.

Yarn weight:  Aran / 10 ply (8 wpi)

Gauge:  15.5 stitches and 24 rows = 4 inches in st st on 5 mm needles

Needle size:US 6 - 4.0 mm, US 8 - 5.0 mm

Yardage: 1000 - 1800 yards (914 - 1646 m)

Sizes available: 34(36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56) inches 

Finished Measurements:
Bust: 34(36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56) inches.
Length: 21.5 (21.75, 22, 22.75, 23, 23.25, 24, 24.25, 24.5, 25.25, 25.5, 25.75) inches.
Armhole/yoke depth: 8 (8.25, 8.5, 8.75, 9, 9.25, 9.5, 9.75, 10, 0.25, 10.5, 10.75) inches.
Body length: 13.5 (13.5,13.5, 14, 14, 14, 14.5, 14.5, 14.5, 15, 15,15) inches.
Sleeve length (to underarm): 17 (17, 17.5, 17.5, 18, 18, 18.5, 18.5, 19, 19, 19.5, 19.5) inches.
Includes charts for lace with written pattern instructions.

Ramadan Mubarak

Ramadan will most probably be starting tomorrow for us, here in Pakistan. We will know in a cuople of hours whether the moon has been sighted or not.

This year Alhamdolillah, I feel I am better prepared than the last year. The groceries have been bought, laundry has been done. My daughter's Eid clothes are done. Shami kebabs, chicken cutlets etc have been made and frozen (which is a great deal, considering cooking is my least favorite job). Thanks to the recent house paint, my home is already de-cluttered and clean, mashaAllah. Now it is time for de-cluttering and cleaning  of the soul, inshaAllah.

I don't plan on knitting or  sewing this month, so the blog activity will be minimal, though I might do a post on my daughters Eid clothes and another when my pattern comes out.

May Allah make this blessed month beneficial for us all!

Help for Pakistan's Flood Victims

Heavy Monsoon rains lashing all over the country have brought in the worst flooding Pakistan has experienced in the last 80 years. Thousands have died, millions are left without shelter, food or drinking water. Infrastructure is destroyed, crops gone, infections brewing. The magnitude of the disaster is enormous and devastating.

A few months back, after the earthquake in Haiti, a fundraising campaign, Help for Haiti, was launched by theravelry designers who offered all or some percentage of income from their patterns sales to relief efforts. Thinking on the same lines, I have decided to donate all proceeds from sales of my patterns (meager though these may be) till the end of September, to the flood relief efforts here in Pakistan. 

And I am happy to report that others at ravelry are also thinking and doing something about it. We will have to wait and see if it can generate enough interest at ravelry to get up an official Help for Pakistan drive.

So if you are interested to help, you can check out my for-sale pattern on the left side bar, or at my ravelry store. You can also see other designers who are offering the patterns at the earlier link. Or if the patterns do not interest you, you can donate directly to charity which is working for the relief effort.

Rainbows

A few months ago, while buying some yarn from Knit Picks, I happened upon this colorway of Felici (Rainbow) and had to get a ball. I intended to make a pair of socks out of it for my daughter. Good thing I did, the colorway has sold out since then.

   So this week I finally started the socks and those being for a four year old, knit up quite fast. To spice things up, I decided to try my hand at entrelac. There were many beautiful entrelac sock projects at ravelry to inspire me. Even though it was my first entrelac project and I was not following any pattern, I was determined to do the heel and toes in entrelac.

 Heels were an easy affair but the toes required some frogging and reknitting. It turned out of a most vibrant pair of socks.

    The fun did not stop here as I still had some leftover yarn. So I knit up a simple kerchief too! So much fun with a small ball of yarn!