Cookbook Cover

 

I really like to cook. One year ago, I would have vehemently denied this statement. Then, I was the person who went into the kitchen, threw together the ingredients in a pan and called it a meal. Basically, I could not wait to get out of the kitchen and get on with life. I scoffed at the food channels and felt uncomfortable/bored with any sort of food talk. I did have a small diary with a few recipes jotted down, because like it or not, I had to cook for my family and needed some help with that.

 

Then, last year, every thing changed. I am not sure how, but I started noticing the finer points about food, like taste, texture, color, presentation. Cooking became less of a chore. All of a sudden, I was planning menus, looking up new recipes, even tuning into the food channels. I started understanding and relating to the food talk. I am sure my family appreciates the change. Our food has become more balanced and there is a lot more variety to it, as I continue to try new dishes and master new techniques.

 

In line with my new interest, I needed to new binder to store my cook book and a cover for the new binder. I sewed this over the. The embroidered part is from an old shirt which I embroidered while in college. The rest of the fabrics came from my stash. It took two load shedding filled afternoons to get this done. Cannot wait to fill it up with recipes!

In other news, the colorwork sweater is progressing nicely. I am at the sleeves now, so hopefully it will be done soon, inshaAllah.

Another Start

After the sizing problems with the first design, I thought I was going to try something different in monochrome.But I could not get colorwork out of my head. So I looked around and found this chart for mittens. A little adaptation later, I was able to put it into my new pullover.

 

This chart was just the thing to get my interest back into knitting. I am enjoying this sweater and already planning ahead for my future projects. And I must replenish my stash too, so I'll be shopping for some yarn soon!

Spring Sewing Part 2

 It has been ten days since my last post. Looking back, I know I indulged in some sort of craft activity, most of those ten days, still there is not much to show for it. I did sew a couple of my shalwar kameez but that does not make for interesting blog content. I also sewed a dress and a top for my five-year old:

Both have almost identical draft, just variation in length and placement of elastic gives different results. 

  Sadly, on the knitting front, my color work project did not go very well. I had started Dance of Robots for my son. The pattern is for 3-7 year olds and my son is eight. I was hoping to get the right size with larger needle size but my optimism was unrealistic. It makes me sad, because I quite loved the pattern.

 So I have ripped back and will start with something quite different. No color work this time, unless someone has any suggestions?

High Street Vest

Things have been dull at knitting front, hence my lack of posting. But finally, I have managed to finish this vest. All stockinette stitch in fingering weight, so the going was slow and not very exciting, but I am happy to use up some of my stash and have a nice layering piece for the winter. The yarn is Brown Sheep Nature Spun (grey heather) knit on 3.75 mm needles.
  Next I am moving onto more interesting stuff involving a bit of color work.