A Little Brag!!

I received a message from the ravelry team today that they would like to feature my Crocheted Moccasin pattern as the Jess' Pick on their pattern page for the entire month of October. How cool is that!!!
I have been jumping up and down with excitement since morning. All ravelry members, do check out the page starting tomorrow.

Eid Clothes-- Done

The Eid clothes that I had been sewing for my kids are all done. I made two outfits for my daughter and one for my son.

My son's Shalwar Kameez is relatively simple. I did a bit of fabric painting around the neckline as I was short of time for any embroidery. The flower pattern is of my son's choice, as is the little chick button :)

I already posted the first outfit for dd. I made a little dupatta(stole) to go with it.

The second outfit is a ghagra (skirt) with a small shirt. This is also done in bright, festive fabric used for weddings and such. The embelishment is very traditional gotta work. I made a little dupatta to go with this as well.

The Blast

About three hours ago, we were relaxing after the iftar and maghrib prayers when we felt a deep thundering blast. My husband went out to have a look while I turned on the TV. Sure enough, it was on the news within few minutes. The Mariott hotel were the explosion ocurred is about 9-10 kms from our house and we could feel the impact there. The casuality count is still rising and we can hear the ambulances.

Our feelings: ????? ..Maybe we are numb..

A Typical Iftar

Iftar is the liveliest and most wonderful time of the day during Ramadan. Last evening I got a picture of our Iftar dishes. I think it is a good representation of what we usually eat at iftar (breaking of the fast). Starting off with water or date in accordance with the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW), we normally also have fruit chaat, dahi bhalay and pakoras. On this occassion we also had a few samosas and my husband's version of the french toast.
Fruit Chaat is basically a fruit salad with a variable seasonings. I like to add only a little sugar and orange juice. Dahi Bhalay is basically pakoras made of gram flour or lentil paste, dipped in yogurt,of course with a load of red and green peppers and other seasonings.

In craft going-ons, I am done with the back for baby jumpsuit. It is a Drops design, quick in garter st with simple inceases and decreases. Looks a little weird right now with long arms and legs but these are supposed to fold over. So it will look quite all right when done, inshaAllah.

Also, I'm nearly done with my daughter's second outfit and will start on my son's clothes this weekend, inshaAllah. Will post pics when both are done.

Eid Preparations

I am so busy and so tired these days. It is not because of the fasting but rather due to an excessive load of self-imposed chores. All these preparations for the Eid and the wedding later on, is wearing me down.
Next year, no handmade gift items unless those are done before Ramadan, inshaAllah. I have to do a few craft gift projects for my in-laws. Plus, seeing the baby surprise jacket lying around, I decided to make a jumpsuit as well and gift both to the newborn baby after all. (I may have to knit a cap as well, to round off the gift). Also, I decided to sew traditional Eid clothes for my kids. All this on top of the routine household jobs. Usually I enjoy all these activities, but for some reason my stamina is not up to the mark this year.
With all this, my February sweater is progressing at a very slow rate. I did finish my daughter's Eid dress today:

It is the tradtional Kameez(shirt) and Shalwar (pants). The embellishment on the shirt is taken from one of my wedding clothes and sewn onto the fabric in applique-fashion. I might make a small dupatta (stole) for my 2-year-old to acccompany this. With this will be matching bangles and mehndi (henna) for my little princess:), inshaAllah!
Next on my sewing table is a Kameez Shalwar for my son and then an outfit for my daughter for the upcoming wedding.

For My Mom

Although I have been quite late in jumping on the bandwagon, I did at last cast on for the February Lady Sweater. I am knitting this for my mom. The yarn is Lion Brand Wool-Ease. So far, I have done the yoke and am just starting the lace portion. My modifications so far have been knitting the yoke in st st rather than garter, after the intial garter st border. Also I knit the eyelet row and the 2 adjacent rows in garter. I decided on st st because I was worried about the yardage (I have five balls at 180m/ball).

I have decided to go slow this time, because there is so much work for me right now. I have a lot of Eid preparations as well. Next year, I will try to do all these chores before the start of Ramadan, InshAllah, so I can concentrate on the fasts and their Ibada aspect. As it is, the material jobs take so much time and energy, there is very little left for the spiritual part.

Simple Toe-up Socks

I had started these about ten days ago as my first toe-up pair. These are for my son.I used the Universal Toe-up Sock Formula. The yarn is Schoeller + Stahl Fortissima Colori Socka Color. I used 2.75 mm DPN's. I knit the two socks from opposite ends of the ball so as to equally divide the yarn and aprroximate the stripes.

I can't wait to have my son to return from school and try these on. He loves when I make something for him and I love his childish praises:) That is a little different from the lukewarm response from my husband when told that my next pair of socks was going to be for him.