From Matty to Aida …..

The one thing I don’t enjoy doing is sending out handmade greeting cards. There are two reasons for this. One, even though I send cards only to those who appreciate hand-made stuff, my mind gets gnawed with doubts such as what if by chance they (recipient) throw it away.

Two, I hate parting with my stuff. (Should this have been number one) The number of people I send handmade stuff is thankfully few in number. So I thank God for small mercies.

There was so much to cross stitch that I didn’t know about when I was in school. There was something called “Matty” cloth available in the market. They were available only in white, pink, yellow, light green and light blue. With this limited color choice, we used to buy a couple of meters of one of the colors depending on the project we are working on. Mostly it would be a table cloth and occasionally a Television cover, (for the uninitiated, the TV cover helped prevent dust settling on the screen) and one would stitch the border and a flower bouquet in the center. This was a very common pattern made in most homes.

If the design came out really well, these tablecloths used to adorn the dining tables during a party at home or when people visited. The cross stitched piece would be laid out neatly on the table and duly covered with clear plastic, lest eatables or drinks get spilt. There were also horror stories like the one my friend retold.

My friend who is a cross stitch enthusiast once had laid out her table cloth and had gone to bring the plastic to cover it. Before she could bring it down, a guest kept her glass of juice and it got spilt. My friend was devastated. This spoilt table cloth had to go for a wash. What came out of the washer was a disaster she had never imagined. This “Matty” cloth has a tendency to shrink. Now, not only did the piece shrink to a much smaller size than the table it was made for, but the color of all the threads ran so much that the color of the table cloth changed drastically. From that day she never laid out her table cloths and it was the last time my friend worked on a table cloth.

Recently, after discovering the different kinds of Aida and other cross stitch materials in the U.S. market, she began working on small projects like photo frames etc.,

I don’t remember where my matty cloth T.V cover went, but thankfully I don’t remember having a disaster like that. Here are a few of my Aida projects. I am seriously looking for my lost TV cover which I hope to present in my blog along with another Aida work. 

The above are small items I made, a few for making greeting cards, but I never got around to making them and sending them to people. The other two are bookmarks which I rarely use, but take them out from time to time and admire my own handiwork. 

 

Cell-phone cozy

Though with the advent of the bluetooth people keep their cell phones in their pocket and walk speaking to the air, there are several women who I have seen during their morning walks with their cell phone dangling around their necks keeping a steady beat to their steps. Some of these cell phone cozies are done in bright colors in plastic wire. Seeing these cozies one morning I had the bright idea of making one using size 10 thread, which would be more elegant than their plastic wire counterparts.

 Once the fan stitch strip is finished, a border is made using dc on all four sides. On the short side where the cozy is to be closed make a loop while making the border.

 The border is made with loop on one side in the above picture.

After the border is done, fold in half leaving one fan-stitch with the loop on top unattached. Slip stich the sides. Sew button. Insert cell phone and close. 

I made a button with thread and wasn’t  satisfied with the result. One could use a cute button instead.

Here is the pattern.

Fan Stitch Cell phone cozy   

Material used: Aunt Lydia’s crochet cotton size 10 color blue.

Crochet hook size .85

Chain 20.

Row 1: Miss 1 ch, 1 sc, *miss 6 ch, 1 long dc (yarn over insert hook, draw up a loop 1.5 cm long, yarn over, draw through 2 loops, yarn over, draw through 2 loops), 12 more long dcs in the same ch, miss 6 ch, 1 dc*, 3 ch turn. 

Row 2: 1 long dc in 1^st sc, *5 ch, 1 sc in 7^th of 13 long dc, 5 ch, 2 long dcs in last sc, 1 ch, turn.

Row 3: 1 sc between the 1^st 2 long dcs, *13 long dcs in the sc worked at the center of fan in previous row * 3ch, turn.

Rep from Row 2. 

Work about 17 fans or as required measuring the  length of your cell phone. Fasten off.

Join thread at one end of strip and work dcs around making sure it doesn’t curl in the corners.

Make a small loop while making dcs above the fans on one side and fasten off. 

Fold in half and slip stitch on both sides to join.

Fold the top fan with the loop and sew a button to the close the cozy.

Fasten off.

Join thread in the top end of cozy and work chains till desired length and join on the other side. Work sc throughout the ch and fasten off.

The string is optional. I attached the thread to one top corner, made 250 chains and at attached them to the other end and single crocheted them. 

Please leave a comment if you have a question about this pattern.

 

 

 

Krishna – Glass painting

 

Glass painting

When friends raved about the glass painting classes they attended and the effect it had on them swayed me into trying a glass painting myself. I had a neighbor who did several of these paintings and was selling commercially. She offered to teach me this form of painting. I went to her house one day to choose the pre printed glass. Suddenly my mother had this idea that I should make one for my sister also. So I chose a Krishna and a Lakshmi.

This is a glass painting which is done on pre printed glass. The ones I have done have been screen printed. So once you get the glass you have to fill the colors in the reverse side in between the black outlines. Though I did enjoy making the paintings, I should confess that it was a tad tedious and less challenging. Tedious because I was pregnant with my second child, less challenging because, one is just filling up colors of ones choice and doesn’t have the pleasure of drawing the Krishna. I finished the painting in about ten days, giving way to the speculation that after I finish the Krishna I would be blessed with a son. But Lakshmi rose to the occasion and blessed me with a daughter. So I will always cherish the memories of making this painting.

Painting Landscapes

 

I love Autumn

The joy of painting has to be experienced. I have watched artists deeply engrossed with their paints. Once during a trip to Kodaikanal, I had the opportunity to visit an american couple who had a lovely cottage there. They were artists and I watched Mike when he was painting an abstract landscape. Though I am not very fond of abstracts, the way he painted was fascinating.

I watched the way he held the brush and the flourish with which each stroke landed on the canvas, the irreverent splash of colors, et.al, I just watched spellbound.

Then there was this visiting artist who just threw in paint hap hazardly on to the canvas, which he had earlier prepared in front of me, stretching it on a frame and securing the corners. Then in front of my eyes, he went on pouring color after color and voila there was a beautiful landscape: a banana plantation, which he had recreated from memory. I was floored.

Sadly, though I evinced keen interest in the way they created a masterpiece, I have to this day not mastered the art of finishing a similar landscape in a matter of two hours. Or to boldly pour color on my canvas like they did. My form of painting is to take tiny blobs of paint and dab it tentatively on to the canvas, make a few strokes, prop it on the wall and view it from a distance, and make color or stroke changes, till I am completely satisfied. (which will take ages)  My final product will be ready for public viewing in say 4 to 6 months. Even then I am never fully satisfied. I will tell myself that it could have been better if I had used this color or that…. I don’t know if all artists have this feeling long after their work is done.

The painting above is my first work in oil on canvas. Long before I could witness and experience the autumn season with my own eyes I made this painting ( or should I say copied from a brochure). The original work is by Easwaran, a landscape painter of whom I am a great fan. My painting cannot be compared to this artist’s work. But it did give me great pleasure after I finished it and put it up on my wall.

On being tagged….

When I got a mail saying I was being tagged, I was reminded of my college days.  It was the first year of college and ragging was rampant. I had joined Post-graduation and was walking to my block in the campus. There was this guy who was tagging me. I suddenly turned around and stopped in my tracks. The guy looked embarrassed as I looked him in the eye and stammered “What’s your name?”

I : “Why do you want to know?”

He:  Just for introduction…

I : “Is this the way you introduce yourself?” Pathetic.

He: (Seeing some cronies behind me, and boldness creeping a little) Freshers should not talk like this. Haven’t you heard of ragging.

I : Sure, I have. Which year are you in?

He: I am in III B.B.M. And you?

I: I am a post-graduate student.

Wimp scoots. Cronies behind me move to give me way.

I: Do you guys have any other questions?

Guys grin sheepishly and walk away. 

A couple of days later a classmate of mine came and asked me “Did a guy come to rag you two days ago?

I: Rag me? you must be joking.

CM:I thought so too, but the guy looked shattered,… I wondered what happened.

I told him what happened and had a good laugh. That was the first time I was tagged to be ragged.

This is the first time I am being tagged in cyber space by Sra of whenmysoupcamealive. I hope I won’t be ragged for this.

I have this book “The world is what it is” by Patrick French. It is a biography of writer V.S.Naipaul of whom B is an ardent fan. He hasn’t finished reading and I haven’t started on it yet.

Anyway when I opened Page 123 and set my eyes on the fifth line I did find a very interesting line.

“Notice I say one-sided submission.” I think the submission and revelation of love is the most glorious thing. But to be really complete, love must enter everyday life. It must entail the acceptance of each other’s ambitions and respect for each other’s beliefs.”

The book: The world is what it is

The Author: Patrick French (The famous biographer of Sir Vidia who hogged the limelight for getting a fat  check for the book and otherwise)

Lines taken from: Chapter 7, To the empty house.

The sentence above was written by Patricia to Sir Vidia in response to a letter he had sent her.

I am not tagging anyone now, will save that for later.

Blackwork

One thing I loved about living in the U.S. was visiting the libraries. Each county had a library and an amazing collection of books and magazines. I would spend hours sifting through books and magazines making notes, taking copies and yet it seemed to me that I did not to have enough.

The books on different crafts were also amazing finds for me. Earlier, in school, we used to do cross stitch with different colored threads. Then we used to frame if it was a big picture, if it was a small square we would stick it to a card and send it to someone… or sadly in some cases it will wilt and wither in people’s craft nooks.

So when I chanced upon this book on blackwork cross-stitch, I was struck by how beautiful a work could look even if you used only one color thread. I borrowed this book the maximum number of times (thankfully nobody seemed to want it and I didn’t want to photo copy the pattern)

I began the work in earnest on 14-count aida. Surprisingly, I completed the work within three months which is a record by my standards.  

 Not a great photo. 

However, unlike my other projects, especially crochet which gets more attention, this project languished in my craft pile. One day when I was organizing my cupboard I came across this finished project and wondered why I hadn’t framed it earlier.

Anyway, for those of you interested in making a blackwork picture, there are tons of patterns in the internet. It is not necessary one has to work with black thread throughout like the name suggests. One can use any single color of their choice. You can even try stitching in white on a dark fabric.

Possessions and obsessions…

 

Being possessive about collecting stuff (read hoarding) comes naturally for some people. I count myself in that category, for collecting stuff such as threads, needles, pattern books, art books… the list is getting longer.

I am very possessive about certain things I own. Like art and craft pattern books (Well, you could say books in general J) and the articles I make like a doily, afghan et.al. People close to me say it borders on obsession but I am not bothered.

So when I was living abroad and meeting these lovely people who just gave away extra yarn or thread without batting an eyelid and photo-copied patterns from leaflets or books for others I have to say I had a change of perspective.

Being a member of the web group which held simple contests to encourage members, I won a few contests and by way of gifts for winning, I was sent some great looking doilies (I wouldn’t have dreamt of sending these beauties to someone) and luscious yarn. (which would forever have been in my stash)

The gifts I received, I cherish and use to this day (I am very sorry I lost their names in a computer crash) I really hope mine would also be cherished in the home it went to.

My reluctance in gifting things I make to all and sundry is not without a reason. I have met people who would coo away saying they haven’t seen such a beautiful pattern and if I could make one for them. Later when you actually take the time to make and gift them one they act as though they had never asked me for one. Then there are some who actually have the cheek to dismiss the work you do as waste of time.

Last but not the least I have to mention an aunt who takes care of my doilies as I would. She washes starches and irons them and displays them well. Once she even took some of my doilies and sold them all for charity. So now I take pleasure in gifting my doilies to people like her. And now, unless I know the person real well I don’t even venture to show my work.

This is what happens to books too. Many people would borrow books only to forget to return or are just not bothered to return it. But when you remind them to return it they get offended (well that’s another story). Now that I have got it all off my chest, here is a beautiful doily I got as a gift.