The Frilly Pages

Wordless Wednesday: Sleepy Carrot Amigurumi

2015-08-12T16:27:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday: Yarnbow

2015-08-05T10:30:00.000-05:00

WIP Wednesday: crochet lace top

2015-05-13T10:30:00.000-05:00

Usually I'm not much into crochet or knit garment. I find them quite daunting. Specially if they are constructed in motifs. I end up making half of them. And quit the whole project within days. So when found this amazing pattern by Doris Chan, made from top to bottom in one piece, I gave it a go.

So that's what I've been up to. I'm on to the last sleeve. Give me a day or two, I'll be a proud owner of a cute lacy crochet top.

Also summer is finally here. Yay! My new favorite thing to do is to sit in my balcony with a cup of tea and a good book (or crochet project) and soak up some sunshine. Happy sunny days! ☀

Mama and Baby Mushroom Amigurumi

2015-05-08T12:11:00.001-05:00

Lately I've been frequenting bookstores a lot. I loooove books! You know that right? :) Anyway…while I was browsing the shelves of Half Priced Bookstore, I came across this amigurumi book, Amigurumi Two! by Ana Paula Rimoli. Obviously I snagged it at once. It has a lot of cute and great amigurumi patterns, which I fell in love with. I had sufficient red and white yarn at hand, so I decided on the Mushroom Softies. Hence mama and baby mushrooms came into being.

Here's mama mushroom in her natural habitat. She is actually the smallest size featured in the book. I worked it exactly as the pattern. The only differences are that I went down a hook size and used 9 mm eyes instead of 6 mm.

The baby mushroom is worked in the same way. Only it is not as wide or high as mama. At the widest part it has 24 sc instead of 36. And the stalk circumference has 12 sc. It ended up being about 2 inch in height. I wanted to use it as a charm, so I added a little string loop on top of its cap. Here's the tiny fella hanging out with my keys. I think it looks uber cute as a charm - with your keys or bag.

What fun/cute crafting have you been doing lately? Do share!

Pretty Things: Spring Edition

2015-04-07T16:19:00.000-05:00

Ah spring! The season of renewal and rebirth. It' is only appropriate I start blogging again now. A bit of personal time was necessary to wrap up some things. I am a bit of ashamed to admit that I lost my blogging mojo for a while. Not that I have regained all the desire or wit to continue my past shenanigans. Nevertheless, like the rest of the things, I am putting back together piece by piece, I'll try my hardest to rekindle this old flame of mine. Until then, enjoy these pretty blooms from my short lived windowsill garden. They remind me of my mom, who is an avid gardener. Too bad, she never plants any flowers but claims they make the ultimate gift. This is for you mom, who nurtured me to be the romantic, and lover of everything pretty.

Wordless Wednesday: Chilly Afternoon

2014-12-10T09:00:00.000-06:00

Yarn Haul: Lion's Pride® Woolspun®

2014-12-09T09:30:00.000-06:00

Every year about this time, I make the Guy a hat. You can say it's one of our holiday traditions. The fun part is- I ask the guy to pick up some yarn of his choice, and then I try to come up with a suitable pattern/design with them. The process can be a bit challenging but very worthwhile. It gives me just the right amount of kick in the pants to try out new techniques and learn new stitches.

This year Z picked up these two yarns from Michaels. I was quite surprised with his choice cause he's not really a red person. The yarns are Lion's Pride® Woolspun® (from Lion Brand) in Cranberry and Charcoal. The color combination is quite festive! Now all I have to do is come up with a fun pattern. Check back soon to see what I make with them.

You can see last years' hats here on "Hats and more Hats"

Pretty Packaging

2014-12-06T09:30:00.000-06:00

Yarn Haul: Knitpicks

2014-12-02T09:30:00.000-06:00

Yarn crafters can have favorites. Or maybe it's just me. I tend to get attached to certain things, including yarns. So when one of my longtime favorite yarns from Caron got discontinued, I was pretty devastated. The yarn I was pining over had an amazing luster and feel to it. But most importantly, it had natural fiber that I wasn't allergic too. Finding a new substitute became somewhat an important task. I knew I had to venture out to yarn world which I was poorly aware of.

Enter, Knitpicks. A long time ago, I purchased a Yarn Ball Winder from them. I fell head over heels in love with the winder. But I've never purchased any yarn from them before (I know, it's a shame). Finally I took the plunge and ordered couple of different yarns to try out. The yarns that I ordered from them were Comfy™ Sport, Shine™ Sport and CotLin™ (DK). I am used to work with heavier yarn, mostly with worsted and light worsted variety. So it was a bit intimidating to work with thinner material. But I have to say, eventually I became a fan. Among all of these, Comfy™ has to be my favorite. It’s a combination of acrylic and cotton, so no chance of allergy for me. The good news is Comfy™ also comes in worsted weight. I can’t wait to try it out in the future!

Now can we all discuss how cute this mug is?

(Knitpicks did not pay me to write this post. All of the yarns, and other stuff in the pictures are purchased by me.)

WIP Wednesday: Bias Knit Blanket

2014-11-19T10:49:00.000-06:00

In this corner of the world, winter has come with it's full glory of snow and freezing temperatures. Brr... This weather always makes me want to curl up under a cozy blanket, drink tea and make all the yarn-y things in the world. This is the time of year when I stock up on new yarn and bust out my old stash to make a hat or two for dear friends. Lately, I've been swooning over all things knit. I need much practice in the knitting department. So when I picked these yarn from Michaels', I decided to make a knit lap blanket.

I just wanted to quickly show you how far I've gotten. I have two more skeins to go through. So far, I am quite pleased with how this is turning out. Come to think of it, this is actually my very first big knitting project. So, yay! I plan to write a more thorough post (what yarn did I use, what pattern I am following, etc.) when I am done with this blanket.

I almost always post a glimpse of my work in progress(es) on Instagram. So don't forget to follow me there. ●‿●

Flaming Sky

2014-11-10T16:52:00.000-06:00

Every now and then, there are days when there is a sunset that makes you question everything and pushes you to the brink of existential crisis. Sunsets can be a bit depressing like that; reminding us of our mortality, fleeting time and darkness. Me, being the nostalgic kind, have always embraced the beauty and sadness of a sunset. Anyway, last weekend we had this awe-inspiring sunset! It looked like the whole sky was on fire. And every moment the sun descended more, the more the sky lit up. It was like an elaborate celebration than a gloomy goodbye. I like to think, these sunsets change people. Then again, I am also the romantic type. Have a great week, people!

Wordless Wednesday: lettering practice

2014-11-05T10:00:00.000-06:00

Baby Owl Amigurumi

2014-10-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I feel a bit sorry that I don't make enough amigurumis. Crochet has always been my favorite way to unwind, but making amigurumis can feel a bit overwhelming and mentally taxing. So it's been a while I made one. Recently, I wanted to make something for a friend, C. And I was looking for something cute yet simple. After a while, I found this baby owl amigurumi pattern over at Ravelry by Josephine of A Morning Cup of Jo Creations.

It turned out to be absolutely adorable! I used a little bit of my favorite yarn (Caron Country - which is, sadly, discontinued) and an hour and a half later it was done! And half of it was spent attaching the eyes, because I didn't have fabric glue or safety back eyes. I used the same black buttons that I used on my owl Kindle cozy. Yes, I hand sewed these parts. but it didn't bother me for a bit.

Instead of making it an ornament, I attached with some key chain parts that I found in Joann. Too bad he had to fly all the way to Arizona later that day, so I don't have a picture with the key-chain on. But I tell you this, he was pretty tree-topper . Now I wanna make this guy in all the possible colors.

Do you make amigurumis? Do you have any favorite pattern? Do share!

Fall Colors

2014-10-28T09:30:00.000-05:00

Oh Fall, the prettiest of seasons! I've always been a bit partial to Fall over Spring. Maybe because it reminds me of birthdays, school holidays, harvest festival and my grandma's rice cakes. Although growing up, fall didn't present itself with a plethora of colors. There, the leaves turn brown on a random wintery day and just fall off. Not much fun. So obviously, every chance I get to take fall picture, I make it count. The other day, we went on a stroll through the good ol' Campus, and snapped some pictures of the prettiest trees around. The great thing is the Campus buildings always make the pictures look quite regal. Here, are couple of my favorite shots from the day.

What is the current season in your neck of the woods? Are you enjoying it? Please do share, I love to read your comments!

How to celebrate being 33

2014-09-30T22:45:00.000-05:00

1. Wake up and do a thorough calculation if the years add up. Give up, pretend it’s any other day and sleep for 15 more minutes.

2. Eat a cupcake for breakfast. Down it with a strong cup of coffee, preferably with Americano. If you feel like spending dough, follow the sirens’ song and grab them from your local coffee shop.

3. Go see your eye doctor. Eyes are precious. Now that you’re over the hill (there…there) you need to take care of them even more. While you’re at it, make it a yearly thing. This way you won’t forget about at least one appointment in the coming years.

4. If you wanna do something special for yourself, buy some books. Books are excellent gifts for anyone! Even for a special snowflake like you.

5. Go on with your life.

6. Eat tacos for dinner. They are freaking delicious! And you don’t necessarily need a ton of toppings. Bonus points if it’s on a Tuesday.

7. Ponder about life and write a poignant journal/blog entry about your birthday. This may or may not turn into a feeble attempt in satire. If people argue on the topic, declare that you just made a list. Everyone loves list.

8. Scratch that, do whatever you wish- IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!!

9. Eat another cupcake as post dinner snack. Do not let its size frighten or deter you from your mission.

10. Call it a day.

Kitchen Adventures: Asian Rice Bowl

2014-09-26T15:31:00.000-05:00

At a very early age, I knew being a homemaker is not my calling. It’s not that I was a terrible cook or anything; I just didn't have much patience or love for routine. To me, meal planning, cooking the same thing every other day sounded awfully boring. I never knew once I grow up, I’ll crave the certainty of routines to avoid epic meltdowns in the kitchen because I ran out of cumin. After many misadventures in the kitchen, I started devising plans. Now I cook almost the same thing every week. Every Tuesday is ‘Chickpea Tuesday’. But that’s another story. The main star of this story is the rice bowl. I cannot say enough good things about rice bowls. Being an Asian, love for rice is probably in my blood. They are amazingly satisfying. No matter if they are Tex-Mex styled or Asian Fusion. Also, cue in the #thisiswhyiamfat.

So I made this Asian inspired rice bowl the other day. I found this yummiest (and the easiest) Korean beef recipe on Pinterest. And it was a huge hit. Here I made it with ground turkey. It has a great sweet-salty-spicy-smoky flavor. I love ginger in Asian food, so I doubled the amount from the original recipe. The carrot is cooked in Japanese Kinpira style; which is just a fancy way to say it was sautéed and simmered. I found the recipe in Just Bento blog/cookbook, which is one of my favorites. Finally, the spinach is just wilted and sprinkled with a bit of sesame oil. (If you are into Korean or Japanese food you should get some sesame oil for your pantry. It completely changes the flavors of vegetables and makes them extra yummy). All of these topped my bowl of steamed Basmati rice. I used Basmati, because that’s all I have in hand. You can go for either long or short grain rice.

The recipes that I used:
Korean Beef
Carrot Kinpira

Are you a rice fan? What is your favorite rice dish to cook? Do share! I love to read your comments.

Currently I am...

2014-09-02T10:30:00.000-05:00

...eating Questbars!! I am not a person who is into hypes, specially hyped foods. But I was looking for something to satisfy my sweet tooth, and that did not taste chemically. I finally found them at our local Hyvee (grocery store). These are ridiculously expensive but freaking delicious. Right now I only buy them once or twice a week.

...drinking loads of homemade lattes and cappuccinos, as I practice frothing milk with our new espresso maker. So far I’ve demolished 3 gallons of milk in the process. They say it takes about 5 gallons of milk to master the perfect froth. I am half way there!

...reading 'Divergent', which is taking me ages to finish. Obviously this is not something I am enjoying very much. I’m still trying to stick to it to give it couple more chances to redeem itself before the ending; so that I can finally say ‘yeah, I gave it a try till the end, but it still sucked’. Yes, I have issues.

...listening to comedy channels on Spotify. Sometimes music bores me. I tend to listen to the same thing over and over. So it was kind of refreshing to stumble upon the ‘word’ section on Spotify.

...watching nothing is particular. I’m eagerly waiting for Fall TV to start. Although I’ve been eyeing the final season of 'The Killing' on Netflix. OMG, that show it soooo good‼ If you have Netflix, go watch it now.

...wearing my Sketchers Go Walk shoes everywhere. They look a bit dorky. But they are great for walking (duh). And I am finding myself making excuses to run around the block randomly.

...enjoying our new apartment, specially its proximity to so many fun places. I am thoroughly enjoying walks on the trail that is nearby. It’s quite pretty with a creek and everything.

Owl Kindle Cozy

2014-08-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

Writing a craft blog can be overwhelming at times. Specially if you're like me and have an unhealthy amount of expectation towards yourself to churn out new, interesting and fun posts/projects. In my mind, I have this notion that I can only write posts whenever I create something or feel particularly creative. Now I haven't felt like that in a very long time. Then, a few weeks ago, we moved to our new apartment across town and there is this Joann store about 5 minutes walk away. As I browse for inspiration among all fabric and other knick-knacks, my creativity, once again, peeks through all the gloominess I have been harboring for the last couple of months. So, I sat myself down again, sketch some random thingies and come up with this simple kindle cozy.

Did I ever tell you guys how much I love my Kindle? No? Well, I do. Very much. It's a Kindle Paperwhite (the old version, not the new one). Paper books will always be my first love, but this comes to a very close second. It's lightweight and super portable. I have had it for a while. But it started to get a bit banged up. So I thought - why not make a cozy for it?

I decided on an owl, cause they are my absolute favorite! Some Pinterest browsing later, I came up with a sketch. I did give it a bit amigurumi-esque features. The body is made mostly of different colored felts. I used a pretty patterned fabric to line it and add a bit more interest. For the wings, I lightly stuffed them with poly-fill to give them a more of a cartoonish 3D look. The eyes were couple of 1/4 inch buttons. Finally to keep the flap (forehead & beak) closed, I used some sew-on velcro. Word of the wise, use the stick on velcro instead. It was a nightmare to sew on the velcro with a needle. All in all, I loved how the cozy turned out to be. It's a perfect fit for my Kindle and quite cute (don't mind me if I say so myself :P).

So what do you think of it? If you want to make a similar one, let me know. I will post a pattern with measurements and perhaps a how to post. Have a crafty day!

Photo Challenge: Part 2

2014-02-22T14:06:00.001-06:00

Last week's #28lovelydays collection includes a lot of polka dots and the color pink. My current favorite color is purple-pink; so obviously that showed up in several of the pics. Did I ever mention how much I love birds? I spent many of nostalgic afternoons watching chickadees and sparrows from my window. Owls are my favorite too. I love this picture (middle) of us on our wedding day. It was taken by my brother with a simple point n shoot camera. Speaking of cameras, my fancy camera is a Canon Rebel T3i and the lens is Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II . I opted not to get the kit lens. I love both of them to bits! Last week, I was working on a new craft (customized iPhone case), but it was a bust. So no post on that.

For more amazing photos and inspiration, check Instagram and search for #28lovelydays.

Photo Challenge: Part 1

2014-02-11T10:00:00.000-06:00

One of my goals for 2014 was to finish a photo challenge. I DID think about starting a project 365. But it seemed too daunting to me. So when the amazing Courtney over at Clicking It Up a Notch mentioned about a project for the month of February, themed around 'love', I was super giddy. The project, aptly called 28lovelydays, is about taking pictures every day of things you love. Personally, it felt like journey to self-discovery and about cherishing the littlest things in life. Like that picture of my 18 year old mom, which was tucked into this really old envelope, which itself was smooshed between piles of papers. Or my undying love of Starbucks, which like Sirens lures me back time and time again, no matter how hard I try. Or that particular Snow Patrol song which have been on repeat so many times that I lost count. And there are so many more! I am having so fun doing this photo challenge that I thought I’d share my progress with you guys.

If you want to join this challenge, you simply have to be on Instagram, take a photo of something you love every day and tag it with #28lovelydays. There are tons of brilliant photographers snapping away their little moments of love. It is such an inspiration! And it you are on Instagram, let’s be buddies. ^-^

2014-02-05T16:53:00.000-06:00

A New Design

2014-02-01T16:37:00.001-06:00

Good news everyone!
I am really excited to launch a new design for my blog. I have been dropping hints for a while about tweaking my blog. You might have seen some changes the last of couple of days. The timing couldn't be more perfect. A new year deserves a new design. I was pretty fond of my last design. But I wanted something that could reflect my current passions and philosophy more truly. So it is finally here! Come have a looksey!

All the design elements and coding are done by me, as usual. I decided to join the lettering/calligraphy bandwagon. And it ties so well with the design, I’d say. The header image has been on my mind for a while now. Now, I am not saying this is an original concept, but I love the fact it clarifies what this blog is about. Photography and sci-fi obsession aside, I am a crochet girl at heart. I have also decided to fully embrace my love of purple.

There are still some loose ends in the design and my perfectionist little self won’t be happy until I am done with them. So if you see something fishy or spooky, lemme know, okay? Few glitches aside, I am really happy how this turned out! And I am seriously thinking about taking up designing/coding as a job. If you want to know more about my designing process, or how I coded something in particular, let me know in the comments below. I will share my thoughts on them in the future.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Week on Instagram

2014-01-24T09:30:00.000-06:00

I am shuffling stuff around the blog. And deleted some of the sidebar elements, including my Flickr photo stream. I want to put a Instagram badge there, but can't figure out the code yet. So in the meantime, we are going to do a weekly recap through Instagram pics. Fun, eh?

This week has been quite chilly here in the Midwest. I am really glad this months's Birchbox had teas in it. And that black-current flavored tea was absolutely awesome! We are also warming ourselves with Khichuri - a rainy day staple in my mom's house. Think of it as a Bengali comfort food. My insomnia is bothering me a bit lately; so I have taken up drinking warm milk toddies. Just nutmeg does not do for me, so I put some cinnamon and cardamom in mine. Sorry, Aunt Adele. (Bonus point: if you know who she is ^-^). Did I ever mention how much I love stationary in general? Give me some cutesy paper stuff, and I will be happy for days. And obviously, I am sick. Again.

Are you on Instagram? I'd love to follow you! Leave me your Instagram handle in the comments. If you wish to follow me, I am faraha30. Have a great weekend, you guys!

Hats and more hats

2014-01-15T10:00:00.000-06:00

One of my very favorite things to crochet is hat. It requires minimal amount of time, effort and yarn. Most of the hats I have made only required one ball of yarn. And they are great gifts. I don't know about you, but the Guy only wears hats in winter. He's one of those people who get their winter jackets out at the last minute. He doesn't care much about gloves or scarves. The reason is quite a mystery- it's either his manly men psyche or he's actually rather hot (har). So every winter I make him hats, loads of hats.

The thing is there are not so much interesting crochet hat patterns out there. There are hundreds of beanie hats, but beyond that, not much. Knitted hats on the other hand are beautiful and in lots of varieties. Being a noob in the knitting trade, I'm somehow terrified about joining in rounds and decreases and such. Then again, you cannot just NOT do something because you are terrified. (Just don't encourage me to pet a cockroach; I might faint). So I knitted one in round too.

Here are a couple of my favorite hats I made for the Guy so far. #1 and #2 are essentially the same pattern. The only difference between these two are the placement of the single crochets. The pattern is my absolute favorite! I have made couple of few hats for gifts and got lots of compliments. You can find the pattern here through Ravelry.

The next one is a knitted hat. The pattern was found in Lion Brand's website. It's a fairly easy knit pattern. I love the colors I used instead of the original. The Guy was excited, because it turned out to be a very soft hat.

After reading a very good article on basics of making hats in rounds in Crochet Accessories Magazine, I've decided to make my own hats. And the next one was the fruit of that labor. I love the subtle ribbing textures in diamond patterns. I'm very proud of this pattern. And the Guy is in absolute love too!

Do you like winter hats? Or do you like making them for loved one? Do you feel like you'd want to make one of these in the future? Let me know in the comments below. I love reading your comments!

2014-01-08T16:34:00.000-06:00