Tweenspiration

We are sitting here, The Tweens and I, salivating over ideas for new rooms for them and right now, at this very minute, we love the below. None of us like or appreciate clutter, we like simplicity, the less the better. They have both grown up on us though with one entering Teen-hood soon and it became apparent that we need to change their living spaces to be more reflective of their ages and interests. 

Who knows, by tomorrow we might feel differently, especially with regard to some of the pinks, but I still wanted to share these images as seen on Floorknaapen. These also show fresh ideas of presenting knitted items [wow, did I say knitting?!] in our homes.

Crochet as story and ideology rather than object

Craft projects in India often focus on storytelling to bring in addition to commercial benefits, also social benefits to the artisan settlements. Men belonging to the Dawoodi Bohra community proudly wear intricately crocheted caps made by women in their families. Through dialogue and co-creation possibilities, the Bohra caps project recognizes seemingly faceless artisans locally as well as globally. The caps are no longer only worn during festivals either, but usage has spread to everyday wear.  The women use fine white kite string in cotton or nylon, with golden kasab yarn to crochet the caps. The process is tedious, the outcome impeccable.

Sitting together during the day, women of a community refer to pattern books to design beautiful motifs for the caps.  the younger boys like designs displaying small animals like ducks or rabbits. 

Two photos left and above as seen on the Gaatha blog.

More photos from our visit to Rajashtan taken at some of the amazing palaces and forts.  The arches and graphic patterns no doubt inspire a variety of craft designs.

Incredible India

These are a few photos I took during a visit to one of the most sensory rich cultures in the world namely the Rajputs, people famous for their extraordinary chivalry. Rajashtan offers mesmerising landscapes of forts, havelis, palaces and villages dotted in the Thar desert. Jaipur was a city that both stole my heart and rendered me speechless and numb. The contrasts were overwhelming. Later this week I will introduce you to beautiful crochet work produced in India.

Jal Mahal (Water Palace) is a palace located in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake in Jaipur. The other images in the above collage were taken from and at the Monkey Temple

 Streetscenes, Jaipur

The 1980's

Here in Penang we do not talk about the weather since it never changes. We talk about food.  We eat, constantly, with gusto - it is a national sport and all Penangites are players! The confluence of food cultures, fertile land and seas combine to offer streetfood that is simply unbeatable. What makes it so attractive for foreigners too, is that there is a level of food safety that you won't find in many of the surrounding countries. Georgetown is a walking city, begging Penangites and travellers to take respite from the unbearable humidity  and heat by sitting down and digging into a bowl of yummyness. Penang laksa is one of my favourites. Laksa, however, was not on the menu yesterday. Sadly where interpretation of western food and sometimes decor is concerned, the island is still charmingly stuck in the 1980's tee heee: 

Tuna Pasta with Almonds, Peppers and a Cherry, yes a cherry; Rose Coffee squirted with something in the E123-E129 range of additives

Many of the cafes and eateries on the island furthermore offer a set menu for lunch. This can be challenging for a person like me who is not a supporter of set menus, buffets, chain cafes and American style fast food joints. It is only when I am left with no choice that I would step foot in establishments such as Starbucks and the likes. There are far too many great independent places serving healthy, tasty food to waste time eating garbage sitting in a commercial, mainstream environment that looks the same whether in Paris or Bangkok. I do make exceptions for the Paul bakeries, South Africa's Ocean Basket chain and uhmmm occasionally Cinnabon. We have learned though which of the set menus are not only excellent value for money, but also serve wonderfully hearty fare. A nearby German restaurant serves ice lemon tea, a main meal and dessert for a mere 3-4 USD.  The portions are huge too, the Tweens and I share one meal when the husband is travelling - sharing is openly done and encouraged here. 

Back to the laksa - I simply had to tuck into a bowl of laksa for lunch today after the disastrous meal yesterday. I cannot describe a traditional laksa better than Anthony Bourdain [him suffering from a fierce hangover] in one of my favourite reads, Medium Raw:

"You're oblivious to the view of the river, and the sights and smells of morning, focusing only on the chipped white bowl of steaming laksa coming your way - the promise of relief. The smell hits you first as the waiter deposits it in front of you with a clunk you feel in your pineal gland: rich, fiery, hearty, spicy steam of fish and coconut gravy. You dig in with chopsticks and spoon, slurp your first mouthful of noodles- a powerful hit of sambal grabbing hold of you, exorcising the Evil. Ensuing mouthfuls bring shrimp, cockles and fish cake . . . more spicy-sweet gravy . . . more noodles. It burns. It burns so good. You're sweating now, the poison leaving your pores, brain kick-starting . . . something that might just be hope secreting from somewhere in your shriveled, sun-dried, terribly abused cortex."

Woop woop the laksa stall just happened to be across the road from the Yarn man. Yeaaaaaaaah he just received new stock in less assaulting colours so I dug in and added neutrals to my stash. I enhanced the colours slightly so that you can see the difference, but in reality the beiges and creams are softer and closer in tone than what it looks like in the photos: 

Have a great weekend. We are having a birthday party in the rain-forest this weekend, I really hope the rain will give us a break to enjoy the party. Cheers! 

Crochet for Cool Kids

Crochet floor rugs approximately 106cm wide available from La de dah kids

Crochet Throw [above] and crochet covered stool [below] as seen on Mimmi Staaf

Crochet Throw as seen on Las teje y maneje

Rocket from Pat Kim

World Map as a Tube Metro system for the Dude Tween from artPause 

Crochet Throw from Un je ne sais quoi deco

Weekend in Stockholm

No, I wasn't this lucky again to be spending a weekend in Stockholm!  Mind you, my trip to Sweden last year was also barely more than a weekend long, 3 nights to be exact.  To put this in context: I spend 5 nights away, 2 of them on planes since it takes about 24 hours to travel from Penang, via Kuala Lumpur, via Amsterdam to reach Scandinavia. Crazy, but such is this life.

I decided to hook the Weekend in Stockholm pattern as a reminder of my academic association with Sweden since 2005 and also because when I asked the Dude Tween which country he would love to visit next, he answered Sweden. The project is destined for his room and I will give you a sneak peek:

The corners are rounded here, I already corrected it by adding a ch and dc on each side of the ch for a sharper look ;-) 

The Dude Tween's stools/buckets/containers, a collection of 5, all in different colours

  

To put the size of the Weekend in Stockholm Square in perspective, see how it compares to the size of normal Granny squares below!  

The Weekend in Stockholm pattern is available for free from Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller. There are also Youtube tutorials by the lovely http://knit-my-grits.blogspot.com/ available for rounds 1, 2 and 3, which were a real help in getting his pattern going. i really enjoy hooking this pattern that consists of US trebles. Take a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhmh-1yBTKA Round 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zS6N9vKaX0 Round 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT9E48DfIU8 Round 3

I am very busy on another non-hooking related project, so please excuse me, I am dashing off again. Cheers till next time!

The fabulous wire crochet of Yael Falk

As an industrial and product designer by profession, Israeli Yael Falk now spends her free time as a crochet designer. Head over to her Etsy shop to see more of her amazing work created in various metals such as copper, silver and gold.

Photos: ETSY

[K]nitwits and Hookers - 3KCBWDAY7

I am a hooker, there is no doubt that this is my personal favourite craft. I can list a host of reasons why I prefer hooking to knitting but let's face the standout reason:

Hooking is far more TRANSPORTABLE ;-)

I do love looking at knitted pieces, appreciate the craft, buy the craft but don't do the craft. Today is Day 7, the final day of the annual Knitting and Crochet Blogweek and I conclude with a very short posting. Thank you for stopping by and reading my postings.  It was an interesting experience and a deep learning curve. I am looking forward to catching up on reading all the postings by the other participants over the next couple of weeks. Cheers!

3KCBWDAY7