The Lazy Hobbyhopper

Crochet Fireman Hat

2012-02-28T23:21:00.000+05:30

Finally, after a long time, I am here to show you something...

A fireman hat.

Do you think a kid would ever find a firefighter hat boring? Not at all!

Mine is super exited and I am pleased too with the way the hat has turned out. The pattern is for sale and you can find it in my Etsy shop. I have written the pattern in 3 sizes: baby, toddler and child/preteens. So, if anyone is interested pay a visit to my shop and you will find a few more hat pattens as well.

Thanks for visiting, thanks for following and thanks for all the lovely comments that you leave here! I simply LOVE this place.

♥ Valentine Cake Hearts ♥

2012-02-10T18:13:00.000+05:30

I think I am the only person in blogland who hasn't made a Valentine post yet.

So here it is...

This is actually a chocolate walnut cake that I baked about 10 days or so ago but did't have the time to post it. The receipe is originally a chocolate cake recipe to which I added a handful of walnuts (that was all I had at home) to make this delicious choco-walnut cake.

This pretty flower is from my balcony garden. I am really not lucky when it comes to gardening. So this flower makes me so happy. Ah! But I should admit that the plant already had the bud in it when I planted it in the pot and it was ready to bloom :)))

The recipe for the cake is super easy and you can try it out.

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 1 1/4 cups

Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp

Baking powder - 2 tsp

Sugar - 1 cup

Milk - 1/2 cup

Cooking oil - 1/2 cup

Eggs - 2

Vanilla - a few drops (optional)

Sieve the dry ingredients (Flour, cocoa and baking powder).

I always powder my sugar after measuring it so that it dissolves quickly.

Blend together the oil, milk, eggs and vanilla using an electric blender.

Add sugar and the sieved dry ingredients. Blend everything together until combined.

Pour into your greased and seasoned cake pans and bake. The ideal temperature setting for my oven is 150 degree C. I bake for 40 mins or until done.

Oops! I forgot the walnuts. Add 1/4 cup of chopped and roasted walnuts at the end and fold them into the dough. I didn't have 1/4 cup. It was a little less than that.

I ♥ed the crunchy, nutty taste in my chocolate cake. Hmm... the thought makes me drool.

I have to thank all of you for all the lovely comments you leave here. Also, I have to mention the awards that you give me. Awards are really nice and they make you feel elated, wanted, important, humbled, etc., but they also make me feel uncomforable. So I don't accept awards. Everytime someone has left an award for me I feel really bad refusing to accept it. I hope you will understand. The comments that you leave here appreciating my work mean a thousand times more to me than an award. So instead of awards leave comments and more comments. That would make me really happy.

♥ ♥ ♥ Thanks and have a nice day ♥ ♥ ♥

How do you crochet a hat...

2012-02-03T19:44:00.001+05:30

...or beanie or whatever. I know, there are plenty of tutorials, patterns, etc. that you can find on the Internet. On my part, I am also sharing a few points with you. As you might have known by now, I am on a hat-crocheting spree and felt it is more appropriate to do this post right now before I get bored of hats.

Most of you would know how to crochet a basic beanie, but I am sure there are lots more who don't have an idea about it. Even if you know how to go about it, I bet there is one big question many of you will have, "how to determine the correct size?"

Now, I am not an expert in this area. I am fairly new to crocheting hats, but from what I have researched on the internet, there are a few things which might help you to crochet a hat of the desired size.

*Measure the size of the head.

Wrap a measuring tape around the head (forehead, back of head, above ears) to find out the circumference of the head.

You can click here to get a chart on head sizes for different age group.

The beanie that I have shown here measure 12.5 inches in circumference. It will fit a newborn head.

Now you have measured the circumference of the head and you would want to make a hat of that circumference, but remember that the hat will stretch. So make it an inch or two smaller. A hat that has been made using a double crochet will stretch more than one made using a single crochet.

You can either start from the bottom and move towards the top or start from the top and move towards the bottom, which is more common.

I will explain to you how to start from the top. First you have to make a flat circle which forms the top of the hat. You will be expanding the circle to reach the desired size. This is where most of you will have the question, "when to stop expanding.?" I found in the internet a formula for this.

Say for example, you want to crochet a hat of 12.5-inch circumference. You have to divide this measurement by 3.14 (value of pi)

So, 12.5/3.14 is approximately 3.98, which can be rounded off to 4.

You have to stop expanding when you have reached a diameter of 4 inches.

There is one more method. Place the circle on top of the head and check if the edges of the circle are in line with the ears. Ah, I made a small drawing to explain it :))) Hope you can get it. So now you can stop expanding and start working even.

Are you someone who don't know how to expand a circle? If you know how to make a magic circle, it is very helpful. Otherwise,

Ch 2.
8 dc into the 2nd ch from hook. Join with slip stitch to beginning of round.
2 dc into each dc (16 st)
Increase in every alternate stitch, i.e., 2 dc + 1 dc + 2 dc + 1 dc + ... (24 st)
2 dc + 1 dc + 1 dc + 2 dc + 1 dc + 1 dc + 2 dc ... (32 st)
2 dc + 1 dc + 1 dc + 1 dc + 2 dc + 1 dc + 1 dc + 1 dc + 2 dc ... (40 st)

You will keep increasing in this manner until you have reached the required size. As I mentioned earlier my hat measures 12.5 inches in circumference, so I stopped expanding when I reached 4 inches diameter. From the next step onwards you will start working even, i.e., 1 dc into each dc. Once you have stopped expanding and started working even, the edges of your circle will start to bend.

You will continue working even until you have reached the desired length. That's it. You can use any stitch: sc, hdc or dc. When you use single crochet, the stiches are more compact and stretches little whereas a hat made using a double crochet will have more stretch. I hope that helped.

I have a couple of hat pattens in my Etsy shop. You can check them out if you are interested.

Brrr...It's so cold...

2012-01-20T16:32:00.001+05:30

The above pic was taken at 7:45 today morning. It was around 4 degrees. I went to the terrace just to take some fog photos. If I had gone with my husband for the early morning walk I would have gotten some really nice fog shots, but the thought itself makes me shiver. It's been so cold here for the past 3-4 days.

My poor kid. His school van comes by 6:30 in the morning and you can imagine how cold and dark it would be then. I wish he had his winter break for a few more days.

I am on a hat-making spree nowadays. I made one more for my kid. So far I have made 4 in total.

The yarn is some kind of a fancy yarn, but it is so soft and fluffy.

Nowadays I am not getting as much time as I would love for crocheting and blogging. The part-time job that I was doing is now almost full-time. So I am not left with much time for other things. I may not be able to post frequently but I will try to. Thanks everyone for your wishes and all the comments that you leave here.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hurray! I did it!

2012-01-15T21:40:00.000+05:30

What did I do?

I opened my Etsy stop!

Yeahhhhh!

Phew... I am able to breath only now. It feels as though I had been holding my breath all this while.

I had planned to open a shop long ago, but it took me a while to decide between Artfire and Etsy.

I was proceeding at a snail's pace and on top of that other things came up and some how the whole process kept dragging.

On top of it all...my mood swings! One moment I will be all charged up and motivated and the next moment I will develop a terribly cold feet. You know, I wanted to announce the shop during my blogiversary, but couldn't. I would have told you all earlier, but I wasn't certain myself. With my confidence level I would have backed out any time.

Anyway, after dragging for quite some time I finally told myself, "you either do it now or don't bother at all."

So I sat the whole day and figured out how to set a shop, listed the few items that I had made and...

Voila! I am a shop owner now!

How nice that sounds.

I named by shop "From Hobbyhopper's Home." I didn't want the Lazy there. It didn't sound appropriate for a shop :))) There is lot more to be done in the shop, but I am really exhausted now. I will take care of the rest later.

Etsy is a huge place and I know there are hundreds and thousands of sellers out there. This fact dosen't help my morale in any way and it only sinks my confidence level further. Anyway I can't chicken out now. So let's always believe in the best.

Please visit my shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/FromHobbyhoppersHome

I have only a few items now. I will be adding more.

Okay, meet you all later. I am going to sleep. Good night!

Busy...busy...

2012-01-09T19:00:00.000+05:30

Oh my...it's almost 10 days into 2012 and not a single post! Lazy me? Of course not.

I have been working so much lately, but I am not complaining. I am enjoying it. But I am neglecting my house work entirely. Not complaining, again. That is one department that I don't enjoy.

Also, I have been neglecting my blog. Usually I always visit my new followers' blogs
(if they have one) and I leave comments to let them know that I have been there (sometimes I might have missed some), but lately I haven't visited any of your blogs. So all my new followers, please forgive me. It's not that I am not interested in any of you. I sure love to know more about you. I will sure try to catch up with you. I am really happy that you are all here.

Anyway, I completed the hat that I showed you. Actually I completed it long back but could only photograph it today. I also made one for my husband and a scarf for my son.

Okay, that's it for now.

Thanks everyone for the sweet comments you left here wishing me for the New Year and the blogiversary.

Blog Birthday

2011-12-29T09:25:00.000+05:30

One year ago, on the same date I published my first post. I didn't know then that it was going to bring about a remarkable change in me. I never thought that I would virtually meet so many people with so many talents from different parts of the world. I have learnt many new things this past year and I am happy that I have helped others too to learn something from me.

It all started when my purse got stolen in a bus. I wanted a purse to hold my cellphone and a few loose coins. I wanted to make one for myself and started browsing the internet for some help. It was then that I came across plenty of lovely blogs and got hooked to crochet blogs. Until then I had only a vague knowledge about blogs. I started learning step by step and here I am today writing my first blog anniversary post.

I am really thankful for the person who stole my purse and introduced me to this wonderful blogland.

To celebrate, I treated myself to some delicious yarns. I still have plenty of yarns left from my previous purchase, but you can never get enough of these yarns, right?

I came to know about this yarn market in Inderlok, which is a seasonal market. They sell yarns only during the winter season. During summer they change to air coolers. So Delhiites, if you are interested in buying yarns head to Inderlok market before the end of the season.

My son lost the cap that I made for him. I am making a new one now.

This year is coming to an end and I hope the next year will take me one more step ahead.

Have a nice year end!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T15:51:00.001+05:30

♥ ♥ ♥

Merry Christmas

all of you!

♥ ♥ ♥

Crochet scarf and hat

2011-12-15T17:10:00.000+05:30

It is getting colder in Delhi and our woollens are out. I had plenty of this grey colored yarn, so I thought I would try making a scarf, hat and a matching gloves for my kid. I haven't tried these before. I started with mittens, but dunno why, in spite of trying again and again I just didn't get it right. Either it was too long or too tight. Something or the other went wrong. So gave up on that and carried on with the scarf and the cap.

Getting the kid to pose was really a tough job.

The Christmas tree is put up and I have decorated it with all the ornaments that I made, but I couldn't get a decent photo of it. The lighting in the room is not good enough. It is a small artificial one. I want to have a bigger one, may be for next Christmas.

If I haven't been visiting your blogs it's because I have been feeling lousy this whole week with a terrible cold, headache, etc...

Oh, I forgot to give you the links. The cap is from here and the scarf is from here.

Ok, I am leaving. I have plenty of chores pending. You go ahead with you Christmas preparations.

Lemon Cake

2011-12-08T20:22:00.000+05:30

One thing I am never tired of is baking cakes. Even if it had been a hectic day, the thought of taking out my measuring cups, pans, blender, etc., and most importantly searcing the web for a new recipe always seems to invigorate me.

I don't have to mention the aroma that fills the entire house when the cake is getting ready.

Though I would love to bake more often I try to limit myself to not more than twice a month as it is always me who end up gulping down major portion of the cake. My husband has become more watchful of what goes inside his tummy and my kid, after his first piece, simply gets distracted and forgets about it.

So whenever I enter the kitchen the cake starts yelling at me (especially if it has plenty of icing on it) to take just a small bite. Eventually after many small bites and when the cake has become considerably smaller in size, the kid suddenly remembers about it. By then the major chunk is happily resting inside my tummy. Ha...ha...ha...not my fault, he should have been more alert. Anyway he is not very fond of cakes with plenty of frosting. So he dosen't mind. Good for me.

Last week I made this cake. The recipe is from here. For the frosting I used the Italian Meringue Frosting that you can find here. Do I have to say that it was delicious? If not, I wouldn't have bothered to photograph it and post it here.

Try it and you will enjoy it.

Have a nice day.

Crochet christmas tree

2011-12-03T16:13:00.000+05:30

Hi everybody, and a special "hi" to all my new friends. Happy to see you all here. You all make me feel great. Thanks for all the lovely comments you leave here.

I guess all of you have started your Christmas preparations. I haven't got into the Christmas mood yet, or rather I should say I lost it in between. I had planned so many things. I wanted to do this, I wanted to do that...but somehow I got bogged down by other things and now I lost the mood. I am trying very hard to get my mojo back.

This Christmas tree is one successful thing I completed out of many that I had planned. The pattern for this tree is from here. There were also other Christmass tree patterns that I wanted to try... may be for next Christmas.

That's it for now ladies. Have a great weekend.

Crochet chocolate cake

2011-11-25T21:50:00.000+05:30

I guess all my American friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day, and of course, we are all looking forward to a wonderful weekend as well.

I had been waiting to show you this yummy chocolate cake that I crocheted some time ago, but somehow it got delayed for one reason or the other, and finally it is here.

This is one of my favourites so far. It looks ohhhh soooo delicious that I had to resist myself from taking a bite. I am using this as my pincushion now and it is here next to my computer, and I am looking at it longingly now and then.

I used styrofoam to stuff this cake. It's real fun to make and I am sure you will see here more cakes and other yummy treats too.

Have a nice day.

Salt dough Christmas ornaments

2011-11-20T21:41:00.000+05:30

Hello everybody, how did your weekend go? Mine was sort of mixed. Little fun, lot of work, little unwell, some travel...now I am waiting to hit the bed and have a good night sleep, but not before making this post.

But first, thank you all for stopping by and leaving your sweet comments here. Also, a warm welcome to all my new friends. I am very pleased to have you all here.

Most of you must have started your Christmas preparations by now. I came across a fun project in the internet to make some interesting tree decorations and would like to share it with you.

I would say this is one of the most inexpensive form of crafts since you are only going to use things that are available in your kitchen.

Yes... all you need is flour, salt and little water. And, some paint and sequins to decorate your ornaments.

Take a cup of flour and add half a cup of salt to it. Mix well and add enough water to make a pliable dough. Shape them into desired shapes. If you have a cookie cutter it makes your work easy. I don't have these shapes, so I had to draw them out on flattened dough and cut using a knife.

Note, this is NOT edible. Your children might be tempted to take a bite.

Once you have shaped them bake in an oven at a low temperature for a long time. I baked at less than 100 degree C for about 1 hour. Don't let them brown. You can even dry them in the sun, but that would take ages and I don't think anyone would have so much patience.

You know they are done when they sound hollow when you tap them. When they are ready you can paint them and decorate as you wish.

Oh, don't forget to make those holes while shaping your dough if you are planning to hang them.

Aren't they cute?

Be careful while handing them. Make them a little thick because if they are too thin they tend to break easily.

Go ahead and have fun making these ornaments!

Shortbread

2011-11-14T13:12:00.000+05:30

If you ask me which is the easiest and the tastiest cookies of all, without second thought I would say it is the shortbread. I have made shortbreads a number of times and not even a single time was I disappointed.

I ♥ its crumbly texture, buttery flavour and the mild sweetness.

Also, it requires very less ingredients. For the traditional shortbread recipe you need only flour, butter and sugar, but for variation you can also add flavours of your choice.

Here is the recipe

Have a nice day.

How to crochet diagonally - Tutorial

2011-11-05T17:30:00.001+05:30

Hi everyone, looking ahead to a wonderful weekend? My weekends are not so very interesting. It is just like any other day except that I have more work on weekends :-)

This is the stool cover that I showed you earlier. It is done and I am very pleased.

This stitch was a little confusing at the start and I even considered making a simple and easy granny instead, but I didn't want to give up so easily. So I tried and tried (oh... not so many times, it is not that difficult) and after the first couple of rows the hook started to glide along smoothly.

I felt like sharing what I learnt with you all and so made this tutorial. I would like to warn though that this MAY NOT BE suitable for a beginner. It may appear a little confusing initially, but, of course, anything can be mastered with a little practice.

I have tried to explain as best as possible through these photos, so please pay attention to the details in the photos.

Shall we start?

1. Make 6 chains.

2. Double crochet (dc) into the 4th, 5th and 6th chains from the hook.

Your first row is done. If you wish to change colours you can do so at the beginning of a new row.

3. Chain 6.

4. Make double crochet (dc) into the 4th, 5th and 6th chains from the hook.

5. Look at the set of photos below. As shown in the first photo take the hook to the place where I have marked the arrow head (that would be your first 3 chains from the hook of the basic chains that you made) and make a slip stitch.

6. Make 3 ch.

7. Make 3 dc in the same space. Your 2nd row is finished.

8. If you are joining a new colour do it and make 6 ch.

9. Make dc into 4th, 5th and 6th ch from hook as in step 2 and slip stitch as shown.

10. Make 3 ch.

11. Make 3 dc into the 3 ch space as you did in step 7.

12. Join with slip stitch to the 3-ch space in the next box as shown below.

13. Make 3 chains and 3 dc into the same space.

This is how you will be progressing and increasing the size of the pattern. Continue until you have reached the desired length.

In the above photo you can see that I have reached the desired length at the top left corner but have to increase more in the bottom right corner. So I have to stop increasing on one side and continue to increase on the other side. If you are working a square, then you can start decreasing both the sides simultaneously but since this is a rectangular piece I can't do that.

Now I will start decreasing on one side.

Start decreasing

If you are joining a new colour, do so. I usually make a knot so that they are more strong, but you can follow any method of joining a new colour.

A. Make 3 chains (for increasing a row you make 6 chains)

B. Turn and make a slip stitch into the 3-ch space.

C. Make 3 ch.

D. Make 3 dc into the same space.

E. Continue until the end of the row as usual.

F. If you are making a rectangular piece then start the next row with 6 ch and continue increasing the length, (you are going to decrease only on one side and increase on the other side for a rectangular piece), but if you are making a square piece then make 3 ch and follow the steps from A because you have to decrease on both side simultaneously.

You can see in the below photo that I have increased this side of the row and continued to work until teh end of the row.

G. When you have reached the end of the row you would have made 3 dc into the last box of the previous row. Now make a slip stitch to the 3-ch space as shown below.

H. Make 3 ch.

I. Slip stitch into the next 3-ch space.

J. Make 3 chains and 3 dc into the same space.

Continue working in this manner. In the below picture you can see the side where I have stopped increasing has started to level off.

Since I have reached the required length on the other side of the stool too I have to now stop increasing and start decreasing on both the sides.

So for decreasing on the other side also follow the steps from A and continue until the end.

Oh phew! I am exhausted.

I hope my tutorial is clear enough. Go ahead, take the plunge and do a blanket, a pillow cover, shawl, whatever... or even a dishcloth might be an excellent idea to test this new stitch.

Have a nice weekend.

Clarification on granny ripple tutorial

2011-11-01T18:02:00.001+05:30

The tutorial on granny ripple is the most popular post in my blog so far and every day it is getting several hits and I am overwhelmed by the response that I got and still getting for this post.

I am sure a lot of you must have found it useful but also there are many of you who have doubts especially in finishing and starting a row. I think I didn't explain it well enough with photographs. So I am adding a few more photos to the tutorial to elaborate on these instructions. Hope they clarify your doubts now.

Also, if any of you have finished anything with the help of my tutorial I would be happy to hear about it. I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween. Click here to go to the updated granny ripple tutorial.

Progressing with...

2011-10-25T23:02:00.000+05:30

...a new stool cover.

Yes, that is what my new diagonal crochet is all about. You might remember that I have two stools and have already dressed up one with this. The other one was badly in need of a cover. So I started this.

I could have chosen a granny for this one too but I wanted to try something different.

This is coming along beautifully. I wouldn't say my choice of colours is perfect. Everything in my house tends to get dirty and stained very quickly. So I chose these colours from my stash so as to not show dirt and stain very obviously.

Some time back I made these cookies, but forgot to post it. They are called Hamentaschen, a Jewish recipe. These cookies are made traditionally during a Jewish festival. I am not going into its details coz' I myself don't know. The only thing I know is...

...these cookies are filled with jam and tasted so yummy and jammy.

I filled some with mango jam and some with mixed fruit jam, but I didn't like the ones with mango jam. The recipe is from here.

Finally, before I say goodbye
I would like to wish all my Indian readers a very ...

Halloween crochet

2011-10-20T21:58:00.000+05:30

So what if Halloween is not celebrated in India? In the name of Halloween I had fun creating these spooky creatures.

The patterns are from Lion Brand.

Lot of things are happening around me and is keeping me away from my computer. I am not spending much time visiting other blogs. Because of this I have missed many posts of my favourite bloggers. I am also not taking my camera out more often nowadays.

I am in much need of a push to make me return to my blogging self soon.

Want to have a sneak peek at what I am crocheting presently? Here it is...

Interested?

You'll have to wait!

My cross stiches and answer to a few questions...

2011-10-17T14:03:00.000+05:30

Some of you had asked me how I repainted my old cabinet. So I made this post to explain to you what I did. An important thing to keep in mind before repainting an old wooden furniture is to NOT apply the new paint directly on top of the old paint. It won't adhere to it nicely.

The best thing to do is to strip the old paint. You can use a chemical paint remover. This will soften the paint and you can scrape it off. There is also a method called sanding.

(I didn't do the stripping part but instead I applied two coatings of primer)

After stripping the old paint, I applied white primer (have no idea what other colours are available). I gave two coatings of it. Allow at least 6 hours in between each coating.

Let the primer dry overnight. Then apply the paint.

I am not an expert in these things. I just told you what I did. You can google search for a detailed description of these procedures.

Remember the stack of cupcake cross stitch that I showed you in previous posts? It's finished and here it is...

These were done long time ago.

This one was done more recently but I didn't get it framed yet. This one was a kit from Anchor. I don't normally like kits. There is nothing challenging in it. This one was bought on an impulse.

That's it. Have a nice day.

Furniture makeover

2011-10-12T13:03:00.000+05:30

Hello everyone! Hope you are all having a wonderful week. I am delighted to see many new faces in my friends list and thanks a lot for showing your interest. For the past 2-3 days I really had a lot of fun repainting an old furniture.

This ugly piece of furniture lies in our balcony and was used to store old shoes, newspapers, etc. Long time back I had an idea to repaint it but when I told my husband he said that I don't have to spend my energy and money on it coz he was anyway going to throw it out. Now, that is not at all acceptable, not without at least trying to do something about it, but then I wasn't that interested, so I just left it alone.

Suddenly once again after seeing so many makeovers in the net I decided to give it a try. My kid got so excited and he even suggested some bizarre colours but half his excitement drained out when I picked up this off-white colour. I was planning to bring this furniture inside the house and I didn't want it to look outlandish.

There were many holes and gaps, but I didn't do anything about them. I can manage to become a painter but not a carpenter. Apart from fighting with me for the bigger paint brush that I had, my son too helped me. After completing the basic painting part I thought it would be more interesting if I painted some picture on it. You know, I simply love these saltbox house pictures and so I decided to paint a house and write a beautiful quote.

Painting was easy though I was not able to draw straight lines, but writing was difficult. I wrote once. It looked bad, so I repainted on it. Waited for it to dry and wrote again. This time it came out okay but the letters were too small. I didn't want to paint over it again and wait for it to dry, so I left it as such.

I thoroughly enjoyed painting the picture and I couldn't just stop with one. I thought I would do two more small picture at the sides. So I drew this mushroom on one side at the top and a saltbox house at the other. Then my son wanted me to draw for him a barn with a tomato plant growing nearby. I agreed to draw the barn but not the tomato plant.

One thing led to another and finally I ended up with many cute pictures painted on it.

I wanted to paint more but I was afraid that I might overdo it, so I stopped.

I really love the way it looks now. It's adorable. Don't you agree?

Crochet cupcake

2011-10-06T23:15:00.001+05:30

Is there anyone out there who dosen't like cupcakes? I don't think so.

I am a huge fan of ♥cupcakes♥. Although I have baked a few different varieties of cakes I haven't baked cupcakes, but I love cupcake patterns, I love to paint cupcakes, love to cross-stitch cupcakes and, of course, I loved crocheting this cute cupcake.

Can you see the ridges in the body of the cupcake as in real cupcake liners? I crocheted into the back loops of the stitches only to achieve this and I thought I might as well make a tutorial for those of you who are not familiar with this particular crocheting technique.

For this cupcake I first made a round to form the base. Then I made the sides separately and joined them together, stuffed the cupcake and finally sewed the top.

How to crochet into back loops only

1. First make a number of chains according to the length that you desire. Then make a row of single crochet. (Please excuse the quality of photos).

2. If you are using different colours you can attach another colour. Then you have to work into the back loops of the stitches.

First let me show you what is a back loop and what is a front loop.

In this picture you can see clearly which is a back loop and which is a front loop. Normally we work into both the loops together but to form ridges you have to work into the back loops only.

You can see that I have worked the next row in white into the back loops only.

You can see how the pattern has formed. I made two rows using pink and one row using white and the white yarn was lot thicker than the pink yarn. The second row of each pink stripe was worked as a normal single crochet without working into the back loops.

After reaching the desired length to correspond to the circumference of the circle I sewed them both together as shown.

Now the body of the cupcake is formed. Then I made the top.

To make the dome shaped top, make 4 ch and join to form a ring.

Make 3 ch and 11 dc into the ring.

3 ch, 1 dc in same place, 2 dc each in all the stitches (24 dc). Join.

3 ch, 1 dc in same place, *1 dc in next stitch, 2 dc in next. Repeat from *. Join.

3 ch, 1 dc in each stitch. Join.

3 ch, 1 dc in same place, *1 dc in next stitch, 2 dc in next. Repeat from *. Join.

3 ch, 1 dc in each dc. Join.

Make a shell edging by skipping 2 st, make 7 dc into next st, skip 2 st, make 7 dc into next stitch, repeat. Do the stuffing and sew the top to the body of cupcake.

Make a small flower and sew it to the top of the cupcake. This serves as my pincushion now.

A remade pillow cover

2011-10-02T14:23:00.003+05:30

Do you remember my rose tablecloth? I made it long time back. I think it was my first serious yarn project. I never actually used it. All these years it was safe in storage (except for the occasion when I took it out to photograph it) and I had almost forgotten about its existence. It is such a lovely piece of work and I wanted to display it. So I decided to remake it into pillow covers.

For the front I used the rose squares and for the back I used plain squares.

I used some matching pink buttons for closure and I am extremely happy with the results. I have a few more squares left, should think about something.

I had a couple of requests from my readers. There was a request to teach the basics of cross stitching from Jess. Though it is easy to do I don't consider myself good enough. So, Jess, click this link here to learn the basics of cross stitching.

Another was from Emily asking for the vibrant 3 pillow cover pattern. It is the same granny ripple pattern, only the ripples are softer.

In the tutorial I had made 3 sets of dc clusters between each peak and valley but for the pillow I made only 2 sets so that the ripples are not very deep. By decreasing or increasing the number of dc cluster sets between each peak and valley you can make the ripples soft or deep. I guess that helped.

This table rose is from my balcony garden. I am not always lucky with plants, especially flowering plants. Whatever few plants that we have are mostly nonflowering ones. I had planted this one a few months back and all these days there was not even a single bloom. Everyday I used to go to the balcony to see if there was any flower. There always seemed to be lots of buds but dunno why, they never bloomed. I got so frustrated after waiting so many days for a single bloom that I even thought of throwing it out. Then all of a sudden, without any warning, came this bright pink beauty and it really took my breath away. I am happy at least I will have one flowering plant to look at and enjoy everyday. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Apple cake

2011-09-27T22:21:00.003+05:30

Welcome all my dear new friends. I am really thrilled and overwhelmed by the response that you give me. Thank you so much for the sweet and encouraging words that you leave here. I ♥ reading all your comments and each one is precious to me.

And thank you so much Sara for featuring my granny ripple tutorial in your Tangled Happy.

I am not much of a fruit eater but whenever there are apples or bananas left over at home the thought that immediately comes to my mind is to bake a delicious apple cake or banana cake. I have tried a variety of recipes and not all of them turn out well, but some are really good and this is one such recipe. I don't remember from where I got the original recipe but it was not the recipe for an apple cake. I tweaked it to make an apple cake and the method is quite simple.

Ingredients

Cake flour - 3/4 cups

(since no cake flour is available here I substituted it with

1 tbsp cornflour added to all purpose flour to make 3/4 cups of flour)

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Salt - a pinch

Sugar - 1/2 cup

(I would reduce it, the cake was too sweet)

Vanilla - 1 tsp

milk - 1/4 cup

Cooking oil - 1/4 cup

(I used sunflower oil)

Egg - 1

Apple peeled, cored and diced - 1/2 cup

Method

1. Sieve all the dry ingredients together.

2. Mix all the wet ingredients together.

3. Add egg to the wet ingredients and beat.

4. Add the dry ingredients.

5. Add the diced apples.

6. Pour the batter into a prepared cake tin.

7. I sliced half an apple and topped the batter with the apple slices. They became dry during baking, so I would omit them but if you wish you can do it.

7. Bake until done.

Also, I would reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe. I found mine too sweet for my taste. The original recipe was meant for a plain cake but since we are adding apples here and apples give some natural sweetness to the cake the amount of sugar can be reduced.

Also, after a long time I did some cross-stitching. I love cross-stitch and I have done a few of them though not in the recent past but I have never used aida cloth. I had always done my cross-stitches in canvas since I find them less strainful.

I found this stack of cupcakes in the internet but there was no pattern, so I worked out the pattern on my own and made use of the colours that I had.

I will show you the finished work in my next post. It's time to go to bed, so good bye for now.

Yellow flower doily

2011-09-23T19:19:00.001+05:30

Another week gone and nothing much accomplished. These past few days have been creeping slooowly for me. I have plenty of ideas, plenty enough to congest my little brain and give me sleepless nights, but nothing put into action. I hope this lethargy will lift off in a few days.

This doily was completed long back. Do you remember the little red doily? I used the same pattern and made 7 little doilies and joined them together. Then I gave an edging using a darker shade of yellow.

Last week me and Harsu went to explore a new park near his school. We had seen this park from outside but hadn't gone in. It had been a while since I had ridden my scooter and so we decided to take it and go visit this park.

He took his skates along and I took my camera.

I had hoped to see plenty of flowers there but I was only disappointed. This is a huge park but there were very few flowers. Even the one which is near our house has more flowers.

I was lucky enough to capture one or two before it started to get dark.

And here are some birds flying back home.

Weekend is here and I hope you all have a happy weekend.

Blooming Tree

2011-09-18T09:10:00.001+05:30

Today is going to be one of my happiest days. My friendship with my best friend, Ramya, whom I had lost contact with for over 7 years is going to bloom again like this blooming tree. What a coincidence. Last night I was editing these photos to post them today and before I went to bed I checked my mail and was pleasantly suprised to receive a mail from her brother. He had mailed me her contact number. Can you imagine my happiness? I wanted to jump. I would have called her immediately but it was too late at night. She is one person I had missed so much all these years. When I moved to Delhi I lost contact with the very few friends that I had and in Delhi I didn't have any real friend other than family friends. Today when I am free I am going to call her and catch up on all those missed years and our friendship will bloom again as this blooming tree.

I can go on and on. So I will put a stop here and we will see what this blooming tree is about.

I don't know the name of this flower but anyone who has been to Ooty will know this flower. We call it Ooty flower. This flower lasts forever. I bought a few bunches when I went there in June.

These flowers have thin stems and the stems had withered, so they were not good enough to be put into vases. So I cut out the stems and glued them to the twigs to make this lovely blooming tree.

There is a huge tree in front of the house and it is from there that I get these dried branches. I really love decorating them. Remember my tree of hearts? I have got a few more branches. I have to think of something for them as well.

Do you see the vase here? It was a plastic container. I wrapped a coir around it and glued a crochet flower. Ok, that's it friends. Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Hexagon potholder

2011-09-13T22:56:00.000+05:30

Potholders - something which I truely enjoy making but don't have any real use for. I don't use them to hold pots (no way!) and I haven't hung them on the wall either. The three potholders I have done so far are just lying about in my crochet basket along with the yarns but still I am looking for more and more patterns to make. May be when I have completed a few of them I would consider hanging them in an appropriate place. Until then I plan to make more and more.

I developed the springtime hexagon pattern to make this potholder. For the back I made a simple hexagon and sewed the edges of both the pieces together and for the edging I made 3 chains and slip stitched them in alternate stitches.

I hope to do more and hope to share more. Until then...bye!

Agra Fort

2011-09-11T00:01:00.003+05:30

Some time back when my brother was visiting us we took him to see Agra Fort and Taj Mahal. It was here at the Agra Fort that Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his own son, Aurangzeb. It is such a huge fort and a marvelous one too.

Do you see those intricate designs? Splendid isnt't it?

This is the Taj Mahal seen from the place where Shah Jahan was imprisoned at the Agra Fort.

Shared with The Creative Exchange

Another paper frame and a wreath

2011-09-09T10:46:00.001+05:30

Yes, another rolled paper frame, a much bigger one. I love making this versatile frame. You can make it as big or as small as you wish and you can frame anything. This time I used it to frame a cute little wreath that I made.

This dry bouquet was a gift from my best friend Ramya eight years ago. I used it to make a tiny wreath.

Since the wreath was too small for the frame I glued this vintage print but am not too satisfied with the choice of picture. I did it in haste because it was getting dark and I had to photograph it when there was still enough light. Anyway, I could always change the picture when I find a better one.

For instructions on how to do the paper frame click here.

Have a nice weekend.

Paper heart bunting

2011-09-06T08:30:00.001+05:30

I hope all my American friends had a wonderful extended weekend. I am really thrilled to see that everyday my blog is reaching more and more people and I am excited to learn that my projects are being an inspiration to many of you. Getting featured in sites like craftzine and dollarstorecrafts has really helped me a lot. I really appreciate all your support.

Here is another fun project that I made during the weekend. Actually this was not meant to be a bunting. I wanted to decorate another set of dry brances that I found with these paper hearts but then I felt that they would look better as a bunting, so I stringed them together to make the bunting.

I just cut out these heart patterns from a thick sheet and a few book pages. I covered the thick sheet heart with the book page hearts on both sides, glued button and punched a hole. I used my yarns to string them together.

It is a lot of fun if you engage your child. This is such a simple craft but such simple things really lift my spirits.

Blogging and photography have changed me a lot. I have learnt to appreciate and enjoy simple things in life. Yesterday I went to the terrace with my son and found there grasses growing there. I brought a bunch of them down and put them into a vase. Earlier I wouldn't have bothered to give this ordinary grass a second glance, but now I can even spend the whole day looking at this picture. It looks so magical that it really amazes me to see how even an ordinary grass can do wonders.

Shared with Communal Global

These sketches were by my kiddo. He just loves to draw vehicles, nothing else. These are the sketches of a cruise ship and dirt bike in case you are wondering.

That's it for now. Have a nice day.

Giant banana cupcake

2011-09-04T08:16:00.001+05:30

Banana cake - One of the cakes that I bake more often at home, but I have baked chocolate banana cakes more frequently than plain ones. This time since there was no cocoa powder at home I made these plain ones.

You will need

All purpose flour - 3/4 cup

Baking soda - 1/4 tsp

Baking powder - 1/8 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Vegetable oil/canola oil - 1/4 cup

Egg - 1

Vanilla - 1/2 tsp

Banana - 1

~ Sieve all the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt).

~ Beat together oil and egg in a bowl until blended. Add sugar. Beat well.

~ Add the dry ingredients, mashed banana and vanilla and fold until well blended.

~ Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake.

I used a pudding mould to make one big giant cupcake.

Crochet home sweet home

2011-09-01T11:51:00.000+05:30

A warm welcome to all my new followers and thanks for all the lovely comments that you leave here. I am really overwhelmed.

Normally I crochet only stuff that I use at home like cushion cover, computer cover, vase cover, this cover and that cover but sometimes I do make some fun stuff like the one that you see here.

I didn't have any pattern, just created my own. I cut out the letters from an old shirt and just glued them to the fabric.

I glued this fabric onto a sheet of cardboard and now I have a simple and easy decor.

Have a nice day.

How to crochet granny ripple

2011-08-27T18:58:00.006+05:30

I am sure many of you who can crochet fairly well may not know how to crochet a granny ripple. While I was crocheting my vibrant pillow 3 I thought I would make a tutorial on granny ripple but for some reason I couldn't do it then. Here it is now.

Once you get started and go in the right direction granny ripples are fun to make, but getting started is what irks me a lot. The major problem here is deciding upon the number of chains to start with. Since you are not going to work in a straight pattern the length of the chains that you make at the beginning have to be somewhere around one and half times the length of the finished pattern. (I am saying this from my experience, but it may not be correct). So the safest bet is to make extra chains, you can always sew in the extra length of the chains instead of having to pull everything apart in case your work becomes shorter.

So to start with, make chains of length that you desire. Then in the 6th chain from the hook make 3 dc (cluster).

1. Skip 2 chains, in the next chain make another cluster (3 dc).

2. Skip 2 chains, in the next chain make one more cluster.

3. Skip 5 chains and make a cluster in the next chain.

4. Skip 2 chains, make a cluster in the next chain.

5. Skip 2 chains. Make a cluster, 3 chains and another cluster all into the next chain.

6. Skip 2 chains, make a cluster into the next chain.

7. Skip 2 chains, make a cluster into next chain.

8. Skip 5 chains, make a cluster into the next chain.

9. You have to repeat this pattern through the length of the chains. You can see the peak and the valley forming. You have to end this row in a peak (cluster + 3 chains + cluster).

10. Now make 5 chains and turn your work and make a cluster into the 3-chain space.

Since some of you are having doubts about ending and starting a row I have included these additional instructions and photos to elaborate on them.

In the above picture you can see that I have made 5 turning chains and made 3 dc (cluster) into the space between the two clusters in the previous row.

11. Into the next space make another dc cluster.

12. Into the next space one more cluster.

13. Skip the next space which forms a valley and make a cluster into the next one.

14. A cluster into the next space. Then a cluster, 3 ch, a cluster into the next space where the peak is formed. Continue the pattern until the end of the row.

15. At the end of the 2nd row make a cluster, 3 ch, cluster into the 5-ch turning space. (Remember I told you earlier make pattern such that you end with a peak).

16. For row 3 repeat from step 10 until the end of row. In the picture below you can see that I have come to the end of row 3.

17. You can see below that I have made a cluster, 3 ch, cluster all into the 5-ch turning space. Make 5 chains and turn your work and repeat the pattern.

The below picture shows the end of row 4.

And end of row 5.

Now you can see the edges of the pattern evolving. You have to repeat this pattern all along.

As I have told you at the beginning of the tutorial it is always safe to make extra chains at the start of the pattern so that you can ensure that you have adequate chains to make the required length of the pattern and that you end with a peak. You can sew in the extra chains. In case you do not want to have extra chains an anonymous reader has commented that you have to make chains of multiples of 18+5. You can give it a try.

PS: This is a not a cushion cover. I made this pattern just for the tutorial.

This post has won me an award

The Shiny Hook Award is awarded to one blogger each week who shows us something super-spectacular with their hooks… and I think this granny ripple is it!

Thanks Stacey

Chocolate cake with Italian meringue icing

2011-08-24T22:01:00.000+05:30

I love chocolate cake (who dosen't?) and I love cakes with plenty of icing in it. I usually help myself generously but start feeling guilty later. Imagine the amount of fat that is getting piled up in the tummy. So I often keep looking for recipes that are lesser in calories.

The recipe for this cake is from Easy Cooking. Since this recipe uses oil instead of butter it is less fatty but tastes very good.

For this cake you will need:

All purpose flour - 3/4 cups

Unsweetened cocoa powder - 1-1/2 tablespoons

Baking powder - 1 tsp

A pinch of salt

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Milk - 1/4 cup

Vegetable or canola oil - 1/4 cup

Egg 1

~Sieve the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder).

~Beat together oil, milk and eggs until blended well. Add vanilla.

~Add sugar (I always powder the sugar after measuring it to quicken the process)

~Finally add the dry ingredients little at a time and mix until well blended.

~Transfer it to the prepared cake tin and bake. I baked mine at 150 degree C for 40 mins.

~Before removing the cake out of the pan allow it to cool for sometime, otherwise part of the cake will stick to the bottom or it might even break.

~When the cake is completely cooled frost it generously with Italian meringue frosting, which is also a less calorie frosting.

Italian Meringue Frosting

This icing is also called boiled icing. For this icing you need NO BUTTER. Wow! You are going to make this frosting with only sugar and egg whites. Now, I had known about this recipe earlier but was apprehensive to try it because it involved cooking. But this time I just went ahead and took the plunge. Glad that I did.

You can see how glossy and delicious it looks.

For this bowl of icing I used:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 egg white

1/2 tsp vinegar

1/2 tsp vanilla

~Beat the egg white until stiff.

~Combine the sugar with water and vinegar and boil it until you get a soft ball stage.

~When the sugar syrup is ready pour it immediately into the egg white beating constantly.

~You can add vanilla and continue beating until it is stiff enough for spreading. If you feel that it is not stiff enough you can add a teaspoon or two of icing sugar.

~Spread over your cake and indulge guiltlessly (or less guiltly).

The frosting was done and when I was getting ready to photograph it I realized that it looked so plain. It would have been better if there were chocolate shavings or cherries or anything on the top. But I didn't have anything in hand and so I took the scrapes of the cake and put them on top :)

Have fun!

Vintage Rose Potholder

2011-08-21T08:59:00.000+05:30

Potholders are always fun to make. They are quick and easy. They are so endearing that you always want to make more and more.

I have a long list of potholders to make in my agenda but somehow I always end up making pillow covers. This is one which I did at the spur of the moment.

This one was done some time back but it just slipped my mind to post. You can find the pattern for this vintage rose potholder here.

I thought I might as well share with you some beautiful rose photographs

Have a nice weekend.

Little blue doily

2011-08-18T12:58:00.000+05:30

Before talking about the doily a big Thanks for all the sweet comments you left for the rolled paper frame. I know most of you would like it because it is such a simple and cute way of displaying some of your precious little things. I have made one more, a bigger one. I will show it to you later.

This is another of my vacation doilies. As I already said I usually take along my crochet threads and do doilies while on vacation and visiting relatives because threads don't take up much storage space and they are light weight too.

The reason why I did this particular doily is that I had only very small quantity of this blue thread, which I didn't want to waste. When I searched the net for a suitable pattern I came across the chart here. The pattern was very simple and it was small enough, so I picked this one up and ended up with a cute little doily.

I am also working on another one now. I want to make this one big and it is going to take a much longer time because my table is right now piled up with plenty of WIPs. So I will go and pick one up. Have a nice day!

DIY: Rolled paper frame

2011-08-14T19:10:00.003+05:30

What I have posted here is a simple and cheapest form of craft and my favourite one too. I really loved making this and I am going to make lots more.

For making these cute frame you only need a bunch of old newspapers, glue and some paint. With these you can create wonders.

I have a huge collection of seashells. I have been having these with me since my school days. I love seashells and didn't have the heart to throw them off when I moved to Delhi after getting married. So it was there safely at my parents' place all these years. Last time when I went to visit my parents I brought these shells with me. Here too they were simply lying inside the cupboard because I didn't know what to do with them. I tried displaying them in bottles but was not satisfied. Then I hit upon this idea.

I rolled newspapers and used them to make this frame and glued my precious seashells and the result was a big WOW.

Let me share with you how to do these frames.

You will need:

Old newspapers

Cardboard of desired size.

Scissors.

Glue.

Two thin but strong sticks for rolling the papers with.

Paint and brush.

First choose a cardboard. I used the cover of a book.

Then choose the background you want and glue it to the cardboard. I decided to go for a printed one. So I used the page of an old novel.

Take some newspapers, cut them into stripes with the measurement of the length and breadth of the cardboard.

Then you are going to roll these strips and glue the end. Longer the strips, the thicker and stronger the rolls.

Rolling the papers is not as easy as it may sound. It is a bit tricky. This is how you have to do it.

You have to take a thin stick and place it at one edge of the paper strip as shown in the first image. Bend the edge of the paper over it. Now place one more stick on top of the bent edge as shown in the last image. Then you hold both the sticks together and start rolling tightly. When you have done pull out the sticks carefully. Now glue the edge and you have the roll ready.

Make four rolls in sizes corresponding to the length and breadth of your cardboard. Then glue them to the sides of the cardboard as shown below.

Paint the frame and decorate it with whatever you want. You can even paint the rolls first and then glue them to the cardboard.

This is another one I made with two paper rolls on each side.

Have a nice week ahead.

Sharing with Macro Monday

Rail Museum, New Delhi

2011-08-12T16:33:00.000+05:30

It has been a while since I posted anything related to travel. So I thought I would share with you some pictures taken at the rail museum here in Delhi. This is my son's THE MOST favourite place. This is the only place he wishes to go on an outing and I have really lost count of the number of times we have visited this museum. I can't blame him, even I have started to love these amazing, colourful vintage trains that are parked here in open space.

The best part of this museum is that you can go near the trains, touch them, climb on them and it is so much fun.

There is also an indoor gallery where you can find many models of old trains, signals and other such things.

Some of the maharaja's private carriages have furnitures and statues inside to give us an idea about how the maharajas traveled those days but this is not open to the public. Though we had visited the museum several times we were not aware of this until the last time when we discovered it accidently while trying to peep through the glass windows.

These photos are not very clear because I clicked them through the glass windows. They were not visible from outside. Some of these shots were taken even without knowing what was inside. The carriages were closed shut and I put the camerea inside through a small opening in the window and took some of these shots. We were really surprised to see that the furnitures and the bed were all in good condition.

This museum is a fun place to visit and we are going to visit it many more times.

Vibrant Cushion 3

2011-08-10T12:06:00.000+05:30

Here is my third and final of the vibrant cushions. I used ripples for this. This one has more of multiple colours. This was not what I had planned. Like the other ones in the series I wanted to use one third of multiple colours and two thirds blue for this but half way through I realized that I did not have enough blue. If I wanted to buy more blue then I would have to buy in large quantities because that is how the place from where I usually buy yarns sell. They don't sell small quantities. As I didn't want to stock up on this dark shade of blue I decided to make use whatever little amount that I had. So I had to use more of other colours.

Of all the three this was the most difficult one for me. Doing the ripples was not a big deal but deciding the length was. Initially it appeared as though my work was larger than the size of the pillow. So I started all over again. Then I thought I was doing it right but again when half of the pillow was done I realized that it had become smaller than the size of the pillow. Oh no! I had to start all over again. I think it was because of the variation in the thickness of the yarns. The blue one was very thick but the coloured ones were slighter thinner. Finally I started again with smaller ripples and somehow managed to achieve the correct size. Phew! Of all the three this is my least favourite.

Have a look at all the three together.

Friendship

2011-08-07T09:50:00.001+05:30

Hello everybody, today is Friendship Day in India. I think some countries have it on a different day. Anyway since it is Friendship Day in India I would like to wish you all my blog friends a Happy Friendship Day.

Blogging has opened up a new world to me. It has given me the opportunity to know and interact with so many people from many different countries with many different interests in life. Each one of you have inspired me in some way and I have learnt a lot from you, and I am also trying to share many things with you.

So thank you friends for following my blog, for all the lovely comments that you leave here. I have to tell you that initially I used to reply each and every comment in my posts but now even though I would love to do it I am not able to because of lack of time. You know that I have two blogs now and managing both is not so easy. Still I do try to visit each commentator's blog. It is nice to discover new blogs and make new friends.

Again, a Happy Friendship Day to you all. Have a great day.

Yellow butter cake

2011-08-06T10:55:00.000+05:30

Remember... I told you earlier that I had 3 egg yolk left after doing the meringue and that I made a yellow cake. Here it is. This is the first time I tried this cake. It is made using only egg yolks. I found the recipe from joyofbaking.

I was initially skeptical about using the egg yolks alone as I didn't want any eggy smell. But though there was this slight egg smell that is normally present in cakes it was not very distinct. And the cake was so soft and spongy.

Here is what I used

~Mixture of all purpose flour/maida and 2 tablespoon of cornflour to make 1 cup (Take 2 tablespoons of cornflour in a standard measuring cup and add all purpose flour/maida on top to make one full cup. I don't think we get cake flour here in India, so this is the best substitute for it)

~1 tsp baking powder

~1/4 tsp salt

~1/2 cup unsalted butter (I used table margerine)

~3/4 cup sugar (I always powder it after measuring)

~4 egg yolks

~6 tablespoons milk

~1/2 tsp vanilla essence

(All the ingredients should be at room temp.)

Preheat your oven (I normally don't).

Prepare your pans.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. I normally repeat 2 to 3 times. This ensures that everything gets incorporated well.

Cream together sugar and butter well until it is fluffy. It takes 10-15 mins using your electric mixer.

It takes ages with your hands.

Add the egg yolks one by one.

Then you have to alternate between adding the flour and milk. Don't overmix at this stage. You have you fold them gently. So you can use a ladle or wooden spoon for this.

Pour into the pans and bake. Now you can patienly wait for the aroma to fill the entire house.

Temperature settings may vary. I always bake at 150 degree Celsius. It takes around 45-50 mins to bake in my oven.

After taking it out of the oven wait for a few minutes for it to cool, then slightly loosen up the edges with a knife, place it upside down and give a slight tap. Your cake will come out smoothly.

You can see my cake turned out perfectly well.

Have a nice weekend.

Vibrant Cushion 2

2011-08-04T13:02:00.000+05:30

Here is my second cushion cover. As I said I used the same color sequence but did a granny square. You can click here to view my first one.

I am extremely satisfied with how both the pillows have turned out.

Any guess what my third is going to be?

Chocolate-coated coffee meringue

2011-07-31T14:49:00.000+05:30

Meringue are cookies that are made using only two main ingredients - egg whites and sugar. Flavouring can be added such as vanilla. I had never tasted meringues and wanted to try them out once. The recipe seemed very simple and easy to make. You need 1/4 cup of fine sugar for every egg white you use. I used 3 egg whites and 3/4 cup of sugar. Normally during baking I measure the sugar and powder it in a blender. That way it is easy while mixing as the sugar gets dissolved quicker.

Here is what you have to do - first separate 3 egg whites. Powder 3/4 cup sugar as you need super fine sugar. Having an electric mixer is handy because beating egg whites with your hands until stiff is not fun. First beat the egg whites until foamy. Then you add the sugar little by little (not all at a time) and beat well. You have to beat until the egg whites form a stiff peak and the sugar is all dissolved. This is how you do a plain meringue. You can add vanilla for flavour. I decided to use coffee flavour. I added 2 teaspoons of instant coffee powder to the sugar before powdering. If you have a piping bag you can use it to pipe the mixture on to the tray, otherwise you can spoon onto the tray. Baking has to be done at a low temperature for longer duration. I baked them at 100 degree C for 1 hour or so. You know it is done when it comes out easily from the baking sheet.

It came out perfectly well. Now, how was the taste? It wasn't much to my liking. I was not too happy with the coffee flavour and I felt it was too sugary for my taste. May be I should have used the vanilla instead. But my kid liked it. Then I decided to give it a chocolate coating to mask the coffee flavour. Belive me, it was so yum after the chocolate coating.

For the chocolate coating I didn't follow any particular recipe. I just took little milk, around a teaspoon or two of butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan and heated it, stirring continuously until it thickened. Then cooled it and dipped the meringues into this chocolate sauce. But after the chocolate coating the meringues softened up. They weren't crisp any more but I loved the taste of it.

Now there were three egg yolks left and so the next day I made yellow cake which I made for the first time. I will show that at a later post. That's all for now folks. Now I will go and take a short nap.

Vibrant Cushion 1

2011-07-29T09:33:00.001+05:30

The granny stripes that I showed you earlier has taken the form of a beautiful, bright-coloured pillow cover. I initially started to make a cover for another stool but then changed it to a pillow cover. I needed this cover very much because the set of three cushions that were without cover were starting to get dirty with my son throwing them all around the house. So the cushions were a priority and the stool could wait.

Instead of making the whole cover multicolored I chose to use multiple colous for one-third of the pillow and use a single colour for the rest of it. This gives an ethnic look to the pillow.

I have two more pillows from this set. I don't want all the three to look similar but at the same time I don't want them to look entirely different. So I am using the same color combinations for those two but going to change the pattern.

I have started working on my next pillow cover and hope to finish it soon.

Have a nice weekend.

simple Pleasures

2011-07-27T12:13:00.000+05:30

Yesteday the weather was okay, actually it had rained heavily in some parts of the city but not ours. For over the past one week I hadn't been keeping well with cold and fever and generally feeling lousy. So yesterday when I started feeling better I thought I would take my son to the park. He could practice on his skating and I could use some fresh air.

When I had gone to the park around ten days back there were plenty of flowers and I missed taking the camera along. Keeping that in mind this time I took the camera with me and thought I might do some macro shots. But I was very disappointed. There were hardly any flowers and even those one or two that were there had started to wither. Then I started chasing bugs, at least I could take some macro of those bugs. But again no luck. Those bugs wouldn't stand still and I started feeling silly chasing them around. So gave up on that too. Finally took some pics of Harshu skating and turned back home.

Flower for mamma, sweet isn't it?

On the way home I picked these tiny flowers so that I could make some tiny arrangement.

Ok, my idea wasn't to make such a lengthy post but I got carried away.

Have a nice day.

Blue Doily

2011-07-24T20:39:00.000+05:30

This blue doily that I started ages ago is finally done. I wanted to make this big enough to cover my round coffee table but that was not possible because,

1. Thread was not available. I purchased this thread long time ago (many years ago) and a similar colour was not available.

2. I didn't have any more patience.

The pattern is my own. Of course, I got inspirations from several other patterns. As I was working this I was also writing down the pattern. After completing every round I would write it down but after several rounds it became difficult for me to keep track of what I was doing. I took it along during my vacation and it was not possible to jot down everything I did during my travel. So I just gave up.

It has turned out beautifully and I love this color.

Hope you all had a nice weekend.

Progressing with granny stripes

2011-07-21T09:28:00.001+05:30

I have started my next big yarn project. If you are my regular reader you know that I have already made a stool cover but there is one more stool which also needed some covering up. So initially I started this as a stool cover but midway through I changed my plan and ended up making a cushion cover.

I have three cushions of similar size, so I am planning to make three cushion covers with similar colour combinations but with changes in the pattern, so that they make a set but don't look similar. Hmmm, I don't know. It all depends on the outcome of the first cushion cover. If I am not satisfied with it, then I might drop this idea of making a set.

I also made a tree of hearts inspired by attic 24, but I did not use the heart pattern from there, instead I used the pattern provided here.

Husband thinks I am going bonkers.

Anyway have a nice day.

Strawberry potholder

2011-07-17T10:35:00.000+05:30

I had been wanting to do these ornamental potholders for a long time. So I started out with a vintage strawberry potholder pattern but I am not sure if I followed the pattern correctly because the strawberry turned out too small. It was more like an applique strawberry rather than a potholder. So I made a square with double crochet stitches and sewed the strawberry onto it.

I forgot to make a stalk for the strawberry. It would have made the strawberry look even better. I got the pattern for the strawberry from here.

Have a nice weekend.

Paper bag in a jifty

2011-07-14T11:39:00.000+05:30

I did this paper bag as a school project work for my son. He wanted me to make something out of waste. I had this brochure which was nice and thick. I liked the color. So I decided to make use of it. I was just holding it in my hand and thinking what to do with it. I was trying to fold it in different ways and suddenly this idea struck me. So here is how I made the bag in simple steps.

This is the brochure that I had.

I folded it into half.

Then I folded one side

Then the other side on top of it.

This is how the bottom part looks.

I punched two holes at the top for the strings.

Like this

I selected coir ropes for the handles

I took the first three sheets together and inserted the rope through the holes and secured them by placing a knot as shown here.

Similarly the other side

Now one side of the bag was wide open.

So I used glue to close it shut

The bag is ready.

You can put some flowers into this cute bag and hang it on the wall.

Crochet vase cover

2011-07-11T13:02:00.000+05:30

I had seen plenty of beautiful crocheted vase covers in the net and had wanted to make one. But I don't remember seeing instructions anywhere, so I had to figure it out myself. Not a big deal, of course. It is quite easy. But since those of you who are new to crochet could use some guidance I have shown you how I did mine.

Take a bottle or any container that you wish to use. (If your vase has curves, then this instruction is not for you).

Using your yarn and hook make any number of chains to correspond to the circumference of the bottom of the container that want to cover.

You can check the length by placing it tightly around the bottom of the container as shown in the picture. (top or bottom dosen't matter if your container is a straight one. Mine widens slightly at the top).

Once you have reached the required length you can stop making any more chains and join the first and the last chains together with a slip stitch.

Make 2 ch to serve as a starting stitch and start working 1 sc (single crochet) or make 3 ch to serve as a starting stich and work 1 dc (double crochet) into each chain and continue working around. Join with a slip stitch. Continue working this way until you have reached the desired height.

Sometimes, if your container has a widened top like mine, then you might have to expand your work towards the top. For this at the beginning of a round where your container starts to expand you can work 2 sc/dc into one stitch. If that is not enough then somewhere around the middle of the round you can work another 2 sc/dc into one stitch. That would do. Always check now and then to see if your work is fitting the container. Otherwise make adjustments to make it fit.

Here is a multicolored one.

Hope that was useful. Have a nice day.

Goodbye Stuart

2011-07-10T10:32:00.000+05:30

My parents' 11-year-old labrador, Stuart, is no more with us. My dad called up this morning to say that he left us last night. It was something which we expected because he had stopped eating altogether two months back. He just refused to take anything and sometimes my parents had to force feed him. My dad used to force open his mouth and pour a few spoonfuls of milk. It is a wonder how he survived this long. He used to love tomatoes and mangoes but he refused to have even those. He was such a gentle and loving fella. We are going to miss him a lot, especially my dad. Both were attached to each other so much. I am sure he will now rest in peace having lived a wonderful life with loving people around him.

Lil' red doily

2011-07-05T13:20:00.000+05:30

When I am traveling long distances I prefer to take along my crochet threads and do some doilies because they don't occupy much space and are lighter to carry, both the threads as well as the finished doilies. This time too when I went on vacation I made some doilies.

One of them is this tiny red doily. The source of this pattern is not known. I had owned the photocopy of this pattern for a very long time. I just know that it is from a crochet magazine.

Some more pics

Have a nice day.

A new start...

2011-07-04T17:42:00.000+05:30

...of a new blog.

Speaking thru the lens is my new blog especially for my photos. The response that I received for the earlier two posts on my photography has encouraged me to start the blog. I am NOT a seasoned photographer but I do take some good photos, which might interest you. So please do visit it. I hope you guys who are following me here who are interested in photography would follow me there too. Thanks for your support.

Just Fotos #2

2011-07-02T16:38:00.007+05:30

These are the pictures of some wild flowers that I clicked during the vacation at my father-in-law's village in South India.

Sharing with

SOCC Sunday
Today's Flowers

Awesome flower pillow

2011-06-29T11:41:00.001+05:30

Awesome isn't it? I love this pillow. Four squares were sufficient for this 14" square pillow. For the few inches that were lacking I did four rows of granny stitches.

For the back I used a beige colored cloth and stitched buttons for closure.

You can click here for my previous post on flower square for the pattern.

Have a nice day.

Chocolate Donuts

2011-06-27T14:40:00.000+05:30

I love donuts. Few weeks back I made these deeply-fried goodies for my kid and it tasted really good. I found the recipe on the internet and changed it slightly but forgot to note down the changes that I made. So I will provide you the link for the original recipe. You can click here to get it.

Hope you all have a very nice week ahead.

Just Fotos #1

2011-06-26T08:07:00.005+05:30

Lately after starting this blog I have developed a passion towards photography. Initially it was limited only to the stuff relating to my blog but this vacation I just went crazy with my camera. I took lots and lots of pictures and would like to share some of them with you. So I am starting this new category "Just Fotos" to share these lovely photographs with you.

The photos that you see here were taken in Ooty.

Linking up with
Fabulous Friday
Crazy days of summer
Your Sunday Best
Macro Friday
And then, she snapped
Flowers on Saturday

Have a nice weekend.

Crochet flower square

2011-06-23T15:05:00.000+05:30

The pattern for this square was adapted from Drops Design as well as inspired from a Japanese magazine that I saw in the net but couldn't remember the site. I have used four colors for this square. I love the choice of colors.

I am going to show you step-by-step how to crochet this square. But before that remember ch = chain, dc = double crochet, sc = single crochet, sl = slip stitch. Come on, let's get started.

Using color A make 4 ch to form a ring. Make 4 ch to count as 1st dc and ch. *Make 1 dc in ring followed by 1 ch into ring. Repeat * 7 times. Finally you will have 8 dc in the ring. Join.

Ch 4. 1 dc in same stitch. * Ch 1, 1 dc in next stitch, ch 1, 1 dc in same stitch. Repeat *. You will be making 2 dc in each dc with a chain inbetween. So finally you will have 16 dc in total with 1 ch between each stitch. Join together.

Ch 3 to count as 1st dc, 2 dc in same stitch. You will be working a dc cluster here (leave the last loop of each stitch on the hook and finally pull them all together. If you don't know how to work a cluster stitch you can do google search and find some video tutorials). *Ch 1, make a dc cluster (3 dc worked together) in the next chain space. Repeat *. Totally you will have 16 dc clusters with 1 ch in between each cluster. I hope I am not confusing you. Join. Cut off the yarn and attach a new color B.

Ch 3 to count as 1st dc, 2 dc in same space. *Ch 1, 3 dc in next 1-ch space. Repeat *. Join. Cut off yarn and attach next color C.

Ch 1, sc in same space. *Ch 3, 1 sc in next 1-ch space, ch 3, 1 sc in same space, ch 3, 1 sc in next ch space, ch 3, 1 sc in next ch space, ch 7, 1 sc in same ch space, ch 3, 1 sc in next ch space. Repeat *. Join with sl st.

Using the same color ch 1, 1 sc in same stitch. *(4 dc, 1 ch, 4 dc) into 3-ch loop, sc in next sc, (6 dc, 2 ch, 6 dc) into 7-ch loop, 1 sc in next sc. Repeat *. Join. Cut off yarn and attach color D.

Ch 1, dc in same space. * Ch 3, 1 sc in 1 ch-space between 8 dc, ch 3, 1 dc in next sc, ch 5, (1 sc, ch 3, 1 sc) in 2-ch space between 12 dc, chain 5, 1 dc in next sc. Repeat *. Join.

Ch 3, 4 dc in 3-ch space, 4 dc in next 3-ch space, 5 dc in 5-ch space, (3 dc, 2 ch, 3 dc) in corner loop. Repeat and join.

Ch 3, 1 dc in each dc till end of row. 1 dc, 1 ch, 1 dc in corner loop. Join and cut off yarn.

Now, what am I going to do with these squares once I finish them? Guess!

Back after a break with an interesting photo

2011-06-21T08:33:00.002+05:30

Wow, there are no words to descibe how happy I feel to be back on the blog. First of all a warm welcome to all my new followers and also a big Thank You for all the lovely comments. Had a lovely vacation. I visited so many places, met so many people, took so many photos and also made so many doilies. All together it was a lovely vacation but still I missed blogland a lot.

Lately I am having a lot of issues with intenet. I just can't understand why it hates me a lot when I love it so much. We didn't have internet connnection at home from the beginning of last month due to some fault in the cable and the problem has still not been addressed and I am using the data card of a friend's to post this.

It might be hard to believe but I had been completely out of touch with internet during my vacation too. My in-laws don't have a computer and my dad's laptop did not have internet. Actually there was internet until the day we reached my parents's place, but this time the laptop didn't like me (or rather my son who is a game addict) and "boom!" it crashed the very next day. So poor me was left without intenet for the rest of my stay at my parents' place. So here I am finally after a month-long hibernation. OK, I will stop my prattle here and come to the point.

I wanted to show you all this very interesting photograph that I took in a temple in south India, south Tamil Nadu to be precise. Have a look at this picture and you can see a white round in it.

See a close up shot of the round.

Even more closer

Isn't that spooky? Now I will make one thing clear. I don't believe in spirits, either good or bad. So thinking that this is a divine being or a ghost that materialized in front of my camera lens sounds silly to me. I have read that such rounds are orbs and that they are actually some form of energy which become visible sometimes through a camera lens but that is pretty hard for me to believe. I did some google search now and read that they are probably dust particles or small insects that get reflected and appear as white spots. If it is a small spot I can agree, but come on, such a huge dust particle? No I can't agree. So what is it? Can you see there are some lines seen around the edge?

This is giving me sleepless nights. You know, sometimes I even get spooked to go to the loo in the dark. I have to get it out of my mind. So I hope you will come forward with some findings to ease my mind and most importantly I hope they are scientific because I don't want to start believing that ghosts exists in this world (You know, I am a brave girl). Even though you say that this is a positive form of energy since it is seen inside the temple, it means that there are negative forms of energy as well which might be lurking in the dark corners on the way to the loo. Ohhhh! the thought gives me goosebumps.

Oh, I have forgotten to show you the picture that was taken immediately after that one. This picture does not have any round being and looks absolutely fine, so you can see that there was no problem with my lens.

Interesting na?

Hey, please don't think I put that round thing there. I have not yet become that tech savvy (Is the spelling right?) Only recently I have learnt to take fairly good pictures. So I promise that was not made by me. Anyway I hope someone will give me a believeable explanation for that round to be present there so that I can soon push it to the back of my mind.

One more thing, Josie of Handmade by Knottygal has considered me creative enough to pass on this award to me.

Thanks a lot Josie. This is my first. It seems that I will have to say a few things personally about myself. I have already said a lot in the "Who am I" page. There is not much to add to it. Anyway here are a few things.

I am a very positive person.

I am a very easy going person. I simply can't take my life seriously. I live for the present.

I love chocolates, I love it to the point that I would even gobble up my son's share (of course, without his knowledge).

Only recently I discovered my passion for photography.

I am not much of a fruit lover. I can eat any vegetable but not fruits. It is not the taste that I hate but all the work that has to be done before putting a piece into your mouth like peeling, deseeding, etc. You know, I am too lazy for that. But I like bananas. They are easy to peel.

I don't like movies. I watch very few movies, only those that I think would hold my interest.

I have been living in Delhi for the past 8 years but I can't speak hindi. Shame on me.

That is enough. I think I have to pass it on to others but sorry I am not going to do that. If you ask me, I would say I love all the blogs that I follow and I would have to pass it on to each and every one of them. I simply can't choose. So I am not doing that. I think it is okay.

Crocheted Stool Cover

2011-05-20T10:57:00.000+05:30

A big hello and thank you to all the new followers and visitors and for all the sweet comments. We are on our way to visit our parents for vacation. I had wanted to post this before leaving home but because of internet problem I was not able to. So I was thinking that only after reaching my parents' place after the 25th of this month I would be able to post anything. But luckily we are halting at a friend's place for a day and they were kind enough to let me use their computer and here I am showing you my crocheted stool cover.

This is the stool, a very useful piece of furniture, but which always gets hidden away from guests' eyes. Now after receiving the colorful cover it serves as an emergency side table.

I got my inspiration for this from here, here, and many other sites. I wanted to make a rectangular cover and so I had to first figure out how to make a granny rectangle. I googled and got it from here. Then I saw Bunny Mummy's post on granny spike stitch here and decided to give it a try. The result was a beautiful multicolored stool cover.

Though I saw stool covers in many sites I did not come across one that showed me how to do a rectangular cover. I had to figure it out on my own, so I thought I would make a step by step tutorial on it so that it might be useful to those of you who might be wanting to make one but don't know how to go about it. So here we go...

How to crochet a rectangular stool cover

First I started by making 13 ch. Then in the 3rd chain from the hook make 2 dc. Ch 1. Skip next 2 ch and make 3 dc into next ch, skip 2 ch, 3 dc into next ch, skip 2 ch, 3 dc into next ch (you are going to work a corner here). Make 2 ch, 3 dc, 2 ch and dc in the same ch. Thus you have made 3 sets of dc into the same ch and formed a corner.

Here you can see the corner made.

Now make 2 ch and work 3 dc into the other side of the ch where you had made the previous set of 3 dc. Repeat two more times. After skipping 2 ch you are going to work 3 sets of dc with 2 ch in between each set to make a corner. Now you have worked the first round of the rectangle. You can view the picture below to get a clear view of how it would look. You can click here for an elaborate tutorial on granny rectangle.

Here you can see that I have completed the first round and started the second round with a different color. For the second round attach a different colored yarn to a 2-ch space and make 3 ch to count a first dc. Make 2 more dc in the same space. Ch 2, 3 dc into next 2-ch space. Repeat until the end of the row. In the corner you are going to work 3 dc, 2 ch and 3 dc into each corner. Repeat this until the end of the round. Join and cut off the yarn.

I have used brown for the altenate rounds and used granny spike stitch in alternate rounds where I have used different colors.

For the granny spike you are going to work the 2nd dc of each set of dc into the top of the stitch from the previous round. You can see the picture to see how it is worked. You can see that the first and the third dc are worked into the space while the 2nd one is worked into the top of the previous round's dc. You can click here for an elaborate tutorial on the spike stitch.

When you have reached the desired size of rectangle you might want your work to bend so that it fits snugly the stool. For this you will have to stop making 2 sets of dc into the corner and instead make only one, i.e., 3 dc into the corner stitch.

You can see your work is starting to bend.

Continue until you have reached the required height and join the yarn and cut off.

I hope my tutorial has been helpful. I am in a hurry to finish and so if there are any mistakes I will try to correct it later.

Ethnic Crochet

2011-05-11T16:01:00.002+05:30

This is an old piece of embroidery given a makeover through crochet edging. I embroidered this peacock a few years back on a lazy day when I had nothing else to do. I made it on a small piece of cloth and decorated it with beads, mirrors and kundan stones, but then I didn't know what to do with it. You see, I made it when I was still not bitten by the crochet bug. So it ended up with other 'WIP-forever' items.

Only the other day I took it out and realized what a beautiful piece of work is getting wasted. But what to do with it? It is just a small piece of cloth. May be I could sew it on to something but, again, what? Then obviously crochet came to my mind. I decided to give it a crochet edging. Luckily I had a color to match with the embroidery.

After finishing everything I found that I was not able to hang it on the wall because it was not firm enough and slumped on the sides. So I used some old cloth for padding at the back and made it firm. Now the peacock stands proudly on the wall.

I am giving you the pattern for the edging. It was adapted from a crochet edging pattern from mypicot, which has some interesting free patterns.

Crochet Edging Pattern

It is a very simple one. You start by making 5 ch. Then 2 dc into last chain from loop (which will be the first chain that you made), ch 3, 3 dc into same chain. Now you have formed the first shell. Note that you will be working this pattern vertically, starting at the bottom and advancing towards the top. Next, make 5 ch, turn your work and make 3 dc, 3 ch and 3 dc all into the 3 ch space that you have. Now you have formed the second shell on top of the first one. Again, make 5 ch, turn your work and make 3 dc, 3 ch, 3 dc all into the 3 ch space of the previous shell. Continue working this way until you reach the required length and fasten off.

You can see here in this picture how the work advances from bottom to top.

Granny cushion cover

2011-05-06T16:00:00.002+05:30

The granny squares are done and joined together to form this beautiful throw pillow cover. Now this is my second pillow cover and I have got five more pillows to cover up and who knows, may be I will be buying more (pillows) or even making one or two. I want a round one so that I can make a round granny cover.

I crocheted only the front. For the back I used by husband's discarded white shirt.

You can click here to view my earlier post about the granny squares.

Have a nice weekend.

Crocheted monitor and keyboard cover

2011-05-02T13:20:00.001+05:30

The ripples that I started quite some time back is done and it has taken the avathar of a monitor and keyboard cover.

Yes, it is the same ripple that you see in the header. You can click here to read my earlier post on the ripples and the pattern.

Making the monitor cover was quite easy. While clearing the shelves at home I found a cloth bag in red which fitted the monitor perfectly. So I just removed the handles from the bag and stitched the crocheted piece to one side of the bag.

But making the keyboard cover was a real challenge to me. I didn't find anything readymade to fit the keyboard so I had to do the entire thing. I made it in the envelope style. Since I am not good in sewing I messed up a lot. Initially I thought I would crochet both front and back but then I didn't want to waste yarns for the back where it is not going to be visible. So I used a piece of red cloth for the back of the cover. Then I crocheted a flap and attached it to the back.

The picture is not that clear. This is all I could manage as the lighting inside the room wasn't good enough.

Yeh! Finally one big mission accomplished.

Saying thank you with a chocolate cake

2011-04-29T06:56:00.001+05:30

This post is especially dedicated to all my blog readers. It has been four months since I started this blog with a lot of apprehension but the response that I get from you guys energizes me. Each and every comment that you leave here makes me happy though I may not have responded individually to your comments lately. There is nothing to match the way you feel when you see that people from places that you don't even knew existed have visited your blog. So I am saying a big thank you to all those who follow me as well as those who intend to, and of course, my non-following readers. Thank you for all the sweet comments that you leave here and the interest that you show in my blog.

This receipe is adapted from the book "Mary Berry's Favourite recipes." I tried it for the first time and it came out very well.

What I used:

Self-raising flour/maida        4 oz / 3/4 cups
Margarine                           4 oz/ half a cup
Caster sugar                        4 oz/ half a cup
Cocoa powder                    1 tbsp
Hot water                            3 tbsp
Baking powder                    1 tsp
Eggs                                    2

The method is fairly easy. First dissolve the cocoa in hot water. Next dump everything into a bowl and beat using an electric mixer for 2 mins. If you don't have one you can always use a wooden spoon or a whisk. Pour the batter into the cake tin and shove it into the oven and after a few minutes of waiting you will have a delicious chocolate cake. The baking time and temperature mentioned in the book is 25 mins at 180 degree C but I always bake at 150 degree C because my oven tends to overheat and burn anything inside. I baked for around 40 mins. You will know when the cake is done if it starts pulling away from the sides of the tin. Also you can insert a fork or something inside and see if it comes out clean.

Of course there are certain things that you have to keep in mind while baking a cake such as the size of the cake pan that you use, consistency of the batter (the batter for this cake was a bit thick, thicker than the ones that I have made before, so I was a bit doubtful whether it was going to be okay or not), greasing the pan, etc. I am not going to go into details about that because I myself am a novice.

I used chocolate buttercream icing for the cake but I felt that it tasted better plain without the icing.

I wish you all enjoy a very happy weekend with a huge chunk of chocolate cake.

Is there anyone who hates chocolate cake?

Granny Squares for my Cushion

2011-04-26T13:58:00.000+05:30

My latest passion is crocheting cushion covers. I recently purchased 7 throw pillows and am now in the process of making covers for them. I am working on two right now. I am showing you one here.

I believe everyone who knows to crochet will know how to do a granny square. So I am not giving you the pattern. For the previous cover I used black as the background color, so in this I decided to go for white. I love this combination of colors.

These squares are also coming out neatly unlike the previous ones. I hope to finish it soon and show you the results.

Easter Chick

2011-04-24T09:08:00.002+05:30

I made this chick as an Easter special. Not a pretty chick though. Chiku dosen't look happy. Maybe he is not pleased with his hairstyle.

Click here for the pattern.

Happy Easter

Flower square pillow cover

2011-04-20T22:11:00.002+05:30

It has been a while since my last post. I was forced to take this short break from blogland because of a problem in my computer. For over 10 days now I was totally unaware of what was going on in other blogs. So there is a lot of catching up to do. Also because of this computer problem I had to be off my regular job (I work from home) which gave me plenty of time to do other things. I finished a few things I had started and also have started a few more things.

One of them is this pillow cover. As I had mentioned earlier, when I started this I was not at all pleased with the way the squares turned out. I was not pleased with the choice of colors especially, but just carried on hoping that it would look better when joined. As I hoped the pillow cover has turned out very well. I absolutely love it now.

You can see that even my teddy feels so.

You can click here to view my earlier post regarding this.

School Bus Amigurumi

2011-04-06T15:24:00.001+05:30

My second attempt at making amigurumi has turned out pretty well. My son is crazy about vehicles. He is especially obsessed about trucks. When I started making the teddy he was not at all happy. He wanted me to do a truck for him. So I searched the internet but didn't find any pattern for trucks. Then I found this pattern for the school bus and decided to give it a try. You can click here for the pattern.

I used styrofoam for stuffing.

I started this quite some time back but did the stuffing and final sewing only two days ago as I wanted to give this to him on his birthday. So yesterday on his birthday I gave it to him. He was quite happy. He played with it, photographed it and, of course, made it so dirty that within a single day it has turned several shades darker.

And here is the huge mess of a cake that I made yesterday for his birthday, shaped like a van.

Definitely not a masterpiece but considering that it was my first attempt to bake and ice such a huge cake, I think it is OK.

Cutely Colorful

2011-04-03T13:33:00.001+05:30

Day after tomorrow is my son Harshu's birthday. Yesterday we went shopping to buy chocolates and other stuff to distribute in his class. We saw these duckies in a shop and I instantly fell in love with them. These cuties are actually pencil sharpners. I could't resist myself from clicking pictures and once I started I couldn't stop myself and went on and on. I took lots and lots of pictures. I am sharing with you just a few.

Waiting to be taken home.

These are pencils.

Have a nice weekend.

Some squares

2011-03-30T16:12:00.000+05:30

I haven't completed any of the projects I started previously but have started on a new one. That is typically me. I am making these squares to make a cushion cover.

Am not at all happy with the color choice. I am not choosing any colors, just picking out randomly. I am hoping that when I join them together they would look better.

These squares are based upon the pattern that I got here. Certainly mine dosen't look as neat as the original one.

Anyway, as I said, I hope the finished product looks okay.

Have a nice day.

Chocolate Banana Cake and a Doily

2011-03-25T19:28:00.001+05:30

I baked this cake yesterday. Not me actually, my son did it. He loves to help me in baking. Whenever I make something he will come and sit near me and try to mess up things (in his language-help). This time he said he is going to do the entire baking. So I let him do it. I gave him all the ingredients and told him how to measure. So he measured everything, mixed everything and finally, of course, licked the bowl clean. I just poured it into the pan and put it in the oven.

I have made plain banana cakes a few times before but for the first time I tried a chocolate version. The recipe is from http://www.thejoyofbaking.com/. You can find the link for this cake here. Actually I didn't have enough cocoa powder. I had only half of the required amount, so I substituted the rest with Bournvita.

Ok, I do agree it looks like a piece of burnt brick (that's what my husband said looking at this photo), but believe me, it tasted sooo yum. Otherwise I wouldn't have dared to blog it here. It is a very moist cake and I am definitely going to make it again.

The doily that you see here is an unfinished one and it is not going to be completed ever because I don't have that color thread anymore. I bought it when I was new to Delhi. We have these weekly markets where stalls are put up once in a week for a few hours and I found these colored threads in one such markets but I don't see them anymore. Anyway I think there are only two or three more rounds to go and I don't think it looks very obviously incomplete.