Indian Amigurumi Series:Meghana The Odissi Dancer

 

I am continuing my amigurumi series of Indian Classical Dances. This time : Odissi. Odissi has been a favorite of mine for many years and I was lucky enough to see a few live performances when I was younger. The distinctive white flower arrangement on the head always fascinated me. So I was sure I wanted to keep that as a central part of this design. 

As always I started with some exploratory sketches and these were the ones that I finally liked :

 

So most of the design effort for this went in the head adornments and the jewellery and waist chain. I got a little more elaborate earrings on this one just because I thought it complimented her head adornment better.I also added some bangles this time as I thought it made her look so cute.

The Royal Shimmer Cowl :Free Crochet Pattern

I recently went for a trip to Dungeness and then took the steam train to Hythe. In Hythe, while randomly strolling through Hythe we came across Dotty Di's a charming little yarn shop which had a beautiful collection of wool of all kinds. The owner is really helpful and cheerful and I bought some yarn there just because. I had no project in mind while I bought a load of yarn but it was fun to just browse and pick whatever I fancied.

This yarn caught my fancy because if it was shimmering like a box of jewels. Katia Polaris(71) is a beautiful acrylic yarn. It just is a joy to crochet with. I highly recommend this yarn for any colourful project. I only bought a single ball but if I had bought more I think this would make a lovely shawl.

 

The pattern for this cowl is very simple but very effective in showing of the lovely yarn. This was my aim anyway.

Crochet Pattern:

Material:
Katia Polaris 100 gram (this pattern could be modified to make a longer scarf but would need more yarn than 100 grams)
4.5 mm Crochet Hook
Yarn needle and scissors

Pattern:
Chain 31

Row 1: hdc in second chain from hook, slip st in the next st. (hdc ,slip st) till end . Then ch 1. Turn
Row 2: (hdc, slip st) till end. Then ch 1. Turn.

Repeat Row 2 until cowl is desired length to wrap around snugly around the neck. For me this was 81 rows. Fasten off leaving a tail of 15-20 cm

Using the yarn needle join the two edges.

 Enjoy your new cowl!

Summer Baby Vest

Still making cute little things for my baby. This is a baby vest that I made using yarn from my stash using this pattern from the topcrochetpatterns website. It is for a vintage baby smock by Jackie Carreira. This was a really easy and straight forward pattern. I finished the whole thing in around 2 hours and I think it will look adorable on my baby. I am making patterns that are for 3-6 month age now so that I do have things to put on my baby as he grows. So not making too many newborn woollens now. In any case its going to be summer when the baby arrives so its probably more sensible to make things for further ahead.

The Red Yarn Sneakers

 

I am still making cute stuff for my baby. These red sneakers are adorable and I got the pattern from one of my crochet for baby books. I wanted to do these so that they almost look like canvas sneakers.

I have made them in the size 3-6 months so not for an absolute newborn. I did this because so far I have made things only for newborn size and babies grow fast I am told. So hopefully my baby can wear these as he grows up a little. The yarn is just red and white DK baby yarn from my stash. I doubt these will be of my practical use. But they are just soooo adorable that I had to make them.

 I still think I might have made the laces too long but I am leaving them alone for now. If I do make more booties, I will probably do small slip in shoes and not the one with laces.
For the sneakers it made sense to keep them like this so I guess it will be all ok.