Saad's Kameez, plus three!

Asalamu Alaikum,

Usually I sew clothes just for my niece, as most of the extra cloth that I have in my fabric stash is from ladies suits. A couple months ago though, one of my sister in laws was cleaning out a closet and found a piece of cloth that was supposed to be for a man's shalwar kameez(about 7 meters, some sort of blend) and as no one was going to use it she gave it to me to experiment on.

I ended up making a little kameez for Saad, and then three more, one for each of my nephews!
Cute Little Man, all ready for Jummah(Friday prayers) with daddy!

I still need a bit more practice, as I had a couple small issues while working on it but they all turned out well for a first attempt.

Thumbs up, mama!

I have been doing more sewing than knitting or crochet lately, due to the heat I can only do the knitting at night before bed when we turn on the AC. I do have a couple of knit/crochet WIPs to post and lots more sewing too, inshAllah I'll be posting more in a day or two.

Sewing Sarubobo!

Asalamu alaikum,

I saw this over on Umm Aaminah's blog, and I just had to make it. The tutorial is from a blog she follows, Mairuru. So, a big thank you to Umm Aaminah, for the link and finding such a cute blog!


So first I made the orange one. It was so cute and Saad liked it so much that I made another. Of course then I had to make clothes for them, so they got little shirts and hats.
Hanging out on the roof.

After I made the first two I decided to make a mini one as a mobile charm.
Little cutie! Those are a five rupee coin, and a one dirham coin, they are both the size of a quarter.

His measurement before sewing was 2cm by 3cm(3x4 including seam allowance), with a 2 cm head(3cm with allowance).

I really like this little project and will probably make more as my niece saw them the other day and loved them.

Simplicity Set

Asalam Alaikum,

This little project was just for fun. I saw a pattern for this really simple necklace on Ravelry and it looked kind of cute so I thought why not?

Necklace, Braclet, and two styles of bindia.

Bracelet, with a button clasp.(the necklace has the same style)

Triangular bindia, which I don't like so much.

Circular bindia, I really prefer the way this one turned out.

Pattern:The necklace and bracelet are both the Understatement Necklace. The necklace is about 20 inches and the bracelet is about 7 inches. The bindias I just made up.
Thread:Some cream colored tatting thread(no idea the size, the band is long gone!)
Hook:Steel size 7
Accessories:Three matching buttons, some seed beads and a larger size of pearl type beads.

Just like Daddy vest

Asalam Alaikum,

This vest was a quick knit, made to match the vest I made for Tariq before we left America.
Cutey, with a serious face

My handsome matching men

Pattern:None
Needles:US 7
Yarn: Parley(local acrylic, dk/light worsted)

Chenille Baby Set

Asalam Alaikum,

A family friend's daughter just had a baby, and our friend had asked me if I would knit a little set for the baby. She even bought the yarn and needles. The yarn was a really soft chenille, in a variegated blue, pink, and yellow.

The cardigan and pants.
The hat.
The bootees.

Patterns:None really, but the cardigan was inspired by the Five Hour Baby Boy Sweater, the hat was inspired by this pixie hat, and the bootees were inspired by Saartje's bootees.
Needles:They were labeled as a 6, but they aren't the same size as a US 6
Yarn:Chenille, heavy worsted-light bulky?

I am pretty happy with the way everything turned out, and our friend seemed pretty happy too.

Last FO of 2010

Asalam Alaikum,
This is my last FO of 2010, a hat to match the crochet baby jacket I finished a while back. The jacket and hat are going to one of our neighbors who is a close friend of Tariq's, for his one year old son.





Here is Saad modeling, he kept saying "this for chota(small) baby, nahi(not) Saad. Saad want blue hat." Apparently he does not like the color of the stripes.


Pattern:none, just made it up.
Yarn:Acrylic
Hook:US F

There are a couple more FO's from 2010 I just haven't gotten around to getting pictures yet.

Piece of Pi

Asalam Alaikum,
My Pi shawl is done!
The shawl unblocked.

The shawl while blocking.

After blocking and removing the pins.

The model shot, to give you an idea of the size.

Pattern:Pi shawl(July) from the Knitter's Almanac
Yarn:8 skeins(roughly 800 yards) random red acrylic from Abu Dhabi, and 2.5 skeins(roughly 500 yards but I am not exactly sure) "Parley", also acrylic that we got in the market.
Needles:US 6

Details:I used the exact lace patterns suggested in the Almanac but shortened the last pattern repeat(due to running out of red), and did only one row of diamonds on the outside. The black border is the sideways knitted on garter border, 10 stitches wide. I was just going to leave it unblocked until I read about a technique for blocking acrylic on Ravelry, where you use an iron to steam it slightly(being careful not to melt it). The good thing is that being acrylic it will not have to be blocked again after washing. The unblocked diameter was 44 inches, and after blocking the diameter was 66 inches. In this shawl there are more than 43,000 stitches(I was so excited to find out how many), and it took three months and six days to complete(it hibernated for about a month because I had to go buy the black) This is the largest project I have completed so far, Alhamdulillah it is DONE! I feel like dancing and singing at the top of my lungs!

Saga of the Never Ending Socks...Ends?

Asalam Alaikum,
This is the end of my most long-term FO! Tariq's "Forever Socks" are done, and it only took two and a half years!

Pattern-Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock"
Yarn-Olive Green sock yarn that came with a kit the Mom gave me when we were visiting.
Needles-US 1

This pair of socks has been on the needles since the summer of 2008. They went with me to the first U-knitted Amiras meeting in Abu Dhabi in September of 2008. These socks have been all over the UAE and have gone on our Omani Border Runs a couple of times, and has come to Pakistan twice. These are some well traveled socks!

Never again will I make socks for Tariq with anything less than a sport weight yarn. NEVER. EVER.

Baby Bootee Parade

Asalam Alaikum,


In an effort to use up some of the many tiny bit of yarn leftovers, I have started making little baby bootees.

I have made four pairs so far, all from the same basic pattern.

Pattern: Bootees from The Opinionated Knitter.
Needles:US 3
Yarn:Oddments

I like this pattern very much. It is easy enough to memorize, the end result is really cute, plus a pair works up in just a couple of hours.

Look at all the Knitting(and some crochet)!!!!

Asalam Alaikum,
So because of family drama I have gone about 2 weeks without my crack internet. What happens in 2 weeks with out the internet you ask? This-

Plain Vest for FIL-done

Fetching For ME-done

Tiny horse for my nephew-done



Wow you can really get a lot of Knitting done when your not on Ravelry!

BSJ just never gets old

Asalam Alaikum,
You know this pattern is sooooo addictive, here is a picture of the third one that I have made.

In the first jacket, I followed the original pattern(except for the shoulder seam- instead of seaming, I did a 3 needle applied I-cord bind off). In the second jacket I did the same but added the continuous line variation. For this third jacket I didn't do the I-cord bind off but did seam as instructed, and used the continuous line AND collar variations, I LOVE it! I think that this is the best so far(note the implication of more to come)

The reason this pattern is so addictive is that it is amazing to knit this funny looking blob, and with two folds---poof----jacket.

Also in knitting news i have started a plain vest for my FIL-

Yay for being picky!

Asalam Alaikum
So I am a little picky. While doing a KAL I can't just follow the perfectly nice pattern, I must change it.

This is the front, see matching buttons?

Here is the back, those also in the KAL might notice that after the moss stitch section I mirrored the previous sections so that the front and back match each other.

and here is the lining, complete with small pocket. I like this purse a lot, and took it for its first official use to the mall for last Fridays meeting of U-Knitted Amiras.

knitting update! woohoo!!

Asalam Alaikum,
Ok so I have been on the fence about the kal on the UAE board on Rav, but today decided that i wanted to jump in. I picked up a skein of something-or-other from one of the tailoring materials shops, in a slightly variegated green that I thought would be nice.
So here is what i got finished during the DS's nap-


And here is the finished pics of the Mobius Confetti Shawl. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out, and it was a quick knit, easy on the hands...garter stitch till your eyes roll up into your head.



Because I am a little on the lazy side you now get this pic of a long finished hat that I finally got around to taking-

This is Odessa I liked it but the beads were a bit of a pain.

Eid Mubarak...(a bit late)

Asalam Alaikum,

For Eid this year we went to the Sheik Zayed Masjid. This is our second visit, and the first time I got to see the main prayer room. It was very beautiful.

The outside from the courtyard-


Me, the DH and the DS in the courtyard-


The DS on a lighted flower panel-

Me and The DS


A really big chandelier(one of three) in the main prayer room


Now, for the knitting-

First up I provide proof of the fact that having a long-time UFO is not a good idea-


This vest was started when I had first learned how to knit, my friend and Mentor Sister Z. had picked this for our group project, it has enough of everything that you may need to know. Some cables, duplicate stitch, some basic lace, so we could all learn together. Then I had to move like 11,000 miles away, and it has taken almost a year to finish this. Point being, the front was made while I was still in the states, and the back made later on after I moved here. The back ended up larger, and looser, I guess my gauge loosened up with my experience and so there ya have it, my life lesson of the day-finish what you start quickly.

I do have more stuff to post and I will get it up here as soon as I get the pics taken.

Until next post
Asalam Alaikum

some old stuff

Asalam Alaikum

And so because I haven't taken pics of any of my new stuff, here is some old Stuff that I never got around to posting-
To start here is the Tam I made for my Aunt, from Knitty(thanks to Charmaine who posted hers which reminded me about mine.


Top

Bottom

This monster was made for my husband's cousin's son who is three, and has a thing for dinosaurs.


These were for my husband's cousin's wife, who has a thing for chucks and for pink.

RAVELRY!!!!!!!!!!

Asalam Alaikum,
I have not posted in a while because I have been slightly obsessed with Ravelry, having just got my invite! It is so more awesome than I could have imagined, everything is just so cool. It did not take as long to get in as I had thought it would, and is absolutly worth the wait!

And now for something completly Knit-ffrent

A hat for my mom --



A hat for my DH--


A teeny tiny sweater--

And now a completely gratuitous picture of my own personal yarn holder!--