A stamp (or 3) in the hand

Card paper, a fresh tea bag, 2 ink pads, and a few stamps later, I had a few tags. Here's one:



A stamp in the hand is in town again, this saturday. The stamping industry is suffering, I hear. I'll visit the expo this year round just to support it in my little way.

Psst: Both Amee and Misha have been gifted with the hand knits. I heard from Misha's mom today who was so touched by the gesture that it made my day.

For Misha

Misha is turning 3 this weekend. Little girl loves pink I hear. This is her birthday gift from me: the softest pinkest bolero on the face of this earth!

This one's an original too. My pattern came about thus: I see a fluffy cardi in one of many knitting books I've borrowed from the library, which leaves me with an idea. A week later, I hear about Misha's birthday. So I go to Michaels and get the fluffiest yarn (2 stitches to an inch) in the pinkest shade available. Cardinal rule: design machine washable garments for kids, for the Moms' sake. I then park at the closest Walmart and measure (with my office badge), the shoulder width and armhole depth for something that would fit her. The actual design and development was the breezy part. The bolero length just seemed right.

For Amee

Note: Amee is 0 months old. The spanking new parents are my friends.




Psst: an original design



For the pattern-curious:

Books

I've been foraging library shelves and catalogs for all books knitting. Focus is on baby knits and knitting literature (history, biographies of artists, evolution of style etc).

1. Knitting in America / Melanie D. Falick ; photography by Chris Hartlove.
- Read this to learn about the various American women in professional knitting and their lives. Includes Barbara Walker - I'd buy an entire book on her, if one were available.

2. Paintbox knits : more than 30 designs for kids / Mary H. Bonnette and Jo Lynne Murchland.
The sweetest patterns are in here. I've put this on my wishlist.

3. Simple knits for cherished babies / Erika Knight.
A tiny new-born wrap jumped out of this book. For the rest of it, it is what it claims - simple. And too boring for my taste.

4. Beautiful things to make for baby : knitting, sewing, crochet, embroidery.
Practical knitting, sewing, crochet items you can create. I loved this one as it's focussed more on the baby rather than the craft you're using to making something with.

5. New baby knits / Debbie Bliss.
Beautiful knits.

Hope to be busy making new-born wearables to gift my friends. Brimming with ideas, what with all the patterns I'm practically swimming in! There's also the classic surprise baby jacket that I've unvented and written a script for. Exciting times ahead.

Limping back to 'normal'

I've resumed knitting. And the world seems friendly again.

In the meanwhile, much is new.
1. Icarus is actually making beautiful progress. The lace weight 100% cotton yarn is rendering the shawl cloudy softness beyond imagination. I'm absorbing mistakes and resurrecting the next row of stitch-count rather than re-knit and therefore, I'm not slowed down. It's not going to look factory-perfect at the end of it all and I'll be none the poorer for it.

2. I design patterns, cut fabric and sew with much confidence.
my partner in crime: Brother XL2230


3. I love jigsaw puzzles even more than I used to in childhood. The enchantment has only grown!