Revamping the Kindle Cover

I set out to stitch a Kindle cover for my brother. The objective being to make a cover for him and also to put down the pattern in writing. I asked Rohit to choose three colors since I was planning on replicating the earlier pattern. He went on to choose three colors - Yellow, Blue and Green.

I wasn't too sure on how the colors would play out with each other. I started off with the yellow, stitching the inner lining.

Inner Lining - In Yellow

Once this was done I was in a dilemma. I wanted to use the colors differently from last time. The last time, I alternated between two shades of green and it looked like stripes.

My earlier project page - Ravelry
My blog-post on the project - Blog description

This time I wanted to do gingham checks but the thought of cutting and joining the different shades was giving the shudders. I told my mom my plan of making gingham checks and the amount of cutting and joining that would be required.

That is when she told me about an invite she received from a group in Ravelry. It was a Crochet-Along potholder and she suggested I too join her. This pattern was of Gingham checks but without any repeated cutting and joining. This pattern really intrigued me and I wanted to get started.

I decided to make this in the size of the Kindle's outer cover. So I used the original potholder pattern for a part of the outer cover. It was an exhilarating experience with me learning something new. I loved how the colors played out with each other and the entire effect of the checks. For the rest of the outer cover, I used a basic stitch.

The new pattern - Trying it out for the kindle cover

The basic pattern in 3 colors 

The complete outer section with the flap

Once the outer portion was done, I attached this to the inner yellow piece and also stitched the flap. The next step was to do stitch the inner blue piece and then attach it.

With the inner portion to hold the Kindle in place

And...VOILA...the new kindle cover was done.

The completed cover - Close the flap and carry conveniently

And so my Kindle cover was complete.  The pattern and the colors have really worked out well. And all I can say is that I am thrilled!!!

A spurt of Nostalgia

It was the morning time....On my way to office....Sitting in the car and watching the road....Listening to the music that was being played...

The song changed...I heard a familiar melody....It was a Malayalam song...I caught myself humming the lyrics and tapping my feet.....

"Kuttanaadan kaayalle kettu vallam thuzhayumbol...."

I smiled to myself and closed my eyes....Those moments in the bus...This song and the frenzy accompanying it during the dance...Some sitting and swaying and others dancing in the cramped bus...not once or twice but many times to the same song...

As the song died down, my thoughts turned to my memories....the different trips to went to.... the fun times...the gossips...the mischief...and what not....

The trips...the classes...the videos..the photos...the birthday celebrations...the DJ's....the farewell's....all times spent together...

Three months later...and I look back at the last two years....memories come flooding and all I can say is  "Those were the best days of my life..."

Facebook in Denial...

A few weeks ago there was an article in the newspaper about addiction to Facebook. The article gave a list of symptoms which proved that one was indeed addicted to this social network. As I read through this, I wondered if I was an Facebook addict. As  I read through the symptoms list, I scoffed.  I did not have any of these symptoms and I was perfectly normal, thank you very much for asking.

Last week, I had a really long day where things seemed to be piling up on each other. It was as though I had no control over what was happening and I was getting more and more frustrated by the minute. In a silly fit of sullen, I deleted my Facebook profile and with a sniff I headed towards my bed. 

The first day after this incident, I had things to keep me busy as I reached back from work. The second day,  was tempted to check FB at least through my mom's profile. By yesterday,  suddenly realized that I wasn't getting to know what was happening to my friends'.  I was missing their statuses and comments. But I ignored the voice in my head and carried on resolutely. Instead I tried to find out what was happening by asking people over phone or even through Gmail and Gtalk. 

I had been wanting to blog for a few days and I sat down today for the same. As I finished my previous post,  suddenly realized that I couldn't post it on FB as I usually do. In a jiffy, I went and re-actvated my account and posted my blog.

With four days of respite from Facebook, I have understood that I am not addicted to it but being in the loop and being connected to others through this is important to me. It is nice to chat with friends and be connected with all of them. And also it's good being able to post there links and my blog whenever I want to. So next time I deactivate my account, it is definitely going to take more than a fit of sullen for me to do so.

Being Adopted...

I was just a few days into the corporate life. Right out of college and not yet settled in to the corporate life style, the first few days were a blur. Added to it was another confusion, another situation. Mom had gone to Bangalore for a few days and had just returned and grand-mom had come to stay.

All my things were scattered everywhere. I was back to home base after two years at the hostel. I needed to get my things in place and soon. Between finding my own cupboard space, creating the same for my gran-mom, cleaning up the havoc that was created when mom wasn't here and everybody's office, none of us were prepared when gran-mom fell ill and had to be hospitalized.  With gran-mom in hospital, mom almost full time with her, dad shuttling between office, hospital and work and also relatives visiting, time raced by.

It was during one of these crazy days...

It was early morning and my head was still addled with sleep. I was just straightening out everything in the front room when  heard a purr. I turned around to see a cat. It was white with patches of black on it and it didn't have an eye. I chased it out and within no time it came in again. I chased it out again, this time ensuring that I closed all the windows through which it could enter. The cat was very strong willed, it was on the look out for any opening through which it could come in. The day passed by and so did the next, we had not let the cat in at all. The feline was very agitated and tried to get in all through. And so we began hunting all the cupboards and places where it probably could have had kittens. After going through everywhere and not discovering anything we decided to let the matter rest.

It was a bit late in the night when my brother called out to me. He had been sitting and reading a book while he let his leg rest on the albums kept in a small shelf near to the bed. Suddenly he heard a mewl. Dad and Rohit investigated and found to kittens around a week old hiding behind the photo albums. At least things fell into place, the mother cat had probably shifted the kittens here when we discovered her and threw her out. The two poor babies had been without their mother for almost two days now.

We quickly ran and got a small box filled with milk and let the kittens out where the mother could reach them. We watched from the window the ensure that the mother came and picked them up and left. The next day morning we were a little upset as we had two kittens the night before and now we had none.

Miss Smart

Though we really love animals and would love to have pets, it is not really an option.  With loads of visitors and us going somewhere or the other and even transfers, it would not be fair on the pet. So we knew that we couldn't keep them as pets. But we never imagined...the cat returned with her kittens..and took place in our balcony upstairs...Slowly they even entered our house....

Miss Cute

Days have grown into weeks and weeks into months...It's the third month now since they have come n our lives...They are not our pets but we are theirs. They have adopted us. From sleeping upstairs to running about in the house and scolding us for not giving it food, the kittens and the cat have become a part of our lives.

Miss Cute once again

Now our day starts in the morning by carrying the kittens downstairs. They absolutely maneuver the situation everyday so that we end up carrying them everyday instead of them climbing down by themselves. They walk in and around the house as though they have marked their territory. They chase the other cats that try to come in. They run about in the garden and jump and play with each other and us. Giving them food and letting them lie in the kitchen balcony and run about in the house till after dinner and spending hours just staring at the two of them play and fight have become the favorite pastime.

We haven't adopted anyone, rather they have adopted us and it's the best thing that has happened in a really really long time.

Our adopted family..The One-Eyed Beauty and Smart and Cute