Crochet Challenge Complete

At the end of August, I had lunch with friends, one of which showed up with this 3-D Leaf Bag she had recently finished making.

(You can find her on Instagram @whiskersandyarn.)

It was then that she had the bright idea that me and two other friends should also make the bags since it was really a very easy pattern.  To encourage us to make one, she said she would do all the finishing for us (adding a lining, pocket, magnetic clasp and handles).

As you can see, we accepted the challenge and were successful in crocheting the bags.  (Aruna's is top left, Zhraa's bottom left, and my two are on the right.)  We were given a diagram to follow, but I had previously come across a YouTube tutorial by Annoo Crochet so that's what I followed.  Turns out, they were very easy to make, though I have to say, there was still a lot of frogging with the first bag.

The second one went much quicker.

  A couple of weeks ago, I got the bags back from Rene.

I posted them to Instagram on Saturday and they've received a whole lot of love.  I've even had many people ask if I will make more to sell but I'm not a big fan of making things over and over again.  I was really pleased to make two and knew Rene would be very surprised which made it worthwhile.  So, we'll see.  There might be more bags in the future (Rene has already agreed to do the finishing on any additional bags).

 :)

Happy Monday!

A Hitchhiker Before Breakfast and Last Week's Crafting

Headed off this morning to meet some of my craft group friends for breakfast and was surprised to find a little hitchhiker on the hood of my car.

I think he was just as shocked as I was.  Really felt bad that I had already driven to a whole other block of our neighborhood before I saw him, so immediately pulled over to the nearest bushes hoping he would hop off.  Not sure he did though since they prefer flat surfaces.  He might have just slid under the hood through the front grille.

The restaurant we went to has been in business since 1953, but they have just started serving breakfast.

Middle Eastern style, of course.

We were asked to give our feedback on the menu and service.

Three of us ate plant based while everyone else tried the egg and meat dishes.

Last Saturday our group met at the Morouj location of Caribou Coffee for our usual crafty morning 

I crocheted pink ribbons for everyone since October is breast cancer awareness month.

It also happened to be I Love Yarn day (created by the Craft Yarn Council in 2011) so we had a yarn swap.

A new lady joined us who is actually certified by the Craft Yarn Council as a Crochet Instructor and she had some beautiful projects to show us.

A quilter in the group made tissue packet covers for everyone.

All of the above and there was still time for crochet, knitting and sewing.
Been feeling very lethargic since breakfast, plus am getting over a cold that my husband unfortunately decided to share.

Hope you are well.
Happy Caturday!

Blue Eyes and Skies

Today we had visitors from Spain and Sri Lanka so took them to have lunch at Radisson SAS which is where the Hashemi II is located.

It was awarded a Guinness World Record in 2002 for largest wooden dhow.

A ship that doesn't sail, but houses a ballroom and conference hall that is used for various events.

At the top is the evil eye, a symbol that has been around for at least 5,000 years.  Many cultures use it as a way to ward off evil and bad luck.  Evil eye charms are given to newborns, for housewarmings or the opening of a new business, or even when buying a new car as a symbol of good wishes and good luck.  It is said that the talisman provides protection from anyone giving evil looks or thoughts by reflecting the evil intent back to them.

Although you can find them in other colors, the traditional ones are made with blue.  Dark blue represents good karma and positive energy; light blue is for the color of the sky, which symbolizes truth and provides protection.

I was inspired recently to crochet evil eye charms as gifts for my craft group.

The interesting thing is that I made 13.

We never know how many will show up to our craft meetings and on the day I took them, besides myself, there were 13 in attendance.

Definitely meant to be.

If you are on Instagram, I'm sure you know about the annoying sponsored ads that pop up.  When I posted about the crocheted charms, an ad popped up shortly thereafter for phone covers.

And guess what they were.

Yep!  A whole bunch of evil eyes.  My cover had recently cracked so I needed a new one.

Proof that there are eyes everywhere.  :)

Sending good wishes your way!

Happy Monday!