Where flowers bloom, so does Hope!
Its been a while (more than a while actually) since I wrote my last post, lot of things are happening here lately. We were so anxiously waiting for 2020 to
end, what a disastrous year it had been! Then 2021 arrived, the year where
everything, and maybe nothing, might happen! The coronavirus pandemic has
bought tectonic change to almost every part of life. But by the end of 2020,
things were returning to normal, or new normalcy or so we thought.
To escape the chaos and madness of the pandemic,
we even took a quick getaway to Bhandardara during my birthday weekend in
January. Bhandardara is one of the best and less commercial hill stations of
Maharashtra. We stayed at the MTDC resort overlooking Arthur lake, perfect
solace to the drained souls like us. This lake is formed by the dammed up river
of Pravara and serves as a reservoir to the Wilson Dam and was formed way back
in 1910.
We decided to take a trek to Mt. Kalsubai, highest peak of Maharashtra and the highest point on the Sahyadri mountains on my birthday, wanted to do something different! Mount Kalsubai stands tall at 5,400 feet above sea level. The trek was treacherous and physically demanding. Our driver dropped us at Bari, a base village, and from there we trekked for almost 3 and half hours (around 6.6 Km of hiking trail) to reach the summit along with our local guide. This journey held more of a spiritual meaning to me, at so many moments I wanted to give up and go back to my cozy hotel, so many times I could not take a step further, but then decided against it and took one step and then one more and so on! We complain so much about the things we do not get but when I saw the struggle of the people living there, I thought we are blessed, we don’t have to climb mountains (such arduous ones!) daily, sometimes twice or thrice to make ends meet. We saw so many children and elderly people climbing up and down to help their families sell lemon juice, tea, buttermilk etc. It was unbelievable!
When we finally managed to reach the summit, we were exhausted and tired but when we looked around, all the pain, suffering and tiredness vanished in a flash. The view was mesmerizing. We were just sitting there, marveling at the beautiful peaks that surrounded Mt. Kalsubai. You feel very miniscule in such kind of vastness of nature, when you are surrounded by such gigantic mountains.
My newest design #vipassanamandala is inspired
by this journey and the experience. The design is now available on Ravelry.
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| Various versions by my Tester Friends |
Things were getting better; we even planned our summer trip to my husband's native place Dapoli. Last year we could not go due to the lockdown, we missed having mangoes, jackfruits, cashews and karanda (carandas plum) so I was excited this time but then pandemic struck again with the deadly second wave. Now every morning we are waking up to the news that someone we know has died. Throughout the day there are frantic pleas for Oxygen, hospital beds, medicine on the phone, online and even on the streets. And amidst all of this we are also seeing the people who wake up every morning, put on their protection gear and get down to the business of saving as many people as they can. We are forever indebted to all the frontline warriors for they rise above limits of their duty to save lives. These warriors’ efforts have cast a ray of Hope in these gloomy days.
I have designed the Blooming Floral Coaster to
celebrate Hope. After all, “Where flowers bloom, so does Hope!”.
It is a simple overlay design with 15 rounds,
perfect stash buster project for weekend!
Blooming
Floral Coaster
Material Needed:
Any yarn of your choice in minimum 2 colours or more, I
recommend using two contrasting colours.
Matching hook
Scissors
Tapestry Needle
Stitch marker
Finished Size :
Will depend on the yarn and hook size used. I made mine
with 4ply (sport) weight yarn and 3 mm hook. It measures 5’’.
Pattern Notes:
Join rounds with slip stitches in the first st made unless
otherwise noted. In the pattern instructions, I start by instructing to work in
the next st but please note first st will always be the st where you slip
stitched at the end of previous round (in case of blo sc) or the st one round
below (in case of fpdc).
Pattern repeats are marked within round with any of the
following: **, (), {}.
Stitch count for each round is listed at the end of the
round.
Groups of stitches are marked in parenthesis () or {}.
Please go through the "STITCH GUIDE &
ABBREVIATIONS" section before you begin. All stitches in this pattern are
listed and/or explained in this section unless they are explained within the
round itself.
It is always best to wash your product by hand and block
appropriately.
I have done my best to make sure this pattern is accurate.
However, if you find any errors or typographical mistake or have any query with
regard to the pattern, please drop me an email on hooksbooksnme@gmail.com
Ch1 does not count as a stitch unless otherwise mentioned.
When using two colors and working in the round it is easier
to carry the second yarn up each row instead of cutting at the end of each row.
The second yarn is pulled through when making the slip st. This saves me from
fastening and weaving the ends, but, please feel free to do it in a way you are
comfortable with.
It is difficult to find st while placing fldc’s as they are
hidden beneath front post stitches from previous round, but believe me, they
are there! Push the front post st a little and you can place the st. I have
tried to capture the difficult sts in some rounds.
STITCH GUIDE / ABBREVIATIONS (U.S. Terminology):
|
St |
Stitch |
sk |
Skip |
|
Yo |
yarn over |
ss |
slip stitch |
|
Sp |
Space |
sc |
single crochet |
|
Blo sc |
Back loop only
SC |
dc |
double crochet |
|
Fl |
front loop |
bl |
back loop |
|
fpdc |
front post
double crochet |
fptr |
front post
treble crochet |
|
fpsc |
front post
single crochet |
fphdc |
front post half
double crochet |
|
fldc |
Front loop double crochet |
fpdtr |
front post
double treble crochet (YO×3) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
fptr2tog |
Front post treble crochet 2 together |
||
Note: Beginning with row 2, all sc are worked in the
back loop unless otherwise specified and dc’s are worked in the front loop of
the next st of the corresponding color, one round below.
You will also end each row with a slip stitch into
the 1st st and not the ch1 i.e. last st of last repeat will fall in
the st where we worked ch1 at the beginning of the round.
The first st of the round will always fall into the
next available st after ch1 and last st will be worked in the st where we made
ch1 at the beginning.
In this way the slip stitch will move forward and
make those little bumps of joins less visible.
Pattern Instructions:
Round 1 Colour A
Into the double magic ring, ch1 (does not count as st), 8
sc into MR, join with ss into the bl of first sc made. { 8 sc}
Round 2 Color A
Continue with the same color, ch1, *2 sc in the next st*
repeat from * to * 8 times. Join with sl st and color B into the bl of first sc
made. {16 blo sc}
Round 3 Color B
Ch1, * sc in the next st, 2 sc in the next st* repeat from
* to * 8 times. Join with sl st and color A into the bl of first sc made. { 24
blo sc }
Round 4 Color A
Ch1, * sc in the next 2 sts, 2 sc in the next st* repeat *
to * 8 times. Join with sl st and color B into the bl of the first sc made. {
32 blo sc}
Round 5 Color B
Ch1, * sc in the next 4 sts, fpdc around previous st one
round below (round 3), do not skip any st *repeat from * to * 8 times.
Join with sl st and color A into the bl of the first sc made. { 32 blo sc, 8
fpdc}
Hint: fpdc will always fall in the first sc of sc
increase from round 3.
Round 6 Color A
Ch1, dc in the next 2 sts, 2 dc in the next st, skip
next fpdc, * 2 dc in the next st, dc in the next 2 sts, 2 dc in the next
st, skip next fpdc * repeat from * to * 7 more times, 2 dc in the last
st. Join with sl st and color B into the bl of the first dc made. { 48 fldc}
Round 7 Color B
Ch1, sc in the next 3 sts, fpdc around next fpdc from round
5, * sc in the next 6 sts, fpdc around next fpdc from round 5* repeat from * to
* 7 more times, sc in the next 3 sts. Join with sl st and color A into the bl
of the first s made. { 48 blo sc, 8 fpdc}
Round 8 Color A
Ch1, dc in the next 2 sts, * sc in the fpdc from previous
round, dc in the next 6 sts* repeat from * to * 7 more times, sc in the nest
fpdc, dc in the next 4 sts. Join with sl st and color B into the bl of the
first dc made. { 48 fldc, 8 blo sc}
Round 9 Color B
Ch1, sc in the next 3 sts, fpdc around previous fpdc from
round 7, do not skip any st, * sc in the next 4 sts, fpdc around next
fpdc, do not skip any st, sc in the next 3 sts, fpdc around same fpdc
around which we worked fpdc previously, do not kip any st* repeat from * to * 7
more times, sc in the next 4 sts, fpdc around next fpdc (the same fpdc around
which we have worked fpdc at the beginning of the round), do not skip any st.
Join with sl st and color A into the bl of the first sc made. { 16 fpdc, 56 blo
sc}
Round 10 Color A
Ch1, dc in the next 2 sts, * sc in the next st, dc in the
next 4 sts, sc in the next st, dc in the next 3 sts* repeat from * to * 7 more
times, sc in the next st, dc in the next 4 sts, sc in the next st, dc in the
next st. Join with sl st and color B into the bl of the first sc made. { 16 blo
sc, 56 fldc}
Round 11 Color B
Ch1, sc in the next 4 sts, * fptr2tog around previous and
next fpdc, do not skip any st, sc in the next 9 sts * repeat from * to *
7 more times, ptr2tog around previous and next fpdc, do not skip any st,
sc in the next 5 sts. Join with sl st and color A into the bl of the first sc
made. { 8 fptr2tog, 72 blo
sc}
Round 12 Color A
Ch1, dc in the next 3 sts, * sc in the next st, dc in the
next 9 sts*repeat from * to * 7 more times, sc in the next st, dc in the next 6
sts. Join with sl st and color B into the bl of the first dc made. { 8 blo sc,
72 fldc}
Round 13 Color B
Ch1, sc in the next 3 sts, *fpdc around fptr2tog from round
11, do not skip any st, sc in the same st where we have worked the
previous sc, sc in the next 10 sts* repeat from * to * 7 more times, fpdc
around fptr2tog from round 11, do not skip any st, sc in the same st
where we have worked the previous sc, sc in the next 7 sts. Join with sl st
into the bl of first sc made and fasten off. { 8 fpdc, 88 blo sc}
Hint: 1st sc next repeat and last sc of
previous repeat will fall in the same st (sc made in the bl of fptr2tog).
Round 14 Color A
Ch1, dc in the next 2 sts, * fphdc around fpdc, dc in the
next 11 sts* repeat from * to * 7 more times, dc in the next 9 sts. Join with
sl st into both the loops of first dc made. { 8 fphdc, 88 fldc}
Round 15 Color B
Ch1, reverse sc in the each previous st. Join with sl st in
the first st made. Fasten off.{96 reverse sc}
And we are done here. Simple and delightful weekend
project. I hope my patterns bring you as much joy as they have brought me.
Thank you for choosing to make this coaster. Please share photos of your finished project using hashtag
#bloomingfloralcoaster & #hooksbooksnme so that I can see it!
Please remember to follow me on my Instagram page @stardust0901 to get an update on my upcoming patterns (there are loads!) and if you wish to support me.
If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions, please email me at hooksbooksnme@gmail.com.
More designs are available on Ravelry @ https://www.ravelry.com/designers/hooksbooksnme-designs
You can follow my page HooksBooksNMe Designs on Facebook.
Copyright 2021 HooksBooksNMe Designs – All rights reserved
Please do not redistribute this pattern in whole or in partial, with or without change. You may sell items made using this pattern but please credit me as designer. Thank you for understanding!
And now its time for some WoW (Words of Wisdom)
I would like to quote few lines from “The Road Less
Travelled” by M. Scott Peck.
Love Defined: It is not something which could be defined in
the words, love is too large, too deep ever to be truly understood or measured
or limited within framework of words. It is rather, the will to extend one’s
self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.
Love is as love does. Love is an act of will – namely, both
an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We
choose to Love.
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| Watching Sunset from my windowsill |
I hope with all my heart that you are well and staying safe.
Jess❤️
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