Alka and Arts

Friday, January 9, 2026

Beautiful Crochet Toran, Door Decor, Bandhanwaar

Hello friends,

After so many days I made Door Decor, TORAN. It's design is very unique. It is made by Granny squares. Moreover this granny square is so multipurpose, number of it's uses I have shown in the video below. You can make coin bag, Mobile bag, Draw string bag, Tablemat and what not!

Yarn: Vardhaman Millenium, Hook 3.5 mm. Length 35", height 9.5" and weight 130 gm. Blue and Green 40 gm each and White 50 gm.

PATTERN: R1: With dark blue make, dc 16 in magic loop, cl, BO. (First dc is always ch3).

Join Blue yarn at any st of R1.

R2: ch1, sc1, (ch7, sc in each ch from second, join by sc1 in next st, sc 1 in next blue st) 8 times, cl. We get 8 bases of petals.

R3: Along those 6 scs make, (sc1, hdc1, dc2, (dc2) next, (dc3) next, then on other side, (dc3) in one st, (dc2) next, dc2, hdc1, sc1, join by sc in between two scs of base) 8 times, cl.

Flower complete. Join white yarn at middle sc (made in previous round), by inserting hook just like bpsc.

R1: (ch5, bpdc on middle sc-st between two petals) 8 times, cl. Sl st in first ch5-sp.

R2: [dc3 in ch5-sp, ch1, shell (dc3, ch2, dc3) on next ch5-sp, ch1] 4 times, cl.

R3: [(dc3 in ch1-sp, ch1) 2 times, shell on shell, ch1] 4 times, cl.

In next round we shall join these petals to white background 4 will be joint in R4 at corners and remaining 4 in R5.

R4: [dc3 in ch1-sp, ch1, dc3 in ch2-sp of shell, ch2, then while making next dc3 of shell join one blue petal in the space between 6dcs (3dcs on both side of joint) at the time of first dc, remaining 2dcs in the same ch2-sp, ch1, (dc3 in ch1-sp, ch1) 3 times, (NOTE that we don't join next petal here, that will be joint in next round), shell on shell joining the next petal as at first corner, (dc3, ch1) 3 times, (without joining next petal), again join next petal at corner and in this way complete the round. 4 petals joint and 4 not.

R5: dc1 in each dc-st, dc1 in ch1-sp, shell at corner and join petal as in previous round at the time of working middle dc in the middle group of (dc3), complete the round.

For Toran we make 6 grannies like this. Each granny has length 5.4", so if you want bigger Toran you may make grannies accordingly.

Now we have 25 sts on each side aaaand ch2-sp at corner. Join them by green yarn, join green yarn at ch2-sp of shells of 2 grannies.

Joining: (sl st in next st of left granny, sl st in next st of right granny) rep till the complete side of granny. Thus join all 6 grannies.

Border: With green, dc1 in each st, (dc2, ch2, dc2) at corner, cl, BO.

Then decorate it by beads and pompom.

Join green yarn at corner, (ch6, pass bead 1) rep till the required height and join second edge.

We shall also make green stem at corner as shown. Join green yarn at corner, ch10, dc1 in 4th ch, ch1-picot, ch4, join at the 4th st again by sl st. Make ch4 and other leaf at the same place. Again ch10 and 2 leaves. We made 4 pairs of leaves then at last ch10 and only one leaf.

Join this at both ends or at each joint of grannies as per your choice. Beautiful Toran is ready.

The following video with English subtitles may help you.

ETC: Enjoy the Creativity.

Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Crochet Old Kitchen Equipments, Toys for Baby's Kitchen, For the Decoration of the Ritual "MUHURT"

Hello friends,

Indian marriage ceremony is multi day event, rich in rituals, full of life, energy and excitement. Number of rituals are organised during marriage. To just start the work of marriage, there is a ritual called "MUHURT".

Then Kulachar (worship of family Deity), it is the ritual perform to seek blessings to the new couple and is a formal invocation to the God to bless the union of the couple. It also preserves the family custom, increases bonding of family members. Then actually in marriage there are several rituals like Devak, Simant Pujan, Gaurihar Pujan, Mangalashtak, Saptpadi, Kanyadaan, Gruhpravesh.

Here I am telling you about the details of the very first ritual for the beginning of the "Marriage Work". Marriage work means union of several types of works and starting of them is done by performing this ritual MUHURT. It is also performed when there is Thread Ceremony of a boy.

Note here that Marriage muhurt and this MUHURT are two different things. Marriage muhurt is the sacrade specific time when exactly the marriage is performed. Where as this MUHURT is some Vidhi, ritual perform before starting actually different works concerning marriage or thread ceremony.

The ritual MUHURT of marriage work is performed as follows.

At least 5 married women are invited. Bride or the boy whose thread ceremony is to happen worships Ganeshji placed on Betal leaf. Then she or he and all other members pray God for the smooth organisation of the event and for the blessings to the new couple or a boy (thread ceremony).

After Ganesh puja mother of bride worships all old equipements such as,

1. Jaate (hand Grinding stone tool). It is hand mill or Quern which is a type of grinding machine used for milling grain products into flour. In MUHURT flour of Turmaric is made with this which is very important in wedding.

2. Paata-Varvanta: It is a flat base stone (Paata) and cylindrical rolling stone (Varvanta) used for crushing wet items. In MUHURT it is used to crush Mung daal which is used to make Mung-Vadi made at the time of MUHURT.

3. Khal Batta: (Mortar and Pestle) It is made of iorn again used to cut hard things into pieces. Betal nut is very important in marriage and it is crushed by this during the ritual MUHURT.

4. Sup: (Winnowing Tray): Made of Bamboo, used to remove lighter unwanted things from grain. Also used in farms. Symbol of machine which removes unwanted things so it is also worshipped.

5. Chul: (Cooking Stove): Traditional earthen or bricks stove for cooking. So this is also worshipped at the time of MUHURT.

After worshipping these old equipements betal nuts are cruched, Haldi (termeric) powder is made, Papad and mung wadi made. Also Gavhale etc are made. All together make these things then some small gifts are given to those 5 women invited.

Now a days much importance is there for decoration of every ritual event (due to social media etc). Even MUHURT ritual is also performed with great decoration.

In my grand son's thread ceremony we had MUHURT but in short as my son's family just came from USA. So very simple, I just put some of my crochet items to decorate. Here are some photos of MUHURT.

Recently in the marriage of my nephew contract is given to the Event Organiser and they made beautiful decoration for the ritual MUHURT, below is it's photo. Along with real equipements jaate etc some small equipements are also placed for decoration purpose (in right side photo).

So here I get an idea that I can make crochet old kitchen equippments for the decoration of MUHURT and all my friends and subscribers would like to make on proper occassion or for their grand daughters. Hence I made crochet equippments which can be used for MUHURT decoration or as kitchen toys for your princess.

One by one I will post their crochet patterns.

Crochet Heart Shaped Tea Coasters

Hello friends,

How are you all, hope doing well. Here my new creation is set of Tea-coasters. That too heart shaped, specially for new year or Valentine Day.

I use Vardhaman Millenium yarn and 3.5mm hook. It's width is 4.5", height 4" and weight of the set is 28-30 gm. You can make them in left over yarn, just look at it's weight. So it can be a best gift for your friend on any occasion for example Sankranti or instead of Blouse piece on any occasion.

PATTERN: By Grey color yarn make,

R1: in magic loop ch3, tr3, dc4, tr1 place marker in this st (this is central st), dc4, tr3, ch3, sl st in magic loop, cl the loop.

R2: sc2 in ch3-sp, (dc3) in each of the 3 tr-sts, dc1 in next 3 dc-sts, (dc2) in last dc-st, in the next central st make (dc1, tr1, dc1), (dc2) in next, dc1 in 3 dc-sts, (dc3) in each of the 3 tr-sts, sc2 in ch3-sp, cl at centre.

R3: sl st 1 in each of the 2 sc-sts, sc1 in next, (sc1, hdc1) in next, (hdc1, dc1) in next, (dc2) in next 6 sts, dc1 in next 5 sts, at centre (dc1, tr1, dc1), then on other side, dc1 in 5 sts, (dc2) in next 6 sts, (dc1,hdc1) in next, (hdc1, sc1) in next, sc1, sl st 2 in sc-sts, close at centre on back side.

R4: Sl st in 3 sts, sc1, hdc1 in each st till one st before centre, dc1 in next, tr1 at centre, dc1 in next, hdc 1 in each st till 4 sts remain, sc1 in next, sl st 3 in last 3 sts, cl, BO.

R5: Border: Join yellow yarn at the mid of the heart. Sl st in 3 sts, sc1, (sc1, ch3-picot by sc in between 2 scs) rep till centre, at centre instead of ch3-picot make ch5-picot, similarly border on other side. Note that number of picot on both sides should be same. Lastly sl st 3 and BO.

Make 4 tea-coasters like thhis.

The following video with English subtitles may help you.

ETC: Enjoy the Creativity.

Saturday, January 3, 2026

Beautiful Crochet Vase, Home Decor Flower Pot, Gift Item

Hello friends,

This time I made Crochet Vase and it's really very beautiful, I just loved it. I made it in Vardhaman Magnus yarn which is little bit thick. You may use any 6 ply yarn for stiffness it is better to use 6 ply. I used 3.5 mm hook. It's height is nearly 6" and weight 59 gm.

PATTERN: R1: in magic loop make ch1, sc8, cl (8)

R2: sc2 in each st, cl (16). Always place marker in first st.

R3: [sc1 in 1 st, sc2 in next] 8 times, cl (24)