Wishing everybody a very happy diwali
& a prosperous new
year
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This wasn’t how I had intended to post. I was hoping to tat
a few more diyas besides this prototype and share the pattern alongside.
Haven’t been able to keep my focus on anything, including tatting, and before
time slips away to a lengthy year-long wait, I decided to do a bit of MS Paint
jugglery and post as is.
To me, the main attraction, the charm of Diwali or Deepavali ("festival of
lights") is the diya (clay lamp) with it’s mesmerizing flame, and the rangoli. My favorite motif for Diwali greeting cards was always the diya.
Used
to spend hours making colourful dry powder rangoli, using freehand designs that
I came up with each year. Once sis & I even did a Krishn & Radha theme.
Many communities use ground rice flour paste – all white or with a touch of colour added to the design.
I’ve tried to imitate the wet kolam in this collaged pic.
The white tatting
is part of a new snowflake I have designed (still trying to get the
stitchcount, etc. right) to share later.
This diya doodle prototype is pretty tiny – 1”x1¼” and uses
2 thread sizes.
The mistakes are glaringly visible in the pic :-(
I had
ideas to make it simpler to tat, but have only been able to do the diya again,
before shelving all my tatting, etc. for
a while.
A string of diyas is also called a deepmala - garland of lights!
Can you see a larger diya symbolism in this arrangement?
The mustard oil or ghee used in the diyas actually served to
keep away mosquitoes and purify the air. There are tons of environmental,
seasonal, social, &/or health reasons for the traditions enshrined in
festivals. Over time, they either become dogmatic, or simply blind, meaningless gestures. Other influences take over, as well. For instance, it is so
much easier, cheaper, durable and practical to use strings of fairy lights than
the cumbersomeness of diyas, especially on a windy night !
I love the brilliant fireworks that light up the sky, too.
(now, if only they make those ghastly sounds & pollute the air!).
Yes, that's my Crinoline Doily glowing around ;-)
I hope to share the Craftree butterfly pattern in next post.
happy tatting always :-)
I love the deepmala! It almost looks like a skirt being twirled around in a circle. But, I really can imagine a line decorating the house, purifying for the New Year. Happy Diwali!
ReplyDeleteThey look lovely, Mel :-) Your twirling skirt has me grinning from ear to ear :-D
DeleteHappy diwali! Enjoy the food and festivities!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Crazy Mom. Yes it is the best excuse to devour entire batches of diverse mithai ;-)))
DeleteGreat little lamp tatting!! :)
ReplyDeleteTook me over 2 years to get a representative tatted version, Sue ;-P
DeleteHappy Diwali. I think it's wonderful that you've made a tatted version of the diya. Very clever!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jane :-) Yes, I do have plenty more designs up my sleeve, if I can remain clever enough to converTAT them ;-)
DeleteHappy Diwali! Lovely!
ReplyDeleteDhanyavad, Ninetta. Shubh Deepavali to you too :-)
DeleteI love traditional ways of doing things, your tatted lace lamps lamps really seem to glow very beautiful and have a wonderful holiday 💟
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Carollyn. Hope you enjoy the Halloween trick-o-treating :-)
DeleteI have to admit the Holloween holiday is an odd one that people morph into what they would like it to be, it's not my favorite but have enjoyed making costumes of all kinds and it uses the creative part of brain to make different characters for all ages. I have made hoop skirts and capes and used foam rubber to make a person a giant star, and so on. I paint on faces where people line up to wait and we have a "trunker treat" where we drive to our church and sit by the trunk in parking lot as little children walk around and collect candy from each car. Now my children are grown and they still dress up and go to parties and like a masquerade.
DeleteI do love the creativity around some such holidays! I can just imagine how you must let your creative juices flow during such events :-)
DeleteLovely tatted lamps and very interesting information on Diwali, Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much, Bernice :-) Glad you enjoyed the info
DeleteWow, this is wonderful t'twali :) in my favorite earthen shade thread.
ReplyDeleteDazzling idea for an eco-friendly diya,
Happy Deepavali to all of you here.
Yay, Usha, so glad you turned up to share the t'twali goodies (nice term!) Yes, it Is your favorite thread shade. And I'm beginning to bend thread a bit, too ;-)
DeleteShubh deepavali to you and family
Happy, Diwali, muskaan! I love your diya. Those modern fairy lights might be simpler to use and more practical on a windy night, but not near as useful in keeping the mosquitos away. Thank you for sharing a bit about the festival and its importance to you through the years. I agree that the values behind traditions are often lost over time, which makes me a bit sad. I love to understand the whys and hows behind the way things are or were done.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Eliz :-)))) Mom had this knack of figuring out the practical or rational reasons behind traditions and I like to keep that flame of curiosity and learning burning. Myths, legends, scriptures, folk lore, etc. are ways to get ordinary human beings to behave, become good individuals and productive social members, besides protecting them from vices, etc.
Delete