Bamboo

Traditional bamboo baskets of Kerala.
Its going to be a while before I get back to my old routine which will allow me to post on a regular basis as internet access is not always available at the places where I go for my craft projects.

Its as if I step back in time - there's no internet access, cell phone signals are poor or non existent,candles must be kept handy because the power cuts last all night and insect bites can make your life hell but I get to work with skilled craftspeople and some locations are simply beautiful.

So I hope you'll keep visiting because I'll be posting about the craft projects I'm going to be working on and the locations whenever I have access to the net.

Bountiful

What image would you choose to symbolise bountiful? I found my image outside my window in Kerala. An absolutely amazing fruit laden, jack fruit tree. I've never seen anything like it.

If this isn't bountiful I don't know what is.
There's fruit resting on the ground!
Jack fruit can get really large, three times the size of what you see in this picture but on this particular tree I was told the larger fruit in the picture will be ready to cut off the tree in a couple of days.
When the stem of the jack fruit is cut it produces a milky sap.
Look at that texture.When is a jack fruit ready to be harvested? When a large proportion of the short spiky protrusions flatten out like in the upper portion of the image. It takes another week or so before its ready to be cut open.

A jack fruit came back with me to Bangalore and I spent two hours cutting and taking out the pods. Its sticky and messy business, cutting a jack fruit. One needs to put oil on the knife and on your hands, therefore there are no pictures of the inside of the jack fruit. Maybe next time. No pictures of the fruit either which occupied most of the lower shelf of my fridge and it was jack fruit for two weeks every night while we watched the IPL cricket matches. There were various recipes suggested by friends - payasam, puttu, pradaman but we love it fresh.

Now all that remains is a large bowl of the seeds. Do you have a recipe for jack fruit seeds that you can suggest? I'm keeping a few of the seeds to germinate into seedlings, a tree like this needs to be propagated and the goodness shared don't you think.

Screwpine

I thought I'd share pictures of my fifteen days in Kerala with you. It was hot but a lot got done, I got to buy more, traditional Malayali cookware. I should do a post on all my traditional Indian cookware and utensils. For fifteen days I was working with women to add new products to the existing range of products made of screwpine mat.
The Screwpine plant is of the Pandanus family. This is the female plant which produces softer and more supple fibre than the male plant and has been used traditionally to make mats for sleeping .
Braids of screwpine fibre being woven into the mat. Plain weave is the weave used. Two or even three women work side by side on a single mat.
Women weaving mats in the background and some stitching the products with screwpine fibre.

Traditionally sleeping mats were woven of natural coloured fibre by one group and two mats were stitched together by others. So today there are weavers and there are those who stitch and some who are skilled to do both.
We made large biscornus to be used as floor cushions.
The women use chemical dyes to dye the fibre and they have a great sense of colour and they use it so well to produce beautiful checked patterns.
I decided to use the fringe like edge of the mat which is usually discarded.
A visiting card case
Case for scissors
I introduced the basics of satin ribbon embroidery as a value addition technique.

Products are stitched with screwpine fibre, lined with fabric and thin cardboard is used sandwiched between the fabric and the screwpine mat to create different shapes and to give strength. The women were very keen on making these heart shaped boxes and called them love

petti or love box.

Popping in to say Hello

It's said that if you are travelling on the first of January you'll be on the road for the rest of the year.The travel bug has kicked in I think because I got home from God's own country on Sunday and I'm off again this Sunday for fifteen days to another part of God's own country.

The heat must have fried my brain because I didn't take a single picture and my camera was with me at all times. I think ten days has got me acclimatised so this trip should find me trigger happy and functioning normally.

One thing I did do was add to my collection of cast iron cooking vessels - yes I'm particularly partial to cast iron like some people are about designer handbags. I got myself an appachatti bought at a hardware store by the way.

I've seasoned the appachatti and had plans of making lace appam and chicken stew typical Easter Sunday fare in Syrian Christian homes but I'll be on the road and my appam making skills

will have to be put to the test at a later date.

Another one of my finds in the hardware shop. This one makes all manner of savouries which are either fried or steamed.

I hope I can squeeze in a post before Sunday or else I'll see you in April with a post high in fibre.