A lot of people have asked me about the logo and the name of the company.
The name is basically a translation of my DH’s name : RaviKanth. Ravi means Sun and Kanth is light or rays. Why Sunrays though? It was basically a joke. We were talking about investment (if i remember right), and DH commented that I will invest in your company if you make the name as Sunrays. I remember changing the name right away π. Also I kept the name changed since its actually quite lucky for me (financially speaking, in terms of revenue generated). But that’s a personal opinion. π
The logo for Sunrays Creations was designed by DH. The Sun is mostly obvious π. The flower though is a Lotus, and represents Nalini which is DD’s name. Nalini means Lotus in Sanskrit and is also a name of Gayathri Devi, the Goddess of Knowledge. They are the 2 most obviously important people in my life, and are represented in this logo. So while i originally thought of yarn and yarn balls for the logo, this is finally IT!
Do you have a similar experience? Please share in the comments β€
A NEW BEGINNING
How often we wish for another chanceto have a fresh beginning.A chance to blot out our mistakesand change failure into winning.It does not take a new yearto make a brand new start.It only takes the deep desireto try with all your heart.To live a little betterand always be forgiving, to add a little sunshineto the world in which we are living.So, never give up in despairand think that you are through,For thereβs always a tomorrowand a chance to start anew.
- Helen Steiner Rice
When I read the above poem by chance a long time ago, I honestly didn’t believe. I’d quit a reasonably well-paying job to become a housewife (a role i was singularly unsuited for). Books, and finally crafting pulled me out of a deep depression that threatened to engulf me entirely. The fact that I was unable to conceive was just icing on the cake.
Finally i tried to find ways in which i could “find myself” again. I did not go for retreats or anything. I stayed where i was and introspected. It also helped that i had (have) and amazing group of friends aka cheerleaders, who’ve supported me all along!
And then my DD was born, and its like a switch got turned on! I was able to focus my mind towards creativity, rather, just making things. Since then I’ve just been moving forward at a break-neck speed, and juggling more balls that I’m not sure i can manage :).
Design Store: This came up with an opportunity to design for ilikeknitting.com. I had submitted a proposal for a gradient scarf, not understanding that i was supposed to get the yarn, not they send to me. So i was left struggling since we did not get gradients in India at the time. Getting a set of single skeins dyed was too expensive. So i finally hit on a solution: dye it myself! i was reasonably confident, since i had dyed cotton in the past, and was sure I could pull it off. Well, I did pull it off. The pattern, Daybreak Scarf is available in my ravelry store and in the patterns section of the website.
DayBreak Scarf
What i hadn’t expected was my DH to be impressed enough with it to comment that maybe i should look at getting my own name for dyeing there (the pattern linked the yarn seller’s name, not mine). Little did I know how prophetic his comment would be.
Yarn Store The store was an odd story. Remember the friends i mentioned in the beginning? well, we used to chat/whastapp/video call on a regular basis. One slow crafting day, we decided to look for new yarn options through various online resources including wholesale.
So while hunting for yarn, I decided to look for silk yarn options inside India. We did have a silk yarn retailer within Bangalore, but i was curious. Imagine my surprise, when i found quite a few! i never even thought of exploring this option. On a whim, i asked a few of the wholesalers to send me samples and their T&C. i decided to dye the samples to check if this was something I could manage. Imagine my thrilled face when i saw my results!
Then came selling to possibility to my family. The main concern was that it should not affect the baby, which i promised that I would ensure safety measures. It was an easy thing to promise, since the baby’s safety was everything! They have been at the forefront of every step and decision I take, and am always thankful for their support, including taking this next step.
I finally started off in 2018 and have mainly run the store on WhatsApp, with a brief sojourn on Etsy.
VilasaDK spun silk
The other important part of the store: my customers. I was blessed to have an amazing group of customers to came back for me, and encouraged me at each step.
In the present: I have kept the yarn store and design store in 2 different online spaces: both on Ravelry and Instagram. While i will continue to maintain them separately even in the future, I decided to bring them together on my personal website. The reason for this is that I want to integrate them under the name Sunrays Creations (as opposed to the design store which is on my own name).
I’ll talk about the name, the logo and a lot more stuff in the next blog post.
A lot has happened in the last 2 years since I shifted home: the biggest being that I was blessed with a baby girl. Life has been a rollercoaster ride since then!π
After Baby Girl completed her first birthday, I finally found my true creative zone….but more about that later
In this post, I’m going to just post about what I’ve been doing craft wise.
2016:
Knitting:
Crochet:
2017:
Knitting:
Crochet:
Thanks for being with me even though I haven’t been posting much.
Every year, there are groups on Ravelry that organize swaps. You can participate in swaps for dishcloths, mittens, shawls, and even for your birthday! Well, I went ahead and participated in one for my birthday this year. I wanted something special, and definitely different from what I did in years’ past. So I signed up for the Birthday Swap early this year.
When the time came around, i couldn’t be more thrilled. Now came the best part after all: shopping! π
I needed to shop for yarn, which was the easy part actually. The rest of the package had to be a minimum cost of $30. The aim was to make the swapee (is there such a word??) feel pampered and loved, even if from far. So I totally went to town with my shopping list. Chocolate, craft kits, and personal care item. It also included a hand-made item from me: my silk-wool shawl Intriguing.
However, I couldn’t manage to make get the package together before Lynne’s (my swap partner) Birthday. I had to send it out before the month was over, and that’s what I eventually did! However, Lynne was a darling and sent mine so that it got to meΒ before my birthday.
Then came D-day: my birthday, and more importantly: package opening day! And boy, was I pampered! Here are the pics of what I received:
The entire package. The bag was the handmade that Lynne sent
Lovely lovely yarn! <3
Postcards from Yorkshire
Fat Quarter pieces to push me along in my sewing journey
Books! Lovely collection
What I sent included:
Shawl modelled by Lynne
I guess the pics taken by Lynne are definitely more detailed than mine! But then I wanted to showcase the sheer amount of stuff she sent across! This was a fun experience, and I will certainly look forward to nest year. π