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07/03/2013

Roly Poly and African Flower Bag

Hello!  I just realised that I still owe you a picture of the Roly Poly Pillow Seat I hooked for the Teen.  Here we go:

The yarn is Vinnis Nikkim Colours in 100% cotton, hooked in size 3,75 with hdc's.  They now have their own webpage, take a look at the various yarns on the Vinnis Colours website.


 Oh, I have to confess that on the photography and creativity front I am inspired by sensory rich surrounds and societies that function on chaos, where the energy is palpable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It is the multi-sensory ambiances of every day urban life that keeps me going; these sensuous experiences that bare complex accounts of social formation. In short, I miss vibrant Asian living whether it be in the Middle East or South East Asia. 

In my current setting, I see people experiencing a daily sociological numbness, deafness and general anesthesia in the absence of any street culture; in the presence of horrific crime. The spectacle of real life is a threatened one here, the society aggressive on one hand and completely desensitized on the other.  

Bare with me until I find a new source of inspiration that will nudge me towards picking up my camera again so that I can once again produce interesting pics. Meanwhile I snap my photos with my mobile phone on the Vignette for Android app.  

I am hooking up a storm to complete the Babette-like throw so that I can move on with a new project.  I bought shades of grey to aqua to green but am still awaiting inspiration for what exactly I will be making! 

This is what African Flower handbag nr 2 looks like, hooked from the left over Roly Poly Yarn:



Below is the layout of the two sides before they are first joined at the bottom, then folded and joined at the sides.  

There is a teeny little corner that looks like a "step" at the bottom of the bag once all sides is joined too, that I simply push in with my pinky to create a smooth, rounded bottom corner.  The image to the left also shows the reverse side of the African Flower after I worked away all the yarn.  Neat huh?

Have a great week!  Cheers!
xxxxx 

11 comments:

  1. Love your bag!!!!
    Hope you can fin very soon the inspiration to go out with your camera!!!
    I'm stuck at the moment, too, but for different reasons!!!!
    xxx Ale

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    1. Oh Ale, I think there is a solution for us - travelling!

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  2. Love the way the white brings the whole bag together! WAiting for the amazing and quirky snaps of yours. Hope your head clears up and you find your inspiration soon :)

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    1. Ha, my head is clear, it is however not nice to live in a milieu where every last bit of energy is drained from society due to the country's past politics and present crime.

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  3. Your bag is so pretty! I'm working on my first one now and I was wondering what stitch to use to connect all the flowers. Did you use single crochet? In both loops? I really would appreciate if you could help me out with this. Thanks, Kat

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    1. Hi Cat, I worked in the back loops only and used a needle and yarn to sew the hexagons together. Gosh, that is maybe the easy way out, but as you know it is a huge job to connect hexagons. Hope this helps you!

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    2. Thank you so much, that helps me a lot! :) Keep up your awesome work!

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  4. this is amazing!
    wow I am in awe!!!!

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  5. This is awesome. Where did you get the pattern for the flowers? I'd love to know.

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    1. Hi Maddy, the pattern is known as African Flower although there seems to be slightly different versions with different names dating back to the USA. The square with 8 in stead of six flowers is known as the Ethiopean Flower but I am not too fond of the square look, it feels "forced" whereas the design works perfectly with a hexagon. I posted a short tutorial here http://pigstails.blogspot.com/2013/03/african-flower.html and also refer to Heidi's tutorial which is more in detail. I prefer to crochet the last round(s) in sc (USA terminology) rather than the usual dc as it looks a little more interesting. Have fun!

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