Mandala and Paris

Hook Size: 4mm

Yarn: Vinnis Nikkim in Green Slate, Slate, Stone, Sea Green, Aluminium and Grey

Pattern: Stool cover pattern by the lovely Karin aan de Haak with the last 3 rounds my own improvisation.

I love Paris, these are photos I took during our last trip.  We have been to France so many times, but always during Spring, Winter and Autumn. Somehow a Summer vacation to this beautiful city and lovely country has never materialized.  I certainly rate Paris along Istanbul, Damascus, Hanoi and Rome some of my favorite cities to visit!

Hope you are having a great holiday and are visiting nice places - we are off on a trip soon and I am looking forward to indulging in street food once again. Cheers!

Doilies and Mandalas

Hello! I have seen the most beautiful doilies in blogland recently, but realised that maybe, just maybe I should be investing in a book. I find that I am either too stupid to make sense of some of the stitches or challenged by all the different languages patterns are written in. Many of the patterns are in languages I struggle to understand, even with Google Translate switched on (Bing translate is rubbish!) I am able to hook in Afrikaans, English, Swedish, German, French and Dutch - anything else becomes challenging! Please feel free to recommend a doily/mandala/potholder crochet book.

These doilies/mandalas are hooked in basic patterns, but it gave me an idea of how much yarn and time these type of projects consume. I like the result, but certainly want to do more intricate doily hooky work.  I love reading Haafner's fabulous blog - she always has a drool-worthy doily on the hooks! Busy Fingers Busy Life's Rosetta is also something I want to cast on my hooks soon.

I will post pictures of another bigger and colourful mandala later.  We will be travelling overseas later this month and next month and I need to ensure that I have posts lined up to keep my Pigtails space active whilst we will be away. 

Have a great week, cheers!

Patterns: 

Aunt Aggie's Trivets as found on Ravelry; Little Spring Mandala by Barbara Langer also found on Ravelry and Lacy Doily as Published in the Ideas Magazine 
Hook-size: 4mm
Yarn: Vinnis Nikkim 100% hand dyed cotton in Grey 511

Doily photos my own. Other pics from Pinterest