The mud and dust, the soil and sands of Africa

Yarn Elle Cotton On DK print 051 Ash, Photo of Rhino by Christine & Michel Denis Huot

Hello!  The kids and I arrived in Doha with a suitcase and one piece of cabin luggage each. We are light travelers and since I am the boss did the packing, I distributed 4 kg yarn between the suitcases before I even considered how many pairs of shoes we have space for. 

I have just started working on a new blanket using my lovely yarn from South Africa. I initially planned a colour palette in rich reds and purples, but I reconsidered and settled on a palette of white, beige, taupe, grey and coal in 25 different shades, featuring no less than 9 different types of yarns! The palette is stunning, inspired by the mud and dust, the soil and sands of Mother Africa.

Images: Pinterest Raw Rustic

When I think of my childhood, vivid images of digging my hands through the cool earth, sinking my feet into the soft soil, boring with my big toe through the cracks of dried mud prevail. The picture of a White Rhino charging through dusty plains, cemented the idea for using a palette that represents the Mother Continent.

I am deviating from the initial idea and pattern, but decided to do a separate posting later in which I will be discussing crocheting techniques and personal likes/dislikes. 

Pattern: Hexagon from loopknits

Hook size: 5mm

YARN:

Vinnis Colours Bambi Bamboo/Cotton mix in White, Natural, Clouds and Midnight

Vinnis Nikkim Colours Cotton in Blue-Grey, Aluminium, Steel Grey and Midnight

Vinnis Serina Bamboo in Natural and Silver

Imagine Bamboo/Cotton mix by I Love Yarn  in Windswept, Abyss and Monet

Elle Premier Mercerised Cotton in Grey and Taupe

Elle Rustica Wool/Acrylic/Tweed mix in Charcoal, Aran and Natural

Elle Marco Cotton/Tweed/Wool/Acrylic/Nylon mix in Charcoal and Aran 

Elle Cotton On in Ash

Elle Pure Gold Acrylic in Pepper, Ivory, Silver and Titanium 

All the yarn is available from I Love Yarn in South Africa. They also ship internationally.

Thank you for visiting and enjoy the rest of your week!

My crochet bag frustrations

Hello! Last week I found these gorgeous bags on Pinterest and immediately decided to hook my own bag consisting of a crochet outer, linen inner and leather straps. Don't you just love these bags?!

Cotton/Canvas/Leather Bag

Cotton Crochet Shopping Bag

Hand Crochet Linen Bag

On searching the internet for inspiration, Google led me to the most beautiful filet crochet design. In short: I made a complete mess of the design and decided to leave it for another day, another yarn.  That day will come soon though, I love this pattern!

I then hooked up three samples of the pretty Juliet Motif by Amanda Perkins but quickly realised when I joined the motifs that her designs are most suited to soft, drapey natural yarn.  A single motif in the raw cotton looks very pretty; when joined the lovely snowflake-like corners simply disappear and the effect of the motif is lost. Another idea  c a n n e d ! !  

Searching yet again, I came across the Acrobatic Stitch published by New Stitch a Day. Hmmm apart from the fact that it hooks up a crescent moon pattern in stead of the expected square, please note that the video tutorial does not correspond with the written instructions. These are two different patterns and it was the video tutorial that resulted in the crescent moon. Aaaaaaaargh!

H e l l   N o ! ! !   All I wanted to do was to settle on the couch and enjoy a bit of rhythmic hooky time, but I found myself trawling the Net once again.  I finally found THE pattern. You will find 10 photos on this link, I used the pattern as per photo nr. 4, the sample was hooked in what appears to be green paper.

The Bag!

I now need to buy linen and leather before I can assemble the bag. I cannot wait!  The piece of crochet for the bag measures 100 cm x 45 cm before folded in half.  It is a great size and since I love wearing clothes in the below styles and colours, I think my bag will look quite stylish, what do you think?

Cheers!

cxxxxx