Mielie!

Goeiemore, Good morning, Bonjour, Assalamu Alaikum, Hej, Hei, Dumela, Selamat Pagi, Namaste! 

The Afrikaans word for mealie/corn/maize is mielie. "Mielie" is the brainchild of Adri Schutz who established the design project in 2002 and involve underprivileged township women to create the designs. Mielie handbags are made employing the time consuming but sturdy hooked rug technique using cotton off cut strips, a by product from local cotton mills. These strips are woven in such a way that the surface looks like a "mielie"!

My latest bag - a Mielie bag designed by:

                                                                                         Photo courtesy of Mielie.com

You definitely want to browse the web for "Mielie Crochet" to take a look at the other handcrafted items the women produce too.  The Mielie website itself is not mobile or tablet friendly, but fire up your laptop if you want to read more about the Mielie Family and confirm whether the products are available from stockists in your country. 

Drooling over my bag, I immediately decided to hook a scarf to go with my bag during the winter months! 

I created my own mealie like edging by once again using the fabulous Bobble Border by Dover and Madden. Thank you again Vicki!

Don't you just love my bag and scarf?  I used various Vinnis Nikkim scraps for the circles and Vinnis Bambi (150 gr in colourway Cloud) to square the circles.  The pattern is by Little Woollie and one that I used for a scarf before. I used a hook size 4 although Bambi is better suited to at least a 5mm hook.  Have a nice week, I am busy hooking a few ornaments for the Baobab Christmas Tree. The cat can also not leave the tree alone and steals an ornament whenever I am not looking at him!