Current Colour Inspirations:

- Travels to romantic Paris and Istanbul
-  The fabulous tones featured on the delicious Désaccord blog
- The "For Me" section on my Raw Rustic Pinterest boards

I created these mood boards and then went shopping for interesting yarn

Photos of my "to die for" yarn purchases to follow later

xxx

Pinterest Raw Rustic

Pinterest: Raw Rustic

Pinterest: Raw Rustic

Driftwood and Waves

The moment one steps foot into my friend's magnificent home, the eyes are drawn to raw wood, clear glass and shades of stone and bone. I always notice the huge glass bowl filled with driftwood collected during a recent coastal holiday, displayed in the foyer. 

The driftwood journey is free flowing, it recognises no borders or restrictions, only the flow of time and events.  My friend acknowledged the integrity of driftwood in a recent Facebook posting, perhaps not realising the parallels with her own life journey.

Last weekend over a leisurely breakfast, she told me of her plans to travel France, Italy and Greece this coming summer with her children. This will include barging on French Canals and soaking up the sun on a Greek Island. Have a great time my friend, the scarf will come in handy.

C'est La Vie!

Photography by Naomi

Yarn: Vinnis Serina, hand dyed, hand balled 100% bamboo yarn; I chose bamboo as a symbol of our friendship (as per Indian Symbolism) and her own tenacity and elegance (as per Chinese Symbolism).  The silver colourway respects her wardrobe preferences of white, black and denim and connects water, stone and wood.

Pattern: Nancy's Waves Scarf by Cori Dodds, I preferred a lengthwise adaptation of the pattern as also executed so beautifully by Jen. The edging is a pattern by another Jen, Jen Valure as used for the Luna Lovegood scarf.

Driftwood by Poppytalk

  

Photography by Naomi

Roots and Stones by Elena Ray

Patchwork Blanket

 

Hello!  I am so glad this blanket is finished, it is pretty and I quite liked working in these colours, but I am also yearning to work in a more subdued palette again. The colours and blanket remind me of the sugus chewy candy we used to gorge on as kids.  During road trips we challenged one another to unwrap and stack as many sugus as possible before shoving it in our mouths to chew and chew and chew until our jaws ached! Ah, I loved taking a trip down memory lane with this piece.

Patchwork Blanket

Squares: Single Crochet (US); 14 x 7 squares = 98 in total; each square 15 x 15 cm
Click on Pattern for new tutorial

Size of the Blanket: 110 x 220 cm.  I decided to steer away from the initial square I planned and am really pleased with the final dimensions of my blanket 

Hook Size: 5mm

Yarn: Raeesah Summer Cotton Yarn available from Charming Wool

Bobble Edging: See Heidi Bears for her lovely pattern and tutorial.   

This is a heavy throw and I decided to line it in a white toile with a whimsical black pattern to help keep the shape of the piece.  Because of the weight of a big blanket, I think that this yarn is more suitable to smaller baby blankets and projects such as handbags, cushions and toys.
Raeesah colours are really pretty and clean - a combination of hues and tints.  I think this is a great yarn for those enjoying a more solid look opposed to slightly mottled effects of hand dyed cottons.  I personally prefer the mottled effect and have an affinity for greyed down or toned colours, however I am quite in love with this blanket. 

Colour planning: Granny Square Color Pattern Generator.  I have written about the colour generators in this posting and even though I never planned to use this yarn and pattern for a blanket (I bought the yarn for The Teen to keep her fingers out of my Vinnis stash!) the idea of a fun, colourful patchwork blanket just stuck. Using the initial colours as a guideline, but replacing the white with cream and adding a red to the combination, I regenerated this pattern

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Have a great Valentine's Day and weekend. 

The husband is in Qatar and the kids and I will lick our wounds (still in South Africa) by licking a gelato each. Italians opened an authentic Gelateria nearby and I have already sampled the Pistachio as well as Cinnamon Honey flavours. Yum! 

Here is the very first pic the husband took in Downtown Doha. I love the grit and character.

Cheers!