A throw in progress inspired by my beaded bangles

We finally got hooked up to the Internet yesterday!

This is me as seen through the eyes of  The Teen. She used the Sketchbook X app to create this moment of frustration and happiness rolled into one pic.

What am I up to in the land of hooky?

Hooky Inspiration 

Two beaded bangles I bought in Dubai many years ago from a South African stall. 

The Idea

A throw reflecting these pretty bangles.  I used the amazing doceri app on my iPad to fill in the squares with my chosen colours to get an idea of the end-product. 

The design is by Pertinitaco from the Crocheting my Brains out blog. I love that blogtitle so by the way.  Head over and check out her title and masthead!

The Work In Progress

I am using my beloved Vinnis Nikkim Colours,  hand-dyed 100% cotton in colours Stone, Midnight, Orange, Lime, Tangerine and Kingfisher. 

Cheers!  I am logging off now as I am about to upgrade to Windows 8 and wanted to do a blog posting before I explore an exciting new operating system. Have a great weekend!

Hellooo!

OMG it has been many weeks since I last connected with you!  We have relocated, but are still stuck in South Africa. The husband is looking after the office's ME, North Africa and Indian affairs BUT from behind his desk in SA rather than Asia for the moment.  The internet [or lack thereof] is still a massive frustration.  I have no idea when we will be connected and here in SA wi-fi hotspots are also few and far between.

I just saw an interesting comment from Diaper Mum below and will be popping over in another few minutes to take a look.  Sounds fabulous and thank you so much in advance!  Welcome also to all my new followers.

I have been hooking 2 great bags in the African flower pattern and will load detailed pics soon. Sneak peek:

PS: The pic on the left bottom corner is of the reverse side to show you how neat I hook ;-)

Meanwhile, I snapped pics of our home with my mobile phone and attach these [in the absence of the great street shots I planned to take in Mumbai]. Internet time running out, soooo sorry. Cheers!

Lounge & dining

 Study

Main bedroom [above]

 The Girl Teen [above], the boy Tween [below]

 Pantry, kitchen, bathroom [above], more study [below]

Dinner!

These were hooked in Vinnis Nikkim Colours [midnight] and Elle Cotton On - Seriously Chunky in single crochet spirals. I smell a dinner party!  

CREATING A FLAT CIRCLE:

Single Crochet [sc] : Start with 6 sc and increase 6 sc in each round so that the total stitch count in each round is a multiple of 6

Half Double Crochet [hdc] : With hdc it is a multiple of 8

Double Crochet [dc] : Multiple of 12

See Cara Medus for tips on how to crochet a perfect round circle without visible corners and seams.

Cheers! One day I will hook like the amazing At Swim-two-birds.  Head over and check out her work.

Roly Poly Pillow Seat and Pentagon Pattern

While some parts of the world are currently covered in snowy white, we are living in a country covered in colour during the long Southern Hemisphere summers! The Roly Poly Pillow Seat fits right into this image but I can only show you the deflated version at the moment. Stuffing of the ball will take place later this month and I cannot wait to see the ball in it's full splendour - only then will it be possible to truely appreciate the beautiful yarn, colours and design. If you haven't hooked anything in Vinnis Nikkim Colours yet, this is an amazing 100% cotton yarn that I cannot recommend enough!

 The 12 pentagons hooked in different colours

I hooked the pentagons with a 3,75mm hook rather than the recommended 4mm as I wanted to achieve a slightly denser look. The ball was hooked in half double stitches [hdc].

Round 1. Chain 4, close to form ring.  Chain 2 to form first stitch. Hook another 19 hdc and close round with slip stitch. Total stitches = 20.

Round 2. This round will increase by 5 stitches. Chain 3 to form first stitch and single chain. Then in same space hook 1hdc. This will form the first corner. Hook 1 hdc in each of the following 3 spaces. Then in fourth space to create second of five corners: hdc, ch, hdc. Repeat to create 5 corners. This round = 25 hdc in total.

Round 3. Chain 3 to form stitch and single chain. Then in same space hook 2hdc.Hook 1 hdc in each of the following spaces until you reach the corner. In corner space: 2hdc, ch, 2hdc. Repeat until you reach the first stitch. THEN hook another hdc in the corner and slipstitch before going into second round. This round = 40 hdc in total.

Round 4. This round = 45 hdc in total.

Round 5. This round = 60 hdc in total.

NOTE: You will see that the corners of every odd round [starting round three] = 2hdc, ch, 2hdc. Every even round [starting round two] = 1hdc, ch, 1hdc. This resulted in a flat Pentagon. I always join the next round in a corner in order to hide the joins between rounds as demonstrated here. For these pentagons it meant that during the odd rounds you need to hook one last hdc in the corner before slipping into the first one in order to ensure 2hdc, ch, 2hdc for that round.

Thanks for stopping by - Cheers!

Aha!

Hello from a windy, wintry South Africa!  It is summer and the season of sunshine, beach, picnics and endless barbeques, but somehow the weather continues to play up and it is far too cold for the time of the year.  It makes for great hooky time though, something no hooker should be complaining about. I have been hooking up a storm to finish my impromptu, unplanned project so that I can focus on what I really wanted to hook - a charcoal tablecloth for a dining table seating eight people. I will be sad once the roly poly is finished, it is a fun project and a real pleasure to hook!

 Nine out of twelve pentagons that will form the roly poly pillow seat - I will be adding one last round in colour "natural" before I block the lot. Each pentagon will also be getting a  hand stitched  cotton lining to ensure the ball holds it shape well.  

 

 

Aha! Caught red-handed! Isn't she adorable, not quite three yet and already hooking up a storm. She has been watching me quietly for weeks now and then last week as soon as I got up to make her a hot chocolate, she grabbed hold of the hook! 

Cheers, have a great weekend!