Christmas in March

Christmas in March happens when you get this gift of Moya yarns:

Six colours in my basket!  What shall I do with it?

The very next day the new Ideas magazine hit the shelves, with a shawl pattern that had a very interesting motif...mmm, I didn't want a shawl, but I could do something with that Alek Arabesque...

...this is the wrong size hook.  Nr 3.  Don't go there.

Yes, it is also a very pretty star!

This was such a beautiful evening, I just didn't want to come in from my stoep.
 Even better by candle light. 

The stars accompanied me for a view days, all the way to school,

 - waiting outside music class - 

...and on a quick overnight trip to a nearby beach. 

I was sitting outside with MIL, when two ladies walked pasted and stopped to see what we were doing - but then they became more interested in my grip! When learning to crochet, I tried out both ways - The Knife and the Pencil - and first gained control using The Knife :-)  But it looks like I might have a funny way of guiding the yarn with my left index finger - this baffled them.

A demo of The Knife 

The  pattern hooks up really quickly.  It actually turned out a bit larger than I thought it would, so I meddled a bit with the first round, trying out doubles instead of trebles, but in the end stuck with the trebles.  I used JAYG to join the starts directly.

Four little stars, waiting for some more.

And then I had a tiny little pile.

All done and ready to be hung somewhere.

Now where shall I hang it come Christmastime?

There are some antlers in the kitchen and outside on the stoep...

Or maybe in a window?

Moya Yarn is a DK, but on the thinner end of the spectrum.  The recommended hook size is a 3.5-4.  I used a 3, because I wanted a smaller, tighter star - but this was very difficult to work with.  I also didn't use a good quality hook; the point was too sharp and the process was slow and tedious.
(For the St Patrick's bunting I used a 3.5 Prym, which was an absolute pleasure.  I'll be trying out the nr 4 on project nr 3, and 4.5 on the one after that. 

Moya Yarn is available from:
Moya Yarn
Yarn in a Barn

Scaapi

The Alek Arabesque pattern was published in Afrikaans and English in Ideas Magazine.

Also see here and here for original IG posts by Magda (rawrustic), and here for another beautiful interpretation by Anneke (crochetinpaternoster).

This post is also linked to Natural Suburbia's Creative Friday