My take on the Elise-shawl

The last couple of years I've been snapping away on our hunting trips, on the beach, in the veld, and noticed a recurring theme...

...starting with this rock rose in the Free State

The next year  when we visited, I noticed it on the aloe as well:

And the thorny cactus thingey on the stoep

(sorry...not into the cactus trend, I don't know the name :-D

 But it's not a new thing.  Remember my Klein Karoo stool cover from this photo?

Can you see it now?

The soft greyish green tipped with pinks?

I kept seeing it everywhere.

Outside a beach house at Gourits:

In the Montagu Pass:

My best ever favourite flower in the Garden Route Botanical Garden:

(look at the stem as well!)

These tiny flowers in the Groot Swartberg near De Rust:

There's no better place for a workshop in colour combination than your nearest outdoors.  

So.  I wanted to make a shawl (having never ever before worn or made a triangular shawl).  It would be greenish and the only colour it could ever be is Vinnis Nikkim Khaki.  Nothing else.  As for the pink tips, I was thinking about a hot pink lacy or tiny tiny edge...then various other pinks came to mind when I started looking through my stash.  In the end I used a softer pink from Elle Premier Cotton.

As for the pattern, I wanted to hook up a lacy shawl, not too difficult, not too holey and the Elise shawl was the obvious one that ticked all the boxes.

I had a whole pile of Khaki squares from trying out patterns for my summer throw and I re-used most of these, so I have no idea of how much yarn went into it!

Done!

I love how the green comes alive due to the hand dyeing. 

I started the lacy edge off a diagram from a website in a language that I can't even decipher; it's not Russian, it could be anything.  After the first row I winged it on my own. 

Unblocked I thought it might be too dense:
(hanging off the kitchen counter, held in place by salt & pepper, sugar pots :-D  )

It could have done with a severe block, buuuuut the "neckline" part pulled too tight.  Aaaaand I realised almost 75% of the way through that I not making the tr in the middle of the cluster, but a dc...

So.  After a light block, it came out really pretty, but I would love to see it more opened up.

I was surprised by how comfortable a triangle sits, and would love a wider one, with longer wings.  Therefor, I'm already onto V.2, with the correct cluster, and a slight modification to try and get the wings longer!  This green one is now off to Maak 'n Verskil who also runs a project with Prayer Shawls for cancer patients.  I though this would be quite fitting, as I completed  the shawl during Breast Cancer Awareness month, and the pink ties in with that, while the green would refer to my mom, a Klein Karoo girl, whom we lost to breast cancer 16 years ago.

All the while I'm thinking what I would name this shawl - it should be my Dolly shawl then.

For her :-)

What I made with Moya Bulky Plush

Moya Yarns was so kind to send me another sample pack - this time the supersoft Bulky Plush.  

Did I mention that it is soft?

Baby-bottom-cotton-ball-supersoft.

I had to make something small (because of the thickness, there are not too many meters on a cake!).  The softness would most likely indicate something for a baby - a beanie, soft blanket or playmat, what about lounging slippers for myself?

But

There was a project lurking in the depths of my cupboard, wooden hangers waiting oh, so patiently to be covered, and I thought that this new bulky yarn would do that in a jiffy. 

With a yarn this thick, I thought a plain and simple cover would be best.  It wouldn't even need padding underneath!

Ten stitches would do it

It was an easy-peasy project, superquick if you wanted to throw in into MIL's birthbay parcel in a few days!

First one done

I was a bit undecided about the joining - the first one was simply crochet together with SC.  Then I didn't like the ridge so much and thought I'd sew the rest together.

Yeah.

I don't possess a needle thick enough to carry that yarn.

Plus, I didn't leave a tail long enough to do that!
#whatwasIthinking

But in some or other way the covers were fitted and joined, embroidery yarn might have been involved.  I decided to leave the metal hooks uncovered - haven't had much joy with the plastic piping available and didn't want to faff with twisting and glueing yarn around the hook.  Simpler is anyways better, don'tya think?

Happy birthday, MIL!

I really enjoyed working with the Moya Bulky Plush.  Bear with my limited knowledge of yarn characteristics - but the brushed cotton-like texture  makes it a joy, no slipping of yarn! It worked up really quick.  My nr 6 hook might not have been the best though - I wanted a dense finish, but in retrospect the nr 7 would have look better.

All in all, I'm a happy hooker and found this yarn absolutely perfect for clothes hangers.  No slipping of blouses off these babies, and no funny marks on a thin cardigan!  There are some ladies who started out on blankets with the bulky plush and I really look forward to see those.

Thank you Hester and Team Moya :-)