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 :-)

RusticLazyDaisie

Ooooh, I can sometimes fly right away with an idea, just to burn out five minutes later or get lazy, which is not a good thing.  

So I was watching the Rustic Lace frenzy, finding most of the squares utterly beautiful, but in no real need to make one myself (just finished my summer throw in a large lacy square).  But then...then Charlotta (Instagram: intheyarngarden)  accidentally made a triangle and when THAT turned up in my Instagram feed, I could feel gears in my head shifting and clicking and in a mad rush (FOMO, anyone? :-D ) I proceeded to dig out the natural Moya that was earmarked for clothes hangers and let rip, hook flying. 

Until I had two or so complete. First the squares.

Totally different look in one colour!

It's still very pretty, but looks totally different.  And I might have been a bit irritated by the little piece of yarn that was super twisted (look, there at half past six in the photo), but couldn't be bothered to  cut, frog, join up again, or start from scratch. Noooo.

Looking beautiful in the early morning light. 

To divert the quickly waning attention span, I diverted to triangles.  (Did I mention that I made the exact same mistake at my first take on the square? But that mistake doesn't give you a relaxed, flat triangle, so I wanted to plan it properly. )

Out with the pen and paper. 

Frogging and scribbling

I have no intentions of ever coming up with a new crochet pattern for anything, so I literally just wrote the whole pattern out, and estimated possible changes, which would include a cluster or two less here, and some chains extra there, then tried it out and tried again and again and again and again until I got a reasonably flat triangle.

There.  

Two triangles on the block.

I figured I'd need three squares and 3 triangles to make up a little mock curtain for one window in our bathroom.  To my dismay, it might have had to be four of each.  So I was getting a bit impatient with myself, as I still had to figure out how to join these, and then how to hang it!

It was around this time that I did a quick, exploratory stroll through a new favourite second had shop and lo and behold, there it was! A crochet piece, by the look of it the perfect size (to the millimeter it was!), just ready for me to hang in the window.  

It was a no-brainer.  

Up it went! Sommer with cup hooks onto the wooden frame. 

Since I was so far with the Rustic Laces (3 each, then) I had to come up with a Plan A for Alternative, which I thought would be the little window in the guest loo.

Helloooo - there's a Roman blind already :-0

I promptly diverted again and started on a long-anticipated shawl.  Then it came to me...Plan B for Buggered...the window in my little craft storage nook upstairs...but I would need 5 of each.  

Stay tuned.

There's a Google-pot full of info on and versions of the Rustic Lace Square, but here's the beautiful blanket that Magda Pigtails made, and she in turn got the idea from Cornel's blanket at HalloHart.

On Instagram, there are 1210 posts of #rusticlacesquare as I write. 

What I made with Moya - A yellow lacy scarf

When I received my gift pack of Moya Yarn, I didn't immediately have a plan with the Canary yellow yarn.  I chose it because it looked lovely, and I knew something would come up.

And so, something did.  Easter break was approaching,  as was our upcoming 3h roadtrip for Ironman South Africa and I would need something for my hands :-)

I've had the image of a loose, little lacy scarf in mind, more of a kerchief than anything else, so I took some internet patterns with me, as well as two of my Japanese crochet books.

First off was a pattern from this book:

Pretty, but it wasn't going to have the right, drapey feel. 

Second try was this one...

...great idea, but now I though another yarn would be more suitable

So I settled on this one:

...I would wear it the other way around though!

This pattern is from this book, that I bought from Pomadour24's Etsy shop

She stocks all kinds of incredibly looking books - I want to buy more and more and just sit on the stoep and look at all of the pictures.

In the end I only started out on our way back!

Passing a wind farm near Humansdorp

I took some time hooking in the car and during a pit stop at The Heath, just outside Plettenberg Bay. The boys played on the mini zip lines, the dad recovered his sore and tired body with some craft beer, and I cooled down with home-made ginger beer under the humongous trees outside. 

Nearing the end I realised my edge might be a tad more ruffley than the pattern indicated...but seeing as that my Japanese doesn't really extend much beyond konnichiwa to read any of the descriptions on the pattern, I declared it totally acceptable and ruffled on:

Having a look at the shape - mmm....can do with a good block, and the symmetry...well yes, the symmetry isn't 100%, but hell... worse things happen in the world and it will be draped loosely.

(Taken on a FOGgy morning)

Relaxed and stretched out, let's play with the asymmetry then :-)

(Taken that same bright sunshiney afternoon)

And I could wear it to church the next morning, cool and foggy again!

I love how it brightens up grey and will surely use it often during our rainy winter. 

I used Moya Organic Cotton in Canary, with a nr 4 Prym hook. 

Dewa mata!

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

Shamrock bunting day!

It's that time of the year again!

When I wear my silly green sock with shamrocks on, put on my dainty silver shamrock that my aunty brought from Ireland, make the best mash potato, have a little bit of a teary smile when thinking of my sisi living far away on that beautiful green isle, have a shot of Jameson then,  take the Irish flag to school and read the kids the story of St Patrick, and show them a real clover, and have them searching for four-leaved clovers in their backyards in the afternoon.

Going on a Guinness search now-now, to make Jack Monroe's deliciously looking Guinness brownies.

And, as usual - a tiny shamrock bunting - this one adorning the neck of the leprechaun the Gr 1 teacher with the Irish name dug out of her store room this morning :-)

Easiest, pretty garland pattern here

I made this bunting with Moya Yarn's organic cotton in Apple, available from Yarn in a Barn and Scaapi

A roundup of more St Patrick's crochet patterns is available at Crochet Concupiscence.

Last year's St Patrick's post here.

Happy Paddy Day. 

Hope you find a pot of gold!