A tiles-inspired blanket

And finished is the Tiles Blanket!

Freshly off the block

This Tiles Blanket was started impulsively and grew quickly, until...April happened, which is always a huge, busy month for us, with my sis coming to visit, Ironman, 361 and all kinds of things happening, and bags with crochet projects in them are taken off the table, to a shelf, to a wardrobe, to the back of the wardrobe...until the day you clear up and Oh My Soul here's the Tiles Blanket!

Only to realise the clear-up also included two boxes of yarn that might have contained the yarn needed to finish this...and I didn't want to buy more...so it ended up a bit smaller that planned, but exactly the right size for a wheelchair user, or a baby, so all ended well.

While joining (with wip stitch) I realised:

1) I should have used join-as-you-go, because the white row plus join was now a bit wide

2) The white row had 4 stitches per wide grey space, but that was one too many for the join and then it ruffled. 

But I had already joined two strip of 5 squares, so no unraveling was going to happen, and it really isn;t the end of the world.  

And then I love borders, so I couldn't wait to grab Around The Corner Crochet Borders to choose one, eventually deciding on nr 34 without the last row of SC.
(Ok, I actually lost yarn chicken ;-)
(And it's grey, because that was the only colour yarn left, and it worked out quite fine!)

I really love how the colours worked out.  I did play around with 2 or 3 more, but settled on the 4 used here (and now I'm wondering how this would in hand-dyed Vinnis Nikkim!).

Off the blocks (yes, the acrylic did block nicely) it travelled al over the house, draped here and folded there...

Outside on the stoep table

It nearly stayed in my house , but it was a promised blanket and I'm happy that it already arrived at Maak 'n Verskil, from where I hope it will make the recipient happy as well.  

Early-morning light is the best

A beautiful, easy pattern, nice yarn and pretty colours makes for an enjoyable project that I might even duplicate at some stage!

All the info on my Ravelry page.

A monster-pouch for his recorder

My little one started recorder lessons this year...so he wanted a little bag of something for his recorder.


Out came the crochet hook, 'cos the sewing maching is 22 years old and SO in need of a service it's not even funny.  Acrylic yarn it was going to be (out came the Elle Pure Gold), in red, to be visible for those mornings when you're running around, frantically looking for the recorder.


It took about 20 stitches or so, and then rows and rows of SC, until the strip was twice and a bit longer than the recorder.  

Sewed it together...

 ...glued on two wonky eyes and a split tongue, and hey...

 ...there's your monster :-)

(and now Big Brother wants a pouch for his drum sticks...I am searching  for some grey)

Projek Bohemia...Trial Version

The end of the year is rushing up to me and I realised I'd quite forgotten to report on a few of my FO's!

In August, I started a trial version for my summer throw (at LAST I decided on something).  I absolutely loved the Sorbet & Lace square Cornel designed for Ideas magazine, and immediately all my other ideas for the summer throw flew out of the window.  First I tried it out a Elle Pure Gold, my favouite local acrylic (I had a ton of stash, and I had another idea for my own blanket...but first I had to master the pattern).

The pattern hooks up quickly and makes a nice, large square - great if you want to make a quick blanket :-) I wanted to try out some new colour combinations - bright, contrasting edges to each square, and also wanted to figure out the layout, which had to be seemingly random but not, ordered, but not.  That's the Gemini brain speaking.  Even when trying to work totally random, I'll still order around colours, as the lights and dark, cools and warms must balance.

Almost at the end, I made such an epic mistake, I still laugh at myself for it :-D  

But it was easily corrected and I could lay the blanket out, work away the ends and declared myself satisfied. 

A nicely sized lapghan

I used a different joining technique as I didn't want the large gaps of the original pattern, so used granny clusters of four stitches where I joined in the clusters as well as in the chains.  A friend and I sat over a coffee one day to look at the options, and decided that joining with SC's would look better than slip stitches, as it just give that tiny little bit of extra space to allow the join to lie flat.  

I don't try to block or even steam block acrylics, just gave it a quick wash, shake-out and let it hang to dry.  

This blanket was then donated to a hooky friend's charity group and will be donated to an elderly or wheelchair-bound recipient next winter.  

--- X ---

Sooo...in the back of my mind...was this, all along:

Colours of Grace, a 10 ply cotton, in the most beautiful colours. I bought more than a bag full and quickly had to try out a first square in this dusky pink:

It might be one of the most beautiful colours on earth.  And I'm not even a pink person.

It is available online from Beatrix at Btrix Designs or Hilda at Yarn in a Barn.  The autumn blanket by Pigtails in Simply Crochet 23 was also hooked up in this yarn.

I've made a decent pile of squares, but had to put it aside to quickly finish a few year-end projects, but come December, after unpacking in my new hometown, this is one of the first projects to pick up!

--- X ---

PS - a friend at Ons Hekel is using the same principle to make up a Bohemian Blanket, with a square of her own design, but also the colourful, contrasting joins, and it looks stunning so far.  She's using Vinnis Nikkim.

Look. At. This:

Gina's Bohemian Blanket.
I'm jealous.

My favourite (Mzansi) yarns

When I took up crocheting a little more than 2 years ago, I knew very little of yarn. Didn't really notice the difference between DK and 4ply, acrylic crap and nice acrylic, not even talking about natural yarns!

The learning curve was quick, helped along by jealously looking at the beautiful yarns on overseas blogs.

But we actually don't have reason to pity ourselves any more, 'cause there's been an explosion on the South African wool* front.  So many beautiful yarns have become available, and they truly compare fantastically well with the beautiful yarns I've seen abroad.  

*Wool.  In South Africa, we call yarn "wool".  That's in Afrikaans now, because "gare" just doesn't  work, that's something you sew with, "draad" is something you mend a fence with.  So wool = yarn and it might be...real wool.  

I read and read about Stylecraft Special DK, and lusted after it, the pictures looked so beautiful, and I wánted to work with it.  Then my sisi sent me a whole pack from Ireland for my birthday, and while nice, I realised it had nothing on our own Elle Pure Gold.  

Behold - the queen of acrylics:

Elle Pure Gold, colour Mist

I encountered Gold when hooking my second ever big project, my Rainbow Ripple, and fell forever in love.  It came in a lovely range  of retro, muted colours, now supplemented by bright tropicals, and is the only acrylic I'll touch.

Then I found Vinnis. Oh, Vinnis...one of our favourites.

There are three, the cotton:

Vinnis Colours Nikkim (Cotton), colour  Khaki

a cotton/bamboo blend:

Vinnis Colours Bambi (Cotton/Bamboo blend), colour Midnight

...and the bamboo (Serina), but the above two are my faves.  I've previously only used it for smaller projects; beanies and scarves, a stool cover, but just started with a summer throw for our bed in Bambi.

Through Ons Hekel, I met Marlene of One of a Kind yarns. 

She colours.  She lives for colour.

She also spins and knit and crochet, but. She. Colours.

See?

One of a Kind 4ply bamboo.

This gold/bronze can't be captured on photo.  

It will become a shawl, maybe Morpho, or South Bay, or..?

One of a Kind Cotton

Another shawl?  I can't wait to see how this colourway will work up. 

One of a Kind Wool

There was only one skein of this wool.  The colours look so absolutely random and happy, I took it.  It might only be enough for one or two baby beanies, so it will go into the beanie project.

See?  No reason to complain any more.  'Specially since the OoaK wool is of the same source as Rowan...

And I haven't even mentioned the African Expressions, a whole lot of them, and the workhorse Rustica blend, also from the Elle stable...nope, our Mzansi yarns are A-okay!

Klaar! Die Mezzaluna / Crescent Moon / Sekelmaanserp

Uiteindelik, uiteindelik...'n sekelmaanserp...en laat ek dadelik sê: dit is eintlik nié moeilik nie. Dit IS NIE...dis net die patroon wat eintlik omslagtig is.  En as jy die patroon gekliek het, is dit happy sailing van daar.

At last, at last...the Crescent Moon/Mezzaluna wrap...and let me say immediately that it is NOT difficult.  It isn't...it's just the patterns that are a bit cumbersome. And once you figured that out, it's plain sailing from there. 

Ek het so 'n serp 'n jaar of wat gelede op 'n blog gesien, dit nooit gemerk nie, en nooit weer gekry nie.  Google het my tot by die Crescent Moon en Mezzaluna-serpe op Ravelry gebring, en Google Image later tot by 'n diagram (wat toe uit 'n Japannese boek bly te kom).  

Die patrone lees moeilik, moéilik, want dit probeer baie verduidelik.  Ek het op 'n stadium met drie variasies voor my gesit: die gewone, 'n verkorte, en 'n van-onder-af.   Dis op daardie stadium dat ek begin soek vir duideliker fotos en so die diagram gekry het, wat dinge baie makliker maak....maar selfs daarmee het ek nog 'n shorthand vir myself neergeskryf én ingekleur om by te hou met waar ek is!

My eerste poging was Desember, op vakansie, met alpaca.
Nie 'n goeie idee vir die eerste keer nie, alpaca wil nie uitgetrek word nie.  Tussen het ek met twee ander wolle begin, en uiteindelik besluit om te gaan vir maklik en te werk met Elle Pure Gold.


I first saw a similar wrap  in Blogland a year or so ago, but didn't mark it and could never get back to it.  Google found me the Crescent Moon and Mezzaluna wraps on Ravelry and Google Image later got me to a diagram (that turned out to come from a Japannese book).

The pattern reads difficult, because it tries to explain how lot.  At one stage, I was sitting with three variations in front of me: the full-length, a shortened, and a from-the-bottom-up.  It was then that I searched for clearer photos and and found a diagram via Google Image, which made things a lot easier.  Even so, I created my own shorthand code and coloured it in, as I completed each row.  

I tried it in alpaca first, during the December holiday.  Not a good idea...alpaca doesn't like being frogged.  After that I tried two other yarns, and then settled for Elle Pure Gold, that I knew would work easy

En om een ander rede wou ek verskillende kleure strepe hê...nee, jete, volgende keer gebruik ek variegated wol.
For some orn other reason, I decided on different coloured stripes...no, goodness, next time I'll variegated yarn!

Dis makliker om kop te hou as die rye ingekleur is...
It's easier to keep your wits together with coloured-in rows...

Merk die bobbels in rooi, en begin met shorthand...
I marked the bobble stitches in red, and developed a shorthand code...

En dan begin die sekelmaan vorm kry!
And then the crescent took form!

Met die nodige ondersteuning kom dit klaar.
With the necessary reinforcements, it grew.

En dan! Uiteindelik, rafels word weggewerk.
And then! Working away the ends.

En die randjie word begin (ja, ek eet of drink heeltyd iets terwyl ek hekel...)
Starting the edge (yes...I usually have something to drink or eat while hooking...)

Yeeha!  Dit gaan tog werk (ek het eers nie baie van die randjie gehou nie).
Oh joy! It's going to work out! (At first I didn't really like the edge).

By Craft Share is ek amper klaar...
Almost finished at Craft Share, just a short bit to go.

Photo: Cornel Strydom @ Craft Share
www.ilovepom-poms.squarespace.com

En..voila.  Klaar.  En toe hou ek nie van die kleure nie...maar 'n vriendin is mal daaroor, so sy gaan dit kry :-)

Poeierblou Lollipop Lambslook reeds aan die haak vir Mezzaluna V.2.

And...voila.  Done.  And  then I didn't like some of the colours...but a friend does, so she's going to get it :-)
Powder blue Lollipop Lambslook already on the hooks for Mezzaluna V.2.


NS -  Ek wou dit breër hê, dus werk ek nou met 'n nr 5 pen, en maak sommige rye tr i.p.v. dc.
En V2.1 - dalk eers volgende jaar - sal gedoen word met One of a Kind Yarns se Marbled of Variegated DK...

PS - I wanted it a bit wider, so now I'm hooking with a nr 5, and use a TR instead of DC in some rows.
And V2.1 - maybe only next year - will be hooked with One of a Kind Yarns' s Marbled or Variegated DK...

NNS - Ek het die patroon in Afrikaans oorgeskryf, maar siende dat die transkripsie op Ravelry nie regtig wettig is nie, en dieselfde met die diagram wat op internet rondswerf,  en ek nou al laaaaaaaank probeer om op Mayumi Kawaii se spoor te kom vir toestemming , kan ek dit nog nie plaas nie..

PPS - I have translated this pattern in Afrikaans, and tried to simplify the writing, but since the version on Ravelry is not really this side of legal, same with the scanned diagram on internet, and I'm still chasing after Mayumi Kawaii for permission, I will not yet post it.  

NNNS - Sy hou daarvan :-)

PPPS - She likes it :-)

A yarny tail, and a sad tale

Ooooh...yoga bag, oh yoga bag!

So near the end!  If I can just sit DOWN en FINISH it:

Attaching the tube to the bottom...luckily crochet is sooo forgiving and you can force it to fit. 

We had a long weekend,

(16 June - Youth Day)
In 1975 protests started in African schools after a directive from the then Bantu Education Department that Afrikaans had to be used on an equal basis with English as a language of instruction in secondary schools. The issue, however, was not so much the Afrikaans as the whole system of Bantu education which was characterised by separate schools and universities, poor facilities, overcrowded classrooms and inadequately trained teachers. On 16 June 1976 more than 20 000 pupils from Soweto began a protest march. In the wake of clashes with the police, and the violence that ensued during the next few weeks, approximately 700 hundred people, many of them youths, were killed and property destroyed.Youth Day commemorates these events)

...so in between everything I sat down, but then Elle Pure Gold's inner devil came out:

Why you should roll a ball before starting

At this point I almost hoped the dogs would get to it:

Peering at the mess through the kitchen window

But on a Tuesday morning, there's nothing that a double-shot cappo with a friend can't solve!

Let's go on, then.

--0--

But then the week turned sour.

My friend Gené died.

She had kidney cancer.  

After I gave her the hat, I saw her twice, briefly, and then suddenly this happened.

She was a great teacher, a devoted mother, a brilliant, dramatic story reader. We'll really miss her.

--0--

And today is my dad's birthday.  He would have been 67 today.

We're adult orphans, my sis and I.  We lost our parents too early, as young adults, before we had kids.  It leaves you in a halfway space.   But I decided early on that I would not wallow on days like this, I'd choose to remember and celebrate.  So usually, on my mom's birthday, I'll go for tea & scones, my sis will bake a cake in Ireland, family members and friends join us in celebration and remembrance in Germiston, Potchefstroom, as far as Australia and Canada. Today, for my dad, there's a venison pie in the oven.  And sweet potato with cinnamon, and I'm thinking of souskluitjies for desert - is is cold enough!

Think I'll listen to this a bit.  Teary-eyed and all. One of his favourites.

Klaar! Baby J Ripple

Eintlik wou ek iets heel anders doen, vir hierdie baba Joshua. Twee moontlike patrone het reggelê, ek wou Vinni's gebruik, maar eendag gooi ek al my wolle so op die bed, om bietjie te sorteer...en die klompie bloue perse groene val so langs mekaar...en toe word dit 'n Ripple.

I actually wanted to do something totally different for this baby Josua. Had two patterns ready, wanted to buy some Vinni's; but then one day when I was sorting yarn, I threw everything on the bed and the greens blues lavender fell in a pile...and it became a Ripple.

Die wol kom meestal uit my Opgehoopte Voorraad...elle Pure Gold, elle Rustica en enkele onbekende ander.  Ek het die kakie en bruin bygesit omdat dit amper begin dogtertjierig lyk het.  

The yarn is mainly from my Stash Pile...elle Pure Gold, elle Rustica, and some unknown others. I added the khaki and brown in the end because it started to look a bit girly.

Nog so drie  weke, dan ontmoet ons hom. Intussen is wag sy kombersie in sy kamer.

We'll meet him in another three weeks.  Meanwhile, his blankie will be waiting in his room.

My amigurumi

My seuntjie se Montessori-voorskool samel elke jaar tweedehandse speelgoed in, wat op 'n stadium na die George Mukhari-hospitaal gaan. Ek het nou eers besef hoe groot hierdie projek is, en wie dit doen.

Die skooltjie behoort aan Shan Ellis, wie skoonfamilie (skoonma? "Ma Ellis") jare gelede hiermee begin het.  Op Kersdag gaan die Ellis-familie na die hospitaal, met hope en hope speelgoed.  Hierdie Kersfees het Shan reuse rooi sakke gemaak waarin die speelgoed gelaai is, en dit word met groot gejuig, gejubel en gebed ontvang.

George Mukhari is 'n akademiese opleidingshospitaal (voorheen Ga-Rankuwa) in die noorde van Pretoria en het baie pasiënte met wie dit finansiëel en andersins swaar gaan.  Hierdie geskenkies is dus vir baie die enigste wat hul vir Kersfees sal kry.

Natuurlik wil ek toe nou kyk of Familie Botha hierdie jaar kan beter doen as net tweedehandse speelgoed, en terwyl sagte speelgoed daar baie gewild is, en ek hierdie lekker nuwe hekel-hobbie het, kan ek mos maar lostrek en iets hekel.  Amigurumi is ideaal, want dis klein en vinnig, bevredig mens se lus vir 'n vinnige projek en dit word dan sommer gemaak vir 'n goeie doel.

So. Ontmoet my eerste poging, 'n "Slime Drop", en die patroon word hier gevind.

Hy/sy is gehaak in elle Pure Gold DK se Avocado. Die ou dingetjie het nou regtig nie lank geneem om te doen nie, en dis goeie oefening :-)  Slime Drop gaan nou na die jaareinde-mandjie toe, en ek wil probeer om ten minste elke maand so een dingetjie te haak.  Volgende is 'n Baby Monster!

My little boy's Montessori-preschool collects  second hand toys every year, to be taken to the young patients at the George Mukhari hospital. I only recently realised how big this project is, and who is the driving force.

Shan Ellis is the directress of the school, and their family (mother inlaw? "Ma Ellis") started this tradition years ago.  On Christmas Day, the family visits the pediatric wards with piles and piles of toys.  This Christmas, Shan made huge red gift bags, filled with the goodies, which were received with great joy and jubilation.

George Mukhari is an academic training hospital (previously Ga-Rankuwa) to the north of Pretoria and has many patients who lead difficult lives, both financially and otherwise.  These gifts were typically the only that they would get for Christmas.

Of course I wanted to see whether Family Botha could do better than only second hand toys this year, and while stuffed are very popular with the kids, and I do have this new hooky-hobby, I could just as well hook up something!  Amigurumi is ideal, it is small and quick, it satisfy one's urge to 'just hook something new' and it is for a good purpose.  

So. Up there is my first try a "Slime Drop", of which the pattern could be found here.

I used elle Pure Gold DK in Avocado. It really didn't take long, and serves as good hooky practise!

Slim Drop will now go to the year-end basket and I want to try and finish at least one similar project each month.

Next up is a tiny Baby Monster!