Shiny Happy Cotton Bag

This bag. Oh dear...

I'm not sure if you can say this about your own designs, but I  l o v e  it. And the combination of mint and hot pink doesn't hurt either. ;-)

Let me first elaborate a bit about this yarn... A while back I was gifted  g o r g e o u s  Shiny Happy Cotton by Wool and the Gang. I've been wanting to try this yarn for ages and oh man, I did NOT disappoint.

Firstly: I simply adore these colours. And the other colours for this range look every bit as yummy. Secondly, the yarn worked up like a dream, it really did, very soft yet very strong (ideal for this bag!). Really loved it. I will definitely be using it more often as there are not many 100% cotton yarns out there suitable for 5 mm hook or up, don't you think? Have you worked with this particular yarn before?

Back to the bag! In case you like it: I'm working on a pattern for it (and pondering about a name for it). So stay tuned. :-)

I'd looove to hear what's currently on your hook! 

Thanks for your lovely visit - much appreciated. Have a good day.

xHaafner

You can find the UK edition of my book below:

Happy with Blog MakeOver!

Welcome to my brandnew blog! I'm very excited about the new design and I hope you like it as much as I do.

After a few years of blogging (time flies!) I felt it was time for a makeover. I wanted something light and crispy and the talented Madeline Cline designed just that for me (and on top of that she is a delight to work with). Click here for her Blog Design Studio on Etsy (or find the link below on this blog). If you are considering a new blog design I highly recommend her services.

 

As you will probably notice some parts of this new blog are still work in progress as I added some new features. Eventually this will lead to a site where it is easier for you to navigate, to find patterns and - hopefully! - inspiration. But I just couldn't wait to share it with you. ;-)

To mark the festive occasion of my blog makeover I thought I'd share some happy yarn pics...

There is a practical reason for that choice too, as I'm still working on some bigger projects which I can't share here yet. ;-) So for now it's mainly wip's and yarn... Like the Vinnis Nikkim (above) and the byClaire (below).

Well, I hope you like the new blogdesign!

Many thanks for your visit. Wishing you a lovely weekend ahead.

It's been a while... Let's talk yarn!

So much for my resolution to blog more often... What can I say... It's been busy! The next posts will be a roundup of what I've been up to crochet- & yarnwise. I realised that I've never given a proper account of the lovely yarn I sourced when I was in Thailand earlier this year. So let me make up for that hiatus in this post. And I'll squeeze in a cappuccinno with coconut milk here and there. Just because. ;-)

Maybe you remember my search for yarns when I was in Thailand last year, I wrote about it here and here. This year - through dedication and perseverance (read: my obsessive compulsive yarn-related behaviour) - I found some other lovely yarns.

Like this amaaaazing shiny fine cotton (suitable for a 2.5 - 3.5 mm hook) in the top picture and the three below. Apparently it's made in Japan, but I have no further information. Unfortunately... If you recognize this yarn and know where it's manufactured, I'd love to hear!

^ Working on a mystery project during a lunch break... ;-)

Just to clarify: I've bought more colours than you see in these pics, but I wouldn't mind getting my hands on even more... ;-) It's definitely one of my favourite yarns.









Then there were these pretty bobbins with handspun and plant dye fine cotton...

I love the irregularities in it and its slightly wool-ish (the pink one) and linen-ish (the grey one) appearance. Here's a closer look:

And this - huge - skein.... This too is handspun and plant dye cotton. I like the texture, it's quite different. Not sure what to make with it yet.















Oh, and before I forget, I got these lovely shades of embroidery floss... Which was actually a bit of a yarn fail, 'cause I didn't notice all the ends and thought I was buying adorable mini skeins of regular yarn. Ha! So much for being a connoisseur, right? ;-) However, the colours inspired the super talented Cornel Strydom to create these mittens that - for sure - are the prettiest mittens I ever laid my eyes on. Click here to admire them! (I just can't get over how lovely they are.)

More Crochet & Coconut (one of my favourite combinations!) to end this post. With another glimpse of my mystery project...

I hope you enjoyed my little yarn tour... Did you buy new yarns recently? Or are you on a  strict yarn diet?

Many thanks for your kind visit. Much appreciated! I wish you a most lovely weekend.
♦♦♦

Candy Scarf

Hello! Without further ado I hereby present to you the Candy Scarf. Plus the making details and pattern. Hope you like it!

Details
♦  I used three balls of MoYa yarn, one of each of the following colours: Bubblegum, Rose Quartz and Misty Rose.
♦  For the squares I used a 4.5 mm crochet hook (because it creates a nice, soft drape). But for the lacy joins I used a 3.5 mm hook to create slightly smaller chain stitches for an elegant touch. ;-)
♦  My scarf consists of 28 squares and measures 1.65 x 0.20 mtr.
♦  I blocked the individual squares pre-joining them and afterwards I blocked the entire scarf to stretch the lacy join.

And here is the chart! Please don't copy or share the chart elsewhere, but link to this page instead - thank you for linking with love! By the way: this pattern would work very well for a blanket. (Actually, I'd love to make a blanket like this some day.)

I loved working on this cute little project. And I'd love to see your pics if you make a #candyscarf yourself!

If you'd like to read more about the making of this scarf please click through to my previous post.

As always many thanks for your kind visit. Wishing you a most lovely week.
♦♦♦

Candy Scarf in the Making!

Recently Scaapi gifted me with three balls of the South African organic MoYa cotton. I had not worked with it before, but had seen pictures of it on the internet. Like this beautiful doily blanket in the making by the talented Maaike from Crejjtion.

I wanted to make something that would do justice to the look and feel of the yarn. MoYa has a sturdy rope-like look, but feels - surprisingly - soft. I wanted to create a fairly solid texture which would highlight both these qualities. I was in doubt whether to make placemats or a scarf, and in the end - after trying several patterns - decided on the latter.

Love the texture and colours! 

Blocking...

Tomorrow I'll publish the pictures of the finished scarf plus the pattern and other details. But - because it's such beautiful yarn - I thought I'd share some pictures of the work in progress here with you today.

Many thanks for your visit. I hope you are having a lovely week!

♦♦♦

My New Crochet Bag and a Giveaway Winner

Yarn, twine, rope, thread or even plarn: they're all suitable for crochet. Although the results will be quite different. :-)

Personally I love experimenting with different kinds of fibre. So I was excited when I got the chance to crochet with the fibre of the kudzu plant, also know as JungleVine.  

This is the skein I received.

Beautiful, isn't it?
Let's do a closeup. ;-)

Beautiful as it may be, it's an understatement to say I was not looking forward to handwinding this into a ball. I'm notoriously bad at this and I always end up tangling the yarn beyond rescue with me somewhere stuck inbetween - desperately crying out for help. However, this time I was in for a pleasant surprise. the skein was divided in mini-skeins, like this:

There's even a a little loop (which you can see in the picture) between every mini to prevent any untimely unravelling. I have never seen this before and I think it is such a clever way of creating a skein. 

I'm really curious: is this a common way for making a skein? Seriously, I'd love to know! Because it was really, really, a piece of cake to handwind it into a ball. No tangling. So, I was happy and I ended up with this huge, squishy ball.

Then came the really fun part: crocheting. I decided to make a bag, similar to the Nature Bags. Also, I decided that I wanted to make it without having to cut the yarn. So that the bag would be as strong as possible. And I wanted it to be simple. So this is what I came up with - Meet the Breezy Bag:

I made a small, cream edging with cotton crochet yarn. 

Some facts... I used a 2.7 mm crochet hook. But I think you could use up to at least a 3.5 mm hook for this fibre. It's a bit 'harder work' than crocheting with a regular yarn (probably also because I used a relatively small hook) but definitely very doable. Plus I found it fun and interesting because it's just completely different than all other yarns I've worked with: although it's very sturdy, the surface is at the same time much smoother than, for instance, twine. And the result is very stretchable. So I would use it again. Which is good news, because I still have some left! Ha!

I will post the pattern for the Breezy Bag here next week.

A Winner!
And now... Thank you all so very much for participating in the Nature Bag Giveaway. But there can only be one winner and that is... Kotbury from the lovely Kotbury blog! Congratulations to you and please mail me your address and I'll send you the bag asap.

If you did not win but would still like to be a proud owner of such a cute fairtrade bag you can find them online here. If you'd like to work with the JungleVine yarn yourself: Nature Bag sells JungleVine skeins, although they're not listed in their webshop yet. If you are interested you can send an email to service@naturebag.org.

Thanks so much for your lovely visit. I wish you all a most happy day!
♦♦♦

New Yarn and a Sample

Hello crafty friends,
Hopefully you've had a lovely weekend.

Thanks for the kind comments on my last post. In case you were one of the admirers of that mesh bag: Alas! I did not make it myself... I wish! I bought it in Laos, and in case you'd like more information about the materials, and how and by whom it's produced, you can find the website here: Nature Bag.

I thought I'd share this sample with you. Made with this cotton yarn: Limited by Wolcafé which is made in The Netherlands; maybe you have seen it popping up on other Dutch crochet blogs. I just couldn't resist it when I *accidently* came across it. In a yarn shop. ;-)

Originally my idea was to make one big shawl, but I might make a small vest instead. One ball should be enough since it's almost one kilometre of yarn... Either way, I think I'll leave it lying around for a while until real inspiration hits. ;-)

In case you're interested in the pattern for this sample, here's my quick attempt to draw a chart. (The picture below doesn't do justice to the subtile grey of this yarn.)

This evening I hope to finish a few more squares of my polkadot blanket. Did you do manage to do any crocheting last weekend?

♦♦♦ Have a lovely week! ♦♦♦

A quiet afternoon...

... Or so it would have been yesterday, if it wasn't for the fact that I was quite maniacally making pictures to document the quietness... *ahem*

I wanted to give this post a touch of Less Is More aesthetics. But I guess I'm failing big time because of the number of pics alone. Ah well!

This placemat and potholder are supposed to have an air of Japanese minimalism. Just so you know. ;-)

The placemat is made of simple double crochets - white with irregular intervals of colour.

The potholder is one big granny square, folded round a cotton potholder...

... I whipstitched together the corners at the backside - which is the side I like best.



Don't you just love the bunny? ;-) It's a souvenir from my recent travels.

BTW, what do you think of this ball of bamboo? I bought it ages ago.

It took me at least an hour to wind it from this skein. (As per usual messed up and got it completely tangled.) I love the colours and even the fact that it's variegated, because it's done so subtile... I have a lovely plan for it! To be continued...

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little record of quietness. Did you have a good weekend? Hope so!

I wonder what this week will bring. I personally have not very high hopes for this one. Luckily I can flee in my pastels. ;-)

Full speed ahead, I guess...
♦♦♦

Yarn!

Did I succeed in my quest for local cotton yarn amidst the abundance of acrylics?
But of course!

It wasn't easy, but - through sheer dedication for the cause. Ha! - I found a few places where gorgeous cotton was sold. Recently I'm quite smitten by greyish hues - especially after hooking my very pastel travel blanket I feel it's time for a change. So I bought mostly greys and earthy colours. Nevertheless, when I stumbled upon that gorgeous pink, I had to get it. I love the combination grey and pink.

Twentyfour Twentysix huge cakes of cotton yarn so far - and counting... So much for travelling light. :( The look and feel of this yarn reminds me a bit of Drops Paris, but it is slightly bulkier. I like that, because at home I find it hard to find cotton that is suitable for a plus 5mm hook. I'm guessing I could go as far as to use a 6,5 mm hook for this yarn. I hope so, because I feel a nice drapey blanket is coming up! Granny squares maybe? Starburst hectagons? Rectangulars?

Still, it's a pity that in country where bamboo is everywhere, there is no bamboo yarn - or hardly anyway, I didn't find any. The production of bamboo is more sustainable than that of cotton (the latter requires a lot of land and water), and the end product is very suitable for a tropical climate.

Having said that, I did stumble upon this really handspun nice hemp yarn. Not in a yarn store however, and they only had these varieties. It's nice to be able to buy something handspun for a change (because I don't use wool, that limits my options regarding handspun).

By the way, in addition to what I wrote about the local yarn stores in an earlier post, I have to add that I did come across a few that resemble the ones that are found in eg. Europe and the States. They mainly sell imported yarn. Pricewise: I could buy five of these fairly big cotton yarn cakes for less than the price of one ball of imported Katia cotton.

Apart from yarn I stocked up on my crochet hooks. Lots of small sizes that are not easy to get back home. Like 0.75 mm, 1.25 mm and 1,3 mm. The smallest one I bought is a 0,6 mm hook. It's tiny! How does one use it? With a lens? Since I took this picture, I've purchased quite a few more. (I've lost count, but I think it counts up to at least sixteen.) The hooks look very short on this picture but that because the needles are so huge...

Not only did I stock up on crochet hooks, but also on crochet books. But that's a different post altogether. ;-) Thanks for dropping by. I really appreciate your visit!
♦♦♦

Yarning in Thailand

Hello!

My solid granny squares are beginning to pile up. Too many for a bag. I'm thinking a small blanket instead? (I'm rather partial to blankets as you might know...) As that pile of squares is growing - like my other work in progress (the shawl) - my travel yarn stash begins to decrease rapidly. Too rapidly.

Anyway, time to explore the yarn shops of Chiang Mai. It took me a while to find them, but I did. In China Town.

These colours are not edited. Can you imagine: the shop was quite dark, but still there was this unexptected colour explosion. Don't you just love it? I did... I didn't buy anything, since they were all acrylics, and I really would like some nice, preferably local, cotton. BTW, it was the first time I saw acrylics in skeins, I'm used to acrylics in balls. (And the skeins were rather huge too.)

However, the vast majority of the yarn sold here is acrylic. Which I often use myself, but I didn't really like most of what I came across. By the way, the way the shop above displayed it stocks in a quite unusual way. Far more usual around here is this... (This was actually the first yarn shop I came across, by accident. I got hopelessly lost while cycling through town and suddenly saw these huge bags filled to the brim with yarn. I almost squealed. Ha!)

And this. (Yarn in the back of the shop, behind the counter and wrapped in plastics.)



Oh dear, I wanted to show you some not yarny stuff as well, but it's getting late already. Next time! I'll end  this post with some crochet - which seems much more popular here then knitting. (Apologies for the bad quality of the picture.)



Hopefully till soon. Many thanks for dropping by!
♦♦♦