Dainty Delicious Darling Scarf Pattern

Hello!  This is the pattern I used to create the Dainty Darling Scarf, but please note that this is to be used as a guide only. Be sure to adapt the number of chains in each round according to the weight and thickness of your chosen yarn. I used two strands of yarn to make the colourful flowers, and only one strand to create and join the squares. I furthermore joined each square to the next in 5 different places from corner to corner. This is a far cry from a professional chart and set of instructions, please give me a shout if you need any more help and I will do a photo tutorial too!

Round 1: Ch 6 and close to form ring

Round 2: 12 2Treble clusters with 5Ch between each

Round 3: Ch10 joined with sc into each Ch5 space of the previous round

Round 4: Ch8 joined with sc into each Ch10 space of the previous round

Round 5: Ch8 joined with sc into each Ch8 space of the previous round

Round 6: Create Square shape by crocheting 4 treble cluster, Ch10,  4 treble cluster into a Ch8 space (not clear from drawing) and Ch8 joined with sc into each Ch8 space of the previous round in the relevant spaces

  

I have seen many similar looking patterns captured in Japanese crochet books over the years and simply grabbed a hook and worked from mood and memory, creating my own, but certainly not unique version.

Heeeeeeelp?! 

For an informative Crochet Symbols and Directions Chart with UK and US terminology, 

head over to Dabbles and Babbles

Craftsy published a tutorial titled "Understanding Crochet Diagrams, the Key to breaking the Code"

Slugs on the Refrigerator published and in depth article about "Reading Crochet Charts"

This is the same pattern in DK bamboo and a 4mm hook.
Here in rounds 4, 5 and 6, I hooked 5ch, 6ch and 8ch in stead of 8ch, 8ch, 8ch as in the square made out of lacy merino (scarf). Hope this makes sense!

Have a great week!

Dainty Delicious Darling Scarf

Hello!

One could easily fantasise about being a dainty lady, wearing this delicious darling scarf. I on the other hand, prefer to team something as delicate as this with raw grey linens and natural stone. The look is as strong as it is fragile and the result mesmerising.

However, neither of my two dresses in silvery grey (this one shows my knees - against the dress code in Qatar!) and charcoal linens, inspired me this morning and I promptly decided to hunt down tunic style dresses in faded Japanese linens in order to showcase my beautiful scarf. Wish me luck!

I have been shopping all my life and I have nothing to wear!!

Yarn:
Madeline Tosh Prairie in Calligraphy, a one ply, 100% superwash hand-dyed merino wool
Eden Cottage Theseus Lace, a merino and silk 2 ply lace weight yarn soft, somewhat shimmery and luxurious
Hook Size: 3mm

 

Photos of flowers, top and jewelry linked in Pinterest

Winding yarn is a wonky affair!

Hello! This is the start of a dainty scarf in lacy Merino yarns from Madeline Tosh and Eden Cottage. After many evenings of winding yarn before I could put hook to project, I have to admit that it is a dreadful task for impatient peoples like me. I still have so many skeins to wind from hank to cake and even though the Girl Teen is assisting, it remains a huge task when the yarn is slighter thicker than cotton thread and over 600 meters long! 

I am using two strands together to create the colourful flowers and one strand in neutral to join it all together. After many trials and errors with regard to the pattern, I have come to realise that frogging and these delicate yarns are clearly also not the best of friends. That said, now that I have settled on a pattern and understand where to join the squares together, it is an enjoyable, beautiful project.

Don't you just love Instagram?  I really enjoy sitting back from time to time to take a look at all the photos I have liked.  That in itself is a great indication of what one likes with regard to photography, styling, craft, mood, travelling, food and many more. These are some of the beautiful images I have liked over the past month.

Have a great weekend, I will spent mine with the family at a beach club here in Doha and also finalise itineraries for our summer holiday to be spent travelling Croatia extensively. At first we were going to travel Sweden and the Netherlands, but when the Teens mentioned the beach word, I told them to identify a must visit place with the help of Google Earth. The result was Croatia after they saw the islands, the beaches, the national parks and the beautiful towns and cities. The country has been on my bucket list too, so all in all we will have a whale of a time! Have you been to Croatia?

Loving the Linen Stitch!

 

 Pattern: Woven Stitch/Linen Stitch

Yarn: Drops Paris in 6 different colours

Hook Size: 5mm

Thank you once again for my gorgeous yarn Haafner, I have doilies hanging from the hooks at the moment and hope my effort to create gorgeous doily bowls does not disappoint! 

 A while back I spotted these hand-size butterfly beauties from the 1920's in an antique store and instantly fell in love with it. When The Teen gave me an idea of what she would like her new room to look like, I realised that these would make for a perfect start to execute her vision. I was doing the happy dance when my eye also spotted the brass mirror, it is solid and heavy and I wish I had more information about the origin of this standing mirror. The glass was broken, but life is endlessly surprising and a glass & mirror shop trades right across the road from the antique shop. Within 5 minutes, I had a hand cut mirror fitted. 

The Champs Elysees Palace (yes, that is the name of this antique shop!) is owned by a Hindi, Arabic, English and Farsi speaking Iranian. The shop is located on Al Mirqab Al Jadeed Street, Doha, Qatar.

Meanwhile Ikea didn't disappoint either! We bought the full length mirror and clothing rack as can be seen in the above picture, with the hat & coat stand and carpet to follow soon.  Looks like the Teen is not interested in this particular throw, but I really like it and think it will be a great item for the master bedroom. 

I have also spotted a gorgeous velvet single bed throw trimmed in faux fur at another one of my favourite stores in the Middle East, namely THE One. Invented by a Swede, the stores are referred to as Theaters: "We don't sell products. We sell feelings. Because we believe that it's not what you buy that's important, it's what you feel after you have bought it."  Apart from ethical sourcing, they make a difference by employing challenged people, do a lot of local volunteering and is involved in a sustainable village community programme. It is easy to see why THE One has been rated the top local employer to work for by global research and management consultancies for the 4th year running.  I am almost feeling guilty for not making that purchase yet!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Today is the last day of what was a wonderful Eid holiday here. 

xxxxxx

Sending Ripples

Hello!

Two years ago the children and I lived in a gorgeous villa in the middle of the rainforest on the tropical island of Penang, Malaysia and frequently traveled via taxi, ferry, train and plane to our apartment near Lumpini Park in Bangkok, Thailand where The Husband was working. I loved those train trips as I spent many hours crocheting away listening to the clickety clack of the train on a track. Bangkok was a 1 hour and 50 minute flight away from Penang Island; a 22 hour slow train trip covered the same distance!

A year and a half ago, we all packed up to continue our adventures in Mumbai, India and two weeks before the container with our belongings was to be shipped to India, the company's sister office in South Africa requested The Husband to join them in Johannesburg. Aaaaack! I arrived in South Africa kicking and screaming since I had to withdrew myself from a highly interesting ethnographic research I had just committed to in Asia. 

Today we are packing up house once again. Just because you were born somewhere, doesn't mean you belong there. We don't belong in South Africa, we are Global Nomads feeling at ease where East meets West. We are returning to our beloved Middle East where we raised our family for 8 years prior to living in South East Asia. We experienced Dubai rising from the desert, we are off to Qatar to experience the same all over again. We are beyond excited, we love living in the middle of the world where a 2-3 hour flight takes one to the most amazing destinations imaginable! Iran, India, Turkey and Tibet; the world is my oyster.

Talking about oysters - I used to love wearing neutral shades of oyster, blush, nude and peach, and especially like the combination of these with silvery grey.  I have this major urge to  revamp not only my wardrobe to incorporate more of these lighter colours, but am thinking of hooking a throw for our new abode in the desert in neutrals too.  

This scarf (hmm, yip another scarf!) is hooked in Vinnis Nikkim 100% cotton yarn in Peach-558. I absolutely fell in love with the Vintage Fan Ripple stitch by Janis Cortese and might use the same stitch for a blanket in a vintage colour scheme in the future.  

Note: 

The pattern diagram on Ravelry indicates hdc as the foundation stitches of the fans - it should in fact be sc (US terminology).  Even though the symbols are incorrect, Janis describes the stitches correctly.

Drawings source links on Pinterest  

Print by Jacqueline Maldonado

Mielie!

Goeiemore, Good morning, Bonjour, Assalamu Alaikum, Hej, Hei, Dumela, Selamat Pagi, Namaste! 

The Afrikaans word for mealie/corn/maize is mielie. "Mielie" is the brainchild of Adri Schutz who established the design project in 2002 and involve underprivileged township women to create the designs. Mielie handbags are made employing the time consuming but sturdy hooked rug technique using cotton off cut strips, a by product from local cotton mills. These strips are woven in such a way that the surface looks like a "mielie"!

My latest bag - a Mielie bag designed by:

                                                                                         Photo courtesy of Mielie.com

You definitely want to browse the web for "Mielie Crochet" to take a look at the other handcrafted items the women produce too.  The Mielie website itself is not mobile or tablet friendly, but fire up your laptop if you want to read more about the Mielie Family and confirm whether the products are available from stockists in your country. 

Drooling over my bag, I immediately decided to hook a scarf to go with my bag during the winter months! 

I created my own mealie like edging by once again using the fabulous Bobble Border by Dover and Madden. Thank you again Vicki!

Don't you just love my bag and scarf?  I used various Vinnis Nikkim scraps for the circles and Vinnis Bambi (150 gr in colourway Cloud) to square the circles.  The pattern is by Little Woollie and one that I used for a scarf before. I used a hook size 4 although Bambi is better suited to at least a 5mm hook.  Have a nice week, I am busy hooking a few ornaments for the Baobab Christmas Tree. The cat can also not leave the tree alone and steals an ornament whenever I am not looking at him!

Competition time!

 

Do you want to win this scarf and brooch hooked out of the softest, most luxurious hand dyed bamboo yarn? Pop over to Woolhogs and enter Maryanne's popular monthly competition!

Yarn: Vinnis Serina in Slate, 150gr

Hook Size: 4mm

Pattern: Shell Crochet Scarf by Crochet Geek

Scarf hooked by Pigtails and the beautiful amigurumi brooch was designed and hooked by The Teen!

 

Cheers!

XXXXX

Spotty Dotty Scarf and a few Mauritius pics

Dotty Scarf

2,16 meters long

60 squares hooked

363 ends weaved in (Phew!!!)

Hooksize: 4mm

Yarn: Vinnis Nikkim Colours, 8 colours used 

Pattern: Squaring the US Treble circle

Joining: slip stitch

Edge: one round sc

Oh dear, I just showed the Teen my plan for the next project, a Shortie Shell Capelet designed by Kathy North and she said nooooooo, that is for old people!   Hmmm I am glad she still view me as young; I still like the pattern, but I will come up with a new idea such as hooking up a few of the squares I intend to do a throw in for the master bedroom.  I am thinking of squares in simple sc hooked in the round (Amigurumi style) alternated with a square in a mesh pattern. I bought one skein of yarn to see how it will hook up the idea before I indulge in a full shopping expedition. I am not sure yet whether I should take the plunge and use a wool/acrylic/tweed mix.  I prefer using 100% natural fibers in my work, but the learning curve implies being open towards other ideas . . . 

Below are a few scenes I snapped in Mauritius.  I am slow on the editing since I am frustrated between using Snapseed on the Ipad and the usual pixlr on the laptop.  I am too lazy to learn Photoshop properly. Ditto a few other decent programmes.  These pics are snapshots and in many instances I shot from the hip and enjoyed the surprise when I finally took a look at what exactly I captured. 

Have a great weekend and be sure to pop over to Enhabiten and OmaKoppa to view some briliant hooky work. Cheers!