Creating a half doily rug...

When I first said... "I want to try out crocheting a half doily rug" ... I was told that this is not the easiest thing... there's going to be a few challenges... but I thought, hey... if I could find a pattern then what could be so difficult... I will just follow the pattern very closely!... 

So eventually I found Mona's pattern from "Love2Bloom" and happily I started crocheting exactly what was said in her pattern tutorial...  
I had a day off from work and my mum came to visit - we had a wonderful 'holiday' day next to the pool... she reading and I working on my half doily rug ...

A few rows into the pattern I realized that Mona used clothesline and I was trying out the same pattern with T shirt yarn and a 12mm hook... so I had to increase more than in her pattern... 
I also found that the straight edge at the bottom turns out not to be so straight after a few rows - thus I improvised a few straight rows at the bottom with single crochet and half treble crochet to try and make the edge more neat.  I ended the bottom edge with crab stitch which I think makes a lovely trimming.
Another challenge was that the rug turned out being a little to small for what I wanted to use it for and I added a few extra rows.

Eventually I was very satisfied with the end product and the fact that I did it all in one day - well actually this is not 100% true - I couldn't wait to start the rug - so I put in an hour or two the previous night :)  But if you have one day to dedicate to this rug - it will definitely be possible to finish.

I just read Mona's newest blog entry about her self taught Mindful stitch.  She says that this stitch creates a tight fabric ideal for cross stitching or embroidery - both of which I would love to try out!  
So here I go.... 

My first T yarn rug

I am so very excited - my first T shirt yarn rug is finished :)

Initially I ended up not having enough red yarn to finish him off.




I've been waiting a week or 2 for the yarn shop to receive a new batch T yarn, just to realise that there was no red yarn included. So I decided to end off with a scallop edge in a slightly darker red that I had. I am very satisfied with the end result!




My husband has just finished making his second pair of shoes and I took some pictures of it on my new rug...

Colorful winter crochet...

I read about a wonderful shawl by Sabrina from donnarossa.ch... named the 'Sweetness and light shawl'.

In her blog entry about this shawl she asks "What’s your favorite accessory in this season? Is it colorful? What do you prefer, more wintry or a bright color?"...

I immediately thought of my Japanese flower scarf that I'm crocheting.  I love this flower image that I found at mycraftylittlemoments.blogspot.

I found a multicolored Katia yarn named "Katia Darling" (pure merino wool color208) from my favourite yarn shop close by Thimbles.  

And so I started with my 2mm crochet hook...

This multicolored yarn makes for lots of fun... as each flower takes on its own unique color scheme...

... and so my Japanese flower scarf grew flower by flower... sometimes during a visit to a coffee shop...

... in between flowers I put some steam to them so that their petals would relax, as I was advised by more experienced crochet ladies from a facebook crochet group...

My Japanese flower crochet went with when we visited the Elgin open gardens .... :)

... and now this scarf is nearly a third way done... and thus my answer to Sabrina... I love these vibrant colors for a winter scarf!!
Holding thumbs that when winter comes to the southern hemisphere this year my scarf will be ready to cheer me up! 

Craft share at the Book Lounge

I had quite a busy day yesterday ... but luckily all had were creative fun! My favourite way to spend a day!  After a wonderful crochet workshop in the morning... I set off to the craft share at The Book Lounge in Roeland street in Cape Town... It is always so inspiring to sit and work on my crochet work along with other creatives...

It is always wise not to take with something new that asks for a lot of concentration... as conversations are ongoing in between all the knitting and crocheting and quilting...  I worked on my little pebbles from Blouberg beach...  Anneke inspired me when she on her overseas travelings collected small pebbles from a beach in Italy and crocheted them into necklaces for friends back home...
These are a few that I have already tried out... mine being from a well known beach in Cape Town and to be send to some of my friends staying overseas...

I was so excited to meet two wonderful ladies at the craft share...

Sabrina a lady from Switzerland who visits Cape Town regularly during this time of year to pursue her love for kite surfing and paragliding... but what made her even more interesting is her passion for knitting! Her website is so beautifully done!  It is so worth a visit!

June from 'Planet June' was also so friendly and as a British lady having lived in Canada for 7 years and now being in Cape Town for another 2 years... has a very interesting story of loving to crochet and establishing 'Planet June' where she shares her passion for crocheting little lovelies and creating and selling the prettiest patterns!

On my way home I could not resist a quick musing in between the books at the Book Lounge... and discovered these beauties... little Roger la Borde note books covered with the paper sculptures images of Su Blackwell...

My very first doily rug...

With quite a few 'works in progress' the desire to crochet my first doily rug with T shirt yarn became so strong that I could not resist! Telling myself that it would not take that long... as the T shirt yarn and the 12mm crochet hook will help this project to be completed in no time :) ... thus I started a few days ago ... and as I love doily patterns it was so exciting to see how it unfolded...

The inspiration for this doily rug came from Anneke who makes the most beautiful T shirt yarn rugs... and this specific pattern is from Sara's blog.

So thus far I've got with this doily when I ran out of T shirt yarn... ooo learning a lesson in planning better in how much yarn is needed for a project! I found another red in this yarn, not the same but may be if I unravel the last round of scallops and crochet the rest of the pattern with the darker shade of red that I've found... then maybe it could work...

I'm holding thumbs that this darker shade of red will still be in the woolshop when I visit them tomorrow!

Moving forward into 2014...

I've been really busy lately... well actually the whole of last year! ... Things often feel out of control... Me barely hanging on... Yet it is reassuring to know that lots of people have this very same feelings ... Time flying and us trying to keep up...

I am so grateful to have had a few days now at the end of 2013 for contemplation... for a little bit of quiet time... for some stillness to seep into my being... to calm down... to recollect...

A new years wish of a friend included the wish of 'movement' and it resonated instantly...  For me the continuous moving forward... falling into the 'next step'... not being held back by fear... but making fear the first step of faith...  For me - an ongoing exploration of that that lies close to my heart... To keep on listening to my hearts wishes... to live fully ... to have fun with things that excite me... and to share this joy!
I would love to surround me with like minded people... this is so amazing... this is so encouraging on our life path... and I'm feeling so thankful to have encountered quite a few over the previous year... for this I feel blessed...  I really hope that I can bring of this same joy to others...

There you are... two kinds of going forward... the hurry to get all things in our outer life done vs the moving  forward within you inner lifes...
I wish for you that you will find the balance and that your focus on what lies close to your heart will bring you the energy and wisdom to deal with all the demands from you outer life!

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk to bloom" -Anaïs Nin

Thanks so much Henk for sharing this picture - Gerhard Richter "Woman Descending the Staircase" Oil, 1965 - and reminding me of the movement in my life...