When you meet Anneke from Crochet in Paternoster .....

.... well, it has happened (almost a couple of weeks ago, in Cape Town!) ...

... you can have a lovely afternoon of nice talking and laughing : for me was magical to meet her, after knowing each other for a while through Crochet in Paternoster and Ons Hekel (a crochet closed group, founded by Stel from Haak-en-stekie ).

As you can see from the above picture, Anneke and I exchanged some gifts (crochet related!!!), and in my beautiful basket (crocheted by Anneke!) I found the followings ....

It was like Christmas for me!!! I was so happy to receive some precious South African cottons (from Moya and Nurturing Fibres ) and 3 balls of t-shirt yarns + a 12mm wooden hook !!!!
When back in Maputo, I had to start something with the t-shirt yarn, as I never used it before : very very curious !!!

The first idea I came up with was : a bag!!!  So, I started to browse in various Japanese crochet books until I found the right pattern for my purpose and I started my new adventure ...

I like many things about t-shirt yarn :
- its elasticity
- its sheen
- because of its thickness, the project grows quickly

The only thing that left me down, I think because I'm a real beginner with this kind of fiber, it was that my fingers were "soring" after a while I was crocheting.... you have to see me how I was "stubbing" the stitches when inserting the hook .... I was laughing (and sweating!) a lot, believe me!!!!
The original pattern was calling for two spikes forming an upside-down "V", but I opted for a single spike, instead, because of the thickness of the yarn and I simply preferred the "brick effect" given ...

Even Margot liked to play with these yarns ....

Little by little, the bag was growing and my excitement was so high ...

.... and a couple of days ago, the bag came alive ....

So big, bold, chunky : madly in love with this gorgeous bag!!!!
It measures 46cm (base) x 37cm
I'm curious to know even the weight ..... !!!!!! ;oD


The last pictures ....

Thank you Anneke, I really appreciated the t-shirt yarn and the challenge to crochet something with that !!!
I still have some leftovers and some royal blue to try .... !!!!! ;oD

xxxx Alessandra

Simple crochet ...

Another Japanese crochet book, all about cushions …

…. and I "need" 4 flat cushions for the chairs around our dining table, so I tried the pattern of the yellow flower, on the right of the book cover ….

The chairs are covered in white heavy cotton fabric, so I can play with colours as I wish, but I'm thinking that this pattern is even good for some wall decorations…. so I'm still pondering what use is better for those flowers-to-be !!! ;oD


I'm still putting some order in my stuff and in a box I found 5 granny squares I crocheted a while ago, when still in Jakarta …. what to do with them?
Luckily I still have some balls of the colourful acrylic yarns I was using in Indonesia, so I decided to use some bright colours to join the squares into a little basket …

…. that is nice even on the top of the wooden cat !!! Not useful, but nice !!! ;oD


Last thing ….

…. a big project that Margot is in love with, too !!!!
I really appreciate that, but this doesn't make my job easier, you know …. !!!!

xxxx, Alessandra

A little crochet net bag

… I found an easy pattern (with chart!) to follow in this book ..

The picture of the bag was on page 12 …

The chart of the bag with a rectangular base (the dark blue bag in the above picture) was on pages 52/53, so …

I picked a 3mm hook and some cotton thread in navy blue and in bright yellow and, simply following the chart, this is what I came out with …

I love the contrast between the base and the body of the mini bag : 23cmx22cm (not considering the handles) : do you think the same, or not ??

The only differences from the original pattern/chart are minimal :

• instead of one colour, two !!!
• I added and extra round of single crochets to end the bag body, as last round
• with the yellow thread, I added some slip stitches to embellish both the handles and the top of the bag, as you can see …

xxxx, Alessandra

I think I have a kind of love for crochet net bags, as you can see here, here, here  and here !!!! ;oD

Today Links : Craft Schooling Sunday and Link your Stuff!

Another gift and ...

The husband (and colleague of Paolo) of a dear friend of mine is arriving today in Maputo for a work meeting. He is bringing in his luggage lots of food for our kitty Margot, who needs a specific diet because of her thyroid problems …

So as a big thank you, I crocheted a colourful scarf for my dear friend (her husband, instead, will enjoy a homemade dinner by us!) …

I worked with a 4mm hook with some MERINO MIX by Katia and some WASH'n'WEAR from Sirdar.
The pattern (again!) is from a Japanese crochet book (shown in pictures) and the pattern is #19 !

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…. and then some news …
We have to move in a new flat in a couple of weeks……
…. so I'm packing again….. not nice, I tell you …. even because we are moving in a temporary apartment, that is furnished…. so our furniture has to be stored in another place, while we'll have some luggages with stuff good until the end of June …. after that, another move in the final destination…
I"M TIRED !!!!

Not happy with a lots of things around here…..
Even the continuous black outs and internet problems (my daily routine)….

All that to say that you will not hear from me for a while…. sigh….
…. and I'm not sure if homemade@myplace has any future here in Mozambique….

At the moment I don't have the time or the right concentration to write on my little blog….
I don't know what to say….

I love you all and thank you !!!!
I hope to ….

P.S. : the custom at the airport has confiscated all the food for Margot …. I have no words left… some tears, yes ...