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4.4.15

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.  

byHaafner, crochet, JungleVine, yarn,
This is the skein I received.

byHaafner, crochet, JungleVine, yarn, skein
Beautiful, isn't it?
Let's do a closeup. ;-)

byHaafner, crochet, JungleVine, yarn, skein
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:

byHaafner, crochet, JungleVine, yarn, skein
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.

byHaafner, crochet, JungleVine, yarn,













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:

byHaafner, crochet, JungleVine, natural fibre, bag, Breezy Bag

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

byHaafner, crochet, JungleVine, natural fibre, bag, Breezy Bag


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!

10 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. I am very happy I am winner. Thak You!!!!!

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  3. Replies
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    2. Hello Annamaria,

      Thank you so much, I'm glad you like it!

      Thanks for your visit!

      Haafner

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  4. Cute! That cotton yarn is the perfect touch!
    Kate :}

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    1. Thanks so much for your visiti and kind words Kate!
      Have a lovely weekend,
      Haafner

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  5. Can you please share where you get the Kudzu vine? Love it!
    Cindy

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    1. Hi Cindy,

      Glad you love it too. ;-) You can order the Kudzu vine (aka JungleVine) by sending an email to service@naturebag.org, since it's not listed in their webshop (yet). They have all further information for you and will be glad to help.

      Have fun working with it!

      All best, Haafner

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