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!
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Colours, Culture and Whatnot ~ Snapshots for Inspiration #2

Shortly after I wrote in my last post that I sometimes wonder if I can translate something I see into a crochet pattern, I came across this wall painting. Wow! I can easily see how I could translate this into a work of crochet... Actually, I might do just that sometime. This pattern has been on my to do list for quite a while and I really like these colours. It would be a perfect selfmade souvenir.

In Lampang these birds and flowers brighten up a temple wall. Simply love it.

Despite - our should I say due to? - its colourful attire this rabbit looks unhappy, don't you think?

I can see these tiles turning into an amazing crochet throw - colours, pattern, edging & all. What do you think?

The temples are so colourful...

 Love the colours of these noodles. Turmeric, I suppose.

Colourful lanterns are everywhere...

Gorgeous light in the early (well, not that early...) morning.



Thanks for your visit. Hopefully till soon!

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Colours, Culture and Whatnot ~ Snapshots for Inspiration #1

Thanks for the kind comments on my travel blanket! I haven't had the opportunity to give a reaction to the comment, but I will soon.

I use my phone and camera often to make a snapshot of what strikes or inspires me. Whether at home or while travelling. It can be anything really: a colour - or a combination of colours, forms, texture, an (often not intended) styling, light - or shadows, a book or even the pavement. The pictures in itself don't have any artistic pretention. ;-) Sometimes I wonder if can 'translate' something I like into a crochet pattern. Ha!

Today, and later this week, I will share just a few of these shots here.

Colours...

Shadows...

The print of my dress corresponded with the shadows in the gorgeous CM University Art Center. I tried to blend in. ;-)

Thanks for dropping by ~ see you soon!

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PS. Does anybody know what the name of that pink flowered tree is in the first collage? I'm quite smitten with it...)

Travel Blanket

Imagine... A sleepy provincial Thai town... An old wooden house, traditionally build with an elevated ground floor... The sun is about to set... Inside is breezy... But still it's hot... You hear the crickets chirping... Muffled voices from outside... The clattering of pans from the neighbouring house... In your simple teak room - lovingly decorated with local antiques - the swooshing of the fan ceiling...

Okay, got the picture? 'Cause this is the setting in which I present to you... My travel blanket!

Details
Yarn ~ Rio cotton from Lammy Yarns (which I usually use for my doilies, this was my first bigger project with it). The Rio includes one ball of blue/grey variegated cotton. I also used one colour from Hema (a Dutch shop) and one from Catania. Unfortunately I don't have the colour numbers available here...
Hooksize ~ 3.5 mm
Pattern ~ solid granny squares (if you google it you'll find many patterns for it), 64 in total (8x8 squares). I sewed them together front sides held together, then sewed the inner thread of the stitches together.
Edging ~ a simple picot edging in a shell-esque pattern. I like the result because it softens the austere character of the solid squares - without compromising on the overall squareness. ;-)
Blocking ~ I didn't, because I'm on the road!

I'm glad I was foreseeing to take quite some natural white yarn with me... I really needed it to complete the blanket! As you can see I still have some yarn left, which I didn't use because I wanted this blanket to be square. Also I wanted to use the bright pink to spice the blanket up, but I had too little of it to make it work. Travel doilies coming up, I guess...

As the sun was about to set the pictures are a bit dark. In the morning the colours are a bit brighter. Anyways... I hope you like it and I'll try to be back soon, because there are quite some yarny travel tales to share. Many thanks for visiting & take care!
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