Crochet basket and clutch purse with Elenna yarn

Here are a couple more experiments with Moda Vera Elenna yarn.

I designed a crochet clutch purse. It’s lined, has a zip, a strap, and two lines of decorative stitch on the front.

Purple crochet clutch purse held in a hand

Purple crochet clutch purse

I also made a small basket with a diagonal stripe based on instructions from Finnish crochet master, Molla Mills, from her book “Virkkuri” which I picked up on my recent trip.  It looks like her second book, “Virkkuri 2” just came out (once I work through the first book I’ll need to find some way to get a copy sent to Australia!).

Virkkuri crochet book by Molla Mills

Purple and white diagonal stripe crochet basket

Purple and white diagonal stripe crochet basket

I’m kicking myself for not buying some of the beautiful rag rug jersey yarn (known as “matonkude” in Finnish) on my travels. It was available in beautiful colours in many of the yarn shops I visited, sold by the kilo, in huge hanks, but I thought that it would weigh down and bulk up my luggage too much. I should have just bought a little for experimenting! There’s that yarn buyers regret again :)

The Elenna yarn is a handy (although thinner) substitute, but I’ve been playing with making my own tshirt yarn so I’ll post some experiments from that soon.

Oddly I haven’t spotted a 4 Seasons version of the Elenna yarn in Spotlight stores yet. I hope that’s not a sign that they’ll be discontinuing the yarn just as I’m discovering it! If you’ve spotted a 4 Seasons Elenna yarn, please add a comment below to let me know.

And I’m happy to report that my Elenna doily rug is holding up very well to wear!