The first side of the new OYA scarf

So I quickly finished the 1st side, starched it, and then took photos to put up for my lovely fellow readers to see. You can see what I meant before about the scarf being lovely, and for some reason I don't think a flat 2d type oya would have gone as well as a 3d oya would with this one.  I didn't use Altin Basak for this one as my new nylon threads came a couple of days ago they're called "Ozen is" -said 'ozen ish' and its great, really like it, excellent pull and doesn't twirl.  This oya is called hanimeli, however there are 2 versions of this oya.  One does actually look like a ladies hand (hanim= woman, eli= hand) however this one is the actual flower version which I believe is called a honey suckle.  The intermitant motif is often called maydonoz or cimen, which is parsley or grass, so I'm gathering in this instance its grass lol. 

It's really time consuming and I guess I'm going to price this one between 50 and 60 AUD, which I think is fair.  The most time consuming thing is having to make 4 petals and then making the stamens aswel, I hate stamens lol.  Usually I'll finish one side with the 1st row and then complete the flowers on it,  that way I don't get bored doing the same thing over and over again.  Anyway 3 sides to go!  Wish me luck!!

I love a good towel..And a good edging!

I think theres nothing better than going into somebodys house and finding a beautiful towel edging attatched to a soft cotton towel.  I definately think that you can enhance the look of ANY bathroom by adding a nice colourful edging to a towel thats well displayed.  Usually if an Igne Oyasi towel edging is made, they have a crochet part to it aswel, this part is sewn onto the towel to allow the owner to change the edging to a different towel if they wanted to.  Although some people prefer to do Igne Oyasi on the actual edge of the towel, I think either way is fine! Enjoy!

Igne Oyalar From The Net

None of the work posted here is mine.  Nor do I take credit for it, these are merely for me to pass onto you for ideas and inspiration.  Enjoy!!

I've done one of these motifs before, Its one of the 1st motifs I ever learned, if i was to do any sort of tutorial on my blog, this is the one I'd teach.  Its simple and beautiful.

These look like christmas trees lol

This is a hand towel edging, of which I looked at and am in the process of making. 

This is a "namaz ortu" or "prayer covering"  the motif here is called "benli" or "spots" and on this scarf only one side is done with oya and usually its something huge as you can see above.

Cute and simple

I haveeee to make this! Its so cute!

Ahh the beloved 3d oya scarf, beautiful isnt it?

Suprisingly not as hard as it looks

Violets!

So many people blogging about OYA

So I was just looking through google, it seems like everyone and their dog wants to learn how to do oya loll.  I believe I wouldnt have been able to get to where I am today without a whole load of time on my hands and someone else to teach me.  I think its a bit adventurous to try and learn something that has no patterns and no actual way of teaching except through another person who actually knows this art.  If you have a load of time on your hands and you're persistant in trying to learn this artform, then I say good on you!  Although for Tig Oyalar (crochet oya) I suppose anyone with a crocheting background can in a way figure out how to do the patterns.  Mekik Oyalar (Tatted oya) is easy for anyone who knows how to tat, because in retrospect you can just make up your own patterns with rings and chains or whatever, you can even go that one step further and mix 2 types of oya together eg: crochet and tatting, where you'd make your base as crochet and tat flowers to attach to it, or the other way around.  I hope to find the time to show you all some of my experimentations in the near future.

On another note, how hot is Manu from dancing with the stars? lol

Scarves and their Oya edgings

This is a collection of Oya scarves that I have made, and that my mother in law has made.  I will update these regularly with pictures of my various other projects. Enjoy!!

My pride and joy, my first oya scarf:  this is a silk scarf I bought, and I couldn't start it until my shipment of nylon thread came from turkey.  It is made with green and orange thread, and green turkish glass beads.  It took me about 3 weeks to finish it, even though i believe it would have taken less time if I didn't have so much to do outside my craft time.  My inspiration came from one of my mother in laws scarves that I have in a box in the spare room.

This is my mother in laws work of which i took inspiration for my 1st oya scarf. 

This is my mother in laws work also, of which I cant seem to figure out how she put it all together, I'm sure one day she'll teach me!

This is a tulip, done with a light mauve colour, this piece is incomplete and as with any incomplete piece I will post pictures of them when they are completed.

I decided to do this oya on this particular scarf as it was very plain and only two colours (blue and white) so I didnt have much to work with.  This scarf is also incomplete and I will post the complete version when I've got around to finishing it.

Firkete or "Hairpin" oya.  this oya is called "broom" and its actually quite simple once you get the overall hang of it.  Its made with Pink and Purple thread and since i didnt have a spare hairpin, i just used a coat hanger! lol

My first 3d oya scarf.  I decided to go with the theme of the scarf which was flowers so I made a 4 petal flower with brown edging to match the scarf.  This piece is also incomplete.

Mix crochet/sequins scarves

Mix crochet/sequins





Igne oyasi with beads

Igne Oyasi :)

The full scarf.

The blog overhaul

So I decided to redo the blog and start afresh considering I have new things and new ideas etc, from now on I'll be focusing on my knowledge of the Turkish handcraft part of my crafting abilities with the addition of a few other things here and there.  So recently I've been indulging in the art of Igne Oyasi, which I'm still not exactly and expert on, however I know enough to get me through.  Igne Oyasi is the name of Turkish needle lace which adorns the scarves, towels, bed sheets etc of Turkish womens homes.  They are often given as presents on wedding days as a trousseau.  Igne oyasi is just one of many "oyas" there is also Tig Oyasi (Crochet oya,) Boncuklu Oyasi (Bead oya,) and Mekik oyasi (Shuttle/tatted oya.)  And I will be giving an example of each in this blog.  If you don't already know, I am not Turkish, I am Lebanese however my partner is Turkish and he informed me of all this about a year and a half ago when I was just a beginner and somewhat ignorant to this brilliant art form.  I have had no patterns to learn from, and basically taught myself how to make the oya, except I guess I also in somewhat of a way thank my mother in law for helping me, from all the things she left here the last time she was in Australia.  The bad thing about this art form is that there are really no patterns that you can follow, unless you have a basic knowledge and can follow mere basic motifs in the book "Osmanli'dan gunumuze oyalar."  However I have seen extracts of this book, and if I didnt have a basic knowledge of Oya lace, im sure I wouldn't be able to complete half of the projects in there.  I won't be providing patterns (sorry if you thought i was going to go out of my way to take 70 photographs for the one project :(  ) however I'd like you to share with my me projects and appreciate the time I have spent making them.  I don't mind helping you with your queries, so feel free to ask if you need any help.  The name of this blog is CouchCrochetCrumbs, and I named it that because I started with crochet first, I knew nothing of Oya until a year ago.  So even though I still have alot to learn, enjoy my journey of discovering more with me! Happy blogging!