Moroccan Wedding Throw

Weavings

Have you ever seen something and become obsessed and think about it all the time?

I have, on all three counts.

For me, it was a Moroccan Berber wedding blanket.

The handira (for that is what it is called) is woven out of sheep's wool, cotton, and linen. It is traditionally made by the wife-to-be and her female relatives. The blanket is used throughout the wedding ceremony and ultimately as the blanket the couple sleeps under on their first night of being husband and wife. Afterwards, the wife will wear it around her like a cape while traveling to her new home.

My heart beat a little faster when I saw one in a souk market in Marrakesh. I loved the look of neutral colors interspersed with bits of sequins and sparkles.

Except.

Except that it was pricey, starting from at least 1200 dirham (about $327) for a five-by-eight-foot blanket, and go up to 3200 Dh depending on the quality and intricacy of its design.

In my vocabulary, that was a cost equivalent to an arm and a leg and maybe a few other extremities.

But could I CREATE it myself?!!

And the answer?

It’s a wonderful, incredible, resounding YES.

Yes, my friend... YES, YOU CAN!

I looked at Pinterest pictures. And planned. And plotted how to climb the craft challenge mountain. And finally figured out how to make a dupe. 

By latch hooking. 

For those who may not be familiar with this craft, it is a simple process of tying short segments of yarn to the horizontal strands of a canvas grid. Emulating a Pottery Barn pattern, I latched brown diamond shapes and hooked vertical black segments and added pom poms. (I've designated myself the president of the Original Pom Pom Club, as you will learn in the next blog.) 

It was a project I poured every little bit of my heart into for about five months or so.

And then?

Incredibly.

Awesomely.

….I emerged victorious and showed that craft who was boss.

This throw gets the 'You Got This, Girl!' Award.

(To be continued)