Crochet Update

some crochet news for you

straight from my design table

~ smile ~

after numerous designs on paper

I was finally satisfied and started the Miami Beach blanket

~ note: the dark yarn in the blanket is not black, but that beautiful dark navy blue that I love so much ~

I love how the swirls of color pop out

they remind me of ice cream at the beach...

meanwhile we are facing another snow-slush-rain fall and strong wind here in Canada

perfect weather for crochet 

and more designing

~ if you ask me ~ 

how are you this Wednesday?

New Friends

after three weeks of travelling, joy and real life hugs

my parents fly back to Europe

our home will be a lot more empty

well empty...

let me introduce you to my new friends

this cute kite boy on a lamp stand

all made of wood, I think from the fifties

a large horse that can use a refreshing haircut

and little miss red cap, holding her purse and my tape dearly ~ with many thanks to Ana

with these eggs, Easter sneaked into our home too

I found the eggs at the local thrift store

not just a few, but a vase full

pure joy to me

and smiling back at me from the kitchen table

while I dream of seeing our families again later this year...

Finished Scarf

hope you are enjoying your weekend so far

in my world, it is again time for 'yay' for a finish

the silk scarf is ready to wear!

I love the soft colors and delicate feel of it

I crocheted a little scallop border to both ends

taking pictures of such a long item is not that easy

I tried to take a picture of myself wearing the scarf

and I am also proudly showing you the new creJJtion labels

100% cotton and I love them

loads of them, waiting to be sewn onto finished creJJtions

this scarf being the first

~

wishing you a lovely weekend

More Inspiration

when we got back from Florida

I looked at my stash of cotton joy and started combining colors

I could do this every day

matching an art deco wall in Miami Beach with birthday candles, Japanese paper and yarn

trying to catch that warm breeze in a baby blanket

with eye for detail

and of course, color

hardly any text this time, just pictures and color

 I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Inspirational Miami

thank you all for the lovely comments on the new baby blanket

I can not tell you enough how supporting your comments are and how I read them over and over again

~

now, about Miami

I totally and completely underestimated the size of this city and it's island Miami Beach

now I know that in the past 120 years this city grew from 170 to 5.500.000.000 people

and can totally understand why this city is so large

let me tell you a story about this pretty yarn from Miami

when I did my research about the city, I wondered how much knitting and crochet would be 'a thing' there

I mean, regarding the fact that to me it is always summer there

well, I can tell you this, I found The Knitting Garden owned by the lovely Annie and Virginia

where skeins of yarn in beautiful colors

are winded automatically into pretty balls to knit or crochet with

where just knit  is not just a nice saying on the wall

but actually practised literally

at this large table you see on the left

as soon as you walk into the shop you are automatically drawn to this table

where lovely ladies tell stories of their lives, share pictures of the cutest little babies, and knitting ideas

if I lived closer, I wonder whether I would spend more time at home or at this table...

in the middle of all this Southern temperament and warmth

but I don't live close, so I found another solution to take some of this warmth and comfort home with me

I lay down some of the yarn on the large table

and within five minutes the ladies asked me: what are you making with those?

you guessed my answer: a baby blanket

another five minutes later, the group of ladies had decided: the colors were very Miami

and the dark brown had to be added in order to give it the right 'pop'

~

my mom and I left the shop with six balls of Rowan cotton, a story to tell, a place to remember and ...

a referral to a great Cuban restaurant and a list of courses we had to order there, to get the full experience

and guess what, we did ~ and we had a perfect dinner with my dad

thank you again ladies!

so here I am 

back in Canada, in front of the fire place wearing a scarf

looking at the Miami inspired yarn and feeling the warmth, with itchy hands to start a new blanket...

Finished Blanket

this morning the sun was hiding

I got my new sharpies out and started designing

letters for the name on the baby blanket

a special request from my client for this blanket: baby's name

after designing comes crocheting ~ and the never happy joy of weaving in the ends

I embroidered the letters on the blanket

out came the sun

and I finished my job ~ I must say, the name came out exactly as I hoped

and I am very satisfied with the result

are you ready for  the reveal?

well.... here it is!

bright and shiny

my newest creJJtion

Lieke's baby blanket

on a side note: I am proud to tell you

that after many friendly requests for my patterns and blankets

I am now in the process of opening the creJJtion webshop...!

~ so exciting ~

more about that later

I am off for some more sunshine before we head back to the Canadian winter...

At the Beach...

this week

my parents took me with them to Florida

what an experience: summer in the winter

I feel blessed

we are enjoying the sun

and the beautiful and inspiring colors at every street corner in Miami

at the beaches

and the art deco hotels and homes

I finished the baby blanket with a pink scallop edging

and it matches my new J.Crew shorts

flowers are everywhere and very pretty

the blanket awaits one more addition: baby's name will be on there soon

but first we are off to enjoy a little more sun, beach and color...

~

of course I took tons of pictures, stay tuned for more colors and Miami-inspired yarn from a beautiful shop

wishing you a very happy Sunday

Embroidery

one more book I took with me from the library

about freestyle embroidery ~ for beginners, which is me

recently I found this massive bundle of color joy in a thrift store for a few dollars

all DMC and J.&P. Coats embroidery floss

and besides enjoying the color feast

I like to make something of it one day

may be decorate shoes with it

but I will probably have to start with simple exercises first

to get the techniques

the lazy-daisy stitch for example

sounds perfect to me ~ smile

are you into embroidery at all?