Spring Styling

lifting the Winter spirits with a sneak preview on my colorful styling for the next issue of Gatherings, click here to read the latest issue.

also, have a look at this tribute to a woman who knitted more than 550 (!!) sweaters. it is really amazing and will put a smile on your face, guaranteed. isn't it fabulous how they are color coordinated?

In Progress

what a difference a week can make...

Last Week

hello, happy Monday to you!

some images from Instagram last week, with a lot of white I see now. lot´s of snow, Floyd happily enjoying it with me, happy mail and magazines, custom designing blankets, knitting a blanket, and some delicious latte´s.

how was your week? a fun project on your needles or hook?

Weekend: Snow, Yarn and Magazines

as you can see, we got a pretty new load of snow today ~ apart from the shoveling it is lots of fun and absolutely beautiful, magical. I was happy to receive more pretty tapes from Nelleke's shop simpel&leuk, both my magazine subscriptions arrived and the new baby blanket is coming along nicely. it is so nice to knit row by row, see how the blanket comes along naturally with the double strands in different colors. I love how the second row get's so much dept from the two tones of blue. thank you Sandra for sharing your experience with crocheting with double strands, I must try it now! by the way: if you love knitting, crochet, quilting and a beautiful blog, and don't know Sandra from Cherry Heart yet, you absolutely have to take a look here and admire her gorgeous latest pattern...

last but not least, today the 2013 Catania color card arrived, and I ordered all five new colors. can't wait to see them, show them to you, and work with them!

for now, have a lovely weekend, and stay warm. or cool, wherever you are.

Just some Pretty

with a million things on my mind, surrounded in to do lists and check lists that only seem to get longer, I am enjoying nature inside and out to try and clear my mind a little.

Notebook Inspiration

the most delightful notebooks, I ordered from my Instagram friend Tomy K who lives and works in Greece. 

their beautiful patterns and bright colors set me off for some color matching with fabric and yarn. 

oh the joy of matching!

I think the main theme here is adding black to the color scheme. something I have never done with my designs before, but these notebooks may give me just that little push I needed. when used in the right amounts, in combination with the right colors, they give a very bright and modern feel, almost fresh like Spring. thank you very much Tomy for these beautiful notebooks and inspiration!

click here to treat yourself or a friend to a set or two of these notebooks, available in two more designs.

decisions decisions...

New Baby Boy Blanket

a new blanket request for a baby boy arrived in my mailbox and I love it. but, as you know by now I love custom requests. honestly, this one is from a special friend and I am honored to be given the chance to make a blanket for her future baby boy. inspiration comes from here on the beautiful and never disappointing Purl Bee blog. a sample was quickly knit and decisions for the colors were easily made. my furry photography assistant and I had a little fun out on the deck in the snow, taking pictures of the progress.

the blanket will consist of 5 stripes, each 80 cm wide and 20 cm high, to make for a rather large 80x100 cm blanket. made of Catania cotton for a Spring baby boy, with colors ranging from deep navy blue to creamy white. double stranded, this knits of so thick and comfy! and it allows me to make up my own melee yarn, in the colors both the future mom and I love. I don't know why I never came up with the idea before of knitting with Catania this way before, as it is pure joy to knit with it in double strands. as I am typing, I wonder; have you ever crocheted with double strands? I would love to read about your experiences.

Last Week

it definitely is Winter in Canada now, we get lots of snow and a week of temperatures below zero. we love it. especially when the sun brings a visit, the light is just stunning and it puts a big smile on my face. Floyd is growing fast, and so is his curiosity. living with a puppy is a lot of fun, but also a lot of work haha. I am very happy with my subscription to the Swedish Lantliv magazine, it feels so special to read it overseas. I started knitting a baby boy blanket, of which you see a sample in the top left corner. more about that later this week.

for a little fun on Monday morning, have you met Mrs. Polly Rogers from 1965 yet? if not, it is about time. have a look on her blog here. for crafty inspiration, she has lots of ideas and video tutorials which are the finest ever. this one for example, a how-to on fuzzy felted balls. go have a look and smile!

Dutch Nursery in the USA

courtesy of the two nursery pictures: my friend L in Chicago

big reveal of the baby nursery set I made for our dear friends in Chicago. a total of 4 sheets, 3 large pillows, a little quilted cushion and drapery around the baby bed. made of fabric the mom and I carefully selected together, of the baby's dad's former favorite shirt, ultimate Dutch tile fabric, lovely ribbons with windmills, and Ikea sheets.

thank you very much again dear L for this lovely order, I truly enjoyed putting it all together and am very happy to see you love it too. for the rest of my life, when I see pictures of this set, I will be thinking back to a wonderful week together with the pregnant mama-to-be last summer, hours on whatsapp sending pictures and designs back and forth, and hours behind my cutting table and sewing machine, putting it all together.

I am quite proud of this set, totally in Dutch style with the colors of our flag, for a very special Dutch American baby boy.

happy weekend to you!

Gift from a Friend

pictures of the lovely wrapped and beautiful handmade dummy by Jenn from the lovely crochet blog Color 'n Cream. so nice how she picked the fabrics, and a little red-blue-white ribbon that looks the same as the Dutch flag. on the inside of both covers an envelope to keep little treasures. all for me!

and as you can see I started right away, filling it with joyful things like bits and pieces of Jenn's wrapping, and a lovely quote by Shannon Fricke that I wish not to forget. thank you very much Jenn for this lovely and unexpected gift! I will treasure it and use it for collages and creative ideas that are always spinning around in my mind.

if you'd like to make one of these beautiful books yourself, take a look here as Jenn wrote a tutorial for us!

Crochet Hot Water Bottle Cover

a little write up of the hot water bottle cover I made for Floyd. I wanted it to be closed, because his tiny puppy teeth would of course try to pull it off and play with it. as you can see in the picture, he has been a little rough on it already, chewing the ends and biting it. due to the dense single crochet, the cover stays firm. it is so funny to see him try to pull it out of his crate to play with, while it is too heavy for him to lift.

I made this cover out of a washable 50% cotton 50% acrylic yarn, on hook size 5 mm. My guide was the beautiful photo tutorial Vanessa made on her pretty blog. the essential difference between hers and mine is where they start and end. the one I made starts with the closing end, and then works all away around the bottle in one piece; that will be crocheted together along the side edges later. to make it close firmly, I sewed in some velcro (klitteband, voor de Nederlandse lezers).

keep in mind that this pattern fits a regular sized hot water bottle when crocheted with this yarn, and my tension. when your version seems a little tight or loose, please adjust the pattern accordingly. to find out, fit the cover regularly to see if it still is the right size. most yarns will give a little, so you can make it pretty tight around the edges.

Hot Water Bottle Cover ~ The Pattern

* make a chain of 30 stitches

* make 87 rows of single crochet; the complete pattern is made of single crochet stitches

* start decreasing to make the top of the bottle a little curved: row 88 decreases 3 stitches by making no chain for the height of this row, crocheting together the first two stitches of the row, and two at the end. you now have 27 stitches

* row 89: decrease the same way as row 88, you now have 24 stitches

* row 90: decrease 3 stitches, you now have 21 stitches

* row 91: decrease 3 stitches, you now have 18 stitches

* row 92: decrease 3 stitches, you now have 15 stitches

* row 93: decrease 3 stitches, you now have 12 stitches

* row 94 + 95: 12 stitches of single crochet

* row 96: increase by 2 stitches (increase by making 2 single crochet in one stitch), one at the beginning and one at the end. you now have 14 stitches

* row 97: increase 2 stitches, you now have 16 stitches

* row 98: increase 2 stitches, you now have 18 stitches ~ this should match the height and width of the top of the bottle

* row 99-109: rows of 18 stitches to go around the top

* row 110: decrease with 2 stitches, you now have 16 stitches

* row 111: decrease with 2 stitches, you now have 14 stitches

* row 112: decrease with 2 stitches, you now have 12 stitches

* row 113 + 114: 12 stitches

* row 115: increase 3 stitches, you now have 15 stitches

* row 116: increase 3 stitches, you now have 18 stitches

* row 117: increase 3 stitches, you now have 21 stitches

* row 118: increase 3 stitches, you now have 24 stitches

* row 119: increase 3 stitches, you now have 27 stitches

* row 120: increase 3 stitches, you now have 30 stitches

* row 121-138: 30 stitches of single crochet

if needed, sew in the velcro. fit the cover around the bottle and if it is a good fit, start crocheting the sides together with single crochet stitches.

the F on this cover was embroidered onto it after it was finished

enjoy!

as you can see, Floyd is watching me closely while I take my pictures. and he let's me know when it is time to play again by softly biting my socks or pants. he is such good company, we are having a lot of fun together!