Easter Crochet Doilies

after having seen this gorgeous little doily on numerous blogs and websites for quite a while, I was delighted to see the cover of this book Crochet Living by Nicki Trench recently. I must have been hiding under a stone not having found this earlier, and I ordered right away.

then the fun part started; selecting colours for my own Easter version of these doilies. I used my stash of left over Catania yarns, cotton instead of wool and a slightly lighter weight than the recommended Debbie Bliss baby cash merino yarn. adding yellow to the selection was new to me and I still have to get used to it haha, but Easter without yellow seemed odd to me.

I loved making them, playing with colours and the pattern is very well written and rather simple. they recommend to block the final doily, but I actually like those scallops popping up so I'll leave them like this. up next, maybe some matching egg cozies?

have you been thinking about decor for Easter lately? any crochet plans included?

Last Week

another week has gone by and unintentionally I didn't blog. days seem to pass by like hours… 

I am enjoying them greatly though, in good company and with lovely weather. a little bit of Spring cleaning and de-cluttering here and there feels good. fixing the sleeve Floyd chewed a bit was easier and quicker done than I thought. fun times exploring new places and spaces in Den Bosch, taking the blossoms all in, and crocheting up some Easter themed pastel doilies. the pattern is from the lovely book Crochet Living by Nicki Trench, one of my favourite designers. it's a book made with Debbie Bliss yarn and the doilies are named Dashing Doilies. the colour possibilities are endless, I love them.

I will try to arrange a blog post about the doilies and Den Bosch this week. 

But first I'll enjoy a latte in the sunny backyard. Life is good!

xo

Last Week

top left and image below: De vier mennekes ~  top right and bottom left De Zinkenviool

last week was all about family time, good laughs, eating cake, celebrating a birthday, sunny days of Spring, going out for dinner and some shopping. getting totally distracted from your daily life is good for inspiration and clearing your mind. it gives you new perspectives and ideas, I love it.

back to normal now, ready for a new week of Spring and trying to work the inspiration from last week into projects and designs. and another latte, please!

images I took at the beautiful shops De Zinkenviool and De vier mennekes

have a lovely week yourself

De Zinkenviool

Update: Flowers and Crochet

 a little midweek update. Spring flowers for you and a scrap-project in the making, I'm thinking a cover of some sort. let's see where the scraps take me.

happy day to you!

xo

Spring Magazine

what can I say, over the last few days Spring has kicked in here in The Netherlands. or is it Summer? with temperatures close to 20c we can do nothing else but go outside and enjoy it while it lasts. we enjoyed it so much with friends, I sort of forgot to take pictures haha. that's when you know you're really taking it all in, right.

together with this amazing Spring weather the new issue of Gatherings Magazine was launched, perfect timing! read all about craft, decor and shopping tips for this Spring in the new issue, a preview is to be found here. and because you are my lovely blogfriends, I am even allowed to offer you a fabulous 10% off on all orders, both digital and print. just enter BLOGFRIEND at checkout. isn't that the perfect start of Spring?

aside from the weather, last week the new Ontario blanket pattern went online, I am working on new pattern designs and crocheting a flower square here and there for the cushion cover. 

enjoy your new week!

xo

New Crochet Pattern

and there it is: a brand new crochet pattern. the Ontario Baby Blanket. totally made up in the new style I have been working on for months. it includes lots of pictures with clear how-to's, both left and right handed. a detailed row by row guide to make this baby blanket. it is a lot larger than the ones I made before. upon request from you, this new design measures about 90x75 cm, 35x30 inches. that means it is not only suitable for babies, but also for toddlers and small children. even as a lap blanket for grown ups it works well!

the colours make this blanket suitable for both girls and boys. the Catania cotton makes this a very washable and bright item to use and to keep for years. can you tell I am in love with this blanket?!

in the coming weeks I will work on updating all existing patterns in my shop to this new standard. I am very happy to share all the crochet knowledge I have with you through this pattern first, and the rest to follow. 

the crochet kit, pattern + yarn, will be available somewhere next week when the new shipment comes in. even the finished blanket is for sale, if you're interested please send me an email.

happy weekend and very happy crocheting!

link to the Ontario Baby Blanket

link to the creJJtion pattern shop

xo

Crochet Popcorn Flower Update

a little update on the popcorn flower squares. there are 8 now, exactly halfway the front of a little cushion cover for our newly upholstered midcentury chair. we choose a tweed fabric with grey, green and blue tones. I must say the popcorn flowers match perfectly. in the image above, the flower squares are positioned on the smallest cushion I have. although I think even that one is still too large for the 4x4 flower squares pattern. 5x5 is too large for sure and I don't plan to make a large of cushion for this little chair. I'll probably end up making the inner cushion a little smaller.

the flowers are coming together slowly but surely and I think joining them with the grey yarn will be very nice. the back will probably be made of fabric, but let's not get too much ahead of things.

the flowers are made with alterations to this pattern. my version of it:
* make 2 US UK chain in between the popcorns instead of 3. NL haak 2 losse tussen de popcorns in plaats van 3
* the edging is made of 3x 2 US half double crochet UK half treble crochet in between the last round of popcorns. NL de rand bestaat uit 3x 2 halve stokjes tussen de popcorns van de laatste ronde.
* in the corners: US half double crochet, double crochet, chain 2, double crochet, half double crochet. UK half treble crochet, treble crochet, chain 2, treble crochet, half treble crochet. NL in de hoeken haak je een half stokje, stokje, 2 losse, stokje, half stokje

by making the edging of half double crochet instead of double crochet, the flowers will come closer together when you join the squares. let's see how that works out in the coming weeks.

xo

Paris For a Day

last week was good, lots of pattern writing, fresh flowers, a little bit of crochet which I'll show you later this week. BUT. it seems last week basically consisted of one day, the day Maartje and I went to Paris!

I love it when a day seems to last so long, that yesterday feels like a week ago. you know what I mean? living that one day to the fullest, so much that your memory makes it into multiple days. perfection. the drive was easy, the weather was sunny, and without a plan we easily moved around Paris and happened to find the perfect-to-us places to shop, eat and drink. this trip just worked out really really well.

before I forget and linger on again in my Parisian daydreams, there was actually a real reason why we drove to Paris. I have told you here on the blog before how much I love the designs by Anna, the wonderful lady behind Rifle Paper Co. well, she launched a new stationery line with Garance Doré in Paris. the notebooks and fashion card you see in the picture are from the new collection, soon to hit stores worldwide. it is beautiful, and meeting Anna in person and actually talking to her about her lovely designs, work and company was just fabulous!

charged with loads of inspiration and macaron goodness I wish you a fabulous new week of Spring.

xo