Published in 101 Woonideeën

super excited, honoured and happy I am to tell you, you can now find an interview with me in the crochet special that comes with the latest issue of the Dutch magazine 101 woonideeën! it is one of my absolute favourite Dutch magazines, which makes it extra special and fabulous. the cover of my book is included, as well as two images from Instagram you may recognize. on top of that, I share a spread with darling Petra from the beautiful webshop and blog ByPetra.

this lovely special is full of crochet facts and how-to tips, interviews, links to beautiful patterns, shops and websites. if you love crochet and can read a little Dutch, you absolutely shouldn't miss out on this special.

for more inspiration, have a look here for a fabulous list of Dutch crochet blogs and links. Thank you Monique!

xo

These Weeks

hello from warm and sunny Sweden where I am typing this blog post in the shade. I am enjoying a couple of weeks mixing holidays and book-work-days in good company. in the silence of the woods, we hear more birds than people. it's just perfect here. I have even started a little adventurous knitting project with some exciting fibers: copper embroidery thread, organic cotton and a variegated cotton. more images to come. but of course, there's some crochet too. the third square from the Simply Crochet Magazine app; Mabel. a little larger than the other too. I am curious to see where this app is taking me and if I'll be able to join the squares in the end.

is it Spring going on Summer where you are?

xo

Crochet WIP

progress on my flower cushion cover. yay! I've finished the squares, decided to add a few uni coloured blocks and a little touch of yellow. it just needed that. 

I crocheted the individual squares together, light grey was planned for it but it became all too much of a grid, so I went with dark grey instead. light grey ended up as the outer border, nice and simple two rounds of single crochet. it is all blocked and ready to be sewn to a fabric cover. 

with the left over yarn bits I whipped up this rather simple and large stripe cover for a matching cushion on the couch. the last row of each colour block is done with a bobble stitch. not as fancy as the flower cushion, but I like how they go together and each get their own attention. 

the fabric cover for the stripes is done already, so I know what I'm doing this week!

have a lovely week yourself

xo

Last Week

thank you all so very much for your lovely, sweet and encouraging comments about my crochet book PUUR haken. I have to admit, it was quite scary to bring the news after months and months of keeping it quiet, and I am very happy and relieved you are so excited. Thank you!

last week I managed to work a little on the cushion cover, enjoy Spring and this little bird that just flew out of the nest, pretty flowers, an afternoon at the beach and crocheting the second square of the Simply Crochet granny square app. this week I plan to blog with more pictures about the flower cushion and it's stripy big brother.

have a lovely week!

xo

Big News: I wrote a Crochet Book!

Well well, dear blog readers of creJJtion. 

Last week I told you I would make an announcement, and today is the day. I have been blogging for over 3 year now, and the biggest news I released so far mostly included my private life; getting married and moving to Canada. But todays' news is different. It involves crochet, lots of crochet, and you. I kept a secret from you for the past 10 months or so, and I am happy, excited, relieved and nervous, to tell you:

I wrote my first crochet book

A book! This Summer PUUR haken will be printed, and as of early August it will be available to you in Dutch stores and online. I proudly present the cover:

From the first rough ideas I exchanged with the publisher shortly after we moved back from Canada, to the project ideas, yarn selection, hours and miles of crochet, styling of the items, till when it came all together on the day of the photo shoot recently… I had to hold myself back very tightly not to share every exciting and boring detail with you. But as of now I can, and will share bits and pieces with you, as the publisher and I are in the final stages of putting PUUR haken together. 

In no less than three months it will be printed and available to you. I am beyond excited!

What will it look like? What patterns are included? Will it be printed in English? I hear you thinking. Well, I can share a few things. The book is called PUUR haken, which literally translates to PURE crochet. It will be printed in Dutch and includes diagrams, charts and some close up images of stitches, for non-Dutch readers. The book contains over 20 crochet designs, covering different techniques and styles. The pure aspect of the book relates to the use of mostly 100% natural materials such as cotton and wool, it relates to suggestions for upcycling and yarn scrap projects, the pure aspect relates to every project being a crochet project with one exception for a fun crochet-paper combination, and it relates to the colour schemes with lots of naturals. There are patterns for beginner, intermediate and advanced crocheters. To finish it off there will be lots of pictures, and some illustrations done by me as you can already see on the cover.

beautiful cupcakes made by my friend Taertske, they will be featured in the book…!

In the coming weeks I am still very busy working on the final details. I will give you little sneak peeks into the process to keep you updated. PUUR haken will be available for pre-order in my web shop in a few weeks, and I will let you know when and where there will be a little book-launch event. You are all invited!

I feel very thankful and honoured to be given the chance to write this book. It is a big relief to share this news with you today, and have it 'out there'. Now, I'd better get back to work…

xo

Crochet Granny Square

a new free app, I downloaded it just for fun. a granny square pattern a week, by Simply crochet magazine and Red heart yarns. you can find the app here - iPhone only I am afraid, and read more about it here.

the first square is the classic granny. inspiration for the colour combination came from an interior page I ripped out of the magazine Martha Stewart Living, April 2014. 

to keep my magazine pile at a decent size, I go through it every now and then. rip interesting pages, articles or colour combinations, and toss the rest. those loose sheets I keep in binders, together with words about what I had in mind when selecting this page, and sometimes, like this time, with little yarn pieces to suggest colour combinations. it helps me to keep my inspiration organized, and whenever I am looking for colour combinations or ideas I know exactly where to find them.

how do you keep track of things you find inspirational?

yarn: scraps of Catania 100% cotton #106 white, #263 salmon, #146 blue and #254 taupe
hook size: 3 mm

xo

Last Week

thank you for your enthusiastic comments on my previous post. you are such a lovely bunch, never fail to cheer me up and make my day! highly motivated to get back in the blogging swing, I am starting this week with my regular Monday 'last week' update.

the first squares relate to a photo shoot I did for a friend, who hosts beautiful parties with delicious and pretty cupcakes. she is also the one who organizes the monthly local knit and crochet cafe. if you're in Noord Brabant, please have a look to see if she's hosting a craft or baking party to your taste here.

the beautiful display is to be found in the pretty Tussen Koe & Kroonlunchter brocante shop, just like the image directly above this text.

I am working on a spontaneous upcycle idea to make a chunky doily out of Zpaghetti yarn, to match the cute little lilies of the valley that I have dozens of in my backyard, fashionably styled in a peanut butter jar. really, our whole house smells like lilies now, I just can't get enough! I took some images with my camera, so a blogpost about the lilies and the doily is on the way.

I also made some good progress with the flower cushion to match our new chair, even the cushion is already sewn and pressed, ready to be finished off with some buttons. now to finish the cover and block it, so I can hand sew it to the cover. I even managed to finish a matching stripe cover with the left over yarns… can't wait to see it all finished and share some images with you!

last but not least, have you heard of the new free app from the Simply crochet magazine? they partnered with RedHeart yarn for a granny square app, and will upload a free granny pattern every week. week 1 has just started, so you're not too late to join in. this could be fun! I have selected some yarn for my squares and will try to crochet along with the app. have a look here to read more about it. will you join me?

have a lovely week

xo

Update of Everything

well hello there :). life and other things were happening while I was absent here on the blog. it happens every now and then, that I stay away from blogging for a couple of days or weeks. always unintentionally, always because real life takes over and there is simply no time left in the days to take pictures, crochet or even sit down. 

do you bloggers recognize this?

the past weeks have been like that, and at the end of next week I will explain to you the reason why. if you like crochet you would like to tune in next week, to read all about it. quite exciting news is coming up, I think…

from now on things will slowly get back to normal and I plan to pick up my blogging routine as of next week. until then, let me show you some snap shots and highlights from the past weeks.

above you see some lovely tiny flowers, they all come from our garden. definitely part the joy of moving, is seeing what comes up in Spring!

below you see Floyd checking out on my styling with some pretty yarn colours. they are beautiful cotton bamboo yarn called Vinnis Bambi, which I got through Scaapi. it is my plan to show and tell you more about it next week.

I did make a tiny bit of progress with my flower squares that aim to become a cushion cover for our new upholstered chair. I am almost there, a blog post about these squares is in the making!

below you see the most pretty eggs from a lovely farm we found close by our home recently. if you're planning a little outing to Noord-Brabant you definitely want to stop by this place for a warm welcome, to visit their beautiful shop, to stay at their cottage or have a personal meeting with the cows. you can find this lovely family and all about their activities here.

have a lovely weekend and I'd love to see you next week, with some regular posts and non-phone pictures.

xo