An apology for being quiet so long is in order here. I am sorry!
Let me explain my absence a little bit… I have been busy finishing wips! I have shown you the Monsoon Stole already, but there’s more!
Maybe you have seen the finished Hotel of Bees shawl on Instagram?
And you might have spotted the final bit of sewing on my Floral Book Tote.
Both of them deserve a detailed ta-dah post on their own. Photos have been made, the editing has to take place, however… They will be up soon, I promise you.
There is an almost-finished-item as well, something that is well documented on Instagram… That is my knitted top. It’s actually drying now on the blocking board. The last thing that I have to do is to knit the edging around the neckline and sleeves and then sew the side seams. I’ll keep you posted!
We were travelling a little as well. The month of May is the month in which we got married (two years ago this year) and there was an extra reason to celebrate since we have been together now for ten years! So, to celebrate we went to the lovely city of Munich in Germany. It wasn’t our first time there and we decided to not do the obvious tourist things (been there, done that), but to just enjoy city life at our own pace. I will do a separate post on Munich (and yarn shopping there) as well!
Just before we went off on our little trip, I was at the launch party of the Dutch brand Durable Yarns. Imagine approximately 49 ladies and 1 male crocheter at a beautiful location playing with yarn and enjoying a high tea… Do I need to say more?
We all received a goody bag (YAY!) with a few balls of yarn and the necessary tools to make a hairpin lace wall hanger. I did make a (very) small start at the party, but I have to admit that I had a hard time concentrating on it while being surrounded by people that I hadn’t seen for a long time. Chatting with them won!
It was a very lovely afternoon and a great chance to meet insta friends again. Thank you Durable for hosting a fab party!
After we returned from Munich, I attended a great workshop! A full day of freeform crochet by the lovely and inspiring José Dammers at De Haakfabriek. José taught us the beginnings of this super relaxing technique. You basically make individual patches or scrumbles crocheting as-you-go. No pattern, no rules (it only has to stay flat). Just do what you like and combine different stitches and different yarns to create various textures. The patches can then be joined to become a shawl, a bag, a blanket, a pillow case, a … (fill in the blanks here).
As I mentioned, the workshop was hosted by De Haakfabriek and Chantel is a great host! Cake when we arrived and a delicious lunch in between the hard work. We were all happily chatting and crocheting and time flew by… Honestly, I did not expect that I would like this way of creating so much. So thank you José and Chantel for the inspiring and simply great day!
I couldn’t continue straight away to work on it here at home: there was a baby present in the way…
A request from my mother: Can you make a present for a small baby boy in Austria? Of course, I can! I decided on a crocheted star that holds a music box (pattern from the Dutch book ‘Haak je Happy’ by Lisanne of Draad en Praat). I added a teething ring with bunny ears as well, you’ll find the pattern both in English and Dutch here.
I’ve used Yarn and Colors ‘Fabulous’ for the star and a matching colour of their ‘Musthave’ for the bunny ears. It was the first time I worked with these yarns. The Fabulous is a mix of cotton and acrylic and it’s wonderfully soft! It was a bit thicker than the yarn suggested for this project in the book and I think I would go with a lighter yarn should I be making another one. But that has noting to do with the yarn quality though, in my opinion it is just not the most ideal combination with this pattern.
The star, as well as the bunny ears, are both quick projects that are not too complicated. I really like how they turned out! And I really hope that little baby boy (and his parents) like them as well!
In the meantime, I have been making elderflower and rhubarb cordial. I managed to write down and post the recipe, you’ll find it here!
Finishing these little presents brings me back to freeform crochet: I picked the colours that I would like to use and I can finally get started. Here’s a little sneak peek of what I made last weekend. I will be using several patches to cover a felt bag. To be continued…
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