All posts filed under: Inspiration

Colorful Crochet: Finally, a blanket for ME!

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When the famous Marianne Dekkers-Roos wants to send you a copy of her new book to review, you shout YES!! and wait patiently for it to arrive.  Find “Colorful Crochet” at Amazon, Target, and read more on Google Books. I love it so much and am proud to share more about it! Marianne has created some adorable projects with a range of what I call the “TV Factor.” Some projects are perfect to work on in front of the TV, and some are better worked while listening to an audiobook… I know y’all get it!! Well these book’s projects definitely have a Netflix binge sesh in their future.  Here’s my fave: the Puff Scarf ❤️❤️ If you’ve even seen one post on IG from @marretjeroos then you know color is going to play a huge part in this book – and you’d be right! The color is spectacular, but not tacky or over the top. My favorite solid color piece: the Hexagon Shawl “Ursula” – what a beauty!  And my favorite colorful design: the “Merry-Go-Round” …

Featured Artist: Bernadette Ambergen

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Bernaette Ambergen is a textile artist who designs and creates some absolutely beautiful wearable art. Find her as “Berniolie” on Facebook (profile pictured above) and Instagram, and shop her stunning patterns on Etsy and Ravelry. I just have to start this feature with a snapshot of my favorite WIP project of hers: a scrappy hexagon piece that caught my eye on Instagram. She is using Scheepjes Invicta Colour yarn, and I love how the color changes are shown off in the pattern. Of course a colorful scrappy hexagon would easily draw my attention! It speaks my language! Color + Geometry = LOVE Then, when I started to follow Bernadette on Instagram, I quickly noticed that she seems to churn our these breathtaking shawls and other wearables, with beautiful lace patterns, each one so unique. Lace has never been my strong suit, and I think that’s what really makes me admire her work. Just check out her Ravelry page. I had to take a screenshot of her designs… What a brilliant collection of shawls! So many patterns to …

Hygge-Chaka: “Hooked” on a feeling!

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(Featured photo by Simy Somer) Sing it with me now! Hygge chaka, hygge-hygge-hygge chaka! The #ScheepjesCAL2017 has begun! February 15 marked the day everyone dove hooks first into their BEAUTIFUL Scheepjes Hygge Kits*. It’s also my wedding anniversary, but I am completely disctracted looking through the Hygge Instagram posts… The abundance of showoff photos that I have for you today will really let the Hygge Kits and WIPs shine. Information So this is basically a Hygge photo drool-fest, but first: some info! Browse lush Hygge Kits internationally at WoolWarehouse.com*. (I’ve been told these are the most complete CAL Kits ever released!) Hygge CAL creator, Haak Maar Raak, has a blog post with all the important CAL info – including the answer to “what does Hygge mean???” It’s All in a Nutshell – CAL videos! Yessssssssss ❤ Hygge comes in 3 main color packs (see photo at top of post) and a special edition pack, “Danish Mermaid” – swoooooooon! Kit Palettes Full color palettes – yarns are Stone Washed* and Catona* Kit Pics There are some beautiful …

*New* Scheepjes  Accessories!

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Hi, y’all! I recently opened some super happy mail and felt I just had to share! Scheepjes Yarns has unveiled a new line of crafty accessories, and I had the wonderful opportunity to un-box a gifty package of them.  As I started tearing through the festive holiday wrapping paper (thank you, Scheepjes!!), I stopped myself and decided to make my very first ever video. This is huge! I’ve gotten numerous requests along the way to make videos, and always felt out of touch with technology and completely not savvy.. But I gave it my best shot and it can only get better from here (lol) ❤️ I’ve had my Patreon.com account set up and ready for launch for about two months now, just waiting for the right time to hit that Launch button. Well, what’s a better way to open my Patreon site than with my first video?  Head over and check out the reveal of all the Scheepjes goodies complete with links on how to use some of the accessories that you see in …

BQueen Collection – Custom Dye Box

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You may remember my post back in mid-June when I photographed my first experience dyeing yarn with a BQueen Dye Box. If you haven’t seen that post, please hop over! It talks about the process and you’ll see the gorgeous yellow Safflower-dyed yarn. ❤️❤️ (The pattern for this square is “Crystal” from the Vibrant Vintage CAL!)  When I dyed my first hank, I instantly wanted 6 more colors on 6 more hanks to make – of course – a blanket! Wouldn’t that be too lush?? After a chit chat with super-cool BQueen founder, Makenzie, she informed me that she had some gears turning already for a custom type Dye Box.  I waited patiently and finally she told me it was ready! 6 hanks of Superwash Merino bulky and 6 gorgeous natural dye vials.  I put my yarn soaking and started mixing up the dyes in the cups Makenzie provides with each Box.  Here are the remaining 5 dyes and their name tags.. I couldn’t stop the vials from rolling around to get a shot of …

For the love of Linen Stitch

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There are many tutorials online for Linen/Moss/Woven Stitch, but check out this one by by Dedri Uys!  My love for Linen St goes back to about 2012 when I started making simple back-and-forth blankets with it. I called them “Bold Stripe Blanket” and even wrote a simple free pattern in Spring 2013. That year, when I started using PLT Join (this was before I named it so), I made “Bold Gingham Blanket”, which is a piece made of join-as-you-go strips, using color to form an opulent pattern. I really love this one and wish I had time to make another! After that, I got caught up in a hexagon custom order whirlwind. Other crafters referred to me as “the hexie queen”, I made blanket after blanket of custom order hexagon pieces: Sunburst Flower, Cottage Quilt, Painted Hexagons, and Geometric Lace – probably about 65 in all.. So linen stitch definitely wasn’t on my hook, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t on my mind. One day I’d have time to make a booklet of linen stitch patterns.  I …

My Planner: Moleskine

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Warning! If you’re not interested in how I juggle a huge workload and 4 kids + hubby without losing my noodle, just skip this post 😁😁❤️ I’ve always been a meticulous planner, but never stuck with any one method of organizing it all. Previously I’d go through spiral notebooks haphazardly, and half the time I’d chunk them when filled, and lose all notes and potentially valuable info.  First I tried to get jiggy with the young’ns and take it hi-tech with a few different apps. HomeRoutines Cozi Family Organizer AwesomeNote But something about good old pen and paper is so charming and natural and creative to me, that I deleted them all off my phone the very same day.  I poked around online for planners and found some cute stuff: Quilter’s Planner Crochet/knitting project planning templates Then I headed to the office supply store and after looking around, I bought a boring, plain Jane, ready-made day planner. Woe was me, indeed. I used that planner for about 6 months before I realized I was still …

Instagram user @VanillaLemonCake

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Instagram <- visit Jessica’s instagram!! For MAJOR Flat-lay, flowers, natural COLOR inspiration. Feast your eyes… Jessica has a way of finding beauty in nature and perfectly photographing it to share with the rest of us. Browse through beautifully curated hashtags like one of my favorites, her series called #VLCflowersonnapkins And another hashtag that she contributes lovely flat lays to: #natureflatlays – just look at these feathers 😍😍 Plus, she’s been doing this thing lately with pink and yellow that’s REALLY got me inspired… I’ve got sketches of blankets on those sugar-sweet photos already, believe me. Jessica’s IG feed will have you scrolling for hours. Come for the flowers, stay for Sir Teddy the hamster. Lol! I just love that li’l guy 🙂 All of the lovely photos in this Nature inspiration post were selected from Jessica’s IG feed.

Joining Options! 

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Meet Celtic Lace Join, and its little kiddoes, Celtic Lace Junior and Mini!  Here they are – Mini, Junior, and big mama the original Celtic Lace.         My VVCAL blanket will use the plain SC join, since that’s what I used on the original patchwork blanket; however, the border pattern is written to accommodate any size blanket, with any join. So feel free to use your favorite joining method!  My personal fave of these is the Mini version.. I’ll be using that join a lot I think! Hope you all enjoy them 🙂 I know many of you are waiting until all your squares are complete to begin joining, so I’m looking forward to seeing your progress pics! Be sure to hashtag #VVCAL, and check out Facebook and Ravelry groups if you’re not on there already 🙂  And if you’re loving this forever free CAL, please consider donating – any tiny amount will help! Each week, 100% of donations will go to a dear friend who is battling cancer while raising 2 toddlers …

California Dreaming: When the artist collaborates with her former self

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Fiber art is my passion. I have crocheted every day for years, but before I picked up the hook, I proudly wielded the knitting needles. In my second year of college, I became utterly inspired by Wendy Johnson of wendyknits.net to learn to knit. This was a time when young people still learned from books, so I mixed library visits with internet research to teach myself the craft. Dozens of cardigan sweaters, stripy socks, and several knitted blankets later, and somehow I made it through college to the other side. After college, life swept me up in its current, and I started a career, got married, and had a baby on the way within a year after graduation! But somewhere in the middle of all that craziness, I picked up a hook and discovered granny squares, baby booties, and scarves, and it was all over… I never, ever looked back to knitting, and that forward momentum left behind a serious amount of unfinished work in its wake. I didn’t have the time to go through …

Color and Your Mood

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Hello, crafter! Welcome to my color and mood post, inspired by the abundance of emerging crochet mood blankets. Enjoy this article full of color theory and the profound influence it has on our mood. Click here to sign up for my Creative Art Blanket Course! I discuss loads of color theory and how it relates to yarny endeavors. The Original Mood Predictor My interest in how color and mood are related began long ago when I put a quarter in a machine, turned the knob, and out popped the ring that would turn my finger green for weeks to come: the mood ring. So mysterious! So accurate! So… adjustable! Unfortunately, about the only thing the mood ring is good for is telling you if you’re hot or cold. A mood ring contains liquid crystals that change color depending on the temperature. Read more about your favorite 70s fad on wikipedia, at retroland.com, or buy a dozen for yourself and all your friends here! Color and Psychology Below, you can see my favorite online visual for colors and the …