a creative being - the crochet blog for creative & colourful people

March 17, 2015
by wink
7 lovely comments

an adventure with dpns

Hi everyone! :)

Double pointed needles for knitting; are you familiar? I wasn’t, but when I came across this cute pattern for knit-in-the-round wristies on Ravelry, I knew it was time to venture out into territories unknown!

I got myself some 3mm bamboo needles (tiny!!!) – and my gosh, they looked like tooth picks! People really knit with these?! And while I was on a train, I thought to myself: this is the perfect time for me to learn how to knit in the round on dpns. I know; what was I thinking… I used this tutorial from Knitting For Dummies to get set up, and off I went. And actually, after a few rounds, it was starting to look a lot like knitting; proper knitting!

Holy smokes Batman, I did it! :D

I’m using this groovy yarn I got at a yarn festival last year: Arwetta Classic by Filcolana. It’s funny – looking back at that post, I mention that it might be time for me to learn how to knit socks, because it’s the perfect yarn for that! :)

The white yarn I’m using is something labelless from my stash in roughly the same weight as the Arwetta yarn. It’s a cotton/acrylic blend, if I’m not mistaken; but I have no idea what brand it is. I do know that it has been discontinued a few years ago; I scored the last skeins ages ago at my first yarn festival. Ah, memories :)

I’m half way the first wristie now, and so far I haven’t really run into any major trouble. My laddering seems fine (that’s where you see a visible ‘seam’ right where you switch needles) which I think is pretty great for a first time project. I did have some trouble with the floats (where you carry the yarn at the back of your work when using two colours at the same time) in the section that I’m on right now; luckily I know the best knitter in the world, and she got me back on the right track in no time! :)

The pattern that I’m knitting is Schachmatt on Ravelry, and it’s free! :)

I really hope that I’ll be able to finish this wristie soon, and of course, start the second one! I hope I don’t get the wristies version of ‘single sock syndrome’…

xo,
wink

March 6, 2015
by wink
14 lovely comments

unravel 2015: the loot!

Hi everyone!

Two weeks ago I visited the UK again, to meet up with my good friend Sarah from Crafts from the Cwtch, and to visit Unravel 2015! I’ve got another blog post prepared for you all with my impressions of that weekend; all the yarn & fibery goodness, and of course all the amazing people I met!

But first, I just HAD to show you lovely ladies what I brought back home with me! I’m sure you understand why this is so important ;)

To be honest: I came to Unravel without a shopping list. Shocker, I know! There was nothing that I just HAD to get or needed or wanted; I decided to just let myself be surprised by all the amazing vendors at the show and play it by ear.

Well, that’s exactly what I did! :) Me and Sarah quickly found SpinCity UK‘s stall, and while I was oogling over all their gorgeous hand made drop spindles, Sarah very innocently (*coughcough*) asked Louise to give me a quick demonstration slash workshop on how to use a drop spindle. I don’t have to tell you what happened next, right? ;) I was hooked! Immediately. Just. Fell. In. Love. With. Spinning! So naturally, I HAD to get a drop spindle and I HAD to get fiber and I HAD to get more fiber… Oy. I’m telling you: Sarah is my biggest enabler! ;)

But first things first. I got this Clover yarn cutter pendant the second I saw it. I ran into this last year too, but unfortunately I had ran out of cash so I couldn’t get it. Which was a real shame, since I didn’t bring any scissors with me on the plane (for obvious reasons). I can tell you stories about being at the hotel room and trying to cut gorgeous silk yarn with a pair of keys… *spoiler alert* it doesn’t work!

This is the gorgeous drop spindle I fell in love with from SpinCity UK…

You can totally see why I went home with this beauty! I mean, there’s flowers in there! And sparkles! And glitter!

So naturally, now that I had a spindle, I needed fiber (or someone told me). Lucky for me, there was plenty of fiber at Louise’s stall! I didn’t have to think too long about which colours I wanted; these just screamed my name!

Yummm! And did you spot the sparkly bits? And did I mention how soft and fluffy it is? :) I wonder what my dreads will look like if I dye them these exact colours… Hmmm…

But I couldn’t go home with just one measly bit of fiber now could I? Introducing: the texture bag!

Little Owl Crafts sells these things called texture bags. And they might just be the best thing ever! Just look what’s inside this tiny bag…

It’s! So! Good! :) Soft bits. Sparkly bits. Fiber. Locks. Nubs. Other weird things that look totally awesome. And the colours make me sooo happy…

Of course, now that I own a spindle, and the most gorgeous fibers EVER, I’m in need of drop spindle tutorials! :) So ladies, help me out here: link your best drop spindle tutorials in the comments section below, and I will be eternally grateful!

I cannot wait to start spinning and making my own gorgeous yarns…

xo,
wink

March 5, 2015
by wink
19 lovely comments

let’s go outside

Hi everyone!

As some of you know, things have been rather stressful around here lately. I’m going through some pretty rough stuff at the moment, but I am starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

When I feel down, or out, or lost, or lonely: I go outside. There is something about being in the woods that completely calms me, brings me back to my center, and generally relaxes me. I think it’s the Japanese who call it ‘forest bathing’, and I completely understand why they call it that!

It looks a bit like a crime scene in that last photo, doesn’t it? I think it was a bird or something… I hope it got away.

And I found a skull! I felt like The Dainty Squid, I was so proud of myself for spotting it! I have no clue what animal this belonged to though.

I love making these abstract photos of light, like this last one; where you can’t see what’s actually in the photo but it does tell you exactly what mood there was at that time. I’ve got a whole bunch of them, and I’m actually thinking of framing the three best ones and hanging them in my bedroom, on the opposite wall of my bed… What do you ladies think? Would you like me to do a separate post on those abstract photos? :)

Thanks for sticking around; I will be back later with my Unravel 2015 posts!

xo,
wink

March 4, 2015
by wink
3 lovely comments

flash sale!

Hi everyone!

I just posted this on my Facebook page, but I didn’t want you lovely ladies to feel left out! :)

There will be a lot of new mandala patterns by me coming out in the next few weeks/months, and in anticipation of those new patterns, I’m having a flash sale in my Ravelry shop on all existing mandala patterns! :D

Enter code ‘winklovesyou75′ for 75% off any mandala pattern in my shop, but hurry! The code expires after it has been used 75 times! :)

I’ll be back later this week with more blog posts (yay) about Unravel! Whoo!

xo,
wink

February 4, 2015
by wink
18 lovely comments

wip: young yadults blanket

Hi everyone!

I know, I know, you are all dying to know how the yarnagers are doing! :D Well, they are yarnagers no more; they are now officially: young yadults!

acreativebeing-young-yadults-picnic-blanket-cotton8-scheepjes-01

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They are no longer circle shaped; they are slowly morphing into squares! :)

I am feeding them a very strict 100% cotton yarn diet; they are on Scheepjes Cotton 8 until they are yadults. But they still have a ways to go until they reach yadult hood!

As much as they love roaming around the living room, they mostly live in stacks though:

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The two stacks at the front are a bit shorter than the others, and that’s because there were a couple of young yadults who just couldn’t wait to grow up! Want to see what they’re becoming?

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Oh yes, I do like this shape… They are almost done growing! I feel like such a proud parent now ;)

For all of you wondering where to get Scheepjes Cotton 8 yarn; for international (US & UK) peeps, you can find this yarn at Deramores.com! For all Dutch & Belgian readers, you can find an extensive lists of stockists on their website.

Just a side note: I am using a 6mm hook with this yarn, and if that seems large that’s correct. I am using the yarn double stranded! :)

When they are done growing, I will of course provide a (FREE!) pattern to make them, including a pattern for joining them into a blanket, and a pattern for a nice big border!

I can’t wait to show you when my yarn babies have all grown up into proper yadults! It’s going to be epic :)

xo,
wink

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