How awesome is this: today you get to win a free Craftsy crochet class of your choice! :) Happy Monday indeed!

Upon entering this giveaway, you’ll have a chance to win one of the 10 crochet classes currently available on Craftsy. One of the classes is Amigurumi: Design Your Own Monster, by the ever-famous Stacey Trock from Fresh Stitches! Or, if amigurumi’s aren’t really your cup of tea, you could try the Tunesian Crochet class (I took it, and it’s amazing!).

All you have to do to win is go HERE or click the link below, and sign up for a free Craftsy account, or sign in to your account if you already have one. It’s that easy!

Enter to win a Craftsy class!

Good luck! This giveaway runs till next week, and I’ll announce the winner right here on the blog :)

xo,
wink

ps If you don’t really like crochet (GASP!), you can also choose from any of their other classes! They offer classes in knitting, quilting, spinning, weaving, but also fine art, photography, cake decorating, paper crafts… Take your pick! ;)

Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links which help me run my blog. Thank you for your support!

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No seriously, I could just leave it at that and you’ve get a pretty good indication of what my weekend was like. I spent it with Sarah, Gilly, Jacqui, Tanya, Tink and many many many other wonderful people, and I honestly still get a smile on my face every time I think about what fun we had!

It was a gorgeous day when we reached Farnham; I like to think I brought the sun with me from The Netherlands ;)

When we got there on Saturday it was already pretty busy; lots and lots of people were exploring the grounds, searching for that perfect button/yarn/fibre…

And I totally got why. Just. Look. At. All. The. Gorgeous. Things!

Those last two pics are from The Natural Dye Studio; gorgeous right? I actually scored some yarn there, which I’ll show you in part II of this post.

And speaking of yarn…

Seriously, it was a good thing I didn’t bring too many pounds with me (as in money); I would’ve gotten every lovely skein I saw if I could!

I’ll talk more about my yarn haul and all the lovely people I met in next week’s post about Unravel. Yes, it merits two posts. It was THAT good ;)

For now, I’ll just leave you with this: proof of what happens when there are cute yarn bombs outside, and you’re amongst bloggers who take photos of everything ;)

xo,
wink

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“Two and a half years ago me and my family were on vacation. My husband and I talked about my job, how I wasn’t happy with it anymore, and what I could do to remedy it. He reminded me of my love for making things. When my kids were little I used to craft all the time and make clothes for them. This time around, I wanted to make something new from something old. There’s enough new stuff in the world already; I saw it as a challenge to turn used things into new things!”

“And now I have my own craft space. My son gave up the attic so me and my husband could use it as our bedroom, and we turned our master bedroom into a studio. I go thrifting a lot, looking for fabric I can re-use. People even bring it to me now! I hope to officially open my studio in January, so I can give workshops. Everyone who likes it can come over and craft, and I have since given my first crochet lesson!”

Thank you Froukje for showing us your amazing space!

If you’d like to show off your work space or craft studio, send me an email at winkieflash[at]gmail[dot]com. I’m planning on making this a recurring series! :)

xo,
wink

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This is all my loot! Well, almost all of it. I got one other thing, but that is so special that it merits it’s own blog post (and video!).

As you can see, I mostly went bead-crazy! I’m currently working on a new Noro bag design, and it just screams to be embellished with beads.

I got this big bag of plastic beads for a few bucks, because they just look so groovy and I think they’re very versatile. I know it’s ‘just’ plastic, but the alternative was way out of my budget. And I think these look pretty sweet!

I found really great wooden beads, also for no more than a few bucks, and these cool crocheted specimens!

More beads (shocker), and vintage lace on a peg.

I found this feather charm, which I love as an embellishment! The booth where I got most of my beads also let me pick out an extra special bead, so I chose this porcelain beauty. And I scored another bobbin with vintage lace ♥

I love these beads, especially the large crochet ones!

A few yards of lace trim. I love the look of lace lately; I’ve never been into it that much but I do believe I’m hooked!

And finally: I got some yarn! And not just any yarn. This yarn is so gorgeous and special! I spotted it for the first time at the Breidag in Groningen, and at the time I didn’t really have the budget (or use) for it. The lady at the booth told me they would also be vending at the KreaDoe, so I made a mental note of the yarn, and told her that if I saw her again at the KreaDoe and I would still love the yarn that much, I would purchase it. And that’s exactly what happened ;)

The ladies from Wolcafe spin this yarn themselves, and come up with new colour ways all the time. One yarn cake yields over 900 meters of yarn, which is more than enough for a big shawl or shrug. The yarn is made up from 6 threads, which change slowly throughout the cake, giving it that lovely ombre effect.

I haven’t decided on a project for this yarn yet, but I’ll take suggestions! :)

xo,
wink

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I went with my mom and my aunt, and I brought my camera with me. Here’s what the day looked like through my viewfinder.

The entrance, very festive!

And this is what it was like the entire time we were there. It. Was. So. Crowded! The pathways between the booths very fairly large, thank goodness, otherwise it would have been impossible to get around.

Some Fimo and mosaic creations.

Lots, and lots, and lots of beads! That last picture is funny; those are the bowls that my mom, my aunt and I picked out. My mom likes turquoise colours, my aunt loves purples, and I’m very into natural shades at the moment. Guess who’s bowl belongs to whom! ;)

There were some Christmas booths, although not as much as I had thought there would be. The ones that were there however, all had very original products!

Can you believe these gorgeous paintings are all done by a women who finger paints? I couldn’t believe my eyes, until I spotted her actually painting! Incredible work, and very inspiring.

Some flowers, forest items and wood work…

There were A LOT of places to get ribbons! Those stars/flowers area actually ribbons, made stiff with starch. They look so festive, don’t you think? :)

Of course there was plenty of yarny goods to gawk at, like the familiar Knitten I also spotted at the previous craft fair I attended!

And plenty of yarn. My mom and aunt got a few skeins, I only got one! Can you believe it?

I had my hair down when we got to the venue, but I quickly started to overheat. So my mom came up with this genius solution:

She bought a shawl pin and pinned my hair up :)

We had a lot of fun at the KreaDoe! It was very busy, but it was worth it. I got a lot of inspiration out of the day, and I always love seeing other people’s creativity :) I got some cool loot too, but I’ll save that for another blog post.

For now I’ll just leave you with the funniest thing we spotted on the KreaDoe; the only two men there, complete with smart phones and walkers:

xo,
wink

The post kreadoe 2013 appeared first on a creative being.

I was flipping through my calendar and noticed that I have projects lined up until March next year. March. That’s 4, almost 5 months from now. That is CRAZY!

I’m so very thankful that my little blog is doing so well. When I started it almost 3 years ago, I never would have imagined that it would grow into something big, that it would enable me to become a crochet designer, that it would lead to my work being published in magazines across the globe. That thought is still CRAZY!

And it is still going strong. I’m working with the most amazing people, people that I used to and still look up to. There are a lot of exciting things happening for me and my blog in the future, and I can’t wait to share them all with you! I don’t want to jinx anything, so I’ll be quiet for now about this one, big, amazing, wonderful project that is coming my way soon…

I visited a giant craft fair last week, where I got these lovely pieces of lace ribbon. More on my visit next week!

At the moment I’m working on a nice hat to go with my posh ruffle scarf. I’m inspired by this hat that Carrie Bradshaw wore in Sex and the City (yes I watched it, all of it! My guilty pleasure…). I’m using that lovely chunky Roma Big again from Scheepjeswol.

Thank you all for sticking around for so long. Here’s to what is yet to come!

xo,
wink

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In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to sew a lining into your squares bag (free pattern for that here).
My sister-in-law taught me how to do this (she’s amazing with her sewing machine!), and it’s my favorite go-to way of lining a bag!

Update: The crochet pattern can be found here: how to crochet the squares bag!

What do you need:

• lining fabric
• batting
• fabric scissors
• pins
• sewing machine

Got everything? Let’s get started!

1. Grab your lining fabric. I’m using this awesome fabric from a local shop.

Fold your fabric in two, and lay your squares bag on top of it.

Cut around your bag, leaving about an inch of seam allowance.

2. Grab your batting.

Cut two pieces of batting the same way as the lining fabric.

3. We’re going to make a batting and lining fabric sandwich now! Grab your lining fabric, and put them right side together. Then add batting to the outsides. Like this:

Pin your sandwich together around the sides. Leave the top open!

4. Grab your sewing machine, and sew your sandwich together along the sides, but leave a big gap at the bottom. Be sure to backstitch next to the gap; we’ll use it later to turn the entire bag (batting, lining and crochet part) inside out.

5. Let’s sew our sandwich into our bag! Put your bag inside the sandwich, right sides together.

Pin down the top of the batting; we don’t need to sew that to the bag.

Pin the lining fabric to the inside row of double crochets. Flip the outside row down so you can reach it, and to be sure we don’t sew over it.

Sew along the top of the entire bag. Be sure to go slow; this is a hard part and it may be hard on your sewing machine as well! When the entire top is sewed together, it is time to turn your bag inside out through the hole in the sandwich. Don’t forget to remove the pins in the batting.

6. When your bag is right side out, put your hand in the hole and push up the batting into the points. Because the batting is so rough, the friction will stop it from dropping down again.

When you’re happy with your lining, sew together the hole inside your bag. You can do this by hand or you can do this with your machine.

And that’s it; your bag is lined! :)

With the same yarn as what you used to join the squares, crochet on the handles through the loops you made in the outside row of double crochets. I usually use a single crochet stitch for this. Sew on your favorite button and crochet on a loop on the other side of the bag (which I forgot to take pictures of, sorry!).

Enjoy your new bag! :)

Update: The crochet pattern can be found here: how to crochet the squares bag!

xo,
wink

ps This is just one way to line your bag. I am by no means a skilled sewer, so if you have a different way of doing this, please do so! :) This is just a suggestion of how you can do it.

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Most of you know that I work from home. I sometimes rent a desk at an office building not far from here, when I really have to focus (send important emails, work on spreadsheets, that kind of thing), but most of the time is spent behind my own desk, at my own home.

My space was always one that inspired me. The wall behind my desk was painted purple right when I moved in a couple of years ago, and it had been that way every since. Some paintings and drawings were hung on the wall, as well as an inspiration board where I kept all sorts of things that inspired me; like photographs, more drawings, quotes, notes – you name it.

Even though I still like it, it always felt a bit… cluttered. I was ready for something more clean, more crisp, more crochet inspired!

So after we returned from our little vacation to Germany, we went out and bought a big jar of white paint. It was time to kick the purple wall’s behind! I was amazed that it only took two coats (albeit very thick coats) of paint to get rid of the purple. While the paint was drying, I ordered a bunch (16 to be exact) of 30×30 cm empty canvases, for a special project. It took an afternoon, some thread, and a whole lot of patience, but it paid off.

Remember when I used to make weekly mandalas? Remember how everyone kept asking me what I would do with them? While on vacation, I had a light bulb moment; I should hang them on my white wall!

Now whenever I work from my desk, I can gawk at my lovely mandalas :) Here are some more peeks at my work space.

These cute little wall hangings come from the creative mind of Ashlie Blake, better known on Instagram as Paintingbliss.

I love my new space; it’s making me want to work harder and create new things, and that, in my book, is definitely a plus!

I’d love to see more work spaces and creative places; leave me your links in the comments! :)

xo,
wink

ps I’m working under the supervision of Lotso!

The post studio space update appeared first on a creative being.

After I posted my open letter to Garnstudio, reactions started pouring in. Most of them were very positive towards me, which I really, really appreciate! Some comments were a little more sceptic; and then there were people who were just plain rude. Not to mention the bashing that happened on a couple of online forums. That really shook me, reading all those negative comments. It’s very hard to remain positive about yourself when it seems like the entire internet is out to get you.

So apparently, the whole ‘who did it first’ question is up in the air. Let me be clear: I totally get that my design isn’t ground breaking, or extremely original, or amazing. It’s a simple design, and it has been done before, many many times. I’m with you guys on that one, and I’m sorry if I made it seem like I overlooked that fact.

Now some people pointed out to me that the dates that both patterns were published were… off. Apparently, the Drops pattern was released either in 2010, or 2011 (their site is still a bit fuzzy on the exact date). Mine was released in 2013. Whoah. Yeah, I know. I first learned about the Drops pattern after they posted it as ‘new’ on their Facebook page, a couple of months ago. Possibly they just reposted an old pattern for inspiration, and that is how I came to believe they copied the rug idea from me.

That is my mistake, and believe me, I have paid for it.

The point of my open letter to Garnstudio however wasn’t to claim rights to the pattern, it was to point out to them and you that the way they treated me was not okay. I have since learned that several others have received the same treatment, and those stories make mine pale in comparison. I won’t share the details here because it wouldn’t be right. Because believe it or not, I still believe in the kindness of Garnstudio and all it’s employees.

I just wanted to let them know that they were losing a fan. That it might be better to just say, ‘hey, we think it’s the other way around’, or ‘this pattern has been around for centuries!’, instead of ignoring me and others. Now I also get that ignoring people like me is probably the smart thing for them to do, legally speaking.

So whatever side you are or were on, I get where you are coming from. I’m very happy with all of you that supported me, and I’m supportive of all of you that questioned me and were investigative into the matter. I respect and love all of you!

But it’s time to close this chapter. The discussion is still going on in some places and I don’t believe my blog is the place to do it. I removed the orignal post because I believe everything has been said.

So thank you, for informing me, for keeping me honest, for standing by me, and for speaking out.

xo,
wink

UPDATE: I closed the comments section again. I will not allow this bantering to go on here; all has been said, and if you have something hurtful to say to me you can always send me an email. Please everyone, show some respect.

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I got contacted a few weeks ago by the lovely people of Scheepjeswol, a very well-known yarn brand from The Netherlands. They’ve been around since 1855, if you can believe it, and they asked me to create some awesome things for you, using their yarn. Well, I didn’t have to think long about that offer :)

The yarn made it’s way to my doorstep this week, and just look at the lovely things they sent me!

Ik heb wat spannends te vertellen vandaag!

Deze week stond een grote zak met garen bij mij op de stoep; kijkt u even mee wat er allemaal in zat?

This is their Softfun yarn; a cotton/acrylic blend that is ridiculously soft to the touch. Seriously, this is the softest cotton yarn I’ve ever seen (and you know I’ve seen my fair share)! The colours they sent me are lovely, and I’m thinking this will become a (free!) new mandala pattern.

Dit is hun Softfun garen; een katoen/acryl mix wat ongelooflijk zacht aanvoelt. Serieus mensen, dit is het zachtste katoengaren wat ik ooit gezien heb, en ik heb er behoorlijk wat gezien moet u weten. De kleuren zijn werkelijk prachtig, en ik denk dat ik hier een (gratis) mandala patroon van ga maken :)

This is Softfun Batik yarn, which is the same blend as the regular Softfun, but with awesome batik-inspired colours. This awesome yarn will become another squares bag (like this one), and the good news for you all is that there will be a tutorial for it, too!

Both yarns call for a 4mm/G hook size, which is the size I use the most.

I’m very excited to start working with these gorgeous yarns, and I cannot wait to share some new tutorials with you all :)

Dit is Softfun Batik garen, van dezelfde mix als het gewone Softfun garen, maar dan met supertoffe batik-geinspireerde kleuren! Dit garen gaat een tas worden (zoals deze), inclusief tutorial en werkbeschrijving!

Ik kan niet wachten om me op dit garen te storten en er mooie dingen van te maken!

xo,
wink

ps The posts I will make for Scheepjeswol will all be bilingual (English/Dutch).

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