With Love from Maartje

As promised, the translation for the tiny  Amigurumi Christmas Baubles   that go well together with the Granny Christmas Tree that I designed for byClaire&Friends, see my last post. I made the baubles with byClaire Cotton and Sparkle.  The design is in cooperation with byClaire and only intended for personal use, and not commercially. Please visit  Claire's website for the free download of the original pattern, the diagram and more photos. What do you need: - byClaire  Cotton  and  Sparkle . You don't need much, it's perfect for your scraps - crochet hook size 3 - scissors Used abbreviations (U.S.): slst = slip stitch ch = chain sc = single crochet dc = double crochet The inside is crocheted with byClaire Cotton . Start with a magic ring. In the ring you make 6 clusters* of 3 dc, followed by a ch. End with a slst in the top of the first cluster. Fasten off. The outside is crocheted with byClaire Sparkle ...

It's only 7 weeks to Christmas, and not so much time for preparations anymore haha!  That is if you're like me, and you're too busy with other stuff, and then suddenly it's Christmas next week but you haven't even posted the Christmas cards yet... So I thought, let's change that and start early this year. The thing that has been on my to-do-list since last Christmas (yup!) is to translate the pattern for the Granny Christmas Tree which I designed for byClaire&Friends. ByClaire Softmix and Sparkle are just perfect yarns for it, and you can buy it here  if it is not available nearby you. The design is in cooperation with byClaire and only intended for personal use, not commercially. With that in mind I'll share the pattern in English here, please visit Claire's website for the free download of the original pattern in Dutch, the diagram and more photos. What do you need? - 1 ball of byClaire Softmix in the colour of your...

So the secret is out! On the 8th of November the byClaire Winter Crochet Along will start with the scarf designed by Karlien ( @karlienpleizier ). And you need to be quick (just joking of course, the patterns stay available!), because a week later my design for the hat will be released. The 3rd week the pattern for the gloves by Jorina @crochetrainbowtales will be online too. All 3 designs are different, but if you make them in complimentary colours, they become a match made in heaven! ;-) If there is one thing I love, it is thinking of colour combinations!  If that isn't something you are really good at, or if you just need some inspiration, in this post you'll find an extensive amount of possibilities . And I haven't even used all the colours of Softmix and Sparkle! These are all combinations of 5 colours, but obviously you can add more, or less, just as you please. The possibilities are endless, let your imagination go wild...  In my previous po...

*English below* Hoi, leuk dat je mijn blog komt bekijken! Er zijn zoveel leuke dingen die ik met jullie wil delen, maar het ontbreekt me vaak aan tijd. Dat komt mede doordat ik in het Nederlands èn Engels wil schrijven. Op Instagram ben ik al overgestapt op alleen schrijven in het Engels, en dat lijkt jullie niet veel uit te maken.  Nederlandstaligen spreken het nou eenmaal ontzettend goed!  En al spreek ik het niet perfect, om die reden wordt mijn blog ook alleen Engels. Nu kan iets natuurlijk altijd onduidelijk zijn, vooral omdat ik misschien wel aardig Engels spreek, maar het niet ben, dus aarzel dan alsjeblieft niet om het te vragen/zeggen!  Hi! Maybe you have seen it passing by on Instagram: the Winter Crochet Along from byClaire & Friends? I believe it was somewhere in July, when Claire asked me if I wanted to design an item for a byClaire CAL.  I thougth it was a wonderful idea:  Karlien from @karlienpleizier , Jorina from @crochetra...

In mijn patronen heb ik het vaak over de 'Draad uit het midden'.Ik gebruik bijna altijd het draadeindje vanuit het midden van een bol garen, want dan blijft die tenminste precies waar 'ie is. Het vliegt niet door de kamer zoals kan gebeuren als je het eindje aan de buitenkant gebruikt. Je kunt er natuurlijk ook een yarn bowl (is daar een Nederlands woord voor?), een diepe schaal of een theepot voor gebruiken, maar als je je project ergens mee naar toe wilt nemen, wil je natuurlijk niet teveel mee sjouwen. In my patterns I often talk about Centre Pull Yarn. I almost always* use the end from the centre of a ball of yarn, because then the ball stays right where it is, it doesn't fly through the room like when you use the outer end. Of course you could use a yarn bowl of some sort, but if you want to go somewhere and take your project with you, you want to travel light, right? Dus wat je doet is het volgende, maak de binnenkant van het bolletje wat wijder met...