As some of you who follow me on Facebook/Instagram have already seen, my Noro bag is nearing completion.

I LOVE how it looks! I love all the bright colours, combined with the muted, softer tones. I used a navy green colour to join the squares and I think it really helps bring out all the vibrance. I’m planning on embellishing my bag with a combination of the following items:

Some feathers, some raw gemstones, hemp rope, and that gorgeous Kaffe Fasset fabric as lining. The bag will have one of these cute labels on the inside, made by my friend Nicollie.

While I was out gathering the feathers and the other embellishments, I couldn’t help myself and purchased a fabulous skein of gradient rainbow yarn. I got this at a local yarn shop (LYS) in Zwolle, The Netherlands but the yarn is actually from Estonia. It’s 100% wool, and it was a 263 gs skein, which I wound up in a center-pull cake, making it the biggest yarn cake I have EVER made!

The project I’m making with it is called the Festival Shawl, and is on Ravelry here, for free. It’s crochet and calls for fingering weight yarn and a 5mm hook, so I’m hoping this will be a nice and quick project! Already the colour change has begun, and the pattern is interesting enough to keep me happy making it (so no boring repeats of the same row over and over).

Oh, and one more thing making me reaaally happy this week: my Zatchel finally made it’s way to my doorstep yesterday! This fab UK based company had a massive sale about a month ago and I couldn’t resist. I mean, who wouldn’t want to own a gorgeous handmade daffodil yellow satchel?

xo,
wink

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Cool sleeve, right? It’s 100% handmade and comes from this Etsy shop. What’s in the sleeve you ask? Well…

… a yarn-a-licious iPad mini of course! :) The decal (sticker) on it comes from DecalGirl. The cool thing about that website is that for some devices, you get to upload your own photos to use as a background for the decal. For my iPad cover I went crazy with some photos I took for a magazine, since they were already the right resolution/size. I really like how my iPad now feels less ‘generic’ and a little more special. Added bonus: no more scratches on the back when it’s on the table!

I’ve used DecalGirl skins for almost all of my past phones and devices, and I highly recommend them. They come in both glossy and matte finishes, and if you don’t have your own photos to use, be sure to check out the vast collection of artist’s work they have in store! They make skins for phones, tablets, laptops, game consoles – you name it.

One more thing that has made me really happy last week: my Noro yarn finally got here ♥ I’m making a bag with it, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

Have a wonderful yarn-a-licious week everyone :)

xo,
wink

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The book doesn’t have any chapters; after a brief introduction about the origin of Noro yarns, the pattern section begins. And really, who needs those pesky pages before the pattern section anyway, right? The patterns feature 30 projects ranging from wristies to shawls, and from blankets to purses and bags. There is a great variety in patterns and that is one of the things that I love about this book.

Most patterns come with written instructions and diagrams, and they could not be more clear. All stitches are explained very well and at the beginning of each pattern, so there’s no need for you to search what any abbreviations mean. Each pattern comes with a skill indicator, ranging from Beginner to Easy, Intermediate and Experienced.

The photography for this book is truly exquisite and such a joy to gawk at. The art direction is very good, as is the styling, and you can see that the people who made this book had a lot of passion doing so. The book is hardcover and bound, and my copy stayed open on the table very easily, making it easy to have next to you when you work a pattern from it.

There is one project in it though that I just don’t understand. As you know, Noro yarns can be quite precious and not for everyone’s wallet size, so the Nesting Bowls project doesn’t make any sense to me. Who wants to keep their knick knacks in a Noro nesting bowl? No thank you, I’ll save that expensive yarn for something else!

Crochet Noro: 30 Dazzling Designs is the third Noro book out there, following two Knit Noro books. Nine designers were asked to provide patterns for this book, which gives it that eclectic mix of fantastic patterns that are almost timeless.

This book currently retails for $17,95 (on Amazon here) and I highly recommend it. Even if you only make half the projects in this book, the other half is wonderful to look at on a rainy afternoon, making it a perfect coffee table companion in my opinion :)

xo,
wink

ps This book was gifted to me by my mom, and I didn’t receive any financial compensation for this review. Opinions stated are my own and I fully stand by them. 

Photos of Crochet Noro: 30 Dazzling Designs published by Sixth&Spring Books. Book photography by Rose Callahan copyright © 2012 by Sixth&Spring Books/Knitting Fever, Inc. All rights reserved.

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This is pretty much what my days this week have looked like so far. I’m still working on my Noro shawl; it’s a pattern from this Crochet Noro book and I’m using Rowan Siena cotton yarn to make it. I was gifted this yarn for my birthday by my sister and it is just so lovely! It calls for a 3mm hook size, a size that I consider to be small, but still I love working with it. When this shawl is finished, it will be the perfect summer accessory. That is, if it ever becomes summer. I don’t know about the weather in your parts of the world, but around here it’s been nothing but cold and rain!

I got this crazy psychedelic Kaffe Fasset fabric! Staring at it is like taking acid (I imagine). But I love the vibrant colours and crazy patterns; it will be the perfect lining for a bag I’m about to make. I ordered 5 different skeins of Noro Silk Garden Lite to make it; when they’ve arrived I’ll showcase them here. I plan to make a simple bag with it using solid squares, and then embellish it with wonderful beads, lace ribbons and perhaps buttons… I’ve got lots of ideas for this bag. If only the yarn would get here; my fingers are itching to get started! When this bag is finished I may keep it for myself, or I may put it in my Etsy shop.

And then, there’s music. I have been bitten (yet again) by the flute virus. That happens every once in a while, and this time it’s for real. I’ve signed up for flute lessons and I start after the summer. I’ve also contacted a former flute orchestra I used to play in, and they were happy to invite me back! So come June, I’m playing there again, which I am super stoked about. Some of you know my flute history (I’ve blogged about it a little here) and know that it has always been a dream of me, to one day attend music school. I have no idea if that will happen this time around, but I am sure going to try my best. I just want to play music!

What are your plans for this week? Does the sun shine where you are? (and if it does, could you maybe send a little this way?)

xo,
wink

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Well, I made them! :)

You can print them on A4 sized paper, and cut them out. There are 10 tags on one page. I used colored card stock to print my tags, but you could also use regular printer paper. I punched out holes in the corner of each card, and voila! :) Cute huh?

The little crochet girl on the tags is a design that D made for me a while ago. I’ve always wanted to use it on my blog but I never really had room for her. But she is perfect for these tags, don’t you think?

This is how I use my tags; tie a string, piece of yarn or a ribbon to your tag and attach it to your project, WIP, or basket. This way you’ll always have all the vital information at the ready.

Tags include room for: the project name, yarn, hook size, made for, and notes, such as the start date, or where you got the yarn.

You can download the free PDF here.

Have fun! :)

xo,
wink

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A little back story. Last Christmas (I gave you my heart…), this image was all over Pinterest:

The Winter Dream Ram Bust, from Anthropologie (unfortunately no longer available; it retailed for $495). I think I put a picture of it on my Facebook page, and one of my creative aunts (they’re all insanely creative) really liked it too, and made one for herself! I thought it was absolutely fabulous, and immediately hinted to her that I’d like one to magically appear on my birthday.

Fast forward a couple of months, and I asked D if he had a present for my birthday yet. He was very secretive about it, and the only thing I was able to pry loose from his clenched jaws was that he got me something handmade… Hmm, interesting! Of course, I had no idea what he had planned for me. There were a few moments right before my birthday when I wasn’t allowed in certain rooms, or to look in certain trunks of certain cars… It added a lot to the anticipation ;)

By now I’m sure you’ve guessed it; he got me a handmade ram bust!


I cannot express how much I love this ram. And did I mention it’s 100% handmade? It’s really big too! I love stroking it’s fur, it is so soft! And the horns are so well made; there’s very strong wire in there, so I can pose them any way I want to basically. And his snout is just so cute! I believe my aunt crocheted the whole thing, and then tied pieces of fur to the body. The snout is made of felt, and did you see those cute embellishments in his ears?

Oh yes D, you’ve scored points with this gift for sure ♥

xo,
wink

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I tested a pattern for a friend of mine while I was in the park, using scraps of yarn.

I have a few small suggestions to make this pattern even better, but it’s amazing as is, don’t you think?  I’ll give a shout here when the pattern is available; you will love it :)

Have a great week everyone!

xo,
wink

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Thank you SO MUCH for my birthday wishes! I really felt like a birthday girl all day long thanks to all of you :) The five free patterns I gave away were gone in 8 minutes; can you believe it?

I had a great day with my family; we went to brunch and I was spoiled rotten with the gifts I got. D got me a very awesome, cool, groovy, amazing, super, extremely adorable handmade gift, but it merits it’s own blog post so I didn’t include it in this one. Look out for it later this week :)

My mom gifted me the book ‘Crochet Noro’, which had been on my list for some time. It’s amazing, and you can expect a full review in a couple of days :)
My sister gifted me two balls of Rowan Siena cotton, in the perfect summer colours! Any thoughts on what to make with these? I was thinking simple squares, and then turning them into a bag… Please leave your suggestions in the comments; I need inspiration.

My aunt and uncle gifted me this amazing butterfly; isn’t it the best? It now hangs in our hallway (because unfortunately it won’t stick on the window) where it adds the perfect pop of colour.

This week will be for winding down for me. I need my rest after all the birthday pursuits, so I will be taking things slow. I need to recharge! :)

Hope you all have a lovely week.

xo,
wink

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To thank all of you for being here for me in times of need, and for generally just being awesome and creative and wonderful people, I’m giving away FIVE free patterns today! :) (because today is May 5th – get it?)

Use coupon code ‘happybirthday‘ in my Ravelry shop today to get the I Love Holland mandala pattern PDF for free! But hurry – the coupon expires after 5 uses, so you have to be quick :)

Have a great day everyone!

xo,
wink

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It was a gorgeous day, sunny, not too hot but sunglasses were definitely needed, and I needed to get out of the house for a bit. I took D and my camera with me, and I took pictures of my gorgeous neighbourhood. Sometimes it’s nice to go out and appreciate the beauty that is around you. Me and D live in an apartment building by a fairly busy road, but it only takes about 10 steps to reach the water:

This is a great place to go for walks. The water goes on forever and ever, and you can pretty much follow it all around our city. The highway is just behind those trees, but you can hardly hear it and the best thing is, you can’t see it!

To get to the water, you have to walk through this arch of trees:

A lot of people walk their dogs here, or teach their kids how to cycle here (3 different sets of parent & child were spotted that day). It’s a lovely path, right in between sets of houses and crossing some roads, but still it almost feels like walking in a forest. I love this path :)

A lot of different flowers are to be seen in the same area:

I think they are all just gorgeous. I have no green thumb whatsoever, so I’m really happy that I can just go outside to enjoy some flowers.

And then there are the blossoms. These trees are by the road we live on, and they only blossom for a week, so I’m thrilled that I actually remembered to take pictures of them this time.

All of that beauty, right outside our window.

I thought that was pretty awesome :) Have a great week everyone!

xo,
wink

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