The Knitting Challenge is live!

I’m super excited to launch my first KAL. This is going to be a relaxed and quiet one since it’s Christmas time and a lot of people are still working on their presents. I don’t expect a huge participation, so it’s going to be time for me to learn!

The patterns involved are:

Pesciolino
Frozen Blossoms
Notturno

Don’t forget there’s a 20% discount on them available until Christmas! And also a nice prize for a lucky winner (you can see it in my previous post!)

I hope to have you in my Ravelry group so we can chat, knit together and have fun!

Enjoy the weekend!

The Knitting Challenge 2017

I’m very pleased to announce the Knitting Challenge 2017!
I want to close this year in the most entertaining and pleasant way. Do you know a better way than knitting for a chance to win a gorgeous prize?
So, here we go!
The rules are pretty simple: in the following days I am going to publish on Ravelry 3 different hat patterns I designed. There’s a hat for every member of the family and or for all your friends. One hat for her, one for him and one for a little one!
What you need to do is just… KNIT THEM ALL!
You have plenty of time, the challenge ends on the last day of the year, December 31st.
One lucky winner who has knitted all 3 hats will be picked randomly on the first day of January. He or she will get:

1. A beautiful wooden Yarn Bowl;
2. A luxurious skein of Lorna’s Lace Shepherd Sport (hand-dyed 100% Superwash Merino) in color Black Purl
3. A digital row counter
4. A pair of needle points protectors
5. Chocolate and tea to keep you company while knitting, of course!
6. A nice little surprise.

Are you as excited as I am? I can’t wait to start and to see your creations!
Stay tuned, I’ll post the hats tomorrow.
And, since this is supposed to be fun for everyone, I’m going to give you a nice discount: if you have all 3 patterns in your cart you will get 20% discount! This offer is valid until Christmas (24th December midnight Amsterdam time).

We will knit together one hat at a time. Join us on my Ravelry group The Crafting Tales! You can ask questions, and even tips on how to choose your colours or everything you need. I’m here to help, don’t forget! You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook. Remember to tag your pictures using #knittingchallenge2017 and #ctkc2017.

Here is a pic of the fantastic prize:

Have fun!

Plans, summer and… crafting

It’s all new: activities, projects, mood, targets, plans…
It seems this summer is bringing along a lot of changes… and I’m always thrilled when it comes to changes!!!

First of all, as some of you may already know, I made a video tutorial for my shawl Maestrale. I have a Youtube channel now, and… well, it makes me laugh every time I think about that. It wasn’t planned at all, but it happened. Some people asked me to make a video tutorial and I plunged in the filming sea. I couldn’t imagine it was so hard to make a 30 minutes video. The camera, the zoom, the lights, the editing (oh dear, the editing!), the voice and my poor laptop screaming the whole night in pain!
Yes, I didn’t (and I don’t) have the right equipment a vlogger should have. The camera I used for filming was almost 10 years ago. A nice camera (Canon Eos 500 D), but still old. I had to buy a microphone and some lights, but the best thing was filming during the night, when my kids were finally fast asleep. Recording the whole thing, getting to the last 20 seconds when I just had to end the tutorial and then… getting thunderstorms, lightning and heavy rain popping in. Oh thank you my beloved Dutch summer!

Anyway, I survived, and now I’m even thinking about making other video tutorials. I’d really like to make something to help Italian knitters and crocheters out there who don’t speak English or just cannot read an English pattern. It’d be something very new and I really like the idea of introducing the international World of knitting and crochet to my own country.

In the meanwhile, I’m making an Italian version of my Maestrale pattern and see what happen. And, for those of you who already saw my video: did you notice that shawl on the dummy at my back? That’s my latest project. The pattern is ready, only the pictures are missing but I’m going to have a nice shooting next week. My test knitters are working very hard to finish everything in time, and I really hope I can publish the pattern for the end of this month, so you can all carry along with you a sweet memory of this summer (“Summer? Anybody said summer?”, asked Mr. Dutch Weather).

Beside the pattern launch, I also have some plans for my holidays. Well, first of all, I’m going on holiday with my family, and that’s already a good point scored. When? Somewhere between the second and the forth week of the month. Where? Now, that’s a difficult question. I’d love to go back to Norway, this time around Bergen, Alesund and Molde. I’m in love with Norway, and I’d truly want to see it better than the last time (a cruise? Never again!). Unfortunately I think we have to give up for this year, but I’m determined to go sooner than later! So we’re focusing on the Italian Dolomites, that paradise around Bolzano and Trento where you can enjoy that mountain experience nowhere else to be found. It’ll be lovely and (I hope) very relaxing.

And then, last but not least, I’ll be joining Andrea Mowry’s MKAL What the Fade. So I finally can get my hands on some gorgeous Hedgehog Fibers. Ah! Yarn bliss! I can’t wait! And… oh yes, of course, I have another project going on with Scheepjes Whirl, but I can’t say much, it’ll be a surprise!

What are your plans for this summer? Let me know in your comments!
Happy crafting!!!

Back to work

It’s been a while, but I needed a little bit of time to think about myself and my future as a crochet and knitting designer. I came to some conclusions but I’m determined to go slowly through the process of this “doing something real”. You will know, I hope soon, but I can’t tell exactly when, as I don’t want to make any promises that I can’t keep.

In the meanwhile I’ve been playing around whit yarns and patterns. I did the last Scheepjes CAL, Hygge, which I loved very much! I also made my own colorway called Arctic Sunrise, but I’ll talk about that in another post.

I made some Skeino patterns. I love using their yarns, and their patterns are so relaxing! Here are some pics of my Miss Grace Scarf, the “baby” version of the Miss Grace Shawl. The scarf is currently on the blocking board, waiting for some nice shots.

In the next weeks I’ll make a yarn review since I’ve now tested a LOT of different brands. And… Yes! There’ll be a pattern release!!! Yuppyyyyy!!! I’m still testing it and (struggling at) making the chart in a form that is clear to follow for everyone. Not easy with crochet project. Knitting charts are easy to make thanks to some nice tools available on the market, but crochet charts are a nightmare! I’m currently using Crochet Charts, but if anyone knows about a good software out there, please, let me know!

So while I’m adding my final touch to this crochet pattern, I’m already planning a new one, this time a knitting pattern. I’ve already selected my yarn, the colors, and I have the construction clear in mind. I’m knitting my swatches at the moment and testing the construction on scrap yarn before knitting the real thing. It’s going to be beautiful… well, at least in my mind it is! We’ll see 😛

Stay tuned for new updates. I’m finally working on my Facebook page, and my Instagram account ( Nimhriel )is always full of the latest news. Enjoy your day and see you soon!

Windy days – Vento

Autumn has come in the Netherlands, and it’s such a cold one! This year temperatures have dropped dramatically in October. We already went below 0 once! In the mornings all the cars on the st…

Source: Windy days – Vento

My journey with Sophie

Ready to start my Sophie adventure.

My hands are burning, I can’t wait to start!
I had to finish some wips before plunging myself into Sophie’s Universe because I wanted to savour this beautiful experience. My yarn box was sealed until today, 2 weeks now since it came home by postNL. It was hard, very hard! But I managed somehow.
I know I’ll have to leave it behind for a while as I’m going to Italy for 1 month, but I couldn’t wait for October to start. Oh no no no!

Pronta per la mia avventura Sophie!

Non vedo l’ora di cominciare. Mi sono imposta di finire alcuni lavori in sospeso prima di tuffarmi nel meraviglioso Universo di Sophie perchè voglio assaporarne ogni momento! Il filato è arrivato ormai 2 settimane fa, l’ho volutamente tenuto sigillato nella scatola per non cadere in tentazioni! E’ stata dura ma ci sono riuscita!

So già che dovrò interrompere il lavoro per andare in Italia per un mese, ma non potevo certo aspettare di tornare a ottobre. Eh no!!!

Sophie’s Universe is a gorgeous blanket designed by Dedri Uys as a CAL for 2015. There are 3 different sizes available, depending on the yarn used. I’ve chosen Scheepjes Stonewashed XL because I wanted a bigger blanket and because… well, it’s Stonewashed! I’ve always been in love with this yarn!

You can find all the information to make the blanket on lookatwhatimade blog (which is a very cool blog!), and the pattern is free. There are also yarn packs available to make it on Deramores and Woolwarehouse. Please, use the links provided in Dedri’s blog as I did to let her know how much you love her work!

Time to start now, see you soon for news and pictures!

Sophie’s Universe è una meravigliosa copertina all’uncinetto realizzata da Dedri Uys come CAL per il 2015. Si può realizzare in 3 diverse dimensioni in base al filato usato. Io ho scelto Scheepjes Stonewashed XL perchè volevo il formato più grande e… beh, perchè è Stonewashed! Adoro questo filato!

Tutte le info per realizzare questa deliziosa copertina si trovano sul favoloso blog lookatwhatimade e il modello è gratuito. Sono disponibili anche dei kit con tutto il filato necessario su Deramores e Woolwarehouse. Usate i links sul blog di Dedri per farle sapere quanto amate il suo lavoro.

E ora si comincia il primo giro! Tornate presto su queste pagine per aggiornamenti!

Birthday gifts

I was looking for a super fast project for my mother as my time is very short and I’m getting ready for my cruise. I still have a lot to knit!

I found this pattern on Drops Design and I fell in love with it. It called for Drops Delight but I know my mum can’t wear wool back in hot and humid Rome, so I went for a 100% cotton yarn. I think the result was quite pretty for a 9 hours total crochet project!

Free pattern here.

Stavo cercando un progettino veloce per il compleanno di mia madre. In questo periodo sono pienissima di cose da fare prima di partire in vacanza.

Ho trovato questo pattern su Drops Design e me ne sono innamorata subito. Il modello richiedeva il filato Delight ma mia mamma non poteva certo indossare un capo di lana a giugno nel clima caldo e umido di Roma. Così ho sostituito il filato con Katia Bombay, 100% cotone. Il risultato è davvero straordinario, considerando che si tratta di un progetto da 9 ore.

Pattern gratuito qui.

Dancing on the beach

When I learned of this CAL, I couldn’t believe it at first. I followed Marinke for a while, then I lost sight of her. Then I understood why.

Marinke was such a bright and colourful person. I loved all she made, it was like watching a huge meadow in full bloom. I now regret I hadn’t time to tell her how much I appreciated her creations and passion. The idea of doing this CAL in her memory was a really nice one. I decided to join at once. I ordered my kit and waited impatiently for the first clue to be released. You can find more here.

The theme is a last dance on the beach with her, hence the name. It’s a crochet blanket made of different squares; each square was designed by her closest friends, so each one is unique and full of love. This is not a common CAL. This is special.

The CAL facebook page has now over 15.000 members. We’re all together crocheting this project, and this is amazing. Everyone with their problems, everyone with their joys, but everyone in memory of Marinke. I feel I live in a better place when I think about how much love is put into this project from all around the World.

The CAL has three different colourway: Rain, Sea and Stars. I went for Rain as I was thinking about a dear friend who suffers from depression like Marinke, and I thought it was very appropriate for him. I also went for the Scheepjes Merino Soft instead of the Scheepjes Color Crafter as I’m not a fan of acrylic yarn.

Quando ho saputo di questo CAL non riuscivo a crederci. Ho seguito Marinke per diverso tempo, fino a che i miei e i suoi impegni mi hanno costretto a perderla un pò di vista. Poi ho capito perchè non scriveva più nel blog.

Marinke era una persona fantastica. Davvero creativa. I suoi colori mi ricordavano tanto un grande prato eternamente in fiore, era davvero un piacere per gli occhi guardare i suoi coloratissimi lavori. Mi dispiace davvero molto di aver perso l’occasione per dirle quanto apprezzassi ogni suo progetto e quanto mi fosse di ispirazione. L’idea di questo CAL in sua memoria mi è piaciuta moltissimo. Ho subito ordinato il mio kit e atteso impazientemente che il primo indizio fosse rivelato. Qui maggiori info.

Si tratta di una coperta all’uncinetto composta da mattonelle di diverso stile e diverso colore. Ogni mattonella è stata disegnata da uno degli amici più stretti di Marinke, perciò ognuna di esse è unica e piena di affetto. Questo non è un CAL come gli altri. E’ speciale.

La pagina Facebook del CAL conta ormai più di 15.000 membri. L’idea che tutte queste persone, in ogni parte del pianeta, stanno lavorando assieme su una cosa del genere in memoria di questa ragazza, è semplicemente incredibile. Fantastica! Mi fa sentire in un mondo migliore, in qualche modo.

Il CAL è stato realizzato in tre differenti combinazioni di colori: Rain, Sea e Stars. Io ho scelto Rain perchè la pioggia mi ricorda un caro amico che soffre di depressione come Marinke. Ho optato per Scheepjes Merino Soft piuttosto che Scheepjes Color Crafter perchè in generale l’acrilico non mi piace.

I’ll add more pictures in the next weeks and maybe I’ll try to find some time to block all my squares.

Aggiungerò altre foto nelle prossime settimane e cercherò di bloccare tutte le mie mattonelle… ci credo poco!

A shaggy heron in Italy

Yes, going back to Italy is always a bitter-sweet sensation. Home is here in The Netherlands for me, I miss it everytime I go somewhere else.

Apart from eating delicious food (and maybe too much!), I finally had a chance to wear my Flight of Fancy shawl, the 2015 Scheepjes CAL (you can find more info here) by Annelies Baes. I choose the colourway Heron… guess why? Well, first of all it’s a beautiful colour combination, and then because herons are very common here: it’s actually Den Haag city’s symbol, as you can see in this picture below.

Sono appena tornata da Roma. Che dire, ormai tornare in Italia mi lascia sempre un pò l’amaro in bocca. Le ragioni le sappiamo tutti, inutile parlarne. La mia casa ormai è qui, in Olanda. Ogni volta che mi allontano per più di un paio di giorni mi manca moltissimo.

Comunque, oltre ad aver mangiato stra bene e ovviamente un botto (fraschette, pizza, gelati… devo aggiungere altro?), ho avuto finalmente l’occasione di indossare il mio scialle Flight of Fancy, il CAL del 2015 di Scheepjes (maggior info qui) disegnato da Annelies Baes. Il colore che ho scelto era Heron. Facile capire il perchè. Innanzi tutto mi piaceva moltissimo la combinazione di colori, sul grigio-blu; e poi, qui gli aironi sono molto comuni. Si trovano ovunque, al bordo degli stagni, sugli alberi, in volo… non per niente il simbolo del comune de L’Aia è proprio l’airone, come si vede nella foto del palazzo comunale quassù.

 

I still haven’t taken a good picture of my shawl. I was waiting for the right moment and the right surrounding but nothing came to mind. I only have this poor shaggy pic: you can clearly see my million tails waiting to be weaved in. It looks cramped and curly because, at that time, I hadn’t blocked it yet. You have to use your imagination for now. But you can see the colours: beautiful!

The yarn is Scheepjes Linen Soft, a nice cotton and linen blend with a lot of nice shades.

It was fairly easy to make, you had a clue every week to crochet a motif, for a total of 8 different designs and 10 different colour combinations. Then a lot of picot to crochet around to make the border and connect the motives together. It was fun and relaxing. The longest and boring part were the tails to weave in. But it was absolutely worth it. Everyone was looking at it and I earned a lot of praise. I definitely need to make some nice picture of it, don’t you think?

 

Non ho ancora fatto una foto che renda giustizia a questo scialle. Aspettavo il momento o il posto giusto ma non mi è venuto niente in mente. Ho solo questa misera foto. Qui sembra sciatto e disordinato. Si vedono benissimo tutte le code ancora da cucire, e non era ovviamente bloccato. Si vedono però i colori: magnifici!

Il filato che ho usato è Scheepjes Linen Soft, un blend di lino e cotone con tantissimi colori disponibili.

Molto facile da realizzare: ogni settimana veniva pubblicato il pattern per realizzare uno degli 8 diversi motivi ad uncinetto, e alla fine veniva spiegato come unirli e realizzare il bordo con i picot. Mi è piaciuto molto ed è stato divertente. L’unica cosa noiosa è stata cucire le code. Ne è valsa la pena, ho ricevuto moltissimi complimenti. Devo assolutamente fargli qualche foto in più, se lo merita, vero?

Turquoise

I love the colours of this CAL. Drops Design made a very cool new line called Drops loves you 7. It’s a cotton yarn, so it tends to be a little bit splitty but the colours are vibrant and rich. I find them truly gorgeous, they smell of spring!

This is a proper mistery CAL. That means we still don’t know where it will take us. The only thing that is known is we’ll end up with a blanket. The theme is flowers, as the title of the CAL suggests: The Meadow.

I sticked to the colours recommended by Drops: white, pink, light turquoise, turquoise and opal green. I want to see the finished blanket and then maybe I’ll pick my own colours to make another one.

Here’s the 3rd clue.

Adoro i colori di questo CAL. Drops Design ha innaugurato una nuova linea chiamata Drops loves you 7. E’ un filato di cotone, quindi il filo tende un pò ad aprirsi, ma i colori sono davvero meravigliosi! Sanno di primavera!

Questo è un vero e proprio CAL misterioso; ciò significa che nessuno di noi sa come effettivamente sarà il progetto finito. Quello che è noto è che sarà una copertina, e che il tema è floreale, proprio come suggerisce il nome: The Meadow, ovvero il prato.

Ho scelto di farlo con i colori suggeriti da Drops: bianco, rosa, turchese chiaro, turchese e un verde smeraldo. Voglio prima vedere come sarà la copertina finita prima di scegliere i miei colori per farne eventualmente un’altra.

Quello nella foto è il terzo indizio.

The CAL will last 18 weeks and till now it’s been a real pleasure to crochet every clue. I loved clue 1. But my favourite clue is n.2. I chose to let the petals loose and not anchoring them to the square as instructed in the pattern.

Il CAL durerà 18 settimane e fino ad ora è stato davvero piacevole realizzare ogni indizio. L’indizio 1 mi è piaciuto molto. Ma il 2 è finora il mio preferito. Ho deciso di lasciare liberi i petali piuttosto che ancorarli al lavoro come era previsto. Adoro il look 3d.

So, now it’s blocking time, waiting for the next week with the next clue. I wonder if we are going to use the opal green then.

Mentre aspetto la prossima settimana e il nuovo indizio mi diverto un pò a bloccare. Chissà se useremo il verde stavolta.

 

#DROPSCAL #themeadow #crochetalong