After some time trying to grow cotton, it was time to do some crochet. I continued with the monster climbing chalk bag and finished the mouth of the monster. There is still some work to be done before the entire pouch is finished, but I think it is going in the right direction. 🧶

The first pieces of a new project are finished. These pieces will be part of a little monster that will join me for future climbing sessions. 🧶

The child-play-cube is ready to be enjoyed by a special little toddler! I like the result and especially that it is completely made with natural fibers.

The geometric shapes as well as the nature inspired shapes, such as the flowers, will help trigger young minds.

Crocheting a decently shaped can be quite a problem if regular filling, such as polyester or, preferably, natural fibers such as wool or cotton are used as the cube would almost turn into a sphere. In addition, I am find it important to use as less synthetic fibers as possible to avoid any spillage of persistent fibers from my creations into the environment and cause harm to our fellow earth inhabitants. To circumvent the need for regular filling and at the same time maintain a cube shape, I started with a tiny cube and added subsequent larger cubes around it to form a sort of matroesjka cube. In the end, 19 layers were necessarily to obtain a sufficient size cube that will be the ‘filling’ of the child playing dice.

Christmas has come and gone. I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and their loved ones. Like most years I set out to crochet something nice for my family and friends, but this year I did not have that much inspiration and ‘only’ managed to make new patterns for Christmas candy canes. While I found this rather frustrating I noticed that together they form a heart, which is actually the most important thing to cherish and remember during the holidays. Lets keep and spread this warm feeling throughout the coming year!

Christmas came early this year! I am so happy with my new custom made crochet hook. It feels like a magic wand!

This crochet hook was made from bamboo by the artisans from www.bamhout.nl and I cannot wait what crochet projects will be created using it.

The last three pieces of the ‘child play dice’ are done! The last thing remaining is to crochet all six sides together! 🧶

Ever since I became an uncle, already one year ago, I have some new inspiration for crochet projects. Most of them are just ideas in my head that will stay there until my neurotic self approves them for production.

This time, I started working on a children’s toy. The nerd in me wanted to make this… well… nerdy, by incorporating some numbers or geometric figures. I ended thinking make a dice as it may help children be gain familiarity with this shape and numbers.

I found crocheting a cube is not that easy. You can start with a magic loop and working in the round, but in my hands this did not give a symmetrical cube. Alternatively, you may want to use ‘granny squares’, but this results in rather large openings and I found this less suitable for a shape work that should not leak its stuffing.

In the end, I will try to crochet squares Starting in the round, but crocheting them together as one would with granny squares. I hope the result would be something kids would like to play with as much as I enjoyed making it.

Lately I have focussed on crocheting Bags such as hand or shoulder bag. My new project will be to creat a ‘paper bag’ as they are so popular nowadays.

While the ambition is there, the number of stitches the paper bag demands is staggering. Despite the simplicity of the design of the bag itself, I like the result so far.