Lilinette Crochet

Summer is slowly coming to an end and I have to admit I am ready for it. It was a long hot summer here in France and as summers are: hectic, buzzing, full of joy and holiday visitors. But it was also a time of personal changes and unexpected troubles. We had to adjust and find new ways to move forward. It took time and effort but I think we have a new balance now, so let's move on! The little girl who inspired me to design this wrap showed me how to be a stardust sparkling superstar. Big dreams, unicorns and a pink sparkly shawl... what else does a girl need in life? SuperStardust has a slightly unusual shape, with the neck standing up a bit. It ensures a nice fit when worn around the back of the neck but does not bother when worn in the front. With its variety of stitches, it tries to convey the joy, confidence and sparkles of that wonderful time in life: childhood. This crescent wrap is 112 cm wide (about 44 ½") and 55 cm deep (about 22 ½"), measured in th...

Last winter, my design adventure started with a poncho pattern . This year, I decided to make another. While this poncho is completely different in design and construction from my Secret Paths and Hidden Daisies poncho, it has that same warm and snug feeling when wearing it. I really think ponchos are my most preferred winter wear. Easy to throw on when there is a chill in the air, and just as easy to take off again when the chimney starts working overtime! With every design I made this year, I tried new techniques. I have learned a lot because of that, and I love to keep on working in different ways to be able to offer something new and interesting with every pattern. This poncho pattern is worked sideways, which makes it incredibly easy to adjust in length as well as circumference. You can make this poncho in such a way to fit your body precisely.The pattern gives you options for sizes XS to 5X. But don’t let that keep you from working out your own size. See pattern note...

It's been so long... spring has kept me busy! I try to grow all our veggies myself so this season is the season of sowing, planting, nurturing and eating those lovely first fresh greens out of the ground. I love it! I also spent the past two weeks travelling to the Netherlands to spend two fantastic weekends with all my family, celebrating the birthdays of both my parents. Of course, I couldn't help myself and had to give mum some crochet love. I crocheted her the Lacy Days of Elegance Shawl in bright colours as well as a flower choker necklace (pattern coming soon! :-)). But first this pretty little beauty. Nothing ever stops once you've got the crochet virus, and so while I was travelling around,a lovely group of testers helped me to perfect the pattern and showed off their beautiful creations. My... they made some lovely shawls!  I'd say that this shawl deserves a special occasion. Think a wedding a prom, a ball or a chic evening out. It makes for a l...

We had such a lovely sunny spring day today... it must have been a sign! ;-) I have been waiting very patiently (uhm....nope ;-)) during the last few weeks for my testers to complete their tunics and give me all corrections on my pattern. Now that the work is done I can finally write this blog. I can't tell you how happy I am to share it with you. This tunic has been such a pleasure. To design and make first of all, but also to wear and to share with my testers. They have made some different yarn choices using silk blends which make this tunic even lighter and I just love to see what others do with a pattern and how beautiful the results turn out. Mists in spring is a classic lacy kimono tunic featuring the shyness of new life in spring. It is an easy to customize garment, very flattering for all shapes. The tunic is meant to be worn over a simple tank during warmer days but can also be worn over a long-sleeve top when the air becomes chilly. Skill level required is advanced...

In Buddhism, compassion always goes with wisdom. Compassion without wisdom is not understood to be true compassion and wisdom without compassion is not true wisdom. Likewise, in Christianity, love is accompanied by justice. Love without justice is not regarded as true love and justice without love is not true justice.   Masao Abe - Buddhism and interfaith dialogue No matter what your beliefs are, is this not a life lesson to keep close to our hearts and minds? I believe it is and I believe we need more of it in our world. So it inspired me in my design for this meditation cushion.   Designing this cushion took me a long time. Not because of the complexity of the crochet stitches or the difficulty of keeping the circles flat. No, I think that everyone, including beginners, can follow this pattern and make this cushion. The difficulty I experienced was in finding a way to have the wisdom side of the cushion merge with the compassion side. I wanted to use a ...

I love ponchos. They give me that comfortably warm 'I don't mind the winter'-feeling. You can wear them inside, over a simple shirt, as well as outside when the days are fresh but not freezing cold. After designing the Secret Paths and Hidden Daisies-Poncho this winter, I practically wear it all the time.  But there is one thing that bothers me when I wear the poncho, and especially when I sit still, typing away on my laptop all day... my arms get cold... I figured I needed to do something about it. Of course, I could just add sleeves to the two sides of the poncho and have it over with. But the problem with sleeves on a poncho is that it limits me when moving my arms around. I prefer the freedom of having a separate pair of arm warmers. A pair that I can take off when I don't need them. And even more, arm warmers that I can wear with other garments as well. Did you happen to crochet the poncho and have some yarn left? Well, I advise you to t...

This is my first big crochet project to share with you. Yay! It has a loving history, Let me tell you a little bit about it. Last December, I crocheted a beautiful shawl designed by Johanna Lindahl of Mijo Crochet . The shawl was called Secret Paths, and you can find the pattern here . I crocheted this shawl for my grandmother, who has just turned 92 years old. She is a wonderful inspiration in my life. A woman who knows how to move from adulthood to old age with grace, dignity and loving kindness. And it so happens that my grandmother loves pink! So I set out to collect some colours and made her the pink shawl. As these things go... I had yarn left and wondered what to do with it. The shawl was fairly chunky with all the thick yarn and doubling of strands I used. It made me think that it would do great as a poncho as well. But Johanna never designed a poncho and had no plans to do so either. Happily I like a challenge... Plus, it would give me the chance to design it wi...

So it is winter here in South West France, and a cold one too! I have been busy the last few months with lots of projects keeping us warm and snug: socks, mittens, pillows, shawls and ponchos. When sharing some of my creations with others, I got fantastic positive feedback, and I was asked to share patterns. Time to get going with a little blog I guess! Here a little sneak peak of what I am writing up for you at the moment. Stay tuned... working out these patterns is a rather time consuming part of the design... ;-)