Another crazy Freeform Crochet Coat!!

It's been ages since I last wrote a blog post! One of many good reasons is that my now 2 year old little Gwenda has killed my laptop!! :-) I just found an app for my mobile phone & so it might be possible I can actually get this post done while breastfeeding my 8 week old!! No excuses anymore!! I guess I finished this coat in October, obviously I was still highly pregnant!!

The special thing about this coat is that it contains uncountable projects I started & never finished over the last 10 years or so! :-) I really got fed up with all these WIPs (WIP means 'Works in progress' for those of you who don't understand crochet language) & so I decided to turn them into something wearable. You can never have enough coats & so that's what I added to my neon wardrobe!!

For those of you who are wondering how I get the yarny puzzle pieces in the right shape: I took an old jacket and used hundreds of safety pins to attach all the crochet pieces onto it. Then I simply crocheted the pieces together!!

As you can see there are still some yarn ends to hide but nothing is as boring as perfection so I guess it will just stay this way!! Hard to recognize the ends anyway in all this neon chaos!!

I might just make a little coat for this little miss as well, I've given up on crocheting things for little baby Gwenda as I could just watch her growing out of her crochet clothes. Now that she is a proper toddler she fits in her clothes a bit longer, finally!!

Another photo of the coat, just to show you it's dimensions and all these projects I never managed to finish!! So satisfying I actually 'completed' them!! :-)

And a last picture with my 8 week old little Zelda!! I'm so thankful that she is such a talented sleeper (Mami gets all in all 10 hours of sleep a night!!) & she enjoys sitting on me whilst I can crochet! Nothing better!!

Much love to all my princesses & princes,

DaDa, GwenDa & ZelDa

My African Flower Soccer Ball for Michelangelo!

Gwenda is 16 days old now & we were both pretty surprised 

how big this football has become!

We thought it would be average football size

but wow:

Almost as big as the little princess Gwenda!

I always wanted to make such a ball since 

I discovered the pattern by Crochetbug!

Just so pretty!

Click here to find the pattern!
It's so easy, after some hexagons & pentagons
you don't need the pattern anymore!
Just perfect for a fresh Mami like me
with a lack of sleep & a baby brain!
You still get some pieces done half asleep
in between two breastfeeds!

We were invited to Gwenda's first party today:
Our friend Michelangelo has celebrated his first birthday
& I think I really picked the perfect pattern
for his present.
The kids were throwing it,
squashing it,
used it as a pillow
or were just jumping around on it!
Mami & Daddy will have to make another one
for the first birthday of our little princess!

I used Stylecraft Special DK yarns for this ball.

The actual challenge of this project was to create

the pentagons & hexagons in a way

that the border colours are different

while attaching.

I recommend crocheting them together as you go!

I've used the visible join method,

makes quite a nice contrast! ;-)

I hope you are all doing fine

& I'm sending much love to all

my princesses & princes!

Your friend Dada!

My massive crochet Nana!

Last year I already posted a pic of my huge Nana doll

on my Facebook page

but I still have to show you some more pics

& have to add some details...

Just in case someone else needs such 

a lovely giant Nana!

8 kg of pure joy!

 

What you need is:

A 20 mm hook

Loads of yarn & stuffing

The free Nana pattern

by Nadelspiel by Elizzza!

This pretty Nana goddess is quite heavy:

8 kilogram of yarn & stuffing.

Depending on the thickness of the yarns I've used

I crocheted with 6-8 skeins at a time...

Whenever one of the yarns came to it's end 

I just knotted another yarn to it...

A fantastic way to get rid of scrap yarn

or colours you actually don't like.

(Yay, I don't have any brown yarn anymore!)

You don't need to go to the gym anymore

while working on such a massive sexy Lady:

I can tell you it makes strong muscles

because the Nana is getting so heavy

after a while!

My massive Nana is pretty proud of her curves,

my Nanas are always pretty confused

in general when I tell them that 

many human beings don't wanna have curves at all

& make strange things like strict diets.

When my Nanas see photos of thin supermodels

they are always getting pretty concerned

& they wanna feed these Ladies.

I find my Nanas are pretty clever! ;-)

You are really willing to
crochet such a beautiful Lady as well?!
PLEASE post a pic
to my Facebook page!

Sending massive Nana hugs:

Your friend Dada!
❤❤❤

My Freeform Crochet Coat!

I haven't posted anything for quite a while

as I've been pretty busy.

Online breaks are important to me

in times when so many things are

happening in the "real life".

The reason why you can see me

presenting my new coat on the beach

is that I've moved to Scotland

a couple of weeks ago!

Edinburgh is just such a beautiful

& open-minded place to live

& I already met many new crafty friends!

With this coat I got rid of loads of unfinished projects

& scrumbles I've made over the last years

- I still have more than 400 left which is pretty good

because I'm also working on a even bigger

secret project! ;-)

It never gets  boring as long as you are a crocheter!

I could only take one of my Nanas

with me to the ocean

but of course ALL of them have moved

to Scotland as well!

I always find new doggie friends here

in Edinburgh to play with

but I'm also pretty sad

that my best doggie friend has recently

left us - Samson.

He has been the best nephew for me

you can imagine & it's just heart-breaking

that he had to leave his loving

grandma Barbara.

My future dog has to be a rottweiler,

hopefully it will be such a great cuddler

as Sam was.

❤❤❤

Farewell Samson,

this world is missing you badly.

❤❤❤

Some more coat pics...

...and here you can see Alex

wearing my coat!

Looks pretty awesome on him!

While I was puzzling together this coat

Alex was so lovely to make some

scrumbles for this coat as well!

Here you can see 2 puzzle pieces he made

for my freeform coat!

Sooo, one last pic...

I will try to post more often again

& I wish you a wonderful day with

many beautiful stitches!

Your friend Dada

❤❤❤

Dada totally celebrates: Petra Perle!

Munich is always worth a visit

but for us crocheters & knitters out there

there's another reason to travel to Bavaria's capital:

Petra Perle has her own yarn store in the city center now!

"Die Wolle" ("The Yarn")!

Actually I was on my way to visit my parents

but when my bus arrived in Munich

I thought I have to take the chance

& make a surprise visit to see a dear online friend!

 

Actually Petra Perle isn't just a crocheter

- she is pretty famous in Bavaria:

She is also a singer, writing articles for newspapers,

 writing books, is a natural born comedian

& is also having art exhibitions!

Just an incredible allround artist!

 When I arrived in Müllerstraße 50

I got a heartwarming welcome -

Petra Perle's yarn store 

is just an amazing place!

It's kind of a museum for crochet art  

& filled with all the creations

she has made in the past 3 years!

Lovely friends of Petra Perle

were coming around as well:

Helmi (Strickspass mit Helmi),

his lovely husband Manfred

& Sabine!

(They are all wearing handmade creations

of Petra Perle for this photo!)

Beautiful yarn & amazing crochet fashion!

...and in between:

Petra Perle's Freeform Crochet Art!

...more yarn & fashion...

...and have a look at the ceiling!

EVERYTHING is crocheted -

even the lampshades

& some umbrellas!

But the best thing about this

yarn store is Petra Perle!

She is a wonderful crochet teacher

& always up for giving tips!

(While having a glass of wine!)

I just love this bag!

...and it's overwhelming to see her

freeform crochet face in real life!

It's much bigger than I thought:

It fits perfectly in a big hula hoop!

...and of course the chairs

are all covered in yarn as well!

What a wonderful coat!

Totaqlly my style!

Love the yarn presentation

outside of "Die Wolle"!

...Petra Perle's 3 wheel bike! :-)

And if I ever need a rollator

I will definitely

need such a walker in neon!

(Proudly wearing my new

Petra Perle hat on this pic!)

I got so many of these 

business postcards

from Petra!

Haha, I will just give every crocheter

I will meet one of them!

I'm unpatiently waiting for

Petra Perle's first crochet book -

it will get published in April!

And no worries:

It's written in german

but there are crochet charts included

for all hilarious creations!

So no need to learn german, haha!

Here a link to her coming book!

(My plan for 2016:

Crocheting all the patterns!)

It was so lovely meeting Petra Perle

& having a beer with her while crocheting!

If you ever come to Munich

don't forget to visit her!

(Opening times to find here!)

Hugs to Helmi of Strickspass mit Helmi,

Manfred & Sabine!

It's been a real pleasure

meeting you!

And of course:

Much love to all my princesses

& princes!

Merry christmas:

Your friend Dada

My new psychedelic crochet coat!

I haven't blogged in a while,

just so much going on & so I needed a social media break!

I'm working in a shelter for homeless Ladies now

& it's a real touching work experience.

Your own problems are becoming so tiny

compared to the situation of these brave women.

They all had a home once.

Normal family lifes.

Depression, divorce, depts -

many different reasons

can cause homelessness.

Homelessness,

what a sad sad word

for something

that can happen to anyone of us.

Winter is coming,

it's getting cold out there.

There will be little notes

in the newspapers again

about homeless persons frozen to death.

And there's little we can do against it.

But there's something important

we all can give:

Respect, some warm words & a smile. 

Some people give a little

bit of money to a homeless person

but only a few really talk to them.

Look them in the eyes.

Invite them for having some food

or a hot drink in a warm place.

Treat them like a human being.

Let's make a difference!

♥♥♥

I don't have much time

& my crochet life is producing less stitches

these weeks...

 ...and I still have to spin some kilos of the sheep wool

I have cleaned months ago

but I'm on my way! ;-)

I've already dyed a kilo or so,

so exciting to create your own personal yarn!

I'm experimenting with crepe paper as a dye

& I'm really in awe about this

cheap, easy & effective option!

Crepe paper is fantastic,

I even dyed my flatmate Marie's hair green! :-)

I will blog about this method soon!

My WIPs are growing slowly

but today I managed to complete

this colourful coat!

Actually I wanted to crochet

this beautiful Lion Brand pattern:

While crocheting some squares for it 

I thought it would become too huge for me...

I've already crocheted 27 of the 79 motifs 

of this pattern to this point -

& just used them to turn them

into this funny neon coat!

I really love it,

so much fun to grow

something without any plan

how it will look in the end. 

Just some stripes here,

some granny stitches there

& now I have a new

unique coat!

Sooo happy!

:-)

Haha, some more photos! :-)

My beloved flatmates

Fabi & Marie took so many

good & funny pictures outside in the garden before

that it's hard to choose the best shots!

...crazy moves!

I'm a psychedelic princess!!!

Neon!

Just my favourite "colour"! :-)

What else to write?

I FINALLY MANAGED TO QUIT SMOKING!
For the first time without suffering
& being nervous all the time...

My method was quite easy:
I just said:
"I'm a non-smoker now!"
& got rid of my smoking stuff.

Crocheting is the best addiction anyway! :-)

Sending much love to my princesses
& princes,

your friend
Dada
♥♥♥