My sugar skull poncho!

Isn't it an amazingly pretty

sugar skull poncho?!

Even better:

The beautiful poncho this model is wearing

is crocheted & designed

by my friend Petra Perle!

I guess most of you can't read

german patterns

but if you are able to read charts

you can totally crochet this sugar skull poncho!

Here is the -> link <- to the free pattern 

on the website

of the german magazine "Burda style".

If you have further questions

feel free to ask me for help!

[The chart for the skull ends with round 12;

use the chart for the back afterwards.

Rounds 13-23 of the front

are worked as round 16-26 of the back chart.

Rounds 24-29 are made with

round 21-26 of the back chart.

Round 30 = Round 21 of the back chart.

Last round 31 = as round 24 but skipping

3 dc instead of 2 dc]

Nana Nelly Neon celebrates

the poncho as well!

...and actually:

Alex wears this poncho more often than me, haha!

Here you can see the back,

love this pattern!

A close up of the back to see some more details...

Sooo... Dada totally recommends

this pattern!

It never gets boring

because of all the colour changes

& I so loved crocheting the skull!

So, I'm heading back to my current project

& I hope some of you are inspired

to make such a poncho as well!

Petra Perle would love to see

your makings,

send a photo to her

Facebook page!

;-)

Sending love & hugs:

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

❤❤❤

Spooner

Too sad.

The crochet world has lost Spooner.

What a great loss for all of his 

crocheting virtual friends all over the world 

but especially for his family & friends.

May 18, 1946 - January 8, 2016

This world needs more colours badly

& David Carter aka Spooner

did his best to spread colours

all over this planet.

He started his crochet passion in 1952

- only 5 years old

& celebrated the skill

he learned by his grandma all his life.

I just adore his crochet dolls,

I was always joking that he is the only person

I know who crocheted more dolls than me!

(These cuties are available here)

You can read more about his life

in Spooner's own words

on his page www.thesecurityblanketco.com

& have a look at his unique works

but before you do so

PLEASE read the following words:

Spooner's daughter Mary Wilbur has created

a fundraising page in December.

Actually because he didn't have a health insurance

& couldn't pay the costs for his medical treatment. :-(

Now sadly his family needs the money 

to cover the costs for his funeral.

I don't have much money 

but I've donated some dollars

& if we all do so

we can help Spooner's family

as a last greeting to a man

who won't be forgotten

& will stay in our hearts.

You can make a donation here on gofundme.

❤❤❤

Crochet in peace Spooner!

❤❤❤

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 Mini Rings Of Change Jacket!

Today I've completed this jacket!

More details how I made it

in this blogpost

but first some other words...

This year is coming to an end

& I guess I won't have the time

to write another blogpost in 2015...

Tomorrow I'm travelling

to Bavaria to visit my parents

& a couple of days later

I'm already sitting on a plane to London!

I will spend Christmas & New Year's Eve

with my prince Alex

& his lovely family!

And I will meet a real special friend again:

Lin of Crochet in Colour!

Exciting!

It's been another productive year

and I had great fun with a lot of

Finished Objects -

& also with my works in progress

I've been playing around!

On the other hand there were

loads of less bright happenings

in world politics.

Times are changing

& this planet has become more insecure.

Europe can't close it's eyes anymore

because of the wars going on.

Millions of people had to leave their countries

to look for shelter

& to save their lives.

Terrorism has caused

lots of tears & sadness

in Europe & the USA.

I'm living in Germany at the moment

& it's becoming more radical.

The refugee crisis

has split this nation into

2 different positions

& it's causing more & more violence.

Refugee shelters were

set on fire hundreds of times this year,

protests are ending in riots.

I've spent the weekend in Berlin

visiting friends

& someone said to me:

"You are from Leipzig, aren't you?

Do you know what's going on

there at the moment?"

I watched what has happened in my city

straight next to the place I'm working:

It was the worst idea ever

to organize an anti-refugee-protest

walking through a left-wing district of Leipzig...

69 police officers & probably

a much higher number of people got hurt,

destruction all over.

There's nothing I'd wish more for 2016

that there could be a change to a more peaceful world.

Noa, a friend from Berlin, showed me this 

beautiful video last weekend,

so much truth & so much hope.

It's in french with english subtitles

& is presented

by the wonderful strong Lady Keny Arkana.

In the end we are all

brothers & sisters

on a weird planet,

let's stand together

& let's keep our humanity & our hearts

in all this chaos.

If everyone on this planet would

be a crocheter this world could be so much better!

People would have problems like:

"No!!! I'm running out of the yarn 

I need to finish this blanket!"

or

"Damn! I made a mistake 3 rows ago!"

Just a dream...

***

Sooo... But now something about my new jacket!

I always wanted to crochet

Frank O'Randle's

"Rings Of Change" blanket

but actually I have enough blankets!

His Mini Rings Of Change

is a free pattern

& you can make a glorious baby blanket 

- or a circle jacket!

I followed the pattern until round 27.

Round 27 was perfect for making the armholes:

Instead of just scs around

I started this way:

ch 25, skipped 25 stitches,

30 stitches

ch 25, skipped 25 stitches

scs all around

ended with a slipstitch in first chain

(This worked perfectly for my size

if your arms need more space

try it with 30 chains

& skipping 30 stitches...

Try it on!

Not enough?

Increase the chains & skipped stitches

& also the number of stitches

between the arms!)

Then I just worked the pattern till the end!

Sleeves:

a round of 50 stitches all around

*2 dc, 1 ch, skip 2 scs* around

complete first round with slipstitch

in top of first dc

slipstitch in next dc & the following chain

3 chain (= first dc)

dc & ch

work in all 1ch bridges:

2 dc, 1ch

after dcs/chs round number 9

I increased the stitches in round 10 -

in ONE of the 1ch bridges

I worked: 2 dc, 1ch, 2 dc, 1 ch

round 11-15 as usual

round 16: increase like in round 10

round 17-25 as usual 

I ended with a row of shell stitches,

*7dc in a stitch

skip 2 stitches

stitch

skip 2 stitches*

You don't need button holes -

they are already there!

I've put on 5 buttons

but do as you please!

Yay, that's it!

(If it's not big enough for you at this point

get yourself the actual Rings Of Change pattern

for some more rows

OR

just improvise & play around with stitches

for some more rounds!)

Some more pics

(Thank you to my flatmate Fabi

for taking the photos!)

Sooo...

I will pack my stuff for the next weeks now

(& all the christmas presents!)

& I wish you wonderful

christmas days

with your family!

:-)

So much love:

Your friend Dada

♥♥♥