On the move!

My daughter, Holland, is now 8.5 months old and is officially crawling...and pulling up and getting into everything. :) This includes mommy's yarn and crochet projects, if I don't keep a close eye on her. Today I was working on something, left it on the couch and walked into another room. When I came back, this is what I saw...

It was so adorable I had to take a photo. Who knew a crochet hook was good for teething? :) Yes, probably not the best option, so I quickly took it away from her, much to her disappointment!

I am just a little bit thrilled though that she seems to be interested in my crocheting...maybe she'll want to crochet herself when she's old enough (read "3") :) That's when I began to learn! :)

Crochetbury Bears

This week I've introduced my new teddy bear patterns which I've named "Crochetbury Bears." Bears measure 4" seated and 5" standing.

The basic outfits include:

• flower petal halter dress and matching beanie (for the girl bear)
• blue denim overalls (for the boy bear)

More outfits and accessories will follow in the weeks ahead...

Home Sweet Home

After travelling the world for 5 weeks, we arrived back home safely at 5am Auckland time this past Tuesday morning. How nice it is to be home again after being away so long! Holland is now 7.5 months old and looks around the house as if she's seeing it all for the 1st time. She may have a 'slight feeling' that she's been here before, but isn't quite sure... :)

It's amazing to see how she's developed while we've been away. She is now sitting up by herself for extended periods of time. She cut her 1st tooth while we were in Holland and seems to be working on another one. She enjoyed meeting all her grandparents, aunts & uncles and her cousin...plus many new friends. :)

It was so nice to reopen my Etsy shop! I look forward to getting back to designing in the weeks ahead. At the moment I am still focusing on unpacking and settling back into life here in Auckland. We're still a bit jetlagged and have been going to bed about 5pm and waking up at 3am...so hope to get back to normal soon!

Here are a few photos from our travels...

The 3 of us in Amsterdam...

Holland in her Air New Zealand bassinette...

Delicious Belgian waffles (topped with warm cherries and ice cream) we enjoyed in Mol, Belgium.

Vacation Mode

Well, we're all packed up and ready to leave for the airport in the morning. We are doing out best to travel light--even with a 6 month old. I put my Etsy shop in "vacation mode" tonight and felt a little sad...I love having my shop so much that I'm going to miss it while I'm away! I am taking my crochet hook and some yarn with me on our trip so I'll have something to do during our layovers in Sydney and elsewhere. I can't take a little pair of scissors with me on the plane so I will have to find creative ways to fasten off if need be...hopefully they won't confiscate my crochet hook! :)

Going on Holiday

Spring is in the air in New Zealand. The weather is generally pretty mild year round here in Auckland, and as a girl originally from Wisconsin, I'll never complain about it being too cold here!

My husband and I are about to leave on a month-long trip to visit our families back in the States and in the Netherlands. Our little girl, Holland, is nearly 6 months old now and will be a delight to her grandparents.

Needless to say, we're going to really enjoy this trip, especially since we don't know when we'll be able to make such a trip again.

In the above photo, Holland is wearing a cable stitch crocheted 3/4 length one-button sweater which I made for her a few months ago...she has finally grown into it. It should fit her during our trip and keep her warm (and stylish!) as we travel to areas where it will be autumn.

Cable stitch done in crochet looks so nice...and is so quick and easy. I have a cable stitch baby beanie pattern listed in my shop which might be a good project if you want to learn how to do this stitch.

Or you might try my free cable stitch baby mitten pattern listed on my next post.

My shop will be inactive during the month of October. I look forward to re-opening shop again around Nov 5th. See you all then!

3-Stripe Baby Tennis Shoes

This is really how I design something...

Monday night while my husband was doing a little work from home, I sat on our bed with my crochet hook and 2 colors of yarn and started to make what turned out to be my latest design, baby tennis shoes made to look just like the real thing.
I didn't write the pattern down until the next day because it was all in my head.

I made the sole, then made the 3-stripe sides and didn't have any idea how I was going to turn it into a shoe...but as I looked at it and moved the pieces around, the design just came together. It's rather like playing Scrabble...you have these letters on your tray and you don't know what words they can form until you begin to shuffle them around...and then you can just see the words taking shape.

My husband thinks these little shoes turned out "really awesome." I'd love to hear your comments also!

Holland Designs is Born

With the arrival of my baby girl, Holland, in March, 2008 (so named due to her father's Dutch heritage), I became a stay-at-home "mum." I was absolutely delighted to have a little girl because now I could crochet her pretty baby dresses and cute pink sweaters and booties, etc. After the 1st few weeks of adjustment, I found time to get out my crochet hook and began my 1st project, a "Holland Designs Original", my Pineapple Lace Party Dress.

I have been crocheting since the age of 5 and have been designing my own patterns since age 21. Holland became my little model and after I'd designed something for her, I decided to e-publish my patterns and sell them online. A friend told me about the fabulous website, http://www.etsy.com/ and so I set up shop at http://www.hollanddesigns.etsy.com/

Since that little beginning, it seems most days I have a crochet hook in hand and some project or design in the works or in my head. I am generally a "left-brained" artist...but I guess when you begin to focus your mind on being creative, the right-brained side can really be activated. Creating a new pattern is definitely a right-brained activity, but being able to then write up the instructions for someone else to follow and use--that's a left-brained task, so lucky me, I've got that covered! :)

The neat thing about designing is hearing from the crafters who buy my patterns. One of my designs, my "Flower Petal Mary Jane Booties" was created after a fellow crafter asked me to create a custom Mary Jane bootie pattern for her to sell in her online craft shop. She was a little overwhelmed by all her orders--they became a "must have" item and she was having to raise her prices just to keep customers away! She was praying for another pair of hands to keep up!

I've been selling my patterns online locally in New Zealand and have been learning a bit of the geography of my new home. I'm orginally from the States, so I'm also learning a bit about crochet terms outside the USA--refering to hook sizes in mm and "wool" in plys rather than weights. It's all very interesting and educating. :)

So, I've begun a blog to talk about my latest designs and meet others who love to crochet. Feel free to convo me and talk about all things crochet. :)

Lisa van Klaveren
Crochet Designer
http://www.hollanddesigns.etsy.com/