What chaincreative loved about 2008

So much has happened on chaincreative this year and as it draws to it's close I thought it would be fun to just take a long look back.
Great crochet blogs are such a treat to find and I found some gems. From Belgium there were our friends Karlita and Veerle with their blogs. Chaincreative travelled virtual-style to Belgium to check out their home turf and found a very inspiring buzz happening there. Veerle gave us a real insight into her technique and we count her as a real friend to this blog. The Voyages strand was so much fun to research and write and after Belgium we went to Portugal and Israel. Both countries have a long tradition of crochet and some exciting talent is out there for us to enjoy. From Portugal comes Maria with
her wonderful work on Etsy under the name kjoo. Her work is stunning and constantly changing.
Another great artist is from Israel. Yael is a designer in metal and this really allows us to see the versatility of crochet. Her work on Etsy is under the name of Yoola and we've done a great profile of her work and inspirations on the Visual Arts strand.
Well, this is just a taster of what's available for you to browse in the comfort of your home from chaincreative. A few more choices on Friday I think and then planning meetings for 2009.
Have a very wonderful beginning to this coming year and look forward to your visit in 2009.

What a nice month or so to review. Travelling, designer interviews, fashion, jewels. Who could imagine that all these things include crochet? Anyway, here's a selection of the best of them and a few extra jewels to spice the mix.

1. Antwerp 2. Lion Brand patterns 3. Double Stitch fashion patterns 4. Karlita 5. Kjoo 6. Fringe Desperado cape 7. La Pomme Flowers 8. LittleLoveBlue Cat 9. Mummysam Felt Board10. Personalized Home cushion from Olive

July/August collection - Review of the month

So here it is - Review of the Month - and I'm including August as we'll be having a little 'rest' through those 4 weeks or so!

I've included, as usual, some selections that have caught my eye on Etsy and one little rogue - Lama - which is a showcase for Latin American talent.

1. Kathleen Holmes 2. Guro at Hobbykroken 3. Inger Carina 4. Leila and Ben 5. Two Beans 6. Karlita 7. Anarosa 8. Dadaya 9. Kjoo 10. Lama

Happy Birthday

The end of June has reminded me that chaincreative is a happy bouncing one-year old!!! This has been such a fun roller-coaster for me as I never thought that a reference site for my crochet students would turn into a global resource with visitors from all around the world visiting and staying and sending in lovely messages of support. Our latest guest is Veerle who called in to say how much she loves chaincreative (to the point of addiction!) I know, and I write the thing!!! Veerle has a lovely blog of her own with her crochet jewellery filled with colour and imagination.

I think I'll take this celebratory moment to use our Review of the Month as a Review of the Year. Please keep visiting and tell your friends. We'll make quite a party!

1. The birth of a blog 2. Vintage Crochet by Susan Cropper 3. Buying vintage patterns 4. The crochet coral reef 5. The work of Aurelie Mathigot

6. Fable*Handmade 7. Hobbykroken 8. Maria of Kjoo 9. Alicia Paulson 10. Heelgeldab

The opening five items are articles taken from the blog and the final five are some of the lovely friends that chaincreative has made over the last year. Thank you to everybody for making this such a wonderful start in life.

May Collection on Chaincreative

As with last month, here is a selection of some of the wonderful people and designs that have been featured here on chaincreative. In addition, I've chosen some of the fabulous items on etsy which I hope will spark your interest. I just love the scent of summer that comes from these choices. Here comes the sun!!

1. Helle Jorgensen 2. Jamin Puech 3. Babette Blanket 4. Alicia Paulson 5. Fryd + design 5. paperiaarre 7. peaceful provisions 8. Lalitah 9. Annie and Olive 10. oneblackbird

April collection

Each month I want to feature five of my favourite items from the chaincreative with an additional prize of mentions for the loveliest things I've found on etsy. I hope that this will refresh your memory and give you new ideas and inspirations. Here's April's list...
1. Aurelie Mathigot 2. Dudua 3. Jessica Polka 4. CP Store 5. Lots of vintage crochet!!! Now for etsy
6. Karin Eriksson 7. Peaceful Provisions 8. Rae Dunn 9. Bookhou 10. Amie King