We reviewed Annemarie Benthem’s new book, Crochet in the City in the latest issue of I Like Crochet so we decided to catch up with her about her new book, creative process, and more! This book is truly a beautiful collection of crochet and we fell in love with the designs, photography, and colors of these works of art. At the end of this interview, we’re giving away one of these stunning books so be sure to check it out!
What was your inspiration for creating this book?
When I first learned how to crochet, I made a lot of flowers. Flowers are easy to make once you know the basics of crochet and I loved to experiment with colors and yarn. I made flowers in all shapes and colors, and when I was thinking about making this book I knew it had to have a flower theme.
What are some of your favorite flowers that inspire you to crochet?
I grew up in the countryside and I just love flowers. Blue flowers are my absolute favourite. I love Forget-Me-Nots, but I also love Lavender and Blue Daisies. In the book there is a pattern of a large cushion made out of blue flowers. When I started with this design I knew I wanted to make something similar to Blue Poppies as they are so gorgeous. So when I had to give this pillow a name, it could only have one name: the Blue Poppy Pillow.
You love to use color in all of your projects! What are your tips for choosing yarn colors?
Choosing colors is a very personal thing and I mostly pick them while I am crocheting. I never pick colors before I start. I just start with one color and when I’m ready to change color I pick the next color. I don’t use a lot of dark colors like dark purple, dark grey, dark green or dark red. But these colors are lovely in softer shades. When I use one of these colors, I also make sure to use a bright color directly afterwards.Â
How long did it take you to design and put together this book?
The first time my book publisher and I talked about this book was a year ago. I made two other Dutch books in 2012 and 2013 and I was really looking forward to make a new book. As I love Japanese crochet books, this time I wanted to make a book that had the same style. I first talked to my book publisher in May 2017, so as from there it took almost a year to make this book. I was glad my book publisher gave me all the time I needed because working under pressure just doesn’t work for me.Â
What are the challenges you came across when creating a book in Dutch and English?
Making a book in one language is hard, but making a book in Dutch and English was a real challenge. As my blog posts and most of my patterns are written in both Dutch and English I am used to writing down everything twice. But when you make a book you have to go over everything time and time again. And now I had to do this twice.Â
First of all, it is lots of work to design so many projects in a relatively short period of time. Of course not everything just worked out immediately. Sometimes I made something that I just didn’t like once it was finished. If it is not a pattern for a book, you just unravel and move on. But during the making of this book I felt like I was losing precious time. As said there was no pressure from my book publisher, but the designs had to be finished at some point. The other thing that came to mind after a design failed was: what if I cannot design anymore? What if I just can’t make this book? But fortunately I always managed to grab myself together and now I’m so happy the book is here!
What about the title?At this moment I have planned to visit several craft fairs and yarn shops in The Netherlands and the UK where I’ll be promoting my book and where I’ll be teaching crochet classes. Besides that I will do some design work for crochet magazines. I am not yet thinking of making another book yet, but who knows what I’ll be doing in six months or so.
Official Rules for Giveaway:
- Leave a comment on this blog post answering our question below.
- Each comment will count as an entry, and one winner will be chosen at random after all the comments have been tallied.
- The winner will be announced here on this blog post at the end of the day on August 31, 2018 as well as contacted by the email address provided. Comments posted after the announcement will not be counted.
- Contest open to anyone 18+ in US and/or Canada
I love purple flowers. I love to make purple iris and orchids
Roses, daisies, and maybe poinsettias.
I taught myself to crochet at a very young age. I have always loved poppies, my favorite.
Eventually, I want to make baby blankets for young mothers in shelters. With flowers?
I did not see anywhere when this contest ends just when the winner will be posted. Is there a website so that I can look up new crocheting patterns for beginners? I am doing coasters right now for Christmas presents.
I am a beginner at crocheting. I have not done any flowers yet.
Daisies
Roses
Rose
Not sure what my favorite flower to crochet would be, but real flower roses are very pretty.
Oh dear! I totally forgot to answer your question!
Which is my favorite flower to crochet? – that’s difficult! I love crocheting flowers! I think Daisies and Sunflowers are my favorites, though. But I’m about to start working on some Poinsettias for Christmas…
I hope I’m not too late commenting….I missed this email when it first came in.
Your book looks AMAZING and I’d love to add it to my crochet library!
Thank you for the opportunity and for all you share with all of us.
This whole crochet community is almost like another ‘family’! So much sharing and helping each other. It’s awesome!
Good luck to all!
Roses are my favorite they turn out beautiful big or little
Filet crochet, roses especially.
I’d love to give these flowers a try.
I would really like to win this.
I love daisies, especially with white petals and yellow centers. It was my mother’s favorite flower.
Daisies are & have always been my favorite flowers, so, yes daisies are my go-to crochet flower! Thank you, Susan
Always fascinated with crocheting all kinds of flowers, especially those which bloom off of afghans. Currently I really like the crocheted crocodile stitch flower.
My favorite flower to crochet is the dogwood. I live in North Carolina and they bloom in the spring everywhere. I have a pink dogwood in my yard and it makes me smile every year when the leaves come out and the blooms begin blooming and I know that winter is gone. Spring is my favorite time of the year. To crochet dogwood flowers makes me happy.
I ? to crochet Daisies.
My daughter loves sunflowers but I love Iris’
My favorite flowers are Roses, Lavender, Aster, Lillie of the Incas, Anemone, African Daisy, and most that have shades of purple. I am new to crochet just started in February of this year after the passing of my youngest brother. Crochet has been my therapy. It has and continues to help me cope with the loss of Joey. I have not had had the pleasure of learning to crochet flowers as of yet. I do look forward to learning and I believe this book would be a great start for me.
Sunflower
This book looks like there are a lot of fun patterns with lots of colour. I would be very excited to try a few!
I believe I’m as lucky as Nicola. I’ve lived in the country practically all of my life. The beauty of wild flowers is simply amazing. I taught myself to crochet in 1968 and have been doing it ever since. At different times of the year I can have a rainbow palette growing in my yard. At the present time I have wild blue asters,tiny pink daisy like flowers, yellow daisies, white button flowers, and red wild sage which the hummingbirds love. This book seems to reflect a lot of the color schemes that I experience throughout the year in my own yard.
Fay Ruiz. July 20, 2018
Irish Rose