The Joya Dress | Scheepjes Blog Tour
Nov 03, 2018
Well, isn't this just a little bit exciting?! I have had to pinch myself on multiple occasions about having a design featured in the Scheepjes YARN bookazine - it's quite the highlight, right? I think so. If you're reading this you're probably aware of the Blog Hop happening right now with the designers of the incredible patterns published in YARN 6. Yesterdays blogger was the supremely talented Tatiana Kupryjanchyk of LillaBjorn Crochet. Check out her fun Jingle Garland - it is definitely on my to make list! You can read her blog about it here.
This issue sees the inclusion of 17 crochet and knit designs. My copy of the bookazine is currently winging it's way to me as I type and I am eagerly awaiting it's arrival in my mailbox! For now I have to make do with drooling over the wonderful photos the team at Scheepjes have taken of all the awesome yarny creations. I have many favourites, but the first one I plan on making is the Olga Cardigan by Susan Walsh - Peppergoose. I love it and I think it's going to be perfect for popping on over the top of a singlet in summer, which is just around the corner here in New Zealand. I've ordered the yarn in Tyrian Purple, a colour I don't wear enough, so I'm looking forward to giving it a whirl!
So now to the dress. This dress has had quite the adventure! It all started last year when I made a short sleeved version of the dress for myself in a stunning shade of light turquoise called Tropic. I completely winged the project and took a grand total of zero notes as I knew that creating a pattern would be an epic adventure that I wasn't sure I was ready for just yet. However, the lovely team at Scheepjes managed to convince me that it could be done and offered me a spot in this issue of YARN 6 - how could I say no?! And so it began...
There was a lot of thinking that had to be done up front to work out exactly how the dress could be scaled to suit other sizes, which meant a bit of modification of the initial design. But once I worked that out (and actually charted it ahead of time) it was fairly plain sailing. I worked at home, I worked at the beach, I crocheted at our little local community stitch group... anywhere and everywhere to get it completed. And then there is Claire - my fabulous friend and tester - who helped with working on the first sample and testing the pattern. We tweaked and we frogged and tweaked some more to create something that could work for everyone! I couldn't have done it without her. Here is her beautiful Tyrian Purple version...
{secret symbol: C}
Pretty special, huh? I love it! So, back to the story...
We finally had the pattern complete and the samples ready to send. Claire lovingly wrapped her treasured dress and posted it from the UK, while I did the same from NZ. I checked in on it's status every day to watch it get closer to it's destination. It should have reached Scheepjes after a few days but it appeared to stall, and despite many desperate phone calls it appeared that is was destined to be parked in an airport storage area in Amsterdam for almost 6 weeks!! My heart was doing flips as we needed the dress to get there for the photo shoot! There was begging and a few tears of frustration at the fact that no one would simply turn the package around and try again to deliver it to the right address and in the end it was returned back to sender. The thought of buying a ticket to Amsterdam and delivering it myself went through my mind on more than one occasion. But the story did not end there! The dress had now made it's way around the world only to land back in Auckland airport and....... get LOST. I couldn't believe it - all my hard work and love was gone. But in the end there was only one thing left to do - make another one, at lightning speed! As luck would have it, I had just enough yarn in stock to make a second dress but I only had two weeks to get it made AND delivered back across the world. Crazy, right? My husband certainly thought so! How was I going to make such a large project in a matter of days when the first one took me months? Well, let's just say the kids fended for themselves that week and 12 hours of crocheting per day was not out of the question. But where there's a will, there's a way and I'm so glad to say I DID IT and it arrived! Yippeeeeeee! Here it is before it took off... (I have been desperate to share these pictures with you all!! You don't know how hard it has been to keep quiet about it on social media...)
What do you think? I was aiming for fitted, feminine, lacy and something super luxurious for the wearer. My philosophy is that you don't save garments like this for special occasions though - wear it in everyday situations and enjoy feeling beautiful even if it's just a trip to the supermarket! As a busy mum of three growing boys, if I waited for special occasions to wear beautiful clothes I would be waiting a looooong time....
Are you feeling inspired to pick up your hook and make a dress for yourself yet? Or someone special? I know I am really looking forward to seeing pictures of all the Joya Dresses popping up on Instagram and social media - it's one of my favourite parts of the process, so please remember to tag me in your photos.
And one more of the final shoot...
Now to the exciting bit! A chance to win a copy of YARN 6 and the yarns needed to make your favourite project! A pretty cool prize if you ask me. All you have to do is visit the Scheepjeswol Facebook page and find this post...
Pop a comment on the FB post telling us which pattern is your fave, and follow the blog hop to find the hidden symbol or letter in each blog post (have you found my one yet?). These will spell out a sentence, and when you have them all go back to this FB Giveaway post and pop that sentence under your initial comment. Easy peasy.
"Where can I get a copy?", I hear some of you asking. Check out the Scheepjes website for a retailer near you.
Next up in the Blog Hop is Esther Dijkstra of It's All in a Nutshell. You don't want to miss this one - it is SUPER gorgeous!
Alia xx
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