A Fabulous Visit!

Do you know this feeling of bursting with joy and thankfulness, wanting to get it out, share it with everyone and then you realize you just don’t know where to start, because it was all so fantastic, wonderful etc?

If so, you know exactly how I feel after having finally met one of my very dear Instagram-friends, the very talented and ever so lovely Heike (link to her beautiful blog, here).
It must have been almost two years ago when we first “met” on Instagram, around the time she so graciously shared here “Homely Blanket”-squares with all of us and I decided I wanted to join in on this crochet-fun. We immediately felt a click, and when Heike on her many travels had a chance to make a stopover in Amsterdam, we were both happy it gave us the opportunity to – finally – meet in person.
So, last Tuesday around 6pm I picked her up from the airport and took her home with me – the start of a fabulous couple of days, really! Tuesday night over dinner we realized that, yes, the friendship we had already felt online, was precisely the friendship we experienced in real life. After all, we did know quite a lot about each other already!

Wednesday morning we set off for Zaltbommel, where we had been invited by lovely Petra and her Wolplein-crew and where we met with – as a surprise for Heike – the equally lovely Maaike/Crejjtion (I’m sure you all know her gorgeous blog, but in the rare case you don’t, here‘s the link).
It’s for a reason that this wonderful place is called “Wolplein Inspiratie Centrum”, because inspirational it is!
Being the sweet person she is, Maaike brought both Heike and me an utterly beautiful doily – truly crochet-works-of-art, and to add even more delight we were all three presented with a big box, filled to the brim with “Rico Creative Cotton” in every color and shade possible by the ever so generous Wolplein-people: wow!
Wednesday ended with yet another big surprise for Heike, since I had invited a couple of Dutch creative ladies to spend the evening at my beloved “Tuin11” – our little cabin on one of the Amsterdam canals.
We had an amazing time and it felt like Heike and I were celebrating our birthdays since everyone brought the nicest presents: we were truly spoilt! A sincere “thank you” to lovely Claire, Simone, Lisanne, Miriam, Lidy, Nerissa and Janneke for taking the effort to drive long distances to be with us, your wonderful gifts-from-the-heart, and most of all your fabulous friendship, camaraderie, and laughter!
Thursday being Heike’s last day in Amsterdam, we drove to “Echtstudio” in Alphen a/d Rijn to meet with delightful Michelle of Scaapi (website here, blog here).
Scaapi is a yarn agency specialized in selling unique hand knitting and crochet yarns produced in South Africa. Michelle gifted both Heike and me a beautiful selection of the yarns that she carries and I can’t wait to start creating something with them.
Around 17:30 I dropped Heike off at Schiphol Airport again where she was to meet Sarah (more on Sarah here) for the last leg of her journey – you can read about that here.

Like I said, there’s so much to be thankful for ……. all in all it has been an absolutely ace week, stuffed to the gills with inspiring, creative friends (new and old), lots of gorgeous yarn (known and unknown), and a shared love for all things yarny.
Still on a high, it’s back to “normal” now, which isn’t quite so “normal” having a 9 week old puppy around the house. But, we’re all madly in love with our new little darling, so it’s all good!
Wishing you a wonderful new week!

Love,
Marianne xx