Black Forest Travels and Crochet Inspirations…

Sharing anything crochet related and general creative inspiration that I come across whenever I visit other places has become a regular feature on my blog… 🙂 And we’ve recently returned from family camping travels in Germany and The Netherlands so here are some things I’d like to share with you all…

Our first stop was in France, en route to the Black Forest in Germany, and we stayed overnight in a beautiful town called Sarralbe. Having our campervan means we’re lucky to be able to be very flexible in where we stop. Although we were now over 300 miles from any coast, we were near to a canal and this house by a lock had lots of nautical features…

There were storks on the church roof too… nature always inspires me!

We arrived by Lake Titisee in the Black Forest the following day and it really is a wonderful destination. It’s so very beautiful…

It was also very hot and the lake provided a perfect place for us and Salty to cool off…

We camped in a fantastic campsite Terrassencamping Sandbank for 4 nights and enjoyed days filled with cycling, swimming and exploring further afield by train…

Just look at these boats lined up along the lakeside… 🙂

I didn’t see any actual crochet but there was so much natural beauty and general inspiration that my creative juices felt refreshed and flowing…

And yes I managed to crochet sitting by that lake…

We visited the beautiful city of ‘Freiburg im Breisgau’ and of course I’d searched online to see if there were any yarn shops to visit… there was so we made a little detour to ‘Wolle Rödel’. I’ve since discovered that this is a large chain of yarn shops in Germany…

It was wonderful and I saw this hat made from Rico Design ‘Creative Paper’…

Crocheting a sun hat is something I’ve wanted to do for ages so I bought some paper yarn in anticipation!

The cathedral was amazing with its renowned and spectacular spire which is over 600 years old and built in an open lattice structure. We climbed the 333 steps to admire it close up and enjoy some views. Just stunning and some inspiration for some openwork crochet stitches!

And then we actually stumbled across a yarn shop! Now when that happens it’s truly wonderful…

It’s an independent shop that’s been there for over 100 years… it felt very special to have discovered it. There were lots of sock yarns and I treated myself to a couple of balls… I have plans for these sock yarns and it’s not socks!

My Late Summer Sunsets Blanket design was due to be released whilst we were away and I had brought my blanket with me in case there were any sunset moments to capture… well Lake Titisee did not disappoint!

I would certainly love to return to Lake Titisee one day because after a few days I really didn’t want to leave…

We headed north towards the Netherlands and something special happened… my family and I enjoyed a wonderful evening in Heidelberg with lovely Tina @hundgestrickt who I’ve had contact with over on Instagram. Tina made my Seaside Stash Busting Blanket last year and when driving from the Black Forest to The Netherlands we passed very close to where she lives, so we arranged to meet. Tina crocheted her blanket in cottons and it felt so nice…

There is such a wonderful creative community on Social Media that has enabled us to connect and sometimes this leads to real life encounters! 🙂 Tina showed us around the amazing castle and we had such a special evening in beautiful Heidelberg…

On to the Netherlands where we spent a week with close family and visited friends. And I finally came across my first piece of crochet spotted out and about… a sweet little jar lid cover in a campsite reception area…

During our time in the Netherlands we visited Amsterdam. Another lovely place to photograph my ‘Late Summer Sunsets’ Blanket…

And another visit to a yarn shop… this one is Hooks and Yarn. I came to this yarn shop last year but they have since moved location and I wanted to see them in their new shop… it was really lovely that the owner recognised and remembered us from last year!

More nature inspiration followed. Being a flat country, the Netherlands really does have the most brilliant cloudscapes…

Inspired by the butterfly we saw by the lakeside in the Black Forest, I crocheted a butterfly for my aunts birthday which we celebrated whilst there…

And then there was another genuine stumble across a yarn shop ‘t Kwassie this time in a place called Wormerveer… we were visiting friends and were literally all walking past together en route to an ice cream parlour. It’s a shop which sells all kinds of art materials and I only noticed the ‘Rowan’ yarn sign at the last minute which then of course drew me in…

…and what an Aladdin’s cave it was! A huge selection of gorgeous yarns and some local ladies enjoying some crochet and knitting time together. They were so generous with their time and showed us some amazing bead work combined with crochet… truly inspiring!

The shop is definitely worth a visit if you’re ever in the area and it was a wonderful crochet moment for me… 🙂

And then on our very last day another special meet up with an Instagram friend Tanja @tanjadaniels68

Tanja also made my Seaside Stash Busting Blanket last year and she lives in my birth town Zoetermeer which is extra special! We had a fabulous coffee and catch up together… 🙂

And finally we visited the coast too… I hadn’t seen the sea for two weeks so it was nice to smell that salty sea air…

So these travels provided so much inspiration through the yarn shops I visited and the people I met which was all really very special. And I’ve already got crocheting with that paper yarn…

A sun hat design and pattern is very nearly ready to be released!

Happy Crocheting Everyone… 🙂