My Hotel of Bees shawl CAL project

I finished a crochet-a-long (CAL) late last week, and I loved this project so much, I wanted to dedicate a blog post to it! Each member of the CAL group was to work on a shawl, and when one of the members shared this Hotel of Bees shawl by Christina Hadderingh on Ravelry, I knew this was the piece I wanted to create.

Christina was sweet enough to take the time for a little interview. I love bringing in the original creators into my blog posts when I can, so I was really honored that she was able to participate!

1) What inspires you to create?

I take my inspirations from books, music, movies, and poetry. But all my designs have in common that at the core they are inspired by nature.

2) How did you get into crocheting?

My late sister-in-law, Marinke from A Creative Being, inspired me to crochet because she was making all these colorful and happy things and I wanted to do that too. I taught myself through YouTube videos and crochet books.

3) How long have you been crocheting?

I started in 2010. I cannot imagine a life without it

4) Why did you decide to start writing your own patterns?

There were ideas in my head of things I wanted to make that I could not find online. So I decided to make it myself and that’s how the ball started rolling. But my design career really took off when I started the Read-With-Me Collection and the Poetry Collection. In these collections I integrate nature and books or poetry into crochet, combining the things I love the most.

5) What’s your favorite thing to crochet?

I love to make shawls because there are so many ways to crochet a shawl. It’s a nice canvas to project my creativity on.

6) Where can people find your work?

My website and through Facebook and Instagram using @aspoonfulofyarn.

I fell in love with the different motifs this designer wove throughout the shawl. From wings, to honeycombs, to bees, to flowers, this shawl looks super complex but actually only requires a few kinds of stitches.

I ordered the Scheepjes yarn that was used in the pattern as well. I normally will try to use what I have on hand, but I usually use worsted weight yarn for my amigurumi, and I wanted to give this shawl the more delicate feel of sport weight yarn. I’m so glad I did, because I really think the final product would have been completely different with a heavier yarn. This brand, while not carried in my local craft stores, was luckily on a yarn shop’s online store. I loved the two-toned look of each color; it made for a very rustic and warm-looking shawl. Not to mention the yarn didn’t shred on me like I usually end up doing, so my stitches were much more distinct.