Hello! I hope the beginning of the new year has been kind to you. My own start was a bit slow, as I decided to slow down in general and take life a little easier. I’ve been finishing up WIP projects from last year and preparing them for publishing. But new creative ideas have already started knocking on my door again, so hopefully a new design will jump onto my hook very soon.
Over the past weeks, I’ve been finalizing a new garment design that I am truly happy with—the stitch pattern, the yarn choice, the fit, and the overall look and feel. It has been a pure joy to design and make, and today I’m incredibly excited to share it with the world.
Please give a warm welcome to the Freya Cardigan.
The pattern is now available on Etsy HERE and on Ravelry HERE.
A special construction
Freya Cardigan is quite different from the garments I’ve designed in the past. It features a unique construction, worked vertically from side to side. I also used a short-row technique to create a leafy stitch pattern on the front. The fit is oversized, and I can safely say it will suit a wide range of sizes and body shapes.
It can also be adjusted as you go, both in width and upper arm circumference. The pattern has been tested in multiple sizes, and each version turned out beautifully.
Yarn
For the Freya Cardigan, I chose Scheepjes Kindsome yarn, which has a balanced composition of compostable polyester and responsibly sourced wool.
The yarn is incredibly soft and lightweight, coming in a sport weight with 50 g balls and 150 m per skein. It glides smoothly on the hook, and the stitch definition is excellent.
Kindsome yarn is currently available in a limited color range, but I truly hope new shades will be introduced in the future, making it an even more wonderful choice for both crochet and knitting—especially for colorwork.
If you prefer to use a different yarn for your Freya Cardigan, I recommend choosing a soft sport-weight yarn. The best results will be achieved with a single, solid color.
Pattern details
Freya Cardigan comes in 9 sizes, with a finished bust measurement of 112–208 cm / 44–82 in and a recommended ease of 45–55 cm / 17¾–21¾ in. It is designed as a roomy, cozy garment.
You can make it as an open-front cardigan without a closure, or optionally add buttonholes at the front for extra practicality.
The shoulder line is dropped, with no visible transition between the back and sleeves. Working half double crochet stitches into the back loops only gives the finished piece a knitted look rather than a crocheted one.
The pattern includes full written instructions in English (US crochet terms), detailed photo tutorials, and links to video tutorials explaining the construction, short-row technique, and finishing. The videos guide you through every step of making the Freya Cardigan.
If you’d like to get your own copy of the pattern and create your own Freya Cardigan, you can find it HERE on Ravelry and HERE on Etsy.
Hope you enjoy,
Hello and welcome to the final part of the Mystery Sparkle MAL! In previous weeks, we tried our hands at surface slip stitches with Sparkle Star, overlay crochet with Sparkle Bauble, and crochet short rows with Origami Square. I hope you enjoyed this variety of projects and techniques—because today, something different is waiting for you once again.
Today we’ll be making a beautifully textured Sparkle Snowflake using the beloved brioche crochet technique.
Where to Get the Pattern
If you already own the Mystery Sparkle MAL ebook, simply refresh your Ravelry library and today’s pattern will appear.
If this is your first time reading about the MAL, you can find all the details on how to join HERE on my blog and purchase the ebook HERE on Ravelry.
The collection of all four patterns will remain discounted through December 24th, 2025. After that, all four patterns will also become available as stand-alone patterns on Ravelry.
The ebook will be listed at its regular price after December 24th. So, if one or two of the previous patterns have caught your eye, now is the perfect time to grab the entire ebook at a special price.
About Brioche Crochet
As mentioned above, Sparkle Snowflake uses the brioche crochet technique, which is easy to master if you’re familiar with basic crochet stitches. This highly textured fabric consists of two layers, featuring intricate stitch patterning on the right side and two-color stripes on the wrong side.
If you’d like to dive deeper into the basics of brioche crochet, you’re welcome to join my free online workshop HERE.
After signing up, you’ll receive an email with general information and links to all lessons and additional resources. The workshop includes written explanations with step-by-step photos, a stitch video library, and several video tutorials that guide you from basic brioche patterns to more complex ones. There’s also a dedicated lesson on how to read brioche crochet charts.
The workshop is completely free! If you’d like to take your crochet skills to the next level, you’re warmly invited to join.
And if you’re looking for even more brioche patterns, have a look at my new book A City Walk. It’s entirely devoted to brioche crochet and includes 12 modern patterns for wearables and home décor. The book is available in our webshop HERE, with worldwide shipping.
About Sparkle Snowflake
Sparkle Snowflake is a round ornamental mandala that can be used as a coaster or a hanging decoration. You can also make two snowflakes and join them together with a bit of stuffing to create a lovely 3D effect.
For a festive look, I used Scheepjes Catona together with Scheepjes Catona Shine, which adds a beautiful metallic sparkle. Of course, the snowflake can be made with any yarn from your stash.
You can choose just two colors (with good contrast), or use one color for the snowflake motif (Yarn B) while adding several colors for the background. For the best effect, try using ombré or closely related shades for the background.
Only one color is used per round, and there’s no cutting between rounds. This means that even with two colors, you’ll have just four ends to weave in.
This marks the final part of the Mystery Sparkle MAL, and I’d like to thank everyone who joined me on this exciting journey.
See you in the next adventure!
Hello and welcome to Part 3 of the Mystery Sparkle Make-a-Long! I hope you’ve had fun making the Sparkle Star and Sparkle Bauble over the past two weeks. I’ve absolutely loved seeing your projects pop up online, and I hope the patterns were easy to follow. This week, we’re switching things up and exploring something completely different. Let me introduce the Origami Square!
How to Get the Pattern
If you already own the Mystery Sparkle MAL ebook, simply refresh your Ravelry library and today’s pattern will appear.
If this is your first time hearing about the MAL, you can read all the details about how to join HERE on my blog and purchase the ebook HERE on Ravelry.
About the Origami Square
Today’s design has nothing to do with paper craft—but its structure reminded me so much of the Japanese origami art that the name stuck. Although you’ll crochet a flat square, the construction is built from small triangles, and when arranged in stripes, they create a beautiful graphic motif.
With clever color placement, the pattern even forms little fir trees! One square shows two trees, but you can “grow your forest” by adding more stripes with triangles.
Just like the real origami does not involve cutting or gluing, the Origami Square becomes a continuous, meditative project with no ends to weave. When made in one color. But of course, if you choose multiple colors, you’ll have a few ends, but many can be woven in as-you-go.
After the design of the Origami Square was finished, I played along, making several more samples to see how the pattern can be improved, and how the square will look with different yarns.
For two squares, I used the same yarn as in the rest of the Mystery Sparkle MAL—a mix of Scheepjes Catona and Catona Shine. One square uses only two colors for a minimalistic look; another version features six colors with each stripe worked in two different shades.
Then I became curious about a monochrome version and tried Scheepjes Stone Washed from my stash. The result? Soft, drapey, and absolutely lovely—with zero (almost) ends to weave!
Endless Possibilities
The Origami Square is an infinity design you can grow to any size. The stitch pattern is based on a multiple of 11 stitches, so you can start at any width you like. Adding more stripes with triangles lets you increase the length—or even transform your square into a rectangle.
I truly hope someone turns this into a blanket. If you do, please share it online with the hashtag #origamicrochetsquare and tag me—I would LOVE to see your creations!
What’s Included
Just like the previous MAL patterns, the Origami Square includes:
- Full written instructions in English (US terms)
- Detailed photo tutorial
- Step-by-step video tutorial
I hope you enjoy working on this week’s design as much as I enjoyed creating it.
See you next week for the final part of the Mystery Sparkle MAL! The last pattern will be released on December 20th, 2025.
With love,
Hello and welcome to Part 2 of the Mystery Sparkle Make-A-Long! Last week we warmed up with the simple Sparkle Star and learned surface crochet with slip stitches. I absolutely loved seeing all your beautiful stars on social media, and I hope you enjoyed making them. Today, we’re moving on to a slightly more complex pattern: the Sparkle Bauble.
For this project, you’ll need leftover yarn in three colors and a bit of stuffing. I’m using Scheepjes Catona yarn* (affiliate link) together with Catona Shine for some festive sparkle—but of course, feel free to dive into your stash and choose your own colors. This make-a-long is all about freedom and creativity!
If you’ve joined my previous mystery MALs, you know we make stuffed hanging ornaments every year—often baubles. This time, however, I wanted to try something different and step away from the traditional round shape.
I’m not even sure what this shape is called in English (or in my native languages!), so if you know, please leave a comment—I would love to learn it! For now, I’ll simply call it a Sparkle Bauble. 😊
This pattern introduces an overlay crochet technique that creates rich, colorful texture. We’ll be working with two layers at once, but don’t worry—only one color is used per round, and you won’t need to cut or weave in ends.
To help you place the stitches correctly, I’ve prepared a detailed photo tutorial and recorded a video explaining all the trickier moments. So, you have no excuses not to give this pattern a try!
If you’d like to make a whole set of ornaments, you can use the same three colors each time and change their order for every new bauble. Or keep two colors from the previous one and add a new color for the next. Lots of possibilities!
If you already own the Mystery Sparkle MAL ebook, simply refresh your Ravelry library and today’s pattern will appear.
If this is your first time hearing about the MAL, you can read more about how to join HERE on my blog and grab the patterns HERE on Ravelry.
Hope you enjoy this part, and I’ll see you next week with a new pattern!
A quick reminder: Part 3 will go live on Monday, December 15th. I’ll be away from my desk (hopefully enjoying a Radiohead concert in Copenhagen!), but everything will be prepared in advance, so the pattern appears right on time—around 3pm CET.
With love,
Hello and welcome to the first part of the Mystery Sparkle Make-A-Long! Today we’ll be making small, cute stars decorated with surface slip stitches. This project is simple and fairly quick—perfect as a warm-up before we move on to the more intricate patterns coming in the next parts.
If this is your first time hearing about the Mystery Sparkle MAL, you can find more information HERE, and the ebook with all four mystery patterns is available on Ravelry HERE.
And if you own the Mystery Sparkle ebook already, simply refresh your Ravelry library and download the pattern.
As every year, my goal with the annual MAL is not only to share small festive designs, but also to introduce different crochet techniques.
With the Sparkle Star, we’ll be practicing surface crochet. For surface crochet, several stitches can be used, but slip stitches are the most common. I know some crocheters aren’t fond of slip stitches because they can feel tight or distort the work. But once you find the right tension, surface slip stitches can add bright, beautiful accents to your crochet pieces.
The Sparkle Star consists of a central circle (just a few easy rounds) and a round of rays. You can even turn your star into a flower by adding an extra layer of rays. Once the base of the star is finished, you’ll decorate it with surface slip stitches—both around the rays and in the center.
The Mystery Sparkle MAL was inspired by the new Scheepjes Catona Shine yarn, which includes a metallic polyester thread in silver, gold, or rainbow colors. I fell in love with the subtle sparkles—they’re perfect for festive decorations! But of course, you can dive into your stash and use any yarn and colors you prefer.
Gauge is not important for the Sparkle Star; it can be made in any size. If you make two stars, sew them together, and add a bit of stuffing, you’ll get adorable 3D hanging ornaments.
The pattern is written in English using US crochet terms. I’ve included full written instructions as well as photo and video tutorials, so you’ll have everything you need to follow along confidently.
Hope you enjoy this first part of the MAL—and see you next week!
P.S. I’ve received many messages, so I decided to slightly adjust the MAL schedule so that all four patterns are published before December 24th. The remaining patterns will be released on December 10th, December 15th, and December 20th. Simply refresh your Ravelry library on each of those days, and the new pattern will appear. Patterns will be released around 3pm CET.
