Look At What I Made

Passionate About Crochet

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About Me

Hi!

My name is Dedri and I would like to welcome you to Lookatwhatimade.

Before we talk about me, let’s talk about you quickly.

You are probably on this page because you are as passionate about crochet as I am (or as passionate about baking as I used to be).  Whether your joy is yarn or cakes, I would love for you to walk away from this site having accomplished something;  or to feel like a little child, running up to their mom or dad, squealing “Look at what I made!”  I do not think there is anything better for the soul than a sense of accomplishment, no matter how small the “victory”, that’s why almost everything on this site is presented as a step-by-step guide (with a few of my own “Look at what I made!” moments thrown in for good measure).

What started out as an ‘anything-I-can-make-or-bake-or-fake’ blog 10 years ago has turned into a full-on crochet fest.  Things have changed drastically!  The most notable change is probably the fact that I have acquired two side-kicks to help me run this site;  their names are Jenny, who helps me crochet and listens to my venting (you can read all about her HERE), and Jane, who helps me formulate my posts when I know what I want to say but not HOW I want to say it.  Jane has recently started her own blog, which you can find HERE.

Nowadays, the website focusses mainly on crochet tutorials and designs – which are, in the main, free for your enjoyment.  The main reason I offer my designs, tips and advice to you is that I am passionate about (and obsessed with) crochet.  I believe it is not only a craft, but a life-saving panacea.  It is my therapy and has kept me medication-free for more than 10 years (with one or two hiccups), and I firmly believe that it can help others too.

Kathryn Vercillo has written a wonderful book, ‘Crochet Saved my Life’ (available to buy on Amazon HERE), which contains a number of testimonials from people who have found crochet to be so much more than just a hobby.  You can read more about this book HERE.

My 2015 CAL (crochet-along), Sophie’s Universe, is a case in point.  I wanted people to feel amazing about their ability to create something so complex so easily, regardless of their skill level.  I have had such wonderful, inspiring feedback about the project, and have been encouraging people to share their experiences using #alongcamesophie and #sophiesuniversecal2015.  It is well worth taking a look at the pictures and testimonials; I am so proud of everyone who participated in this project.

And now…a little bit of history…

I am the proud mother of three gorgeous, whacky boys:  Pieter, Jaco, and Xander.  I am married to Christiaan, who is as handsome as he is funny – yes, really!  This funny, handsome man has allowed me to teach him to crochet (you can read all about that HERE) and often helps me finish parts of projects when I am working to a deadline (he can only do US dc, mind you).

Lookatwhatimade Uys Family 2012

Expecting Xander March 2012

I work as a radiotherapist at Charing Cross hospital.  On Wednesdays and Thursdays, I get to stay home with the boys.  I am now 33 38 years old, and often find myself wondering where the time has gone!

Sophie's Universe CAL 2015 Lookatwhatimade

Uys Boys 2015 and Sophie’s Universe

 

I spend every possible moment surrounded by, and immersed in, crochet patterns and colourful yarn.

I wrote my first crochet book in 2014:  Amamani Puzzle Animals.  You can buy the book on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.  You can also read more about the Puzzle Animals HERE.

Amamani Amigurumi Amish Puzzle Balls

This book was recreated as a sewing version by Abby Glassenberg in 2015:  Sew & Play Puzzle Ball Animals.  You can buy it on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Since then, I have collaborated on 3 more books:

I have also published a book for my most popular pattern, Sophie’s Universe (which is still available for free online as an 18-part crochet-along HERE).  You can read more about the Sophie’s Universe book HERE (including where you can buy a copy).

I am also an Official Scheepjeswol Blogger, which you can read more about HERE.

If you would like a non-invasive way to stay up to date with my site, consider subscribing to my Weekly Newsletter.

Alternatively, you can find me here:

Depending on where you choose to follow me, my interaction will differ slightly.  My most “intimate” shares are probably on Instagram.  My most frequent shares are on Facebook.

Happy Hooking and God bless!

Dedri

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Comments

  1. I have been making the puzzle ball as a very successful gifts for my grandkids and kids of nieces and nephews. Just finished one today, using wool scraps. Wanted to thank you for the pattern!

    Reply

  2. I’m very interest. There so many things I’ve never seen before coming to this site?? Love it, must continue, many more thing a want to find here lolol. Thank you and god bless

    Reply

  3. Bonjour Dedri,

    J’aime tellement l’esprit bienveillant de votre démarche, je suis aussi convaincue de l’importance des travaux d’aiguilles qui dans ce monde pressé nous recentre vers l’essentiel, nous apprend la patience et la valeur de ce que nous faisons, j’aime aussi penser que chaque point ou maille peut être rempli d’amour.
    Gratitude.

    Reply

    • I would like to think so too. You are right. It is soothing and so good for the spirit.

  4. Hi Dedri. I have seen Sophie’s Universe all over the internet but I only just found your site here a few hours ago when I followed a link about your amamani puzzle balls. You are very talented and also very generous to share so many of your delightful patterns with the world. Thank you for being so inspiring to others.

    When I was 8 I learned to crochet while on a family holiday. The lighthouse keeper’s wife taught me! I remember making a few things while I was young. I still have a striped cat purse that I made way back then, although it’s a bit faded now.

    Anyway I took up crochet again last year after 30+ years of being distracted by life and raising a family. Along with other things, I started making your flower puzzle ball but put it aside as it was too fiddly for me then. Now that I have more crochet knowledge and experience I feel more confident in tackling trickier projects. I am so glad that we live in this day and age where current technology makes it so much easier to connect with other crocheters and to share patterns and tutorials worldwide. The only problem for me is I keep finding new projects to make for gifts and for my market stall. So I now have an ever increasing to do list, a lot more unfinished wips and a growing yarn collection too !

    I will definitely make time to finish the flower puzzle ball before Xmas this year! I also want to make your kiwi puzzle ball as I live in New Zealand and the kiwi is our native bird. I would love to know what your inspiration was for making the kiwi pattern? Have you visited NZ, or was it made for a special request? All of your patterns are wonderful, and seem easy to follow now that I understand more. Who knows, I may even try my hand at Sophie one of these days. Looking forward to seeing more amazing designs from you in the future. Thank you so much.

    P.S. I think I need more hours in the day to finish all my projects, lol.

    Reply

    • Hi Linda :) Thank you for your lovely long comment. I made the kiwi because my sister lives in NZ. I haven’t been yet, but I am going on a crochet cruise in February (teaching workshops) and will visit her after that. I cannot wait! I urge you to try part 1 of Sophie. It is the ultimate in crochet crash-courses and you will learn SO MUCH. It is specifically written for adventurous beginners and the videos make it SO doable. If you find that it is not your cup of tea after Part 1, you can always put the resulting little mandala in a hoop and gift it to someone for Christmas :)

  5. Hi Dedri. I am traveling in Namaqualand Clan William at present. Came upon your Sophie cal on line early yesterday and saved for future project,only to see it on display at a town market stand few hours later.
    Your wonderful design reaches all corners of the world.I am new to crocheting but retirement is knocking at the door and this skill is just what my creative side requires..Thank you for the wonderful designs and tutorials. Groete van Suid Afrika . Amanda

    Reply

  6. I’ve been curious if there was any inspiration behind the naming of Sophie’s Universe? I’ve searched and all I can find are links to the pattern and other crocheter’s projects. Did you have a reason for choosing this particular name?

    Reply

    • Hi Emily. Sophie is named after my friend Kim’s granddaughter (and also after a bottle of Coke I pulled out of the fridge the very same day Kim suggested ‘Sophie’).

  7. I would like to make the blank canvas tote a bit smaller. What do you suggest so that it will look the same?

    Thanks, Molly

    Reply

    • Hi Molly. I would use a thinner yarn and a smaller hook, keeping the same pattern, otherwise it will be too ‘bulky’ for the size.

  8. Hi I stumbled across to your sophies universe nlanket and I was amazed I never seen anything like this at all Im a gardner, and it intriqued me to the core, i like you picked up crocheting again after I weas pregnant with my first child and then after that I dropped it again till this past November I am going to be a grandma and I have made tons of stuff I was maybe a beginner my grandma taught me the basic granny square, but that was it. I forgot lots of how to do it properly, but i am a seer and I have to see it, and videos are my best tutorials ..when I found out I could make sophies universe with a video I was pumped..I am 53 years old and also a Christian this is so therapeutic to me and helps me get excited about creativity thanks for your inspiritation..Dont we all need it? Dwona

    Reply

    • Hi Dwona. Thank you for your comment. I hope you are enjoying making Sophie and that you don’t put your hooks away again for many years!

  9. I love your animal puzzles.
    I made the elephant in pink and grey X
    I love the inspiration you give my to persevere with my crocheting

    Reply

  10. Dear Dedri
    I am astounded and amazed at your projects, you have really inspired me to carry on crocheting, when I retire, I know what I will be doing …….. crocheting to my hearts content…….looking forward to that, will have to practice the reading and crocheting while walking thing……too much to concentrate on at one time…..dizzing thoughts
    Regards Ronel

    Reply

    • Lol. I would recommend crocheting in the safety of your house if at all possible. I only crochet and walk because I try to do as much as possible in each waking moment.

  11. Thank you for this great website! It is so inspiring.
    You got me hooked on Sophie’s universe. I am a crafter and needleworker since childhood but did not play with my crochet hooks for a while….. Wow how much fun it is ;-)
    Thank you again!
    Sabine

    Reply

  14. Hi, Dedri
    I haven’t heard from you so I’m leaving another message. The directions for joining the motifs in the Gradient Floor Blanket (p62-3 of Bold Baby Crochet) are not clear to me. I’m not sure what to do after edging the first motif. Do you edge all of them in white first and then join? If you don’t, how do you get from one motif to the next if the others aren’t edged yet? There’s probably a simple answer that I’m not seeing, but would appreciate clarification.
    Thank you,
    Vicki

    Reply

    • Hi Vicki. I didn’t see your previous comment, sorry. Motifs are joined as-you-go with the white yarn. This means that you follow the instructions for the first motif completely. For your next motif, you follow the instructions for the first motif but when you reach a corner that needs to be joined to your first motif, you will slip stitch in the corner of the first motif. For all subsequent motifs you do the same. Every time you reach a corner that needs to be joined to another motif, you slip stitch into those corners.

      Does that make sense?

    • You said pretty much what the pattern said, but the way you said it helped me visualize what I needed to do. I think I’ve got it! Thank you! It’s a gift for my first grandchild. Now I can’t wait to finish it. Thanks again for helping me out.
      Vicki

  15. Hello Dedri, I am 63 and only started crocheting a year ago and it is all due to you, a friend directed me to your page and you have now taught me how to crochet and I love it, so a big thank you. You have made my retirement more enjoyable. I have not crocheted anything really big or difficult yet, just a few blankets, but I am now doing your Namaqualand Scarf and am loving it. What I would really like to make is your lovely little Amigurami animals for my grandchildren but I have never done this before. Am I aiming too high? if so could you advise how I could learn this technique.

    Thank you for taking the time to read this

    Reply

    • Hi Elizabeth :) Yay for picking up a new craft! The animals aren’t tricky, but you would need to understand how the puzzle balls ‘work’ in order to make it easier on yourself. You can try the free puzzle ball pattern first. Once you have made that, the animals make much more sense.

      Dedri

  16. just wanted to say thank you for sharing your tutorials. i have a facebook group called knitting and crochet! patterns made with love! every month i post tutorials, memes, and knitting and crochet patterns. i found your page through google and with your permission i would like to feature your site in my group for this month for tuesday tutorial day. i am always looking for new tutorials and patterns to share to our group and hope you dont mind me sharing your page. :) please let me know. hope to hear from you soon.

    Reply

    • Hi Elizabeth. Thank you for contacting me. Just to clarify, do you mean sharing a link or sharing the whole tutorial? You are very welcome to share links. I always appreciate shares :)

  17. Hi Dedri, I love your designs I made your Sophie and love every bit of it I gave it to my daughter because when I posted it on facebook she said she wanted it so I gave it to her….. I just read your newsletter that you posted on July 7 you mentioned that your birthday is June 20th will we share the same birthday so sending you a late happy birthday. I’m glad you had a great one…..

    Reply

    • Hi Patty. Happy birthday to you too! I hope your daughter always treasures the work and love you put into the Sophie you gave her x

  18. I live in Durban and am an internet junkie.

    I love your work – your designs and the delight you have in sharing your creativity with us.

    I had some difficulties with the Wishing Well square and spent two days trying to work out rows 12 and 13.

    Finally! Now that I read rows 12 and 13 they make sense. I had to get rid of my panic attack! Thank you.

    Reply

    • Hi Joan. Sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees :) I always find it useful to walk away for a while and then come back with fresh eyes.

      D

  19. Hi Dedri, After last year taking part in my first CAL and learning so much I decided that after increasing my skill set and pattern reading, my next project needed to be the Sophie, so got half the wool last year. I saw today that you have a book, got so excited and ran off to get it, and the last wool that I needed. The site crashed for 45 minutes as I tried to get the wool, so I had to do school run and came back to my basket and it now says book out of stock. Am so so sad :( What I need to know is whether I can get it anywhere else other than WW please? Could you please let me know, are you selling direct at all? With huge thanks, Eryl

    Reply

    • Hi Eryl. At the moment the books are available from Wool Warehouse and Amazon.co.uk (both sold out), and it will be available on Amazon.com soon (don’t know when).

  20. Hi Dedri

    Jong, jy het die wereld aan die brand met Sophie. Dit is regtig die mooiste iets en lekkerste uitdaging wat ek in ‘n baie lang tyd aangevat het. Ek is besig met twee, maar as ek so al die mense s’n sien, gaan ek nog baie moet maak om van my Sophie-lus ontslae te raak. Die slegte ding is nou-net dat daar niks is vir my wat my enigsins eers 2 keer laat kyk om te maak nie. Jy het my gespoil vir enige ande projekte tensy…… Jy met iets anders vorendag kan kom. Jy het regtig iets wonderlik ontwerp en verskaf mense soveel vreugde met Sophie. Asseblief laat jou gedagtes gaan om iets soortgelyks in die toekoms die lig te laat sien.
    Ek het vandag gesien dat jou ma van Calitsdorp afkomstig is en se dit toe vir my man. Hy se toe ja en haar van is seker Strydom. Ek vra toe hoekom – waarop hy my toe antwoord dat daar baie Strydoms daar rond bly en dat ‘n tannie wat baie goed met my skoonma bevriend is se oorlede man ook van daar gekom het. Dink sy naam was Hannes Strydom. Haar naam is Kowa. Altans dit is hoe ek haar ken.
    Anyway Dit is regtig vir my so ‘n plesier om Sophie te doen en dan die feit dat jy van SA af kom……… Die landjie van ons het vele talente. Net jammer dit gaan nou nie so goed hier nie.
    In elk geval. Jy is regtig ‘n inspirasie met jou mooi dinge wat jy aanpak.
    Groete
    Elmarie

    Reply

    • Baie dankie, Elmarie.

      Ons is van die Kruisrivier Strydoms. My familie bly al 9 generasies op die plaas daar. My ouma en (oorlede) oupa is Ance en Jan Strydom. Die feit dat soveel Suid-Afrikaners Sophie doen maak my ongelooflik gelukkig. Dit laat my voel asof ek tuis is al is ek hier in snaakse-weer Engeland.

      He ‘n wonderlike dag!

      Dedri

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