I am also ch ar m ed by over lay cr och et. So I wan t to
dive in to th at in th e fu tu r e because I fou n d th at
ver y in spir in g.What are your favourite yarns or fi bres to
work with?
I u su ally wor k with cotton becau se of th e m an y
benefi ts. Available in many colours, it’s easy to
m ain tain an d alm ost ever y stor e sells it. It stays
beautiful for a long time and can take a beating. And a
gr aph ic patter n sh ows u p best in cotton. Bu t I also like
to wor k with wool – sock wool or an oth er wool blen d.
My new favourite is Scheepjes Metropolis, with no
less th an 8 0 colou r s. I pr efer to wor k with th in n er
yar n bu t som etim es I m ake a design with som e th icker
yar n an d I am su r pr ised th at it wor ks ou t pr etty well- m y Wacky Blocks Blan ket for exam ple.
What inspires you?
Everything! In addition to designing, I work as a
postwom an for about two h ou r s a day. Th at m igh t be
u n expected bu t it wor ks ver y well for m e. For th is
job, I have to go outside every day. For design work,
I u su ally sit beh in d th e com pu ter. So I am a
postwoman for the fresh air, the exercise and there is
a lot of in spir ation on th e str eets! Plu s a lot of tim e to
th in k abou t h ow to wor k th e in spir ation in to
patterns. A win-win situation for me!Which other designers do you admire?
I adm ir e Tatsian a fr om Lilla Björ n Cr och et for h er
overlay designs. I admire Dedri from Look At What I
Made becau se sh e can explain patter n s ver y well.
In tr icate patter n s becom e sim ple wh en sh e explain s
th em. I adm ir e Rach ele of Cypr ess Textiles for h er
complicated blanket designs. And from the Dutch
design er Kir sten fr om H aak Maar Raak I adm ir e h er
colou r ch oice an d h er sleek design s.What are your plans for the future?
My n u m ber on e plan for th e fu tu r e is to take m y
bu sin ess even m or e ser iou sly. Becau se I h ave been
able to tu r n m y h obby in to m y wor k does n ot m ean
that I cannot earn anything from it. Also, to continue
to develop m yself an d keep listen in g to m y h ear t.Visit Jellina’s website
at http://www.jellina-creations.nlTell us about your life...
I am married and we have three beautiful sons (17, 19
an d 22). We live in Th e Neth er lan ds n ear th e sea and
some beautiful lakes, so sailing is something my
h u sban d an d I love to do. Bein g on th e water exposes
m e to a lot of in spir ation for m y design wor k an d it is
ver y r elaxin g for you r m in d!How did you learn to crochet?
I r em em ber th at I h ad to cr och et a bee at pr im ar y
school. This was not a great success, but the
tech n ique stu ck becau se later in life I picked it up
quite easily. And with the help of YouTube I quickly
learned the many diff erent stitches.How did you get into crochet design?
I started designing because I couldn’t read any
patter n s in th e begin n in g an d I am actually too
stubborn to follow someone else’s pattern. I am a
visu al th in ker so a lot of text is too m u ch for m e.
When I discovered crochet in 2010, there were many
beau tiful patter n s on th e in ter n et th at I becam e
in spir ed by an d I star ted exper im en tin g an d
design in g m yself.How would you describe your design style?
I like sim ple bu t power fu l patter n s. Bu t th ey m u st be
original, the crochet technique must be special and
th e u se of colour m ust be su r pr isin g. I am ver y
attr acted to geom etr ic an d gr aph ic sh apes. Th ey
in spir e m e becau se th ey ar e sim ple yet power ful.What has been your most popular design?
I th in k m y m ost favou r ite design is baby blan ket
‘Robin’. This is because I designed this blanket in the
tech n ique I devised. Th is tech n ique was cr eated
because I love shadow/illusion knitting. But I can’t
kn it an d sear ch ed for a tech n ique th at com es as close
as possible to that eff ect. After almost a year of
research and testing, I succeeded and I am quite
proud of this! A bonus is that it also looks like
dou ble kn ittin g.What’s your favourite crochet technique?
My favour ite cr och et tech n ique is tapestr y cr och et.
But I also appreciate fi let crochet. With both
techniques, you can create beautiful, graphic
designs. And since I participated in the Scheepjes
CAL Rozeta from Tatsiana (Lilla Björn Crochet),We chat to designer Jellina about texture, technique
an d sim ple yet power fu l patter n s.98 In side Cr och et
Above: Jellina Verhoeff lives
in The Netherlands with her
family. She loves tapestry
and overlay crochet.
Below: A selection of
Jellina’s stunning designs,
inspired by graphic and
geometric patterns.
Jellina Verhoeff
GRAPHIC CROCHET
“I am very attracted to geometric and
graphic shapes. They inspire me because
they are simple yet powerful.”Above: Jellina Verhoeff lives
➻FINAL THOUGHT