Hi all,

Today Wink’s story appeared in a Belgian newspaper.

It is written in Dutch and i got a lot of requests to translate it in English.
So here it is! ( don’t mind all the errors please)

Ten thousands of blankets in honour of one woman.
All over the world fans are crocheting in honour of a blogger that passed away.
Ten thousands of people from all over the world are crocheting the same blanket in honour of Marinke Slump.

That crocheting is not only for old ladies was proven by the Dutch Marinke Slump.
She was young, hip and always happy.. so it seemed. While she was breaking trough in the world of crochet, she had to deal with a severe depression. “Crochet saved my life” se said once about crocheting.
It was her lust and life. But in the end it wasn’t enough. Last summer she didn’t had the energy anymore and left this life. She was only 31 years old. At that moment she was busy with a new design for the brand Scheepjes. It was called a Crochet a long (CAL). In a Cal all the participans get a new pattern every week included with instruction videos to make small parts of a blanket. The end result stays a surprise till the end.

Annelies Baes
“The blanket stands symbolic for Hope, going on when life gives you lemons”.
“We didn’t want the design to go lost”. Annelies Baes decided together with 11 other bloggers to continue the work of Marinke. The ladies all met at the woolfabric of Scheepjes, who was also in contact with the family of Marinke.
“Our intention was to make a integrity tribute because Marinke was such a nice person herself. She was technically very strong and always helped others when they got stuck”. So we wanted to finish her design the way she wanted to.
Every designer did a diffrent part of the blanket. 12 diffrent squares, according to the colours Marinke had chosen that goes with the theme: Last dance on the beach. 12 patterns in 12 weeks to make a blanket with a total of 48 squares.

That this blanket was going to be this big of a succes we could have never imagined. In Belgium and the Netherlands there are over 20.000 participants in the Facebook group of the Cal. In the international facebook group are another 15.000. People are crocheting in Canada, Tjechië, you name it. The packs of wool that Scheepjes made to make this cal are mostly sold out- and that while the project is running for only 3 weeks.
“Ofcourse crocheting has grown the last couple of years, but this project is so popular because of the story that goes along with this cal. It is so sensitive” says Job de Bondt from Scheepjes. “People are finding comfort in it. Buying a pack also contributes a small payment to MIND, a charity for physical health issues.

Crocheting as a therapy
A lot of people also got their own story why they participate with this cal.
There a some who are experiencing the same difficulties with their depression, or have dealt with someone they knew who commited suicide. For all of those its often a form of therapy when having a hard time. Crocheting makes them focus on something else then their personal issues.

Thanks for reading. Spread the word of this amazing woman! :)

Proud lil’sis.

Hi Guys,

So.. i guess most of you already know. But the Scheepjes Cal is soon to begin!
My sister was working on a beautiful blanket but unfortunately she wasn’t able to finish it before her passing.
Friends of her finished it and now the reveal is finally here.
There are 2 diffrent kits you can order:

• Basic kit : made up of our Colour Crafter yarns. This kit will contain yarn only and a special tribute label. Included in the purchase of this kit will be a small donation to a Mental Health charity in Marinke’s memory. The approx. size of this completed blanket will be 115cm by 150cm.

• Luxury kit : for those of you wishing to make an extra special memory of Marinke. This kit will contain our Merino Soft yarns, some extra goodies and a special tribute label. Again, included in the purchase of this kit will be a small donation to a Mental Health charity in Marinke’s memory. The approx. size of this completed blanket will be 130cm by 160cm.

Each kit will be available in 3 colour ways :
• Dance in the Sea
• Dance in the Rain
• Dance Under the Stars

Now the big reveal. This is the blanket



Please check on the Scheepjes Facebook for further questions and information.
Facebook Nederlands
Facebook International

For the people without FB please follow the Cal on Scheepjeswol.com

We still get a lot of questions about Marinke’s latest book.
It’s out and you can order here:
For Dutchies – For UK – For International

Hope to see you all with a beautiful blanket in her honour soon!

Love Tinc

Hi you guys,

The devastating previous post was meant to be the last one on this blog of my sister.
The news was spread trough magazines and lots of websites. As till this day we still get reactions on the previous post. One thing is sure, my sister is gone, but certainly not forgotten! However there is so much going on. I had to write an update. I want to tell you some things that are going on I think you all should know.

The first thing is the #MandalasForMarinke project.
Kathryn Vercillo from crochetconcupiscence has set up a project to honor Wink.

“This is a collaborative crochet art project designed to honor Wink’s life and work and celebrate her amazing creativity in a way that allows her art to keep inspiring others even though she is now gone. It is intended as a way to help the many affected crafters channel their own grief and complex feelings upon hearing the news. And it will raise awareness about depression.”

Then there is my brother’s fiancé Christina who is also crazy into crochet. As some of you might know my sister had a wall with her 15 standard 12-round mandalas. Christina made a beautiful blanket of the standard Mandalas and created also a few other ones that represent bits of memories she had from her. You guys I can tell you, I wish I could crochet! The blanket is awesome! You can check it out here with patterns and all.

The third one is a pretty emotional one for us. Marinke was very busy with her second book. Unfortunately she is not with us to celebrate this.. It’s going to be the last thing we have from her. Last summer my sister and I went to the woods and made all this wonderful pictures for the book. We had such fun that day…

The book was meant to be released the end of August, but because my sister didn’t finish some patterns yet, someone else had to do it. This takes extra time. We are expecting the book in the end of October now but when I look at the release date on sites like Amazon and Bol.com the date is postponed to the 12^th of December. I guess we have to be patient a little longer. Anyhow, you can pre-order her book to make sure you get it as soon as it will be out :Crochet Mandalas by Marinke Slump (For all of the Dutchies: It will only be released in English.)

Last but not least there is another CAL coming up.
Scheepjes posted this the other day:
“We’ll be back with information about our next CAL at the end of this year. Our next CAL will be very special as it was designed by a very special lady ; We want to get it just right to honour her design, wishes and memory. We will be taking the rest of this year to prepare so that we can make it something extra special.”

After the great success of the blanket CAL in 2014 my sister did, she made something new for you. Also this project my sister finished a long way… but not all the way. So this too has to be finished by someone else. I can’t tell when the CAL begins nor the theme…

It will come to you when it’s ready

xo Tinca

Hey everyone,

This is not Wink, but her little baby sister writing to you.

When Wink started this crochet blog back in 2011 she told you guys how crochet saved her live. As you might know Wink was in a dark period of her life the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately I have to tell you that last Friday it did not save her, her depression got the best of her and she took her own life. We are all very heart broken by this news, it was an absolute shock to all of us. She is leaving a mom, dad, little brother and sister and her loving boyfriend behind.

It’s funny because when Wink started crocheting she got all her friends and family addicted. During her stay at the hospital even other patients started crocheting and some of them even bought her book! But not me, it just wasn’t something for me to do. I said; “When we get a baby you can crochet a pair of socks or a stuffed animal. But that’s the only crocheted thing in our house!” Last Christmas she gave me a ‘how to crochet’ book, yarn and some hooks. I tried it, I made a square! But that was all. Now, I can’t wait to hang one of her Mandala’s on my wall. It’s Wink! Sadly this had to happen to make me do that.

Wink was such an inspiration to all of you. She created beautiful things and with all her heart she made the first Scheepjes CAL. I know that the crochet community will not be the same without her, she will be thoroughly missed. She enjoyed all the trips she made to meet all of you guys. She published her first book earlier this year; one couldn’t even imagine how much joy and pleasure it gave her to sign them for you. Her second book will be published later this year, unfortunately she won’t be around to see that.

The funeral will be held on Thursday, but as you can imagine there might not be enough room for everyone to attend. We have created a memorial site in her memory for everyone to pay their respects. But if you, as a community, would like to pay your respects to her in person we can always organize a memorial at the cemetery. So please let us know if we should do that!

She will be missed, but this is a goodbye, not a farewell. We’ll meet in Heaven again, I’m sure of that.

xo,
tinc