Crochet unique amigurumi using the African Flowers technique: Collaboration with @haekelhaken

Attention all crochet fans: exclusively with Gründl, @haekelhaken has designed an incredibly great crochet pattern. May we introduce: Karl the Crab. A total of 16 individual African Flowers made from Gründl cotton yarn Cotton Quick uni decorate this flower animal. From now on, you will find both the detailed crab pattern and help and information about crocheting African flowers exclusively in the Gründl online shop.
So grab your crochet hook: Karl the Crab offers a wonderful opportunity to try a new craft technique and expand your experience. In this blog post, you will learn what African Flowers are, where this crochet technique comes from, and how @haekelhaken creates her flower animals. We wish you lots of fun crocheting.

My Instagram account is all about crocheting! I present my work there and keep my followers up to date. I look for testers for new patterns there. Above all, I want to get people excited about African Flowers. Animal figures made from African Flowers are especially well represented. Anyone who likes this technique or is simply curious will discover plenty on my account.

I am the mother of a son and a now adult daughter, and I live with my family in Hamburg. As a balance to my office job, I have discovered two passions for myself: crocheting and figure skating.

I learned to crochet from my mother as a child. For many years I did not crochet anymore. About four years ago, my son wished for a crocheted animal. I could not refuse him that wish. So I bought a crochet kit, and since then I have not been able to stop.

Before a pattern can be created, a figure first has to be created. It is an interesting process. Some come together quite quickly; for others, I need several attempts and several prototypes are made. After that, I think about the best possible approach for the pattern. It is often not easy to find a balance between speed, simplicity, explainability, and clarity. Then the pattern is tested. I am always very excited about the feedback from my testers and very grateful for their support. My inspiration comes from colors and shapes and from the challenge of creating a figure with them. Sometimes I simply lack the time to bring my ideas to life. Then I try to at least make a quick rough prototype so I can work on the figure later.

I counted roughly and got to 60. There must have been even more. That does not include all the hearts, Easter eggs, and Christmas tree baubles.

After I started crocheting again about four years ago, I very quickly came across African Flowers. These flower animals simply fascinated me. At first I had a lot of respect for the technique, then I accepted the challenge. It did not work right away, but soon I got much better. After a while, I wanted to develop my own figures. This granny square has existed for a long time. The designer who first made figures with it referred to a publication of these granny squares in a South African magazine. That is how the name came about.

When I am currently working on a project, I try to spend as much time on it as possible. There are also phases when I work on the patterns or their translations. Then crocheting takes a pause.

As a child, I also briefly tried knitting. In principle, I know how it works - but only the simplest stitches. Crocheting was simply more fun for me. And that has stayed the same.

Sleeping feels good. Crocheting too. What a dilemma!

Do not give up! Practice makes perfect!

My first crochet piece was a small table doily. Among the African Flowers animals, it was a dolphin.

Absolutely Cotton Quick. I think African Flowers look most beautiful with it. This yarn is so easy to crochet and has such a wonderful shine. The colors are so beautiful. It is a joy to crochet with it.

My patterns can be found on Etsy and on Crazy Patterns. You can find even more inspiration from me on Instagram. I look forward to every visitor.

I would like to thank Gründl for this wonderful collaboration. I am delighted about this opportunity for everyone to try African Flowers. I would also like to thank the testers for their constructive support. In any case, I want to encourage all crochet enthusiasts to try African Flowers. But be careful: they are addictive!

We at Gründl would also like to say THANK YOU from the heart. Thank you very much for your crab designed with so much love. Thank you for showing once again how diverse the world of handicrafts is. We truly appreciate that you are making your pattern available to the Gründl community in cooperation with us.
Now it can begin! Grab the right yarn in your favorite colors from the Gründl online shop and the free crochet pattern for this wonderful African Flowers animal. We are already very excited to see what your crab will look like, and we are sure that thanks to @haekelhaken you may discover a new technique for yourself. Happy crocheting!