We were lucky to catch up with Adinda Zoutman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Adinda , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

I took a risk when I decided to make a book about my work, inspiration and crochet. I never made a book before and I never thought I’d ever do that. Initially I was approached by a Dutch publisher. But because I didn’t feel free to make my own creative choices when working with them, I decided to self-publish the book. It felt like an adventure, it was all new to me. I found a wonderful Dutch photographer ‘Duco de Vries’ and went with him to my favorite place where I often work in Spain. I also found a very good art director, Joyce Zethof, and together we made the book just the way I hoped it would become. It was a risk because financially it was quite a big investment, without knowing if the book would sell. But fortunately it sold well and was even translated in English.

Adinda , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m Dutch and live in the Netherlands with my Italian husband and I have two adult children and a little dog. I’ve been crocheting since I was a 6 year old girl and have never had any crochet books, I wasn’t even able to read crochet patterns until a few years ago.
My mom and both grandmothers crocheted a lot and as a little girl I liked to learn that too. By looking and practicing I soon started to crochet dolls and doll clothes myself, not perfect but I was so happy with it. And my barbies soon all wore crocheted wool shawls and sweaters. I wish more younger children would learn to crochet in these days too, because creativity is so important and I think it will give them so much joy to see that you can make things yourself that you can really use.
I think because I was very much in my own little world, I was able to develop a very own style. I love playing with color and shapes.
The inspiration for my work came (and still comes) mainly from nature or for example beautiful fabrics. My dear grandmother was also a great source of inspiration for me, she crocheted and knitted the best toys and stuffed animals for us as child.

When I grew up, I studied to become a doctor’s assistant, after which I worked in a hospital for a period. I kept crocheting all this time, even during the period when I went to live in Italy. Crocheting has always been a common thread through my life.
In 2015 I shared some of my work on Facebook, where I was asked for a workshop in Spain, by a Dutch woman ‘Debbie’ who has a Bed&Breakfast there (123ole) near Girona. I thought: but I can’t do that, because how can I teach if I don’t know the names of the crochet stitches? But I thought it would be so much fun that I took an old needlework book from my mother and learned the crochet stitches.
The location turned out to be a great place, completely in Spanish style, it suited my creations exactly. From that time on, I have continued to give workshops there several times a year to women from different countries, very fun and special. That is how crocheting became my job and after my Spanish adventure I made a book and started writing patterns and giving workshops until this day.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In 2020 I got some serious health problems (autoimmune and other conditions), which made it hard to keep on working the way I did. Everything was very unsure. But even when I couldn’t give workshops for some years, I kept on crocheting and making patterns, in between lots of hospital visits. It took some years, but now I’m doing much better and last year I started to give international workshops again, for which I’m very grateful!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

-Sharing my work on social media helped me most for growing my clientele.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.adindasworld.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adindasworld
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adindasworld
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/adindasworld
• Other: [email protected]