Claudia of CB Creations and I crossed paths a few years back over a ‘Borrowed’ pattern of hers. I was concerned about the situation that had arisen where someone had taken a bit of licence with one of her patterns and we had a mutual connection to the source.
So we bonded over a Amigurumi Viking and have stayed friends ever since.
Claudia hails from the Netherlands and thankfully is fluent in English, as I have no understanding of Dutch at all.
Claudia has written of the adventures of Pedr The Viking (with a bit of artistic licence added in) and how he formed our friendship. Take a look at her webpage and her beautiful work. Claudia produces some of the best Amigurami I have ever seen.
Click any picture to be taken to PEDR THE VIKING and CB CREATIONS!
Viking Pedr connects crochet pattern designers worldwide
This is the romanticized story of Pedr the Viking. All the names are real, the story is based on true facts, but of course there are some fictional elements in it!
The origin of Pedr, a tough Viking
It's been almost 3 years since I designed Pedr the Viking.
I had wanted to make a Viking for a while, but that idea remained only an idea in my head. And suddenly there was the series Vikings!! But I also watched the Vikings in the movie How to train your dragon.
I wanted to make a tough looking Viking with a wild beard. So I mainly looked at Hiccup's father, in combination with Ragnar Lothbrok. And here's my Viking pattern.
Pedr is armed with a knife, an axe and a shield. He has a fur coat and a helmet with horns. Yes I know, real Vikings didn't have horns on their helmets, but because Pedr is my creation and he's just as stubborn as I am, he has horns on his helmet!
He may look ferocious, but in real life he is very nice!
But why the name Pedr?
I like to explore my family tree. During that research I came to a distant ancestor on my father's side. Pedr Hansson, born approximately in 1748 and from Graa-Dyb in Denmark. In 1781 Pedr Hansson married Magdalena Wilkens in Amsterdam. So I have a little Viking blood in me... Yes!! I knew it!
Pedr the Viking in Denmark
Pedr the Viking was welcomed everywhere. He was very popular, not only in the Netherlands but also far beyond! Via a detour via France, he also ended up in Denmark. What more could I wish for?! Pedr Hansen was back home, where the story once began.
When he arrived in Denmark, he had a great time, in the beginning! He was well taken care of, asked if his axe needed extra sharpening, if he wanted a larger fur coat. But after a while they were not so nice anymore. Something bad happened to Pedr in Denmark. He was kidnapped, kidnapped and held captive for the purpose of cloning him. Yes really, they wanted to make another Viking out of him!
Help from Australia
He tried to convince them neatly, to explain that that was not supposed to happen. That he is unique and wanted to stay that way! If you want to create another Viking, you have to come up with a completely different Viking. Then we can still be brothers, but not twins!! After reasoning didn't work, help came from an unexpected source! A nice lady from Australia heard his cry for help and decided to put on her world famous boots. These are very special magic red boots, which this lady puts on every now and then to save people from difficult situations. And yes, it helped! After a large kick to the kidnapper's buttocks, Pedr was able to escape and sail back to the Netherlands.
Auburncraft Crochet Design
Back in the Netherlands he couldn't get this lady out of his head. Who was this Australian lady? After some detective work in certain purple groups on Facebook, he found the lady. It was Sue from Auburncraft Crochet Design! Oh and what did he see? She also had red hair just like him! Terrific!!
He sent her a beautiful bunch of purple flowers, because purple is her favourite colour, and heard from her that she had created a whole new group on Facebook to combat this kind of abuse in the creative world. A group for designers of crocheted creations. To support each other with all the problems that can occur in this world of crochet, such as kidnapping of creations! Sue runs this group together with another red-haired lady: Fiona. Fiona lives in Ireland! The name of the group is: Crochet Designers Support Group.
Of course, a special Facebook group of these 2 ladies could not be missed: Two Redheads Crochet!
Look them up!! (click here for Two Redheads)
Pedr has recovered well from his adventure and is already looking for other adventures here at CB's Creations. Would you like to invite this great tough Viking to your home? Then it is best to crochet him yourself, so you can be sure that he is really yours!
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Links to CB Creations
You can find more of Claudia’s incredible Amigurami on her webpage (click here).
Other links: (click here)
You can also find my guest blog post on Claudia’s webpage: