Hello and thank you for taking some of your precious time to come to this page to find out a bit about me, the person behind Exquisite Crochet UK.
My name is Miroslava, but most of my friends call me Mirka. Yes, it is pronounced just like meerkat (sigh). I am originally from Slovakia, but settled in the UK in 2005. I am truly blessed to be a mum of three amazing and wonderful children and above everything, I am a born again Christian.
I work as a scientist in epidemiology by day and design all things crochet in any spare time. This means that even if I don’t crochet in any particular moment, I am surely thinking of some new design, stitch combination, yarn I need to get (because we never have enough yarn), or design submissions. I am equally very lucky to have a hubby who is fully in support of my crochet adventures and even helps me out with some of the stitch math when I find myself losing patience with this aspect of the design process.
“How did it all began?”, you may ask. Many many moons ago in 2015, I was looking for some creative outlet. I have just come out of mentally, financially, physically and spiritually demanding year and needed something to occupy my hands and mind so that I wouldn’t go down the slippery slope of rummaging over the past and feeling sorry for myself. Crochet was truly a God sent gift for me. Similary to many other crocheters, I started with some gifts for others, especially baby hats and mittens following patterns, although I was never really good at following patterns to be perfectly honest. I found myself changing the recommended yarn, stitch count, stitch patterns, or I would take a bit of this pattern and a bit of that pattern, put my own spin on it and voila!
I remember, my first ever blanket I made (granny square blanket- I know, how predictable!) took me months and months. I used to take my yarn and hook everywhere with me. All my fellow commuters on the underground watched my progress and it proved to be a great conversation starter; I would have at least one person a day asking me about what I was doing.
Over time, I would become a serial project starter, WIP hoarder and yarnholic (this is inevitable, but may not happen in this order!). I took a short break from crochet after my kids were born but quickly rekindled my passion for crochet shortly after.
I had some pieces commissioned for friends and customers, I even opened an Etsy store to sell ready-made items, but I quickly discovered that I preferred to make one-off pieces, rather than make the same item over and over again.
In 2019, I challenged myself to take my crochet to another level and progress from being a casual maker to a designer. I had a few New Year resolutions (these were probably the only ones I ever kept in the history of setting New Year resolutions!); to learn tapestry and Tunisian crochet, to make my own garments and to learn a new stitch every week. So I bought a few crochet stitch books, garment design books, took a few online classes and I regularly searched my library craft sections for any crochet books. Most of all, I crochet, crochet, crochet till I can’t crochet anymore in my spare time.
I love to get to know other makers and designers, although I can only do this online; on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. Nevertheless, I love the craft community that is currently on all platforms; I met countless very supportive fellow crocheters. I also discovered knit and crochet meetup in my local library recently, and I am hoping to join the other ladies when I get some time-off.
This brings us to the present. I have some very exciting news coming, I am working behind the scenes tirelessly and will be sharing some of these in upcoming weeks and months. So watch this space!
Thank you, if you made it this far, I hope you got to know me and my colourful crochet world a bit more and already feel like we have something in common!
Please feel free to contact me with any queries about the patterns or just for a chat on the blog either via comment or email. I can’t wait to hear from you!
Oh wow. I wish you all the best with your upcoming plans.
Thank you so much ☺️
Nice to meet you and can’t wait to see what you do next!
Thank you 🙂
Hi Mirka, my name is Toni and I am in the USA. I have a co-worker who is due to have her first baby, a boy, in the middle of April and would love to make your Moon and Stars Tunisian Blanket with some modifications. Her baby’s room is being done in space as in outer space and her colors are light gray and pale yellow. So with that I thought I would use a worsted weight acrylic yarn and change up your star and moon pattern a bit by starting from the top with star, moon, star, middle moon, star, moon and bottom star, moon, star. The light gray will be my main color, yellow for the stars and white for the moon. So my question is what size hook would I move up to? I’m thinking of getting extra yarn to account for the difference in size and gauge. HELP
Hello Toni, thank you for reaching out. Your idea of the blanket seems awesome!! I would go for 6.5 or 7 mm hook. 6.5 mm if you would like more structure and 7 mm if you prefer drape. I made mine using 6 mm for DK weight as I was going for lots of drape- that is how I like my blankets and throws😊.
Hi Mirka. Thank you so much for getting back to me. I ordered my needle set so I can go up to a 6.5 or 7 mm hook. I use a company that is called WEBS, their website is http://www.yarn.com you might like to check them out. One last question should I add an extra skein to each color because I am using the worsted weight yarn? Although I love doing Tunisian crochet, I am proficient as a knitter and can adjust the amount of yarn with knitting much better than with crocheting so any guidance you can give me would be much welcomed.
Do you knit as well? If so I would love to send you patterns that I have made. I’m finishing up a blanket for a friend of mine now and the blanket I made for my grandson is beyond beautiful, I’ll have to email you pictures.
Hello Toni, yes, I would add an extra skein too. I am unfortunately not a knitter but it is on my list of skills to learn😊.
Hello Mirka,
I just found you and I am looking forward to learning so much from you!
Hello Liz,
Thank you! I hope you find lots of useful information on my blog.
Kind regards,
Mirka
Hi Mirka. I just found you via youtube. I was already subscribed,but had never been to your website. Its quite beautiful and very well organized! I’m from California, crocheter for many decades, retired Vet Tech (nurse in the UK). Not great at Tunisian as I’m self taught. Was looking at your star stitch video and realized I need a written pattern. I’m almost 70 so,ya,need to read one to follow the pattern. Would happen to have a written pattern for the star stitch? I’d appreciate it if you could point me to one. Thank you! Ill be back soon to drool over more patterns.
Jana (like banana)
Hello Jana,
Thank you so much for you wonderful message! I am so glad you find the video tutorials useful! I have written instructions for the star stitch turned into a large shawl. It is just the basic stitch pattern worked over many rows; please see the link here:
https://exquisitecrochetuk.com/2021/03/14/lacy-blossom-shawl/
Let me know if this helps.
Kind regards,
Mirka