Interview with Crochet Artist Adinda Zoutman

colorful crochet art shawls by adinda

As soon as you enter Adinda’s World, you can’t help but be inspired by the bold colors, oversized organic flowers and flowing nature of all of her amazing work.

frida crochet art by adinda

Adinda Zoutman learned to crochet around the age of 6 or 7. Her mother taught her the basics and then she taught the rest to herself from there. Although she can’t quite recall the first item that she ever made, she is sure that it must have been something for one of her dowels – perhaps a crochet dress or a shawl.

colorful crochet flower shawl by adinda

Adinda continues to make beautiful shawls today. Many of these shawls are covered in beautiful, decorative 3d flowers. She says, “I like all kinds of flowers – in nature and in crochet!” Adinda doesn’t use patterns, working from her own imagination to constantly come up with new, surprising flowers.

crochet portrait art by adinda

Although her shawls are stunning, Adinda’s favorite thing to crochet these days is portraits. She says they are always portraits with a smile, a bit fun, a bit strange, sometimes very big but never too serious. She also likes to make large dolls.

crochet purse by adinda

Adinda doesn’t have a favorite fiber or brand of yarn but says that it is important for her that whatever she uses is very soft and comes in nice, sweet colors. Her very favorite color is a hard-to-describe shade of light, almost pastel, blue-green. She loves mixing different types of yarn in one project to make the work more exciting.

crochet apron by adinda

Her excitement stays strong throughout all of her work. She really loves to crochet, not overthinking it but just enjoying her own curiosity into what can happen with her hook. She is always enthusiastic at the beginning of a project, wondering what is going to come of it as it develops. What she wants most for people to see in her work is love and happiness; her greatest joy is when someone else gets joy from what she has created.

amigurumi crochet dolls by adinda

She says, “When someone is happy with what I have made, it feels like a great gift to me. It also makes me happy to make things, such as shawls, for my sweet friends and to be able to make them happy in that way.”

crochet purses by adinda

Adinda often crochets at home alone in the evening, watching television. However, she can sometimes be found on video chat with a friend who also enjoys crochet. They don’t live near to one another so they get on the video, each drinking their own coffee and crocheting together while they talk. In addition to crochet she enjoys painting and making music, although she finds less and less time for those things now that crochet has become her job.

adinda crocheting flower shawl

That’s okay, though, of course, because crochet has added a lot to her life. She shares, “Crochet made my life better because it is something special. You can always crochet, even when something bad happens; it helps you to come out of your head and feel more relaxed. (For example, it helped me during a difficult time when son was very ill.)

floral crochet necklace by adinda

Crochet has also allowed her to meet many new creative people. Although she doesn’t know a lot of crochet artists per se, and she gets her inspiration more from nature and music than from other crafters, the people she has met have been wonderful. Adinda now teaches freeform crochet and has met many great folks through that work. She has also had the opportunity to travel a lot, particularly to Spain and Italy, thanks to crochet. It feels like the best work in the world for her to be doing! If asked to pick one artist that has inspired her, she names Frida Kahlo for her “art, color and style”.

Asked to share one interesting thing about herself or her work, Adinda tells us, “Although I crocheted for a long time, it only became my work about one year ago. Before that, I did it in my world. I didn’t even know that there were many people who also had a passion for crochet. It made me happy to discover that, because it hasn’t always been this way; there was a period when people thought it was old-fashioned but not it has been rediscovered by many who understand that crochet can make your life happier and more creative!”

Kathryn

San Francisco based and crochet-obsessed writer, dreamer and creative spirit!

25 thoughts on “Interview with Crochet Artist Adinda Zoutman”

  1. What a delightful interview Kathryn! I find Adinda’s beautiful work so inspiring. The portraits, colors and the flowers are particularly wonderful. Just looking at these photos gives me such a boost! The most creative crochet work out there seems to be freeform crochet but I personally find the technique quite daunting. Perhaps one day I will have a go! Thank you for introducing us to Adinda.

  2. Oh my! Her shawls and bags are beautiful!! I so wish she had patterns. I too love bright happy colors and flowers. Such a wonderful project to work up in the long dark days of Alaska!
    Beautiful

  3. I just love her work, she inspired me to crochet lots of shawls. In my own style but very colorful and cheerful bit Ibiza/boho. For those that cannot join one of Adinda’s workshops I made a video tutorial so you can learn how to crochet such a beautiful shawl on your own. You are very welcome to see for yourself. Love, Pollevie

  4. your work is out standing would love to make a shawl for myself would you send the pattern, i know you don’t use patterns but i am not that good and at 70 years old don’t think i could learn how to look at something and learn now. thanks faye and once again you are truly talent and amazing

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