Children’s & YA Books
Magical adventures, unexpected friendships and stories that spark curiosity.
Stories · Stitches · And Everything In Between
Some stories take a lifetime to unfold.
Mine began with a thousand ideas.
Jump to the Writing Room01 / The Imprint
Three Worlds of Books. One Creative Voice.
Welcome to ParkaDesign Books.
A home for stories, ideas and books that come to life in very different ways – yet are all part of who I am.
Knitting & Crochet Books
Ideas, patterns and magazines for people who love making things with their hands.
Novels
Atmospheric stories of people, memories and the threads that weave lives together.
Sometimes a golden thread leads through a world of fantasy. Sometimes a ball of yarn becomes something you will treasure.
And sometimes memories, people and destinies are woven into a story.
The Story Behind It All
But where did it all begin?
Sometimes you have to go a long way back to understand how something new came to be.
02 / Where It All Began
The Girl with a Thousand Ideas
My grandfather taught me to read and write when I was very young. And as soon as I could write, I began creating my own short stories. Handwritten and carefully put together – because even then, I did not want ordinary notebooks. I wanted real books.
I read voraciously, devoured fantasy novels, discovered poetry, collected poems and even invented a secret code to hide stories in my diary.
But I could never settle on just one genre. What I read depended on my mood. Sometimes I needed adventure, sometimes something thoughtful, sometimes an entirely different world.
And alongside the words, there was yarn. Knitting, crochet, creating.
To me, these were never opposites. They were simply different ways of bringing something into being.
03 / Many Passions. One Mind.
The Trouble with Labels
“There you go, doing something different again.”
I heard comments like that for years. Along with questions about how long my latest idea would hold my interest.
What always puzzled me was that I did not simply start projects and abandon them. I saw them through. I learned what I needed to learn, took responsibility and achieved my goals – often surprisingly quickly.
My ability to think about and organise several things at once was valued, both at work and in my personal life.
And yet, sooner or later, someone would ask why I could not just focus on one thing.
I even studied psychology, partly because I wanted to understand why my mind works the way it does. I came across terms such as ADHD and “scanner personality”. I thought about them, explored them and tried to find answers.
Why should I have to fit into a box at all?
04 / A Realisation
The Turning Point
I am not one thing or the other. I am all of it.
Perhaps I really did need to reach a new stage of life. Perhaps menopause played a part in the way I see certain things today.
Whatever the reason, I decided to stop apologising for being who I am.
Not every idea has to make sense to other people. Not every new project needs an explanation. And not every passion has to fit into a single vision of how life should be lived.
For a long time, I tried to keep my different interests separate. Now I wonder why I ever felt I had to.
I do not have to choose. I can be all of it.
05 / A New Step
Being Seen.On My Own Terms.
In a café, I would rather sit quietly at the edge of the room.
Even though I have always had a strong presence in my professional and creative life.
Over the years, Stricken im Trend has always been about my designs, my work and my ideas. Not about showing my face.
For a long time, that apparent contradiction stayed with me.
Today I know I do not have to become a different person just to be seen.
I can tell my story without putting my private life on display. I can share my work without constantly making myself the centre of attention.
And now I have made a conscious choice to share this story.
Not because I am looking for attention, but because I hope someone might recognise a little of themselves in it.
Someone who has also been told to make up their mind. To focus. To stop starting something new.
Do not wait as long as I did to give yourself permission to be who you are.
06 / The Thought Behind ParkaDesign Books
ParkaDesign Books did not come into being because I chose a new passion.
It came into being because I stopped feeling I had to choose between my passions.