Sunday Giveaway winners

In honour of my 555th blogpost I hosted a giveaway and here are the winners!

I used random-com to generate the numbers to see who would win.

Congratulations to everyone!

The winner of the first bundle is Smithereen and she won the purple wool and alpaca yarn and buttons. I have your address, let me know if you want me to make something out of the yarn or not;)

The second winner was Jenn and she won The Cross Stitch bundle.

Please give me your address so that I can send you your gift.  (you can comment here and I won´t publish your address, or send me an email)

The third winner is Brenna and she wins the crochet bundle with yarn and crochet mitts I have made in blue. I have your address too so I will send you your prize soon.

But as Brenna mentioned there were only six participants and I could give out consolation prizes to those that did not win, and I will, on Tuesday I will go out and buy a small Norwegian chocolate, something small and crafty and a skein of yarn from my stash to all that participated. So to Craftsonthego, *Kio and Ruthsdatter please send me your address to and I will send you your gifts this week.

If I have not gotten your addresses within next Sunday I will re-draw the winners of the giveaway and the consolation prizes will be put into my next giveaway. I hope you enjoyed my giveaway and come again.

And since it is bun day, here are some relaxing bunnies who think 20 degrees C is too hot anyway.

And here is my new start, on another stash busting acrylic baby blanket.

Giveaway Bunday

I finished the A-Z challenge and in the middle of it I realised I had made 555 posts so I thought a giveaway would be in order. You can enter the giveaway by commenting on this post and I will let random decide who wins. I have three different prizes.

The first bundle is two skeins of wool yarn and two alpaca in purple and three buttons.

The second bundle is a Winnie The Pooh cross stitch kit, a Tinkerbell cross stitch kit and a small cross stitch Christmas bell with frame. A scissorfob with scissor, a coaster, a pattern book and some Madeira thread.

The third bundle is a pair of mitts I have crocheted, two balls of Merino Wool from Drops and two red cotton balls from Søstrene Grene, some crochet hooks and a reflector made from in the shape of knitting needles and a ball of yarn.

And I can say I like all the yarns I give away.

I may add more things in the bundles if I find any when I go to the store;)

The giveaway ends next Sunday at midnight.

Just comment on this post.

And I have a finish! Mister M and I walked with our neighbour and his dog today and donated some sheets with holes in them for recycling and I took the opportunity to take some photos. 

This baby blanket weighs 400 g and consists of eight balls of yarn, it is 79x89 cm and is made of acrylics yarn so I have a bit less in my yarn stash now.

 And since it is Bunday, here is where the buns have been napping today, and yes, it is shedding season again, which might not come as a surprise, yesterday it was snowing and today it was hot and shiny at 12 degrees, if the weather can't decide how can you expect the bunnies to know when molting season is over?

Not quite awake, Valmin is even falling to his side a bit, his big head too heavy to hold up.

Look at that big pouffy tail!

And then there is Mimle asleep in her fort, or at least she was sleeping until I ruined her nap. Look at that disapproving glare I am getting.

Good Luck!

A-Z challenge Z

Z is for Zen

There have been numerous studies on knitting (and one can assume crochet or cross stitch might get the same results) and the health benefits of that. Mindfulness and Zen is all the rage at the moment in our busy life and crafting seems to be an outlet to lower ones shoulders and relax.

Although I think it might not be so beneficial if you have a deadline or get too frustrated with your project.  

If you would like to read some of the articles I found on the matter I will provide you with some links. 

The Washington Post
British Journal of Occupational Therapy
The New York Times
Lifehack 6 benefits of knitting

And remember, tomorrow is bunday, my giveaway and also I will talk about this months books so please check back, I hope you have enjoyed my A-Z challenge, I have, even if I did write most posts the same day and probably not got health benefits with me stressing about.

I think the meditation-like mode I fall into is very good for me because I am super good at stressing, but I also think one of the reasons I craft is the sense of accomplishment I get when I finishing something and it looks good and I mastered a new technique. And it gives me a creative outlet.  The finished project isn't bad to have either.

Why do you craft? And do you think it helps you to stress down? 

What is your favourite thing about your craft?

Hope to see you tomorrow, now I am off to another z, the zzz kind, good night.

A-Z challenge X

X is for x-stitching. Or Cross-stitching if we want to be exact.

Cross stitching is an form of sewing where the stitches cross each other to form X's.

As with crochet I did learn somewhere in my childhood but it never really took my fancy, I used to be a book and drawing girl more than a craft girl, but in 2010 when my friend E2 was sewing I felt like I  wanted to have another go at it, and here I am in the sofa with E2 stitching away in the summer of 2010 according to the date on the photo. I had bought a child kit with a cat for my start but soon ventured into more difficult patterns.

And here I am teaching my two cousins to sew, neither of them are craft girls but more book girls, but  later they might find that they want to do some sort of craft like I did.

I lost my stitching bug for a some time while I crocheted but I have found it now and am trying to finish off some of my started things...  And I must say that even though it is a craft that takes a while  to finish I am quite enjoying it again.

Later I started to design some of my own patterns and here are a few of my designs, I don't make many but I have made some, my goal in life is to make more and perhaps someone will stitch what I have design. ^^

Star Trek Enterprise TOS

Kokeshi dolls of W group

Christmas bunny sampler

Halloween, set of four

Happy Easter in Norwegian

Spring picture with bunny

Do you cross stitch? Have you tried to design anything? 

What would you like to stitch if there was a pattern?

My favorite thing to stitch must be bunnies, but I guess that wasn't hard to guess.

Oh, and this is my 555th post, so I am hosting a giveaway on Sunday if you want to hang around after the a-z series^^

A-Z Challenge W

W is for Wips or Wisps

If we follow my UFO reasoning I don't have many UFOs but I would have a ton of Wips and Wisps...

A Wip is a work in progress and a Wisp is a work in slow progress (which is why I think a UFO is something you have given up on rather than just something that isn't finished yet)

So would you like to see my ton of Wips and Wisps? Here are my crochet Wips and Wisps, a skirt, one afghan, three baby blankets and one lapghan. Maybelle squares that might turn into a blanket, a shawl that I am unsure if I still have the pattern for, one finished and one started mitt, and a scarf/shawl depending on how much yarn I have. All in all, not that many projects on the go, and I have finished some of my longer Wisps lately, like the baby bunny blanket. I have another wip though  that I didn't take a photo of which is Mister M's vest.

Not too many projects right? Some that are easily portable, some that require brainpower and some that is just a breeze to crochet, I usually do these when I have company over or when M and I watch TV.

So 11 wips and wisps, but I am not quite sure where it turns into a wisp, I think that the colourful lapghan might be my only real wisps as all the others have had a stitch or two added this year....

*

Then there are the cross stitch things I have found so far, there may be a couple of others....

Some small cards, some bigger things, mostly bunnies and some are presents that I want to finish. Frederick is on black aida so I have given up doing him when it is too dark, but here in this apartment I have lots of light so it might be time to take him forward in the pile, just need to finish some of those smaller ones first I think.

16 cross stitches, and I know I have five more starts somewhere in the office.....

I think only two of these have gotten any stitches this  year so they are all wisps.... I will need to finish two before I can start something new, that is the policy and we will see how well it works over the next few weeks. Please cheer me on.

Regarding knitting, I only have three starts, one blanket, one sitting pad and one jacket so I didn't take any out to take pictures of today. I wonder which of those will be finished first... I have promised hats and socks and perhaps mittens for Christmast this year so those might be bumped up their queue...

Do you have more wips than me or do you feel appalled by my startisis and lack of stamina to see things through? I have seen some who actually have more starts than me, thankfully, I sometimes feel like I am a lost case.

A-Z challenge V

V is for Vintage

 I am lucky enough that I have some pieces my mother and grandmother made that I treasure. Vintage is very much in style at the moment, but I think all these pieces are timeless and should be worn and loved and used. And when I use them I think about all the work and love that has been poured into the garments. Vintage is a treasure, sometimes only for sentimental value but sometimes can be important to take care of it for the next generation.

We couldn't find a photo of my grandmother knitting, but here she is busy sewing. I adored my grandmother and I do feel a bit sad that she died before we could share knitting or sewing together, but at least I can crochet with my mother and aunt which we try to do at their cabin.

Here is my mother crocheting in her 

nurses uniform when she did nightshifts 

I think before I was born. But I know she 

and my aunt did a lot of sewing too so

I come from a crafty family and those

that did not work with yarn worked

with wood or metal and things like 

that...

So there is no wonder I love all hand-crafting. 

Here is a "kofte" jacket which is all the style at the moment in Norway, everyone is knitting one, but they are very warm and classic and I can remember my grandmother wearing this so it has been quite durable. My mother is pretty sure my grandmother knited this, but we do know she knitted the red sweater below that my mother wore when she was twelve-ish so that sweater has lived for quite some time.

And then there is the scarf in a mermaid pattern according to my mother which my grandmother knitted to my mother, I love the pattern, it is the same pattern my doll got her dress in that my grandmother knitted for me when I was a kid, that doll is in the attic so we didn't have time to find her and show off, but I thought that dress was the most beautiful dress ever when I was a child and I still cherish it. I hope to be able to knit something like that one day.  

I think clothes that are more than 25 years old and up to almost 50 years old surely must count as vintage?

When is something vintage and do you own any vintage heirlooms?

A-Z challenge U

U is for UFO

Which stands for unfinished object, but how we define unfinished is different. My friend *Kio thinks it means something which is unfinished and something that you do not intend to finish.

I am on the fence, because that would mean that I would very rarely have any UFO's, I think I gravitate more to the definition of something that hasn't been worked on for a long time...

I do have lots of unfinished objects but they are all in a queue and waiting for their turn. I have only one thing I KNOW I will never finish and if I can find it again I will unpick it and use the aida for something else. It is an old Permin kit of a white dog and tabby cat that I got really cheap but I have miscounted and then consequently lost the remaining thread. And I have no idea who to give it to and so have no drive to finish it, I did not enjoy that kit but bought it since it was on sale and all I could afford at the time (it was before my rather big stash). So when I find it I will unpick it and start something else. But if there are any more things I do not know if i want to finish I don't know.

However I  do like the meaning that an UFO is something you will never pick up beacause it means I don't have that many UFO's, but if the meaning is something you have not worked on in X amount of time I have a TON. And I mean a ton. I haven't even located all the started cross stitch projects to put them all in one place yet and so far I have a SAMLA box that is 39x28x14 cm that I can't even close and that is just cross stitch, I have two started knitted projects and a little under ten crochet starts and one of them I haven't done any stitches on in a year, is that an UFO yet? I want to finish it....

The one that can close is full of unfinished objects and the one I can't close is full of unstarted projects.

Mister M likes that there isn't a fixed definition because that is how UFOs work, and unidentified flying object can mean a weather balloon but everyone just associates UFOs with flying saucers and aliens.

What do you think?

When is a project a UFO in your opinion? And how do you deal with them?

A-Z challenge T

T is for To-Do-List

Which keeps growing and growing the more I patterns I discover so much so that I am not quite sure I will ever be able to do them all! I am sure all crafters can agree!

I have most list in my head, but I sometimes have actual lists too, I am a real list-person.

 Ravelry is a place I have a huge list and the good thing about that place is that it is where the patterns are too so they are easy to find.

So here is this weeks list, next week things may change....

I wonder how many hours this list would take to finish? Some of the cross stitch things are quite big and difficult, Frederick the cat is on black aida and is a real pain, Henry the eight has lots of beads... I think I started those about four years ago...  So those are real wisps.

Some of the crochet things will go by in a breeze if I ever sit down to actually finish them that is, but the knitting might be harder as I am not quite confident at that yet.

I think even with all my stash I don't have enough yarn or fabric to finish all these things, and I think it would take me all year at least to finish the crochet alone... Oh well, it is good to have dreams, and to-do-lists to dream about and faff about.

How long is your To-do-list?

Finished Friday

I have some finishes to show you and since it is finished Friday today what better than to show off what I have done these past few weeks?

I have found my stitching bug again, yay! And I started and finished this lovely little biscornu turned into a scissor-fob which I will put in my gift-pile. 

Here is the back of the same biscornu and I finished the boy-bunny, I still have one more in this series and am contemplating wether to start it now or do it next Easter, I love having seasonal things to do in its season, but it would also be lovely to actually have a finish... 

And then there is the daffodil in the middle which I started just over Easter, that too is finally finished after I frogged the middle yellow since it was stitched in the wrong place. You would think that I learned my lesson and properly look at the chart, well, I did the same with the darkest green, stitched all the darkest green and then realised it was wrong and had to frog that too. And when it was finally done, I had lost the frame.... I was mad, but as things want to do, it turned up, the same day my beautiful pink scissors and needles set from Tulip did. That was indeed a happy day.

And I finished another bib, the bigger pink one, made a heart on the blue bib and started a third bib, this time in pale pink, but it won't have scallops I think...

And the pink thing in the background of all the pictures is my granny stripe baby-blanket which is way over half way already, just one more skein I think!

So far I have finished One whole skein of pink, but started a second.

The pink for the blanket is already up to five balls I think, but since it is not finished I will not count it.

So, 70 grams out in baby-bibs and 200 grams of scarf

and 

350 grams in these past two weeks.

So I am not doing too well on my two out one in yarn policy, but that might be because of all those half finished things, if I finish them properly I might have more success.
Hey, scratch that, I forgot I had the knitted scarf finish, I never made a proper post about it, but I did finish the blue/green scarf the other day, I will take a picture and show you later, so I think my policy is working better than I thought... Yay me.

A-Z challenge Q

Q is for Q-Snap

A Q-snap is a form of hoop to hold your stitching taunt to make sure your stitches turn out even. I love mine, it makes no hoop marks that the normal kind of hoop makes. I have no idea where mine is at the moment so I'll just show you an old photo from my blog where I use the Q-snap and a picture taken from the website itself. I bought mine from sewandso.

Here I am on Henry the eight and his six wives which I have come a lot further on since then.

And also I might have a finish to show you soon depending on how much more I want to crochet;)

A-Z challenge M

M is for magazines

I have lots of magazines, in fact so many that I realised I would probably never stitch them all, so I have started to declutter a bit. 

But I did love to open my mailbox and receive a magazine and flipping through it's pages looking for a design I would like to stitch was the highlight of my week.

The stitching magazines I liked all came from the UK and they were a lot cheaper to subscribe to than buying one now and then. So I have subscribed to The World of Cross-stitching, Cross-stitch crazy, Cross-Stitch Card Shop (now not made anymore) and bought the occasional other magazines like CrossStitcher, Cross Stitch Gold (which has big designs). I have made lots of small cards with the patterns, learnt new techniques, saw new design to add to my to-do-list and found their forum. And on that forum I found some friends more new designers and patterns to do. And I lost my Cross Stitch mojo.

I might subscribe again someday or I might not. But all these magazines were quite good depending on what you might find interesting.

 I could start a new subscription via their app, but there is something so satisfying about a real magazine, I have lots of crochet magazines on my pad and I flip trough them regularly, unfortunately I have had a lot of trouble with the app and am at that point were I would rather just print out all the patterns I might want to do. But I am more an analog than digital girl so you should decide if E-magazines or paper magazines are best for you.

 But I do have almost all of the Simply Crochet magazines on my pad and they do have lots of good patterns, if you crochet I would recommend buying a few magazines. Especially when they are on sale, that is how I got mine^^
I also share some Norwegian magazines with my mother with knitting patterns, crochet patterns and the odd sewing bit, they are sold around holidays and we usually buy them, they are great value for your money and we often make something from them or at least put it on our  ever-growing to-do-lists.

Mimle is helping me destash

This box contains all the patterns I know I would like to do and some I might do for cards for like weddings and birthdays and baby showers or something like that and five magazines where I loved most of the patterns so it seemed like a waste to rip it to pieces. 

My de-stashing was a success I think and now I might actually have a chance at finishing more of these designs.

A-Z challenge J

J is for Japanese influence

This blog is about the things I love, bunnies, crochet, cross-stitching, crafting, knitting, life, j-pop, DIY, and things japanese so when I discovered that Japan has influenced crochet and cross stitch I felt happy.

I L O V E japan, I love the language, the music, the anime/manga (cartoons, graphic books) the place, the style, I love Hello Kitty, Studio Ghibli, Japanese drama and history and I was so happy when I realised all of these are integrated into the crafts I love so that I could combine my loves.

Japanese influence in crochet and cross-stitch takes many forms, you can't not talk about amigurumi but there is more like pixel arts, kawaii style, kokeshi dolls, japanese flowers and japanese style.


First things first: Amigurumi meaning knitted stuffed toy, although ami actually mean both knitted and crocheted because the japanese don't have a word for crochet they use knitting for both. Knitting with needles and knitting with hook which is the crochet one. Amigurumi took the world by storm so you must have heard about it. I have only made one amigurumi which was a Star Trek Enterprise toy for boyfriend. But I really want to make a bunny one day.

Pattern found here:

Pixel art is something else completely, you can use cross stitch patterns to do this or graft your own. Pixel art is usually squares that you crochet and together they turn into a picture, like this:

Hello Kitty pattern and "how to" from repeat crafter me.

She also made this cupcake blanket  Also I own this book from Hannah Meur and there are lots of wonderful fun patterns in this.

What I think makes Pixel art japanese is because a lot of the games used in pixel art like Zelda are japanese and the use of kawaii style (more on that later) and Hello Kitty sort of makes it Japanese style I think.

Kawaii style:

Kawaii is japanese for cute, adorable and in crochet and cross stitch the kawaii style usually means bold colours or pastels, cute motifs, often with big heads, big eyes and eyes on inanimate objects like cupcakes, making something odd cute like poo,  Here are some examples.

  Cross-stitch of poop by jimjamcrafts 

    Cute coffe mug by allaboutami         

I love carrot by Soda Stitch

Playful Kitten by Soda Stitch

Sweet tea by Gorjuss 

Look at designers Twinkie Chan allaboutami 

Kokeshi Dolls:

Was all the fad a few years back and you could get them with everything, in wood, sewn, crocheted, cross-stitched or drawn. I designed one of my own.

Kokeshi dolls of my beloved j-pop group W

Japanese flowers:

Were also quite popular for a while and I think they are timeless. I have no idea why they are called japanese flowers, when I think of japanese flowers I think of Sakura (cherry blossoms) and these don't look like that. But I do think they fit with the timeless yet modern Japanese style.

There are many patterns out there, but I liked this one.

Japanese style:

You can also see the japanese influence in crochet in the more modern, classy, adult, lacy, subdued style in their patterns, they are divine. First of all they are all charted so you don't have to read japanese, second they well thought of and planned, third they look very chic and modern and something you could easily wear to the office or to a party. Often in greys, whites, black, browns and blues they look so soft and wearable. I love japanese crochet patterns. Most of all I love the ones from Pierrot yarns, after all that is where my wedding dress pattern was from and my dress was delicate, elegant and cute, the pattern was easy to understand, they had included both cm and stitches so it was easily customisable.

So what do you think of the japanese influences? Which one do you like? Kawaii or the more softened Japanese style? I like them all and can't choose^^