Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!!!

 

 I hope that everyone who have visited and will stop by to visit my small corner of the Internet will have a magical Holidays and an even better Happy New Year!

    I have been extremely busy over the past two months with few special requests knitting projects. I cannot share the pictures yet as these knitting projects are waiting for the right time to be opened by their recipients. I will write a blog post all about those toys after the Holidays. 

    There are also some exciting new patterns in the works that will be published during the next year, starting with the first pattern coming out in January 2022. 

I also plan to work on some independent work and maybe even have another toy mystery knit-a-long early next year.

Stay safe, healthy and enjoy your Holidays. 

Thank you for visiting.

Aiofe Wrap

 

This Aiofe Wrap has been a project in making for some time. I made a sketch few months ago, and then knitted a sample in a bulkier weight yarn. I really liked it. I started on another sample and then I had some third party's projects to work on and put this aside. During the summer I got an opportunity to collaborate with Ula and Lia, by using their Baby Yak Yarn for this wrap.

I have never knit with the Yak yarn before, so I was rather curious on how the yarn will feel and what the final product will look like, I must admit, I really enjoyed working with the baby yak yarn creating this particular two-colored wrap. The yarn after the wash is soft and warm and I just might keep this wrap for myself to wear during the winter months. 

You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry in my Designer store or by clicking on this button:

 

You can also purchase the pattern in my Payhip store: Stanascrittersetc

or here: Aiofe Wrap

To purchase the yarn, please visit the yarn website here:

 Ula and Lia website

I had a small amount of leftover yarn from this project and used it to knit a simple Rib hat. 

I have used my pattern: Rib Hat

Thank you for visiting.

Dreams...

 

I took this picture sometime last year as the sun was setting in and the light was just perfect. When I look at this image it evokes a dreamy world of endless possibilities. It also reminds me of my last year e-book project Baba Yaga's House a whimsical collection of knitting patterns, recipes, and images. 

This month knit-a-long is all about small and fun projects that can be knit up quick and used as a small whimsical decoration for Halloween, like this broomstick:

...or maybe an eyeball or two, or a whole jar of them, or an eyeball coaster:

Patterns links:

Baba Yaga's House

Broomstick

Deadline Morning Coaster

Eyeballs

My plan was to sent out my first newsletter last month, but the computer decided to stop working and took a long spa vacation at the hands of a computer specialist. After the unplanned break things are getting back to normal and hopefully the first newsletter will go out sometime this month. Don't forget to sign up for it here on my website:

Stana's Critters Etc 

Thank you for visiting and reading.

September is here...

 

...and there is a Knit-a-long for the Farmer's Market hosted in my group on Ravelry or anywhere you happen to be knitting. It's just for fun, a toy to give to someone, and also perfect project to use up all those remnants of yarn from your stash. 

In this blog post you can find the links to the pattern where you can purchase it:

Farmer's Market

In the picture bellow you see a behind the scenes when I was working on the Voyager Sweater few years back.

See the blog post about the sweater here: Voyager Sweater 

Over the past few months I have been busy with work that has yet to be published by a variety of third parties, or has been published and I have not had time to post about these projects, yet. At the moment I am busy with two other projects that will be published at some point in the future and I don't have as much time as I wish to work on my independent work in the meantime. 

Sometime this month I hope to send out my first newsletter, for which you can subscribe on my website: 

https://stanascrittersetc.com/

In the meantime, thank you for visiting and reading my blog. 

Summer KAL Frogs: the winners

If you have participated in the summer KAL and have posted a picture of your finished frog, see details at this original blog post:  Summer KAL Frogs you are a winner.

You have won a pattern of your choice from my pattern collections. 

To receive the pattern you have few options, send me a message via the contact form on my website

Stana's Critters Etc

or contact me on Ravelry in my group: Stana's Critters Etc

I will either email you the pattern or gift it to you if you prefer to have it in your Ravelry library.

I hope that you all had some fun creating these little critters. I have enjoyed seeing the pictures.

The rest of this month is not happening anything organized. At the moment I am still learning all about my new website and getting ready for my first newsletter, which should be coming out at the beginning of next month, to sign up for it go to my website:

Stana's Critters Etc

There are so many exciting new patterns that will be coming out sometime over the next few months, either published by third parties or as an independent work, and I hope that you will like them when they will be available. In the meantime enjoy the rest of the summer (in the Northern Hemisphere) or winter (if you are in the Southern Hemisphere) and keep on crafting, one stitch at time. 

Thank you for visiting and reading.

A Brand New Website

 

Here is a screenshot of what my new website looks like. Here is the link tot he website:

https://stanascrittersetc.com/

It has been a work in progress for some time and I am so happy to announce that the website is now visible and available for you to check it out and sing up for the newsletters that will start shortly. As a thank you for subscription to my newsletters you will receive a knitting pattern for Otto, the owl. 

Thank you for reading and following my adventurous knitting journey, one stitch at time. 

Summer KAL - Frogs

 

This month I am hosting a KAL with a theme of frogs. 

If you make any frog based on one of my frog themed knitting patterns like

Chadwick and Igor

Fred

Frog Bag

Frog Mask

Toadie

and post a photo either on Ravelry in the thread in my group Stana's Critters Etc or on Instagram and tag me with @stanascrittersetc or @stanascritters or use hashtag #stanascrittersetc or #stanascritters you will be eligible to participate in a giveaway with prizes to win (patterns, e-books). 

Details for the giveaway:

1. Knit a frog and post a picture and tag me. 

2. Deadline for the post July 31st 2021

3. Winners will be announced here on my blog.

Have fun knitting.

Farmer's Market

 

Farmer’s Market is a knitted version of our shopping bag filled with fruits and vegetables bought at a local farmer’s market. The fruits and vegetables are nicely stored in the knitted shopping bag. 

You can buy the knitting pattern in my Payhip store: Farmer's Market 

or in my Ravelry store: Farmer's Market

or by clicking on this button:  

In the picture bellow you can see all of the fruits, vegetables that are in the bag.

The pictured sample uses Knitpicks's Brava Mini Pack in Jewel colorway. In the picture bellow you can see that there are still plenty of leftover yarn from that Mini Pack. 

All of the items in the bag use small amount of yarn and are ideal for using up scrap yarn.

Here is the list of the fruits and vegetables in the bag:

Finished Measurements:
Shopping bag 9.5” wide x 10.5” high; handles 27” long
Fruits and Vegetables:
Apple 3” diameter
Beet 5” long
Blackberry 1.5” long
Blueberry 1.25” diameter
Carrot 7.5” long, including the leaves
Cherry 1.25” diameter
Cucumber 5.5” long
Eggplant 8” long
Grapes 5.5” long
Pear 5.5” long, 3” diameter at widest point
Plum 2” diameter
Pumpkin 3.25” diameter
Raspberry 1.5” long
Strawberry 1.25” diameter
Swiss Chard 5.75” long
Tomato 2.75” diameter

Thank you for reading and visiting.

Gulliver visit

 

We have a very special visitor for about two weeks. A small rabbit named Gulliver travels around the world and spends about two weeks with a host family all around the world. The rabbit and the idea about his journey started with the toy designer Sarah Elizabeth Kellner who sent her knitted rabbit on his adventurous journey in July 2018. 

You can follow Gulliver's journey in the Ravelry group Rabbit Hole Knits and see though pictures, extracts from his travelling diary, and a map how many wonderful places and people Gulliver met along his journey. 

I always admired her toy designs, you can see her patterns here on her website: Rabbit Hole Knits

For two weeks Gulliver is staying with us, exploring the places and meeting new friends, like Monster Al and Little Blue Bear.

In the picture below you can see the two of them reading one of the books about Monster Al's adventures, if you want to know what is in that particular story, read the story here. 

Gulliver allows everyone to see their lives from a new perspective and appreciate the place we live in, the people we are surrounded by and what we do. For a brief moment we are sharing our lives with a stranger and become friends for life. 

Thank you for reading.

Bernie's Doll

 

Remember how in January of 2021 Bernie Sanders and his knitted mittens were all over the Internet? 
In a sense it feels such a long time ago, yet it's less then five months ago. 

This knitted Bernie’s doll is inspired by the images I have seen. I started to work on this doll at the end of January, see my first blog post about it here: Work in progress - Bernie's doll  Somehow to knit this doll took much longer then usually, see my March work in progress blog post with a picture of still unfinished Bernie's doll. But in the end I have finished the doll sometimes at the end of March, Work in progress blog post from the beginning of April finally have a finished Bernie's doll picture. 

It took almost equally long to type up the pattern into a PDF file from my handwritten notes. You can see that part of work in progress in the picture bellow. 

Finally, the pattern is available to all, and it's free, my gift to you. You can get it by visiting my Ravelry designer page: My designs or you can download it from Ravelry by clicking on the download now link  bellow. At some point in the next week I will add the pattern to Lovecraft website as well. 

download now

The doll is knit in worsted weight yarn and it uses several knitting techniques: knit in the round, increases, decreases, I-cord, short rows, Grafting (Kitchener stitch), Bobbles, Loop Stitch, stranded colorwork and stripes.

I have to say that my knitted dolls designs have been improving over the years as I try to get more realistic and 3D appeal to them. In the pictures bellow you can see how the dolls have changed from my first doll designs to the latest by using a variety of knitting techniques and adding the clothes as separate layers instead of knitting them as the part of the dolls.  It started with the Man with the Yellow Hat, through the Spider Man, Iron Man, Batman and Robin, Pat and Mat, Luki's doll, Baba Yaga, and now Bernie's doll.

All of the dolls, except Baba Yaga are available as free patterns. There is no pattern for Luki's doll as that was a very special design for one boy based on his drawing. 

See all the toys in the pictures bellow. 

Thank you for visiting.

June 2021

 

June is all about freshly picked strawberries. The sweet taste of freshly picked strawberries brings back my memories of the time when we would go with my parents and collect the strawberries from our small community garden. It was a way for my parents to assure that we have fruits and vegetables to eat as the selection in the stores of that time was rather limited. These days, we have a small strawberry patch and even though the squirrels and birds are getting to some of our strawberries we still have few to snack on each day for a few weeks in June. 

Bellow are some of my knitted versions of strawberries, like those Strawberry Sandal Motif, which were published originally in June 2019 of I Like Knitting:

photo by I Like Knitting.

Or my basket of knitted strawberries, an art piece for an exhibit, or a little strawberry hat: if you want to see how I made the hat see the original post here:  Strawberry Hat 

Thank you for visiting.