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Giveaway: 150 Scandinavian Motifs

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150 scandinavian motifs

Congratulations to Karey and Kim!

I feel like fall and winter are great times for color knitting. Maybe because stranded knitting makes double-thick projects that are extra warm, or maybe just because we all need a little more color in our lives when it’s cold and grey outside.

Whatever the reason, it seems like the right time to give away this awesomely inspirational book. 150 Scandinavian Motifs by Mary Jane Mucklestone is in fact exactly what it sounds like: a collection of charts for color knitting inspired by Scandinavian knitting patterns.

There are four actual projects in the book as well, but it’s really adding the charts to other projects that makes this book so much for.

It’s great because it includes large photos of colorwork swatches as well as the chart for each motif in black and white and two different color combinations so you can see how different patterns can look using different colors.

I actually have two extra copies of this book, and they will go to two randomly selected people who comment on this post before the end of the day Sunday, Oct. 18. My husband’s birthday is this week, so I’d love to hear about the best present you ever received. (Or something great you gave someone else.)

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing, and good luck!

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Comments

  1. Happy Birthday to your Husband, my birthday is the 17th. All of my favorite gifts are handmade. I have several beautiful knitted hats from my sister.

  3. I am not a knitter but love all things Scandinavian! My dad was born in Sweden, making me a first gen American, but love my Swedish roots!

    The best present I ever received? Well after nothing from husband and son for birthday or mother’s day for nearly 15 years, I was presented with a 2+ karat solitaire diamond set on a platinum band! It is absolutely gorgeous and kinda does make up for all the ‘forgottens’! It was something that I always wanted and I call it my ‘mother’s ring’ (since a diamond can be considered June’s birthstone too).

  4. I just finished crocheting an Avengers baby set for our soon-to-be Godson since the parents are doing an Avengers themed baby room. The mom said it was the best baby gift ever!

  5. Happy Birthday to your husband. Not for my Birthday , but the best present I have ever received was my daughter, an only child. This sounds like an amazing book! Thank you for the chance to win.

  7. One of my best presents was a big screen tv from my son to connect up to my laptop so I can read emails better.

  9. If you had asked me this when I was 3, I might have said a bottle of bubble soap. Now I’m almost mumble mumble mumble, and there have been so many wonderful presents over the years, many greatly loved but sadly forgotten, I couldn’t possibly pick one, so I’m going to stick to my bubble soap answer.

  10. Happy Birthday to your husband! My best gift was a jewelry box from my daughter with an insert in the lid of a poem she hand wrote for me.

  11. I’ve had this book on my wishlist for forever! One of the best gifts I’ve received in recent history is a power detail sander from my on laws for my woodworking 🙂

  12. The best gift question is a toughie. My most loved gift would probably be the (stuffed animal) bunny I had when I was little. “Bun” went everywhere. One of the best gifts I think I’ve ever given was tickets to an Aretha Franklin concert for my mom & I to go together. She doesn’t need or want stuff, she’d much rather spend time together and spending time together with Aretha was fabulous! Thanks for the giveaway chance, I’ve been coveting this book for a while and just haven’t caved yet.

  13. One of the best gifts I ever received was from my daughter when she was a little girl. A small box with a letter. a gumball ring, stickers, and a $1 bill. I cried. It was so sweet. Ives kept it intact for years…

  15. Ahhh…the last time I knitted was a pair of Norweigien gloves – – OMG…THAT WAS 35 YEARS AGO. No that I’m retired I’d love to design another pair based on designs in this book. Thanks!

  17. I hope your husbands birthday is great! I am an Oct bday person too! My best gift was a surprise trip – to San Juan! it was awesome! thank you!

  21. My most useful, recent gift is a full spectrum task light. I am now able to focus light on my work without lighting up the whole room.

    The most memorable gift was a Boye Needlemaster set from my father who considered me, at age 18, an expert knitter. This was over 30 years ago when this was the best gift ever.

  22. My favorite gift I gave was a quilt for my sister since she was the last in my family I hadn’t made one for. She dropped hints about it for months ahead of time but I played dumb and she was completely surprised.

    My favorite gift that I’ve received is my great-great-grandmother’s singer treadle machine from my grandmother.

  23. The best present I ever got was a puppy when I was six years old. Even handmade can’t beat that.

  24. Happy birthday to your husband! The best gift I’ve received was a ticket to the swimming-pool for the whole day: swimming, eating and swimming again – that was great.

  25. My best present has been a Daylight lamp so i can keep knitting and crafting through the long dark winter nights!

  26. Happy birthday! 😀
    The best present I received was 2 years ago for my birthday. My mom offered me a ball winder and a swift as well as loooooots of super beautiful and colorful yarns and a set of strait needles and double pointed ones! And that’s how I started falling in love with knitting! 😀 (I was crocheting for a year or so before that, but since I started knitting i feel like doing it everyday and my crochets feel a little left out I think :p)
    have a super nice day!

  27. so amazed at this technique of knitting, they have such detailed patterns. my nanny knit me two sets of mitts in this style and i cherish them.

  28. from Mary

    I’m really interested in your give-away book. Recently I learned fair isle knitting and knitted a beautiful snowflake sweater. . .my first experience with steeking. Your book would give me ideas to design my own projects. Can’t wait to begin my journey through the Shetland Isles. I think you should take your husband there for his birthday celebration!

  29. My sewing machine–a gift from my MIL when it wasn’t even Christmas or my birthday or any kind of special occasion! This looks like a wonderful book just brimming with inspiration of all sorts.

  30. My d.i.l has become quite the 0erson with the needles- self taught and not shying away from tough pattern selections.
    A lovely gift, would be this book!

  31. Oh, it’s my husband’s birthday week too. How funny! My best birthday present was a Barbie mobile home (received many years ago). I loved that thing 🙂

    I love the patterns and inspiration in this book. Thanks for this great giveaway!!

  32. My birthday was yesterday! I’ve had many wonderful gifts throughout the years, but I got a fabulous one yesterday. My nephew who’s staying with us for a few months gave me a letter in which he tells me what a wonderful person and auntie I am. Since I haven’t been feeling good about myself lately, it was just what I needed.

  33. Best present: at age 13, a complete record set of the Beethoven Symphonies (against my Mom’s better wishes….).
    Thanks for the giveaway!

  34. For years my husband would ask what I wanted for a present. And for years my response was, somewhat jokingly, to write me a love letter. For our 25th Wedding Anniversary, he and my daughter wrote me a song. She performed it for us the night of our Anniversary. It was an amazing gift!!

  35. My best gift was a Navajo Yebechai blanket from my husband. It was one we’d admired but decided we couldn’t afford. He went back and got it, and hung it on the wall with a year’s worth of greeting cards pinned to it: Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, Happy Halloween, Congratulations on Getting Your Driver’s License, Easter, Valentine’s, and so on!

  36. my best gift ever was seeing and touching snow on my birthday! might not sound special for someone having birthday in winter, but my birthday is in mid june, which makes it impossible to have a snowy birthday in the northern hemisphere! so this year I packed my things and traveled up north to Northern Norway, up a mountain…and I had snow for my birthday 🙂

  37. For my 60th birthday we tried to get 60 people to help pack meals at Feed My Starving Children. I got the gift of friends and family joining me there……… followed by a big box of birthday cards from all over that my daughter had solicited from family and friends who couldn’t make it.

  38. Awesome giveaway!

    The best present I received was a letter from my Dad on my 16th birthday, telling me how proud he was of the woman I was becoming and how special I was to him.

    Twenty-five years later, I still carry it in my wallet.

  42. Happy Birthday to your Husband!! My Sister’s Birthday was this past week as well. Some of the sweetest people were born around this time, and Libras, as we know, are some of the most outgoing, and even-keeled people I know. The best thing I ever received was an afghan that my Aunt knitted for me, and another one that my late Mother crocheted for me. I will cherish them forever. I love to knit shawls for friends and family members who are going through a rough time in their lives or have suffered a loss. It’s my way of giving them a hug, and to let them know I’m there with them. For other friends or family members, I have made baby layettes, complete with the afghan, if they’re expecting. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of this book, since I’ve always wanted to try this type of colorwork. Thank you for making this possible. I apologize for the lengthy answer, but had a lot to get out in response to your question!!

  45. Hi, the best birthday gift I’ve ever received would have to be my sewing embroidery machine that my gracious husband bought for me. I treasure it because of my passion for sewing, but mainly because it came from him! :))

    [email protected]

  46. One of my best gifts was an antique cross-stitched framed sampler stitched in 1920, I love historical needlework!

Have you read?

Stitch Your Favorite Fruit on a Sweater

The other day I saw a post from Pinterest about trends for summer and it said one of them was “cultivating whimsy.” 

Well, I don’t know where Pinterest has been all this time, but we’ve been cultivating whimsy here at Craft Gossip for a long time. I love sharing projects that are a little different, things that make you smile when you see them, and will make you smile when you knit them and wear them or use them. 

Such it is with the Tutti Frutti tee knitting pattern from Bea Creative Knits. 

This cute little baby tee is worked top down in the round with contiguous shoulder construction to shape the sleeve caps. There are short rows for the neckline and folded hems with picot edging at the hemline, neckline and edges of the sleeves. 

All of this would be great on its own, but then there’s the addition of a super cute fruit icon, which is added with duplicate stitch. There are a lot of options, including strawberry, banana, orange, cherries, watermelon, lemon, blueberries, kiwi, peach, dragon fruit, apple and pear, so it’s likely you can add on your favorite fruit. 

It is offered in eight sizes, to fit a bust measurement ranging from 28-30 inches (71-76 cm) to 56-58 inches (142-147 cm). The design is meant to be worn with around 6.3 inches/16 cm of negative ease, but you can choose the fit you prefer. There’s also optional bust and waist shaping included in the pattern if you want to make it even curvier.

This is considered an advanced beginner or intermediate project because of all the skills involved, but it’s sure to be a lot of fun even if some of these techniques are new to you.

Grab a copy of the pattern for yourself form Bea Creative Knits on Etsy. 

[Photo: Bea Creative Knits]