Update: Congrats to our winner!
Now that you’ve had the weekend to spend contemplating just how much you want those lotion bars from Milk+Honey and planning just how awesome your photo contest entry will be, I have a whole other cool giveaway for you today!
About a year ago, my editor, Caitlin Harpin, mentioned to me that she was working on a book full of Adventure Time-themed crafts. My first thought was how can I suddenly become the author of this book?, but Caitlin assured me that she was working with a very talented crafter who specializes in felt toys. A year later, I have Adventure Time Crafts: Flippin’ Adorable Stuff to Make from the Land of Ooo in my hands, and it’s way cooler than I imagined! And that author was none other than Chelsea Bloxsom of Love & A Sandwich! (Or, more specifically, the book was written by Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum with Chelsea Bloxom.)
If you’re not familiar with Adventure Time, it’s a Cartoon Network show that’s in the genre of “sort of for kids but also really for adults.” Finn the human and Jake the dog get up to wild adventures in their magical land of Ooo, where adorable creatures can take on surreal and psychedelic aspects at any moment. It’s a must-see for anyone who likes cute and strange stuff—like me!
Adventure Time a show that inspires its fans to get creative, so a craft book seems like a no-brainer. And Chelsea does such an excellent job of presenting a wide range of projects using different materials and skill levels that it seems like anyone can find something to make. My favorites are definitely the super cute felt projects!
These crocheted cozies reminded me of the Great Cozy Debate we had here last year. (I think these confirm the “cozies are awesome!” side.)
I am seriously tempted to photograph every page and share the whole thing, but just take my word that it’s all really awesome and cute.
Now for the giveaway! I have an extra copy of Adventure Time Crafts to send out to one lucky person. To enter, please leave one comment to this post telling us your most adventurous crafting story. Everyone worldwide can enter. I’ll choose a winner next Monday, November 17th!
I guess my most adventurous crafting would be knitting on a trail in a National Park.
My most adventurous attempt in crafting was when I decided to learn how to knit socks. Instead of picking an easy pattern in a bright colored yarn, I chose a stranded colorwork pattern, with the main part of the sock in black, because I really wanted the socks (they were a Star Trek pattern). I did all kinds of things for the first time in black fingering weight yarn, on size 1 needles. It was the first time I did the wrap & turns. The first time I had to pick up stitches, and the first time I did kitchener stitch. Oh, and it was the first time I had attempted to to do any sort of colorwork too, and it came out okay, except my tension wasn’t always even, so one sock ended up tighter than the other. Somehow, I managed to do it all, though I realize now that it would’ve been way easier if I had just chosen a brightly colored, plain vanilla sock instead!
My most Adventure Time crafting was when I improvised and created a “Finn” hat for my daughter, a HUGE Adventure Time fan. She was thrilled and it’s adorable.
Every item I make is an adventure! Let me explain. I have 6 daughter, most of whom love Adventure Time. The best thing is that they all love me to make them things.
What time is it?
Time for mom to make me Adventure Time stuff! (That is what they are thinking.) ;)
oh my glob!! I need this book!!
Adventures in crafting — well, I’m a knitted and a doll-maker. I take my crafting everywhere with me. I secretly craft under my desk at work. I craft in my car when I think I can steal a few minutes. I picked up my knitting needles less than 20 minutes after giving birth to my daughter.
To me, crafting is like breathing – I do it without thinking, and it’s 100% necessary.
My most adventurous time is right now as I am trying a new pattern of making a hello kitty plush and it is new for me. Other than that, it was on July 1st 2013 when I first picked up my knitting needles and started to learn myself how to knit. Awesome fun there :D
My greatest challenge right now is embarking in the adventure of knitting which seems to me, the most difficult task as I am a crochet person. It is because of Mochimochi Land’s ultra cute knitted amigurumi that give me the inspiration to learn knitting. :-)
I knit at open skate practice in between working on drills for roller derby.
Every time I pick up a crocheted bowel or baby toy at a festival and think…I can totally do this! I don’t need a pattern for this! Usually it is a bit of an adventure and disaster.
Spinning the yarn (from our alpaca’s fleece) and knitting replicas of all our farm animals–alpacas, horses, donkeys, mule, and cats.
It’s not particularly adventurous but, when I learned how to crochet it was because my grandma got me Twinkie Chan’s book for Christmas, and I was already a knitter, but had never picked up a crochet hook. My first project was the cupcake scarf.
My boyfriend recently learned how to knit (from me :3 ) and his first big project was a Game of Thrones-inspired double-knit scarf. I think that makes him pretty badass.
My most adventurous crafting endeavor was two years ago when I only had a couple weeks to make 50 Christmas presents.
The most adventurous time I had was when I decided to whip up a crochet mouse while I was catsitting. The mouse pattern consisted of 8 separate piece and every piece I made was left on the table while I continued making the next one. During my short absence from the crafting area, the cat decided he would have a go and stole several pieces. It took me a few hours of searching for each missing piece. I swear I saw the cat giggle at the sight of me on all fours checking under any and every piece of furniture. This is how my crochet time turned into an improvised treasure hunt courtesy of Mr. Cat.
My most adventurous knitting project was my first project. I decided I wanted to knit a baby sweater with an intarsia hand on the front. I got it all knit with the help of knitting books, but then didn’t know how to sew up the seams!
My most adventurous crafting experience was learning how to knit socks. After experimenting and persevering for two years, I finally succeeded in making a pair that fit me perfectly!
My most adventurous knitting project was a last minute shawl for my daughters prom. Stayed up all night but it was worth it.
I’ve done a lot of awesome crafting things, but one of the most adventurous was when I was still living with my mom and I wanted to crochet her a Mother’s Day afghan and had to keep it a total secret. I could only work on it when she wasn’t home, when she was asleep, or when I went to my boyfriend’s for the weekend. One time she came home by surprise and I ended up sitting on a pile of granny squares to hide them. It took me three months and a lot of strategic time management, but I made it and she loved it! Totally worth it.
Now, Adventure Time related crafting – I’ve knit a Marceline and a Gunther, and I’d love to have this book so I could fill my life with mathematical crafted goodies!
Probably my biggest adventure in crafting was the time my family and I were in a huge church play and had volunteered to help with some of the costumes accessories. I wound up making up my own ‘patterns’ (improvised all the way for each one) for 6 girls to wear on their heads in a sort of Egyptian style hair drape while at the same time learning my lines, and partially making a crochet afghan for my play character to be working on during my lines. All the girls got to take home their beaded hair accessories and by the time the play was over (with rehearsals and the play itself) I had a completed afghan for myself. :) Fun times~
I think my most “adventerous” project is when my husband and I went as Finn and Fiona last halloween :) I knitted a Finn hat, crocheted a Fiona Hat and a Jake, sewed green backpacks, and spray painted my foam sword bright pink. It was pretty epic, lol. All this to say that (obviously) I need this book in my life! Thanks so much for the giveaway!
I’m not super adventurous but I have learned to crochet while on the treadmill.
When I was a little girl, I would hand sew little dolls out of old nylons and stuff them with cotton balls, and I would hand sew clothes for them out of fabric scraps, and once I constructed an entire diorama for a school project using the little dolls.
My most adventurous project was knitting a “shark”. I’m pretty cheap so I hunted down a pattern on the internet that was free. Sadly the pattern was not for a shark, but for something else. All I can say is it was anatomically correct.
My most adventurous craft story will have to be when I started to really get into knitting/crocheting. I wasn’t familiar with toy techniques, so when I saw your Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi book on my ereader my aunt gave me, I got really excited about the tiny and cute toys and tried to learn to knit in the round. After a while, I stepped out of my comfort zone to knit my first successful mochi: a purple knitted elephant that I gave to my friend. It was so fun, and I’ve been knitting and crocheting various tiny toys ever since. ^_^
My most adventurous crafting project was Tunisian crocheting a 8 bit final fantasy blanket for my husband and having to chart the airship with shadow myself.
For my only neice I have been crocheting an Adventure Time scarf without a pattern… The majority of the scarf is Jake then it turns into Fin and I decided to add BMO because who doesn’t love BMO? This has been the most adventurous thing I have ever crafted it has taken a long time and a lot of love but it is truly amazing!!
The most adventurous thing I knitted relates to my love of cosplaying. I have next to no skill with sewing so I thought I’d knit my outfit. I took on this massive challenge of making not only a clam-shell bra for my Little Mermaid outfit but for some reason I decided to also do a character called Gardevoir which meant making a massive white dress out of no pattern. It came out far too big but I was super chuffed with it and had a great time wearing my wooly outfits!
My most recent adventurous craft was a baby sweater for my second son. I’ve been knitting for about ten years and never attempted a sweater. Socks didn’t scare me, colorwork was easy peasy, but the idea of a sweater was something I had a hard time making myself try to make one. (I think it has to do with all the purling.)
At any rate I finished the sweater with a couple days to spare as my baby decided he was not going to be as early as his big brother, but still be a week early from his EDD. Of course, it was too big even with gauge but I’d rather that than too small!
I’m a self-taught knitter and my most adventurous moment were when I decided to make a plush frog, double-pointed needles with so little experience, what was I thinking? But I succeeded!
My most adventurous time in crocheting and knitting was my first ever craft fair. I had just read an article on what a craft fair should be like and what I should offer. I worked my fingers to the bone to have a lot of inventory and different items, small and large. It was a lot of fun even though I didn’t sell alot of stuff. Most of it has become gifts now, but still, I can not wait to do it again! I would love this book. My boyfriend and his kids are huge Adventure Time fans and he was the first one to find it when it was first posted on Facebook. He showed me immediately. Unfortunately, due to my financial situation, I can no t afford the book so I thought I would give this a try. Good luck everyone!
The most adventurous thing would be when I knit my Jayne hat.
I arrived home from work to be informed one of the fellow monkeys in my daughter’s class didn’t have a costume for the play. That was to be in two hours. Rather than that child have to be on stage possibly feeling uncomfortable I banged out supper AND a monkey costume. Thank goodness I had enough supplies left over from making my child’s costume. That was adventurous enough for me!
My most adventurous crafting story is yet to come, but I do have a few pretty adventurous ones.
In high school, I used to sneak my crocheting and knitting into class and try and craft secretly, like a ninja. In hindsight, it probably looked like I was up to something, since my hands were under the desk.
I’d carry yarn in my hoodie pocket and thread the yarn through my sleeve. It didn’t work as well as i’d hoped though haha.
Another adventure story: When I first met my now boyfriend, he already knew how to crochet a bit. He ended up asking me to hang out pretty late and I was like “nooo, it’s late” because I had no clue he liked me. He bribed me out by saying “we can crochet, I’ll pick you up!” and we really did crochet!
My most adventurous knitting is always in public. People ask the strangest questions, or randomly as for stuff and the worse is when they start touching things.
I have extreme social anxiety. So normally I just stare at them and try not to puke. It’s no fun, but the alternative is to not knit in public and that is unacceptable.
I made a really big knitted Jack Skellington for my nephew. With dpn’s. At scale. Measuring every part in a tiny jack figure. In a very short time. I ended it half an hour before the party. It was a stressing adventure, but very rewarding, he still loves his jack doll
I think trying to knit a domokun bag was the most adventurous thing I tried… and the worst, it ended up like a giant potato instead XDD
Great work, by the way!
Thanks for the chance!
One of my most adventurous crafting ventures would have to be last winter when I decided to make an Adventure Time afghan for my daughter-in-law. I chose to make several different blocks with characters from the show (I used bead and cross stitch patterns) and then put them all together with neon rainbow yarn. It took me two months to complete and she loved it!
Has to be making an Ctuhulu Balaclava for a relative’s special request-Really scary when done
Oh man! I didn’t know there was a book! I made Princess Bubblegum, Ice King, Jake, and Finn costumes for Halloween and just improvised on all of them. This looks so awesome.
Oh. My. Glob. That’s so flippin’ exciting! I may have binged on Adventure Time project bags earlier this year and I totally *NEED* this book. Algebraic, man!
My most exciting crafting adventure? One time I was making a cupcake hat when a 6.4 earthquake hit my city and the bookshelf nearly landed on me. I dropped a whole bunch of stitches and was really annoyed. I guess that was pretty exciting…
We went skiing and my now husband forgot to bring slippers. I freestyle-crocheted them in an evening for him.
My most adventurous project was my first project. I had seen the tiny baby bunnies online and knew I had to make one. It came out looking like a horribly mutated sweet potato, but it had been my first round knitting project, so I considered it a success!
Fun fact: last year for Christmas I put Adventure Time hats in everyone’s stocking. I’m wondering if I can talk my daughter into being Princess Bubblegum for Halloween next year.
My most adventurous project is the scarf I just completed that I have knit three times. The first time I finished I was pregnant. It wasn’t long enough, so I frogged and started over with smaller needles. The second time I nearly finished, I left the knitting somewhere I shouldn’t have and my newly mobile baby pulled the needles out and frogged it for me. This time I finished it on a plane. The baby is almost 18 months old now. I’ve been knitting it forEVer.
I think allowing myself a week to knit an entire gastrointestinal tract (tongue to anus) in just over a week. I got looks of weird looks while knitting intestines at lunch.
Deciding to crochet the Millenium falcon as my second ever crochet project. The reason I taught myself to crochet!
For my friend’s birthday one year, I made her a snuggly cat hat, without any idea of how to actually go about making one – I knew basic stitching on a sewing machine, but that’s about it. I had no idea how to get a pattern, much less figure out exactly how big I had to make it for her, or assemble everything. I’m pretty sure I made it backwards the first time, with the cat ears ending up on the inside.
Deciding at the last minute to knit my son’s newborn photoshoot props to save money. Oh yea, a week before he was born. I’m a horrible perfectionist and after finishing one baby hat, realized I’d knit an extra row and had to redo the whole thing!
Hmmmm probably just my average day trying to crochet with a two year old using me as a jungle gym!
Let’s just say my adventurous crafting experience is still in the making! I’m fairly new to crafting things (I’m usually over the should of my mother) and I’ve started a new project, creating a Dalek Quilt, all from a CROSS STITCH pattern! Talk about jumping in the deep end! I’m hoping that once I finish this project, I can jump onto smaller ones, specifically ones out of your book! Whether I win or don’t, I’ll have my hands on one of your books!
My latest, most adventurous crafting story is when I tried needle felting. Somehow, I managed to break all of my needles in the process, but I still have knitting to go back too! I recently modified one of your patterns to make a teeny jake as well!
My most adventurous time crafting/knitting was when I decided to knit a button down sweater. I found a pattern, had yarn in my stash that I wanted to use and since it’s a sweater it had to be long sleeve even though the pattern had short sleeves. Nothing matched, but after 10 weeks, I managed to actually finish it and now it is the most beautiful sweater ever.
My most adventurous (apropriate) crafting experience was probably crocheting a baby blanket that featured a panther on fire with a baby in it’s mouth fighting an eastern dragon and a ying yang. It was the most intricate and wild project I’ve ever made. And I had to draw and chart it all myself.
My most adventurous stories generally begin with, “I have a crazy idea”, end with, “I can’t believe I was able to do it”, and have a whole bunch of trips to Joanns and figuring out how to use something for other than its intended purpose in between. I thank God every day that I married a man that doesn’t mind weeks of de-glittering and an ever-increasing stash of random craft supplies!
My most adventurous project was crocheting the toast scarf pattern from Twinkie Chan’s book. It calls for worsted yarn, but I wanted it to be bulky weight for my tall, guy friend. I also wanted it to resemble burnt toast, since that’s how he eats his bread. After not finding the right colors in bulky weight, I found them in worsted, held two strands, and crocheted about twenty pieces. Sewing them all together was madness! Seriously, it was a test of patience, but I persevered. After I weaved the last end, I realized the scarf was SUPER long (think Doctor-Who-Tom-Baker-era long), but my friend loved it, so it was worth the almost two months of labor.
Debating if I want to attempt it again… :)
I was still a little new to crochet and working in the round when my husband gave me a challenge: crochet a Giant Colossal Squid. It took me half a year to figure out the pattern, design, and complete. There were times I nearly gave up, especially after undoing and restarting 4 or 5 times, but I finished it! The squid’s name is Brad. He’s pretty damn cool :)
My most adventurous crafting is making shadow boxes with wild scenes inside.
My crafting adventure would be that I started making jewelry and other items for the odyssey when I lived in England. As well as experiencing a different culture I got to experience selling and foraging and searching for supplies in a completely different country. I was born in and lived all my life in Ontario, Canada before moving there. Now I’m back home creating, continuing, and furthering my awesome crafting adventure!
When I first learned to knit, I didn’t know anything about free online patterns, but I was passionate! So I decided I really wanted to knit some gloves *immediately*! (I had made a couple squares at that point) I started plugging away making it up as I went, every finger a different size, no counting or anything. It was amazing and a disaster. But I’m still impressed with my past newbie self.
When I was 20 yo (I’m 43 now), I decided that I wanted a mermaid costume for Halloween. Not finding anything in the stores, I went to Joann’s for some blue lamé but could not find a pattern. By now it was 10/30. I asked my mother if she could sew something for me. After she stopped laughing, she said NO, but I could borrow her sewing machine. I had never sewn anything in my life, but I successfully created a fabulous mermaid skirt without a pattern or, really, any idea what I was doing. By the next Christmas, my mom got me a sewing machine of my own so she could get hers back. 23 years later, I am a self taught seamstress, knitter, crocheter, handspinner, and a plethora of other fiber arts, because I don’t fear making mistakes. :)
My most adventurous crafting story was when I did this crochet Jake for my boyfriend (you can see a picture here https://twitter.com/Wamigurumi/status/375984078320717827). I had to go into the wild of the yarn stores to find the perfect yellow for Jake, and then create the pattern myself. It was so much rewarding, tough, because my boyfriend loved it! (sorry for my english, but is not my native language)
My most adventurous project was making a ladybug quilt for my daughter after only having made one quilt. The next adventurous project was knitting her a Dr Who scarf to correct color and length. It took months of knitting but it was a fabulous conversation starter when I was out knitting with it.
My most adventurous craft experience has been getting into embroidery and crafts while living abroad in Germany, and finding it really difficult to get supplies. I couldn’t afford the price of cloth on Amazon, so I would frequent the local thrift store to look for material. Old hankies, tablecloths, tote bags, and even some old pieces of embroidery work that I’ve picked out to replace with my own are what I’ve learned with, and I crave having new projects to search for.
My most adventurous knitting experience is finishing a flag Afghan the day before Christmas eve and finishing a sandworm (beetlejuice) in time for my best friend’s Halloween birthday
Trying to recreate something really huge from Art Attack using a papier macher.
i dunno how adventurous my crafting is. Trying to craft, knitting, or sew Halloween costumes last minute is always an adventure with 3 little ones. I did make a “Donutella” (from Tokidoki) costume for my 7yo, per her request, on time for Halloween this year!
Finishing up my sons Kirby Halloween costume!
Oh man – I just saw that BMO fabric at the store this weekend and bought some Finn and Jake flannel to make my husband PJ’s for Christmas :)
I think my most adventurous crafting involved knitting an anatomically correct heart for my husband (then boyfriend) when I had only learned to knit like 1 week prior. So I learned how to increase, decrease, knit in the round, cuss and scream at your knitting, and steek all on that one project. =D
Surprisingly, it came out pretty good!!
Love that BMO fabric. Might have to go looking for it. Probably my most adventurous project so far would be a working crochet clock. I don’t watch gauge too much with toys but when I needed to add working mechanics it definitely added some interesting elements.
Hmmmmmmmm my most adventurous crafting story… Lots of crafting, not much adventure here- maybe what I call the Halloween sweatshop. I made four of my kids, myself and two dogs Adventure Time charachter costumes this year for Halloween. Well, one dog already looks like Jake so I guess that one doesn’t count….
Well… I always choose really ambitious projects and seem to never end them… But last year I decided to end all the projects on the needles (which I did not) and make a jumper for my son. I did manage to finish it between running after him for the semi-destructed yarn balls and trying not to get lost with the counting…I had to rip out rows of stitches several times but I did finish it…In the end it was too big for him… :P It´s the right size for him now… :)
My biggest craft adventure was designing and making my wedding dress. The project involved drafting a custom pattern and sewing the under-dress, restoring and transforming a piece of crocheted lace that my grandmother made into a skirt, plus crocheting close to 100 little doilies and fitting them like a puzzle over the bodice. It took about six months of work and was finished just one week before the wedding. (If you’re interested, you can see it on Ravelry at http://ravel.me/juleen/ud1ya)
I just started knitting a full size octopus and it has been super fun so far, but now for the tentacles. If I get past 4 I think I can finish :} I started a very complex pattern baby blanket once – it ended up a very complex pattern scarf :p
I guess my most adventurous crafting was knitting on oceanographic research cruises while in grad school.
The third thing I ever knitted was a baby hat with dinosaur spikes. That was pretty adventurous, both because it involved a dinosaur and because I jumped into knitting in the round on tiny needles so soon!
My most adventurous project so far – sewing “armor” to bodysuits to make Stars Wars Sith Warrior costume and Robot Warrior costume for my son’s for Halloween this year.
My first lace project was a large rectangular shawl in worsted weight cotton, labeled “easy” by the designer. Perfect to learn on, right? I grabbed my needles and started my lace knitting adventure, knowing nothing about stitch markers, lifelines, or knitting lace, period. Turned out the pattern had a complicated eight-row repeat with no plain rows, even purl ones. Each row was different. And it was hard to knit three together in non-stretchy worsted weight cotton. Months later, after marathon sessions of ripping back, I finished the shawl, which was so heavy as to be scarcely wearable, but made an okay table runner.
My WORST/most adventurous attempt at making something was an Aran sweater for my ex. It was going along swimmingly, the pattern was firmly lodged in my head, I was knitting great guns and it looked fantastic. I finished putting it together and presented it to him- it was really a beautiful work of art (well, in my eyes) until he tried it on. I could have SWORN his arms were about 40″ long… needless to say I spent an awful few days unraveling and re-knitting. At least he got to wear it eventually! Since then- MEASURE & PLAN & MEASURE AGAIN are my buzzwords.
Lets see…my most adventurous knitting attempt is probably the one that I am taking on right now-trying to knit something for each of my friends, family members, and whoever else wants something in time for Christmas. I decided to start extremely early this year, for obvious reasons, but even so I’m really worried about getting it all done in time. I’m trying to knit at every possible moment, including at school under my desk and at my friends’ houses, making sure that it’s still in the bag so that no one knows what I’m getting them. This caught my eye because I am about to try to design and create a Jake hat for my Adventure Time-y friend, although I have never designed a project before. I’ll make sure to let you know how it turns out…
I’m always adventurous. I have no fear when it comes to new knitting and crochet techniques. Like who tries their first cable project at the same time they try their first pair of socks?
My most adventurous and gigantic project was when I was learning how to quilt. A friend, who is an experienced quilter, guided me through the whol process. However, I wanted to make something that I would use– so I decided to make a king sized quilt. I can tell you that when I was halfway through quilting it, and heaving that heavy and unwieldy bundle through the sewing machine, a lot of ‘What on earth was I thinking’ and much regret was going through my mind. I persevered, and finally finished my quilt, with sore shoulders and a resolve to make smaller projects!
I LOVE adventure time! My most adventurous crafting story happened when I first started scrapbooking when I was in high school. A friend and I read about an awesome scrapbook store in a big city near us, so we ventured to the store but on the way ended up going through every single ‘sketchy’ area of town. It was worth it though- this store had free make and takes as well as unique accessories!
Thank you for all the adventurous crafting stories—these have been so much fun to read!
I’m just about to choose a winner for the giveaway, so I’m going to cut the entires off here.
Of course, if you have a story you want to share just for fun, please go ahead and continue with the comments!