Helloooooo my fellow deviantart peoples!   

It's been a long time since I updated here.  Long story short, I got sick in 2016, I was in and out of the hospital until mid 2017. I've since been diagnosed with 2 auto immune diseases which are now under control with infusions.

I also had to deal with heavy duty side effects of medications.   I lost a lot of my hair, it grew back. I gained a bunch of weight, it's coming off now. I have a lot of anxiety... wait, I've always had that!
Recovery from it all seems to take forever and has been a long road but I believe remission is just around the corner!

:bademoticon: I've changed my diet, which seems to help a great deal. No junk food, no gluten, no dairy. But I still have my daily coffee  since life would end without coffee, right? 

For the last few months I have been active  on one of my blogs and still uploading to my youtube channel.

Life is mostly back to normal aside from catching up to myself. Like, getting active on my social media sites, all of them! I have so many things to get done that  I need daily reminders to take it one step at a time.
 


Did you know?
Did you know a Pocket Ghost glows if you catch it? It's true! At first I didn't believe it, it sounded outlandish and, quite simply, untrue. Because I tend to not believe things unless I see them for myself, I set out into the woods to catch myself a Pocket Ghost.
What luck, I was only inside the woods for about 45 seconds when I spotted  them flying around in a  tight little group making strange little oooOOoing noises.

At first I tried to grab one but my hand went straight through it. I tried and tried again, no luck, it was like trying to catch air. I was about to give up when one of them stopped oooOOooing and asked me, "What do you want?" I explained that I meant no harm, that I just wanted to see if it were true that Pocket Ghosts glow when caught. He asked me to put out my hand, so I did, then he gently floated down and rested in the palm of my hand. He felt lighter than the smallest cloud that ever was and he began to glow like the sun was inside his chest.
"Wow! You are beautiful", I said to him. He giggled and replied, "No, I'm not. I'm Spooks!" Then he lifted off my hand and went back to oooOOoooing with his friends.

    I'm a Happy Crafter!!

Hello everyone my name is Sharon Ojala. I'm a Finnish girl born in Canada and I love to crochet and design amigurumi toys and I also build dollhouses. I share most of my projects in form of tutorials for free!

   Because a crafty world is a better world  

If you're looking for free daily amigurumi pattern postings from a variety of designers then visit my facebook page  Amigurumi Freely
 
Go see all my own original free amigurumi designs on  Amigurumi To Go where I also include video tutorials for most of my patterns! Like this Sick Sock Monkey set.. I have written and video patterns for everything you see here!

                      


Youtube  is where I upload tutorials for most of my amigurumi patterns plus I throw in the odd book flip through or dollhouse tutorial  Sharon Ojala on YT


          

I also crochet miniatures and have a few free patterns available, like the mini Panda!

                     

 Speaking of miniatures, if you like dollhouses then visit my other facebook page Dollhouses And The Things That Go In Them  I make dollhouses out of anything from empty cans, walnuts or boots!

         



 So I also have a website for crafty things I make and much of it dollhouse related. You can see more of those on Homemade Obsessions

 

      



Stop by and say hello sometime, would be great to see you!  

And btw, I love the rain!!!! Photo taken from my kitchen window early one glorious rainy morning...

        

Sometimes I'm a little shocked by the things I see online, thoughts shared by peers. I don't get a chance to read up on the latest news or look at other people's blogs very often but this morning I had a little extra coffee time and I was enjoying catching up on the latest until I saw the words that free patterns somehow cheapen the craft of crochet! I was actually a bit floored by that, maybe even a little hurt that my peers harbor such thoughts but then I had another coffee and thought about it some more. It's all good, no harm done to me, I'm letting those words roll right off. After all, it's just an opinion and it doesn't make it true. I have opinions and my opinions aren't always true, right?! I may know lots but I'm not all knowing.

And for what it's worth, here's my opinion on the matter not to combat anyone in particular but in case the view that free patterns cheapen the craft is shared by another in the future. We have to be careful that we don't claim a craft as something to be governed by one or by a group:



Don't think the price tag somehow adds worth to something because it doesn't. There's room for those who charge for teaching a craft and room for those who don't. If some of us found a way to support ourselves through ad revenue without having to charge the public then that should be appreciated instead of being scrutinized or labeled as cheap.

A price tag added to a pattern does not add worth to that pattern nor does a free pattern  make it cheap. A pattern is a pattern and they are all different. As designers we all have different styles even if a pattern is similar to another and people will find a designer's style to their liking or not to their liking and choose accordingly.


We're all different and we all have something different to offer. Make your own way and make it the best way you can. I work very hard at what I do, very hard. And I truly appreciate everyone else that does the same regardless the path they choose.


I came onto the facebook scene with Amigurumi Freely in 2011 and there was already bunches of pages offering free patterns. All Free Crochet, Red Heart Yarns, Ravelry, Crochet Me and on and on.  I didn't think at the time nor do I think now that those big pages are cheapening the craft of crochet! They are invaluable assets to the community. Where would we be without them really?  I'm a small page in the shadow of these bigger ones and I could care less, I love those pages. I enjoy them and I'm just carving out my own space in the crochet world and I love what I do! I find joy in what I do. There's joy in teaching a new a craft to another human being and the fact I can do that at no charge to any of you feels really awesome. You can't put a price tag on that and that is not cheap.


Why can't we just accept each other and support each other instead of  over thinking everything. If I want to give my patterns out for free and found a way to do it and make a living at the same time then isn't that a good thing? I support all my peers and wish everyone great success whether they charge or choose not to charge.


I'm looking forward to 2015, there's so much more I want to share! I feel so much love and excitement. I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store for us all. I wish all my friends, peers and fellow youtubers great success.. onwards and upwards!


Love and Peace!