Lion Brand Notebook

News, Ideas and Information for Crafting with Yarn

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Vote For Your Favorite Yarn Haiku

August 11th, 2010 by PT

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On July 15, we announced our very first Haiku contest. Since then, we’ve received an overwhelming response – over 1,500 of you submitted some of the most fun to read Haiku. Our team here at Lion Brand had a ball reading all of your entries and we were able to pick 11 of our favorite Haiku. It wasn’t an easy task.

As we mentioned during the announcement, we need to boil it down to 4 awesome Haiku. This is where you, our dear readers, get to contribute again! We designed this poll (see below) to allow you to pick 3 of your favorite Haiku. Once the poll closes on Aug 25, you can see right here who emerges as our four winners.

Update: Please note that we’ve removed the Haiku with the incorrect word counts. Thanks to those commenters who spotted the oversight for pointing it out.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under Community . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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  • Sarah

    The haiku submitted by Nanette Kalis should not be on the list, there is one too many sylables in the last section. It’s beautiful, but not technically a haiku…

    Zontee says: Hi Sarah, thanks for pointing that out. We apologize for the oversight and have removed the poem from the contest.

  • Becky Kleibrink

    Oh, this was so difficult to choose only 3. They were all so wonderful & creative. Just like the people that create from all the beautiful yarns that we all love so much :-)

  • Nancy Burk

    they were all wonderful! hard to decide..

  • kathy

    all Nanette would need to do is remove “them” from the last line

  • joan mantarian

    Robyn made me laugh out loud.

  • Lois Lyon

    Robyn’s haiku made me laugh! The others spoke to my “knitter’s heart”. Thanks for the submissions. :)

  • De

    These were awesome! Hard to choose just three but Robyn’s made me laugh out loud.

  • Julie Wilkinson

    Why are there so few to choose from? Why can’t we choose from all of them instead of these? Like someone above said, one of the ones you listed doesn’t even qualify, the syllables are off.

    Zontee says: Hi Julie, with over 1,500 entries, it would be very difficult for people to vote on so many options, which is why we decided to pick our favorites and share them with you.

    Regarding the poem with the incorrect word count, as it says in the note above, we apologize for the oversight and have removed the entry.

  • Marianne Sweeney Compton

    Such talent — this was fun even though I didn’t make the cut. Please have more interactive contests!

  • Mia

    I would have voted for Nanette Kalis, but it’s not a haiku. Zontee wrote that people who didn’t follow the rules wouldn’t be counted… It is incredibly unfair to other people who had just one extra syllable to be disqualified and have such a thing in the running as a finalist. Especially after several people wanted to change their entries when the realized they had too many/not enough syllables. They were told they couldn’t. (No, I wasn’t one of them.)

    I honestly don’t know why the contest stated that they would be picking a finalist. I feel if it was going to be left to the “people” to vote then the entries who didn’t follow the rules should have been taken out and all of the qualified entries should have been posted for the “people” to vote on them.

    I’m disappointed. This will be the last contest I enter here.

    Zontee says: Hi Mia, we’re sorry for the oversight. As it says above in the “update” note, we have removed that entry.

  • marianne miles

    You should remove the poem from contention that does not have the correct number of syllables. However, the whole idea of this was fun!

    Zontee says: Hi Marianne, please see the note above. We have removed that entry.

  • Karn

    Patricia Kemp’s entry is also not in the correct format–there are only 5 syllables in the 2nd line.

  • TopaazMoons

    Some of them are NOT haiku. Haiku isn’t just abt the 5-7-5 form but also abt blending TWO different thoughts together. Many of there are of the same thought all the way thru. Just writing in 5- 7- 5 form does NOT a haiku make. Only TWO qualify for HAIKU the rest do NOT.

    Zontee says: Hi TopaazMoons, while we are aware that there are other specifics to what constitutes a traditional haiku, for the purposes of this contest, we simply required the 5-7-5 form per the rules.

  • Karen

    Also Kristina Bird’s has only 4 syllables in the first line.

    To the poster above me: you are technically correct, however, the only requirements for this contest were that the topic would be fiber or craft, and that the syllable scheme would be followed.

  • Judy

    I don’t see a link to the voting. Am I missing something?

  • Judy

    I do not see a link for voting. How do I get there?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Judy-Kniffen-Morris/632149187 <fb:name linked="false" useyou="false" uid="632149187">Judy Kniffen-Morris</fb:name>

    Sorry about that double post. I found I had to turn off one of my securities to get the voting to open. I really wanted to vote. I loved this contest. There are some really good choices there. Good luck to all the finalists! Good Job.

  • John Hablinski

    No easy task this
    Smattering from so many
    How to choose just three

  • Debra

    It was a great, fun contest, done in and for pure fun. All should take it as that, not an end the world issue! Don’t be so “knit-picky!” Sorry about that-I couldn’t resist.

  • Jen

    This was fun.

    BTW I was interested in the various comments above about what a haiku is and is not, syllable count, content, etc. In the world of literary English-language haiku, there are no simple answers to these questions. I won’t go on about it, but if anyone is interested in what’s really going on in haiku today, please google up journals such as Modern Haiku, Simply Haiku, Acorn, bottle rockets, and Shamrock Haiku Journal (I’d provide links, but I’m not sure I’m supposed to here.)

  • Marge Waskiewicz

    Never knew about Haiku in this way. I’m a rubber stamping demonstrator, used designer paper called Haiku. Learned something today. Good luck to the winner.
    Thank you,
    Marge

  • Hana

    Oh gosh,
    Congrats to all of you. They’re all so great. Made me squirm to only pick top 3 favorites. All beautiful (or hilariously “true”), and lovely. Thanks to all who submitted.

    IDEA: These should all be made into a book. Really! I suggest that to be looked into. :o )

  • Jo-Anne in NH

    Remember…..a “perfect” haiku should take as long to recite as the inhalation and exhalation of one breath and therefore meditative. Knitting should keep the monkeys in the trees and quiet quiet the chatter….

  • Jana

    I thought there were supposed to be14 to choose from? If you eliminate the one in question above, that still leaves 13. Where are the other two?

  • Bernie

    Wonderful! Thank you for a fun way to think about all the knitting in our lives. Love the humor and the lovely sentiments…good luck finalists.

  • Karen

    I hope you will be posting more of these fun little contests…I loved reading all of these Haiku’s.
    This should have been taken in the manner it was intended… to be fun, and entertaining. There is enough stress in this WORLD. Please, isn’t that why we turn to knitting?

  • Deb

    Marcia- You know us well! The yarn always calls to us from the shelves! T a ke me h o m e!!!

  • Barb

    SOOOOO hard to choose! They are ALL GREAT! It would be nice if you’d publish one per newsletter as long as the supply lasts. I’m betting these creative yarnies will think of more!

  • Rosa

    Ladies, ladies. This is a contest for something called “fun.” Literary geniuses—relax! 

  • Peggy

    How fantastic! I loved reading all of the Haiku. Thanks for having the contest and thanks to all those who submitted entries. Congrats to those who are finalists. Good luck!

  • Nancy LeMieux

    Yellow rays of sun light yarn flowing over my hook as a bag for food will soon appear what a wonderful time I have as I tie long strands

  • Priscilla Meyer

    They read my mind !

  • http://spautler@comcast.net Susan Pautler

    A creative twist on an already creative hobbby! It was fun to stop the needles and hooks to expand my mind and rest my hands!

  • Gail F.

    Amazing…enjoyed reading the Haikus. It was quite respite from the every day. Talent takes many forms.

  • Margaret Conroy

    Wonderful submissions! I too think a book(let) of them would be great!…or a pdf file that could be printed out and we could enjoy reflecting as we knit!!Thanks everyone for sharing your talent & love of the craft!

  • Kay Lee Padilla

    Congrats to all! I write a lot of Haiku which is traditional about nature but never thought about hooking a Haiku about yarn. What a Yarn! Ha,
    just kiddin’ ya. Read my book released this year with nature poetry and Haiku called Bob, Bob N’ Bob by Kay Lee Padilla

  • Jill Willett

    Do another contest. The Haiku writers are great.
    I entered only to realize I had too many syllables. I used to write a lot of poetry. For the haiku, I immediately thought of a college love. ‘I walked up behind him as he cooked. An artist, he said: Your frontal plane against my back plane …As a young woman I hadn’t heard a man say such a sensual thing. He blew my mind! I thought of ‘sides together’. I ended with ‘a pearl inside me’. Pearl here referred to purl. ‘A pearl inside’ me has yet another meaning. Poetry is layered.
    Congratulations to the winners. It’s fun to win; come close or enter.

  • http://botanyandbones.com Sue Burrus

    Required comment?
    I only wanted to vote.
    Is my vote counted?

    Happy Haiku writing!

  • Aline BARBEAU

    I loved them all…so difficult to choose…so happy I didn’t have to pick through the 1,500 entries.
    I think this is such a “wool” idea…
    Aline

  • Diane

    I really enjoyed reading all of the listed entries. Thanks to all who entered and put forth the time and effort! It was hard to choose just 3.

  • liz

    This was very difficult. Automatically fell for the first one, then the second, third, fourth…. had to ‘logically’ pare it down… to fiber/ yarn/color, the rhythm of knitting (or, for me, crochet…too many thumbs), and the humor of life. Thanks to All of you wonderful ‘crafters’ of yarna nd word. you’ve made my day brighter! would surely like to read all 1500 :)

  • Rosella Van Hollen

    Knitting and crocheting,
    Neeles and hooks,
    yarn, patterns and time,
    my, how lovely it looks!

    Your poems you call Haiku help show the love of the crafts!

  • Anne Abela

    Oh, I loved Christina Mankin’s. Her words are so true. How many times I made jumpers for my kids to hear ” Oh mummy, it’s scratchy!!

    Good luck to the finalists.

  • Paula Savoy

    What fun, but also what a disappointment because of confusion over rules. Technically, none of them are traditional haiku. But you have a great crop of English haiku and like liz, I too would read them all! To briefly explain, haiku goes far beyond counting syllables, and there’s even a strong trend to not use a 5/7/5 count in English haiku anymore; Japanese haiku requires evoking a specific season (kigo), and makes no reference to humans (that’s senryū).
    I really wouldn’t have written this note had no one been eliminated but I hated seeing that become an issue for such a fun idea. I wanted to vote for all the finalists but I finally chose 3 and say BRAVO to all 1500 entries!

  • Paula Savoy

    p.s. I am still laughing at/with Debra’s Don’t be so “knit-picky!” Good one, gal. :)

  • Brenda

    I agree – it was so hard to choose just 3!

    I keep a crochet journal of all the things I make and I am going to put some of these in it (maybe even write some of my own!). I have also included some Lola comic strips in my journal.

    I also would like to be able to read all of the entries. One or 2 per newsletter would be great!

  • Jade Calvert

    The term “yarn barf” will from now on be a mandatory term in all my lessons!

  • Gayle

    Although beading is my first love, I’ve recently taken up crocheting and can totally relate to Marcia. Every so often when I leave a store empty handed my daughter will ask “Nothing crying to go home with you?”

    I think your contest was a great idea and was just sad to see the negative comments. As others have said – Lighten up!

  • Lenore

    Don’t be too hard on the ones who question the validity of these poems as Haiku. They are correct, and while I did enjoy many of these poems, I also cringed at their being called Haiku. Haiku is such a beautiful and meaningful art form, a part of me hates seeing it so distorted. However, I also think this little contest may have awakened a few minds to learn more about true Haiku so in that way, and in the fun it has provided for all of us, it has been a positive event. I am among those who would enjoy the opportunity to read all the entries.

  • Dawn

    I love Valerie’s haiku poem–exactly what knitting is…

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