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I don't want this tournament to be over. I've had so much fun. Emmanuel James wins no matter what. what an artist!

Oh, this warmed my heart to read! 😄 I'm so glad to see people having fun-- and 100% endorsed, Emmanuel Jammas is incredible! Even with the three pairs that made it in, there were still several more of his pieces that I wanted to include, including these absolute beauties:

I know I've plugged his site before, but I'll do it again! And if you are a connoisseur who'd fancy owning your own personal, high-quality, one-of-a-kind piece of scissor art, he does have several pairs for sale right now, too.

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Will there be another tournament next year? 👀

Y'know what.......... maybe 👀

I'll put a reminder in my calendar for, oh, six months from now, and if I'm feeling it then we'll go for it. :)

Even if not, though--

I'll definitely put together some other sewing-ish tournaments at some point! I did a cross-stitch one on my main back when polls first came out, with 8 different patterns all doing different riffs on "A Woman's Place is _____", and somewhere I've got some notes for another cross-stitch one. If and when I make another poll, I'll be sure to reblog the announcement here, too. :)

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Help I'm gonna have to unfollow because seeing that abomination of a squid thing win over literally everything is maling my blood pressure spike (/joking) They look so impractical and uncomfortable lmao

oh NO-- I'm late replying to this, so Anon, don't look at the results! 🙈

Haha you are not the only one makin' those points! The squid scissors are certainly more of an art piece than a commercial, practicality-focused pair. I imagine if this was a 'which would you buy' contest the results would be very different!

Me personally, I think the over-the-top excess is just another reason to love the squids-- though I'm also the one who made the bracket, so I love just about everything in it. 😅

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These look great! Thanks for the submission-- I definitely think the durability on these would be better than the modern, more plastic pair that made it into the bracket

A pair of old folding scissors found in the wild

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A pair of old folding scissors found in the wild

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Ladies, gentlemen, others, we have our champion!

The road was long, and hard-fought, but the Squid Scissors have emerged victorious!

And it was pretty close, too! A Squid Sweep was never a sure thing, even after its surprise victory against the Stork last round. There were a few voters who were still carrying a torch for that beautiful bird--

--as well as a strong contingent that were against the Squid on more practical grounds--

--and, of course, Art Nouveau made a very strong showing! It's an immaculate pair; a gorgeous concept, stunningly designed.

The people were divided! Many, many voters were fans of both. Even some households were split on how to vote--

But at the end-- Long Live the Squid! 🦑👑

Thank you all for such a fun tournament. This was a blast. :)

And of course, the final takeaway:

And he really does! Now go visit his website right now!

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Only in a MUCH cooler other world!!

hey don't be sad. deeply silly 18th century Iranian bird scissors.

(source: benaki museum, auction)

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Untitled (Art Nouveau) by Emmanuel Jammas. Not for Sale.

Untitled (Giant Squid) by Emmanuel Jammas. Not for Sale.

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✂️ IT IS TIME TO DECIDE ✂️

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aaaaand that's TIME!

After a fiery, impassioned whirlwind of a round, the Giant Squid wins by a hairsbreadth!

This was the most fiercely-contested round of the tournament by far, and with good reason: Team Squid was out in force campaigning for their underdog, while Team Stork was busy reminding everyone of just how much this classic pair has given us.

And what a classic pair it is! The stork scissors are far and away the most iconic style of embroidery scissors, and have been beloved by generations.

(The Stork Scissors through the years: the 20s, the 30s, and the present day.)

A little history for you: the earliest stork-shaped "scissors" known are actually dull clamps that were used by midwives (multiple styles exist-- the second set there is up on Etsy now!). The stork shape may have come about because of the old folk tales connecting storks to childbirth; from there, it's not hard to imagine stork-shaped clamps morphing into stork-shaped scissors.

The Stork Scissors are truly a magnificent design, and it was wonderful to hear so many people share their admiration of them! They fought to the bitter end, and will be well-remembered. What a magnificent pair!

Here's to the storks, everyone, and here's to the Giant Squid! Best of luck in the finals!! 🦑

also there were SO MANY good tags I can't hardly sort through them-- so here's a big ol' pile of them!

Untitled (Giant Squid) by Emmanuel Jammas. Not for Sale.

Stork Scissors. Innumerable varieties available; this one is from Ciselier.

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I am writing a NOVEL for Squid v. Stork, so I'll keep it brief here!

Art Nouveau advances-- and that means both entries in the final will be Emmanuel Jammas pieces! Go check out his website if you haven't already-- his work is incredible, and the Art Nouveau scissors are one of the finest examples of his craft.

This is the end of the road for the Dragonfly Scissors! They're a beautiful, endlessly charming pair, and are just so-- well, I think this commenter just about summed it all up!

Untitled (Art Nouveau) by Emmanuel Jammas. Not for Sale.

Dragonfly Scissors. Source unknown; sold by NeverNotKnitting and others.

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good choices!! that bat is incredible-- and fun fact! the guitar scissors almost made it into the tournament, too :)

I have just now bought ten scissors from four separate stores because this is what everyone is getting for Christmas this year I guess.

that's incredible!! happy christmas to you and yours, I think that sounds like an awesome set of presents!

and I gotta ask-- which did you pick? 👀

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I have just now bought ten scissors from four separate stores because this is what everyone is getting for Christmas this year I guess.

that's incredible!! happy christmas to you and yours, I think that sounds like an awesome set of presents!

and I gotta ask-- which did you pick? 👀

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would you consider running a second scissors tournament with different scissors? i wanna show off my favorite of my snips

I don't plan to do a second tournament, but I was thinking of doing a single, weeklong poll of all the extra scissors that've been sent in! And if anybody ever runs a similar poll (present or future) I'd love to participate and indulge in a little propaganda of my own 😄

Either way, I'd love to see the scissors you'd enter! And if anyone does decide to host a sequel tournament, drop me a line and I'll promo it here

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Untitled (Giant Squid) by Emmanuel Jammas. Not for Sale.

Stork Scissors. Innumerable varieties available; this one is from Ciselier.

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Untitled (Art Nouveau) by Emmanuel Jammas. Not for Sale.

Dragonfly Scissors. Source unknown; sold by NeverNotKnitting and others.

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THE SEMIFINALS START NOW:

✂️ART NOUVEAU v DRAGONFLY

✂️SQUID v STORK