handmade by stefanie

Over the holiday weekend, a fellow Raveler knitting my Heliotrope Stockings kindly pointed out an error in the stitch count for the largest size.  As a designer who is still learning the ropes, I can't stress enough how much I appreciate everyone's feedback - and I REALLY appreciate it when they're super-cool and do so in a polite, respectful manner (so thanks again to ContinentalKim for being both helpful AND rad!) .  It's always disappointing to find out a mistake or two escaped your notice, but unfortunately, these things happen - and the mathematical side of things has never been my favorite aspect when designing and writing patterns...though I do recognize it's arguably one of the most important areas, and it would be nice if someday we could all be friends.  So with that long-winded introduction in mind, I'd like to formally announce that I goofed - and that anyone who is knitting the largest size of the Heliotrope Stockings needs to be aware that the...

Hand-dyed variegated yarns can sometimes be difficult to use in the context of a knitting project - what looks beautiful in a skein can sometimes become a regretsy of a sweater, if not used properly.   Same goes for multicolored, hand-dyed sock yarn - though crazy-colored socks are easier to "get away with," it is a challenge (at least for me!) to find a pattern that is interesting to knit that doesn't overpower the colors in the skein, and vice versa.  A few years ago, I designed a sock pattern that was exclusive to the Chewy Spaghetti Sock-of-The-Month Club.  The design challenge?  Come up with something that will minimize undesirable pooling (i.e. large chunks of color collecting in one section of the sock).  There are two things that will almost always accomplish this when knitting with hand-dyed yarns: 1.  Alternating skeins every few rows (not super-practical to do with socks, especially when most sock yarns come in one giant skein - but I'...

ribbit? Well, there's no other way to say it, so I'll just come out with it:  I lost my velocity on the oscilloscope shawl . Once I hit the halfway point - which is actually where things get easier, since you begin decreasing - I lost interest. It's a rare day indeed when I contemplate frogging a project when it's halfway done, but I have my reasons: 1. It became apparent that I wouldn't finish it in time for the wedding I wanted to wear it to. 2. The weather report for that particular weekend said it would be far too warm for anything woolen....which ended up being the complete opposite, and I ended up having to buy jeans at Forever 21 because I was freezing to death in the summer skirts that I'd packed. 3. I messed up the first few rows of the decrease chart. 4. Though I could fix those mistakes fairly easily, I am too lazy to do so. It's a big decision to abandon ship halfway through the ride, but I'm not really enjoying the ride, so why spe...

So much to catch up on!  Between going out of town and working some really weird hours to make up for the time I was gone (such is life when you work in the service industry - there are no paid vacations - or apparently, even unpaid ones!), I've barely been able to catch my breath since we got back to Chicago on Sunday night.  The trip was fun - quite relaxing for most of the time, and I did manage to squeeze in a LOT of knitting time.  We had a good time at my cousin's wedding, and I think her and her new husband did too.  She looked fantastic, and the entire affair was well-done and unique, even despite having to scramble at the last minute to find someone else to make the wedding cake, when the first one (a relative, no less) flaked less than two months out.  The drive down to KC went much faster than the drive back, which seemed to take FOREVER.  Even photographing (or attempting to, as the case may be) decomposing barns of rural america and knitti...

Room for a few more? Tomorrow morning, Tyler and I will be driving back to our hometown of Kansas City for my cousin's wedding - and since it's the closest thing we'll be getting to a vacation for at least another year, we decided to turn it into a leisurely little road trip!  While I'm looking forward to many things about this trip, of course one of the major ones is getting tons and tons of knitting time.  I have way too many things on the needles right now - and if I want to start mustache-making , I've gotta finish some stuff first! Packed in my knitting bag will be:  1.  Tyler's sweater - I'm about ready to take off for the sleeves.  I wound off another hank of yarn for the trip!  My next FO....I hope! 2.  The languishing Cookie A Stalagmite socks - I'm getting close the the heel turn on sock #2....this one has been on the needles for so long, it's embarassing.  I'll probably be focusing much of my efforts on this!  3....

Remember yesterday when I said there would be KALs in my Ravelry Group ?  That was not a bluff....it's really happening! I have officially dubbed this month "Mustachio May."  What does that mean for your weekend?  Clearly, that you need to find some mustache-worthy yarn and a quiet afternoon during which to carry on the tradition of our ancestors, who not only knew how to really rock a ‘stache, but did so UNironically.  Therefore,  we must knit as many mustachio nosewarmers as possible and then run around our neighborhoods, libraries, places of work, and so forth, wearing them with pride and snapping several photos to share with the world at large.  Not a member of Ravelry?  You can still knit-a-long with the rest of the gang!  The pattern you need is available here on this very blog (for free!), and you can email your photos to me at honeybee21 at juno dot com - just be sure to write something involving the word "mustache" in the subject ...

...but it needed to happen.  I would like to cordially - no, personally invite you to be a charter member of The H.B.S. Appreciation Society , my brand-new group on Ravelry.  There's going to be awesome KALs all summer long, special deals for card-carrying members, sneak previews, test-knitting opportunities,  a place to share your fabulous FO photos, and ample opportunities to tell me you love me.  Just kidding about that last part - though I wouldn't stop you if you did, of course. I know, I know - the nerve!  The ego!  Honestly, starting a group essentially for myself seemed more than a tad on the ridiculous side.  But as people have begun knitting some of my patterns from Malabrigo Book 3, it got me thinking how fun it would be to have a  place to organize some official KALs, and the idea mushroomed from there.  Stop by and say hello! 

lettuce & grapes Since I have no FO's of my own to share this week, and most of my WIPs cannot be posted about (at least for a while), I'd like to share the latest crop of Kitchy Pleated Bag FO's I've come across on Ravelry!  Rav user Purselover used Malabrigo Worsted in Lettuce and Velvet Grapes to make this bright, springy bag.  She also mentioned that she was thinking of making a larger version using Malabrigo Rasta - an idea so brilliant, I really hope she does it so I can see what such an animal would look like!  rowan & lion Rav user Ladymay hopped on the destashing bandwagon, using some Rowan Big Wool Fusion (MC) and some leftover Lion Brand Thick & Quick (CC).  The substitutions worked out well together (the CC ended up not felting much, due to it being a mix of wool and acrylic), and she says that she's made another version of this bag (FO photos forthcoming!) and was amazed by how roomy it is.  Ladymay also has an interesting blo...