handmade by stefanie

Recently, I've been starting various small projects since I need a little instant knitting gratification!  I've been having fun making little scrubby tawashis using this easy free pattern and various cotton and cotton/bamboo yarns I have in my stash.  Here's the one I finished over the weekend in Araucania Patagonia Nature Cotton: I don't think I've posted much about the Travel Shawl from Knitting 24/7 that I've been making since Malabrigo Stockpile in October.  This warlock of a shawl is almost done - and it was turning out beautifully, until I dropped a stitch and didn't notice it for ten flipping rounds.  Oops.  I picked it back up, but it's not exactly unnoticeable - and since I was knitting it as a gift for someone, I am now having to trot out Plan B.   Thankfully, Plan B is a much easier project to make, but I'm still pretty bummed that this shawl isn't going to work out.  If we ever kiss and make up and I finish this thing, it will b

Apparently today is Pay a Blogger day - finally, a cause I can really get behind!  In all seriousness, think of all the awesome blogs you read on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.  We don't do it for money or glory (well, usually....neither has really found its way to me so far, anyway!), we just really like to write about the things we love to do.  Even if you don't have money in your budgets throw a little monetary support our way, leaving a nice comment or sharing your favorite blogs with your friends is a great way to pay us back.  Not that I speak for bloggers everywhere by any stretch of the imagination, but appreciation and word-of-mouth promotion can go a long way.  So, if you feel so inclined, check out my patterns and buy a few via Ravelry or Paypal .  Treat yourself to some mini skeins!   Purchase anything from my etsy shop for 25% off using coupon code "CyberMondayHangover."  Like my page on Facebook and share it with your friends.  Please also visi

It's Black Friday, or Buy Nothing Day if you prefer.  While some of you are sacrificing sleep to get a bargain at any number of big box retailers, I will be lazing around the house in my pajamas, drinking tea and admiring my handiwork from yesterday.  I apologize if that sounds overly smug, but I am just not into the insanity of Black Friday, no matter how good the deals are.  This is the first year we're not heading to Kansas City (our hometown) for the holidays.  As previously mentioned, Tyler will be working throughout the holiday season (six day weeks!  11 hour days!  at least he's union, so that's some nice time-and-a-half - cha-ching!).  To make up for the fact that we won't be upholding any of our usual holiday traditions, I am decorating the house like crazy.  Ok, maybe not that crazy...but I am definitely stepping up my efforts in the holiday decor department, which in years past has been fairly lackluster (we didn't have a tree til last year - to

...a Zombie Bunny with a pom-pom tail.  NOTHING. (this is my way of saying "Happy Thanksgiving," apparently) Rav user Mercourier - aka my buddy Sam, proprietress extraordinaire of The Wool Dispensary - recently made this zombie bunny who uses its snuggliness to its advantage so it may feast on your brains.  She used the Button Bunnies pattern, The Wool Dispensary Greater Poison in a new mystery colorway for the MC and Riverpoet Fiber and Yarn in "Blood Orange Massacre" for the CC....not to mention pink safety eyes and a cool skull toggle button to great effect! Hope you have a wonderful holiday today - and remember, tomorrow is BUY NOTHING DAY (for real).  On Saturday, be sure to support your LYS and other small businesses, tooo (such as The Wool Dispensary , or perhaps an independent designer whose blog you enjoy reading??)!

File under "as though my queue isn't long enough already"....I got a treasure trove of books for my birthday!  There have been some really interesting titles published this fall - many featuring my clients, which necessitates me talking A LOT about how awesome said books/patterns/yarns are.  We all know what weak sales resistance I typically have in these situations, and I've done a great job of convincing myself I need these books on my shelf...and so do you, because if I'm going down with the ship, I'll need a little company. Here's my birthday book booty: 1. The Knitter's Life List - I actually hadn't heard of this book, so I was really delighted to start flipping through it.  While drinking tea this morning,  I learned all sorts of interesting little factoids.  It's kind of like an encyclopedia for knitters - overviews of types of fiber & yarns, interviews with influential knitterati, a comprehensive listing of every fiber show,

Huron Mountain Socks In the last few weeks, I've finished two pairs of socks (both holiday gifts) and two of four proposed striped stockings.  Unfortunately, I've managed to add to my holiday gift-knitting list exponentially since the completion of these projects.  What compels me?  Do I just like the challenge, beat-the-clock style?  I'm guessing that's the case, although some of it might also be related to being on a shoestring budget.  I've noticed there's a huge uptick in gift knitting this season, so I can only conclude that at least I'm not alone in this boat!  I've been pretty good about shopping from my stash, so the yarn's already paid for, I just have to find the time to get everything done! Gentleman's Fancy Sock Indeed, there is much more holiday knitting to be done.  On the bright side of things, I have a bit of a deadline extension this year because we aren't heading down to KC 'til January.  The coffee shop where Ty

I'm teaming up with Alysson from The Sweatshop of Love and Sam from The Wool Dispensary to bring you these Button Bunny Kits containing everything you need to make a trio of adorable critters! Each kit includes: 1 printed pattern 1 full skein of Greater Poison and 30g/50 yds of contrasting color for pockets (you may choose from an array of colors!) 3 pairs of safety eyes 3 buttons Plus, each kit comes in your very own reusable Wool Dispensary project bag!  They'll be for sale this Saturday, November 19th at the DIY Trunk Show here in Chicago - look for them in the Sweatshop of Love booth !

Sock Yarn: Hazel Knits & The Wool Dispensary Yesterday was my birthday, and thus far I've received many awesome gifts from my thoughtful friends and family.  The biggest gift I've gotten, unfortunately, is also the most unpleasant:  a monster cold....much like I had for last year's birthday.  The difference?  Last year on November 16, I was not only sick, but at the Vet's office learning how to give our newly-diagnosed cat his subcutaneous fluids.  So really, this is an improvement, and I am merely experiencing the Traditional Birthday Cold. My parents came to visit this past weekend, which kicked off all of the birthday celebrating.  We had many meals out at some of my favorite places (Revolution, Hot Doug's, M Burger, The Handlebar to name a few), did a little shopping, and spent Saturday afternoon at the Irish Cultural Center (which is very close to where I live - I had no idea!) for their Irish Books, Arts & Music Festival.  Perhaps it was too much

IT'S FINALLY DONE! I thought about writing the above in the largest-possible font, but thought better of it.  See, I can exercise self-restraint!  Maybe not when it comes to yarn and starting projects.....but at least it exists somewhere deep within me, right? So yes - the sweater, it is done.  I started it in February, then re-started it April....it's been a slow-burner, that's for sure.  That's not the half of it, though - I've been with Tyler for 11 years, and while I've knit him several pairs of socks, hats, and knitted critters, this is his first-ever hand-knit sweater.  Built to his specifications using the Knitting Pure & Simple Pattern for a V-Neck Pullover (slightly modified) and my favorite go-to superwash yarn, Berroco Vintage , I think it's safe to say that this is going to be his new favorite.  It fits him perfectly and is nice and warm.  It's pretty difficult to photograph a coal-black stockinette-stitch sweater, but I think you get

I was super-psyched earlier this week when I discovered that someone on Ravelry used my whale chart on a hexipuff !  Though I am not knitting a Beekeeper's Quilt (I think they're pretty spectacular, but just can't commit to something so....time-consuming), I am delighting in seeing everyone's projects and living vicariously through them (and, mayhaps, enabling them a wee little bit !).  Siri oh-so-cleverly duplicate stitched this little guy onto a hexipuff...yet another awesome and creative way to put a whale on it!

Spotted in the wild...Ravelry user ainsleygrimm has finished an adorable set of Button Bunnies in The Wool Dispensary's Greater Poison in Circus Popcorn.  Can bunnies and cats be friends?  Apparently, if both are cute enough! Ainsleygrimm is actually a knitting friend of mine who also happens to be a fellow cat animal lover.  She works in her family's veterinarian office and was beyond helpful to us last year when Robin was diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure (CRF).  To manage his condition, we've been giving him subcutaneous fluids every day - something that seemed so impossible a year ago, but it's amazing how quickly you can get used to something.  Lisa was kind enough to give us an in-home demonstration since our how-to at the vet office didn't quite stick (I was sick, it was my birthday, we were still so shocked & stressed out about the diagnosis...and the cat wasn't terribly cooperative, either!).  It made a huge difference to get a sub-q lesson

Tough to photograph: Black Stockinette Sweater (Now finished & blocking!) The biggest news of this week is surely the completion of Tyler's sweater.  Having cast on in February,  this project has been a slow-burner.  I did have to frog & restart it.  Modifications have been made.  Entire weeks went by when I didn't touch the thing.  My hare-brained sleeves 2-at-a-time-while-attached-to-a-sweater-body scheme actually worked .  And most importantly, we didn't break up!  Not that I was terribly worried about the Sweater Curse - we've been together for 11 years now - but perhaps my delay in knitting Tyler a sweater was due in part to that silly superstition.  At any rate, Tyler has a new sweater that fits him perfectly and is exactly the way he wanted it!  Which means, of course, that I can cast on for lots of new projects, right?  I mean, I still have holiday knitting to do....and I still have a design that is ready to be published and just needs a model kni