handmade by stefanie

Roman Candle Socks After a month of traveling (Kansas City, Orlando & Phoenix), I am ready to stash my suitcase in the back of the closet and stay close to home.  Leaving town three times in the span of a month is just too much for me!  Each trip was fun in its own way, but I'm looking forward to getting back to a more 'normal' routine - which involves lots of cat snuggles (of course!) and - lucky for your - more frequent blog updates! The name of the game this month has been SIMPLE....with SELFISH following closely behind.  Exhibit A: I finally finished the malabrigo socks I started last October!  I'm not sure when the pattern is coming out - it was a test knit for an upcoming design from Two Sticks and a Sheep - but whenever it does, you'll be able to purchase it with the rest of the Fireworks and Folly eBook patterns.  Fun fact: Botticelli is the first skein of Malabrigo sock I ever purchased - I think I bought it at the first Stitches Midwest I at...

This is a fast-knitting vintage-inspired chevron beret that showcases the subtle variations in hand-dyed yarn.  It also looks great in multi-colored and self-striping yarn! Sizes:  Adult Small (Adult Large) Finished brim circumference:  To fit 19” (21”) Materials:  200 yds dk-weight yarn 1 US Size 5 - 16” circular needle 1 US size 7 - 16” circular needle 1 set US size 7 DPN’s Shown in:  Three Irish Girls Elenya Alpacain Zephyr Click here to purchase PDF via Ravelry Paypal Cart. Coming Soon! Purchase this pattern via Craftsy.

There were tons of new and exciting yarns, colorways and other products to drool over at the show.  I can't possibly mention them all in a single post, but here are my top 5 picks: Hendreary Hat 1.  Mountain Colors Cross-Country Mitten Kits  - be on the lookout for these kits, which feature several different types of Mountain Colors yarns to make adorable fair-isle mittens! 2.  Lavishea Lotion Bars - one of my favorite finds from the Columbus show, they've got four new scents that are soon to be in stores! Check back, I'll be posting a review and sneak peek on one of these scents soon! 3.  Two new Ysolda books?!  How does she do it?  Whimsical Little Knits 3 has lots of adorable projects I'm dying to make - the Hendreary Hat and Narwhal Mittens , in particular.  Saturday Treat is a lovely collection - though I'm not 100% sold on the photo styling (Ysolda is pretty without lots of makeup!), the patterns are gorgeous and I've already ...

Snow is less fun if you have to fly. I just got back to Chicago after a whirlwind weekend in Phoenix, drawing this crazy month of traveling to a close - Kansas City, Orlando, and finally, the TNNA show in Phoenix....I couldn't be more relieved to retire my suitcase to the back of the closet for a while!  Leaving town was a bit of a nail-biter, being that there was a winter storm advisory in Chicago (and elsewhere, for that matter) all day long.  I consider myself lucky that I was only delayed an hour, considering how many flights were canceled that day.  Another perk: I cleared security in less than five minutes (that's even with a pat-down because I didn't want to do those creepy body-scanner cancer machines)!  I don't think I've ever seen the security line as empty as it was last Friday.  While I didn't get to see much of Phoenix, I had a really fantastic time.  Being able to meet many of the people I've been corresponding with via e-mail and twitte...

If you're new to knitting (or feeling a little rusty as you return to crafting), my free Keyhole Scarf Pattern is a great project to get you started.  Rav user jowet recently knitted this project as part of her return to knitting and said, "looking at the ravelry projects here, i saw several lovely knitting projects that i wished i could do, but the only knitting i remembered were the words “knit” and “purl” - i’d even forgotten how to actually do them. so for 2012, my first new year’s resolution was to learn to knit. i bought a learn-to-knit kit at mary maxim, and while waiting for it in the mail, i practiced knit and purl (via you tube knitting videos) using … chopsticks! by the time i got my kit, i was all set -- and here’s my very first knitted project :-) thanks for your lovely pattern, stefanie!" I couldn't be more thrilled to enable someone to carry out their new year's resolution...much less, have my project be their first FO of 2012.  There is...

Taking a long weekend in Florida before the craziness of the TNNA Winter Show next weekend in Phoenix! (and yes, I am re-knitting the Botanical Cowl with Canopy Fingering from The Fibre Company !)

You may have noticed a few graphics appearing in my blog's sidebar.  I wanted to take just a few minutes to explain them a little better!   Recent Doodlebug Order! First off, here's a coupon code for $5 off your order from the Doodlebug Yarn online shop - they've got a great selection of hand-dyed luxury yarns such as Malabrigo , MadelineTosh , and Skein , to name a few!  They also stock Lavishea lotion bars (one of my current obsessions), hiya-hiya needles and accessories , Soak products (I do love Cucumber Heel ), Knit Picks needles, etc.  Full disclosure: they're my client!  However, I'm also a customer and can attest to the fact that their shipping rates and inexpensive (not to mention totally fair), every order I've placed has arrived quickly, heaven help me, they take PAYPAL (designer friends, be warned!!), and everything I've purchased has thrilled me to no end.  Let's take the example of my cursed Botanical Cowl .  I managed to twist...

Who? I think January will be a quiet month for me, blog-wise, because it's certainly a crazy month in terms of everything else!  We just got back from a short trip down to Kansas City to celebrate Fake Christmas with our families - we always take Amtrak down there and I used my 7 hours both ways effectively - I finished my last xmas gift (an owl), started and finished a scarf for Tyler's grandma, and re-started the Botanical Cowl , this time with much more success (bonus: I'm halfway done!).  My dad and mother-in-law both liked their monsters, and even though my grandmother's socks turned out larger than expected and proved difficult to photograph because of their so-dark-they-look-black green color, I think they worked out just fine.  The bath scrubbies were an unexpected hit, and the finger puppets turned out well, too!  Somehow, it all came together - but don't ask me how, because I really don't know. Monster the First (pattern by Rebecca Danger) B...

Happy New Year!  Here's hoping 2012 is filled with considerably less turmoil than 2011.  Tyler and I both changed jobs, me for the better and him for about the same old BS, just with better pay and ruder customers.  We've been struggling to get back on our feet after both of us began last year being underemployed (he kept getting his hours cut by the evil boss at his former place of employment, my massage business died off once Massage Envy moved into the Gold Coast). We lost a friend because of a ridiculous misunderstanding.  My grandfather was diagnosed with dementia and has been rapidly declining ever since.    On the plus side, Robin continues to hold steady and remain healthy; we're staying healthy, too, as are most of our family members (the exception being my grandfather).  Our apartment still rocks, and the friends who have stuck with us this year are super-awesome.  All good things to focus on.  I still feel compelled to make som...