handmade by stefanie

Happy Halloween! While I don't have any holiday-appropriate patterns to offer you today, I do have a special treat for those who dare: the folks at Lorna's Laces have graciously allowed me to offer these two patterns I designed for them for free ! Both the Lacy Summer Socks and Snaky Cables Hat patterns can now be downloaded from my Ravelry and Craftsy pattern stores, just in time for holiday gift knitting! Which is great, because there are only 54 days left 'til Christmas (and, if I'm calculating correctly, 37 days left 'til Hanukkah begins)...can you think of anything scarier than that?! Lacy Summer Socks : Great for any time of year! These socks knit up quick and require only 215 yards to make the pair, which means you can make two pair with each skein of Shepherd Sock or Solemate! Click here to purchase either of these yarns (which are both currently on sale, might I add) from DoodlebugYarn.com ; don't forget to enter "HBSBLOG" at ...

I bought Susan Anderson Freed's book, Nordic Knitting Traditions , on a whim a few weeks ago, when I needed to add something to my Amazon cart to get free shipping (of course, when you put in something that would have cost the same amount as shipping the one item you were originally buying, is free shipping really free? That is probably a blog entry for a different day, however!) - it wasn't listed on Ravelry yet and it had just been released earlier this month. It's safe to say I had no expectations going in, I literally just thought "oh, cool, a new colorwork book!" and checked out. I don't have any dedicated fair isle books, so I can't say I have a frame of reference, but here are the things I really like about this book: first, the graphic design is stellar. It's a beautiful book to flip through. Each chapter's graphics are color-coded, and there are delightful line drawings that appear throughout the book as well. The book assumes you know...

Three days after I started it, the Mushin Cowl was finished - it took me longer to get around to photographing and blogging about it than the actual crocheting! I became completely addicted to this pattern, which was easy to memorize and absolutely perfect for the yarn, Malabrigo Arroyo in Escorias . I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but the Mushin Cowl is available as a free download on Ravelry. I find it surprising that I'm only the seventh person to make this pattern; it never ceases to amaze me how some patterns catch on and have thousands of WIPs and FOs, while other designs that are just as awesome (sometimes more so) remain in obscurity. It looks likes this pattern came out this year, so there's still time for it to be discovered! If you're new to crochet like me, this is the perfect project to build your skills while making something pretty. I highly recommend giving it a try! Darn-A-Thon Update : My BMFA Socks that Rock  are back in business! ...

Even though this week has been busy with work and preparation for VK Live! this weekend, I've still been finding time to knit (is anyone surprised?). I've made considerable progress on my Malabrigo baby blanket . Of course, since it's just an endlessly-repeating pattern, it's not super interesting to see progress shots...unless there is a cute kitty in said photo, right? I also started a project that has been in my queue for a while now, Marly Bird's Gradient Serendipity Shawl . I'm using the Himalayan Trail I bought from Bijou Basin Ranch at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival back in September, rather than the Lhasa Wilderness used in the pattern. I love the other projects I've made with Lhasa Wilderness - Narwhal Mittens and the Union Long Beanie - but wanted to try something new. Plus, I love the natural brown color, and it's soooo soft. It's knitting up quite nicely; the cast-on is the hardest part (336 stitches!). Once you work ...

Palmer House Hilton ...and I am not excited in the slightest.  Actually, I have very high hopes for this event; my prediction is that it's going to knock their competition out of the water, notably in terms of attendance and accessibility for Chicago knitters. I love going to Stitches Midwest, but I don't love going  to Stitches, if you know what I mean. 40 minutes in the car to get to the 'burbs? And I actually live pretty close to Schaumburg, relatively speaking: for folks who live in other Chicago neighborhoods (I am in the Northwest, about 20 minutes from O'Hare), they probably spend at least an hour making the trek, possibly longer!  For the car-free city mouse, a trip to Schaumburg can pretty much eat up your whole day...and budget...and patience. Driving in Chicago, especially on the highway, isn't exactly the most fun way to spend your time, so it is with much giddy anticipation that I have been counting down the days to the first-ever Vogue Kn...

Not-So-Tiny Slippers, as they were intended. A few weekends ago, I decided to myself a new pair of slippers, as my store-bought ones were ready to be put out to pasture. I grabbed a skein of Berocco Vintage Chunky from my stash and casto on for Ysolda Teague's Not-So-Tiny Slippers from Whimsical Little Knits 3 . After a day of knitting, they were done...but just ever-so-slightly too big for me. In hindsight, I realized I made two major mistakes: Mistake #1: Not checking my gauge. Mistake #2: Continuing to knit even though they seemed too big. Time for damage control! I tossed them in with my next load of laundry to see if washing and drying them would make a difference - no such luck. Magical laundry elves did not resize my slippers in the laundering process. I decided the best course of action would be to felt them down to size. While the yarn I used was superwash (and one of my favorites, might I add), I have found that even the heartiest of machine washable yarns...

Crocheting those amigurumi pumpkins last week really whetted my appetite for crochet! I decided to take one of the skeins of Arroyo I just ordered from Doodlebug Yarn to make some sort of cowl. I came across this simple, free pattern on Ravelry called the Mushin Cowl by Shireen Nadir. The term "mushin" comes from Martial Arts training and means "without mind." Once I read that in the explanation, I knew this would be the perfect pattern for me to make! Since I am still really new to crochet, there are sometimes terms I come across that I haven't seen before; in this pattern, it was the slip stitch at the end of each round. First, I wondered - should I have been doing that all along when crocheting amigurumi? Is it just one of those givens that isn't necessarily written into a pattern? I've signed up for Stacey Trock's Woodland Creatures workshop on Craftsy, so perhaps that will shed some light on that subject once I sit down to do the course. ...

I can prolong the inevitable no longer: I have a ton of hand-knit socks in need of repair. After years of serving me and my husband well, many of our warm winter socks have holes that have relegated them to the "someday I'll fix it" pile. Actually, let's call a spade a spade: it's really the "ignore it" pile. Mending is my most hated task; I have umpteen socks and even a few sweaters that would be good as new if I would just spend an afternoon or two fixing a few minor holes or missing buttons! My goal is to spend a few hours of each weekend darning socks and getting my hand-knit sweaters ready for winter wear. If I employ the 'bird by bird' approach, the likelihood of this getting done is much higher than if I were to attempt spending one entire weekend on the project. Hopefully this isn't faulty logic, but it's the best I've got at the moment. Here's my "going-to-fix-it" pile: Do you have a lot of hand-knits...

Why make something twice? It's generally not in my nature to knit or crochet a pattern over and over again, but lately the familiarity of an easy-to-make design is something I've been craving. I was so delighted with my Fresh Stitches CAL project Jack the Tiny Pumpkin , that I decided to make him a friend: I had a similar experience with Cookie A's Lateral Socks ; there is something about this pattern that I found immensely appealing...plus, I could tote it along wherever I went, sans instructions. For my second pair, I subbed in a speedy short-row garter stitch heel and garter toe. These socks were the perfect project for long (or short) trips on the CTA. Of course, finishing two projects this week means I get to start some new ones...right?

Hooray, it's WIP Wednesday! After a productive weekend of crafting (and instagramming what I've been crafting), I'm excited to share everything I've been working on. As of last night, I began the toe shaping on my second pair of Lateral Socks  by Cookie A, which means that these will be off the needles and onto my sock blockers before the weekend kicks off! I'm also nearly done with all of the monkey bits for the first of many Jerry the Musical Monkey  toys! I'll be allocating some time this weekend to sew in ends and assemble Mr. Monkey before I cast on for a buddy. Here are the monkey feet before I finished them on Monday! I also started and completed my first-ever CAL in a matter of days! Here are my progress shots as I worked on Jack the Tiny Pumpkin by Stacey Trock; I'll be sharing my finished pumpkin this Friday. I might even make a few more this month - it was such a fast and easy pattern to crochet! Finally, I cast on for a baby blanket wit...

Earlier this year, I signed up for Vicki Howell's Crochet Lab class on Craftsy.com , determined to re-learn how to crochet. This was the first class I took on the Craftsy platform, and as you can tell by how often I reference and support Craftsy on this blog, I was impressed! I would (and have) definitely recommend this class for anyone who wants to learn how to crochet. Vicki is enthusiastic and good at explaining things in a way that is easy to grasp, encouraging folks to find the way that's easiest for them to do rather than insisting that what she is demonstrating is the only correct way to crochet. This is something I find very refreshing about Craftsy courses in general - the instructors are very good about either demonstrating a few ways to accomplish the same thing, or, at the very least, encouraging their students to experiment and do what comes naturally to them. The instructions were clear and easy to follow; for each technique, there is a close-up of Vic...

Since I don't have any FO's that I am at liberty to share with the world at large, today's post is at the mercy of the United States Postal Service. In Chicago, that is an especially frightening thought; even before USPS began slashing budgets and cutting jobs, mail delivery in Chicago has been nothing short of terrible . In years past, there have been stories of postal carriers hiding undelivered mail in their houses or storage units , burning mail , and who knows what else , just to avoid delivering it! Long story short, mail delivery in Chicago is hands-down the worst in the nation . I could regale you with far too many nightmarish stories myself, though I have also had a few positive experiences in my 7 years as a Chicago resident...perhaps to make up for some really ridiculous BS at the hands of Chicago's USPS! My current issue with them is not the speed at which my mail is (or is not) delivered - though that has been a problem at one time or another - but the ho...

I have only three projects on the needles (one of which is top secret)! In my effort to focus on my holiday gift knitting AND post-holiday knitting for the 2013 babies, four in all, I've been fending off startitis and my natural inclination for selfish knitting. So far, so good, anyway. I'm nearly to the heel on sock #2 of my second pair of Cookie A's Lateral Socks ; this pair I'm knitting with a skein of Valley Yarns Charlemont Kettle Dyed in Dusk. I'm pretty sure I bought this yarn from the Webs booth at Stitches a few years ago (not this past one, as I only walked away from the Market with a few braids of handpainted fiber). I love this sock pattern! It's easy to memorize, and this time I'm doing a garter short-row heel and a garter toe, which you may recognize from the Jelly Beans Socks I recently finished. Those socks knit up so much faster when I didn't have to full with a heel flap, picking up stitches, and gusset shaping. Now I understand ...

Happy October! Fall is one of my favorite seasons, with winter being a close second (I know I'm probably in the minority on that one). I've already started bringing out the hand-knits and wearing some of the new socks and cowls I spent the summer knitting whenever I can. It's a great time of year to be a knitter! There are so many amazing patterns coming out right now that it's going to make it tough to stick to my holiday gift and baby knitting list.  I'm looking pretty good for my holiday knitting, but I have three friends who are expecting - a total of four babies to knit for! It's time to focus, and not let anything bright and shiny distract me. And yet, my Pinterest account suggests otherwise. I've been coming across such great new patterns and unearthing some previously undiscovered ones along the way, so naturally  my Ravelry queue is threatening to return to eight pages once more. Perhaps the only way I've avoided that inevitability is to pi...