handmade by stefanie

The next round of gifts I made this year was sent to my family in Kansas City, and it comprised most of my knitting and crocheting efforts. Clockwise from top left: I made sport weight socks for both of my grandparents using Louet GEMS yarn and two of my own designs, Chittery Chattery and Alameda  (more on this later). Next is a crocheted placemat which was requested by my grandfather to commemorate the Royals' American League Championship Title - you can't tell in the photo, unfortunately, but it's the perfect shade of Royal blue (I used Baah Shasta in London Blue for the main color). Speaking of colors which really don't show up in the low light of mid-winter, we have my dad's navy blue hat knit in Zealana Air Chunky . I just did a simple rib and winged it - you can find more details here on my Ravelry project page if you're so inclined. It's incredibly soft and warm, and I'm pleased to report that Dad really loved it! Last but not least...

I'll be taking it easy this week as I recover from the holiday madness and prepare for a fiber-filled 2015, so this week I'll be sharing the handmade items I gifted this year! I'll be starting out with the items I sent out to my sister's family in the Rose City: Pattern: Howie the Holiday Penguin by FreshStitches Monster Pencil Cups (to match each of my nephews' rooms) and Crocheted Bath Mat for my sister and sister-in-law; both of these patterns were improvised.  For more pattern and yarn information, click the links below. On Wednesday, I'll share more DIY holiday gifts, see you then!

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably know that my husband is a homebrewer who is rather prolific - and, I think, AMAZING! He began brewing in January of this year and has only had one batch of beer which didn't turn out. Those are some good odds. To be quite honest, I'd rather drink his beer than most of which I can buy at the store...but I'm biased. I am his brewing assistant, which means I keep him company, hold hoses, problem solve when things go awry, and - my favorite task - taste test! We decided to try our hand at a holiday ale to gift to our friends this year, and it became a somewhat collaborative effort: Tyler developed the recipe, and I helped figure out the best way to infuse cherries based on what we had available to us at the time (i.e., the recipe called for dried cherries, which we couldn't seem to locate in our neck of the woods, so I suggested we try using frozen cherries). I dubbed the beer "Jolly Boots of Doom" in homage to Invad...

Merry whatever-you-celebrate! For the second year in a row, my husband and I made our holiday cards from scratch. I drew the design onto a piece of acetate, which he then burned to a screen - here's a shot of him rinsing the screen after completing this first step: Then, with the help of tiny elf of course, he printed the design onto card stock: Our original plan was to use silver ink on the red cards, but we had to do an 11th hour substitution when the jar of silver ink we thought we had on hand was nowhere to be found. Hence, our holiday cards became a bit more pyschedelic than originally intended; seeing them all in a row like this kind of makes me cross-eyed! All in all, I'm happy with the finished product, and it was MUCH easier to pull together than last year's ambitious four-color design (which you can see here ).

I'm totally mixing up my usual blog schedule from now til the end of year (consider this your fair warning!), which is why I'm sharing a finished project today instead of waiting til Friday. Over the weekend, I managed to finish the sock yarn baby sweater that I've been intermittently working on since October . October! I guess that's what happens when you spend the better part of two months ignoring something on your needles. At any rate, it's finished and I think it turned out pretty well, although I probably won't be knitting the same pattern again. I used a free pattern on Ravelry and let's just say you get what you pay for: my first indication that this wasn't going to become my go-to baby sweater pattern was the vagueness of some of the instructions. I feel competent enough to fill in the blanks and figure it out myself, but I do find it a little annoying - if I wanted to do that, I wouldn't have been looking for a pattern to knit from in...

Earlier this week, I gifted this crocheted owl pillow to my secret santa from my knitting group...none other than Allyson from the Sweatshop of Love ! I used the Owl Pillow pattern from Ana Paula Rimoli's book, Amigurumi at Home , and Swish Worsted, which is a lovely merino yarn from Knit Picks. Turns out it's great for crochet! Since I don't have an actual work party to attend this time of year, the holiday party that my knitting group throws is pretty much THE celebration of the season for me (other than weekly visits to the Christkindlmarket). It was a great party this year, and my secret santa (Laura from Ink Whale Design - we are a talented group!!) spoiled me with some gorgeous yarn from Hazel Knits and these hilarious gift tags & card: My other project for this week was answering the call put out on the Spinzilla blog for handspun bows made from yarns spun in this year's event. They'll be using the bows to create a colorful banner display at t...

I'm in the home stretch of my holiday gift-making; boxes have been shipped out to both Portland and Kansas City, and I have just a few gifts in progress for folks here in Chicago. I'm SO excited to be completely done so that I can start my reward projects! I've also been trying to steal a few moments here and there to get this forlorn sock yarn sweater off the needles. It's now just two sleeves away from being done, though - that's certainly progress!? Truth be told, I very nearly skipped writing this post since I'm sure everyone is as tired of seeing the glacial progress on the above project as I am....but then, these arrived on my doorstep: Aren't they pretty? It's this year's limited edition gift set from Knitter's Pride which features their fancy new Marblz needles (web search "limited edition marblz gift set" to find online retailers who still have the set in stock, or you can click here to purchase from WEBS ). The c...

File under: better late than never?! Over the weekend, I finally picked up this project and set to finishing it...of course, the official Snow Family KAL has long since finished. Once I decided what I was going to use to weight down the snowmen, the rest came easily! The pattern calls for balloons filled with beans or plastic pellets, but I ended up some empty round containers that used to contain some sort of lotion or potion; I filled them with beans and then some yarn scraps to prevent excess rattling once inside the snowman. They did the trick and my little guys stand upright with no problems! I also decided to knit two sizes of the trees which I stacked to make one big one; my fake snow is once again provided by some lovely Louet spinning fiber !

Today marks the end of the Save the Children Pins and Needles Challenge , and it also happens to be National Sweater Day! If you missed out on a chance to knit a sweater for someone special during the challenge, don't worry! You can still make the world better with a sweater - just wear your favorite yarny masterpiece and pledge $5 to Save the Children  today. It's that simple! If you happen to live in Chicago, there is a fun celebration tonight at Nina in Wicker Park that's co-hosted by Heidi of the Hands Occupied blog. You can show off your sweater, donate $5 to Save the Children, and enjoy light refreshments and all the yarny goodness you can handle - click here for more details !  I ended up making only one mini-sweater during the challenge, and now I need your help deciding which one of my fibery friends will get to wear it this winter. Last weekend, I posted on Instagram asking who wore it best, and now I am opening the floor to you, my lovely blog re...

I'm coming down the home stretch for handmade gifts, but my dedication to the cause means there really isn't much I can share here on my blog these days. Luckily, I finished a fun project which I can't wait til Friday to share: a Tiny Elf !  I whipped this little guy up really quickly in Spud & Chloe Sweater yarn - the pattern is available for free here on Ravelry . There is also a fun photo contest happening here on Ravelry where you can share photos of your Tiny Elf making mischief for a chance to win a grand prize! So far, my Tiny Elf has.... ...ridden an elephant.... ...attempted to nab my morning tea... ...and then he tagged along to knit night and nabbed a tater tot as a snack!

A few weeks ago, I shared a post about blocking handmade gifts ; I thought I'd revisit the topic by sharing a few of my favorite time-saving tools to block finished projects with stellar results every time! This is by no means an exhaustive list of every useful item to have on hand - rather, it's a collection of my favorite blocking tools at the moment. Sock Blockers: Every now and again, I'm asked if it's necessary to invest in a pair of sock blockers. While they aren't exactly essential, it's undeniable that they make finished socks look extra-amazing (more about that here ). Not only do I use sock blockers on all of my hand knit socks for gifting, I also use them on my own every time I wash them!  Blocking Mats : It was years (as in, at least 10) before I got a set of blocking mats. I always figured that using towels and/or clean cardboard was every bit as good as a blocking mat, and couldn't justify the expense. Then, as I started to do more and ...

Man, I really  wish I could share this week's FO project with you - but alas, it's best if I wait til after they've been gifted. Oh, man, are they cute, though. I apologize for being a total tease, but it's pretty hard to keep this project to myself. Ahem. I'll try harder! What I can share with you is the first round of items which were already gifted when I went to the salon earlier this week: a robot for my esthetician and a basic black ribbed hat for my stylist. Afterwards, Tyler and I met up at the Christkindlemarket, our favorite Chicago holiday tradition! I also finished the first of what I hope will be many Zoom Loom ornaments - I just sewed a finished square into a tree-like shape and then added beads here and there, an idea which randomly popped into my head earlier today. I kind of like how it turned out! Hope you have a fun & crafty weekend!

Now that it's crunch time, I'm spending most of my crafting time working on top-secret projects. Luckily, I realize I didn't share my recent (although somewhat glacial) progress on my Snow Family and Evergreens , which I started for a KAL that has already run its course . Oops! I still have a ways to go before this project is done, but at least there has been progress since I last posted about it ! It may seem underwhelming, but I now have a tree, 2 snowman bodies, and a hat! I've also pulled the Garter Stitch Baby Kimono out of hibernation since I needed a conversation project to work on recently - and last night I finished the second buttonhole row! Not bad for a project which has mostly been forlorn in my knitting bag since I started it. I also made this cute little Santa Hat (it's part of this free pattern from FreshStitches ) on Monday night, though I can't yet share what project it's a part of - instead, enjoy this photo of a somewhat-relucta...

Renegade Holiday Fair, Circa 2012 Photo by Dan Grzeca Ack! It's December, and I'm hitting the panic button for my holiday gift-making! This is the point at which I have to be honest with myself and decide whether or not it's possible for me to finish all of the knit and crochet projects on my to-do list; it may be time to admit defeat and purchase some gifts! Today being Cyber Monday, this is a great time to snap up some deals online to make your life easier. If you are in the market for some knitterly gifts, Marly Bird has an extensive list of Cyber Monday deals here on her website! This is also a fantastic time of year to support other  makers, either via Etsy or by going to a holiday craft fair. I'm fortunate to live in Chicago, where we have tons of holiday craft fairs this time of year - anything from larger affairs such as the DIY Trunkshow and the Renegade Craft Fair December Market to smaller shows such as the Handmade Market or Revolution Craft Show ....

Last weekend, I finished my Polar Hat for the Bulky Hat KAL that's happening right now over on Ravelry ! This hat was a fast knit, and you might think that attaching all of that fluffy fringe was a painstaking process - but it was actually quite easy & fun!  This is a crazy warm hat, one which I will be donning on those subzero days which are sure to come.  ...and of course, today is  Black Friday, which really isn't my thing. I am neither participating in the madness, nor am I officially participating (unless you count taking a field trip to the 3 Floyds brewery as participating), but if you are looking for some deals you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home, there does happen to be a something special for listeners of the Prairie Girls Knit & Spin podcast which coincides with today:  Click here to listen to their most recent episode to get a 25% off coupon code good towards my Conversation Socks ebook! It's mentioned right at the begin...

In recent years, I've been getting into the holiday spirit by knitting and crocheting holiday decor and tree ornaments for my house. This year, we'll be staying in Chicago for Christmas and  we have a bigger tree....so I would love to see what other folks are doing, too, in the hopes that it helps me fill up my own tree! Just for fun, I thought I'd try to start a new hashtag on Instagram (but feel free to use it elsewhere) to make it easy to share & discover handmade holiday decor - just tag your photo with #yarnyxmas to play along! Here are a few of my favorite projects which I've made in years past: Snowman, Build Your Own by Stacey Trock of FreshStitches Olive the Monster Christmas Tree Ornament by Rebecca Danger Cupcake from the Christmas Knit Ornament Pattern Set by Amy Gaines Hot Chocolate Run Polar Bear by Sarah Delaney I can't wait to see which patterns everyone else is making this year! News Flash: Shop Craftsy'...

Ela models her Funky Frank hat & cowl design. I was recently introduced to an Italian designer, Ela of Modish Knits, through my participation in this year's Indie Design Gift-along. Ela's Ravelry pattern store has lots of wearable garment and accessory designs with interesting-to-knit details such as a lacy yoke, stripes or textured stitches. Besides participating in this year's GAL , her most recent endeavor is Knitting Adventures , an ebook which will feature 4 sweater designs to be released each month now through February 2015. I caught up with Ela via email and I hope you'll also take a moment to get to know her via the interview below. Enjoy! 1. How did you get into designing?  I am obsessed by fibres. Some years ago, I started to spin and dye artyarns. Corespun, tailspun, etc needs basic, simple  patterns to be awesome, so I started to write very easy patterns in order to highlight the yarns.  With time, I am passionate about writing and I wanted...