handmade by stefanie

Over the holiday weekend, I finished up my crocheted bunting for the kitchen! I used some yarn from my stash and did a modified version of the Rainbow Bunting from Modern Baby Crochet, where I made the triangles just a tiny bit smaller. I can't remember what the black yarn is, but the yellow and turquoise are both from Green Mountain Spinnery . It makes me happy every time I walk into the kitchen! Also, I've been seeing lots of people posting this around: If you'd like to find out what Raveler number you are, just go to your page and hit these keys: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, and then enter - your Raveler number will magically appear! Thanks to the Ravelry Crew for this fun Easter egg! As always, have a fun & crafty weekend! 

Alert the media: my chevron yak socks finally resemble something you could put a foot into! I grafted everything together on Monday, and it's a nice, snug fit. Now I just need to knit the cuff and toe, although I think I will make the second sock first. I also made some major progress on my Craftsy class project , the Faux Fair Isle mittens - look, I'm on constrast color #3!: What helped is blowing up the colorwork chart about 200%, since I always have a problem with how small most colorwork charts are. It's amazing to me how much faster I can work when I'm not squinting at impossibly tiny squares. Click here for 50% off the Mittens and Gloves Galore class on Craftsy! I also have a new project, which is this month's FreshStitches kit club ! Hopefully this doesn't spoil the surprise if your kit hasn't arrived yet...especially since I just found out that this month's kit is a pattern exclusive! Last but not least, I replenished my miniskein gr...

First, I'm super-excited about finishing what I've lovingly dubbed the never-ending spinning project . Last month, for Spinning Spring Training, I began spinning a pound of lovely Dorper fiber from Louet. Turns out, a pound is an awful lot of fiber (duh!) and I didn't finish spinning my singles til the beginning of this month....and then the plying began! At long last, I have my finished skeins. They are chain plied to match some dorper I'd spun last fall for Spinzilla, and the total yardage is 484 yards. I know, right - a month an a half to make just shy of 500 yards of yarn? That is pretty insane, but chain plying give you 1/3 of your total yardage spun in singles, so if I want to feel better about myself, I really spun 1,452 yards of yarn in that time. In other news, I picked up several samples of spinning fibers at TNNA, and I thought it would be fun to split each sample in half to spin up in two different ways: first, directly from the roving without any prep...

A while back, I was working on a Berlin Cowl in Baah Shasta worsted for myself, and then it mysteriously disappeared from mention on this blog. What happened, you ask? Deadline knitting relegated it to the hibernation pile. After the dust of TNNA settled, I was able to pick it back up and finish knitting it at last. Please pardon the goofy smile, I was a bit silly at yesterday's photo shoot. I'm very excited about this FO because it's one of my favorite designs that I've released recently; also, this cowl is for me to keep. Oh joy!  My other FO is something that I've actually been done with for quite some time - I just couldn't find the right buttons! On a whim, I decided to visit The Needle Shop in North Center on my way to the Windy City Knitting Guild meeting earlier this week, and there I found the perfect buttons....and then some! Adding to my button stash.... Here I am squinting into the sun and trying to smile whilst wearing my North...

I'm still making progress on my yak-tacular chevron socks : ...but I have also started a few new projects to satisfy my craving to work with more colorful yarn options! First, I am crocheting a miniature bunting to hang in my kitchen using a modified version of the Rainbow Bunting pattern from Modern Baby Crochet and some destash yarn: I also decided to pair some of my most colorful sock yarns with these two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (pictured below at top and bottom) which have been lurking in my stash for several years; the color is something I custom-dyed myself and dubbed "Inky," And I always thought it would be a great choice for some sort of colorwork pattern. Colors L-R: Louet Gems Fingering in Sunset, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Island Blue, Baah La Jolla in Tequila Lime and Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock in Lemon Curd.  It's been a while since I've blogged about Craftsy , but I recently have been revisiting some of the c...

One of the yarns I discovered at TNNA earlier this month was American Lamb Bulky , a 100% merino yarn from Made in America  yarns. They were kind enough to let me take home a sample of yarn to review on my blog. I'm sure you won't be surprised to find out that this yarns is 100% grown and processed in the USA, a trend which continues on the American knitting scene. Quoting directly from their Ravelry page: Our sheep are raised out west of the Missouri river. Their sheared wool comes to South Carolina for carding and cleaning. The cleaned wool is sent to Rhode Island where it becomes our roving and singles. It then comes to our mill in Philadelphia where we twist and dye it. From here we distribute it to local yarn stores around the United States where you can purchase it. What's interesting about this yarn is its texture: it is described as a soft wrapped 22-micron merino wool, meaning that it consists of a fat, lofty ply of yarn wrapped with a thinner ply which is a...

Happy FO Friday! I have been dying to share this crocheted Owl Basket by Deja Jetmir , but had to wait til after mother's day since I made it for my mom! Isn't it cute? She was pretty excited about it, as I knew she would be - she is not only a huge fan of owls, but arguably my biggest fan, too! I also have finished the Maine Morning Mitts from Wednesday's post - oh my, they are heavenly. I don't think I ever want to take them off...in fact, I am wearing them right now as I type!! The craziness of the week has been such that my regular photographer (aka my husband Tyler) wasn't able to take FO photos of the gloves. I actually had to resort to using the self-timer on the fancy camera! It hadn't been going terribly well, but then Robin decided to help out. I wish I'd gotten him entirely in frame, but on the plus side, you can see the mitts quite well! Thanks, buddy! I wanted to share a video tutorial I came across earlier this week which helped...

My needles are spoiled this week! I'm (still) working with some heavenly yak yarn from Bijou Basin Ranch and making sloooooooooow progress on my chevron socks : As if that weren't enough, I was given a skein of Zealana AIR Chunky at TNNA, which is pretty much the definition of luxury. It's a blend of cashmere, possum and silk, and as the name would imply, it truly is light as air. It's also incredibly soft and warm! Late last week, I decided to make a pair of fingerless gloves and cast on for a pair of Maine Morning Mitts by Clara Parkes from the Knitter's Book of Yarn. Little did I know that tagging Ms. Parkes herself on instagram would elicit a response ! This simple knit is just flying off the needles - all I need is to make the thumbs and I'm good to go! 90% of mitt #2 was completed last night at knit night, if that gives you any indication to just how quickly these can be made. In other news, I have - at long last - finished spinning the singles ...

I know I spent most of last month talking about Thirty-One, but I wanted to share my thoughts on the grey  Retro Metro Fold-over Bag I purchased during my virtual party. It's a good thing I ordered mine when I did, because this color is no longer available - I'm guessing they swapped out grey for natural for spring and summer, so perhaps we'll see grey return in the fall. As I've mentioned in this previous post , I am always on the prowl for a good knitting bag which can also be used for everyday activities. It needs to be durable, roomy (but not too  big!), have plenty of pockets, and a crossbody strap since it's a little more secure when you're walking around the city. I also prefer to avoid animal products (i.e. leather) whenever possible.  This bag certainly hits all of those marks, although I do wish it had just a few more pockets on the interior. The size is big enough to carry my wallet and knitting bag essentials , plus 1-2 projects. I like th...

While I was at TNNA earlier this month, Stacey Trock (from FreshStitches ) asked me to be a guest on her new podcast! We sat down to record a quick interview on Saturday afternoon in Indianapolis amidst all of the hoopla and mayhem that is TNNA. I had a great time hanging out with one of my crochet heroes, I hope you enjoy the episode! If you have any questions for us, you can post them here in the FreshStitches Ravelry group ! Save Up to 50% on Select Craftsy Classes! Don't miss out on  Craftsy 's Birthday Flash Sale! Get select online classes at  up to 50% off  for a limited time only. You won't see so many classes with prices this low again soon. Hurry, offer expires  May 11th at 11:59pm MT . Shop  Craftsy's Birthday Flash Sale !   (This post contains affiliate links which means I will be compensated if you purchase after clicking these links. Thanks for supporting this blog with your purchase!)

It's the first FO Friday of May, and I'm pretty excited to share my latest FO: the Spindleberry Shawl by Joanna Johnson! I snagged this pattern for free when it was first released (it is now available for purchase for the low price of just $4) thanks to my handy Ravulous hot right now app, and it turned out to be the perfect one-skein project for a lovely hank of Skein Merino Cashmere Fingering that has been bouncing around my stash. I really enjoyed knitting this pattern, and I found it to be the perfect mix of mindful/mindless knitting. Making the fringe as I knit wasn't nearly as fussy as I thought it would be, and the mesh design was fairly easy to memorize. I do wish there had been a chart in addition to the written instructions, but I also feel that beggars can't be choosers when it comes to a free pattern. I do wish I had added a garter stitch border opposite the mesh, as the fabric curls quite a bit, even after a good blocking. That's mostly on...

I just got back from the TNNA Summer Trade Show in Indianapolis this past weekend; I'm guessing a lot of my readers are on the consumer side of things and will probably never attend this type of trade show, so I thought I'd give you an inside look on today's blog post. As my friend Liz said in this amazing photo (right) she posted of the show floor over the weekend, this is where your  LYS goes to shop! The Summer show is usually in June, so this year's show was about 6 weeks earlier than usual...in terms of planning and preparation, that's pretty significant! There was also a venue change from the Columbus Convention Center (and the beloved North Market/Jeni's Ice Cream). Despite all of these issues, the show turned out well. While I definitely missed some of my favorite places from Columbus, it was nice to explore someplace new and Indianapolis is actually quicte nice. There was even a really cool coffee shop across the street from the convention center c...

Today I'm heading home from TNNA , so I will just be sharing this quick craft tip with you - be sure to look for a TNNA-tastic blog post from me later this week! Recently, I was getting ready to start a project and realized I had packed my cord and needle tips in my project bag, but didn't have the tightening key handy. Luckily, I had a safety pin within arm's reach - and it did a great job of pinch-hitting!

I'm heading down to the TNNA Trade Show in Indianapolis today, so I have pre-scheduled this post to unveil my newest design: the Pedi Purls socks! My feet often  get cold while waiting for my nail polish to dry; a bright pair of toeless socks are a fun solution to the problem! I designed these socks in Baah Sonoma especially for the trade show; they will be on display in the Lavishea booth because they were inspired by a new Lavishea product making its TNNA debut, I'll try to get a shot from the booth to share for you next week. The concept behind these socks is something I'll be exploring more this summer (hint, hint): quick-to-knit sock projects which have interesting stitch patterns that are easy to memorize, allowing you to work on them while on-the-go.  The pattern is written to fit the average woman's foot and can be easily customized for size if you are familiar with sock-knitting. There are also instructions for adding a toe to your socks, b...