handmade by stefanie

In the last week, I made a lot of progress on the three projects I took with my to Kansas City for the Ply Away retreat ( click here if you missed Monday's recap! ). Both socks saw some action, though the funky bent DPN socks are still kind of slow going: I did, however, use my flight back to Chicago effectively by knitting the heel flap and turning the heel on my first  Light Saber Green BFL sock : The Brioche Cowl became my go-to project while traveling, since I have the stitch pattern memorized. It was the only thing I had to work on during a 3-hour visit to the ER (not for me, but for my Grandfather, who is thankfully ok despite taking a fall while I was in KC) - so you'd think it would be just about done, but such is the slowness of brioche, I guess! I am going to try participating in #blanketmadness this week by adding to my Cozy Memories Blanket, which as of Sunday had 90 squares; honestly, if I can just add 1-2 each day, I'll be in better shape than I was...

I was pretty psyched to hear about the Ply Away retreat in my hometown of Kansas City (brought to you by the editors of Ply Magazine), and knew that it was quite likely I'd end up going, since I had a free place to stay in town with my family. This year has been off to a busy start, so why not include a short little jaunt to Kansas City this month? I flew down on Thursday with the intention of spending part of Friday and Saturday at the marketplace, and then taking my first-ever official spinning class on Sunday morning - Fractal Spinning with Jillian Moreno. That's more or less how things played out, though there was the added element of some family stuff mixed in - my grandpa was released from rehab after emergency hip replacement surgery a few months back, only to fall down, sprain his wrist, and - eventually - be readmitted to the care facility he was released from 48 hours prior within the time span of my visit. Thankfully he is doing quite well now, and I was glad I wa...

I just can't stop knitting hats! It's like they're the new cowls...or something. I've recently completed 2 more hat projects; the first is a squishy beanie in Ancient Arts MCN DK - I couldn't resist this pretty colorway, Beaujolais: I used a free pattern from Ravelry, Violet Waffles (which I kept misreading as Violent Waffles  for some reason...it's just how I roll), which had a really easy-to-memorize stitch pattern that was perfect for on-the-go knitting (or end-of-day-my-brain-hurts-knitting, for that matter). The yarn is luscious and squishy, perfect for pretty much any stitch pattern you could throw at it: My next hat was knit with some of my handspun yarn, I believe this is one of my first projects spun from rolags made on my Louet blending board, in fact! The pattern is the Hishigata Hat , which can be purchased at a discount right now during the Knitter's Pride Spring KAL with Angela Tong ( details here) . I really liked knitting this patt...

After mixing things up with some handspun projects over these last few weeks, I find myself back to all sock yarn, all the time. I guess it was just a matter of time! The Royals socks  continue to grow; I'm starting to think about where I need to place the heel, because there are a LOT of games left still. Thankfully, Tyler has big feet, and at this point, I can calculate exactly how many stripes need to be reserved for the foot, post-heel. The BFL socks have started to see some action in the form of a productive afternoon at the Revolution Tap Room last Sunday - I'm just doing a simple knit and purl arrow design for the leg, which was actually a stitch pattern from the Boson Cowl I knit not too long ago. When I brought home these 2 skeins of Artyarns Merino Cloud from H+H last month, I knew they were going to be used in a project together....but of course, I had no idea what  that project might be. I'm not sure where I finally got the idea to look for a two-color...

Last week, I was asked if I wanted to become a blogger affiliate with Patternworks . To be honest, it has been a while since I shopped there, but in years past I have been a customer and had always had good experiences, so I figured I should check out their website to see what they were stocking these days. They've redesigned the website since I've last shopped there, and it is much sleeker looking and easier to navigate, which was point #1 in their favor for me. I also noticed a lot brands I already blog about, so it seemed like a good opportunity to try partnering up to give you, my lovely readers, a convenient place to shop online if you are so inclined. Also, I will be able to tip you off to sales and promotions, and even offer you special coupons from time to time - for example,  this link to Save 25% on Luxury Kits at Patternworks  now through 12/31/16! In general, not much will change - I will still be using the yarns, needles, etc. that I would plan to use, regardl...

It's been a while since I crocheted anything, so I was perhaps overdue. I started this cowl very early in the morning in the Cologne airport on my way back home from H+H last month. I'd read that most airports in Germany didn't allow ANY knitting needles past airport security, and figured I shouldn't chance it - so I planned to pack all my knitting WIPs and just take a crochet projects on the return flight home. I'd packed some yarn for the project, which in hindsight I realize was a silly thing to do because I brought home SO MUCH yarn. I ended up using one of those skeins instead - Merino Cloud from ArtYarns. While I didn't get as much crocheting done on the flight home, I was glad I had something to do, because it was a long trip (14 hours doorstep to doorstep).  This is the third time I've crocheted the Calm Cowl , which is available for free on Ravelry . It's pretty easy to do, although I still sometimes have issues with making neat and tidy...

Guess what? This week, the Spring-tastic Socks pattern is on sale for half off ! Spring is kindasortanotreally here in Chicago, but maybe casting on for a pair of spring-y ankle socks can convince mother nature to get with the program. It's worth a shot, right? The Holla Knits KAL ends on April 29th, so if you are a quick little sock knitter, you can still join in the fun and be eligible for some awesome prizes ( click here to check out more details on Ravelry ). And even if you can't finish by the end of the KAL, you'll still have some great socks to wear this season, so it's win-win. I'm apparently all about knitting socks this spring, as I now have two different pairs on the needles. The first are Tyler's Royals socks , which have a stripe for each game in the 2015 season. I've made a lot of progress since last week: I also started a pair of socks with last month's Fiberista Club shipment, a custom-milled & dyed BFL sock yarn in highlighte...

Once I knew for sure that I was going to Berlin this March, I decided I should finally finish the Berlin Hat pattern, which is the companion to the Berlin Cowl , so that I could do a photo shoot for both in Berlin . The Berlin Cowl pattern now has a friend - click here to get both patterns for just $9! Tyler and I only spent two days in Berlin before heading to Cologne for H+H, so we barely scratched the surface of the city - but what we saw, we loved, and we both agreed that we'd jump at the chance to go back (if you are just wanting to see photos of the  Berlin Hat , I recommend scrolling down - because first I am going to make all of you look at some trip photos). Yup, that sign says "Wienerstrasse" - you're welcome. We stayed in a neighborhood called Kreuzberg, which was covered in graffiti (which I loved). When we'd walk around, I kept stopping to take photos of the doors which were just covered in the stuff. But it was really every...