handmade by stefanie

It really doesn't seem like much has happened since this time last week, but I have  been knitting! I resurrected a sock WIP, which was my focus for a lot of this past weekend: Unfortunately, I don't think I like the new type of heel construction I used, and I am leaning heavily towards frogging back to re-knit the heel. And the project I started last week from Curls 2? I made a mistake and didn't notice for a few rows, and decided I should just rip it out and start again, since I wasn't very far along to begin with (it's the project below on the left). However, I did start the Rockling Cardigan that I was swatching for last week, though I'm not very far along (it's the project below on the right). And that's pretty much it - I'm still working on the crochet handspun blanket, but it doesn't look terribly different from the last time I shared a photo.  I do have an FO to share this Friday, so see you then! 

Last weekend, I finished the sample shawl I was knitting for Bijou Basin Ranch : The Culebra Simple Shawlette was a pretty quick knit in Lhasa Wilderness yarn, especially once I got past the lace border. I think this photo does a pretty decent job of conveying just how long the finished shawlette is: I loved how this hand-dyed colorway knit up with virtually no pooling - it's Coastal Breeze , which is dyed for BBR by Lattes & Llamas . It will be on display in the Bijou Basin Ranch booth at various fiber events this fall, starting with my personal favorite, the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival next month!

I spent most of last weekend finishing up my sample shawl in Lhasa Wilderness (spoiler alert, that's this Friday's post!), and now I'm back to working on the WIPs I had in progress beforehand. The Finial Hat in Woolstok needed the most love - I'd abandoned it just after starting the cabled stitch pattern: I also started - and finished! - the gusset shaping for the second Lightsaber Sock : The handspun crochet blanket continues to grow, but I'm not so sure that a photo will help illustrate the point - it really looks like quite the pile o' yarn at this point, and I need to weave in the many, many yarn ends before going any further. So instead I will show off this photo of a lovely new book by Hunter Hammersen ( Curls 2 ) which arrived on my doorstep yesterday and is tempting me to wind off a skein of yarn that's been in my stash for a bit: That's it for this week - see you back here on Friday for the reveal of my finished sample shawl!

A few issues ago, I read an article in Spin-Off which talked about using a blending board to make batts. It sounded interesting at the time, and I made a mental note to give it a try at a later date. A few weeks ago (or maybe a month? I can't keep track), I decided to break out the blending board and finally give this thing a try. I had most of a 4oz braid of Cloudlover BFL which I wanted to use as my main base (a portion of that had been used to try out my 3-D printed Turkish Spindle from Turtlemade) to use with a Jar of Inspiration and some dyed fleece I bought on Etsy. Before I put anything on the board, I tried to divide everything into three even piles so that each batt had enough similar fibers and colors to allow them to look good when plied together, but then added some unique additions to each one to also make each set a bit different. It wasn't terribly scientific - I don't think I measured a whole lot, save for the base fiber, and my approach for each of th...

I'm working on a sample for Bijou Basin Ranch right now, and it needs to be done by the end of this month - so I am practicing a little project monogamy for now. The yarn is a really pretty hand-dyed color of Lhasa Wilderness, and I'm using 2 skeins to knit the Culebra Simple Shawlette : The lace border was definitely a pay-attention stitch pattern, but now that I am about to start the short row shaping and garter stitch, I think I'll be able to relax a little. It's a fun knit so far, and coming along pretty quickly, too. My on-the-go-project has been the second light saber green sock, and I am getting close to the finish line - I just turned the heel! I've also been working some more on my handspun crocheted blanket: That's it for this week! I'm hoping to have an FO Friday project to share this week, but I'm not 100% certain that's going to be a thing....to be continued!

I knit this wee hat using some destash yarn simply because I wanted to make it...there was no baby in mind at the time of the cast on, and I just randomly chose a size to knit, hoping I would find a baby whose head it would fit at some point in the near future. Not to soon after finishing the hat, I found that baby! And unfortunately, I didn't even get a chance to block the hat, much less properly photograph it. So here is the one I took on the fly before I gifted it to its forever home. It's not my favorite photo, but it'll have to do: Pattern: Wee Hat from New Guy by Kate Oates Yarns: Traveling Rhinos Merino, O-Wool Organic Merino 2-ply and Wonderland Yarns Merino from one of their Mini-Skein packs. Project page here.

I am just a million ends and a few buttons away from having 2 finished baby sweaters ! How did that happen?! I've been able to avoid starting new projects because I am awaiting some yarn that is being held hostage by USPS currently - boo - which is pretty annoying, since it's for a sample that I need to finish by the end of this month. Ah, the Chicago postal service. They seem to have sixth sense for these things. Anyway, in the interim, I'm just trying to focus on finishing the projects that I have on the needles so that there is less distraction once the yarn finally shows up. To that end, I've been working more on the lightsaber-green socks : And also picked this hat project back up which I started about a week and a half ago and then promptly ignored: I'm still pretty enamoured with the handspun crocheted blanket , too - I think it's grown about an inch or so since last week: That's it for this week! I have another quick FO project to share...

Every 2 years, the Handweavers Guild of America (HGA) holds Convergence at a different location in the US - and for this year, it happened to be taking place in Milwaukee, WI, which is just a hop, skip and a jump from Chicago. It also happened to coincide with Stitches Midwest in Schaumburg, IL; rather than going to both, I opted to attend the event that I've never been to that is technically further away from where I live, but much less of a horrific drive, if you ask me (or anyone who lives in Chicago proper - are you taking notes, Stitches Midwest organizers who are definitely not reading this blog??). Anyway, my pal Lauren and I roadtripped to Milwaukee on Saturday to check out the Convergence marketplace and see some old friends - we both have spun on Team Louet for Spinzilla for the past 3 years, so of course we had to say hello to Dave from Louet: L-R: Dave, Lauren, and Me. Gotta love convention center lighting. The marketplace was small but had a nice selection of ...

I was hoping I'd finish the Chevron baby hat in time for this week's FO Friday, but it was not meant to be! However, I do still have a fun FO for this week - a tiny little hippo that I knit with the leftover yarn I used for one of last week's hat projects . The pattern is the Half-Sized Hippo from Rebecca Danger's 50 Yards of Fun knit with Preciosa from Knit Picks - a fun, quick knit! Thanks for stopping by, have a fun & crafty weekend!

Over the weekend, I may have let all judgment fly out the window, because I started a new blanket project. I know, I know - the last one took over a year to complete. Why would I do this to myself again so soon after the last one?? I just couldn't resist the siren call - plus, this project is totally different: it's crocheted with a big ol hook (size N, if you're wondering), and I'm using up alllllll of the leftover bits and bobs from my handspun yarn stash. At least, that's the plan. Here is my blanket so far: I'm alternating single and double crochet randomly, and really liking how it's working up. In other news, the chevron baby hat is nearing completion - if only I weren't so obsessed with this blanket project, or it would probably be done already! I also made some progress on the second baby sweater , though I hit a snag over the weekend when my cat (and I'm sorry for being gross) threw up on the working yarn....while it was in my kni...