handmade by stefanie

I have a surprise FO this week: the socks I started last October are done! I used one of the skeins of sock yarn I bought in Berlin last year to knit these socks for Tyler - a blend of wool, bamboo and silk from Schoppel-wolle . Since they were my travel project, there's no fancy patterning, just a ribbed cuff, stockinette leg and foot, a Fish Lips Kiss Heel and a rounded toe. Easy peasy! Tyler is pretty psyched about them, as you can see... I bought myself a skein of sock yarn at the same store in Berlin, and at some point I will have to make myself a pair of Berlin socks to commemorate our trip ( click here if you missed the photo recap from last year ). For now, I really need to finish the various projects I have on the needles so that I can work on some sample knitting and new designs (gasp!) in the next couple of months. Thanks for stopping by, have a crafty weekend!

I spent last weekend in San Jose for TNNA , so I don't have a ton of progress to show here since I left most of my WIPs at home. I did, however, make the most of the flight to and from the show by tackling the nightmare of ends on Tyler's Royals socks : On the way there, I wove in all the ends for sock #1; on the way home, I did sock #2. Now all that's left is to knit the afterthought heels. The trade show was the usual whirlwind for me, and I did a terrible job of taking photos and making notes to share on my blog later. But I DID manage to come home with some cashmere yarn from Lux Adorna - my only purchase at the show: While I was at TNNA, I heard the sad news about the passing of Yordano Ventura , a pitcher for the Royals (honestly, that's what spurred my cashmere yarn purchase above...I needed the comfort and a little cash(mere) therapy). It's kind of given these socks some new meaning as I work on (finally) finishing them. One of his de...

I haven't had much time to weave since getting my Flip warped a couple of weekends ago, but whenever I have a few moments to kill, I sit down to weave a few lines. It's really fun, and I am liking the resulting fabric so far! I look forward to having a lot more free time in February so that I can focus on finishing this project.  Find Your Fade (FYF for short?) continues to dominate my knitting time - I can't seem to put it down, and I'm close to finishing the third color: I picked my Matchmaker back up after letting it hibernate while I was distracted by the shiny squirrel that is FYF. Then I realized that I am getting pretty close to the finish line, so I should be more diligent about working on it so that I can wear it a few times before spring hits.  I'm heading to TNNA in San Jose this weekend, so I hope to log a lot of knitting time on my flight. Maybe I'll even have an FO to show off next week! 

Last fall, Jen Geigley put out a new book of patterns called Everyday , the follow up to 2015's Weekend . As the tech editor for both books, I can't even pretend to give an impartial review, so instead I will share a few of my favorites from Jen's latest collection & let you draw your own conclusions: Moonstone in Manos del Uruguay Maxima Leo in Briggs & Little Country Roving Aura in Wool and the Gang Crazy Sexy Wool Eris in Lux Adorna 100% Cashmere Bulky Equinox in Bijou Basin Ranch Xanadu 100% Cashmere What I love about these designs is that they are simple yet interesting to knit - by that I mean, there aren't a lot of complicated stitch patterns or charts or crazy construction elements that require your undivided attention. But there are interesting design elements that keep the knitter engaged, if that makes sense. Also, I feel like nearly all of them would look just as amazing in handspun yarn, of which I hav...

I absolutely don't need to be starting a new project until I get a few of my many WIPs off the needles, but I couldn't resist casting on for a Find Your Fade shawl over the New Year's holiday weekend. There were so many inspiring photos of color combinations being shared on Instagram that I found myself digging through my own sock yarn stash, and before I knew it...I'd found my fade: There's a KAL happening on Ravelry , and the timeline is fairly doable (end of March) - plus, PRIZES! Who doesn't love the chance to win something awesome?? I am just about ready to add in the third color section: I absolutely adore anything that allows me to get a whopping 7 skeins of sock yarn out of my stash and onto my needles....plus, it's kind of an addictive project! I can't wait to get to the next color in the sequence.

It's a little late, but I still wanted to post my resolutions on this blog since I apparently neglected to do so last year (maybe I didn't make any??). You can probably guess my first resolution - learn how to weave! I took the plunge and bought myself a Schacht Flip loom and am starting to learn how to use it. I plan to share periodic updates on here, you can catch my first Weaving Wednesday post here if you missed it ! And since knitting, crocheting, spinning and weaving clearly aren't enough to keep me occupied in my free time.....I have a gorgeous vintage sewing machine that needs fixing up, and I would like to sharpen my very rudimentary sewing skills this year. Isn't this vintage Singer totally gorgeous?? My next resolution is to work out more regularly (or at all - sadly, I don't think playing Pokemon Go counts). I feel better, sleep better, and - let's face it - look  better when I exercise regularly. Don't we all? I'm also determine...

For the past year or so, I'd been thinking about taking the plunge into weaving, and such thoughts have become quite serious in the past 6 months especially. When Syne Michell's book Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom came out, I'd heard such good things about it that I decided to put it on my Amazon Wish List with the hope that it would magically show up on my doorstep. It did, and it has turned the small little spark of "Maybe I should learn how to weave" into a roaring "Let's buy a loom and do this thing!" It should be no surprise that not long after the holiday, I bought myself a loom! It didn't take long for my 20" Schacht Flip Rigid Heddle loom to arrive from Webs , and I've been slowly getting acquainted with it. There's a lot to learn! I've done a lot of research to determine which loom I should get, and figured I should share my reasoning here for anyone who is interested in giving weaving a try but isn't sure...