handmade by stefanie

Sirka Row Counter I have been curious about this product for years, but never bought one until recently. Then it sat in its cute little bento box, unused, for several months. Finally, the dreaded "at the same time" popped up in a pattern and instead of being annoyed as I usually would be, I was super psyched because it meant I could test drive my Sirka . Obviously, I loved it, or it wouldn't be included in this post! Though it seems like it might be complicated (yes, it comes with instructions!), it's really quite easy to use, and I just kept a key of what color was assigned to what set of instructions handy, since I tend to forget such things. The only drawback is that it's kind of big and I don't think I would want to use it on-the-go - but it's perfect for keeping near my knitting nook at home. And realistically, a project that has instructions that necessitate the use of a Sirka probably won't be leaving the house anyway, since I prefer to t...

This project has been finished for a few weeks now....except for the buttons. Apparently sewing them on what the hardest thing in the world to do! However, I'm so glad I finally did, because this little sweater is so darn cute: I used Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Electric Blue and Dove Heather. More importantly, I expanded my baby sweater horizons by using a new-to-me-pattern from my favorite book, the Striped Cardi from 60 Quick Baby Knits ! It was a great pattern and I am happy with how it turned out, although I think I would add an inch or two of ribbing to the bottom of the sweater and cuffs if I made it again, as I'm not a fan of the rolled stockinette (even though I know that an intended design feature). This will be mailed off soon for some cute baby to wear this fall. Thanks for stopping by, have a crafty weekend!

I finished another handspun scarf, and I think I'll have to keep this one for myself because I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! I used some commerically-made black yarn for the warp (I lost the label, it's leftover from some  project!), and then the weft is a 3-ply handspun yarn that I spun from 8oz of hand-dyed BFL fiber from Nerd Girl Yarns in the #hashtag colorway. Here's where I love the archive that both Ravelry and blogging provide: I would have never guessed that this yarn dates back to July 2014 ! Also, you can read more about the structure of this yarn here - it's an opposing ply, which is a little different than what I usually spin when making a 3-ply. There's quite a bit of yarn left over, and I'm wondering if I have enough to make another scarf. But for now, I've put on a warp for another new project, which was going to be another funky destash scarf, but then I realized that the yarns from my other recent weaving projects all l...

Today I have a very long-awaited FO to share: a stripey lace weight infinity scarf that had been on the needles since September of last year! At times, it seemed that it would never end - after all, I was using lace weight yarn and needed to knit quite a bit of length before it could be called done....although I may have gone overboard: I used up nearly every yard of the light grey yarn, and it was a fantastic travel project since the pattern was so easy to memorize. Our road trip to Kansas City last month was the perfect opportunity to finish it once and for all! I'm so glad I did, because it's going to be awesome to wear this fall - Tthe angora is so soft and lightweight, but surprisingly warm....and look at how many times I can loop it around my neck (pardon the crazy eyes...invariably that happens during the photo shoot!) Pattern: Arnhem Loop, available for free on Ravelry Yarn: Bijou Basin Ranch Seraphim - I used 2 balls of Smoke and 1 ball of Eggplant...

After all of the finishing I did last month, I've been holding my number of WIPs to a reasonable number, but I couldn't resist starting the  Wonder Woman Wrap by Carissa Browning . It seems like everyone is going crazy for it on Instagram and Ravelry (where it's available for free )! I'm knitting mine out of lace weight yarn: a yak and silk blend from Bijou Basin Ranch called Shangri-La . It's so shiny and lovely, and I think that the airier fabric will be a nice complement to the shiny, slinky yarn. Aren't the colors gorgeous? After knitting several swatches with various sizes of needles, I decided to use the size called for in the pattern (US 4) so that I can still get a fairly large wrap. The difference in final wingspan was more than 10 inches from US 3 to US4 - crazy, right? Since I'm using larger needles, I have to be careful to knit slower and tighter than I am used to - usually I just fly along and let blocking take care of the rest, bu...

Note: This piece was first published in Fall 2016. It was originally a "donation" (i.e. I wasn't compensated to write it) for an e-magazine that is no longer available. Since I really like this piece and I didn't grant exclusive rights, I want to finally share it with my readers. Also, I was asked SO many questions about these bent DPNs when I was using them last year! Perhaps it's a little belated, but I hope this answers everyone's questions about these interesting needles. I've been knitting socks on DPNs for over ten years. For much of that time, my preference was one-at-a-time, top down projects, although I did dabble here and there with toe-up, two-at-a-time, and magic loop. Those experiments never really stuck, as I was always drawn back to the tried and true. I’m sure I’m not the only knitter who feels this way! It wasn’t till recently that I’ve felt the need to step out of my comfort zone once more: last year, I decided to give two-a...

Not long after I finished the Cozy Memories blanket , I had the (possibly insane) idea to try crocheting a blanket with all of my leftover of handspun yarn . Perhaps my reasoning was that crocheting was faster, so certainly I would finish this blanket faster than the last one, which took one and a half years to complete. If that's the case, I was right on the money, because I started this on July 31 of last year, and it was completely done and blocking by the end of June! I used a large crochet hook (size N, or 9mm) and just alternated single crochet and double crochet as I pleased while using whatever random bits of handspun yarn happened to be nearby. The crocheting part was finished by the end of April, but I spent most of May procrastinating weaving in all of the ends. Finally, I decided that if I took it on our road trip to Kansas City last month, I would probably weave in all those fiddly ends out of boredom - another notion that ended up paying off. I always ha...

After a productive weekend, I am down to just two knitting projects on the needles: the shawl that I started last week, and a new hat project using some yarn I'll be reviewing soon. For the shawl, cashmere is the yarn of choice yet again - I'm knitting the  Inauguration Consolation pattern using 3 colors of yarn from Lux Adorna . I started a new hat project using a free pattern from Ravelry, Lake Reed by Asita Krebs. The yarn is a new option from Dalegarn called Lerke Pluss , and I'm excited to give it a try. I think it'll be great for this cabled stitch pattern! I also resurrected my Dillinger hat from time out (if you recall, I'd made a glaring error in the colorwork several inches back). On Sunday I frogged to where I got off track, and now I've resumed knitting - so far, so good...and Robing REALLY wanted to be in this shot, incidentally: I warped a new project on my loom this week, another scarf using some handspun yarn: And, of ...

I have a vague recollection of reading something about how some US textile mills began supplying yarn for the manufacturing of baseballs as a way to survive when production moved overseas, but I was still surprised and delighted to see this display during a recent visit to the Royals Hall of Fame : Who knew that there were THREE different kinds of yarn inside every baseball ?! Turns out, the construction of a baseball is a very precise science  - and yes, each yarn has exact specifications for fiber content and constructions that must be met . While I was doing a little more research about the yarn-baseball link, I turned up this really cool blog post about a visit to one of the very mills that produces yarn for Major League Baseball , and I also discovered a short-lived team call the Lowell Spinners , which is worth reading about. You never know where yarn or fiber will pop up next!

Over the holiday weekend, I finished my project for the June Cashmere Mystery KAL ! This was a free pattern using 1 skein of June Cashmere Lace Weight yarn - you could totally do 2 skeins if you are so inclined, however! I used up nearly every bit of my 1 skein of lace to make this cowl: That little bit of yarn is the total amount I had left over after binding off! The reason I decided to do this MKAL is because it was choose-your-own-adventure style - that is, each week you had at least 2 stitch patterns to choose from, giving you lots of options to create a finished project you're sure to love. Here's what I did to create mine: Crochet cast on 180 stitches and knit 1 inch of garter stitch for border, which took 8 g of yarn. Clue 1: Six repeats of Dot Stitch pattern. Purl 1 round. Clue 2: Two repeats of Chevron Stitch pattern. Purl 1 round. Clue 3: Three repeats of Mock Cable Stitch pattern. Purl 1 round  Clue 4: Two repeats of Double Diagonal Stitch pattern. P...

It seems like forever since I had new WIPs - but now that several long term projects are officially off the needles, I think it's time to start some new, exciting things! I still have some babies to knit for, so the first cast on over the long holiday weekend was for a striped baby sweater : After I finished my June Cashmere MKAL project (which I'll be sharing this Friday), I decided that starting a shawl project would be a just reward. I bought the Inauguration Consolation project kit at TNNA back in January and have been wanting to start it ever since, but deadline knitting and guilt from too many WIPs held me back. I do still have the Dillinger Hat on the needles, and I still need to work up to ripping allll the way back (about 8 rows I think?) to fix a rather large mistake. I'm hoping I finally feel up to the task this coming weekend - it's such a cute hat, I would love to finish it soon! Believe it or not, that is all that I have on the nee...