handmade by stefanie

Hunter Hammersen does it again! In Curls 3 , you'll find 11 new designs that were created specifically for speckled and gradient yarns. Of course, they can also be knit with any other type of yarn you desire - and just as in the first two Curls books ( Curls and Curls 2 ), you also aren't limited by yarn weight, because each design can be knit at any gauge. Each shawl is knit with the same formula, which is described in depth in the Anatomy of a Curl section at the start of the book. Once you are familiar with the basic setup, you can easily follow the  color coded charts and schematics as you knit your chosen pattern (all of which are explained clearly in this section of the book). If you's someone who likes to modify patterns here and there, make sure not to skip this section! Also worth a read is the section on Speckles and Gradients, which is also found at the start of the book. Hunter clearly defines each type of yarn and shares a lot of great tips for choosing...

Last winter, I reviewed Prairie Spun DK from Brown Sheep , which at the time was a new yarn in their lineup. I enjoyed using it so much, that I ended up purchasing a sweater quantity from Webs during their year-end sale, not knowing which pattern I would use it for. I kept this yarn squirreled away while mulling over my options and changing my mind more than a few times. Eventually, I realized that the perfect pattern had been under my nose the whole time: Andrea Mowry's  Weekender Sweater ! Of course, that didn't mean I started it right away, but then the stars aligned yet again when the Corner of Knit & Tea blog/podcast announced a Brown Sheep Sweater-Along that began on September 1 of this year. I knit my swatch in August and was ready to cast on once the calendar turned to September. Then I got a secret sample knitting commission and had a few other distractions pop up, and didn't get to work on this sweater as much as I thought. By the time November rol...

In all of my 10+ years of knitting, would you believe that I have never tried a sock blank?! I've admired them on Instagram and at fiber shows but have never actually used one until I was sent a very lovely and luxurious blank to try out from Zen Yarn Garden . Part of a Zulily event, these blanks were produced in limited quantities and I'm not sure if the exact blank I used is currently available. They're approximately 400 yards of a 90% superfine superwash merino blended with 10% nylon, and the colorway I received was Midnight Stroll. BUT the good news is that Zen Yarn Garden is offering a new kind of sock blank in their online store right now, called Luxe Blanx , and they're a blend of merino, cashmere and silk (oh my!) and have a whopping 750 yards per blank. Before I talk about the pattern I knit and how much I loved the yarn, let's have a quick conversation about what a sock blank is and how to use it. A sock blank refers to a piece of fabric that has ...

I was really excited to try out the new superwash yarn from Brown Sheep, Stratosphere . In fact, this yarn was sent to me near the end of the summer, and I am a bit overdue in posting my review (oops!). That's not the yarn's fault, however; I happened to bite off more than I could chew in my pattern choice, the Color Block Cowl from Purl Soho. It's not that the pattern was difficult to knit, but it was fussy. Each stitch pattern used the technique of knitting into the row before, which is actually quite easy to do - but again, fussy. Especially when you are working from all 3 skeins. Also, I don't know if it was just my newness to the technique or if this is typical of patterns like this, but I found that the fabric edges were a little messy looking when working with more than 1 color. As a result, there were some days and even weeks where I just didn't feel like picking it up to work on, which made me feel a but guilty, because I loved the yarn and I knew...

It's not often when you find a pattern you don't mind knitting again and again (or maybe that's just me?!). But when you do, it's nice to have that old favorite ready to go whenever you need a quick gift or a soothing knit. When I originally designed A Most Addictive Slipped Stitch Hat , it used one of my favorite yarns from Bijou Basin Ranch, Himalayan Trail. I knit both of the samples pictured in the original version of the pattern (which then went on to become display pieces in the Bijou Basin Ranch booth), plus another one I got to keep for myself . Recently, the yarn base originally used in the pattern was discontinued, and they have sold out of nearly all remaining stock - but the good news is that project kits for this pattern are still available, because I worked with the folks at Bijou to rework the pattern to use their newest yarn, Himalayan Summit ! This crisp fingering weight yarn is really delightful to work with, and the 50/50 yak and merino b...

After spending most of last month working on a top secret test knitting project, it feels like forever since I've gotten to share a finished knit on here. I have an uncomfortable (for me) amount of WIPs currently on the needles at the moment, and my hope is to spend November fixing that problem so that I can start some new & exciting projects over the holiday break next month. Back in September, I was sent some yarn for review from the generous folks at Kraemer Yarns, who have provided yarn and fiber for several reviews over the past few years, such as July's needle felted ornament tutorial , the Knit for Baby sweater kit review from this past Spring, and a solar yarn dyeing tutorial from 2016 . Each time, I've been impressed with the products they send me, which are all beautifully made at their mill in Nazareth, Pennsylvania using domestically-sourced fibers. After working with the Mauch Roving for the needle felting tutorial (and also carding the leftover fiber ...

When I was a tween/teen, I used to love making my own jewelry. I would go to my local bead store, which was called Nomadic Notions, and would buy way too many beads and charms. Mostly I made myself necklaces and earrings, and that crazy thing is that I never learned the right way to open and close a jump ring . It's true. Only recently have I learned this skill thanks to the folks at Solid Oak Inc , who share a handy free PDF covering basic jewelry making techniques here on their site . Not to long ago, the kind folks at Solid Oak sent me a ton of goodies to play with, and I've been experimenting with different ideas over the last month or so. Nowadays, I don't wear a lot of jewelry, and when I do it tends to be something that's small and simple. My first (and favorite) project is this minimalist arrow necklace using a few pieces from their Estrella line: At first, I thought that the CZ arrow charm would be a bit too bling-tastic for my usual jeans-and-a-t-shi...

Being a handspinner has its perks: you can create the exact yarn you want in terms of fiber content, color, and structure, provided you have the proper skill and materials. If you don't spin, you have to rely on the yarns you find in shops and at fiber festivals, which means that you can't always get your hands on a specific fiber, especially if it happens to be rare. The good news is that yarn producers are starting to get hip to the whole breed-specific thing, and now there are all kinds of unusual yarns and blends available to folks who might otherwise not encounter them outside of a fiber festival. Over the years I've enjoyed exploring specific breeds of sheep, from Polwarth to Gotland and all points in between. Last year, I purchased some Shetland batts at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival from Whispering Pines , a small farm in Wisconsin that raises registered Shetland Sheep. My fiber came with a photo of their sheep and some stats on the specific one who...

There's no worse feeling than looking down at your work and noticing a mistake several rows back, or - worse yet - a dropped stitch! When I was newer to knitting, this usually meant that I had to rip back several hours or ever days of work; sometimes, I would even restart the whole project from scratch. I wish I had known back then just how easy it is to fix this type of mistake without  all of that frogging. The simplest mistake to fix is a dropped stitch in stockinette. While knitting on my So Faded sweater recently, I noticed that I'd managed to drop a stitch and not notice it for several rounds. Here's what it looked like by the time I noticed the problem: Notice that there is a removable stitch marker in the dropped stitch - this is to prevent it from dropping down any further until I could fix it, as I noticed this mistake while knitting on the go. It's always a good idea to have a few removable stitch markers in your purse or project bag for just such ...

Decluttering my office and craft room is an ongoing quest of mine. Earlier in the year, my focus was destashing yarn (both handspun and otherwise) to avoid overwhelming SABLE anxiety . Many skeins have found lovely forever homes already, although there are still some good things up for grabs on my Ravelry destash page and also in my Etsy shop if you are so inclined. Once the Great Yarn Destash of 2018 was under way, I turned my attention to all of the finished items I never wear of use. I have piles and piles of them - it's madness! So I set up a shop on a new Etsy competitor site called Aftcra where I could host my first-ever sample sale . OH MY GOD! WE'RE HAVING A SAMPLE SALE! Everyone on my newsletter list got first pick, but there's still plenty of good things up for grabs. There are hats, scarves, fingerless gloves, cowls, toys, bags and more, and everything is basically priced at the cost of the yarn so you really can't find a better deal. Also, everythi...