handmade by stefanie

I'm guessing I'm not alone in this sentiment; seems like it's been a rough year for a lot of people I know. On a personal level, this year just flat-out sucked. Obviously, I lost my mojo for regular blogging, but beyond that I lost my last remaining grandparent at the end of the summer, followed by my beloved cat Tilly, one week before my birthday. Can you even remember back to January of this year when I boldly declared my 2019 Make Nine ? I nearly forgot, til I saw someone post an update of their progress on Instagram...so I went back to my original post and realized I only made 2 of the 9 projects I'd planned. Oops. It was just that kind of year. I ended up finishing more things that I thought I would overall - I'd set my Ravelry challenge to 30 FO's for 2019  after making only 40 of 50 in 2018. Ironically, I surpassed 30 projects by early fall of this year, so I reset the goal to 40, and am currently at 44 projects for this year (hopefully I can eke out

On Sunday, November 10 we said goodbye to one of our cats, Tilly. She was 17 years old and from the same litter as our other cat, Robin. We got them when we were living in Portland, OR, and they've been through a lot ever since then, moving from Portland to Kansas City for a brief stop before moving to Chicago 14 years ago. If you follow me on Instagram , you were frequently treated to Tilly's antics - she was always in the thick of things, and had the energy of a kitten until fairly recently, when old age must have finally caught up. Ironically, she was shy around strangers and would almost always hide when people came over to our house. Working from home, I appreciated having another critter to talk to throughout the day (she was VERY talkative!). We had a Saturday morning ritual: she would snuggle in the spot between me and the arm of the couch, and I would knit, drink tea, watch anime, and pet her every now and again as we both eased into the day. Tilly was my chi

Since my last post about WIPs/FOs back in September , I've finished a surprising amount of projects (at least, for me - I'm a really slow knitter!). I know it's not a Wednesday when I would usually share a blog post, but I just couldn't wait any longer to show off these finished projects! Purl Thief Shawl by Kalurah Hudson This is my freshest FO, and it's been a bit of a slow burner: I started this shawl on the Amtrak train down to Kansas City at the end of August, and it's been my "on the go" project ever since. Considering I don't leave the house a whole lot, that means I've bene working on it off and on ever since casting on, so finishing it is a huge win! The yarn is a gradient yarn cake from Zen Yarn Garden that I picked up at Stitches Midwest earlier this year, and I basically just knit the pattern repeats til I ran out of yarn! It's a really simple pattern, but I still managed to mess it up time and time again, necessitating a

In our obsessive zeal to knit all the things, many of us knitters (or crocheters, or weavers!) may be forgoing self-care in favor of more crafting time. It's tempting, but when you get to the point that you absolutely cannot do the thing you love because it's so painful, it's the worst! Believe me, I know....I've been knitting for over 10 years, and there have been times when aches and pains have kept me away from my yarn and needles for days at a time. Getting back to a place where you can knit pain-free is a process, and it requires more than just one quick fix. But the impact that CBD has made in my pain management routine has been huge - it's a real game changer. So today I want to share a little bit about how and why I use CBD, with the hope that this helps someone else going through similar issues. First, a common sense warning: always know what you're taking and do your own research. If you have serious medical conditions or take RX meds, ask your doc

When you go yarn shopping, have you ever noticed that there are different shapes and sizes for the skeins of yarn on the shelf? Yarn for knitting or crocheting is most commonly sold in three different forms: balls, skeins, and hanks. As the name would imply, balls are a nice, round shape, and you can begin working with the yarn directly from them. Similarly, skeins also come ready to knit (or crochet); the yarn in a skein is more loosely wrapped than a ball, to create a more oblong shape. Hanks of yarn are wound into a large circle and then twisted; these yarns need to be wound into a ball before use. Left: mini skeins from October House Fiber Arts; Right: Katahdin from Miss Babs There are three ways to wind hanks of yarn into cakes which can be used for knitting or crocheting, and I'll give you an overview of each one on today's post! To get started, open the hank and remove any ties that might be securing the skein (these are often on hand-dyed yarns to pre

Sorry for the radio silence, I ended up taking an unexpected 11-day trip back to Kansas City earlier this month and I just didn't feel like blogging. So I didn't. And to be completely honest, as this dumpster fire of a year rolls on, I find myself less and less motivated to maintain my blog and social media presence (such as it is) in favor of spending more time doing things IRL. I'm hoping to find something of a balance this fall since I do still enjoy writing and sharing the crafty things I'm learning and doing here, and I assume that someone somewhere likes to read about it. At least I hope so! With that in mind, I thought a good first step would be to get back to blogging every Wednesday(ish), starting with a recap of what I've been working on lately. The key word is simple knits. To wit: I just finished a Boxy Worsted pullover in Malabrigo Twist - miles and miles of stockinette stitch on pitch black yarn. Impossible to photograph, but something I predict I