handmade by stefanie

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...