handmade by stefanie

Although this dusty blog would suggest otherwise, I am still making stuff (and things)! My output has slowed considerably this year, especially when it comes to knitting projects. Sewing face masks has become one of my top weekend activities, and I've also been doing a lot more cross stitch this year after getting obsessed with The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery 's postage stamp series. Over the spring and summer, I ended up stitching the Pinata Party, Winter Wonderland and Snow Much Fun at the North Pole.! Fun fact: all 3 pieces were stitched on aida fabric that I dyed myself.   Currently, I'm working on Satsuma Street's Pretty Little Chicago to commemorate the 15 years we spent living in the Windy City.  Not all of my FO's from this year are what I would call notable, though - I won't bore you with photos of every single thing here, but you can check my Ravelry notebook if you're curious. I knit a lot of very plain hats this year, many with handspun, and virt...

I'm dubbing this year's celebration Maskmas , which was the theme of our holiday card: Our plan it to be extremely choosy and careful with how we celebrate the holidays outside of our own home - restricting ourselves to very small groups (i.e. immediate family only) for limited amounts of time indoors, while wearing face masks, of course. Speaking of face masks, I passed the 300-mask milestone not too long ago! My 299th and 300th masks were Christmas Yoda masks for my nephews in Portland:  And if you don't follow me on Instagram, you might have missed the biggest news to close out this year (for me, anyway): I got a new job ! After spending the past decade at Stitchcraft Marketing, I felt like it was time for a change. Leaving my colleagues and clients (most of whom were truly great friends, too) was the hardest part, but now that I've got a few weeks at Missouri Star under my belt, I can say with 100% certainty that it was the right move. I'm learning a lot about S...

Although Sock Pals signups have closed, you can still treat yourself to something yarny from Knit 1! I'm so pleased to be one of 4 designers in the inaugural subscription box for 2021 , which you can pre-order here ! Not only will you save $20 just for signing up early, you'll also get a surprise BONUS box of goodies during the year. Oh joy!  There will be 4 boxes which will be mailed (or available for in-store pickup) in January, April, July & October 2021. Each one will include exclusive knitting patterns, supplies (including Knit 1 yarn) for the exclusive project, plus fun notions. If you live in Chicago, you can pick up in-store, and if you aren't local you have the option to get each one delivered right to your doorstep. There will be an option to order individual boxes when they come out, if you don't want to commit to a full year's subscription...but if you buy the full year right now during the pre-sale, you'll get some nice extras and perks !  Each ...

Although I don't knit socks as frequently as I used to, there's something about fall that makes me want to start a pair of socks. Of course, after you finish that first sock, some of the thrill is gone. I usually get sock #1 off the needles and then think "oh man, I have to do all of that AGAIN???" In my early sock knitting days, I never suffered from Second Sock Syndrome. I was always ready and willing to knit that second sock right away, no delay. But as the years wore on and I started exploring other projects, I would get distracted by a sweater or a hat or a shawl and that second sock would not be so enticing. For a while, knitting socks two-at-a-time was a good solution to the problem...that is, until I realized that managing two socks on tiny needles using magic loop was majorly aggravating my golfer's (knitter's?) elbow. My last pair of two-at-a-time socks on magic loop took 3 years to finish for that very reason! One of my Chicago friends who happens ...

I can't believe it's been two weeks since we said goodbye to Robin (and it's been just barely a year since his sister passed away ).  I know that 18 years is a really long time for a cat to live - especially one who's had a terminal illness for ten of those years - but it still sucks, and we miss our little guy. He endured a lot to be here: daily fluid sessions, a variety of medications, prescription food. It was always on his terms though - he decided every day whether or not he wanted to cooperate. For ten years he did. When he stopped, we respected his wishes and knew it was time to let him go.   Thankfully, even though things are still pandemic-y here (and everywhere...uggh), we were able to be in the room with him, while wearing masks of course. 2020 has definitely become the year of "I never though I would have to do _____" and that is just another in a series of things I've added to that list.  Moving during a pandemic wasn't fun, either, but I...