handmade by stefanie

For the past 3 years, I've made it a point to knit at least a few bears for the Mother Bear Project, which is a wonderful non-profit  dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children, primarily those affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the form of hand-knit and crocheted bears.  They have  patterns available for purchase  as well as everything-you-need kits which include yarn, the pattern, and knitting needles or a crochet hook.  For this year's batch o' bears, I decided to use one of my favorite yarn brands which I turn to time and time again - Brown Sheep . This is a brand of yarn I've been using since the early years of my knitting life. Back then, I was attracted by the affordability that didn't sacrifice quality. And there were so many colors to choose from in each yarn base! Over the years, I learned more about their story: they're a family owned company located in Western Nebraska, and have been working to im...

It's been a while since I've blogged - almost 3 months, to be precise. Sorry for running silent, but during that time, we were in the process of relocating from Chicago to Kansas City. If you think that moving to a new state is stressful under normal conditions, then you can imagine how fun it is during a pandemic. There were many factors that went into making this decision - which, of course, was not easy. However, COVID-19 made it pretty darn clear that we needed to be closer to our friends and family in KC. Perhaps the most undeniable sign was when a dear family member died suddenly right before the virus hit -  literally  right before, as in the very week before the state of Illinois began its Shelter in Place order. He was a very private person who didn't like social media, so I don't feel as though I can share the details surrounding his death, but it was not COVID-related. I wish we were the only ones who have lost a loved one during this time, but of cours...