handmade by stefanie

First up, thanks to everyone who entered this month's giveaway and all of our wonderful sponsors -  Gleener, Love + Leche, Allure Fiber Wash, and Knitter's Pride!  The Random Number Generator has selected our lucky winners:  Prize Pack 1 -  Gleener Dapper Dog Tote, Knitter's Pride Nova Platina fixed circular needles, and Love + Leche lemongrass mini lotion bar. Congratulations SaturnLu1! Prize Pack 2 -  Gleener Rockin' Owl Tote, Knitter's Pride Nova Platina fixed circular needles, and Love + Leche cedarwood mini lotion bar. Congratulations Laura M! Prize Pack 3 -  Gleener Ultimate Fuzz Remover in Punch Buggy Pink and Unscented Allure Fiber Wash. Congratulations  @nanoadri! Prize Pack 4 -  Gleener On the Go Travel Fuzz Remover and Woodland Mist Allure Fiber Wash. Congratulations spiralstrings108! I'll get in touch with you to arrange for the delivery of your prizes!  In other news, yesterday was the last day for...

The good news is that I finished a lot of projects over the weekend. The bad news is that I didn't start any new ones in their place, and instead just plodded along on any WIPs that remain. So this is going to be a very, very  short post! I'm about halfway done with the sleeves for my Broad Shoulders cardigan . Will I be finished in time for the KAL's end date of next Monday?! Place your bets now! There's no change in the granny square situation , and though I have been working on my Hunter Hammersen hat (say that five times fast), you really can't tell...so there's no use in boring you with a photo. The only project which has truly made a stunning transformation is the crocheted fox hat , which is a few more pieces (and a nightmare of ends to weave in) away from being done. That's it for this week. If you are looking for a little more excitement, I recommend checking out my Monday blog post, which has 4 really great prizes up for grabs! These 4 ...

It's been about 5 weeks since the Broad Shoulders Midwestern Knits KAL started, and I am nowhere near where I thought I'd be! My proposed "schedule" which I drafted at the start of the KAL was this: September Goal: Work body up to Central Chicago section (that’s four stitch pattern sections spread over 2.5 weeks - I think we can probably get further than that with any luck!)  October Goal: Finish body and work sleeve 1.  November Goal: Work sleeve 2 & buttonband. Since the KAL actually ends on December 14, that allows two weeks for catching up...and I am clearly going to need it! By the end of September, I'd barely gotten through the first two stitch patterns. September turned out to be the busiest month ever - both in terms of work and general life stuff. By the time I had a chance to sit down and knit at the end of the day, my brain was fried, and I had a hard time handling anything other than stockinette stitch. In fact, when I did attempt to kni...

Spinzilla started at 12:01 AM on October 5, and I have been spinning up a storm with every free moment I get. Since the start, I have filled a total of 5 bobbins: the three at the bottom are spun from  Louet Jacob fiber, the top right was spun from some of my blending board rolags, and the top right is a braid of fiber from the Cloudlover fiber club. I know my original plan was to wait til Spinzilla was over to ply, but that cake of singles you see in the photo above didn't go so well (the other side is NOT a pretty picture!). I decided to ply all of the Jacob singles into a 3-ply so that my Victoria bobbins could be efficiently cleared, and then I really went for broke, spinning with more blending board rolags and nearly filled a sixth  bobbin! It's safe to say that Spinzilla is off to a great start for me. Of course, I haven't found much time to knit, but I did make some progress on my WIPs over the weekend. For instance, I realized that I hadn't ripped far enou...

Last Wednesday night, I discovered that I had inexplicably cast on 100 extra stitches from my Broad Shoulders KAL project. I don't even know how that's possible, but that's just the kind of crazy stuff my brain seems to enjoy doing lately. Thank goodness I discovered the mistake early on - having 5 extraneous stitches at the end of the first row of the first stitch pattern section was a major tip-off...though you would think that the unusually large size of the ribbing would have been my first clue. At any rate, I ripped out the entire thing and started again. By the start of the weekend, I was ready to start the first stitch pattern once more, and I am now halfway through that section: It's been slow going for most of my projects because there is just so much stuff  going on right now. I'm not even finished with the third clue of the Perspectives MKAL ! The final clue comes out tomorrow, so I definitely need to put some hustle in my bustle to get caught up:...

On Monday, the Sweater of Broad Shoulders KAL kicked off ( click here if you missed it! ). I've made a modest bit of progress since Monday - hello, 1x1 ribbing! I am still plugging away on my  other  gray sweater , but I feel like I'm basically posting the same progress photo each week, even though the sweater is just a little  bit longer each time! That's also how I'm feeling about the Leonarda wrap I have on the needles - progress is being made, but is it really exciting to see the same photo of a blobby work in progress? I'm assuming no (correct me if I'm wrong in the comments!) and skipping over these two projects to get to what's actually seeing the most noticeable change....for example, I'm finished with the second clue of the Perspectives MKAL and anxiously awaiting Clue #3, which comes out tomorrow! Unbelievably, I've resurrected the destash mitered square blanket this week thanks to the #BlanketMadness KAL that's happening on I...

The Sweater of Broad Shoulders KAL  starts today in the Midwestern Knits Ravelry Group !  Read more about this Chicago-inspired sweater here on the Sweatshop of Love blog . We'll be knitting along for the next three months here on Ravelry and I hope you'll join us! There are several other KALS happening this fall featuring projects from Midwestern Knits (click here for more info). If you don't own a copy of Midwestern Knits , you're in luck - TODAY ONLY, you can get 20% off your eBook purchase by entering the coupon code KALKickOff at checkout!  KAL Prizes Include (everyone who finished by the deadline will win): Pattern of your choice from Allyson Dykhuizen, Carina Ferguson, or pattern designer Grand prizes include (3 grand prize winners): MWK project bag River Walk kit (yarn + project bag) Screen printed tote bag But guess what? I have an extra-special surprise, just for my blog readers: 2 lucky people will win their choice of a super-cute anima...