handmade by stefanie

Don't miss  Craftsy 's Dog Days of Summer Sale happening now! Enjoy up to 50% off ALL online classes on a variety of crafty topics. You know you'll be glad you took advantage of this sale come fall, which is just around the corner!  I have taken several excellent Craftsy courses since joining the site, and I've reviewed many of them right here on my blog: Amigurumi Woodland Animals Review #1  with Stacey Trock Amigurumi Woodland Animals Review #2  with Stacey Trock Celtic Cables  with Carol Feller (includes link for 30% off class registration) Crochet Lab  with Vickie Howell Crochet: Beyond Rectangles  with Linda Permann Custom Cabled Pullovers  (includes link for 50% off class registration) Know Your Wool (free class!)  with Deb Robson Mittens and Gloves Galore  with Marly Bird (includes link for 50% off class registration) How to Say It: Pattern Writing for Knitters  with Edie Eckman There are lots of new a...

I confess, weaving in the ends on a finished project is one of those tasks I tend to procrastinate. It seems like I have to get in the exact right mood, and to do so, I need to spend about a week psyching myself up for a session of finishing work. What's strange is that I kind of enjoy it....once I finally get started, that is! So why do I always put it off the next time I have a project with a lot of ends to weave in?! I really don't know!  At any rate, I have totally finished and blocked my Faux Fair Isle Mittens , which were a class project from Marly Bird's excellent Mittens & Gloves Galore Craftsy class ( click here for my review and 50% off your class signup!). I absolutely LOVE how these turned out!  I ended up stash-diving to use a skein of Lorna's Laces sock yarn I'd custom dyed as the main color (the top and bottom skein pictured above), then various leftover bits of sock yarn to simulate the long color repeats of the yarn that was...

It seems like I'm not the only one suffering from Startitis this month! I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I suppose it's nice to be in good company. Over the weekend, I started a new spinning project which has been on my mental to-do list for a little while now: After first hearing about opposing-ply yarns on the We Are Yarn podcast, I've been wanting to try this technique to spin a sport-weight(ish) yarn to knit myself a pair of socks. A few months ago, I ordered 8 oz. of Superwash BFL from Nerd Girl Yarns in the #hashtag colorway , and I knew immediately that this was the fiber I should use for this project! Last night, I finished the third single, and tonight I hope to ply all 3 together...and I am already planning my next  spinning project, too! I also started a baby sweater from 60 Quick Baby Knits in some superwash yarn I'd custom dyed back when I worked at Lorna's Laces. It's not super-exciting to look at just yet, but ...

Alert the media: my chevron yak socks finally resemble something you could put a foot into! I grafted everything together on Monday, and it's a nice, snug fit. Now I just need to knit the cuff and toe, although I think I will make the second sock first. I also made some major progress on my Craftsy class project , the Faux Fair Isle mittens - look, I'm on constrast color #3!: What helped is blowing up the colorwork chart about 200%, since I always have a problem with how small most colorwork charts are. It's amazing to me how much faster I can work when I'm not squinting at impossibly tiny squares. Click here for 50% off the Mittens and Gloves Galore class on Craftsy! I also have a new project, which is this month's FreshStitches kit club ! Hopefully this doesn't spoil the surprise if your kit hasn't arrived yet...especially since I just found out that this month's kit is a pattern exclusive! Last but not least, I replenished my miniskein gr...

I'm still making progress on my yak-tacular chevron socks : ...but I have also started a few new projects to satisfy my craving to work with more colorful yarn options! First, I am crocheting a miniature bunting to hang in my kitchen using a modified version of the Rainbow Bunting pattern from Modern Baby Crochet and some destash yarn: I also decided to pair some of my most colorful sock yarns with these two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (pictured below at top and bottom) which have been lurking in my stash for several years; the color is something I custom-dyed myself and dubbed "Inky," And I always thought it would be a great choice for some sort of colorwork pattern. Colors L-R: Louet Gems Fingering in Sunset, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Island Blue, Baah La Jolla in Tequila Lime and Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock in Lemon Curd.  It's been a while since I've blogged about Craftsy , but I recently have been revisiting some of the c...

Searching for the perfect pullover? Learn the ins and outs of sweater construction from the executive editor of Vogue Knitting , Carla Scott. Custom Cabled Pullovers  will show you how to create your ideal cabled pullover from start to finish, covering essential areas such as: taking accurate measurements how to incorporate cables and 'filler' stitches into your design swatching several stitch patterns and measuring gauge calculating increases and decreases to achieve the best fit possible cabling without a cable needle professional finishing techniques - blocking, seaming, and picking up stitches I'm excited to share this special deal with you:  click here to sign up for 50% off your course registration on Craftsy.com! You might like to know: This featured content was not solicited by the good people at Vogue Knitting or Craftsy.com . Your class purchase helps keep this blog running! 

Click here for 50% off your class registration! This review is long overdue; I was originally hoping to post it last December, but holiday gift knitting and crocheting took over all of my brain power, and it became my white whale on my blogging to-do list. Honestly, I have to thank my husband for finally getting me back in the class review swing of things - if he hadn't needed a new pair of gloves because his  current gloves  (knit in 2008, mind you) kept springing holes, I might still be procrastinating. I've taken several Craftsy classes in the last year, but I still watched the introduction, even though I feel well-versed in all of the bells and whistles the  Craftsy platform provides. It's always nice to get to know the instructor (although in this case, I've had the pleasure of getting to know Marly at trade shows and other knitting events), plus she outlines what the class will cover and shows each of the projects that will be made along the ...