handmade by stefanie

Last month, I finally stopped by Firefly Fiber Arts, a new (ish?) LYS here in Chicago. I ended up purchasing a skein of Woolfolk Luft, an interesting yarn consisting of extremely soft, fluffy merino fiber blown into a tube of mesh cotton. I've never knit with anything like it, and I thought it would make the perfect hat to match my new winter coat. After spending hours on Ravelry, I finally decided to make the Take Away hat by Nancy Eiseman; I just wanted something simple to let the unique structure of the yarn take center stage. I knew it would be cutting it close in terms of yardage for the size I wanted to make, but figured it was worth the risk. In the end, it became pretty clear that I would run out of yarn if I followed the instructions for my size as written, so I ended up knitting til my hat measured 8 inches from the CO edge, and then did 3 rounds of quick decreases to get down to 10 stitches, which I then pulled close with the remaining yarn. I realize that this...

Earlier this summer, I purchased my first-ever gradient yarn cake while visiting The Studio in Kansas City. They just happened to be hosting a trunk show from Apple Tree Knits, and I absolutely couldn't resist grabbing a skein of Plush Fingering in a pretty purple-to-blue gradient. Unbelievably, this is the only photo I took of this yarn before casting on, and I have to say it's not my best effort, nor is it my favorite (But hey, free Royals sunglasses!!): I spent a lot of time pondering what to make with this yarn - quite honestly, I was plagued with indecision as to what type of project would be best. But then I remembered seeing this gorgeous project on the Knitted Bliss blog , and I decided to shamelessly copy Julie's idea and cast on for a Starshower cowl .  Since I have issues styling shawls on myself, this is the ideal pattern for me: it's worn like a cowl but looks kinda like a shawl, and features the best parts of knitting both projects, which I like. ...

Another baby sweater is off the needles and ready to be gifted - and this time I stepped outside of my comfort zone to try a new-to-me pattern, the Beatrix baby sweater by Courtney Kelley, which is from the Kelbourne Woolens Baby Collection. While I absolutely love all of the Kelbourne/Fibre Company yarns, they do not make a machine washable option that I am aware of, so I subbed in with some superwash merino yarn. That's not my only modification, though - the pattern is written for a DK weight on US 3 needles, but since the yarn I subbed in was a worsted weight, I wanted to bump up a few needle sizes to US 6. I ended up knitting a gauge swatch to figure out what my corresponding SPI (stitches per inch) would be so that I could figure out what instructions to follow for the size I wanted to make. I wanted to knit the 12-18 month size, so at 6 SPI, I ended up following the stitch counts for the smallest size, but the written measurements for the intended size. So, that mea...

Part of the appeal of a chunky or bulky weight sweater probably has something to do with how quickly it knits up...but I wouldn't really know, because I spent exactly 10 months knitting this sweater! The pattern is the Rockling Cardigan from Graphic Knits, and I used the called-for yarn, Cascade Eco+. It turned out a little larger than I was expecting, especially in the sleeves: ..but I can fold up the cuffs and make it work: The idea is that this would be a snuggly layering sweater, so I'm ok with an excess of positive ease....although we discovered that it fits Tyler (albeit snugly), so perhaps I went a little overboard in that department? Honestly, it's been so long since I started this project that I can't even recall whether or not I got gauge - and of course, I kept no notes whatsoever, because why would I want to refer back to those at any point?! Last fall, I bought these fun owl buttons to use on this sweater, thinking I would have it fi...

Over the holiday weekend, I finished my project for the June Cashmere Mystery KAL ! This was a free pattern using 1 skein of June Cashmere Lace Weight yarn - you could totally do 2 skeins if you are so inclined, however! I used up nearly every bit of my 1 skein of lace to make this cowl: That little bit of yarn is the total amount I had left over after binding off! The reason I decided to do this MKAL is because it was choose-your-own-adventure style - that is, each week you had at least 2 stitch patterns to choose from, giving you lots of options to create a finished project you're sure to love. Here's what I did to create mine: Crochet cast on 180 stitches and knit 1 inch of garter stitch for border, which took 8 g of yarn. Clue 1: Six repeats of Dot Stitch pattern. Purl 1 round. Clue 2: Two repeats of Chevron Stitch pattern. Purl 1 round. Clue 3: Three repeats of Mock Cable Stitch pattern. Purl 1 round  Clue 4: Two repeats of Double Diagonal Stitch pattern. P...

Between launching a  new free hat pattern  and celebrating Tyler's birthday (which was on Wednesday), it's been a rather busy week. Also, I totally forgot to share my first guest post from the Interweave blog that went live  last  Friday -  click here to check it out ! Anyway, in the midst of everything, I managed to squeeze in a quick photo shoot for this fun cowl that I recently knit with some of my handspun yarn : I can't seem to find any record as to what this fiber is, or where I purchased it, since it was spun for a Tour de Fleece long before I stated to keep better records in my spinning notebook. BUT, I can at least tell you what pattern I used: the  Aspen Cowl by Andi Javori  (note: affiliate link). This was a fairly easy knitting project, and it was fast, too - I just love patterns like that! . The stitch repeats were easy to "read" as I worked, so a lot of mistakes I would normally make were easily avoided just by taking a ...

Last weekend, I finished a several crafty projects (all the better to start new ones, right?!). First, some fingerless mitts which used the leftover yarns from the Fade : The pattern called for US 4 needles and fingering weight yarn, and I thought that might be a little too loose for my liking so I went down a needle size. I should have knit a few more rows to make up for the gauge difference, but that didn't occur to me til I had already grafted both mittens together. There was no way I was going to rip them back to knit a few more rows! I also finally finished the destash scarf that's been on my loom for several weeks now. All it took was an afternoon baseball game to knock out the final 20 inches of weaving! Since I was able to get the loom cleared off on Saturday, that left Sunday for warping a new project: I'm using handspun for both the warp and  the weft. The warp is a two-ply Louet Merino and I'll be weaving with a skein of Cloudlover Superwas...

I finally have an FO to share this week - these simple striped mittens using both skeins of yarn from my first shipment of Mountain Meadow Wool's Legacy Yarn Club : I used a free pattern from Kelbourne Woolens, the Lychee Mittens , and two skeins of  Mountain Meadow Wool Tweed Worsted (you can read more about the yarn here ). This was also the perfect opportunity to use my new mitten blockers! I really enjoyed working with this yarn - it just felt good in my hands. If I had to elaborate more, the best I can do is describe it as crisp, the perfect blend of softness while still feeling substantial and durable. Though it's it's a 3-ply, it wasn't the slightest bit splitty as I knit. Hooray for finished mittens! The resulting mittens feel so warm and cozy; I could totally see myself making a sweater out of it down the road (you know, when I finish the two sweaters currently on my needles and work through the various sweater quantities of yarn still lurkin...

Another long-term project has finally found its way off the needles: the Matchmaker I started in mid-October of last year is done! The best smile I could muster - it was cold! I used 2 skeins of Tibetan Dream sock yarn from Bijou Basin Ranch in some limited edition colors dyed by Miss Babs, Lenore and Raven (I believe both are still available here if you are interested). The pattern is Martina Behm's Matchmaker ; I didn't make any modifications, unless you count the third color "design element" at the end, when I ran out of both yarn colors and had to sub in something left over in my stash - oops! It blends in surprisingly well... I thought about buying another skein of Lenore to finish this project, and I very nearly frogged the light gray pictured above in favor of doing so, but once I slept on it and took another look at this project in the light of day, I realized that I was ok with the 11th hour substitution...plus, if you wear it cowl-style...

In September when my grandmother passed away, and I inherited a garter stitch scarf  that she had started but never finished.  She was just barely one-fourth of the way through, so I had quite a ways to go to finish what she started. Since I'm not really a rectangular scarf knitter these days, I was worried that I would let this languish, so I decided to keep it in my office so that I could sneak in a few rows during conference calls or whenever my laptop was restarting.  This ended up being a good idea, because less than two months later, it's off the needles! I'm not sure who I'll be gifting it to just yet; I'm even toying with the idea of keeping it for myself (more than a few Instagram peeps have cast their vote in favor of this and we all know that the internet is never wrong).  I'm a little sad to have finished this since it was a nice way to connect with her daily as I knit on it, but I do have plenty of mementos in my house which remind me of ...

My pals Leah and Teresa are working on a book of designs inspired by Twin Peaks, and as a Kickstarter backer, I have been getting early access to each pattern as they are finished. The latest is the Laura + Maddy Mittens , for which they hosted a KAL on Ravelry recently. I knit my mittens with a limited edition yarn from Bijou Basin Ranch called Big Bijou Bliss (aka BBB), which is aworsted weight version of their sport weight yarn, Bijou Bliss. Both are a blend of yak and cormo wool, and I chose a skein of BBB in a hand-dyed colorway from their Indie Dyer series - since snagging this skein at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival, I believe it has sold out, but there are plenty more options here on their website if you are interested. I made the smallest size option to fit my weirdly tiny hands (they are seriously small for a person of my stature...I exaggerate noe), and also shortened up the cuffs since I am not a fan of extremely long mittens (there are helpful in...

These two baby sweaters have been finished since the middle of August, but the buttons I ordered never showed up! After about a month of anxiously checking the mail box each day, I finally called the company I ordered from to ask why they still hadn't shown up. Apparently, they were on a truck that had yet to be unpacked for that entire 4 weeks. Ummm....ok. I ended up canceling the order and seized the opportunity to buy some buttons while I was in Kansas City last week and had access to a car. Honestly, I think I'm better off - these buttons are way cuter than the ones I picked up which are probably  still  on that truck. I used two skeins of Rowan Pure Wool to make a heavily modified version of the Easy Baby Cardigan from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Not sure I'd knit this pattern with these mods again, since it made it way more fussy, but the results are cute and I can't wait to finally gift these!

My WIPS have multiplied! I went a little crazy and started several new projects since last week. First, I needed an easier on-the-go-project, so I grabbed some yarn from my stash and started a simple bias striped scarf ...with lace weight yarn?! Clearly, it was a moment of insanity, but I really love the yarn - - Seraphim from Bijou Basin Ranch, a really soft angora with a hint of viscose. Speaking of Bijou Basin Ranch, I have a new cowl pattern out this week which uses another one of their lovely yarns, a yak/bamboo blend called Lhasa Wilderness. Here's my KAL project which I started on Monday; there is plenty of time to join our KAL, and you can find more details here if you are so inclined.  The sock project I shared last week did indeed end up getting frogged so that I could knit a different type of heel. After much thought, I decided to cross something off of my knitting bucket list by trying out the Fish Lips Kiss heel, and I'm so glad I did! I think t...

I finally finished a pair of socks ! The yarn is a custom blend of 100% BFL from Succulent Fibers that I got in a sock yarn club earlier this year - I call the color light saber green. The pattern is something I made up and should probably turn into a pattern at some point, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy having an actual pair of socks fresh off the needles.