handmade by stefanie

This might be the first time I have ever knit a sweater for myself twice, but I wear the first So Faded Sweater that I made so much, I decided to knit another one! This time, instead of destashing a hodgepodge of fingering weight yarns, I purchased a set of skeins specifically for this purpose from an indie dyer I discovered at last year's YarnCon, Black Cat Fibers . My color palette is Vamp, Dirt Nap, Alchemy and Quarry, dyed on the Nomad Sock base, which is a 4-ply fingering superwash merino/nylon blend (75/25). Each skein has a generous 463 yards, so I have a nice bit of yarn left over in each color, and as you can see, this sweater ended up being tunic length!  Hooray for handknit sweaters!! Just like the first one, it fits great and I love wearing it (can you tell?!). The yarn feels nice and soft against my skin, but I think it will wear well over time. I can't believe it took me eight months to knit this thing....even for me, that's slow! However...

My favorite yarn/fiber event took place here in Chicago last weekend - YarnCon ! I went with a friend to shop the marketplace for a few hours on Saturday afternoon and managed to make only 1 purchase: 4 skeins of gorgeous hand-dyed yarn from Black Cat Fibers , which I plan to use for another So Faded Sweater : R-L: Vamp, Alchemy, Dirt Nap and Quarry I don't think I've ever knit a sweater twice, but I really like how my first one turned out, and it fits me perfectly (especially now that I put a collar on it - no more Flash Dance sweater!). I still have the pattern with the numbers for my size circled, so I doubt it'll be long til I cast on....never mind that I am also currently working on a Comfort Fade cardi in some OOAK hand-dyed colors of Lhasa Wilderness . 2018 is the Year of the Sweater after all, right?! As you can see, the YarnCon marketplace was full of temptation - it took quite a bit of willpower not to bring everything home with me. Thankfully, my r...

There's nothing like starting off the new year with a beautiful handknit sweater that actually fits you! I finished my So Faded sweater on New Year's Eve and couldn't stop myself from running outside to take triumphant FO photos, despite the frigid temperatures. I won't lie, it was cold, but at least I had a lovely new sweater to keep me warm! I was able to destash a few skeins of yarn that had been lurking in my stash, and I dyed two more skeins of fingering weight yarn (which had also been taking up real estate in my stash) to work into the fade. I started with a skein of Kitchen Sink Dyeworks Luxe Merino Fine, which I had been hoarding for years since KSD closed its doors. I can't remember the name of the colorway, but it's the grey yarn you see at the top, and I used up nearly every little bit. The next color was a skein of Kraemer Yarns Beth (a blend of alpaca, merino and silk) that I dyed for this project, followed by a skein of yarn I'd re...

I'm working on few secret projects right now, so besides the Purlbreak that's in progress for an upcoming review, the only other active WIPs on the needles are sweaters! I'm about ready to bind off the body  Gift Wrap Baby Sweater : I'm inching ever closer on the sleeves for my So Faded Sweater , although it probably doesn't look too different from last week. I am still holding out hope that I could finish it in time to wear it on (or reasonably near) Christmas, though. I've only worked a few rows on  Sticks + Steel ; once I'm able to focus more time on this, it should be a pretty fast project (though my track record with bulky weight sweaters isn't much better than lighter weight ones, I suppose....). I haven't worked much on my Purlbreak shawl, but that's another project I intend to focus on over the holiday break once the So Faded sweater is done. And that's it! I do have a fun new toy to share with you Friday - ...

Holy cow, it's November already?! It's a good thing I'm not knitting gifts for the holidays, because I would be in big trouble at this point. 2017 has been the year of selfish knitting, and I have to say - I'm not sorry. After redoing the charts for this hat I'm knitting in Shepherd's Lamb Rambouillet , it's coming along faster (who knew that condensing 3 charts into just 1 would be such a time-saver?!), although I find I have to pace myself since I decided to knit this project at such a tight gauge (on US 4 needles). The results will be worth it, though - look those lovely textured stitches! These socks came out of hibernation, although they are another project I have to work on in small bursts. Socks still really hurt my hands, which is a bummer because I like knitting them. I'm trying to experiment with ways to hold my hands and my knitting to minimize the strain, but so far I haven't found the magic bullet just yet. Consequently, m...

I haven't been knitting much in the past week due to all of the Spinzilla madness (I'll be sharing my results this Friday for anyone interested), but my So Faded sweater has grown quite a bit since I last shared it, probably because it's my travel project currently. Over the weekend, I transitioned to the third color: I am really excited to finish this project so that I can wear it through fall and winter. Plus, DESTASHING! It's win-win. Thanks for stopping by, see you back here on Friday!