handmade by stefanie

I finished my third and final Malabrigo March project on the last day of the month (with a few hours to spare!). I ended up using a small amount of Arroyo in Escorias that was left over from the Mushin Cowl as a contrast color once it became obvious that I would run out of Plomo before getting to the border. It was just my good luck that I liked the way they look together! Basically, I knit the body til I ran out of yarn, then picked up stitches for the border and began the long, slow process of an i-cord bindoff. I had about 5g of Plomo reserved for finishing each sleeve, which worked out pretty well - all told, I probably had 4-5 yards of Plomo left over. I spent last Sunday morning weaving in the ends, and then there was the moment of truth: trying it on. It even fits! It's not totally perfect, but considering what a random experiment it was, I'm pretty pleased with the results. For those of you who missed earlier posts about this project, I used an app called Raglan...

Destashing is the name of the game these days! I have been listing more of my stash for sale here on Ravelry in my efforts to streamline my craft room and reduce clutter around the house. In the spirit of these endeavors, I decided to join in the fun of the FreshStitches Scrap-a-Long , which gets rolling tomorrow! I used Stacey's excellent Russian join tutorial to create my very own magic ball using various red, white, grey and brown worsted yarns (including my leftover Sock Monkey yarn!). Then it was time to decide which pattern to use - after much debate, I decided that a cute monster would be the perfect project, so I'll be making  Mixtro the Monster , which is a free crochet pattern from FreshStitches on Ravelry! Also in the spirit of destashing, I I chose three colors of leftover sock yarn to start Tanis Gray's Constitution Hall Scarf from Capitol Knits . It's going to be three colors (I think), with one half of the scarf being light and dark grey and the ...

I think I'm about halfway through the fingering weight scrap yarn scarf ! I try to work through a few rows each night at the very least, so there's a good chance this will be done by the end of this month if I can just keep my momentum going. Of course, it's a little tough to photograph, but I think you get the idea! My top-down Arroyo Cropped Cardigan is coming along well - I am just about ready to take off for the sleeves. The rest should be downhill from there, as they say. I've made a few minor changes to the pattern as written, mostly because I'm not joining in the round for a pullover. Last night I took off for the sleeves and tried it on - success! It fit! And it's even looking more sweater-like! After taking off the sleeves, I split the remaining skein in half by weight, figuring I could knit the body til I ran out of yarn, and then I would be able to use the other skein I wound off to finish the sleeves and collar. Mr. Monke y is nearing compl...

Crocheting those amigurumi pumpkins last week really whetted my appetite for crochet! I decided to take one of the skeins of Arroyo I just ordered from Doodlebug Yarn to make some sort of cowl. I came across this simple, free pattern on Ravelry called the Mushin Cowl by Shireen Nadir. The term "mushin" comes from Martial Arts training and means "without mind." Once I read that in the explanation, I knew this would be the perfect pattern for me to make! Since I am still really new to crochet, there are sometimes terms I come across that I haven't seen before; in this pattern, it was the slip stitch at the end of each round. First, I wondered - should I have been doing that all along when crocheting amigurumi? Is it just one of those givens that isn't necessarily written into a pattern? I've signed up for Stacey Trock's Woodland Creatures workshop on Craftsy, so perhaps that will shed some light on that subject once I sit down to do the course. ...