handmade by stefanie

I admit it: I used to think ponchos were stupid, and couldn't envision a single scenario in which I would spend time knitting one, much less wearing it. And I probably would have never changed that opinion if it hadn't been for a request to knit one as a sample for Knit Picks . Believe me when I tell you that the entire time I was working on it, I still had an unfavorable opinion about ponchos. But I said yes because I wanted to make a little extra money to help with the move, and it ended up being the last sample I knit before we left Chicago.  Although this pattern is  officially named  the Aspen Mantle, we all know it's really a poncho!   So when I tried it on to snap a few FO photos before shipping it off to the catalog, something surprising happened: I enjoyed wearing it! It was an epiphany to just toss it on and have it immediately look good - all of the styling issues I have with shawls (which I love to knit) weren't even a thing. Ever so ironically, that...

I've kind of been in a funny place with knitting lately; either I'm slooowly knitting myself a sweater (or two!), or I'm looking for an instant-gratification project like a hat or cowl. But when I had a chance to try out Drama, a new variegated colorway dyed from Bijou Basin Ranch's Emotions Color series , I wanted to make something a little bigger than a hat or cowl. The Emotions Collection on Lhasa Wilderness (yak/bamboo blend) features hand-dyed colorways from MJ Yarns! A few weekends ago, I went through all of the printed patterns I've accrued over the years and rediscovered a lot of great patterns I'd forgotten about! One of them just happened to be the Gradient Serendipity shawl , which was designed especially for this yarn, but with a catch: back then, the skeins were much smaller. The pattern originally calls for two 180-yard hanks of Lhasa Wilderness to make the smallest size; since then, they have bumped up the yardage in Lhasa Wilderness...

It's not often when you find a pattern you don't mind knitting again and again (or maybe that's just me?!). But when you do, it's nice to have that old favorite ready to go whenever you need a quick gift or a soothing knit. When I originally designed A Most Addictive Slipped Stitch Hat , it used one of my favorite yarns from Bijou Basin Ranch, Himalayan Trail. I knit both of the samples pictured in the original version of the pattern (which then went on to become display pieces in the Bijou Basin Ranch booth), plus another one I got to keep for myself . Recently, the yarn base originally used in the pattern was discontinued, and they have sold out of nearly all remaining stock - but the good news is that project kits for this pattern are still available, because I worked with the folks at Bijou to rework the pattern to use their newest yarn, Himalayan Summit ! This crisp fingering weight yarn is really delightful to work with, and the 50/50 yak and merino b...

Last week, the Canyon Steps Cowl KAL came to an end, and I just barely finished my project in time! This is my second time knitting this pattern because it's my own design for Bijou Basin Ranch, and the first one I made is now a display piece in their booth! This time around, I chose the Aasgard colorway from their collection of Valkyrie-inspired colorways (or Thor, if you'd rather!) that are dye on  Gobi  fingering yarn. Baby camel and silk is soooo divine (how could it not be?!), and I love the way the hand-dyed colors shimmer on this blend. The variegated color kind of hides the stitch pattern, but it's so darn pretty that I don't mind if the pattern gets a bit upstaged by the yarn color. It was still fun to knit and I'm super excited to keep this one for myself! Even though the KAL is over, you can still  get project kits here  if you are so inclined. I'd love to see your project if you do, so make sure to share it on Instagram with the #bijoubasi...

I'm so excited to finally share this pattern with you! I've been working on it for a while because I am a Very Slow Knitter these days, plus my design process seems to involve a lot more frogging and reknitting these days. At any rate, it is with great pleasure that I introduce the Canyon Steps Cowl ! A series of triangular motifs grow larger in this fun-to-knit cowl using one skein of Gobi, a luxurious blend of baby camel and mulberry silk. The cowl begins with a wide rib edging followed by 3 sections using charted and written instructions and finishes with a wide rib edging and a stretchy bind off. If you can knit and purl, you can make this project! Project Kit Contains: 1 skein - Bijou Spun “Gobi" (35/65 Baby Camel /Mulberry Silk) in the color of your choice.  1 copy of the Canyon Steps Cowl pattern by yours truly 1 3.4 oz bottle of Allure Fine Fiber wash in your choice of fragrance   1 three pack of custom, hand-made stitch markers from Purrfectly Ca...

A few weeks ago, I shared my my new hat pattern, A Most Addictive Slipped Stitch Hat , here on this blog. It's gotten such a great reception (yay!) that I've teamed up with the folks at Bijou Basin Branch to bring you a fun KAL for this project kit! If you were thinking about making this hat but haven't gotten the kit just yet, now is the perfect time, because there is a pretty sweet grand prize drawing for everyone who posts a photo of their finished hat in this Ravelry thread ! You can snag your discounted project kit here ; I'll also be knitting along because I didn't get to keep the samples pictured in the photos. Here are the colors I'll be making mine in, Scarlet and Natural Brown: I can't wait to see what everyone else chooses for their project! Besides joining the conversation here on Ravelry , you can also share your photos on Instagram using #bijoubasinranch in your post.

It's been hard keeping this one under wraps, but I'm pleased to announce that my newest hat pattern is now available at Bijoubasinranch.com. Say hello to  A Most Addictive Slipped Stitch Hat !  Project kits for this pattern are available here ; choose your favorite colors of Himalayan Trail yarn to create a hat that is uniquely you! A simple slipped-stitch pattern creates a fun visual element to this slouchy hat that's interesting to knit. The stitch pattern is easy to memorize, making it great for knit nights or on-the-go knitting. The pattern includes instructions for two variations of ribbing to start off your pattern - you can either knit the Corrugated Rib stitch as shown in the sample, or keep things simple with a stretchy K2, P2 rib. I also collaborated with the folks at Bijou Basin Ranch to share even more ideas for customizing your hat here on their blog . If you can knit stripes, you can make this hat! Click here to get your project kit, a...

I haven't made many (or any) resolutions for 2018, but there is something I want to do more of: sweater knitting....for ME! Last year, I was a lot choosier with my knitting projects due to a busier work schedule and the addition of several new crafts which reduced my amount of knitting time. Additionally, there are some projects that I simply can't knit (or have to knit slooooowly) thanks to ongoing issues with my hands and arms. I have a ton of hats and cowls and unfortunately socks are on "knit sparingly" list, it finally dawned on me that I should focus on making myself a wardrobe of sweaters that match my existing wardrobe of mostly black and grey clothes AND actually fit me. The two sweaters I knit last year, the Rockling Cardigan and the So Faded Sweater (which I'll be sharing on a later post), made my realize how much I like to knit and wear the sweaters I make provided they actually fit me . And that is the hard part, because I have to do something a lot...

I can finally share this design that I've recently finished for Bijou Basin Ranch: presenting the Eyelet of the Tiger lace cowl, which is knit with 1 skein of Himalayan Summit . I was really excited to knit with this new yarn base, a 50/50 blend of Tibetan Yak and Superfine Merino that came out this fall. Designing for a variegated yarn is always a bit of a challenge, but I was really drawn to this colorway  from ModeKnit Yarns called Old Fashion Villain . Working with this yarn was so enjoyable - and even though it's super soft, it held up to multiple frogging sessions. And check out this stitch definition: You really can't ask for anything else in a yarn, and I'm itching to work with it once more. I bet cables and textured stitches also knit up great! You can buy project kits here , or get an individual copy of the pattern here - or, add it to your Ravelry queue . I can't wait to see this knit up in other colors of Himalayan Summit , be sure to...

Some of the newest projects I've started are mixing up my usual grey/blue/green color scheme with an unlikely hue: pink! It's not my favorite color by a long shot, but when you are knitting for people who do  like pink, then working with pink yarn just comes with the territory. For example, I started these two-at-a-time socks with a skein of Long Dog Yarn I picked up at Knit 1 earlier this year: Once I finish the never-ending  Starshower gradient cowl , I'll cast on for a hat with this Rambouillet yarn that I recently bought from Shepherd's Lamb : I'm also working on a design using a new yarn base from Bijou Basin Ranch called Himalayan Summit. Of the three variegated colors they currently have in this yarn, this is probably not the one you'd expect me to pick, but I just gravitated to it while I was in their booth at Wisconsin Sheep & Wool earlier this month. It's definitely not as pink as the other projects, but I won't be able ...

I finished my Wonder Woman shawl just in time for Wizard World , which we went to yesterday (though the con goes through this Sunday). Here I am nerding it up, as one does at such events: I used 2 skeins of Bijou Basin Ranch Shangri-La yak/silk lace weight yarn and US 3 needles to make a smaller version of this shawl (and it only took 1 skein of each color - below you can see how much yarn I had left over). The yarn is so gorgeous, and I really love how the shawl turned out! I used the  free pattern by Carissa Browning, found here on Ravelry . Since I started this project, she has added more size options and a  crochet version of this pattern  - I followed the instructions for what is now the larger size. This took up most of our kitchen floor! Funny story: I meant to knit this project with US 4 needles, but didn't notice I had grabbed the next size down until I was about halfway through the project. Oops! But, the shawl blocked out to a very nice dim...

I think it's going to be a photo finish for the dueling shawls; the final rows of my Wonder Woman Wrap are looooong, though I don't have many left to knit: While I have further to go on my Inauguration Consolation shawl, the rows are just a bit shorter: Even more exciting, however, is that I have only ONE other WIP on the needles: the ill-fated Dillinger Hat , which is still in time out. I think I ripped back far enough to fix the mistakes I made, so it's just a matter of picking it back up and finishing it. Easier said than done! Here's hoping I can finish one, some or all of these WIPs this coming weekend so that I can start some new, exciting projects!

Sirka Row Counter I have been curious about this product for years, but never bought one until recently. Then it sat in its cute little bento box, unused, for several months. Finally, the dreaded "at the same time" popped up in a pattern and instead of being annoyed as I usually would be, I was super psyched because it meant I could test drive my Sirka . Obviously, I loved it, or it wouldn't be included in this post! Though it seems like it might be complicated (yes, it comes with instructions!), it's really quite easy to use, and I just kept a key of what color was assigned to what set of instructions handy, since I tend to forget such things. The only drawback is that it's kind of big and I don't think I would want to use it on-the-go - but it's perfect for keeping near my knitting nook at home. And realistically, a project that has instructions that necessitate the use of a Sirka probably won't be leaving the house anyway, since I prefer to t...

Today I have a very long-awaited FO to share: a stripey lace weight infinity scarf that had been on the needles since September of last year! At times, it seemed that it would never end - after all, I was using lace weight yarn and needed to knit quite a bit of length before it could be called done....although I may have gone overboard: I used up nearly every yard of the light grey yarn, and it was a fantastic travel project since the pattern was so easy to memorize. Our road trip to Kansas City last month was the perfect opportunity to finish it once and for all! I'm so glad I did, because it's going to be awesome to wear this fall - Tthe angora is so soft and lightweight, but surprisingly warm....and look at how many times I can loop it around my neck (pardon the crazy eyes...invariably that happens during the photo shoot!) Pattern: Arnhem Loop, available for free on Ravelry Yarn: Bijou Basin Ranch Seraphim - I used 2 balls of Smoke and 1 ball of Eggplant...

After all of the finishing I did last month, I've been holding my number of WIPs to a reasonable number, but I couldn't resist starting the  Wonder Woman Wrap by Carissa Browning . It seems like everyone is going crazy for it on Instagram and Ravelry (where it's available for free )! I'm knitting mine out of lace weight yarn: a yak and silk blend from Bijou Basin Ranch called Shangri-La . It's so shiny and lovely, and I think that the airier fabric will be a nice complement to the shiny, slinky yarn. Aren't the colors gorgeous? After knitting several swatches with various sizes of needles, I decided to use the size called for in the pattern (US 4) so that I can still get a fairly large wrap. The difference in final wingspan was more than 10 inches from US 3 to US4 - crazy, right? Since I'm using larger needles, I have to be careful to knit slower and tighter than I am used to - usually I just fly along and let blocking take care of the rest, bu...