handmade by stefanie

I am so incredibly excited about my FO this week: the Lory Shawl  by Bristol Ivy, which is a pattern from the Fall 2014 issue of Knitscene. It calls for Bijou Basin Ranch's Himalayan Trail yarn, and I knit mine in one of their new Outlandish colorways, Geillis. "Shawl" is a bit of a misnomer in this pattern, as I'd really consider it to be more of a scarf - at least, that is how I intend to wear it this winter! It's 80 inches long but not terribly wide (at least by shawl standards), so that qualifies it as a scarf, at least in my book. It will be great for wrapping around my neck this winter, and I love the bright green color. Yak fiber is known for being incredibly warm (after all, they are native to the harsh, rugged regions of Tibet and Mongolia). In particular, the Himalayan Trail yarn is a 50/50 blend of both yak and merino fibers, and it feels cashmere-soft. It's the kind of yarn I can only knit slowly, because I keep stopping what I'm do...

I decided to make a destash version of the turtle I made last month on my Zoom Loom! This project is part of the Zoom Loom-along which is happening right now in the Woolery Ravelry group ; I am using the instructions I received with the Turtle Critter Kit and various leftover bits of yarn to weave my squares. I might make more than the pattern calls for so that I can give different color combinations a try when it comes time to put everything together! As I mentioned in my Stitches Midwest recap on Monday, I cast on for the Lory Shawl from Knitscene using one of my favorite yarns from Bijou Basin Ranch, Himalayan Trail . As you can see, I'm not very far along - the shawl is knit long ways and I just finished the first ridge row, which took me a LONG time! It's been a while since I've used my Karbonz needles, so I was glad I could bust them out for this project. I've also finished the first side of my Admiralty pillow for the Holla Knits KAL that...