handmade by stefanie

I am beside myself this week: at long last, I have finished the  project I started back in August for the Holla Knits KAL (which has come and gone), the Admiralty pillow by Emily Ringelman! I won the yarn to make this project during a Holla Knits blog tour earlier this year, and it was a great motivator to actually making this project. Intarsia and I aren't friends, and to be honest, it's a technique I try to avoid whenever I can. However, knitting 12 intarsia pieces turned out to be a good way to become a bit  friendlier with the technique...although it's still not my favorite! I did modify this design to only use two colors in the intarsia panels rather than 3, because I knew I would lose my mind if I had to juggle 3 colors of yarn. That turned out to be a really good move, and while I think the third color definitely adds some definition to the finished object (which is probably why the designer did it in the first place!). If I had been smarter, I would have ...

Chittery Chattery Socks in Louet GEMS Sport! Since I don't have any FO's to share today (gasp!), I thought this would be a good day to introduce my next sock design from Conversation Socks ! The Chittery Chattery Socks are knit with Louet GEMS Sport , and while they look like they’d involve a lot of fancy footwork (or rather, colorwork), but they are actually quite simple! Single-round stripes and an easy-to-memorize stitch pattern are all you need to put your best foot forward. Be prepared to get a lot of questions about these socks, because they were very popular at my knitting group! While the stitch pattern is simple (all you need to know is how to knit and purl), what makes these socks special is the exquisite and hard-wearing yarn I chose especially for this design, Louet GEMS Sport yarn. The tight spin of the yarn not only prevents pills, but it provides for crisp color definition within the design. Plus, it comes in a variety of wearable colors so that you c...