handmade by stefanie

With TNNA just around the corner, I've been working long hours and six-day weeks for the last week or so. By the time I'm ready to sign off for the day, my brain power is pretty much spent, so I've been really appreciating the simple knits this week. First, I found a nearly-finished Itty-Bitty Batty from 50 yards of Fun in my knitting basket! I gave him some ears and feet and now he's complete: I couldn't resist starting another project from the book, the Small-Peanuts Elephant . I used up every scrap of the grey and blue oddballs from my stash - in fact, I had to pinch-hit to get those legs finished. I was also gifted a skein of Spud & Chloe Outer , so I whipped up a Slope Hat by Susan B. Anderson in just one night of knitting! I accidentally ran it through the washing machine on the maximum-abuse setting - usually I choose the delicate cycle for my superwash yarns. It emerged relatively unscathed, especially considering the wild ride it went on...

I'm so excited - at long last, my #HKKAL project is done! Behold, my completed Cute Girl Squares top: I know that making a ton of granny squares and seaming them together seems terribly fussy, but it actually wasn't as time-consuming as you would think! I totally could have made this top in less than a month I hadn't taken so many breaks to work on other projects - what can I say, I'm easily distracted! The only modification I did was to create the belt using these instructions for a Foundation Single Crochet:  I think this turned out pretty darn well for my first-ever crocheted sweater! I'm also happy to report that Valley Yarns' Charlemont sock yarn is awesome to crochet with - plus, it's an affordable option: I made this entire project for less than $38! Thirty-One If you're just joining me, I am hosting a Virtual Thirty-One Party for the next two weeks ( click here for all the details ) andI have two product picks to share today: the...

Littles Carry-All Caddy Last December, my friend Julie visited and she had that cutest bags with her - all of which were from a site called Thirty-One . She left me a catalog and I fell in love with all of the coordinated bags and storage solutions! For those of you who are new to Thirty-One, the products are sold via sales consultants (similar to Mary Kay or Avon). I've been ordering my Thirty-One goodies through consultant  Callie Woodland , and we have teamed up to bring you some fresh ideas for organizing your crafting life, both at home and on-the-go! For the next two weeks, I will be hosting a virtual Thirty-One party on this blog, sharing my favorite Thirty-One products along with organizational tips and my usual WIPs and FOs, too! Be sure to bookmark my blog, sign up for my free newsletter or follow me with Bloglovin ! Flip-Top Organizing Bin I'd like to start things out by returning to a topic that I blogged about earlier this month, when I shared this p...

The urge to spring clean our apartment has been difficult to resist lately, and my craft room has been especially in need of a good reorganization. I probably should have taken a "before" photo, but I would have been too embarrassed to share it on my blog - that's how disorganized it was! I've been scouring pinterest for inspiration for organizing my craft room lately, but what really started the ball rolling was a flash sale from Thirty-One , where I was able to snag three roomy collapsible storage bins for 50% off! I realized that they would be a great way to make the most of the ginormous armoire in the corner of the room, and that my spinning fiber would be much happier if it wasn't shut inside a plastic bin. As you can see, the first two bins are filled with fiber; though you can't tell in the above photo, the third bin is stuffed with my finished handspun skeins! I have plenty of cedar sachets and blocks placed throughout the armoire (including a bl...