handmade by stefanie

Last weekend, I started my first class project from the Craftsy class I'm taking (full review will be forthcoming!) I'm using leftover bits and bobs of yarn to make a long scarf, and I was so excited about it that I wound the stick shuttles two weekends ago while I was waiting for the heddle I needed to arrive. The idea is that it will be gradient-ish from black to blue to green to grey for the weft. Once the heddle arrived and it came time to warp, I had an idea: why not make a gradient-ish warp, too? The thought entered my head and stayed there when it came time to warp the loom. Apparently, I was feeling very experimental and devil-may-care last weekend, because I went all-in and decided to use....five colors?!Not only that, but they were all different kinds of yarn, and as you can imagine, that produced some interesting tension issues to start things off. But this wacky little experiment isn't all for naught: so far, my favorite of all of the warp yarns is...

It seems like I'm not the only one suffering from Startitis this month! I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I suppose it's nice to be in good company. Over the weekend, I started a new spinning project which has been on my mental to-do list for a little while now: After first hearing about opposing-ply yarns on the We Are Yarn podcast, I've been wanting to try this technique to spin a sport-weight(ish) yarn to knit myself a pair of socks. A few months ago, I ordered 8 oz. of Superwash BFL from Nerd Girl Yarns in the #hashtag colorway , and I knew immediately that this was the fiber I should use for this project! Last night, I finished the third single, and tonight I hope to ply all 3 together...and I am already planning my next  spinning project, too! I also started a baby sweater from 60 Quick Baby Knits in some superwash yarn I'd custom dyed back when I worked at Lorna's Laces. It's not super-exciting to look at just yet, but ...

Alert the media: my chevron yak socks finally resemble something you could put a foot into! I grafted everything together on Monday, and it's a nice, snug fit. Now I just need to knit the cuff and toe, although I think I will make the second sock first. I also made some major progress on my Craftsy class project , the Faux Fair Isle mittens - look, I'm on constrast color #3!: What helped is blowing up the colorwork chart about 200%, since I always have a problem with how small most colorwork charts are. It's amazing to me how much faster I can work when I'm not squinting at impossibly tiny squares. Click here for 50% off the Mittens and Gloves Galore class on Craftsy! I also have a new project, which is this month's FreshStitches kit club ! Hopefully this doesn't spoil the surprise if your kit hasn't arrived yet...especially since I just found out that this month's kit is a pattern exclusive! Last but not least, I replenished my miniskein gr...

I'm still making progress on my yak-tacular chevron socks : ...but I have also started a few new projects to satisfy my craving to work with more colorful yarn options! First, I am crocheting a miniature bunting to hang in my kitchen using a modified version of the Rainbow Bunting pattern from Modern Baby Crochet and some destash yarn: I also decided to pair some of my most colorful sock yarns with these two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (pictured below at top and bottom) which have been lurking in my stash for several years; the color is something I custom-dyed myself and dubbed "Inky," And I always thought it would be a great choice for some sort of colorwork pattern. Colors L-R: Louet Gems Fingering in Sunset, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Island Blue, Baah La Jolla in Tequila Lime and Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock in Lemon Curd.  It's been a while since I've blogged about Craftsy , but I recently have been revisiting some of the c...

When you're participating in two KALs, the thing to do is start a new project, right? That's what I thought! Over the weekend, I was had the uncontrollable urge to start an entrelac cowl with some of my handspun yarn from Spinzilla . It's been a while since I've made an entrelac project, so I re-watched several lessons from Gwen Bortner's Entrelac Craftsy class to refresh my memory for each step. I decided to use the Cloudlover Polwarth (which is two dyed colorways inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas), though I might not have enough to finish the cowl - I might end up knitting the next tier in the alpaca/silk handspun before finishing off with more of the Cloudlover handspun . Despite this distraction, I made some great progress on my Baah KAL sock - the first sock is finished and I'm already working on sock #2! I had to take the cats to the vet yesterday and managed to work through two repeats of the leg; my goal is to be completely finished b...

If you've been reading my blog for over a year, I hope that the increase in photo quality has been noticeable. Time and time again, I've see great blogs or Etsy shops with excellent products or projects - but terrible  photos. For a while, my blog was in that very category, but I realized that it was a barrier to gaining a wider readership. I'm lucky because I have a husband who is a top-notch photographer ; ever since he got a fancy-pants digital camera (a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi), he has been taking most of my blog photos and all of my pattern photos. If you're looking to take your blog or online shop to the next level, I highly recommend Craftsy's newest photography class, Shoot It! A Product Photography Primer . You can also use a few of my tips and tricks to get started: Ditch the cell phone camera. Trust me, we can all tell that's what you've been using! You don't need to break the bank on a professional-grade digital camera, either - j...

It was only a matter of time before Stephen West joined the roster of excellent talent on Craftsy , right? Last week, Stephen's new online class, Shawlscapes, launched. First, you will you get to hone your skills with the guidance of a shawl master as you knit the Boneyard Shawl . Then, you'll learn various methods of construction and patterns which you can use to either modify existing designs or create your own from scratch. Finally, Stephen will show you how to block your masterpiece - the class description claims: "Stephen literally turns blocking on its head, suggesting different methods that will surprise you." Now who doesn't want to see that?! What's more, a portion of all class sales through midnight tonight will be donated to a veterans' organization in honor of Memorial Day here in the US! Click here to sign up for Shawlscapes with Stephen West for 25% off!

Last weekend, I put the finishing touches on my Thrummed Mittens , then gave them a nice blocking in Wrapture  (I could still smell the lingering jasmine during this photo shoot)! As luck would have it, my husband got a very fancy digital camera as an early birthday present from his parents, and he took some really great photos of my finished mittens...a process I apparently didn't enjoy. Consequently, he's now going to be doing a LOT more photos for my patterns and blog posts! I mean, it's night and day, the difference between these photos and the photos I've been using from our much-older digital camera (or my cell phone...or instagram...). You can get all the details on the yarn and fiber used in this project on my Ravelry project page . I used to pattern and video instructions from Marly Bird's excellent Craftsy class, Mittens and Gloves Galore ( click here for a full review and a special discounted link for my blog readers)! I am so excited to bu...

I'm still chugging away at my thrummed mittens , though over the weekend I started running perilously low on thrums. I probably should have seen that coming, but at least I have plenty of fiber to make more thrums....I just hope that I can get two mittens' worth out of them, since the first mitten is probably going to take over 200 thrums! I started a very simple hat last week which has been my primary on-the-go project. The pattern is a free pattern from Kelbourne Woolens called the Genmaicha Hat . I have to say that the name is really what did it for me, since it's my favorite kind of tea (though I am also in love with Canopy Fingering ). I happened to have some leftover yarn from my Color Affection Shawl - a full skein of Canopy Fingering in Sarsparilla and half-skein in Conifer; I did have a brief moment of insanity where I thought I should purchase one more skein to knit the teeny-tiny stripe before the ribbing, but then I realized I had enough Malabrigo Finito in...

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...

It's done, it's done, it's DONE! On Monday night, my yarn order arrived and I set to work finishing up the final bits of my Rocky Coast Cardigan . By the end of Tuesday night, all of the ends were woven in (and there were many!) and it was time to block in some lavender Eucalan ! All in all, it was totally worth reknitting the sleeves and purchasing one more skein of yarn at the 11th hour. It's the perfect cardigan and I'm so excited that I finished it with plenty of time to enjoy it before warm weather arrives, though I think I will add some sort of closure at the top. I also finished a few more owl hats, which were made in the interim before Malabrigo March began. From R-L: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Douglas Fir & Growth; The Fibre Company Organik in Algae and Claystone, and  Malabrigo Worsted  in Pigeon and  Knit Picks   Andean Silk (which is apparently discontinued) in Imperial. Deal alert!   I'm excited to offer you an excl...

Click here for 50% off your class registration! This review is long overdue; I was originally hoping to post it last December, but holiday gift knitting and crocheting took over all of my brain power, and it became my white whale on my blogging to-do list. Honestly, I have to thank my husband for finally getting me back in the class review swing of things - if he hadn't needed a new pair of gloves because his  current gloves  (knit in 2008, mind you) kept springing holes, I might still be procrastinating. I've taken several Craftsy classes in the last year, but I still watched the introduction, even though I feel well-versed in all of the bells and whistles the  Craftsy platform provides. It's always nice to get to know the instructor (although in this case, I've had the pleasure of getting to know Marly at trade shows and other knitting events), plus she outlines what the class will cover and shows each of the projects that will be made along the ...

Happy Valentine's Day! What better way to celebrate than the Craftsy Valentine's Day Sale , am I right? I thought I'd pass along these awesome deals on classes which start at $9.99. If you've been wanting to explore the world of crochet, both of my personal favorites, Crochet Lab with Vickie Howell and Amigurumi Woodland Animals with Stacey Trock , are currently on sale for $9.99. I myself just signed up for How To Say It: Pattern Writing For Knitters by Edie Eckman for $14.99 (and yes, there will be a review on my blog sometime soon!). I know I have said it many times - I am in love with the Craftsy platform and am a serial Craftsy class-taker. I know that once you sign up for your first class, you'll fall in love, too! Enjoy the savings and have a happy Valentine's Day!

After making the decision to put my Destash Dolman to sleep for a bit, I comforted myself by casting on for two new knitting projects. The first is a pair of gloves for Tyler, whose current gloves keep springing holes (they were, after all, knit in 2008 ). The new gloves will look an awful lot like the old ones, being that they're his favorite color (or not-color, if you prefer), black. I am, however, using a different yarn entirely - this time, a 100% BFL worsted-weight yarn that I purchased at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival last fall. It's a huge skein, so gloves are just the beginning! As you can see, I've accomplished a lot in just a few days' time - I'm already on the second glove! I'm using Marly Bird's 5 in 1 Adventure pattern, which is a part of her excellent Mittens and Glove Galore class on Craftsy , in which I am enrolled, so be looking for my full review here on this blog soon. In the mean time, if you can't wait to hear my t...

Ho, ho, ho! If you have a last-minute gifting emergency, Craftsy has come to your rescue with their Christmas Sale. All online classes are $9.99 - $24.99, an excellent deal. I'm a huge fan of Craftsy classes (and I'm also a blogger affiliate), having signed up 11 this year. I'm a  Craftsy believer! Build your skills or learn something new with these class options from Craftsy : Knitting Classes Crochet Classes Spinning Classes Weaving Classes Sewing Classes Jewelry-making Classes Food Craft Classes Home & Garden Classes Enjoy and have a happy holiday!   

I was excited to sign up for Crochet: Beyond Rectangles with Linda Permann so that I could build upon my crochet skills gleaned from Vicki Howell's Crochet Lab and Stacey Trock's Woodland Animals . Now that I've become comfortable with the basics, I'm ready to take things to the next level. Crochet: Beyond Rectangles uses an easy-to-make baby sweater to help students learn how to shape, sew, and read patterns and crochet charts. All of these skills apply to any garment, but the smaller scale of a baby sweater is the perfect way to move beyond scarves and other beginner-type projects without becoming overwhelmed. This project-based class features 12 video lessons in all. I found the pattern reading section to be quite helpful, as it covered written instructions, abbreviations, stitch diagrams and how to use schematics. For those that are new to the world of yarn, the lesson on choosing yarn and gauge swatching will help you on your way - not only will Linda gi...

Today's FO Friday will be a little different, since I technically don't have any FO's to show off! I do, however, have a newly-restored Featherweight Cardigan . I knit this sweater all the way back in 2009 (it doesn't seem like it was that long ago!) and in the last year or so, noticed a few small holes in the sweater sleeves. I set it aside for repairs, and, well.... you know what happened ! Meanwhile, I plan on avoiding the insanity of Black Friday like the plague today. I'm sure I'm not the only on who rather be knitting! I'm more of a Cyber Monday person myself, as I prefer to do nearly all of my shopping (no matter what day it is) from the comfort of my own home while wearing pajamas. Fellow pajama shoppers, you are in luck! From 11/23-11/26, Craftsy is running its Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale and all classes are being offered at $19.99 or less! I have to say, I'm a serial class-taker at Craftsy . Just this year alone, I have expanded my...