handmade by stefanie

Happy WIP Wednesday! I've made more progress on my Destash Dolman - now I'm up to twelve and a half stripes! On Monday night, I finished the Panoramic Stole that I started on Christmas day, which meant I was free to start a new project (or two!). I've been wanting a new pair of legwarmers, so I went shopping from my stash and decided to find the perfect pattern for the skein of The Uncommon Thread's Heavenly Fingering in Zitouni that a friend gave me last summer. The yarn is aptly named - it is incredibly soft, silky, and (you guessed it) heavenly to work with. I decided to make the Spanish Moss Legwarmers from November Knits , which I got for Christmas. That got me thinking about all of the wonderful books I received as gifts last year, or acquired at TNNA, or have had on my shelf for years.....so I decided that I would see how many projects I could make from my extensive knitting & crochet library this year, just for fun. The other project I star...

Here was my biggest gift knitting conundrum this year: I wanted to knit Tyler a new hat for work, but he gets too hot if I use wool yarn. Cotton and bamboo blends seem to work well, but I am never very happy with the results (even if he is and dutifully wears the finished hat non-stop). Furthermore, he pretty much only wears black and grey, so I'm very limited with my yarn and color choices. Luckily, I remembered my favorite pair of socks to wear back when I worked at the salon. They were knit out of Lorna's Laces Solemate yarn, which contains Outlast, a fiber technology that interacts with the body to moderate temperature. Problem solved! I bought a skein of Solemate in Patina (well, it was labeled as Grand Street Ink, but this skein is definitely not an inky purple-black, it is more of a dark tobacco brown, so I'm guessing it was mis-labeled...or perhaps I need to get my eyes checked!) and cast on for Arkanoid by Wooly Wormhead , which was a great pattern that was ...

There is a CAL starting today in the Lorna's Laceaholics Ravelry group to kick off Kristin Omdahl's brand new design in Honor, Soldier Love .  I'm not entirely certain I have the crochet chops to  complete  this CAL, but thought it would be fun to try anyway! I'll be using Shepherd Sock...though I wish  I was using Honor, because it's a really soft and amazing Alpaca/Silk blend (I have a little in my stash, but not enough to use for this CAL).  I just couldn't get my act together to obtain the two skeins needed - all this pre-TNNA prep has been insane - and then I found some custom sock colors in my stash from back when I dyed yarn at Lorna's Laces.  The only problem is, which one to choose? From L-R: Inky, Grass Green & Firefly Stripe, and The Curse of Millhaven: The other burning question on my mind is, "Will I make it past the swatching stage?!"  There will be tutorial videos and help along the way, so hopefully there is enough hand...

Last night I rolled back into Chicago just in time for rush hour - what a treat!  I had a great time at TNNA - but after being bombarded with so much yarny goodness, I need a few days to decompress and get back to my normal routine.  I'm also woefully behind in showcasing fellow Ravelers' FOs, so without further ado, here is the latest crop: You may remember Purselover from the last episode of SITW - and it's even possible that you recall she was pondering knitting a mondo version of the Kitchy Pleated Bag using Malabrigo Rasta .  Well, she walks to the walk (I had to resist the urge to say something dorky, but you can use your own imagination if you'd prefer a more knitting-appropriate yet eye-roll-inducing expression).  She used 4 skeins of Oxido and size 19 needles to create her 'extra-bulbous' version of this design!  Another creative use of my whale chart has popped up on Ravelry, this time in the form of an adorable hat.  I think this is my fa...