handmade by stefanie

Over the holiday weekend, I finished my project for the June Cashmere Mystery KAL ! This was a free pattern using 1 skein of June Cashmere Lace Weight yarn - you could totally do 2 skeins if you are so inclined, however! I used up nearly every bit of my 1 skein of lace to make this cowl: That little bit of yarn is the total amount I had left over after binding off! The reason I decided to do this MKAL is because it was choose-your-own-adventure style - that is, each week you had at least 2 stitch patterns to choose from, giving you lots of options to create a finished project you're sure to love. Here's what I did to create mine: Crochet cast on 180 stitches and knit 1 inch of garter stitch for border, which took 8 g of yarn. Clue 1: Six repeats of Dot Stitch pattern. Purl 1 round. Clue 2: Two repeats of Chevron Stitch pattern. Purl 1 round. Clue 3: Three repeats of Mock Cable Stitch pattern. Purl 1 round  Clue 4: Two repeats of Double Diagonal Stitch pattern. P...

Between launching a  new free hat pattern  and celebrating Tyler's birthday (which was on Wednesday), it's been a rather busy week. Also, I totally forgot to share my first guest post from the Interweave blog that went live  last  Friday -  click here to check it out ! Anyway, in the midst of everything, I managed to squeeze in a quick photo shoot for this fun cowl that I recently knit with some of my handspun yarn : I can't seem to find any record as to what this fiber is, or where I purchased it, since it was spun for a Tour de Fleece long before I stated to keep better records in my spinning notebook. BUT, I can at least tell you what pattern I used: the  Aspen Cowl by Andi Javori  (note: affiliate link). This was a fairly easy knitting project, and it was fast, too - I just love patterns like that! . The stitch repeats were easy to "read" as I worked, so a lot of mistakes I would normally make were easily avoided just by taking a ...

This project has been off the needles for a good couple of weeks, and I have no idea why I procrastinated weaving in the two ends and blocking it. It seems silly, since neither of those tasks took more than a few minutes, but perhaps that's why it's been so easy to tell myself over and over again "I'll do that later!" and then move on with my day. At any rate, my Molten Metal KAL project is finally done! I used 1 skein of Lhasa Wilderness yarn from Bijou Basin Ranch , as did many others who participated in this KAL . If you are a really fast knitter, there is still 10 days left to complete your project and post it in this thread for your chance to win a prize. And discounted project kits are still available here ! I know I'm super-biased, but I think this is one of my favorite things I've ever designed. It's pretty rare when I want to knit something twice, but I was happy to do so, especially since I didn't get to keep the first one I...

I'm so excited that fall is just around the corner - it's my favorite season, so I wanted to put out a new pattern to celebrate the arrival of September. Rather than my usual Ravelry release, however, I have partnered up with the folks at Bijou Basin Ranch to offer not just the pattern PDF for sale, but a discounted project kit so that you can get a skein of the luxurious Lhasa Wilderness yarn AND the pattern, too!   The Pattern Meet the  Molten Metal Cowl , which you can knit with just 1 skein of Lhasa Wilderness, shown here in the Mango Salsa colorway from Bijou Basin Ranch's indie dyer series. It uses two different stitch patterns (which are both written and charted) to create a fun-to-knit cowl you can knit using both variegated and semi-solid hand-dyed colorways. I love working with this soft, lustrous yarn, especially since I know that the finished project will look great for years to come - the strength of the bamboo is the perfect complement to the y...

This is the third Friday in a row that I've had a finished cowl project to share, though I definitely didn't plan it this way. I just finished the Chibi Maruko cowl by Mari Chiba using the only (full) skein of yarn that I brought back from TNNA last month. I've had my eye on Baa Ram Ewe for a few years now, though this is the first I've gotten to knit a project with one of their yarns. What attracted me to them is that they are all spun with 100% British wool. I chose to use their newest yarn, Dovestone DK , which is a blend of 50% BFL, 25% Wensleydale longwool, and 25% dark brown Masham. I really like the hand of this yarn - it's rustic but not TOO rustic, if that makes sense. The dark brown fiber mixed in with the other natural colors gives a nice depth to the dyed colors; I couldn't resist this pretty green color. I knit mine a little longer so that I could stretch it out a bit horizontally when blocking, and it fits nice and snug! This was a nice,...

It's been a while since I crocheted anything, so I was perhaps overdue. I started this cowl very early in the morning in the Cologne airport on my way back home from H+H last month. I'd read that most airports in Germany didn't allow ANY knitting needles past airport security, and figured I shouldn't chance it - so I planned to pack all my knitting WIPs and just take a crochet projects on the return flight home. I'd packed some yarn for the project, which in hindsight I realize was a silly thing to do because I brought home SO MUCH yarn. I ended up using one of those skeins instead - Merino Cloud from ArtYarns. While I didn't get as much crocheting done on the flight home, I was glad I had something to do, because it was a long trip (14 hours doorstep to doorstep).  This is the third time I've crocheted the Calm Cowl , which is available for free on Ravelry . It's pretty easy to do, although I still sometimes have issues with making neat and tidy...

Last weekend, I finished the Boson Cowl using a gorgeous skein of Merino/Silk fingering yarn in A Midnight Clear from Ancient Arts. The pattern appeared in the 2014 Accessories special issue, which I thought  I had in my library, but when it came time to cast on, I couldn't find the magazine anywhere in my house. Oops! Thank goodness you can buy individual patterns online from Interweave, because I was dead set on this pattern and yarn combination. Both of the stitch patterns were pretty easy to memorize, and the rib pattern for the main part of the cowl was absolutely perfect for travel knitting. The designer is Courtney Spainhower of Pink Brutus Knits ; I've been a fan of her work for a while, but this is the first pattern of hers I've actually knit! It was also my first time using this yarn, and it was absolutely lovely to work with - soft but not splitty, and the resulting fabric has plenty of squish. I also love how the subtle variations in the hand-dyed skein ...

It's been a really long time since I've released a totally new design: we're talking spring of last year , by my watch. It's not that I don't have ideas percolating, or that I haven't been working anything in secret - it's just that, for the better part of last year, I have been working on  wrestling with this cowl design - charting patterns, knitting, ripping out for several cycles before I finally found the golden combination. It seems like my go-to projects these days are "easy" stockinette/garter with just a few bells and whistles to add interest while I knit - but not too many bells and whistles, or I simply can't knit on them at the end of a long day of work when I am totally brain dead. Does anyone else have this problem?! I wanted this cowl to be something that was fun to knit and had the potential to be "weekday knitting" (or "conversation knitting" if you prefer). So, each time I found I couldn't master ...

Before the start of Spinzilla, I finished knitting my project for the Perspectives Mystery KAL - and now it's time to unveil the secret! This was a fun project to knit and probably the only Mystery KAL I've participated in recently where I finished/liked the resulting project! The length of the cowl makes it really easy to wear, not to mention adds a little extra warmth. I used a Mountain Colors Perspectives kit , which has mini-skeins of Crazyfoot sock dyed in gradients. This is my first time knitting with this yarn, which is a superwash Merino/nylon, and I would definitely make more projects with it because it's such a nice balance of softness vs. sturdiness. You can view more MKAL projects here on Ravelry !

Grey has always been one of my favorite colors. With my coloring, there are more than a few colors I simply can't wear, but grey has always been something I can fall back on (not to mention, it looks great with just about any color, much as black does). So I guess it's fitting that my first two finished projects to share in 2014 are grey: first, a cowl knit in Manos Maxima 's Foil colorway, and second, my first handspun project of the year spun from Grey Gotland top. Cowl blocking in progress! I knit the I Wish I was Weaving This Cowl on my trip to Kansas City last week; it only took two days, in fact! It was the perfect "conversation" project since the basket weave stitch pattern was easy to memorize. The pattern is available for free on Ravelry from the talented Liz Abinante of Feministy. While I was out of town, I pined for my spinning wheel. I'd taken a hiatus prior to the holidays so that I could focus all of my free time on gift-making, so by th...

This week, I released a new pattern that is perfect for last-minute gift knitting emergencies: the Berlin Cowl can be knit up in a weekend using just one skein of worsted weight yarn. Named after one of my favorite Lou Reed songs, the Berlin Cowl is simple yet complex at the same time - you can definitely take this project to knit night! The statement cable is easy to work amidst a garter stitch background, a combination which will perfect show off any of the hand-dyed colors Baah Yarns' Shasta worsted. I chose this yarn not only for the gorgeous color options, but because it is easy-care, too! My husband and I decided to do our photo shoot at the Christkindlmarket , which is our favorite holiday tradition here in Chicago. It's modeled after open-air markets in Germany, and you can get traditional food, beer, and hot spiced wine to enjoy while browsing all kinds of traditional goods such as cuckoo clocks, glass ornaments, candies and more. Naturally, the day of the shoot ...

After a month of project monogamy during October, I was pretty excited to start some new projects! I started with a pair of colorwork socks, which are a new design that I'm hoping will be out before the end of this year. Therefore, I can't show you too much of it, but here is a little sneak peek - it's being knit in Baah La Jolla Tequila Lime (my favorite!) and Night Sky. Today I am casting on for a Mystery KAL that's happening in the Bijou Basin Ranch group . Though MKALs aren't really my thing these days, I am excited about this one because it's going to have lots of options so you can customize your cowl throughout the KAL. Another bonus it that's short and sweet - there are only three weeks of clues, so it should be fairly easy to be finished before Thanksgiving! I'll be knitting mine with a skein of Bijou Bliss in Steel. Last night I finally started my first-ever crocheted socks, Spooktacular from the Rohn Strong Holiday Sock Club. It took...

Earlier this week, I put the finishing touches on a brand-new cowl pattern: the Like the Tides Cowl is a quick, simple knit that lets the gradient colors of the yarn take center stage. I fell in love with the colorway, Seaglass, when I was visiting Windy Knitty with a friend last month. I knew I wanted it to become a cowl, but when I searched Ravelry for the perfect pattern, I couldn't seem to find one that looked like what I was imagining it in my head. I chose a simple, easy-to-memorize stitch pattern that would be as soothing as the sea; all the better to show off the stunning colorway, too! Later on, I found out that this yarn is 100% made in the USA: the wool comes from sheep raised in Colorado and it's handpainted in California  - how cool is that? Pattern Details:  Yarn: 2 skeins Freia Flux Sport (290 yards total) Needles: US #6 Gauge: 22 sts & 32 rows = 4 inches in pattern stitch Finished Size: 20" circumference; 9" wide Cowl is knit...

Crocheting those amigurumi pumpkins last week really whetted my appetite for crochet! I decided to take one of the skeins of Arroyo I just ordered from Doodlebug Yarn to make some sort of cowl. I came across this simple, free pattern on Ravelry called the Mushin Cowl by Shireen Nadir. The term "mushin" comes from Martial Arts training and means "without mind." Once I read that in the explanation, I knew this would be the perfect pattern for me to make! Since I am still really new to crochet, there are sometimes terms I come across that I haven't seen before; in this pattern, it was the slip stitch at the end of each round. First, I wondered - should I have been doing that all along when crocheting amigurumi? Is it just one of those givens that isn't necessarily written into a pattern? I've signed up for Stacey Trock's Woodland Creatures workshop on Craftsy, so perhaps that will shed some light on that subject once I sit down to do the course. ...

I took five projects with me to Kansas City; four FO's returned with me, and I started the fifth project on the train back to Chicago! I was halfway to the heel on sock #2 for the Jelly Beans Sock KAL before leaving for KC; about halfway through the train ride down, I realized I'd left the instructions at home . Genius! Luckily, I had sock #1 to use at a reference. I'm not terribly experienced with short-row heels, but I have to pat myself on the back and say I did a pretty good job with reverse-engineering sock #2, which was completed sans instructions. I can't tell which one is the off-book sock, can you? One note about the yarn ( Spinnery Sock Art - Forest  in Natural Gray): it bloomed quite nicely once I blocked it with a little Eucalan .  I'll have to give some of their hand-dyed colorways a try next! I know I shared a photo of my finished Tarragon Swan Cowl  earlier this week, but I wanted to share a photo with an actual humanoid (even if it is just m...

I've been obsessed with this pattern ever since it came out, and at the beginning of June, I finally cast on with some Road to China Light I bought at Doodlebug Yarn. I chose Carnelian, which I thought was going to be more reddish in color (those laptop screens can really fool me sometimes!); it turned out to be more of a purple-red - I'd call it a mauve almost. I was weighing my options between Carnelian and Garnet and probably should have gone the other way when I placed my order. At any rate, it was a surprise, but I decided to just go with it and start knitting. I tend to buy the same colors of yarn over and over again, so sometimes the caveat emptor of online yarn purchasing is a good way to get me out of such color ruts. RtC is a super-soft blend of baby alpaca, silk, camel and cashmere. Yep, it's incredibly soft! I used my Cubics special interchangeables (they're great for hats and cowls, hence I am now obsessed with them) and quickly realized that this patte...