handmade by stefanie

Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, I finished my Miya Shawl for the KAL that recently ended in the Bijou Basin Ranch Ravelry group ! This is a great one-skein pattern for their luxurious new 100% cashmere yarn, Xanadu . I'd never worked with a cashmere yarn before (I'd only used blends previously), and this was nothing short of delightful. I blocked it out over the weekend using my Knit Blockers and some T-pins for the lace border (show here on Instagram ). I've been wearing it as a scarf this week (footage not found), but I was unable to snap a modeled shot due to all sorts of life craziness, but I can tell you that it's very lightweight, yet incredibly warm. This will be a great scarf to wear around my drafty office this winter. What's crazy is how I took both of these photos on the same day outside, but depending on how the light hits the yarn, it looks one way or the other! Honestly, I'd say the true color on any given day is very close to one of th...

On Monday night I started to have that feeling that I was coming down with something. Lo and behold, I got the cold that's been going around, and spent most of yesterday on the couch, attempting to accomplish some work to-do's (there are no sick days for the self-employed). I can always tell I'm not feeling well when it's even tough to knit, and I had a hard time getting through even the simplest rows on Tuesday night. Thankfully, it was a productive weekend. I spun both gradient singles for my yak cardigan and am in the process of plying them together this week. I also conquered the back piece of my Broad Shoulders KAL sweater ; all that remains is the right front, two sleeves, and a button band - I can totally  finish all that by December 13! My Spinzilla prize was a gift certificate to Purl & Loop, and I received my order on Monday and couldn't resist casting on for a stripey baby sweater using Allyson Dykhuizen's Baby Sweater Buffet  pattern:  ...

I've been working on all of my WIPs pretty diligently since last week, but it really doesn't seem like much has been accomplished. There is, however, measurable progress - for instance, I am just 3 inches away from finishing my yak cardi sleeves and joining them to the body of the sweater for the yoke. I've almost finished the left side of the Broad Shoulders sweater (more on that here ), and my Miya shawl continues to grow. My entrelac cowl has definitely grown since last week - I am just zooming along on each wedge section. Surprisingly, this turned out to be a really great on-the-go knitting project, which is why I've made so much progress. It also got an awesome new home in the form of a project bag made for me by Kemper of the Junkyarn Podcast . Thanks, Kemper! Lastly, I've added a few more dino parts to the mix, though I'm not sure I'm going to finish by the end of the month for the Toy KAL I was kinda sorta but not really participating...

I'm still chugging away on my two grey sweaters: over the weekend, I separated for the armholes and began working the left front on my Broad Shoulders KAL sweater! And knitting sleeves two-at-a-time for my Pennant Cardi has proven to be an excellent bar knitting project. I'm usually a homebody, but lately I've found myself out and about way more than usual, and so I've managed to make a lot of progress since last week - it's probably hard to tell, but the sleeves are about elbow length now! I've started the second section of the Miya Shawl for the KAL that's happening here on Ravelry , and I have to say I am loving the yarn. Would you believe this is my first-ever 100% cashmere yarn I've ever knit with? But the biggest news is that I have started two NON-GREY projects (yes, all caps is very necessary there) since last week! First, I dusted off my crochet hook and started working on one of my recent FreshStitches Kit Club shipments: a yellow br...

Now that Spinzilla is done, I have a lot of singles to ply since this year's strategy did not include plying during the event (for the most part). I'll be sharing my Spinzilla results later this week, and this weekend I plan on plying some of these projects so that they are officially done . In the mean time....my grey knitting project streak continues. While the Leonarda shawl is officially off the needles (but still in need of a good blocking), I have replaced it with....another grey shawl. I promise that my next  project will be in a non-grey yarn, but I couldn't resist this new cashmere yarn from Bijou Basin Ranch for the Miya Shawl KAL which started on Monday: While traveling last week, I left the Broad Shoulders sweater in Chicago, but I have been working on it since arriving back in town and there has been some progress made since last week: I did happen to take my two-at-a-time sleeves for my Pennant cardi, and made some decent progress on the trip: N...