handmade by stefanie

I've got two FO's to share this week! The first is my finished monkey for my newest nephew, Ethan: The yarn is Green Mountain Spinnery's  Wonderfully Woolly  (now discontinued) in Turquoise and a little bit of  Malabrigo Worsted  in Pigeon. Once again, I used Rebecca Danger's excellent  Jerry the Musical Monkey  pattern. I also bound off for my scrap yarn scarf last weekend and have been wearing it ever since! It's nice and soft and a good length; I used the Snippet Scarf pattern (available for free on Ravelry) as a guide, though I used smaller needles and cast on more stitches. Some of the yarns used are:  Malabrigo Finito, Dream in Color Smooshy,The Uncommon Thread Heavenly Fingering, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, and The Fibre Company Canopy Fingering. Celebrate FO Friday by checking out more posts over on the  Tami's Amis blog ! Have a crafty weekend!

It's week two of Malabrigo March and already I've finished my first project, with the second one close on its heels. Here is the pile of moose parts I need to assemble this week, ideally in time for my FO Friday post...though that might be a long shot, considering how many fiddly bits there are to assemble: Since I was without an "on-the-go" knitting project, last week I decided to cast on for a scrap yarn scarf  based on Becky Herrick's Snippet Scarf , a free pattern on Ravelry. For some reason, I had the insane delusion that carrying around several leftover skeins of fingering-weight yarn was a really good idea. The reality, of course, is the complete opposite, and I think this will become my kitchen knitting project instead! I have been saving lots of bits and bobs from luxury skeins of yarn - Malabrigo Finito, The Uncommon Thread Heavenly Fingering, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, and The Fibre Company Canopy Fingering, to name a few. Already, it's...

I finished two long-term projects this week - all the better to make way for my Malabrigo March projects! My crocheted Calm Cowl seemed as thought it would never end, and that's partially because I didn't want it to! It was the perfect type of project to take on the CTA, so I ended up making it considerably larger than the pattern specifies. The yarn was perfect for this project, a nice subtle gradation of emerald green and occasional turquoise hues. You may recall that I ordered this last fall from Craftsy's Thanksgiving sale - I'm not sure if I mentioned it at the time, but they accidentally sent me an extra ball of yarn, something that ended up coming in handy after all! The other project I finished this week is my Sock Monkey Monkey! I had been wanting to try the hand-dyed yarns from Haldecraft and fell in love with the Sock Monkey Colorway. When my SIL bought a skein of worsted-weight yarn in my color of choice, I knew I had to make myself a stuffed monk...

Remember my Calm Cowl ? I have been working on it steadily since I last shared it on this blog , but I feel like it will never be finished! I am nearly done with the third ball of yarn (Wisdom Yarns' Limerick), but I think that I'll keep going and dip into my fourth ball. It's certainly been a great project to take on-the-go; it's accompanied me to various places such as our favorite coffee shop, a bowling alley, and the Genius Bar at the Apple store, not to mention countless trips on the CTA. My Sock Monkey Monkey is nearing completion; even though I feel like I don't work on it very much (it is the "kitchen" project du jour), somehow I am coming down the home stretch at last. I am loving the yarn, which is a hand-dyed worsted with a very nice twist from Haldecraft . Can't wait to finish my monkey! Just as soon as I finished Tyler's gloves last Friday night, I cast on for the Rocky Coast Cardigan  with the Canopy Worsted I scored for 5...

In today's post, I'll be sharing the toys I made for holiday gifting this year, starting with the  Fraternal Twin Monkeys I made for our friends in Portland who were expecting twins next month. However, they got an early Christmas gift this year with the early arrival of said twins on Christmas Eve! The pattern is Rebecca Danger's Jerry the Musical Monkey , and I used some Cascade 220 that I got on closeout from Doodlebug Yarn earlier this year. It was so hard to send them away to their new home, but I know they will be well-loved. Early last week, I decided to crochet two patterns from the book I got for my birthday, Stacey Trock's Crocheted Softies ; one for my friend Ellen and one to add to Tyler's stocking. For Ellen, I thought that Milton the Slowpoke Snail would be really awesome with a Zombie BBQ shell (and I just happened to have a partial skein of Shepherd Worsted in my stash in that particular colorway!). Who doesn't need a Christmas snail ?...

It's rare when I actually have (and remember to blog about) FO's for FO Friday, but I finished this funny little baby monkey this morning and just had to share! Pattern:  Baby Monkey from Patons' Monkey Business Booklet Yarn:  Stitch Nation Alpaca Love (MC, dark grey); Knit Picks Gloss (CC, light grey) and Pick Up Sticks' Small Balls in Cream (CC, off-white color) Tyler likes him because his nubby little legs and disproportionately long tail act as a kickstand, allowing him to stand up on his own! I also want to share my friend's first-ever Monster FO.  While Julie was visiting Chicago last weekend, she decided to revisit knitting and wanted to make a monster.  I set her up with some yarn, needles, and a Rebecca Danger pattern.  It was pretty hot out the entire holiday weekend, so there was ample time to sit in the air conditioning and knit.  I was really impressed that she had a completed monster to take home with her!  Further proof that k...