handmade by stefanie

Today marks the end of the Save the Children Pins and Needles Challenge , and it also happens to be National Sweater Day! If you missed out on a chance to knit a sweater for someone special during the challenge, don't worry! You can still make the world better with a sweater - just wear your favorite yarny masterpiece and pledge $5 to Save the Children  today. It's that simple! If you happen to live in Chicago, there is a fun celebration tonight at Nina in Wicker Park that's co-hosted by Heidi of the Hands Occupied blog. You can show off your sweater, donate $5 to Save the Children, and enjoy light refreshments and all the yarny goodness you can handle - click here for more details !  I ended up making only one mini-sweater during the challenge, and now I need your help deciding which one of my fibery friends will get to wear it this winter. Last weekend, I posted on Instagram asking who wore it best, and now I am opening the floor to you, my lovely blog re...

I went a little crazy over the last week and have been indulging my startitis. It didn't seem like I was starting that many projects at the time....until I began to list them out! Over the weekend, I started a worsted-weight version of the Hot Chocolate Run Polar Bear , which is turning out to be quite plump (I may have gotten a little overzealous with the stuffing): I also started a tree for the Snow Family & Evergreens KAL which is happening right now on the WEBS blog : It would seem as though not much progress has occurred with my fingering-weight baby sweater, but that's only because I ended up frogging all of my work so that I could restart, making a smaller size so that I didn't have to worry about ending out of yarn. Oh, and then I promptly ignored this project in favor of starting new ones - as one does. Case in point: just this morning I cast on for a mini sweater for the Pins and Needles Challenge using some destash yarn ( click here for more detail...

This year, the folks at Save the Children are challenging folks to Make the World a Better Place with a Sweater  on December 12, which is also known as National Sweater Day! Non-knitters are encouraged to wear their most festive holiday sweater and donate $5 to Save the Children on Dec. 12, but knitterly folks have a special challenge for this year: to knit a sweater for someone special between November 12 & December 12, which Save the Children has dubbed the Pins and Needles Challenge . Don't worry - it doesn't have to be a full-sized sweater!  Save the Children  and Vogue Knitting have provided two free knitting patterns for miniature sweaters for those of you who are pressed for time: Sweater Garland - click here for a free PDF. Cell Phone Sweater - click here for a free PDF. I myself plan to knit a few mini-sweaters using the free Sweater Garland pattern above - I think they'll make great ornaments to give as gifts this year! I'll be c...