handmade by stefanie

Fun fact: my husband and I are almost exactly 6 months apart in age (my half birthday is the day before his actual birthday later this month). I thought it would be fun to celebrate both with a little sale on Ravelry and Etsy! Ravelry Pattern Sale Enter HALFBDAY at checkout to get 50% off all of my patterns on Ravelry - including the Conversation Socks ebook! - now through May 18. Click here to visit my Ravelry pattern store! Etsy Shop Sale On Etsy, you can choose your discount below, good towards any of my current listings for mini skeins, hand dyed yarns, and handspun yarns. Plus, all US orders (still) ship FREE! Spend $10, get 10% off when you enter SPEND10 at checkout. Spend $20, get 20% off when you enter SPEND20 at checkout. Spend $30, get 30% off when you enter SPEND30 at checkout. All offers expire at Midnight MDT on Friday, May 18. Click here to visit my Etsy Shop!

Has anyone noticed this little badge in the top right corner of your Ravelry notebook ? From what I can gather, this is an informal, self-guided challenge to make a specific number of projects within the calendar year. There doesn't appear to be any official  Ravelry group or thread associated with accountability or sharing progress, though I've noticed some groups dedicated to destashing or other KALs have picked up on it and are using the feature in conjunction with their event. There is also a  discussion thread here in For The Love of Ravelry where people can ask questions about how everything works. Joining is pretty easy: after you click on the badge, all you have to do is enter a number and click "sign me up!" I've never really thought about how many projects I want to make in a year, so I set an arbitrary goal of 50 - I honestly have no idea if that is a reasonable or unreasonable goal, but it does look like you can adjust it at any point i...

Over the holiday weekend, I finished up my crocheted bunting for the kitchen! I used some yarn from my stash and did a modified version of the Rainbow Bunting from Modern Baby Crochet, where I made the triangles just a tiny bit smaller. I can't remember what the black yarn is, but the yellow and turquoise are both from Green Mountain Spinnery . It makes me happy every time I walk into the kitchen! Also, I've been seeing lots of people posting this around: If you'd like to find out what Raveler number you are, just go to your page and hit these keys: up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, and then enter - your Raveler number will magically appear! Thanks to the Ravelry Crew for this fun Easter egg! As always, have a fun & crafty weekend! 

Wooly App I was first introduced to the Wooly App when I was researching an article for Yarn Market News ; shortly thereafter, I ran into them at YarnCon here in Chicago, though I was in such a daze from all of the pretty yarns and fibers, I didn't spend much time in their booth. Recently, I came across their Kickstarter campaign to create a juiced-up new version of the app for iOS users (think iPhone and iPad), with the possibility of creating an Android version, too! John Stys (one of the developers) lives here in Chicago, and we met up earlier this week to talk more about the Wooly app and their Kickstarter campaign , which is getting very close to their funding goal with 13 days to go! John showed me the current version of the app, which is a reader for the notebook section of the user's account and also features a nifty photo editor that allows you to take and edit photos to upload directly to your Ravelry account. It's got a great look and feel - you'd ...

I have five - FIVE! - babies to knit for in 2013, so I wanted a blanket that was pretty but not too difficult to make. I've been working extra-long hours at my day job, so by the time I settle down to knit for a few hours at night, most of my brainwaves are spent. Using knits and purls to create a textured lattice-like pattern, the Lettuce Lattice Baby Blanket was born. Sorry for the terrible pun - it's been a long week (and it's only Wednesday)! At any rate, my new baby blanket pattern is perfect for swaddling newborns, makes a fantastic receiving blanket, and is sure to be a great companion blankie during the toddler years. Knit with superwash yarn, parents will appreciate this thoughtful and easy-care gift. The PDF pattern includes stitch chart and instructions on working with hand-dyed yarns.  You'll also get a chance to master the crochet cast-on method (one of my favorites!) - click here  to view a video tutorial on YouTube to see just how easy this technique...