handmade by stefanie

Last night I got back home to Chicago after spending the weekend in Kansas City. I'd found a last-minute Megabus fare and surprised my mom for her birthday, which was on Monday of this week. The trip was about 10 hours each way, and I'm sure you can take a wild guess as to how I spent most of that time! I packed one WIP and yarn/patterns for two other projects; I returned home with two FO's and one brand-new WIP!  I can't give out too many details of this current WIP since it's a holiday gift, but I don't have anything else to share this week, so here goes: this mystery project is being knit with some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Satsuma....and that is pretty much all I can say on the subject.  Starting next week, I will happen to have a shareable WIP, since I'll be casting on for the 30-Day Sweater Challenge KAL beginning on October 1. I hope you'll join me, because it will be a really fun event that will involve a TON of great ...

Since the weather didn't  cooperate for a photo shoot yesterday, I will be sharing my finished Fleece Artist Socks  and  Elfe sweater for next week's FO Friday post. However, I do have a super-secret project that I can finally share on this blog - I crocheted a Cluck Clutch and some Tiny Chickens for my friend Leanne's birthday! The Cluck Clutch is a free crochet pattern on Ravelry. I used Malabrigo Merino Worsted  in Butter for my main color. I think this is super cute, though it would probably make a better pillow than carry-all!  Of course, it turned out to be some very cute packaging for the tiny chickens I knit from Teeny Tiny Mochimochi.   I used worsted-weight yarn instead of fingering to make a slightly larger (but still tiny) chicken. I couldn't resist putting them into an egg carton - they fit perfectly! Thanks for stopping by this week - for more FO Friday inspiration, visit the  Tami's Amis blog !  Have a crafty...

My first holiday knitting FO to share while I'm on vacation is these these two Pokeball Hats  that I knit for my nephews in Portland, who are both Pokemon fans, needless to say. It's a free pattern I found on Ravelry and I was able to hone my duplicate-stitch skills in the process. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out! They are knit with one of my favorite superwash yarns, Berrocco Vintage.

I've decided that 3 is the ideal number of WIPs for me.  I'm not sure how I arrived at this conclusion, but at any rate, this is the number I will try to stick to in hopes of staving off unchecked startitis. It seems like a long time since I've shared an actual knitting project - in progress or otherwise - so here's the lowdown on what's on the needles right now: Project the First: It's a secret!  This is a new design I've been thinking about (and quite possibly talking/blogging about, too) for quite some time.  I think I knit the prototype a year or two ago, and I am just not getting down to the business of deciphering my notes and putting them into something that resembles a knittable pattern.  This project is exciting for two reasons:  1) it's the first project I've cast on using my brand new Knitter's Pride needles!  2) I'm finally knitting with the two gorgeous skeins of Quince & Co. Chicadee Tyler got me for christmas (in *cou...

I know, I know...every post in the last month has mentioned [event name redacted] in some way.   It was like Christmas for us Chicago yarnies - eager anticipation, counting down the days, and then it's over way too fast and you have to wait til next year.  Life after [oops, almost said it]:  we must move forward, not back. I suppose I should fill you in on all the other stuff I've been doing besides the three new designs that debuted this weekend. To be honest, I'm not sure where I've found the time to do all this - releasing three patterns in the same month is a doozy! - but I've managed to cram in lots of other fibery activities that haven't found their way onto this blog.  Here's a summary of things I may have forgotten to mention:  Dead Fish Hat!  My nephew turned 7 this month, and what better gift for the silliest second-grader I know than Thelma Egberts' Fish Hat: Dead or Alive? .  Clearly, it was the right choice...and because it's so ...