handmade by stefanie

Breaking news! I've teamed up with the Feel Good Yarn Company to bring you a delightful indulgence in the new year. The Pamper Yourself sock kit features my Say What sock pattern (which originally appeared in Conversations Socks ) and two skeins of therapeutic SilverSpun yarn. Making this kit extra luxurious is the inclusion of a Lavender LaviShea® lotion bar (my favorite scent!). The bar melts with your body heat and absorbs quickly and completely without leaving a greasy residue, penetrating deep into the skin to re-hydrate, moisturize and induce relaxation. Say, Ahhh, to pampering - you deserve it! Kit Contents: Feel Good Yarn Company® SilverSpun [87% combed cotton, 5% silver, 5% Nylon, 3% Spandex; 173 yd per 50g skein]; color: Natural; 2 skeins LaviShea® Lotion Bar [unrefined shea butter,100% natural soy, premium botanical oils, essential oils, skin-safe fragrance; 1.35oz.]; fragrance: lavender; 1 bar  Downloadable PDF pattern Click here to purchase kit from th...

Knitting socks with a cotton yarn may cause you to exclaim “Say What?!” - but the uniqueness of SilverSpun is well-suited to the task! Featuring combed cotton with a touch of lycra, the resulting yarn is incredibly stretchy. The addition of pure silver adds a variety of benefits: silver inhibits the growth of odor-causing bacteria and also has excellent thermal properties (read more about this unique yarn here ). Say What? Socks  in SilverSpun yarn While the conductive properties of the yarn make it excellent for gloves or mittens, you’re sure to love these textured, cabled socks for year-round use. SilverSpun yarn is made from cotton which is raised and spun in North Carolina; it is a finalist for the Martha Stewart American Made Craft Awards , and I highly recommend you click here to cast your vote! The cabled panel gives a faux knotted look (without having to cut any yarn!), and it is complemented by a background of simple seed stitch. The Say What? socks ar...

After skipping Stitches Midwest last year, I wanted to be sure to make it out for at least one day this year. Living in the city and not having a car, however, can make getting to Stitches quite a feat. While I knew a few knitters with cars who offered me a ride, I decided to give the much-hyped Stitches Shuttle a try to see if it was an acceptable solution to the problem faced by yarn-loving but car-less Chicagoans. I am fortunate to live near the Metra line which connected to the Stitches Shuttle, so for me, my journey should have been rather simple: catch the Metra train, ride it for about 30 minutes, and then hop on the Stitches Shuttle for another 15 or so. I could be there in about an hour...in theory! I carefully timed my trip so that I had enough time to catch the 9:30 am shuttle bus on Saturday. Imagine my surprise when I got off the Metra Train at Arlington Heights at 9:22 and....nothing was there. I looked high and low for anything that resembled a bus or a shuttle ...

After finishing these fingerless mitts at the beginning of the year, I had a small amount of SilverSpun yarn left over. I thought about knitting a new pair of gloves or mittens and using the remaining yarn to knit the fingertips for a few of the fingers, but then I had a brainstorm: why not use the remaining yarn to retrofit all of my mittens for smartphone use? So, one by one, I'll be embroidering little SilverSpun dots on each thumb so that I can use my phone when it's cold out without having to take off my mittens - starting with my Robot mittens! As you can see in this Vine video , it's quite easy to do, not to mention effective: 

I first heard about SilverSpun yarn from the Feel Good Yarn Company over on my pal Allyson's blog . It popped up again as a reward for the Woolly App Kickstarter, and finally I ended up connecting with Laurie, the woman behind it all. She sent me a skein of SilverSpun yarn to try out, and I couldn't wait to cast on! Since the pure silver that is spun throughout the yarn has therapeutic properties, I thought a pair of fingerless mitts would be a good project. It should also be noted that the silver lends the yarn conductive properties as well, which means that you can knit a pair of gloves and use them to operate any touch-screen device while wearing them! Anyway, I went the fingerless mitt route and made the Dalkey Mitts from Carol Feller's Contemporary Irish Knits . This is the first project in my never-ending quest to see how many projects I can make from books already on my shelf, might I add! There were several pleasant surprises about this yarn: first, I was...