handmade by stefanie

I actually have two  sweaters on the needles right now, but I'm only able to share one on my blog (the other is a test knit for a not-yet-released pattern!). Over the weekend, I started my sleeves for the Chill Chaser KAL : as you can see, I opted for two-at-a-time on magic loop. While I never seem to suffer from Second Sock Syndrome, I almost always get Second Sleeve Syndrome; I also find sleeves two-at-a-time to be a practical choice: you are pretty much guaranteed that your sleeves will match up, both in terms of length and placement of increases/decreases. I had some pretty new yarn sent to me recently and couldn't resist casting on for a small project to see how it knit up. The yarn is a new exclusive base available at A Good Yarn Sarasota - it's called A Good Yarn Fingering , and it's hand-dyed by Yarn Love. Currently, you have to call them to order this yarn, but soon they will have it available for purchase online. The name of the colorway I got is Autumn ...

I finally have an exciting update on my Emmanuelle Sweater : I've started the Chevrons on the front piece! Woo hoo! So far, so good; I'm hoping the other colors I have planned will play well with everything else. With any luck, I can get this final piece knitted by the end of next week, which means I am on track for finishing this by the end of the month (I hope I didn't just jinx myself there). This would mean that it'll be one of the fastest adult-sized sweaters I've knit to date. I've also made some major progress on the Mountain Moss lace edging and it should be finished by the end of this coming weekend, too - which means I can start something new! I still have plenty of gift projects to knock out between now and December, so I'll be less stressed once I can finish this 'selfish' project and get back to gift knitting/crocheting. Of course, life has a way of throwing monkey wrenches into the best-laid plans, doesn't it? First, I'...

At last, I have photos to share of my greatest sweater-knitting accomplishment to date: my Fieldwork Cardigan knit in Sincere Sheep yarn! This has been finished for a while, but it's been a little tough finding the right time to take photos; I always knew where  I wanted to take photos, however! There is an art space we pass frequently on our way to New Wave Coffee that occasionally has interesting things appear in it: fake meteors on wires stuck in to the ground, pop-up shops, and most recently, this random sign: Who knows how long it will be there? Not me, but I'm glad that we've captured this little bit of Chicago ephemera while we could. This is Tyler's favorite shot: Getting back to the sweater....I am in love with this! I know that I haven't styled it like the pattern photos (which are totally cute), but I really like wearing it as an open cardigan. I can already tell that this will be one of my favorites this fall. The pattern was well-wri...

Though I still buy a lot of yarn, I do try to focus on shopping from my own stash before making a purchase, and it feels pretty good to finish a project that has put my stash yarn to good use. Of course, sometimes a stash-busting project necessitates the purchase of more  yarn in order to finish it, which pretty much negates the whole concept. Be that as it may, this is what happened with my Destash Dolman , which I started in January of this year, hibernated in February when I realized I was going to run out of yarn, and then picked back up to finish recently when I was able to locate some Anzula Squishy to finish the job.  I honestly thought that I'd have enough of the green and taupe colors - after all, I used a third contrast color for the ribbed edges, right? Such is my flawed logic, and I can't say I swatched for this sweater, either - it's got so much positive ease, it really didn't seem necessary at the time (logic flaw #2). I'm lucky this fits quite w...

Happy WIP Wednesday! First, a quick update on my Macbook Pro - last night, I worked up the courage to fire it up and it WORKED! We didn't lose any data, either, so I feel extremely lucky and relieved. Good to know - rice is your friend should liquids invade your electronics. I am still plodding along on my Destash Dolman , which has seen modest progress since last week; I am halfway through stripe #15: Over the weekend, I decided to do a little stash diving to find the perfect yarn to make a scarf or cowl to  complement my new winter coat, and came across 4 skeins of Wisdom Yarns Limerick in a bright emerald green with a few subtle turquoise hues mixed in. I snapped it up shortly after Thanksgiving via Craftsy Deals* with no real plan for it, I just wanted it because it was pretty. I thought this might be a good choice for the Calm Cowl , which is a free crochet pattern on Ravelry. I'm nearly through the first ball of yarn, too! The main project that I've been foc...

After the last several months of knitting primarily for others, I am very happy to indulge in a little selfish knitting for the start of this year. I haven't made too many resolutions for 2013 thus far, but I do know this: I need to knit myself more sweaters this year. It just needs to happen. I also would like to fold this in with another ongoing goal I challenge myself with each year: destashing! I have many sweater's-worth quantities of yarn in my stash, and it's criminal that they haven't become beautiful wardrobe staples by now. I finished the lacy top I was knitting with Bijou Basin Ranch's yak/silk laceweight yarn, Shangri-La (thought I still need to photograph it and share it with the world at large), so I decided to cast on for another dolman-style top using some sock yarn for my stash and  breaking my cardigans-only rule for sweater-making yet again. Go figure! While I'd love to make the Roxborough Dolman with the yarn specified, Canopy Finger...