handmade by stefanie

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...

I've been looking forward to Vogue Knitting Live 's return to Chicago all year; it's so nice to have a show of this caliber that is easy to get to for us non-car-owning city folk (I won't bore you with the same plea as last year , but if the good people at XRX are listening - please move Stitches Midwest back to Rosemont). This year, I didn't sign up to be a booth helper, and I only shopped the Marketplace on Sunday morning in an attempt to minimize damage to my bank account; my main goal was to see my clients and friends, take photos, and test my resolve to not come home with a truckload of yarn. To that end, I think I was fairly successful - here's what I came home with: My biggest splurge was the limited-edition Super Mario Slipped Stitch Studios sock project bag from the Windy Knitty Booth; I'm so glad they had a few left when I stopped by on Sunday morning! I had seen these project bags earlier this year when they were for sale in a limited run ...

Searching for the perfect pullover? Learn the ins and outs of sweater construction from the executive editor of Vogue Knitting , Carla Scott. Custom Cabled Pullovers  will show you how to create your ideal cabled pullover from start to finish, covering essential areas such as: taking accurate measurements how to incorporate cables and 'filler' stitches into your design swatching several stitch patterns and measuring gauge calculating increases and decreases to achieve the best fit possible cabling without a cable needle professional finishing techniques - blocking, seaming, and picking up stitches I'm excited to share this special deal with you:  click here to sign up for 50% off your course registration on Craftsy.com! You might like to know: This featured content was not solicited by the good people at Vogue Knitting or Craftsy.com . Your class purchase helps keep this blog running!