handmade by stefanie

I took five projects with me to Kansas City; four FO's returned with me, and I started the fifth project on the train back to Chicago! I was halfway to the heel on sock #2 for the Jelly Beans Sock KAL before leaving for KC; about halfway through the train ride down, I realized I'd left the instructions at home . Genius! Luckily, I had sock #1 to use at a reference. I'm not terribly experienced with short-row heels, but I have to pat myself on the back and say I did a pretty good job with reverse-engineering sock #2, which was completed sans instructions. I can't tell which one is the off-book sock, can you? One note about the yarn ( Spinnery Sock Art - Forest  in Natural Gray): it bloomed quite nicely once I blocked it with a little Eucalan .  I'll have to give some of their hand-dyed colorways a try next! I know I shared a photo of my finished Tarragon Swan Cowl  earlier this week, but I wanted to share a photo with an actual humanoid (even if it is just m...

It's been a while since I've shared what's on my needles - and with so many finished projects of late, that means that I've started just as many new ones! My colorwork craze continues with Ysolda Teague's Hendreary Hat in Bijou Bliss: I also started a new pair of socks using some yarn I recently scored via Craftsy's Daily Deals - the pattern is hot off the press from Cookie A's new design collection . I couldn't resist the simplicity of the Lateral Socks . What better way to show off the gradient colorway of my yarn choice? Finally, my Rockefeller Shawl is chugging along. Yes, it's been several weeks since the completion of the WestKnits 2012 Mystery KAl, but I have been struck with Second Side Syndrome, apparently. I've officially moved this project to "slow-burner status" (i.e., it's the project I pick up when feeding the cats in the morning and evening), and it will be done...eventually. Still haven't gotten yo...

As you might have guessed by a lack of a post on Friday, the final day of the WestKnits Mystery KAL , I didn't finish my shawl.  I'd like to say it wasn't for lack of trying, but my progress simply won't support that claim: As you can see, I'm not even halfway through the final clue! It's going to be smooth sailing from here - but on a really slow-moving ship (that seems to be the theme for most projects these days). Here's hoping this can be off the needles by the end of this month!

Warning: this post contains spoiler photos for the WestKnits Mystery KAL!  This weekend, I was amazed at how much progress I made on my all-but-forgotten toe-up socks in just a matter of days. Indeed, when you diligently knit on something, you can cover a lot of ground...it goes without saying that the inverse is true when you ignore a project, though I still always hope the knitting fairy will come along and knit a few rows when I'm not looking. Last Saturday night, I turned the heel, and now I'll just be blazing through the pattern repeats til it's time to bind off. My goal is to have this pair of socks completely off the needles by the end of this coming weekend - then perhaps I can get down to business with those lovely colorwork socks I started in June...or cast on for a quick-knitting pair of pom-pom peds to give my new pom-pom maker a test drive....or get down to business on my holiday sock knitting....well, you get the idea! I'm plugging away on the ...

Warning: there are WestKnits Mystery KAL spoiler photos in this post!!   Last Sunday, I was determined to finish the short-row section on my Color Affection . It took the better part of the afternoon, but I did it! I am now working through the final rows of the edging...and it's taking forever, not surprisingly. I am determined to get this off my needles before the month is out so I can spend August making a birthday present for my nephew and finishing both socks I have in progress (and maybe, just maybe, finish the designs I've been ignoring for several months, too). It's definitely at its least photogenic stage, and it appears as though I may have gotten carried away and did some additional increases. The only way to know for sure is to finish it! Color Affection: Getting close! Meanwhile, the WestKnits Mystery Shawl rolls on. I finished Clue #2 last night, just in time for Clue #3 to hit my inbox today. I have a hard time imagining where we'll go from here, ...

Warning: there is a WestKnits Mystery KAL spoiler photo in this post!!  Startitis has hit me hard this summer. I know a lot of people quit knitting once the thermometer starts to rise, but I'm just the opposite: I grab a beer and some yarn so I can hide in the air conditioning til cooler temperatures prevail. My line of work is perennially enabling my yarn-buying, pattern-queueing, casting-on habit, and right now it seems to keep getting worse as the summer progresses...not that I'm complaining.  Far from it! Last month, I indulged in some retail therapy by purchasing enough Canopy Fingering to make a Color Affection shawl. I've been making regular (yet slow) progress, but am nearly done with the short row section: The short rows are getting longer! I'm using   Manatee ,   Conifer   and   Sarsparilla ...my three favorite colors! I can't wait for this shawl to be done - I'm already envisioning myself wrapping up in it all winter long. My WestKn...

I've clearly given up on the whole three-at-a-time rule for WIPs; that's long since gone out the window. In addition to the four projects already on the needles, I've added my first-ever entrelac project to the mix, and will be casting on for the WestKnits Mystery Shawl KAL today. The more the merrier, right? It's well-documented that I've been wanting to give entrelac a try for quite some time (see here , here , here and here , for example).  I haven't done anything to act on that impulse until now, however.  Last month, I signed up for Gwen Bortner's entrelac class on Craftsy , though I thought it would be better to wait til after the madness of TNNA before getting started.  Last weekend, I watched the first few lessons and was surprised at how EASY (not to mention, addictive) entrelac really is! Like so many things in knitting, looks are deceiving - while the entrelac fabric looks intricate and the charts seem complicated and intimidating, the tec...

Lately, socks seem to languish on the needles.  I'm not sure why - I love knitting them!  And yet, the colorwork socks I started last month have been cryogenically frozen since before TNNA...n o real reason, but I just can't seem to progress past the heel turn: I'm having similar issues of inertia with my toe-up socks . While I love the yarn and the pattern, second sock syndrome - something I've never had to deal with in my seven or so years of sock knitting - has set in. Getting the toe started on sock #2 is my main stumbling block; I'm either too tired or stressed or pressed for time to sit down and work through the cast-on and first few rounds of toe shaping.  Here's #1 - it looks great, right?  If only it had a friend! Meanwhile, my Narwhal Mittens are also progressing at a glacier-like pace. I started them at the beginning of June ( before the colorwork socks but after the toe-up socks, for those of you keeping track) and have yet to proceed to mi...

At last, FO photos of my Earth & Sky KAL project!  It didn't take too terribly long to weave in all the ends - I did most of them each time I finished a clue, as suggested in the pattern.  No matter the project (but especially where intarsia is concerned), weaving in the ends as you go is always a good time-saver.  I couldn't be more pleased with how my first-ever intarsia project turned out, and I really like the color placement.  I'm also happy to report that the silver-colored yarn that I mentioned was a little on the scratchy side has softened up considerably since blocking. As you can see, I love my new shawl!  Bonus points to Tyler for capturing The Happy Shawl Dance.  That's something the world really needed to see.  Now for the bad news:  while I successfully used up every scrap of navy blue sock yarn in my stash,  I barely made a dent in the other skeins!  I suppose there are worse things - I can probably have enough lef...

Early Monday morning, clue #4 arrived in my inbox, and of course I downloaded and printed it out as soon as I woke up!  I've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of this final clue so I could guesstimate whether or not I had enough yarn for a larger size. On the plus side, if I only have enough yarn to make the smallest size, I can get to working on Clue #4 right away and, barring some unforseen circumstance (as they would say on Seinfeld ), finish my project by the end of the month.  While I would really like to have a big 'ol scarfy-shawl to wrap up in this fall, I don't relish the fact that I would have to return to Clue #3 and do even MORE knitting before I can move on to the last clue.  It's a necessary evil, I suppose!  It would also increase the probability that I would not finish this project in time (i.e. by the end of August).  I can accept that - I have no illusions that I'd win a prize in the midst of this KAL, though I certainly wouldn't protest...

This mystery KAL has triggered a major case of startitis! I'm fighting the urge to start two more sock projects - I'd like to finish my Wool Dispensary sock design first (I just cast on for sock #2)....and besides that, it's really better if I limit myself to one sock project at a time. Daybreak: Not at its most photogenic stage I'm not sure if the following logic is actually logical , but instead of starting a monster or sock, I ended up starting a Daybreak Shawl .  I've been wanting to knit one for so long now, it just seemed like I should use the momentum of this KAL to check that off my knitting bucket list.  Does it help my case if I say I'm using sport-weight yarn?  No?  Well, I had to try. I cast on last Thursday - much like the addictive Pogona Shawl , it's flying off the needles! I really love the Knit Picks Simply Cotton yarn - it comes in a beautiful palette of colors and is easy to knit with - not something you can say of most cotton ...

What?  August is here already?  I feel a bit like Rip Van Winkle...minus the laziness and beard worthy of ZZ Top.  I have no idea where the summer went, but being a lover of all things woolen, I start preparing for fall right about now - which is what makes the first-ever Westknits KAL so perfectly timed!  If you're a little late to the party, here are the details: Stephen West, knitwear-designing powerhouse, has created another exciting shawl pattern and is releasing it in the form of weekly clues sent to everyone who has purchased the Ravelry download (it should also be noted that anyone who purchases the download during the month of August will get the pattern for $4, and once the KAL is over the pattern will be $6!).  Today the first clue was released and hundreds (thousands?) of Westknits fans are casting on. Me?  I'm not much of a joiner - I've done a few non-mystery KALs with mixed results in terms of my actual participation/finishing within t...