handmade by stefanie

I finished my Wonder Woman shawl just in time for Wizard World , which we went to yesterday (though the con goes through this Sunday). Here I am nerding it up, as one does at such events: I used 2 skeins of Bijou Basin Ranch Shangri-La yak/silk lace weight yarn and US 3 needles to make a smaller version of this shawl (and it only took 1 skein of each color - below you can see how much yarn I had left over). The yarn is so gorgeous, and I really love how the shawl turned out! I used the  free pattern by Carissa Browning, found here on Ravelry . Since I started this project, she has added more size options and a  crochet version of this pattern  - I followed the instructions for what is now the larger size. This took up most of our kitchen floor! Funny story: I meant to knit this project with US 4 needles, but didn't notice I had grabbed the next size down until I was about halfway through the project. Oops! But, the shawl blocked out to a very nice dim...

I think it's going to be a photo finish for the dueling shawls; the final rows of my Wonder Woman Wrap are looooong, though I don't have many left to knit: While I have further to go on my Inauguration Consolation shawl, the rows are just a bit shorter: Even more exciting, however, is that I have only ONE other WIP on the needles: the ill-fated Dillinger Hat , which is still in time out. I think I ripped back far enough to fix the mistakes I made, so it's just a matter of picking it back up and finishing it. Easier said than done! Here's hoping I can finish one, some or all of these WIPs this coming weekend so that I can start some new, exciting projects!

Sirka Row Counter I have been curious about this product for years, but never bought one until recently. Then it sat in its cute little bento box, unused, for several months. Finally, the dreaded "at the same time" popped up in a pattern and instead of being annoyed as I usually would be, I was super psyched because it meant I could test drive my Sirka . Obviously, I loved it, or it wouldn't be included in this post! Though it seems like it might be complicated (yes, it comes with instructions!), it's really quite easy to use, and I just kept a key of what color was assigned to what set of instructions handy, since I tend to forget such things. The only drawback is that it's kind of big and I don't think I would want to use it on-the-go - but it's perfect for keeping near my knitting nook at home. And realistically, a project that has instructions that necessitate the use of a Sirka probably won't be leaving the house anyway, since I prefer to t...

After all of the finishing I did last month, I've been holding my number of WIPs to a reasonable number, but I couldn't resist starting the  Wonder Woman Wrap by Carissa Browning . It seems like everyone is going crazy for it on Instagram and Ravelry (where it's available for free )! I'm knitting mine out of lace weight yarn: a yak and silk blend from Bijou Basin Ranch called Shangri-La . It's so shiny and lovely, and I think that the airier fabric will be a nice complement to the shiny, slinky yarn. Aren't the colors gorgeous? After knitting several swatches with various sizes of needles, I decided to use the size called for in the pattern (US 4) so that I can still get a fairly large wrap. The difference in final wingspan was more than 10 inches from US 3 to US4 - crazy, right? Since I'm using larger needles, I have to be careful to knit slower and tighter than I am used to - usually I just fly along and let blocking take care of the rest, bu...