handmade by stefanie

I admit, this project has been finished for several weeks - I've been saving it for the inevitable FO Friday post where I find myself without a project I am at liberty to share. It looks like that moment has already arrived! A few years ago, I surprised my parents with some stockings mysteriously filled with goodies the night before Christmas by someone who was undeniably jolly. Since then, we've upheld our stocking traditions, even though my husband and I haven't been able to visit home on the actual holiday due to his work schedule. This year, we'll be spending the holiday in KC with our families once more, and I wanted to be sure that my Grandpa could be a part of this new tradition - so this is his stocking, which we'll all be surprising him with on Christmas day! I used the Ragg Wool Christmas Stocking pattern from Annie's Woolens and some destash yarn to complete this project (unfortunately, this is the kind of destash yarn that has long since been s...

Santa was very good to me this year, and not just in the realm of knitterly gifts. My destash efforts will be much easier with the bevvy of new books that were under my Christmas tree: Coastal Knits , Mostly Mittens , November Knits , Colorwork Creations , Cast On Bind Off , and Alice Starmore's Charts for Color Knitting . I also got a pretty new fabric case for my interchangeable needles (plus one of the tips sizes I was lacking) and some Karbonz circulars, which I'm excited to try with the metal tips - I have a pair of  the original DPNs without the tips, so I'm interested to compare them. I think I'm finally gotten back into the swing of things upon our return to Chicago - working, knitting, spinning, etc. I've finished a few projects over this past weekend that I'll be sharing on this blog just as soon as I can get them photographed; I also have one more round of Secret Knitting that I'll be posting later this week. See you on WIP Wednesday!

Earlier in the week, I whipped up a Dustland Hat for my husband's secret santa at work - he drew the new guy who also happens to be his boss. Talk about pressure! Unfortunately, it turned out way too large the first time, so I ended up frogging it halfway to move up the decreases and make it a more normal-sized hat. In hindsight, I should have gauged first, as the first attempt was truly gargantuan - and I only knit the medium size! It's a great pattern though; all of the different stitch sections are easy to memorize and kept me interested so that the hat went fast (both times). I'm happy with the results and will probably make another one for myself at some point. Back in the queue it goes! Pattern: Dustland Hat by Stephen West Yarn: Cascade 220, 1 skein in Aporto Find more FO Friday inspiration over on the  Tami's Amis Blog !