handmade by stefanie

This past Sunday was the final day of this year's Tour de Fleece, and while I can't claim to have spun every single day that the Tour de France rode, I did manage to spin some nice yarns along the way: Two of those yarns are from the fiber I dyed and blogged about last week ; the other yarns are spun from rolags and batts I've made on my Strauch drum carder, plus I have some singles left to weave with (I've recently discovered that thick-and-thin handspun singles are really fun to weave with). I spun nearly all of the fiber I'd earmarked for this year's event along with 2/3 of the new fiber I acquired and dyed midway through. Not bad!  Last weekend, the Chicago Yarn Crawl kicked off, and although I don't plan to visit a ton of yarn shops, last night I did make a stop to one of my favorite newer stores, Firefly Fiber Arts . And, of course, a skein of yarn followed me home! This yarn was part of a special trunk show to showcase the yarns from th...

I have a vague recollection of reading something about how some US textile mills began supplying yarn for the manufacturing of baseballs as a way to survive when production moved overseas, but I was still surprised and delighted to see this display during a recent visit to the Royals Hall of Fame : Who knew that there were THREE different kinds of yarn inside every baseball ?! Turns out, the construction of a baseball is a very precise science  - and yes, each yarn has exact specifications for fiber content and constructions that must be met . While I was doing a little more research about the yarn-baseball link, I turned up this really cool blog post about a visit to one of the very mills that produces yarn for Major League Baseball , and I also discovered a short-lived team call the Lowell Spinners , which is worth reading about. You never know where yarn or fiber will pop up next!

Yesterday I got back from the TNNA summer trade show, which returned to Columbus to the delight of pretty much everyone, judging by how busy and lively the show floor was for most of the weekend. My measurements are 100% unscientific, but it seemed like there was way more activity when compared to the rather quiet January show in San Jose. The company I work for, Stitchcraft Marketing , created a community art installation called #StitchLove , which was on display in the TNNA lounge in the center of the show floor. It was the brainchild of my colleague Mari and I am so proud of how it turned out - we all are! L-R: Mari, Me, Leanne & Ben. Seeing everyone's contributions was really cool, and by the end of the weekend, the wall was quite full! Although I'm pretty sure I didn't get a chance to check out every single booth, I did see some pretty cool things while I dashed from meeting to meeting. I was really psyched to spot Katrinkles , whom I discovered on I...

I was spinning furiously Sunday evening before Spinzilla drew to a close at midnight and managed to spin nearly all of the fibers I had earmarked for the event (only a half-pound of dyed merino remained unspun). I was hoping to double my usual 3,000-ish yardage of the past few years, but managed to only add about 1k to the usual yardage, finishing at 4034. I probably could have gotten that last bit of fiber spun up if I hadn't taken an ill-fated excursion to Windy Knitty in Andersonville on the same day as the Chicago Marathon (a journey that requires two bus lines, or a bus and a train, if you prefer). Though the event was in the morning and I wasn't trying to take mass transit til the afternoon, the effects of many main streets in Chicago being shut down for the runners could be felt, even at 3pm that same afternoon. Honestly, I'd done ok until the final leg, when the bus I was waiting for wasn't slated to show up for 30 minutes (with an immediate follower -...

I'm not sure if anyone noticed, but I really haven't been promoting the affiliate programs I'm signed up for lately, and that is mostly because I feel like the main site I am an affiliate for, Craftsy, is everywhere - and people are a little fatigued with the 24/4 promotion. Also, I'm guessing most of you have probably hit a wall for how many classes you can sign up for and only watch half of, which is pretty much where I'm at right now! I hope you don't mistake this for me knocking Craftsy - I still very much love the website and do refer back to the many classes I've taken quite a bit. However, I do have a fair number of classes I've purchased and have get to find the time to watch, and that's kind of a bummer. I keep telling myself - SOMEDAY! - but then that day never comes. Having said that, I simply couldn't say no to a full free month of Creativebug. This weekend only, they are generously offering myself and all of you dear readers a Cre...

I just got back from the TNNA Summer Trade Show in Indianapolis this past weekend; I'm guessing a lot of my readers are on the consumer side of things and will probably never attend this type of trade show, so I thought I'd give you an inside look on today's blog post. As my friend Liz said in this amazing photo (right) she posted of the show floor over the weekend, this is where your  LYS goes to shop! The Summer show is usually in June, so this year's show was about 6 weeks earlier than usual...in terms of planning and preparation, that's pretty significant! There was also a venue change from the Columbus Convention Center (and the beloved North Market/Jeni's Ice Cream). Despite all of these issues, the show turned out well. While I definitely missed some of my favorite places from Columbus, it was nice to explore someplace new and Indianapolis is actually quicte nice. There was even a really cool coffee shop across the street from the convention center c...

Recharging phone & self at the hotel, Day 1 of TNNA! At last, I am getting a chance to collect my thoughts and share my TNNA trip with you! I really enjoy going to Columbus for the summer trade show - at this point, I know lots of great places to go to, if only I have the time! My morning coffee/tea run took me invariably to North Market (which is also where I had several tasty lunches). I know this is probably sacrilegious to say, but I managed to go the entire trip without getting any Jeni's ice cream. Don't worry, I made up for it by drinking some tasty local beers - my favorite was the White Dragon Jasmine Saison from Barley's Brewing Company , which was pretty much the most delicious beer I've ever tasted! Columbus was celebrating Gay Pride at the same time our convention was in town, so on Saturday I was able to catch a little of the Pride Parade! This year, I had fewer meetings and social obligations, which was pretty nice! I did attend Eucalan ...

Ever since I pledged my first project on Kickstarter to help The Wool Dispensary get started, I've been hungry to find and fund more interesting projects via the site. Late last year, my band successfully raised funds to release the first two 7" vinyl singles in a 4-single series, so I know how hard people have to work to meet their funding goals - it's definitely not easy! Last year, I funded a project by my poster-making friends Nick and Nadine of Sonnenzimmer  to help them create and print a book of their work. It just arrived in the mail at the beginning of this month; it's so exciting to physically hold the finished product in your hands and know that you played a small part in that object becoming a reality. Last year, I also funded a local brewing start-up (which culminated in a beertastic brewery tour right before Christmas), a graphic novel called the Intrepid Girlbot , and a gorgeous quarterly magazine for crafty folk by Susan Gibbs and Jeannie Bloch c...

Just one more week til I can reveal the details of my secret knitting (and crochet) projects! Luckily, I have plenty of other goodies to share between now and then. For example, my first shipment of the Fresh Stitches Just Add Stuffing Kit Club arrived last Thursday - it's a cute little crab! I also ordered some yarn from Doodlebug for the express purpose of crocheting even more amigurumi projects. I did a test knit for Kelbourne Woolens earlier this year and fell in love with Organik , which is a luscious blend of organic merino, alpaca and silk. Needless to say, it's a really beautiful yarn! Aaaaand if you still need some gifties for your fibery friends (or perhaps yourself!), Craftsy has some cool new stuff on sale ! Today is the last day to place your order for guaranteed delivery by Christmas, incidentally. You're welcome.

There aren't many FO's I can share with you these days, so I'd like to share something cool from my crafty friend Lauren, who recently used my Whale Chart for an unexpected endeavor...I would like to present to my dear readers the first-ever "put a whale on it" fuse bead ornament! It probably won't surprise you to learn that I succumbed to a few Black Friday/Cyber Monday yarn sales. Even if you only read this blog occasionally, I'm sure you've figured out by now that I am incredibly weak-willed when it comes to all things yarn and fiber. At any rate, my first order showed up earlier this week - another skein of Tundra in Scotia Sea (I want to make the Arctic Circle cowl to coordinate with my mittens !) and the last skein of Swan's Island Organic worsted in the limited-edition colorway, Sugar Maple. I can't wait to knit with it - the color is even prettier in person and it's very soft! I was also thrilled to finally get my hot little ...

Today's FO Friday will be a little different, since I technically don't have any FO's to show off! I do, however, have a newly-restored Featherweight Cardigan . I knit this sweater all the way back in 2009 (it doesn't seem like it was that long ago!) and in the last year or so, noticed a few small holes in the sweater sleeves. I set it aside for repairs, and, well.... you know what happened ! Meanwhile, I plan on avoiding the insanity of Black Friday like the plague today. I'm sure I'm not the only on who rather be knitting! I'm more of a Cyber Monday person myself, as I prefer to do nearly all of my shopping (no matter what day it is) from the comfort of my own home while wearing pajamas. Fellow pajama shoppers, you are in luck! From 11/23-11/26, Craftsy is running its Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale and all classes are being offered at $19.99 or less! I have to say, I'm a serial class-taker at Craftsy . Just this year alone, I have expanded my...

I have a few projects that I've been meaning to share, but just haven't gotten around to posting due to all the fun and excitement of VK Live. First, I finished my Gradient Serendipity Scarf in Himalayan Trail , a heavenly blend of merino and yak: I also crocheted some slippers that actually fit me! Holy crapazoids! I used the skein of Manos Wool Clasica in Forest Floor that I snagged via Craftsy deals a while back and paired it with some Berocco Peruvia that was lurking in my stash (sale alert! Craftsy is having a pre-Black Friday sale this week which includes some amazing deals on Manos yarn !). The pattern is available for free here on Craftsy and is super easy to whip up quick. Tilly approves of these slippers immensely - she kept rubbing her face on them like a weirdo. This was the best photo I could get of both her and  the slippers! I finally finished re-knitting the toes on Tyler's Cure nerd socks. Now that they're washed and blocked, they'...

There's not very many WIPs I can share on this blog as we come down to the wire for holiday gift knitting. Perhaps that was the reasoning behind starting this mesh top for myself using the Shangri-La I scored at VK Live? That, and I have no self-control. How many times have I sworn off laceweight at this point in my knitting life? Too many to count, I'm sure. Yet I'm still optimistic that this laceweight top will succeed. Stranger things have happened, I guess! Yarn: Shangri-La (50% yak, 50% silk) Pattern: Filtes Shetland Openwork Dolman by Michelle Porter And now for something a little different, though it is a project that is very near and dear to my heart! A few readers may already know that I'm in a band with my husband called shalloboi . Just last week, our Kickstarter project was approved, so I thought I'd share our musical work in progress on this blog, as it's something we've been working on for quite some time now. I know there are lots of ...

Feeling German in Lincoln Square As luck would have it, all of my favorite things for fall converged upon this past weekend: Renegade Craft Fair, the German-American Festival in Lincoln Square, and the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival (this was my first time attending, but anything yarn-related falls under the rubric of 'favorite things for fall'). I'm not one for large crowds of people and, as a general rule, I don't leave the house very much on a day-to-day basis now that I work from home. However, these three events (plus my local farmer's market) were enough to tempt me away from the homestead and go out amongst my fellow humans. I'm so glad I did! On Friday night, Tyler and I hit the German-American Festival and had a few litres of beer. Yes, more than one...probably not the best plan ever, but it sure was fun! Plus, we arrived just as the festival opened, and there was nary a line for tickets, food or beer. That's the way to fly! You'll n...