handmade by stefanie

I've been test and sample knitting for several years, and most recently one of my samples made the front cover of the collection - I have to admit, I was elated! Since I always get a few questions when I share photos of my samples, I thought a blog post talking about the ins and outs of test and sample knitting would be a handy reference for anyone curious about this aspect of the yarn industry. Also, please know that there is also a need for test and sample crocheting, too! I just don't feel like I have strong enough crochet skills to engage in that type of work, and writing "test and sample knitting and crocheting" every time seems like overkill. I hope you'll forgive the shorthand used for the remainder of this post. That's my sample on the cover of the Radiance collection from KnitPicks! Sample Knitting VS. Test Knitting First, let's talk about the differences between sample knitting and test knitting - and please note, sometimes you will be d...

For the first time in the seven years since I started working at Stitchcraft Marketing, I didn't go to the TNNA Trade show this past weekend, which is the annual buying show for yarn shops (and hence, where a lot of my clients exhibit). It's kind of nice to have the year off, because while trade shows are fun, they are also quite tiring. I spent a very relaxing weekend at home crafting and watching the Royals get swept by the reigning world champs. So it goes. I'm not one to suffer from FOMO, but I am curious to hear what everyone thought about the new venue in Cleveland. I'm especially interested to hear who was - and wasn't - there in the wake of last weeks' surprising announcement that Classic Elite Yarns is closing . It seems like this news has made the rounds of social media, but they aren't the only yarn-related business to recently announce that they are closing their doors: Lantern Moon posted about a "closeout sale" earlier this month ...

Earlier this month, I flew to Phoenix for a new-to-me trade show called Creativation . It's similar to the TNNA trade shows I've attended in years past in that it's specific to the crafts industry, but the similarities pretty much stop there. Creativation is much wider in its scope to include painting, beading, paper craft, edible arts, as well as yarn craft (and I think I saw some felt/fiber craft for good measure, too!). For me, it was heaven, because I've done pretty much every craft at some point in my life, and it was interesting to see how they have evolved since then. Let's just say I hit my step goal every day at the show! Yup, a legit bus route! The show floor is massive (enough to have its own bus route!!), and many of the booths were quite elaborate. It reminded me a lot of H+H Cologne in that regard, along with the cool gathering places and lounges throughout the show floor. Love this balloon display in the 3M booth.   The prize-...

Now that I've recovered from my trip to Germany and gotten back to "normal" life, I should probably share some of my photos from H+H , right? This was my first time attending this trade show, which is one of the largest in the world. The company I work for, Stitchcraft Marketing , had a booth where we represented 4 of our clients - here I am wearing a gorgeous shawl pattern knit with Bijou Basin Ranch  yarn, the Khyber Pass Shawl from Owlcat Designs. The designer, Simone, was kind enough to lend me the sample for the show! The show floor was absolutely amazing - some of the booths were like their own little universe. I shared a lot of photos already on my Instagram feed , so I've tried to pick some different photos to share here - all of which were taken by my husband, Tyler, who was our official H+H photographer.  KnitPro Lana Grossa Guterman Lana Grossa (again) C. Pauli Rebecca Toft UK There was also quite a bit of knitte...