handmade by stefanie

First off, congratulations to our winners! I have contacted these three folks to arrange for the delivery of their prizes: Carrie P, Sweetpurls and Ellie Raine Knits. Thanks to everyone who entered and shared this contest, and thanks very much to the folks from Stash2Go for generously donating the prizes! If you didn't win the giveaway this week, I hope you'll check out the Stash2Go app on iTunes ; downloads are just $3.99 and they're going to be adding some really great new features in the near future! At long last, I am pleased to share my finished Marin shawl! I love how this turned out, and despite some crazy-looking charts, it was actually a fairly simple project to make. I did run out of yarn just as I was finishing up, but that was only because I'd used a bit of this skein to knit a few rows on a snippet scarf earlier this year - otherwise I would have had plenty of yarn to finish this project! The yarn is lovely to work with, so I don't mind having a ...

It's that time of year when I can't share many of my actual WIPs for fear of the recipient taking note and spoiling the surprise. Luckily, I can't seem to resist starting projects for myself, so hopefully that will keep things marginally interesting between now and Christmas. First, I've made some noticeable progress on my Marin Shawl : I'm also participating in the FreshStitches Snowman CAL that started last week. I've already finished five pieces: the head and body, carrot nose, scarf and and hat! I am using various colors of Drops Nepal, which I ordered from the Nordic Mart . It's become my favorite amigurumi yarn because the colors are lovely, it's easy to work with, and the price is nice, too! Their shipping is also super-fast; I ordered the yarn last Wednesday and had it in my hot little hands a mere two days later. Now that, I really  like! Finally, happy Thanksgiving to those of you who will be celebrating tomorrow! I plan to cook a lo...

Over the weekend, I cast on for the  Marin Shawl  by Ysolda Teague, which is the only big project left on my gift knitting list. I'm using some lovely sock yarn from  Hazel Knits  and my Karbonz interchangeables. So far, it's knitting up fairly quickly, considering it's a pay-attention/stay-at-home project due to the amount of charts involved. Here is a progress shot of my Mystery KAL cowl project - today the third and final clue is released, so I'll be able to share this again on Friday as a FO, with any luck! What's conspicuously missing is my crocheted socks - or perhaps they weren't conspicuously missing til I pointed it out?! At any rate, after much debate over the weekend, I decided to frog them. It wasn't an issue with the pattern - it was easy to follow and I gained a lot of new skills in the process! I just wasn't loving the yarn/pattern combination, and coupled with the issue of fitting my absurdly small feet, I decided this was the b...

Not-So-Tiny Slippers, as they were intended. A few weekends ago, I decided to myself a new pair of slippers, as my store-bought ones were ready to be put out to pasture. I grabbed a skein of Berocco Vintage Chunky from my stash and casto on for Ysolda Teague's Not-So-Tiny Slippers from Whimsical Little Knits 3 . After a day of knitting, they were done...but just ever-so-slightly too big for me. In hindsight, I realized I made two major mistakes: Mistake #1: Not checking my gauge. Mistake #2: Continuing to knit even though they seemed too big. Time for damage control! I tossed them in with my next load of laundry to see if washing and drying them would make a difference - no such luck. Magical laundry elves did not resize my slippers in the laundering process. I decided the best course of action would be to felt them down to size. While the yarn I used was superwash (and one of my favorites, might I add), I have found that even the heartiest of machine washable yarns...

Ever since I snagged Whimsical Little Knits 3, I've been dying to make this colorwork hat. I bought the yarn back in July during Bijou Basin Ranch 's Fourth of July flash sale, but didn't cast on til mid-August. It's a nice, easy-knitting colorwork hat and I'm really thrilled with how it turned out. Both colors are hand-dyed, but as you can see the Cadet blue color has a lot more variation within the skein, producing a kind of trippy effect! The yak/cormo blend yarn ( Bijou Bliss ) feels sturdy yet soft when you knit with it, but the real treat is what happens after you give it a good blocking: the yarn relaxes and blooms, becoming even softer than before! My hat actually grew in size to a slouchier version of a beanie. These are the kinds of surprises you get when you throw caution to the wind and don't gauge, but at least this time it was a pleasant  surprise. I'm hoping to wear this tomorrow, when I head up to the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool festi...

I never thought I'd use the words "fast," "easy" or "laceweight" all in the same sentence, but believe me when I tell you that the Pear Drop shawl from Ysolda's new book Saturday Treat really is a fast & easy laceweight shawl!  I made the smaller version using a skein of Malabrigo Lace I had in my stash (colorway: Ibiza) - and had plenty leftover. I don't think I've ever knit a laceweight anything in under a month, but this project took just over 2 weeks to complete - a record for me, most definitely. I enjoyed this project so much, it's almost made me reconsider my ban on purchasing laceweight yarn.  Almost! Click here to view more photos in my Ravelry Notebook.

unsuccessful attempt to hide from the vet. how strange that i posted all those FO photos with robin in them last week...who would have guessed that, in the time since then, robin would fall ill and be diagnosed with chronic renal failure (CRF)?  certainly not me, but that's what has transpired since then.  it's not as dire as it sounds - his numbers are elevated, but not critical or acute, and everyone we've spoken with is extremely optimistic that we can control his symptoms through diet and fluid therapy.  he's not in pain, and he's only unhappy because he's been getting so much face time with his nemesis the vet.  all signs are pointing to him leading a good, long life, as long as we are careful to monitor him and keep him healthy.  poor little guy is having an extended stay at the moment, where he is receiving an iv treatment to flush his kidneys and get his numbers down to a manageable level.  once they are satisfied with his progress, he can come...

the squirrel on wheels turned out even better than i was hoping for!  not only is he a zippy little critter himself, but a pretty fast knit as well - the whole things was finished in three days.  yarn:  [MC] 1 skein knit picks city tweed heavy worsted in tahitian pearl [CC] small amount of lorna's laces shepherd worsted in 24ns navy my other big news is that last week i finally finished my peak's island hood - it took me almost two months to knit!  a lot of that time was spent ignoring the project entirely, and it probably still wouldn't be done if i hadn't had help with the miles and miles of moss stitch.  though i love the pattern and colors i chose to make it in, i think i ultimately wasn't excited about it because the yarn felt scratchy and a little gross, and i just couldn't imagine wrapping it around my head.  in the back of my mind, i suspected that this yarn would never have the softness and drape of the yarn actually called for in the pat...