handmade by stefanie

What better way to celebrate the Tour de Fleece and surpassing 200 fans on my new Facebook fan page than a giveaway? Click here for your chance to win a luxurious skein of yarn handspun by yours truly! That's hand-dyed BFL/Silk roving from one of my favorite hand-dyers of yesteryear, Kitchen Sink Dyeworks, loosely plied with a natural brown BFL Top for maximum softness. You'll have enough to make fingerless gloves or a nice warm hat; skein is approx. 120 yards, 8 wpi (Aran weight). I'll announce the lucky winner on Saturday, July 20. Good luck! 

It's a week into the Tour de Fleece and I have actually been spinning every day, despite still being a little swamped with work. Of course, I would like to devote more  time to spinning, but that's pretty much how I feel about everything crafty I do. My first order of business was to ply the two BFL singles I had finished right before the start of the Tour. They looked pretty next to each other, right? I'm not totally sure I'm happy with the results of plying these two singles together. I really like the blue/brown color combination, but for some reason this yarn just didn't turn out how I had pictured it in my mind! It's still pretty, though, and very, very soft. Perhaps it would make a good giveaway on my new  Facebook Fan page , which reached 200 likes yesterday! I do have a considerable amount of the blue BFL left over (my last hand-dyed braid from the now-defunct Kitchen Sink Dyeworks). I'll have to find a worthy single to ply it with this ...

I've been getting back into toy-making, and this week I have a cute little Squirrel on Wheels using some leftover Berrocco Ultra Alpaca : I have also become obsessed with the Zoom Loom I brought back from TNNA. On Sunday night, I made my first square using some leftover Fleece Artist sock yarn - now I have lots of squares completed! I have absolutely no idea what I'll be doing with them, but for now, it's just fun to make them and I am enjoying using up the leftover bits of sock yarn that have been haunting my stash. Though it would be cool to make a spectacular throw, a few patchwork pillows might be more my speed. I'll be collecting my favorite pin loom weaving project inspiration here on Pinterest if you're interested! Thanks for stopping by this week - for more FO Friday inspiration, visit the  Tami's Amis blog !  Have a crafty weekend!

On the cover: Dacite I was fortunate to spend a few moments chatting with Carol Feller in her booth on the last day of TNNA; she graciously took the time to show me pieces from her new collection, Among Stones , and even let me take home a copy for myself! Fans of Feller's style can expect the same flattering knits with lots of texture, cables and other thoughtful details. At the beginning of the book, Carol writes, "This book is filled with some of my favourite kinds of knits: simple, interesting, wearable. All photographed in some of my favourite places: secret, beautiful, tranquil. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do." That is definitely a good introduction to this collection of ten new designs, which is comprised of five sweaters and five accessories. The collection opens with Dacite , a top-down, seamless cardigan knit with Donegal Tweed; when worn closed, the cardigan has a draped front detail, which I love! A gorgeous cabled hoody, Liathite , is knit in...

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 ...

First, I just wanted to share that yesterday's FO Friday post was my 400th blog post*! Despite working in the fiber industry (and, you know, coordinating such things with clients), today's start of the Tour de Fleece kind of took me by surprise. At any rate, I realized with panic at about 7pm yesterday that I hadn't prepared at all AND I would be traveling down to Kansas City for several days during the event. Even though my Ladybug has handles for easy moving, I don't see myself schlepping it on the Amtrak train 9 hours both ways. It might be time to break out the drop spindle! I joined Team Woolery and started digging through my stash this morning to try to get organized. First, I need to finish the WIP on my wheel, two singles of BFL that are waiting to be plied: Then, I'd like to spin through the last 2 installments of the Sweet Georgia Fibre Club , some natural black alpaca that's been in my fiber stash for a few years now, and then finish with...

I finished the little robot I started a few weeks ago right before I left town for TNNA last Friday. When I discovered that I'd missed my bus (long story) and would have to take the overnight bus to Columbus instead, I decided to spend the afternoon knitting and snuggling the cats. I brewed a nice pot of tea, watched a little Netflix streaming, and enjoyed being in our cozy house while it stormed that afternoon. I wound up leaving town later that night with one less WIP in progress, which means that I can start something new, right? Pattern : Rebecca Danger's Louie the Lovebot Yarn : Cascade 220 (grey) and some leftover KnitPicks yarn (purple) I think I've also neglected to mention another FO I'm proud of: my article about Apps in the recent issue of Yarn Market News ! Researching this article, I came across a lot of cool-sounding apps that I will be reviewing in the future (you can check out all of my past product and app reviews here ). Of course, I a...