handmade by stefanie

Last year, I went to Creativation for the very first time , and I absolutely loved it. I've been going to industry trade shows ever since I started working at Stitchcraft Marketing , but until attending  Creativation , they have all been focused entirely on needlecraft (knitting, crochet, needlepoint, etc). Obviously, I love yarn and knitting, but every waking moment is filled with it, so it's really a fresh of breath air to spend time seeing other creative crafts outside of the yarn world. This year, I found myself drawn to a lot of the paper crafts - cardmaking in particular kept catching my eye, Some of the display samples were absolute works of art, far cooler than anything you would find in a card store. I wish I had taken more photos, but this is the only one I had on my phone: Concord and 9th The Edible Arts booths are always worth checking out because they make the most incredible things that I couldn't imagine eating, they're so spectacular. Las...

Confession: I've never knit with a brushed mohair yarn. I'm not sure how this has never happened in the 15ish years I've been knitting, but it's true. Sure, I've used yarns with mohair blended in, but I've never used this type of yarn in a knitting project. So, I absolutely couldn't say no when I was offered a skein of Cabrito yarn from Manos del Uruguay, and my choice of a "companion yarn" if I so chose. Why two different types of yarn? Cabrito is a lace weight, fluffy yarn that plays well with others. When held with a different yarn base, Cabrito provides softness and a beautiful halo, while the companion yarn lends some strength and structure. The Fairmount Fibers design team has a lot of fabulous free patterns designed especially for Cabrito and other yarns from the line (if you're wondering, Fairmount Fibers is the North American distributor for Manos yarns), and I decided to knit the free Ambrose Hat Pattern , which calls for...

This might be the first time I have ever knit a sweater for myself twice, but I wear the first So Faded Sweater that I made so much, I decided to knit another one! This time, instead of destashing a hodgepodge of fingering weight yarns, I purchased a set of skeins specifically for this purpose from an indie dyer I discovered at last year's YarnCon, Black Cat Fibers . My color palette is Vamp, Dirt Nap, Alchemy and Quarry, dyed on the Nomad Sock base, which is a 4-ply fingering superwash merino/nylon blend (75/25). Each skein has a generous 463 yards, so I have a nice bit of yarn left over in each color, and as you can see, this sweater ended up being tunic length!  Hooray for handknit sweaters!! Just like the first one, it fits great and I love wearing it (can you tell?!). The yarn feels nice and soft against my skin, but I think it will wear well over time. I can't believe it took me eight months to knit this thing....even for me, that's slow! However...

Last year, I reviewed some delightful organic cotton yarn from Appalachian Baby Designs ( click here if you missed it ). So when they offered me a chance to review a project kit from one of their 2 new pattern collections, naturally I said yes! I had a choice of patterns from the Tally Ho and Boho Collections , and picked the Tally Ho Cap in Blue and Indigo, which retails at $19 (I was sent this kit for free in exchange for my honest review). I was hoping for a fun, instant-gratification knit, and that is exactly what I got! Each kit includes a printed pattern and enough yarn to knit the project pictured. I found the pattern easy to follow and well written, there was just one tiny bit of errata I discovered (the Main and Contrast colors got flipped - it happens!), but I alerted the folks at Appalachian Baby so that they can note this in the Ravelry listing and update future printed copies of the pattern. I knit the hat in about four days' time, and could have finished it s...

I didn't make resolutions for 2018, but when Ravelry added the Challenge feature to to the Notebook section  back in the spring, I randomly picked a number of projects I'd try to complete before the end of the year. At the time, 50 FO's didn't seem like it would be that difficult, but I suppose it was a lofty goal, especially since I've been focusing more on bigger projects such as sweaters. I fell short of the goal, but came closer than I thought I would with 40 finished projects as of midnight on December 31, although it looks like my 11th hour finish, a test knitting project, didn't get logged in the final count: I assume that the Challenge feature will be a yearly occurrence, in which case I think I'll shoot for quality over quantity. There are a lot of inspirational #2019makenine posts on Instagram and I think that type of challenge might be more my speed, and also in line with my current goal of wardrobe building. Besides knitting more sweaters, ...

Hunter Hammersen does it again! In Curls 3 , you'll find 11 new designs that were created specifically for speckled and gradient yarns. Of course, they can also be knit with any other type of yarn you desire - and just as in the first two Curls books ( Curls and Curls 2 ), you also aren't limited by yarn weight, because each design can be knit at any gauge. Each shawl is knit with the same formula, which is described in depth in the Anatomy of a Curl section at the start of the book. Once you are familiar with the basic setup, you can easily follow the  color coded charts and schematics as you knit your chosen pattern (all of which are explained clearly in this section of the book). If you's someone who likes to modify patterns here and there, make sure not to skip this section! Also worth a read is the section on Speckles and Gradients, which is also found at the start of the book. Hunter clearly defines each type of yarn and shares a lot of great tips for choosing...

Last winter, I reviewed Prairie Spun DK from Brown Sheep , which at the time was a new yarn in their lineup. I enjoyed using it so much, that I ended up purchasing a sweater quantity from Webs during their year-end sale, not knowing which pattern I would use it for. I kept this yarn squirreled away while mulling over my options and changing my mind more than a few times. Eventually, I realized that the perfect pattern had been under my nose the whole time: Andrea Mowry's  Weekender Sweater ! Of course, that didn't mean I started it right away, but then the stars aligned yet again when the Corner of Knit & Tea blog/podcast announced a Brown Sheep Sweater-Along that began on September 1 of this year. I knit my swatch in August and was ready to cast on once the calendar turned to September. Then I got a secret sample knitting commission and had a few other distractions pop up, and didn't get to work on this sweater as much as I thought. By the time November rol...