Stacey | FreshStitches

14 Things I’m Really Proud of Accomplishing in 2014

by Stacey on January 2, 2015

Happy New Year! I love starting a fresh new year! It’s a great time to think about how the last year has gone and think about what the next year may bring. Every year, I publish a financial wrap-up (see 2013’s here and here and chat about my goals for the coming year (2014’s post […]

Tutorial: Crochet Rainbow Hat

by Stacey on December 16, 2014

I love rainbows! So, today, I’m going to show you how to add a fun rainbow detail to any hat pattern! First, gather up some rainbow colored yarns, along with a neutral color: This is a great opportunity to use scraps, as you won’t need a lot of each color! It’s easy to add a […]

Bye, Bye Stitches East!

by Stacey on December 15, 2014

This week, XRX announced that Stitches East 2015 will not take place. And it may be the end of Stitches East forever. It’s a very sad announcement (East was my first Stitches!), but also a very understandable one. Market attendance was down by 23% over the previous year. Your attendance makes events happen! When I […]

Chevron Bead Crochet Necklace

by Stacey on December 12, 2014

Do you want to see what I just finished? It’s a bead crochet necklace! I’m super-excited about this one, because it features 2 firsts for me. It’s the first time I’ve followed a pattern in bead crochet, and it’s also the first time I’ve added a glue-on clasp: It’s magnetic! Isn’t that so cool? And… […]

Don’t be THIS kind of gift-giver…

by Stacey on December 2, 2014

A chat about gift-giving The holidays are super-busy and stressful. All that shopping! All that traveling! And a lot of us crafters feel the added pressure of making handmade gifts for those that we love. I know this is going to be a controversial post… but I’m going to encourage you to think twice before […]

WIP: Star Afghan begins!

by Stacey on November 26, 2014

Remember last week when I asked you to vote on my next afghan using these great rainbow colors? I was floored by all of the responses! And while the winner wasn’t clear-cut… the star pattern got oodles of votes! The Pattern After looking at lots of star patterns, I was really inspired by stablewoman’s version […]

5 Tips for Working from Home Successfully

by Stacey on November 10, 2014

I love working from home. It’s flexible. I can grab a coffee whenever I want. I can meet up with a friend for lunch. I can hang out in my pajamas all day long. Unfortunately, that flexibility is exactly what makes working from home so difficult. It’s easy to see a whole day go by […]

Warning about sending money via PayPal

by Stacey on November 4, 2014

I love PayPal. It’s how I accept purchases on my website and buy lots of things personally. But I have a warning for you about sending money. It’s something that happened to me recently, so I thought I’d share! How to Send Money via PayPal You’ve probably used PayPal to purchase something from a website. […]

Knitting Phi: technique for carrying yarn across stripes

by Stacey on October 29, 2014

Do you want to see what I’m working on? I’m knitting Phi, a fabulously fun garter stitch shawl. The shawl has stripes that can be quite thick, so you need to carry the unused yarn up the side of the thick stripes. I came up with a little technique for how to do this in […]

How to attach a flattened piece in amigurumi

by Stacey on October 28, 2014

Every once in a while, you’ll come across instructions that tell you to ‘flatten piece, and attach’. But, what does that mean? Today, I’ll show you step-by-step! Let’s assume we’ve followed the crochet instructions, and we have a piece (that’s been worked in the round), and we’ve fastened off. The piece will look something like […]