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I’ve been spinning up this beautiful batt (very slowly on my spindle) I bought from Lanitium Ex Machina. The package came all the way from Finland, so of course it had a Moomin on the stamp which was so great. As I’ve been spinning it up I keep thinking a crazy imp is going to come take my first born until I guess his silly name. It’s a tiny bat, around 1.5oz, so we’ll see how much yarn I get and see what I can make. I really just can’t wait to knit it up. There’s some Shetland, Falkland, tencel, silk, soybean, sari silk threads and angelina in there so it’s got a lot of different textures (and shiny bits!)

Last weekend I had the pleasure of helping to host the annual Fall Knitting Retreat. It was so much fun. I taught some classes on beaded knitting and Fair-Isle knitting and did lots of hanging out and eating of great food. I also knit a hat. We just got Three Irish Girls in at the shop (I was literally on the way to the retreat when I was picking up the box of yarn), and it is just beautiful! The colors are amazing and I couldn’t stop picking up one particular skein of Springvale Super Merino in Bryn a lot. I was in need of a change from what I was knitting on (a long sock leg) so I balled up the yarn and cast on 80 stitches and went for it. And finished it just as I was leaving Sunday afternoon. I <3 perfect timing. I LOVE how the yarn pooled in a spiral motion. It’s pretty magic when that kind of thing happens. I love this hat! And the best part is I still have 2oz of the 3.5 in the skein left, so I have plenty to make something else.

When I was flipping through the most recent Interweave Knits, I came across the Pembroke Wrap. I really liked the idea of a bulky shawl/wrap. Especially since I have a very small lacy project attention span. I filed the pattern away in the back of my head until I found a good yarn. A couple of weeks later we got a few more colors of Malabrigo Rasta in, including Laguna Negra which is so stunning. So I put the two together and now I have a giant shawl! It took about two and a half balls of it and I ended up using size 17 needles to get a nice drape since the yarn was a bit heavier than called for (although I think I could have gone up to a 19. It was so incredibly quick. I especially enjoyed the brevity of the lace charts. And the rich golds greys and pale violets in the yarn.

The winner of the Time on My Hands ebook is a wonderful yarnie, jessicacook17! Email me your rav id (even though I think I know what it is) at odessa.reichel@gmail.com and your copy will be sent to you by Becky. Thanks again for letting me review your ebook, it’s really lovely.

So I had all this chunky handspun. Two larger balls and then a bunch of bulky mini skeins spun from Phat Fiber boxes. I had no clue what to do with them until I was flipping through Intertwined and came across this scarf pattern. And voila, two scarves. They took very little time to knit (I used US 17 needles) and were quick and easy.

(picture ©  Bekcy Herrick)

When Becky tweeted that she was looking for reviewers for her new ebook Time on My Hands I was all over that. I love clocks and mittens so I really wanted to check it out. With 27 pages and 9 patterns, there was a lot to look at. The bulk of the ebook is patterns, with some helpful info on techniques and abbreviations in the back. And I love how she’s included helpful notes throughout. Each pattern has a coordinating time of day (eg. 3pm Play Time or 8pm Cocktail Hour). There’s a great variety of mittens and fingerless mittens (and even a pair of gloves!) representing a variety  of techniques (colorwork, cables, lace, various edgings).

It was really hard to pick a favorite pattern in this collection. Becky’s attention to detail is impecable, from the thumb gusset cables on the otherwise classic ribbed Sun Dial mitt to the picked up i-cord edge on the Play Time mittens and the Latvian Braids on the Digital Age mitts. I think my favorite of all of them is the Morningtide mitts with their delightful picot edge and simple and attractive all-over colorwork pattern. It’s a really great collection with a pattern for everyone.

Becky’s offered to give away the ebook pattern collection to one of my readers. To enter, comment on this post with your favorite kind of hand covering (mittens, mitts, gloves, ect). One entry per person and I will announce the winner and accept entries until next Wednesday (October 5th).