handmade by stefanie

Before the start of Spinzilla, I finished knitting my project for the Perspectives Mystery KAL - and now it's time to unveil the secret! This was a fun project to knit and probably the only Mystery KAL I've participated in recently where I finished/liked the resulting project! The length of the cowl makes it really easy to wear, not to mention adds a little extra warmth. I used a Mountain Colors Perspectives kit , which has mini-skeins of Crazyfoot sock dyed in gradients. This is my first time knitting with this yarn, which is a superwash Merino/nylon, and I would definitely make more projects with it because it's such a nice balance of softness vs. sturdiness. You can view more MKAL projects here on Ravelry !

It's been quite a while since I finished the  Reeds and Rushes Cowl  - as in, just over a month! I'm not sure how this slipped past the FO Friday radar, but at long last, here is one of my most recent FOs using handspun yarn: I ended up making my cowl a little bigger than the original pattern calls for - measured flat, mine is 11.5"x7". To do this, I went up a few needle sizes and added several more pattern repeats before unzipping my provisional cast-on and grafting the cowl closed. I really love how the stitch pattern and yarn look together, though I think that I would add more of a garter stitch border at the top and the bottom if I were to knit this design again. The pattern is available for free  here on Ravelry , and I used some of my handspun yarn which you can read more about  here .

The handspinning obsession continues! I was recently sent 4oz of BFL spinning fiber from Mountain Colors to try out, and as soon as it arrived I couldn't wait to give it a spin - I don't think it lasted more than a few days in the house before I started to play with it. This is the Sun River colorway, which is described on the website as "bright violet and red-orange blended with deep burgundy and wine." Definitely an apt description! The 100% Blue Faced Leicester top is available in 28 hand-dyed colorways total ( click here to see all of the Mountain Colors yarn and fiber offerings; about midway down the page, you can see info about their spinning fiber and available colorway). At first touch, I would have classified this BFL to be in the middle range of general BFL softness; after spinning it, however, I would definitely move the needle towards the softer end of the spectrum, however. It DEFINITELY became softer as I spun with it! I decided to predraft my fi...

I know this isn't the first time I've mentioned it, but it really seems like everyone I know is expecting a baby in the next 6 months. Seriously, I am starting to lose track - or rather, I would, if I didn't keep a running list in Trello . At any rate, when I was sent skein of Winter Silk yarn from Mountain Colors to try out (yes, it was free!) I thought this was the perfect opportunity to get started on my ever-growing queue of baby gifts. Mountain Colors Mountain Silk yarn in Harmony Cottonwood The colorway is the perfect kind of non-gender-specific colorway I love to use for baby knits; I figure, if they know whether or not they'll be having a boy or a girl ahead of time, they'll be drowning in blue or pink. As for the yarn itself, it's a 50/50 blend of wool and silk with a lovely hand; very soft with just enough drape. Though it isn't superwash (something I try to take into consideration when knitting for new parents), I still think it's a gre...