First off, thanks to everyone who liked my Spun pattern. It was fun to do and something I'd been considering knitting for a while anyway.

On the topic of patterns, I got a great email from Jenna of Pink Monkey Knits. I won't paste the whole email, just the highlights.

I recently returned from a 2 month trip to India. For the first month, I was volunteering in a small town in the very north of the country - smack in the foothills of the Himalayas. My volunteer post actually turned out to be helping young women in the town with their knitting skills. They knew how to knit, make some sweaters, etc but were looking for new designs and projects to make. Well, the weather was a bit chilly there, so I frequently wore my nearly gloves around (and ended up really beating the hell out of them - I guess that's what happens to a well-loved knit!). Many of the young women took an active interest in these gloves so - you guessed it - I taught them how to make them! The only yarns and needles available there are thin and tiny, so I also learned a bit by modifying the pattern for them.

I've attached a few photos of the ladies wearing their creations. I know they're not super clear and only a few of them have the gloves on, but trust me, the majority of them made some variation on your design. The students were also very good at verbally passing on designs with one another, so I'm sure that the pattern has now circulated to many women throughout the village.

Click for a larger view

So in case you didn't catch that, she volunteered abroad and got to help women knit. How cool is that? And how cool is it that one of my designs was embraced by an amazing group of women in India?

If you want to read about Jenna's adventures in India, you can peruse her India blog here.