Merry Christmas to Me

In honor of the holiday season, I treated myself to these: close up one and close up two.

So Far, So Good

I'm about three inches into the armholes of the Alexi cardigan now. I should have the back finished some time this weekend.

I was looking at JoAnn's sale stuff and noticed that a yarn ball winder and swift were both on sale. I never thought that having either of these things was a necessity, but since both are on sale, I think I may have to buy myself some holiday gifts!

Cables, Diamonds, and Seed Stitch

Once I got the sections of the various patterns memorized, this knitting started to go a bit faster. There are four sections of cables, two diamonds with double seed stitch, and then more double seed stitch at the beginning and end. This knitting goes on until I bind off for the shoulders.

So Jaunty

I finished my cabled beret last night and I really like how it turned out! I was more than halfway done with it when I decided to frog the whole thing because the gauge was slightly off. If I had kept using the needles I was using, the beret wouldn't have been nearly as jaunty as it is now. It reminds me of those old school plaid golf caps, especially with the pompom.

Surprise

Yesterday I came home to find a package on the table and it was my yarn from Elann! That was a quick delivery. I was really happy with the color too. It's more of a deep red rather than a bright red. I will try to swatch for the Alexi Cardi this afternoon.

Tie One On

Here's my finished corset, made with the Etsuko Furuya fabric. It was the final project in my apparel construction class. Since this pattern was not draped for my body, I had to do a lot of resizing and altering of the actual pieces. It turned out okay considering all the seam ripping that took place. I don't know if I would ever wear it by itself. I'm more inclined to wear it as a vest with a blouse underneath.

Round-Up

Great sewing machine round-up at Craft Magazine here, here, and here.

The Waiting

While I wait for my yarn from Elann to arrive, I decided to make myself another winter hat. I decided on this cute cabled beret from the Vogue Knitting: Caps & Hats book. I found a large surplus of Elann Peruvian Highland Wool in my stash, so I decided to use that since I need about three skeins for the project. The pattern is very clever: the hat is knit in a long strip with increases being added when you knit on for the ribbing. I love the pompom too!