I was starting to think this day would never come!!

 

My Katarina sweater is FINALLY finished. Above, you see the cast-off for the second sleeve. Now, all the ends have been woven in. I need to do a wee bit more blocking on the collar, but I'm marking this one as done.

This sweater flew until I got to the collar. Even then, it went fairly quickly. It was just the sleeve cuffs that turned into the world's biggest slogfest.

FO pics coming soon (maybe).

FO: Blues and Browns Socks

Yarn: Schoppel-Wolle Ambiente
Pattern: Improvised (rav link)

I blogged about these socks before, and noted how lucky I was to finish the sock with barely a yard of yarn left. Well, I wasn't so lucky with the second sock...

I finished the second sock with some Colinette Jitterbug that I dug out of my bag of sock yarn leftovers. The Colinette was used in my clapotis and also in some mitts I gave Melisa. I like that I have a little reminder of these projects in one toe of the socks.

Pink Quilt Top

Last week, in a flurry of craft energy, I pieced this quilt top. I had cut out all the triangles quite some time ago, and they had sat, ignored, on a corner of my sewing table all throughout the holiday season.

The finished quilt top is something like 3.5 feet square (though I didn't actually measure it). The prints are all from the wonderful stack of reproduction print squares that my Aunt Jill gave me for my birthday about 4 years ago. The gift of fabric keeps on giving!

I'm contemplating how I'm going to quilt it--hand vs machine. For now, it's folded up and put away.

Valentines!

Not that I need an excuse to be crafty, but if I did, Valentines Day would be a good one. I used a couple different heart crochet tutorials for the hearts. Random stitching on the cards. Voila!

FO: Baby Bolero

Pattern: Baby Bolero from One Skein (rav link)
Yarn: Cascae Sierra

Gotta love the near-instant gratification of this little stash-buster! I used yarn leftover from this blanket. I knit the body as directed, then grafted the shoulders and picked up stitches to knit the sleeves down-->no seaming! I find the little eyelet detail quite endearing also.

FO: Replacement Hat

Pattern: Beckett Beret (rav link)
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease

Once upon a time, I knit my sisters slouchy hats. Then one sister had an infestation of some sort of horrible bug and had to hastily wash everything in her possession...including the lovely wool slouch hat, which came out itty bitty. Cue her request for a replacement hat. This time, I knit it out of washable yarn.

This pattern had enough of a pattern to keep it interesting, while still remaining simple. I modified the pattern a bit--I cast on fewer stitches (96), I went up one needle size after the ribbing. If I knit this design again, I'll modify it further--the top of it came out annoyingly pointy. The pattern calls for two plain knit rows between decrease rows at the top, but I would knit only one plain round for a less pointy top. I would also go up another needle size for the body to give the fabric better drape. Melisa seemed to like it enough, though.