Shalom

I finished my sweater!  It was a fairly straightforward pattern...I was able to keep my notes to just one page.

This is the first time I've pretty dramatically altered a pattern and I'm pleased by how it turned out.  This is how the completed sweater is supposed to look:

...and here's my finished sweater:

Sorry for the poor photos...it's just impossible to get good lighting inside our tiny apartment.  Really looking forward to moving into another light-filled house soon.  But back to the subject at hand...the original sweater was written for a 34" bust.  It was sleeveless and had just one button.  Relying on others' Ravelry notes, I upsized the sweater for a 36" bust, added arms, added buttonholes all the way down the front, and shortened those funny columns that you see around the yoke of the sweater.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out, although I think the bulky weight of the yarn is a little bit unflattering as a fitted sweater.  In comparison, I knitted this sweater in bulky weight yarn last year, but it's too big now.  I wear it as a jacket over another sweater or shirt on cool days and it keeps me really warm.  It's bulky, but I guess that feels more comfortable in a jacket than in a single-layer sweater to me.

I like the neckline on this one.  It's really wide and I call it my "Jackie O" sweater.

Until we move this spring, my sewing machine has to stay packed away, but I continue to accumulate fabric for "someday."  I'm planning to make A LOT of A-line knee-length skirts this summer.  One skirt should take about 2.25 yards of fabric, so if I find a fabric that I really like, such as this scissors panel...

...or these quilt-esque squares...

...I buy in quantity for later.  I also buy collections that appeal to me, like this British line called Freya & Friends, based on a children's book.  I love the old-fashioned colors and the prints.

I love picking up vintage-y fat quarters...

...and yard+ quantities of fabric "singles" that really appeal to me, like strawberries...

...and fun flowers.

I've been a little fidgety, unable to sew, and have taken any opportunity to do a little needlework. Thankfully Todd gave me a chance this week when he decided to make a pot of tea in my KitchenAid mixer bowl (don't ask) and then take it to the living room, where he burned a hole in both my ottoman cover and the carpet.

I was really upset, because a custom ottoman cover will have to be ordered (eventually...it's a little low on the priority list).  I didn't want to stare at a burn hole for months, and covering it with a cloth napkin or other fabric would be an exercise in futility, since any movement would dislodge it.  I found some matching thread and cut a square of cream-colored felt.

Then I blanket-stitched the square into place.  It's not very tidy and it's just a temporary solution, but I felt pleased.

I did a little baking recently.  I'm always curious about the "BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe EVER" claims bandied about on food blogs, and one that always seems to end up on that list is from Not Without Salt. I decided to make a double batch and roll them into logs.  Making chocolate cookies like this is easy because then you can just slice and bake when you're ready.

The cookies were really good and I'm going to try the recipe again with the cookies thick-sliced, not 1/4" thin like I sliced mine.  Having great cookie dough in the fridge was too much of a temptation for us, though.  We ended up slicing and eating so many that there wasn't enough left to give away, which is why I'd mixed them up to begin with!  Still, I'm glad to have another great chocolate chip cookie recipe in my arsenal. 

It's been too busy around here to do anything other than work, and I probably won't have a chance to check in here again until January.  Happy holidays and see you in the new year!