And it's a Gold Medal!

Last night I sat down to watch the latest episode of House. While I was sitting down, I worked on my Olympic Knitting. All that remained was the seaming of the sides and top. Today I laid out the shell and blocked it. See? It's done. Finished! I learned something new this year! I fulfilled a New Year's Resolution! AND I finished the shell in the allotted time frame.

Instead of mindlessly blindly slavishly carefully following the pattern, I should have noticed that the top would be a tad bit short for my taste. My waistline is generally an inch or so lower than most patterns realize, so instead of knitting to the specified 15.5 inches, I should have added another row, bringing the length to a respectable 17 inches. Ah well. It is a summer top and I live in a very casual neighbourhood. It'll do, and that's what I wanted.

The yarn is Sirdar Breeze, a 60% cotton/acrylic blend, in a DK weight, and was knit up with American size 9 needles. This is truly a lovely yarn to work with, and the acrylic makes it a machine wash. Always a bonus in my humble opinion. The pattern came from Knit 'n Style, June 2005.

All in all, I'd rate this project a success.

Today, the winds are howling. The outside temp. is a balmy 0 (celsius). The fireplace is struggling, but the wind is creating too strong an up-draft for the firebox to warm the house yet. My Lizzie-kitty is hiding exactly where I want to be --

Doesn't she look cozy?