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Belated bragging

I don't know about anyone else, but I am relieved that 2010 is over - here's hoping that 2011 is a kinder year for everyone!  According to my grandmother, odd-numbered years are lucky - so here's hoping she's right.  She also would insist everyone eat sauerkraut on New Year's Day for good luck - something which I never did, since I can't stand the stuff, and it never seemed to affect things that much.   But all the same, here's hoping 2011 is better than last year.  2010 set the bar pretty low, so I don't think that's too much to ask!

I never got around to writing about my trip to Urban Arts & Crafts during our whirlwind trip to Kansas City for the holiday - and I suppose there isn't much to report, since I usually make this trek while in town, and it's great little shop filled to the brim with crafty goodies, plus a cute kitty sleeping in a chair.  I think I found the happy medium between a total blow-out and purchasing a modest one or two skeins of yarn - suitcase space is always at a premium when we come home for Christmas! 

I was pretty monochromatic in my purchases - I have plans for the black & white Berroco Vintage Wool, but the red skein of Plymouth Haciendo was an impulse buy - it was just so soft, i couldn't resist!  There's also always the requisite skein of sock yarn - this one is Lang Tosca Light in a deep bluish-purple.  I think my sock yarn bin in my newly-reorganized yarn room is now at capacity. 

Also haven't gotten a chance to boast that the vest I knitted my mom for Christmas actually fit!  Anyone who was around me for the last month before the holiday got to hear me obsess over whether or not I had guessed her size correctly - she has recently slimmed down, so it was basically a shot in the dark.  I based my measurements on the small bit of information I was able to glean from a phone conversation I'd had with her where she told me what size she now wears at the Gap.  It's true - I went to the Gap's website and looked up their sizing chart before I started knitting.  

Once the sweater was pieced together and blocked, I procrastinated sewing on the buttons.  I'm not generally superstitious, but for some reason I was convinced that if I sewed on buttons, it wouldn't fit her (but somehow leaving them off would ensure a perfect fit - of course!) A level-headed friend of mine convinced me that this was ridiculous, and on Christmas Eve, there I was, sewing buttons on my mom's vest.

The Stats:

Pattern:  Loretto Vest by Cassie Miller (Winter/Spring 2010 issue of Knitscene)

Yarn:  Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton/Silk in Khaki (I used about three and a half skeins)

Buttons:  From my vintage button stash

Modifications:  I went down a needle size (US#6) to get gauge with my yarn substitution.  No other mods needed - really fast-knitting pattern with simple yet flattering shaping!
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