An evening out!

Well Saturday was Derek's staff Christmas party. Everything didn't get done as I had planned, but I did get enough done that I could go out in public without being arrested! The Casual Cot'n top is now officially DONE!!! YAY!!! Buttons on, ends woven in. It does need a good blocking, but looked good enough that I was able to wear it on Saturday. The evening bag was also a hit. I didn't get the beads done, but it still looked great as is. It held what I needed it to, and that's what really mattered! We ended up not going it to the party after all. I was frantically sewing up the last of the seams and putting on my buttons, and by the time I finished we ended up being too late to have dinner. Derek wasn't feeling very well because his tooth that he's getting a root canal on absessed, and he looked like someone punched him in the jaw. We decided not to go since neither of us was really all that enthusiastic about it, and we went and had an intimate dinner for two at a local Chinese restaurant. I think I had a much better time since I wasn't in that much of a "party-it-up" mood anyway.

Here's how the top turned out. I'm extremely pleased with it, and have gotten many compliments on it already. It's actually my first knit clothing FO for me! It's a tad short in the sleeves and length, but that will all work out once it's washed the first time and does its inevitable growth spurt! The RH Casual Cot'n was a dream to work with. It was very soft on the hands, and very forgiving to a newbie knitter. The only problem I had with the yarn is that the nubby texture tended to make some of my stitches uneven, but nothing too terrible. It all adds to the character of the top, and I'm sure that some of the uneveness will wash out.

Here's the evening bag, sans beads. I think it turned out really cute. Everyone that's seen it thinks that it's just great. It's hard to see the pattern, but it's just a simple shell variation. I used less than one ball of South Maid crochet cotton in black/gold, and less than one skein of black Lustersheen. It holds my cigarettes, my change purse, hand cream, and chapstick... what more do you need? I still want to put the beads on it, but that may have to wait until right after Christmas. I have the pattern written up to this point, so it won't be hard to get the rest of it done and up on the Bistro site in time for New Year's!