Another Day, Another FO

Yup! I finished the Country Style vest for myself last night, modelled it for John and got his seal of approval.

It's plain, which is what I wanted. It's simple, which is what I wanted. I wanted something I could wear over a white shirt, of which I have a few, that do not suit me. White washes me out. I got the shirts when we were with the restaurant; white shirts with a tie and black slacks was/is their "uniform". I do not look well in white. In addition, the white shirts, over the course of the last couple of years, seem to have shrunk slightly in the closet. A vest covers a multitude of sins, wouldn't you agree? And, because the vest is brown and brown looks good on me, I can wear the white shirts under the vest and still look good. Makes perfect sense, n'est-ce pas?

This morning, I've been swatching for the Ruffles cardigan (that's the working name for the new toddler design). The cotton yarn is a joy to work with. I'll be using 3 mm needles, which gives me a gauge of 7st/inch. The initial cast on is going to be something like 540 sts, if I've figured it out correctly.

Speaking of swatching (something I don't often do, really), a while back I read an article in one of my knitting magazines that showed how to design a swatch sheet in Word for Windows. I'm finding it quite helpful and I decided that if I find it helpful (she who rarely swatches), you may find it equally helpful. If you'd like it, you can find it in the sidebar, under "My Patterns".

Now, back to the kitchen. This morning, I made a batch of cabbage rolls, enough for three meals for the two of us. This afternoon, I intend to make some BBQ relish from this great book I bought a couple of years ago. If you're a small family, or perhaps just you and your mate, check out a book called "Small Batch Preserving". The recipes are interesting, tasty and easy to follow. I've made numerous preserves out of that book already and nothing has flopped.

And, I'm off.....