Merry Christmas - Rugby is done!

I was very happy with the size and fit of the finished sweater. I was a bit short of yarn so the collar is not as long as the pattern directed, but I think it looks OK. Buttons are still needed but I'll let DH pick them out. He seems happy with it and has been wearing it around the house. Yay ... 6 months of brown stockinette was worth it!!

Now back to the Monkey socks:













Also I'm quite looking forward to using my Chapters and Amazon gift cards! Claire is the proud owner of a Leapster L-Max, an art set, some puzzles, and lots of other goodies. I hope Christmas was good to all of you who celebrate.

The struggle continues

Blocking rugby sweater
Originally uploaded by eusebius24

Having finally made it out of three months of being fairly constantly sick, I am now, at last, making some knitting progress. The Rugby sweater is blocked and drying - next is the polo collar and button bands (I hope I have enough yarn left!!)

Sewing has been at a standstill since I finished the Madison Avenue dress in October. I hope to resume over the holidays, with a Dora nightgown for my daughter and maybe a T-shirt pack from Wazoodle.

On the performing front, I played a good recital with a flutist last weekend, attended by exactly 10 people. Blah ... I have to get my publicity skills working. Being depressed and sick didn't help, but I think I should be able to manage the next one. The choral concert I'm playing on Sunday is far better advertised, and should attract a good crowd. I had to practically rewrite a couple of brutal organ parts for piano. We'll see how they come off.

Slow and steady

Since we got back from Newfoundland on August 7, things have been pretty crazy. I didn't expect to be playing or coaching nearly as much as I have. So things have progressed slowly on the crafty front. On the Rock I finished the back of DH's pullover:



Rows and rows of stockinette, but the Naturally Tussock DK from New Zealand is lovely, flecked with all kinds of tweedy bits. I also finished my first ever Jaywalker, in Socks that Rock Lightweight. The colourway is Fairgrounds, which is nice and summery:



My first completed sewing project in August is the bag from KwikSew 2320. It was fun, but I probably should have bought some heavier machine needles for sewing through four or more layers of fairly sturdy cotton. My thread kept breaking, which usually doesn't happen with Gütermann thread. Anyway, I learned to install grommets and reviewed a bunch of other construction things, which was nice.



Now on with the second sock, and the front of the pullover. I'll get back to St Brigid when that's done. Sewing projects in the queue: a buttoned pillow cover for our new chair in the living room; matching aprons for me and DD; some pajama pants with contrasting cuffs (this and the pillow are from Sew Simple 1) and a tunic from some African printed cotton I bought from Wazoodle a while back.

Very sad news this week of Richard Bradshaw's passing. The Collaborative Piano Blog has a collection of links to obituaries and memoirs. I still have not visited the new Four Seasons house in Toronto... early childhood and opera houses don't mix too well ... but I do appreciate all Maestro Bradshaw did for our Canadian opera scene. He will be missed.