It's amazing

In all the many years I have been knitting it never, ever, ceases to amaze me that in a few short days I can move from this:



the very beginning of the Silk Corset, to this:



the finished article.

I got lovely buttons:



from Nicky at Shipston Needlecraft. They were jolly pricey - I paid almost as much for 21 buttons as I did for the yarn for this project but spoiling the ship for a ha'porth of tar simply wasn't an option.

Yes, I am wearing a hat and here I am wearing another one:



Photos courtesy of 'im indoors, so consider yourselves lucky that you are seeing anything at all.

All in all, I am very pleased with this project - when I took it into work to show off they all insisted on my putting it on. There was a definite "Wow" from the assembled company when I appeared. It feels great and it fits a treat. I would encourage anyone to try making this - just watch yourself on the armholes. Shall I make another in 100% silk?

Amidst all of that - the sewing on of 21 buttons was accomplished at 1.30am this morning - I also managed to do a bit of work on the Mystery Shawl Swatch (the what?). Here I am considering which needles to use:



The circular needle is a 3mm with very sharp points. I call it my "lace needle". It's my needle of choice for most lace projects, particularly if I'm using Zephyr. I'm not so sure about it for this yarn though, so the straight needles in the picture are 2.25mm, 2.5mm and 2.75mm. I have not had a chance to swatch with any of them yet and I don't know if I'll have time today, since I have to go back to work and feed the starving masses. The first "clue" will be posted tomorrow, so I really need to get a move on.

Here's a close, close-up of the swatch



The yarn is delightful.