Finally... FO: Wine Bottle Sweater!

I've been waiting to post this until after my good friend and surrogate sister received her package. And then, of course, it took me a while to get around to posting this even after she received the package. (Thank you, homework and general overwhelmingness of life.)

First sweater attempt: success!

My first attempt at a sweater could have been worse. Overall, it went pretty well, save for running out of yarn with the first skein (so much for using up leftovers!), which resulted in frogging the entire sweater and starting over in a different color. I performed some modifications with the ribbing because I changed the number of stitches for gauge. I'm still please with how it turned out, and more importantly, J loves it!

I think the little heart button adds the perfect finishing touch. I got the pattern from Pints & Purls: Portable Projects for the Social Knitter, which is such a clever book. Loved it when I learned it was published, and really enjoy the entire premise of the book. Everything from tips to knitting sober (or tipsy), drinking-related projects, and how to save your current WIP from wine stains.

As for other projects recently finished: I've got one Christmas present already finished. Super quick and quite cozy. Mom is sure to enjoy it. I'll post pictures after she receives it... in two and a half months. I've got the next Christmas gift on the needles already, although this one has been specifically requested by brother-the-younger, along with one other semi-coordinating item (don't you love all the vagueness by necessity here?). He just may get them when they're done instead.

Other than knitting, school is slogging along. I'm definitely ready for a break, which I won't get until at least Thanksgiving, maybe. Only a few more weeks to go, right? Trying to juggle three classes, church obligations, and married life has proved challenging, but not impossible. 8 weeks of classes to go this semester!

*Disclaimer: I received no form of compensation, monetary or otherwise, for mentioning (slash, semi-reviewing) Pints & Purls.