Here is the finished Tailored Scallops. The color in the picture looks like hot pink, but the true color is more purplish-pink, like magenta. I'll need to block the seams again before I gift it to my MIL for Christmas, but since my trusty iron just died, I figured I would go ahead and post a photo. The knitting part of this probably took a week and half or so, but I left it for a while before blocking and sewing it, so all together it was 2 months from starting time to finishing time. The pattern was enjoyable and easy to memorize, and went very quickly on size 9 and 10 needles. I still have about 2 and a half skeins of Cascade 220 leftover from the 8 I had purchased to make this sweater. It is great to be done with a big Christmas gift so early, but I am anxious to see how it fits her.
Next on the list to be worked is my FIL's Classic Camel Vest. I finished the back a while ago, but when I started a front the other day, I realized that I must have decided to use a bigger needle for the ribbing than the pattern calls for, because the ribbing on the front looked much smaller than what I had done on the back. So I need to figure out what I did. It is amazing how much more crucial it is than ever before that I keep notes for myself. Is it having children or just getting older?

Here is Tiana wearing the Midwest Moonlight I made her for the secret birthday gift exchange. It is fun to knit things for people, particularly when (a) they appreciate the work, and (b) the work actually looks good on them. I wondered if the 7 foot length might be a little long, even for someone tall like Tiana, but seeing it on her, I am happy with the way it turned out.

And here is another beautiful secret birthday gift, knitted by Tiana and given to Erica, who is happily modeling it. I need to find out where she got the pattern. There are still two more gifts to be given before the end of the year. I am excited to see what they are, especially because I am one of the recipients!

After weeks of ignoring them, I finally took out the finished pieces of Tailored Scallops today with the intent of pinning them out and steam blocking them. To my horror, I discovered 2 mysterious unattached loops in the middle of the left front. I have no idea how this happened.

I wove the loops in as well as possible, and then took a strand of the yarn and tacked them down so they won't pop out again. The two fronts, the back and the sleeves are now drying on my bedroom rug. I can still see where the loop fixes were made on the left front, but hopefully the holes that are supposed to be there will disguise them to the unknowing eye.

In more relaxed news, I had some leftover yarn from the first Midwest Moonlight, so I decided to make a skinnier version, casting on only 17 sts instead of 33. It looks more like an accessory now, as opposed to a useable warm scarf like the wider version. The super-stretch of the Cascade superwash when wet made it easy to create an 80" scarf with 52" of knitting on the needles. I haven't tried this yarn for a sweater yet, and will definitely swatch and block before I make anything that needs to stay a certain size. I still have about 2 skeins left in this color, which may become a February Baby Sweater for my son's teacher, who is expecting a baby girl in January.

The holiday gift knitting/destashing is in full swing. Here is the first of the smaller projects. It is Misty Garden from Scarf Style. Made with one skein of variegated Patons Merino, it is not much like the fuzzy version in the book. But the pattern is a snap, especially since I just finished working on the feather and fan sea of Tailored Scallops. I'm not sure who the recipient will be yet, but I have learned that during this time of year it is not a bad thing to have random FO's on hand and ready to be gifted at any moment.