Gotta Love Break...

As the last week of my break from classes stretches out in front of me, I've been working hard at getting my last thesis paper in good shape before handing it off to my adviser for another edit. I'm also working at translating a page a day in Albert Camus's "The Stranger" from French to English in preparation for my translation exam, looming over my head as one of the few things standing in the way of me and my Master's degree.
I've also had some down time for relaxing, falling in love with Arrested Development all over again, and getting some crafty things done.These are a pair of little mittens made as Christmas ornaments for my parents this year, from the adorable pattern "Smitten" from KnitPicks. It's originally supposed to be an advent calender, with one mitten for each day leading to Christmas, but I thought a couple to add to our tree would be really fun. My parents loved them!
Specs: Knit in leftover Malabrigo from a couple of hats I made awhile ago- didn't take much yarn at all.
Best part: How adorable they look at the end, and how fast they knit up!
Worst part: Really no bad part- easy to follow pattern, simple construction, and looks adorable when completed. I was happy with the whole process!
I've also been (finally) dabbling more in the fabric arts. I received a sewing machine last Christmas, and due to my busy schedule, haven't been able to do much more than regular clothing repairs for awhile, minus a project or two. I'm changing that now as part of my New Year's resolution- doing at least one crafty thing a day. This year I'm going to focus primarily on sewing things, especially since I have so many cute patterns lined up!
As part of a warm-up into crafty fabric things, I made a few shirts for friends for Christmas presents. The first is a ballet-themed shirt for Jenelle, a beautiful ballet teacher that has a classy style all her own.I used fabric paint to paint two pointe shoes on the shirt- one on the front, one on the back, then draped some green ribbon up along the shirt like pointe shoe ribbons, and sewed them and tied them at the shoulder. I had a little trouble with the pointe shoe on the back, but overall I'm very happy with the final product, and I hope she likes it! The shirt is just a fitted long sleeve I picked up at Target, which worked well for this project.
I'll show my next shirt in the next post, along with knitting progress.
For now, I'm going to finish my coffee and put on my ice climbing gear to enjoy the lovely sun and one degree weather out at Casket Quarry! Have a great Sunday, everyone. :)