FO Friday: The warm glow of success

My first FO Friday, huzzah!  This is the first week of 2013 to see something worth defining as an FO, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  The fact that I'm finishing knitwear, and that we're experiencing a short warm spell here in Central Texas is probably also helps with the warmth factor.

I'll start off with something that I technically finished earlier in the month, but was so slight a piece of crafting that I hesitated to call it an FO all on its own:

It's really just a single-chain of crochet to make a double-loop necklace.  The pendant is something I bought from The Modern in Fort Worth years ago, during a high school field trip.  For years I've tried to think of the best way to wear/display it.  Finally I decided that a crochet necklace made from my very own handspun was kind of perfect.  I love how the colors are so reminiscent of the water as well.  So while the crochet part of this only took a few minutes, if you count the spinning it was a little more involved.

In another first, I took on my first test knit last weekend.  I've wanted to test knit for a while now, but was reluctant to sign on to any particular project when it came down to it for fear of not having the skill to critique a pattern or being able to complete it on time.  Then Alicia at Woolen Diversions said she needed to get a Malabrigo Quickie pattern tested for publishing earlier this week.  She even had the Malabrigo Twist to supply for it, so I jumped in.  Introducing, Dissipative!

I'm so glad I did jump in, because it was a great experience all around.  I worked with a yarn I hadn't tried before, and it was absolutely luscious.  Twist is different because it's plied, but it still retains that legendary softness.  Add to that, the pattern itself was practically perfect when I got it.  It has written as well as charted instructions, as well as thoughtful explanations of anything that might be unclear.  Alicia is having a sale on all of her patterns through Monday, just in case my cowl is so gorgeous you just have to have one for yourself.  Check out her blog for more details.

I've shared my mom's WIPs before, so I might as well show off her FO from last weekend as well.  She had some Knit Picks Imagination leftover from a shawl and decided to turn it into a warm, gender-neutral scarf.  Or in fact, species-neutral, as it's modeled by a duck here:

It's a tight stitch pattern that has more of a woven look, simple but effective and not overly bulky.  I know she likes it because she's making another already in an alpaca yarn, and then she's also talking about knitting a third!

So we've been pretty busy over here, but you can also find other FO posts over at Tami's Amis.