A finish and a beginning

I did it! I finished the bolero! Here is a picture of it (placed over a tank top):

I love, love, LOVE it! It fits me perfectly and I love the color and the feel of it. The yarn was Rowan Calmer, knitted with 5mm needles. The pattern is from a Finnish magazine, but I think it is Rowan's so should be available elsewhere as well. The pattern had shorter sleeves, just past the elbow, but I wanted mine longer and now they end at the wrist bone. The front pieces were definitely the hardest things I've ever knitted. Mainly because the instructions weren't so clear. They told you how to make one and then just said to make the other a mirror image of the first one. Well, with all the increases and decreases (some visible, some at the edge) and the sturdier edge at the center, I had to really use my brain and all the help I could find from other resources, and rip rip rip, to be able to make it, but I did it! And I learned a lot as well.

I also started the Sampler Mystery II and it's looking very promising. The first part is a border, so I've been going round with just one color so far so there isn't much to see yet. Hence no picture of that at the moment.