WIP Wednesday - Swatches aplenty

I have a finished object to show off this week! After procrastinating for a lot longer than I should have, I finally got cracking on the crocheted snail last week, and this weekend I finished it!

It's every bit as cute as the first one I made, and I'm almost said I promised to give it away ;) It's incredibly fiddly to sew together though - especially the shell and bottom foot.

Ah well - worth it :)
Compared to the first one I made, it's quite obvious that I've gotten better ;)

I've also gotten quite a bit more done on the nostalgia shawl. I finished the second lace part and am about half way through the garter section before the next and final lace part. I'm still totally in love with this yarn :)

Finally, I've been doing lots and lots of swatching! My knitting mojo was low over the weekend, and I realized it was because I wanted to knit on something new... so I swatched for a new sweater... and promptly felted the swatch! I was NOT impressed, as the label said it was fine for 30C machine wash!!!
After ranting and raving for a bit, I took another look at the label, and noticed two small dots under the temperature indication... a quick visit to google told me what I'd pretty much already guessed... 30C yes - but on the GENTLE cycle! Gah! Another washed swatch later to prove that it did indeed work that way, and I now have to figure out what to knit instead... Because of course I'd chosen a pattern where my yardage was juuust close enough that I knew I'd probably have to use the swatch... bit difficult now that it's felted! So I needed to do another 2 swatches for another project instead (same yarn - two different colours on two different sized needles).
But once again it goes to show - always treat your swatch the way you would the finished project! Certainly saved me a lot of heartache here!