Jessimuhka Knits

I cast on for the Creatures of the Reef shawl on Sunday, and according to the shawl percentage calculator I have, I'm 28% complete. I don't know if I believe that.

It looks so small. The rows are finally starting to feel shorter. I'm halfway through the Seahorse and Crab motif.

This shawl takes a little more attention than Peacock Feathers, at least for me, because I can't see the repeats. This is the first pictorial lace I've tried, so far so good.

I also got something fun in the mail yesterday. Last fall I signed up for a sock exchange in the livejournal advanced knitting community. Yesterday, my socks arrived.

I think the pattern is Waving Lace from the Spring 04 IK, and I'm guessing solid Opal, by the feel of the socks. They fit great and are very pretty. That makes two new pairs of socks I didn't have to knit myself this month.

Speaking of socks, as some of you may or may not know, I run a Flickr sock group. This week I got a nasty email from someone after deleting some off topic spam she put in the group. It was some sort of sock chain letter, and she told me I was hostile and ruining the group's potential by deleting things. Riiiight. I told her not to let the door hit her in the ass on the way out.

I'll leave you with another Weavette square. Have a Weavette Loom? Join the Flickr group here.

It makes a great coaster.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

My sock pal was Rachel. She knit me these great Pomatomus socks.

Thanks Rachel! I hope my sock pal likes the socks I knit her as much as I like these. The fit is great! The yarn is solid Koigu, which has great tone on tone varigation, which makes the pattern really stand out. My string of great luck with secret pals and swaps continues!

On my own knitting front, I've finally picked Rogue back up, and finished half the throat/neck/shoulder.

The reason for picking Rogue back up? I really want to knit a pattern from Big Girl Knits, Curvalicious Cardigan. You can see a picture of it here, third picture down. I'm not going to start any new sweaters until I finish Rogue, so it's time to get moving on it. This sweater uses Calmer, so I'm going to scope out Calmer colors in person this weekend, and maybe buy a ball to swatch with.

Speaking of this weekend, Krys and I are going on a mini yarn crawl, checking out Knitting in La Jolla and Common Threads tomorrow. Yay, pretty!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 04:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Pattern: Embossed Leaves from Winter 05 IK
Yarn: Schaefer Yarns Anne
Needles: US 2 Brittany Birch DPNs

Modifications: I made several modifications to this pattern. For starters, the pattern description claims the socks have a tubular cast on, but the instructions call for a strange cast on that isn't flexible at all. I decided to use a regular long tail cast on. The heel instructions called for cutting the yarn after turning the heel and reattaching, which I didn't do either. It just seemed silly. I also had to rework the toe decreases, as the pattern was dependent on a foot length that wasn't right for my pal. I only put the decorative purl stitches on the top of the toe, so there wouldn't be bumps under her foot.

Overall impressions: I loved the yarn. It was very soft on the skein, and even softer after a washing. (the socks are pictured on my feet pre-blocking, as my pal's feet are slightly smaller than mine and I didn't want to stretch them out after blocking to her size) I was slightly frustrated by the pattern, but am happy with the finished product. If I knit these again for myself, there are even more things I would change. I'm glad to be done well in time to get them sent out on Tuesday. All that's left to do is pick up a San Diego postcard and some nice tissue paper to wrap them in.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

First off, I finished the Peacock Feathers Shawl last night. It still needs blocking though, so pictures will be coming soon. After I finished it, I really wanted to cast on for another lace shawl (Creatures of the Reef), but instead I sucked it up and picked up my sockapaloooza socks. I finished the second one, and performed major surgery on the first.

When I blocked the first sock on a homemade hanger sock blocker it got these weird brown stains. I'm not going to send someone a pair of socks with mystery brown spots on them, so they had to go.

You can see I ran a lifeline before chopping the toe off. I'm not a *complete* idiot. I also cut a few rows above where I wanted to wind up, so I could pull the sock out stitch by stitch to get it back on the needles.

And we're back in business. Two repeats and a toe to go. I might actually finish early!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Ok, hat. I knit the Odessa hat last Tuesday and finally got a picture of it last night.

I like it. I wish I'd knit it a bit longer than the pattern called for (5.5" instead of my usual 6" - that will teach me to trust the pattern), but it blocked out alright. The yarn is rediculously soft. I'm sure it's not very hard wearing, but for a hat that should be alright. Knitting with the beads was fun too.

Stats:
Pattern: Odessa, linked above, by Grumperina
Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft DK
Beads: size 6 glass beads from Beverly's
Needles: Clover US4 16" circs for ribbing, Inox US6 DPNs for main hat. I really liked the Inox needles.
Start: Feb 21, 2006
Finished: Feb 21, 2006
No modifications. Oh, and I didn't swatch, because, hey, it's a hat. If it's off, you just rip it out and start over.

Now, socks in progress.

I have issues with how this pattern is written. When I finish, I'll do a whole post on what I did differently, and what else I would modify if I knit them again. They do knit up fast though, as I've only been working on them for 4 days. My sockapaloooza pal has smaller feet tham me, so these should finish up quick too! Hmm, two complete pairs of socks in February? We'll see.

I knit most of the second sock at Kris's, with Miyon, Kristin, Krys, and Marissa. Most of them were working on Olympic Knitting - check out their finished projects, they're great!

Oh, and Krys, ERIS SLEEVES!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:53 PM | Permalink

Long time no post. I have a finished hat to share, but need to wait for it to dry and someone to take a picture for me (no bathroom mirror shots here at Jessimuhka Knits). In the meantime, I started my Sockapaloooza socks.

The pattern is Embossed Leaves Socks by Mona Schmidt in the Winter 05 IK. The yarn is Schaefer Anne. So far I'm enjoying them, but just ran into a reading comprehension issue. I skimmed over the pattern (blah, blah, 1x1 twisted rib, 2.5 pattern repeats, OOOOH! CHART!) and jumped right in to following the chart. This picture is how much cuff I thought the pattern said to knit. It looked a little short to me, so I read back to check. That would be *3*.5 pattern repeats, so I still have one to go. Oops. I figure I'll start the heel during the Olympics tonight, if I don't get too caught up playing my own drinking game.

Speaking of the KO drinking game, now that we're nearing the end of the event, there are more chug worthy posts in the Blogosphere than ever. So buy a bottle of your favorite ale, cider, tequila (for you heavy hitters), or gin (for even heavier hitters - or people who really like Christmas) and play along at home for the last 3 days!

edited because I spelled the sock designer's name wrong

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:52 PM | Permalink

School has been taking up most of my time lately, so there hasn't been much knitting around here. I did finish the first sock to be swapped. I brightened the picture a bit to show the pattern off better - in real life it's a deeper green.

Last night in a fit of annoyance, I ripped out River, and started it over in stockinette stitch, with a garter edging. I just don't really care for garter lace. Here's how it looks right now, with the set up rows and about half a repeat completed. I also plan on switching decreases when the YOs slant the other way, think that will look quite neat.

I'm also thinking of declaring October a WIP month and focusing on finishing some of my many WIPs without starting anything new. If anyone is interested in joining me, we could make a KAL out of it. I'm going to take a long hard look at my WIP pile and make decisions about either ripping or finishing each. I think I might rip my Ribby Cardi - I just don't think it's going to fit well - and reclaim the yarn for Samus. If so, I'll probably order a couple balls of the same Highland Wool in a complementary color to do the i-cord edging in.

Tomorrow Spaaz is coming over to loan me a spinning wheel and give me my first wheel lesson! I'm so excited!

Edit: I also just put a mail to link in my sidebar. If you have a question or comment you specifically want a response to, please email me there, since the comments are more difficult to respond to.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:18 PM | Permalink

I'm just about through the heel of the first sock for my sock exchange.

The pictures on the dark side, I have late classes on Tuesdays, so no good light left by the time I get home. The heel isn't complete because I got a ride home from school. (no complaints here, any time I don't have to take the bus is fine by me) I'll probably finish this sock middle of next week. As long as I keep up this pace I'll have no problem completing them by October 31st.

I also worked on my York sleeves a bit last night. I've still got 5 rows to the sleeve cap shaping, but I'm really enjoying working with the wool/alpaca blend.

I included the same tape measure in both pictures for scale. While the sleeves are as long as the pattern calls for, my monkey arms need extra long sleeves.

Peacock is a little farther along after the weekend, but no new picture to show. I have four more rows of Chart 3, and I plan on taking a picture after completing that chart. I also completed the first repeat of River and weighed the remaining ball of yarn (46g). I'll be able to make a nice long scarf with just 50g of laceweight alpaca, yay!

I gave the felted clogs I just finished a test drive this morning, and they were so nice and warm I want a pair for myself. I'd like a different color though. Does anyone have some Cascade 220 (or other worsted weight feltable wool) they'd like to trade for some of the green Quatro? My size requires three hanks of 220 (600g), and I can trade an equal amount of the green. I'd love blues or maybe purple.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:13 PM | Permalink

First off, hi to all the folks stopping by via knitty. I feel like I need to be more interesting with the dramatic increase in blog traffic.

I'm 4.5" into the foot of the sock exchange sock, which has been my bus knitting this week.

The patternis Go With the Flow from Summer '04 IK, but altered to be toe up. I worked my first figure 8 toe, and it was great fun. I haven't figured out how calf increases will work into this pattern; I'll burn that bridge when I come to it, as dad would say.

Peacock is kind of on hold as the rows are taking so long right now - almost an hour to knit the pattern across and purl back - mainly because I purl so slowly. I think it's now weekend knitting. The clogs need one last trip through the wash, which should happen tomorrow.

In non-knitting related news, Andrew is back from Sweden. It's good to have him home.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:04 PM | Permalink

My pattern is here. Let me know what you all think. (and thanks to Ms. Bowerbird for stopping over with a nice comment already - you were indeed first. P.S. your Rogue is looking great.)

In other knitting news, I cast on for the socks for my advanced_knit sock exchange last night and am halfway through the first foot today. Not sure if my sock buddy reads here or wants to be surprised or not, so I'm holding off on pictures until I email her.

Now it's homework time, I'm only a week and a half in and I'm swamped already!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:03 PM | Permalink

I received my final package from my secret pal today and found out her identity. Bridget of knit cetera has been sending me all those nice presents. Her last package was equally lovely.

That's Blue Moon Merino sock yarn, Knitpicks dye your own sock yarn, Kool-aid for dying the knitpicks, a linen scented candle (love the smell), and a little sheep. The sheep reminds me of a Wallace and Gromet sheep. There was also a container of real Maple Syrup that didn't make it to the picture. Mmm, pancake breakfast. It appears my lifelong distaste for maple syrup was only for that fake stuff stores try to pass off for the real thing. The real stuff is quite tastey, and I didn't even mind the stickiness.

I had to take a close up of the sock yarn, because it's really such a wonderful green. The varrigation is really subtile, so I think these will make a great pair of patterned socks, either Retro Ribs, Go With the Flow, or something out of Knitting on the Road.

The person I was spoiling was Shetha, who's blog has been down so I can't link you to her. I'll come back and edit this when it's back up.

New discovery of the weekend - I'm allergic to oven cleaner. The people who lived in this apartment before us burned something onto the bottom of our oven that makes the smoke alarm go off every time we use it. Since we were going to have the oven on with guests over today, we finally got around to cleaning it. I was in the livingroom at the time and took one breath of the fumes coming from the kitchen and immediately started having trouble breathing. Andrew hustled me out the front door pretty quick though, so it didn't turn into a bigger problem. Now I never have to clean the oven! If only I could develop an allergy to dishes...

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:00 PM | Permalink

I received a wonderful package from my secret pal last weekend. It included some Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud, which I've been dying to try in Tide Pool

Still no plans for this. I swear I thought of something, but I didn't write it down, so now it's gone.

There was also a sock kit from Fleece Artist. I'd never seen or touched Fleece Artist yarn before. I couldn't help myself, before I even got a picture the wrapper was off;

Then I had to wind it, just for kicks you know - not to start a sock or anything;

Then I had to *erm* knit a sock;

only took 3 evenings, on US 3's. Problem is it's too small. By a lot. So I had to do this;

I've already re-cast on in the next size up. What I didn't realize was that the chevrons would pull in so much. This would have been the right count for a stockinette sock I think. I'm planning on taking these to Santa Barbara for the massive amounts of driving over the weekend, so I should have socks soon.

Thanks so much secret pal. Even though it didn't fit, it was a blast to knit. Now I get to knit 3 socks with this yummy yarn. I think I got the best pal possible, she (? I'm assuming here) is obviously putting a lot of effort into getting me things she knows I'd like, and I really appriciate the effort.

I leave you all with a small law student revelation:
You know the case you're reading is going to be great when you see the phrase "defendant's nephew/boyfriend" in the opening paragraph. I was not let down.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 01:31 PM | Permalink

I got into Knitty!

I also got a GREAT package from my secret pal. Hopefully I'll get daylight pictures tomorrow. She sent me a sock kit, and in one day I'm past the heel!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 01:29 PM | Permalink

I got a lovely package from my Secret Pal today -

She sent me Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush! I have been coveting this book for ages, thank you so much! In the picture it is open to the first pair I'm going to knit, as soon as I finish the mom socks. She also sent 2 balls of Schoeller Fortissima Colori, a sock yarn I haven't used before in a great multi colored shade, and some monkey bookmarks! I love monkeys!

I also got the new IK in the mail today. Here's my take on it, in page order of the magazine.
- I liked the article on knitting in the theater. I loved stealing spare knitting moments when I did tech.
- Greek Pullover - it looks cute, but the models pose worries me. it is also very much not for my body type.
- Chenille Cutaway Jacket - eh, not a fan, and the photography is horrid
- Cable Cascade Pullover - reminds me of a sweater dress I had in the 80s, in a bad way.
- Fur Trimmed Wrap - what I consider and appropriate use of eyelash. I wouldn't make it, but it's cute.
- Essential Indulgence - really bad shape
- Union Square Market Pullover - love the sleeves, not sure about the neckline
- Drop Stitch Cardigan - I think it would look really nice in a solid color
- Weekend Getaway Satchel - expensive and non-functional
- Veste Everest - I will make this, probably in Jaeger Luxury Tweed or Rowan Felted Tweed. I love that it's in DK weight, much less bulky, and the splitting cable detail at the v-neck. It looks like it could use lengthening, but other than that, a winner!
- Felted Floral Capelet - completely silly and I'd never knit it, but I really like how it looks.
- Textured Coat - worst pattern in the issue
- Blissful Jacket - looks like Debbie Bliss finally got a clue about sizing.
- Vintage Inspired Jacket - ick. double ick for the stripe up the underarm (pictured on pg 90).
- I love the ad in the bottom left corner of pg 98! It might be time to learn colorwork. (Trees of Life - I also like the vest on that page)
- Fair Isle Hoodie and Cardigan - I like the cardigan. I'll have to keep this in mind for the future.
- Bulky Brioche Raglan - eh. wasn't there a broche sweater just like this one a couple issues back?
- Cabled Shrug - looks cozy, but I prefer my blankets without cuffs.
- Fair Isle Skirt - surprisingly, I really like this one, maybe even enough to knit it. The model also reminds me of Evey.
- Braided Blues - really bad shape
- Suede Vest - looks like a maternity top. redhaired model, why do they hate you so?
- Poncho Loco - The poncho is over. (long live the ponchkini)
- Canteen Bag - boring
- Brioche Helment Hat - meh
- Rib and Cable Socks - Yay, socks! And Nancy Bush is coming out with another sock book!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 06:26 PM | Permalink

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
- Yep, I'm pretty much a yarn snob. Not expense wise (I love Cascade 220 and the Elann Highland wool), but I definately prefer to knit with natural fibers. The only craft store yarn I like was just discontinued - Lion Brand Cotton-Ease.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
- I've just taken up spinning. I have a drop spindle and I've made some very uneven yarn. It's great fun and I hope to get the hang of it soon.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
- The smell of smoke really bothers me. I'm allergic to cats and angora fiber (sadness).

4. How long have you been knitting?
- About a year and a half.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
- Yeah, it's a little out of control though. You can see it here.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
- I like citrusy scents the best. I also love those fizzy bath bomb things.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
- Indeed. I'm trying to cut back on sugar however.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
- Spinning and Dyeing so far. I used to do a good amount of beading when I was in junior high, so maybe I'll get back into that someday.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
- I'd describe my music tastes as picky eclectic. I like singer/songwriter, classic hip-hop (at least 10 yrs old), mid-90's alternative, plus some new stuff. I play music through my laptop or my ipod so MP3s will play.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
- My all time favorite color is blue. I generally like any jewel tones or rich saturated colors. I'm not a huge fan of pastels or neons.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
- I live with my boyfriend, no pets.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)
- To love what I do.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
- There are a lot. I love Lorna's Laces, Opal, Cotton-Ease, Luxury Tweed, lace weight from Handpaintedyarns.com, and pretty much anything else that's merino, alpaca, or silk.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
- Anything that's 100% acrylic and kitchen cotton.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
- Probably socks

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
- Socks and lace

17. What are you knitting right now?
- Cabled sweater in Cotton-Ease from Rowan 37, Fiber Trends Felted Clogs, and socks

18. What do you think about ponchos?
- They're not for me.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
- Circulars, almost always.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
- Addi Turbos for circs and Brittany Birch for DPNs and straights

21. Are you a sock knitter?
- yes

22. How did you learn to knit?
- Taught myself from books and the internet

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
- Probably Andrew's gloves, which I started around Thanksgiving.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
- I like sheep and monkeys

25. What is your favorite holiday?
- I'm not a big holiday person. Maybe Memorial Day/Labor Day? Time off with no social committments.

26. Is there anything that you collect?
- Yarn? I try not to collect things, my apartment is just too small.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
- Interweave Knits. I've been thinking of subscribing to Spin Off too.

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?
- Stahman's Shawls and Scarves. I've seen a couple shawls knit from this book and they are beautiful!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 05:46 PM | Permalink