Jessimuhka Knits

I didn't get as much done on the Endpaper Mitts this weekend as I thought I would. After my first glass of wine at Wine Steals with everyone on Saturday, I realized I didn't know where I was on the chart and didn't care to figure it out, so I switched to socks. I finally got back to it tonight during Heros and finished the patterning.

I love it! Just a bit of ribbing to go, and then another to make. I'd like to have these done for finals, since my hands always freeze and get sore during the 3 hour exams.

I also had a great weekend for Tacky Xmas, my tree came!

I couldn't get a picture without a flash to turn out, sadly. I'm hoping to get a tripod for my birthday next week, which would improve the quality of pictures here. Oooh, and my parents got me a membership to the Socks that Rock Sock Club for my birthday. Yay!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 11:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Thanks everyone for playing. The winner is...... Rebekkah, through a highly scientific selection method involving dice, chanting, and phases of the moon. (one of those is true)

In other news, I've been distracted from knitting by setting up for Tacky Xmas. It's a cultural thing. I come from a long line of Tacky Xmas people and must express my heritage. (Those of you from UCSD, picture me making Cheryl's faux-ASL heritage sign here.) I have a picture and a video of two things I *did not* purchase, because while hilarious, there just wasn't the correct dollar to laugh ratio.

Don't drink what comes out of Santa's crotch kiddies! Natalie has informed me that I have a MORAL OBLIGATION to buy this and tie mistletoe to the spout. In response, I say my birthday is coming up, weekend after Thanksgiving. It must be fate! (I took this picture at Target with my cell phone camera)

This lovely thing was at Party City, which is just a treasure trove of tacky decorations. They're not completely stocked for xmas yet, but when they are, oh man will it be good. Video taken with the same cell phone.

Things I have bought; candy cane pinata, sparkly dish towels with snowmen and penguins, garish garlands and lights, FIBER OPTIC ANGEL, holographic optical snowman sculpture (it causes cancer), and a giant bag of bows, which I am sticking to everything. There will be pictures of these things soon.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Tomorrow is election day. If you live in California, please get out and vote No on 85.

Whatever your politics, voting is important. Because of this I'm going to run a give away for those of you who vote tomorrow. Comment here telling me you voted and I'll put you in a drawing for a skein of Misti Alpaca Lace. It's the same yarn I used for Icarus, and one skein is enough to knit the Swallowtail Shawl in the Fall 06 Interweave, or a Mountain Stream Scarf, among other things. I'm running this on the honor system folks, so only enter if you actually voted. Hopefully everyone's general internal shame will keep them from cheating. Feel free to comment now if you already sent in your absentee ballot.

I'll announce the winner in my Thursday post. Make sure you leave a valid email address when you comment so I can contact you if you're the winner. Good luck and be sure to vote!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)

I'm a joiner, what can I say. I realized last night that I was closing in on finishing my 2nd pair of socks for the month, so as I've been having my own private Soctoberfest anyway, might as well play with the group.

My Soctoberfest questions - with pictures!

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?

June of 2004. I taught myself from a knitty pattern.

What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?

My first pair were knit out of Elann's version of Cascade Fixation. They're very thick and the stitches on the heel flap are twisted. I accidentally ran them through the dryer a few times, so they're kind of crap looking now.

What would you have done differently?

I would have used wool, made the leg longer, and not twisted the stitches (or at least known I was twisting the stitches).

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

I always love working with Lorna's Laces, Schaefer Anne, and Socks that Rock. Koigu is also yummy. I have some Mountain Colors Barefoot and Claudia's Handpaint in my sock drawer to try soon as well.

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?

I don't like how crocheted socks look and think they're too thick. I've knit socks using DPNs, 2 circs and Magic Loop, and in general I prefer DPNs. I'll use ML if I think I'll need to try on the socks multiple times for fit, since that does make it much easier. The only way I really dislike knitting socks is 2 at once on 2 circs. It just feels too slow.

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)

Heel flaps fit me better. I like either a round or Dutch heel. I like the look of short row heels, and use them occasionally (with the YO method).

How many pairs have you made?

My my best count, 16 pairs. I see 15 pairs in my Flickr sock set, not counting the 2 pairs received in exchanges, and know a pair I knit my mom are missing from it. I currently have 3 pairs of socks in progress (one pair is about a day from completion) and enough sock yarn to make at least a dozen more pairs. Better get cracking.

(yeah, I know one pair is in there twice. I miscounted when setting up the mosaic.)

Oh, and on a bit of blog maintenance. I've decided to close comments for posts over 2 months old (so currently pre-August 1, 2006) because I get a lot of junk comments on old posts. If you ever need to ask something about a post with closed comments, please email me. The address is at the top of the sidebar.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 08:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The hot weather has finally broken, and it may be time to start knitting again. I actually haven't knit more than a couple stitches in about a month. Went to Fresno to see my family, it was too hot to knit. Got back to SD, and it was still too hot to knit. That, and I haven't been making it to the usual Saturday knitting at Rebecca's due to weddings, apartment hunting, and general laziness. I do plan on making it out this weekend unless I'm still apartment hunting, and I'm going to try and make it to Knit Salon on Thursday. Oh, and I cut off all my hair. Anyway, I had goals in June.

June Goals

1. Finish the little something for the little someone. - Nope. I decided to knit the sleeves in a stupid way, and should probably just rip them out and knit them normal if I actually want to finish.
2. Get through the boring part of the Icarus Shawl. - Not quite, about a dozen rows left on this.
3. More Socks! - Finished one sock, started its mate.

August Goals

1. Finish the baby sweater. It should really only take an evening.
2. Get through the boring part of Icarus and start on the happy fun lace edging.
3. Finish the second Conwy sock.
4. Go to Rebecca's on Saturdays so I actually accomplish these goals.
5. Get a picture of my new haircut up.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I haven't been doing much knitting lately, just a few more rows on Icarus since the last time I posted. I spent last weekend in Fresno with my family and it was much to hot to knit. I'm sure I'll be back into it soon though, at least by this weekend at Rebecca's.

The real reason for this post is to complain about a preview I saw for a new animated movie called Barnyard. Go check out the trailer. Go ahead, I'll wait. Okay, now, what's wrong with this preview? That cow is obviously supposed to be male, judging by the voice and behavior, yet it has an UDDER! How did the movie make it all the way through production without someone realizing "hey, milk comes out of udders. Males don't make milk." I'm not saying they should have put a big honkin' bull penis on there, but an UDDER?! Maybe it's a movie about a transsexual cow, and if it is I take all criticism back, but I think it was just made by morons.

My at home rants on this subject lead to a discussion about Yoshi from Super Mario (3 I think?) and how he was supposed to be male, yet laid eggs. I'm feeling a little more lax about the reproductive habits of made up video game characters, though I am now weirded out about Yoshi laying eggs. Maybe he just holds onto the eggs, like a seahorse.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This is my entry for the xtreme challenge at The Amazing Lace KAL. Just about the only thing Icarus and I are extreme at is partying, so we're giving you a window into one of our drinking games.

Set up and ready to get started. We've got our quality vodka, shot glasses, and quarters.

Cheers! So far it's an even match.

Preparing to take my first throw at quarters, using my highly perfected nose rolling method.

And GOAL! Take that Icarus!

Icarus gets ready for her first throw. As she doesn't have a nose, she's using the more controversial two needle approach.

Miss! Close, but no cigar. I'm way ahead now.

So far I have a 3 to 1 advantage over Icarus. I'm starting to feel a little guilty here, but not enough to throw the game. What can I say, I like to win.

Unfortunately, Icarus doesn't know when to stop, so we have some yarn barf. I held her hair back like a good teammate, and suggested we call it a night.

The next morning. Icarus, "Ugh, why is it so bright..." Me, "Shhh, don't talk so loud." We're still recovering.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 01:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

Still haven't blocked Peacock Feathers. I know, I suck. Tomorrow. Really. I just need to get up early and do it right away, so I can block it on the bed and have it be dry by night.

I've been fixated on the woven squares on Cosmic Pluto's blog lately, so I ordered a Weavette loom. It finally showed up, and they shipped me the wrong thing. I ordered a 6x6 loom, which is what's on my invoice, but was sent a book about fancy weaving. I called and left a message with their customer service. I was really hoping to make some fun little squares during my break.

In better news, I started a new pair of Koigu socks. Mmmm, Koigu.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 09:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've gotten another 4 repeats on MSS since my last post. Haven't picked it up today, although I am looking at it longingly right now. I have wicked writer's block right now, and a research paper due tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow night though, I can take a little break, and maybe get two more repeats down. Probably no new pictures of MSS until I turn the corner. It's going to look pretty much the same until then, suffering from the preblocked lace fug.

I know this post sounds whiny and depressing, but I'm just in a pre-finals funk. I'll be back to my marginally perky self in just over a week.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 08:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Retro Ribs are coming along nicely. My pace has slowed a bit during the olympics, as I actually enjoy watching them, so don't get quite as much knitting done. I couldn't knit at all during the pairs finals the other night, so intense! Anyway, I finished one of the socks and the other is ready to be picked back up just past the gusset. I'm very pleased with my grafting on the first sock. I've decided the way to go with grafting is to just pull it as tight as possible. That looks the best, at least on sock toes. I don't know about other grafting, but maybe Krys can tell use when she finally grafts the armpits for her Eris. Graft those armpits Krys!

One of the skeins is a bit more stripey than the other. I'm using the old skein size, and the person who gave me the StR gave me two skeins. One wouldn't quite cut it, so I started the second sock with the brand new skein and I'm glad I did. I also got some cash in my PayPal account recently, which I think I will use to order more StR. Definitely Carbon Dating, and possibly Red Rock Canyon as well. I'm not going to place the order until I'm done moving though.

Today is the cast on day for the SFCKAL! Yay, I get to cast on over 300 stitches tonight... I'm planning on knitting the one colored ribbed bottom of my vest as corrugated ribbing. It will take a bit longer, but will also give the edge more body and hopefully avoid the slight bunching up that's occuring in the photo in the book.

Finally, Robinsons-May was bought out by Macy*s and is having a huge clearance sale here in SD. I bought these great shoes this weekend for 30% off.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:48 PM | Permalink

I'm sure you've all heard of The Knitting Olympics by now. I won't be participating, but I'm always looking for ways to make sporting events into a spectator sport. Thus, I present to you:

The Knitting Olympics Drinking Game

created with help from Rebekkah and Natalie

Take a drink whenever someone:

1. adjusts their definition of "finishing" in order to get a gold medal.
2. whines about someone else being farther along on an identical project.
3. drops out after realizing there is no way to knit a fingering weight fair isle adult sweater in 16 days without losing their job.
4. joins a team for something other than a country/joins a team because they like a vegetable. (Team Wales, I'm looking at you)
5. takes a knitting short cut they really shouldn't have taken. (swatch, pfft! I'm only knitting a fair isle cabled lace shrug. Who needs a swatch!)
6. has to frog because they lost count when Michelle Kwan fell on her ass. (We all know it's going to happen.)
7. buys a TiVo/DVR, so they can watch the Olympics later. It's cutting into their knitting time right now.
8. posts pictures of a dirty house or starving children, blaming either on the Knitting Olympics.
9. calls in sick to work in order to finish on time.
10. encourages another knitter to "work through the pain," when that knitter's hands have gone numb.
11. posts to a general knitlist/livejournal knitting community to ask how everyone else is doing on their projects. (blogs/communities/knitlists set up specifically for the KO exempted)
12. doesn't fix a huge mistake on their project because it will keep them from finishing in time.
13. whines about said huge mistake after the Olympics are over.
14. frogs entire project after the Knitting Olympics, due to aforementioned huge mistake. (finish the bottle for this one)

Disclaimer: The Knitting Olympics Drinking Game is for entertainment purposes only. Do not operate heavy machinery after playing. The amount of "a drink" is fluid - anything from a shot, to a glass of wine, to a sip of beer - please play responsibly.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:43 PM | Permalink

Instructions: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot.

making
Step Into My Thimble
Absinthe Knits
Bird's Nest Knits
Jessimuhka Knits

Select 5 people to tag (suckers!): No really, I know these things are akin to chain letters and they take some time, but there's nothing like direct questions to learn more about folks.

Hmm, who to punish tag. Krys, Rebekkah, Becki, and Kit.

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Let's see, 1996. I was about to graduate from 8th grade and move on to public school. (Yay! Public school!) Yeah, I'm young.

What were you doing 1 year ago?

Starting my second semester of law school and living in Clairemont Mesa. I miss the fact that that apartment had two bathrooms.

What were you doing one hour ago?

Watching figure skating and knitting Jaywalkers.

List five creative things you want to achieve this year:

Knit through most of my stash, read more (suggestions anyone? I usually go for historical fiction), learn to dye yarn with real dyes, improve photography, design more of my own patterns.

List five snacks you enjoy:

Humus, TJ's Peanut Butter Cups, Hard Cider, Sushi, Dark Chocolate

List five things you would do if money were no object:

Goodbye Student Loans!, buy a house where I can smell the ocean and have doggies, knit lots of fancy things, hire a personal chef, take care of my family.

List five bad habits:

Thinking I'm smarter than everyone, procrastinating, overspending, being messy, talking too much.

List five things you like doing:

Knitting, going out with friends, staying in with friends, reading, sleeping.

List five favorite gadgets:

Powerbook, iPod, Nintendo DS, camera, cell phone (What can I say, I'm a gadgets gal.)

Name one thing you like about yourself:

I'm a good friend.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:22 PM | Permalink

The LA meet up was super fun, even with our group being somewhat locationally challanged. I've come down with some sort of death plague, so that's my excuse for any names or blogs I've forgotten. All pictures can be clicked to make bigger.

I rode up with Wendy and Heidi. We met up with Nancy and Hilari. We had great traffic on the ride up, which was obviously a function of neither me nor Heidi commenting on the traffic at all. Soon we were at the wrong Coffee Bean. (really, why do there need to be 2 Coffee Beans within 4 blocks on W 3rd?)

Wendy shows off her hat, and digital skills.

We met up with another Wendy, Jillian and another woman who's name I can't recall right now. Eventually, we decided to head over to Knitcafe, where we found the rest of the bloggers.

Lauren and Wendy.

MJ wearing her Norwegian hat. She's the host of the Norwegian Knit Along and is also a spinner. I think Lauren has a picture of her spinning.

I really didn't take enough pictures. Here's one more of part of the group.

Miyon, Laurie, Hilari, and another name I'm blanking on. Sorry!

Not pictured, but also representing San Diego, was Kris. I had a great time, knit most of a sock, and spent an entire afternoon in a knit shop spending only $25. Here's the main purchase.

Lorna's Laces Shephard Sock in Sand Ridge. I opened up one of the hanks to check out the color distribution and I'm hopeful for striping rather than pooling. Maybe these will become Jaywalkers? I really love the colors. My other small purchase was the Ann Budd Knitter's Handy Guide to Yarn Requirements. It looks really great for deciding how much yarn I need for self designed sweaters.

On the way home, our car stopped at a very strange shop, Nick Metropolis, to look at weird furniture. I had to get a picture of this gem.

For just $1,200 this Harry Potter entertainment center can be yours. Corona neon not included.

I snapped a picture of my weekend knitting progress as well.

The sock is Thuja, by Bobby Ziegler. It's the second of the pair. I'm really loving the socks. The Artyarns Supermerino makes a nice thick squishy fabric and the seed stitch ribbing is just interesting enough to make the socks zip by. If my wrists hadn't gotten tired I probably could have finished the sock in one day. I'll probably finish it up tonight. I'm finally making progress on Peacock Feathers again too. Only 6 rows to go on chart 6, then I'm practically halfway done. It's still very fun to knit.

I also got another fun toy to play with.

It's a Louet S17 that I'm renting from Wendy. Check out her shop if you're a spinner or knitter in search of Louet products. I also bought half a pound each of South African Fine wool and Blue Faced Leicester wool to practice with. Maybe I'm trying to pack too much fun into my short break, but I'm going to do as much as possible. On that note, I'm getting back to the knitting and spinning.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:09 PM | Permalink

Finals are over and I now have 17 days of glorious freedom! Tomorrow I'm heading up to LA for a knitbloggers meetup. I just spent some time getting car knitting put together - some worsted weight socks - so I'll be all set for the morning. I'll make sure and take my camera so I can get some pictures of everyone.

I also have a few projects to show over the coming week. There's substantial progress on Peacock Feathers and major surgery on the finished Rogue sleeve to report.

On a more personal level, thanks for all the well wishes. It's still hard, but I'm doing much better.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:07 PM | Permalink

Goals from November:

1. Finish Cork sweater - DONE
2. Cast on for Rogue and finish one sleeve. - DONE
3. Finish a pair of socks - not done
4. Not cast on a ton of new projects - DONE, I only started 3 projects.
5. Use up more yarn then I buy - DONE, I bought yarn for the Norwegian Stockings and I think that's it (5 balls, one of which I can probably return) and knit up 10 balls.

December:

I'd like to finish the second Rogue sleeve. I'm not really in a goal making mood right now. Andrew broke up with me Wednesday night. I'm completely heart broken. Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm still going out with my friends to try and have some fun. Then I need to put everything aside to prepare for finals. I don't really feel like knitting and will probably take a break from this blog for a week or two.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:06 PM | Permalink

Just a quick post to clarify some things from my previous post.

On the soup can, which so many of you asked about: Our neighbor is either crazy or on drugs (or both) and we've been having problems with him for a couple months. Last week someone in his apartment managed to throw a full can of soup hard enough to break both his window and our window. His window has a circle broken out of it about 8" in diameter. Our window was shattered. Judging by the happy orange slime on our windowsill and Andrew's desk it was some sort of squash soup.

The neighbor will be gone by the end of December, according to his landlord.

On Fair Isle flat vs. Fair Isle in the round: I normally knit left-handed* (knitting from left to right) holding the yarn in my right hand, AKA mirror Continental style. For FI in the round I still knit from left to right holding one color in each hand. I also like to knit back right handed instead of turning my work and purling for flat items. I keep the yarn in my right hand, so I knit English style right handed. When I first tried knitting FI flat I tried to knit back two handed, but couldn't get the right-handed Continental style to work out. I eventually settled for holding both yarns in my right hand while knitting back and returning to one in each hand while knitting forward. Still kind of awkward, but better than purling while stranding on the wrong side.

*knitting left-handed is my preference, because it is the most comfortable for me. I've read several blogger's posts about how it's bad/wrong/overcomplicated to knit left-handed or how knitting isn't a "handed activity." All a load of BS in my opinion. One day I will right a "Left-handed Knitters Manifesto", but today is not that day.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:04 PM | Permalink

I did manage to finish Simply Marilyn in time for the movie. However, it'll be a couple days before I get a picture up - I think the collar needs a good blocking before I can take the official Finished Object photo. The sweater is everything I hoped it would be. It fits great. The body and sleeves are both long enough. The collar doesn't strangle me (it's a little Flash Dance though). It's warm and snuggly without being too warm. All and all a great sucess.

I liked GoF, but will wait to post in more detail until everyone has had a chance to see it. Instead, you all get a rant about irresponsible parents. We got there a bit late to line up - around 9:30 - and were stuck pretty far back in line. We were actually behind the theater, inbetween the dumpster and the wall. The group in front of us included a child that looked about 7 or 8 sleeping on the ground. Why do people bring kids that young to something so late? Then after the movie, as we were exiting the theater, there was a family with two small boys, about 3 and 5, leaving as well. Is it just because a ticket is cheaper than a baby sitter? Do these parents not realize their children are just going to sleep though the movie (if the rest of us are lucky) or scream because they're over tired? Add to that, the fact that GoF would likely be really scary to a 3 year old. It was a pretty dark movie. People, leave your young children at home when you attend midnight movie showings.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:00 PM | Permalink

I'm having an amazing time in DC. Sunday night I waited in line 6 hours to pay my respects to Rosa Parks

This is the line 3 hours in. Apparently over 30,000 people filed past Sunday evening and Monday morning. I feel lucky to have been in town to pay my respects and also see the first woman ever to be laid at state in the Rotunda. It was a very powerful experience. There was a huge range of people there, from babies to couples in their 80s. The mood was really wonderful - I've never seen that many people behave in such an orderly fashion.

The meeting with Justice Kennedy was amazing as well. I'll be posting about that in my personal journal, along with my impressions about the court. I'll leave you all with a parting shot that explains why I could never live on the East Coast.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:43 PM | Permalink

This is my favorite Halloween costume ever and is also one of my favorite pictures of me and Ariel.

I'm Rainbow Brite, she's Twink. This picture is from 1986, so I was almost 5 and she was 2. Mom made the costumes, and looking at the picture now I'm remembering all the little details. Ariel has a star sprinkles pouch. All the rainbow rings on my costume are individually padded. So impressive!

Here's York at the stage I've left it. Stupid Zipper. I'll tackle it another day.

I also did a gauge swatch for Rogue. Here comes the most interesting picture evar!

I swatched with 3 needle sizes, 8s, 7s, and 6s. I got 4 st/in with the 8s, 4.25 with the 7s, and 4.75 with the 6s. None are exactly on with the 4.5 required in the pattern, so I think I'll go with the 7s and knit the smaller of the two sizes I've been waffling between.

Last, but not least, my new hair color and cut.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:41 PM | Permalink

Long time no post. I was trying to finish up York before posting, but we're not on speaking terms right now. There are zipper issues, to the point where I may ask my mom to finish it for me. I'm very happy with the rest of my finishing, however. I should have some pictures in a few days, of York, my new haircolor, and a couple other projects.

On to the meme. I was tagged by Bowerbird Knits.

What's your all time favorite yarn to knit with?
Tough call. As far as sock yarns go, Lorna's Laces all the way. I think Jagerspun Zephyr might be my favorite yarn, I'm really enjoying working with it on Peacock Feathers. In general, my preferences are for merino or merino/silk blends, but I occasionally like a more rustic yarn.

Your favorite needles?
Addi Turbo. I like Brittany Birch 5" double points for socks, but for just about everything else, it's Addis.

Worst thing you ever knit?
Fun Fur Bucket Hat. Really. It was bad. Sadly, I have no pictures, but imagine navy Wool-Ease double stranded with a multi-blue Fun Fur knit up as the Chicknits bucket hat. Add in the fact that I was still twisting my purl stitches and just eww. It was probably my 3rd or 4th project.

Your favorite knit pattern?
I think Fiber Trends Flower Basket Shawl. I really had a great time knitting that shawl.

Most valuable knitting technique?
Either Norwegian Purling or knitting backwards. I use both of these techniques all the time.

Best knit book or magazine?
My favorite magazine is Interweave Knits. I have a ton of knitting books, as I have a bit of a book purchasing problem. The one I use the most is probably the Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques. (If you're on livejournal, you should join the knitting_review community and enter for a chance to win this book.)

Your Favorite Knit along?
The knit along is the kiss of death for a project over here. I think the only KAL I've ever finished is the original Sockapalooza.

Your favorite knit blogs?
I have 80 blogs on my bloglines list currently, but I always smile when I see a post from the Yarn Harlot.

Your favorite knitwear designer?
Probably Nancy Bush. I loves me some pretty socks.

Item you wear the most?
Probably socks, and after that, my Big Kureyon hat. It's a super simple hat, but it keeps my head warm when it rains.

Tag Time
Natalie, you're up. If anyone else wants to play, please do.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:40 PM | Permalink

No post and no knitting yesterday because Andrew and I went to see Flogging Molly. Great show, by the way, and the House of Blues here in San Diego is a pretty nice place to see a show. That said, I think I'm getting a little old to be jostled, stepped on, and beer spilt on me. Sadness.

Tonight I've mostly been doing homework to catch up from my fun yesterday, but I did manage to finish the heel of the green sock and complete 2 of the last 4 rows of Chart 3 of Peacock. Pictures tomorrow, when there's some sunlight.

I tried to get a picture of Fitzy (our possum) off Andrew's computer to post, but I can't find it. Maybe that will come tomorrow too.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:14 PM | Permalink

My new neighbor on the California Knitbloggers ring Miss McSpazzitron tagged me with this meme, so here it goes.

Ten Years Ago
I was just starting eighth grade (this is the part where everyone fusses about how young I am) and my last year of private school. I started wearing contact lenses, ditching my bulky glasses from there on out. I was very nerdy and kind of a loner, spending most of my time reading.

Five Years Ago
I was getting ready to move to San Diego and start college at UCSD. I was dating a boy who was completely wrong for me (which I'd figure out by Christmas time) and was very anxious to be moving away. I had come out of my shell a bit in high school, and while still nerdy (I'll never shake that) I had friends.

One Year Ago
I had just started law school and was anxious about fitting in and making friends, as well as keeping up with all my classwork. I was living with Andrew in Clairemont Mesa and had just started knitting a few months earlier.

Five Snacks
1. Tofutti Cuties
2. Peanuts
3. Sushi
4. Chips with Curry (yes, I know, but it's good)
5. Fudgesicles

Five Songs I know all the words to
1. I Will Survive
2. California Love
3. Army (Ben Folds)
4. Living on a Prayer
5. Tangled Up and Blue

Five Things to do with $100 Million
1. Buy a house
2. Pay off student loans
3. Buy a less ghetto car
4. Knit whatever I want
5. Fund coffee scholarship at CW

Five Places to Run Away to
1. Costa Rica
2. Hawaii
3. My apartment with the phone turned off
4. Seattle
5. San Francisco

Five Things I would never wear
1. Poncho
2. Skorts
3. Tube Top
4. Fur
5. Those ruffley mini skirts

Five Favorite TV Shows
1. Law and Order
2. CSI
3. Alias
4. most shows on the History Channel, PBS or Discovery Channel
5. Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist

Five Biggest Joys
1. Sleep
2. Love
3. Sushi
4. Laughter
5. Knitting

Five People to Pass This on to
I'm not big on passing these things along, so if you want to play and haven't yet consider yourself tagged.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:12 PM | Permalink

I started a jogging routine this week. I'm following this plan. As a founding member of WHRRC (that's the We Hate Running Running Club), I decided it was finally time to get back in shape. So far it's been good, with only mild soreness and no knee pain. Running is also one of the only forms of exercise that suppresses my appetite instead of making me hungry.

But you all are here for the knitting, and knitting I have for you -

FBS, just four rows shy of finishing the main repeat. I was hoping to finish this before bed tonight, but the rows are getting longer and longer. After those rows, I have a ten row edging and a freaking long bind off. I'd like to finish it tomorrow, but we'll see.

I'm doing great on yarn so far -

That's 18g of 50g remaining. I may manage to finish with one hank of Lorna's. Of course, now that I said that, I'll need 5 yards of the second hank. If I actually don't have to break into the second one, I'll probably try to trade someone for a single hank of a different color and make a different short shawl. There's a nice one in Scarf Style I've been eyeing.

Speaking of lace, Krys and I placed a joint order for several Fiddlesticks Knitting patterns today. We ordered Peacock Feathers, Creatures of the Reef, Tina, and Lotus Blossum. I also ordered some Zephyr for Peacock Feathers. This should keep the two of us in lace knitting for a long time.

Tomorrow I go pick up my school books and see what the damage is for pre-class homework. It better not cut into my last week of pure knitting freedom.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 01:50 PM | Permalink

Poker night tonight at the boys house. I'm feeling a bit off because I just chugged a beer so Jake would chug salsa. It was totally worth it though. I did a bit of knitting after I got knocked out of the poker game and the Fiber Trends sock is about 1/4 through the toe. I also got another inch knit on Syndey's hat, only one to go before the crown shaping. Hopefully I'll have a super cute baby hat to show y'all by this weekend.

I also got an unexpected windfall today. The school called to tell me they'd made a mistake and owed me $$$! I want to buy yarn, but I've got bills to pay, and didn't I just pledge yesterday not to buy yarn for a month? I will be strong. I will not trip and fall, swiping my credit card on the way down, and going home with an armload of Supermerino.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 01:37 PM | Permalink

Something was poking me under the arm all day. I came home and found this -

That would be a piece of metal sticking out of my bra! Not comfortable! I'll be sewing that hole shut tonight, because I need to be able to wear it still.

Back on topic, I got a picture of the Koigu socks that shows the color much better, but has weird shadows. I didn't use a flash to get better color, and the sun is a little low at 7pm for good pictures. I included the sheepy for scale. Only 1" to the heel! I'm really excited to wear these, the colors are so cheerful.

The Nordic Mittens have been picked back up. I knit 5 rows last night before bed and remembered how fun they are. Only 20 rows to go, and just 5 until they start getting shorter. I think I'll work on them now actually, and there might be half a FO up tomorrow!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 01:14 PM | Permalink

The sock will be finished tonight.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 06:22 PM | Permalink

It's not noticing my posts for some reason. Poop.

In happier news, I have an almost finished pair of socks! I can't believe how quickly this sock is going. I just cast on for the toe on Sunday and I'm already past the heel today. My goal of finishing before Andrew gets back from Sweden should be no problem. I'm going to start taking the bus to work, so socks will be a great project for waiting for the bus (and also lunchtime at work). Next up in the socks list are Mom's x-mas socks. They're going to be feather and fan in pink Brown Sheep Wildefoote. I've got the numbers all worked out, but am still figuring what to do at the top to curtail rolling. Feather and fan generally goes - Row 1: knit, Row 2: knit, Row 3: pattern, and Row 4: purl. I think I'll need to make one of the first two rows purl for the first inch or so of the sock. I'm leaning towards row 2 unless anyone has a better suggestion. Hopefully I'll start these by Friday and be able to take them in the car for the drive up for Kat's shower. Leaha's gift is going to be the at home project once the current socks are done, but I can't really take that on a drive with her.

I looked over my goals for this month and I'm doing pretty well so far. I still want to start my Jenny cardigan, but I can't find my size 7 Addi's anywhere. I'm thinking I might have to buy a new set, but if so I'll get 36" instead of 24" in case the old ones turn up. I've figured out how to modify the pattern to make it pretty much seamless, so maybe I'll start with a sleeve on DPNs to get going over the weekend.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 06:16 PM | Permalink

I had a lovely weekend away and got very sun burnt. Kate's graduation was great and dinner was fantastic. I made good progress on Charley's sleeves during all the plane and car rides, only 3 more increase repeats and about 15 cm to the armhole bind off and raglan shaping. I'll probably take the sleeves with me to Claire De Lunes tomorrow, as everything else I'm working on is lace and therefore not super portable.

In lace news, I suppose I'm having a "Summer of Lace" ala The Wendy but I think I'll refrain from joining another super chatty Yahoo group. My FBS is nearing completion. I finished 2 lower basket repeats yesterday during an America's Next Top Model marathon on VH1 (wonderful trash, by the way) and only have one and a half to go before moving on to the edging. I'm still on my first hank of the yarn, so I'll probably have to come up with something else to make with the rest of it. Maybe a nice feather and fan scarf for a family member. The new step for the Mystery Stole is much better than the previous ones. I'm not sure what I think of the pattern yet, but at least it's a little more interesting to knit.

I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job of working my way through my stash and not buying more yarn. I did pick something up for Leaha's going away present since I just didn't have anything appropriate. It's very nice and I hope to start it next month. I went to Yarn! in Alameda (ok, most boring name ever) and didn't buy anything. They did have a really nice selection, but man was it pricey. The kicker for me was that they had several yarns that had been long discontinued still at full price - yarns even Knitting in La Jolla has discounted now. I was sorely tempted by some Mission Falls 1824 to make another pair of worsted weight socks, but I can get that down here so I put it back.

Today I have to run back to La Jolla and pick up more stationary for Kat's bridal shower and then mail out the invites we have done. My other plans for the day are watching Law and Order and knitting either the Mystery Stole or FBS.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 06:10 PM | Permalink

I'm heading out tonight to see one of my sisters graduate from college! Yay, Congratulations Kate!

Andrew and I are flying up and then spliting to spend the weekend with our families. His sister has a dance recital. He's leaving straight from SF for a two week business trip to Sweden, so I'm on my own here for a couple weeks. I'm planning lots of knitting and a couple girls nights.

For travel knitting, I'm deciding between taking the Charley sleeves or a sock. It will probably be the sleeves. I was going to take my mystery stole, but the clue this week took about 45 min to knit. I finally dropped down to no mail for that list, too many whiners and WAY too chatty. There have been over 100 messages so far today, gah. The knitting has been fun though, this last step was much more involved and interesting. Hopefully the rest of the stole will stay this interesting.

I'll be back Monday morning and update on the weekend.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 06:07 PM | Permalink

I took pictures to post today, but my camera cord hasn't resurfaced from the move yet. I finished the Cashmere socks last night and cast on for new socks. I also cast on for a Flower Basket Shawl. It's great fun and I've already completed the upper basket and 3 repeats of the lower basket.
The first clue for the mystery stole comes out tomorrow. I'm still deciding on needles. My swatch on 4s looks alright, maybe a little open, but I don't love Addi's for lace, too blunt to knit tbl. The 3s I have are bamboo and pointier, so I might go with those.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 05:55 PM | Permalink

I got tagged for one of those memes that have been going around by Inky. Thanks Inky, I feel all popular now =)

Here are the rules:
Pick 5 of the following and then complete the sentences. Then pass it on to 3 more of your blog friends! But no tag backs!

The Premise (pick 5):

If I could be a scientist?
If I could be a farmer?
If I could be a musician?
If I could be a doctor?
If I could be a painter?
If I could be a gardener?
If I could be a missionary?
If I could be a chef?
If I could be an architect?
If I could be a linguist?
If I could be a psychologist?
If I could be a librarian?
If I could be an athlete?
If I could be a lawyer?
If I could be an inn-keeper?
If I could be a professor?
If I could be a writer?
If I could be a llama-rider?
If I could be a bonnie pirate?
If I could be an astronaut?
If I could be a world famous blogger?
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world?
If I could be married to any current famous political figure?

If I could be a musician - I'd play the cello and fit in better with my incredibly musically talented family.
If I could be a missionary - I'd teach love and tolerance, using spirituality to unify rather than divide humanity.
If I could be a professor - I'd be a total hard ass, like Stiggy.
If I could be a llama-rider - I'd perfect ride and spin technology.
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world - I'd be on the CA Supreme Court, they have some interesting decisions facing them right now that I definitely feel should come out a certain way.

Now I have to tag some people. Hmm. Lets go with everyone named Kris who reads this, that should cover enough people.

In other news, I'm almost moved in (all our stuff is here, it's just a disaster zone), my socks are almost done, and the Bonita yarn store was a bust. Tonight I will hopefully have an update with pictures.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 05:52 PM | Permalink

I actually didn't knit a stitch yesterday. Andrew was surprised I survived. We did manage to get the kitchen and one bathroom completely backed. Megan was a great help. She's really efficient.
Today I headed over to the new place to wait for the cable/internet/phone guy with my knitting in tow. He was scheduled for any time from 1-3, so I figured I'd get in some nice quiet knitting time. Nope, he was already there when I showed up at 12:30 looking mighty impaitent. Boo. I have gotten a couple rounds done on the Cashmere socks today while taking a break after I stubbed the crap out of my toe. I thought at first it might be broken (I've broken this particular toe about 3 times previously - it's my loser toe), but it's just banged up. I stubbed it on the wheel of Andrew's luggage, which was sitting right in the middle of the doorway. Can't really say anything bad about that though, because my crap is everywhere too. I actually thought it was my luggage until I looked down.

In future knitting news, I joined a new knitalong - Mystery Stole Along. The premise of the group is that you're knitting a lace wrap, but you only get one chunk of the instructions at a time. I'd been looking for a new lace project for my handpaintedyarn.com merino lace, so I'm going to give this a go. It starts June 3rd if anyone else is interested in playing along.
Monday I'm trying to organize a field trip to a new LYS opening in Bonita. I don't drive that far south often (ok, ever), but I figured a new yarn store would be worth the trip.

I'll probably be MIA tomorrow, but should be back Monday night with tales of yarny goodness.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 05:48 PM | Permalink