Jessimuhka Knits

So, it's been a while. I knit some over the summer, but mostly secret baby surprises for knitting friends, so those FOs must remain hidden for a bit longer. Now that it's cooling down (barely), I've picked up the knitting again and made some progress.

First, a FO to share - SG's Chicago Bears socks. They were finished a few weeks ago, but made their debut for Sunday night Football.

The yarn is from seller YarnMagnet on Etsy, who does several sports teams colorways. I'm pretty happy with how the striping worked out, and I had just barely enough for size 13 socks. Luckily the Bears won on Sunday, so the socks are now lucky ;)

In other news, I finished all the pieces for my sister's sweater that got stalled out last winter, and started assembly.

If anyone has sources for small black buttons, please let me know.

I also got started on Christmas knitting, and am halfway through my mom's gift. After that, I need to make another pair of felted clogs for Dad, and I'll be all set for December. I'll be back soon with pictures of baby knits. One set is all ready to be given, so that's up first.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Currer seaming is currently a work in progress. All the curvy bits are a little more difficult than just straight seams. I'm hoping to finish it up on evenings this week, so look for a post on that soon.

In the mean time, I finally finished the Little Child's Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks.

Pattern: Little Child's Socks by Nancy Bush (in Knitting Vintage Socks)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in Bold Red
Needles: Knitpicks 2.25mm 32" circs
Started: October 17, 2007
Completed: April 11, 2008

This was my laundromat project for many moons. The yarn was lovely as usual, although it bled more than I expected. Also, I don't think Bold Red is a very accurate color name. It's more like a Strawberry Red.

I'm very happy with how this project turned out. Of course, finishing one pair of socks means casting on for another. I decided to go with the Francie socks by Rebekkah. Yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy, and I'm in love with them so far.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:03 PM | Permalink

Hey guys! Anyone still reading out there?

So a lot has happened since last I posted here. Main points: decided to take a break from school, got a job (working with Dis), made it through my first major overtime crunch at that job, still have things going on with the Some Guy (SG) I obliquely referenced back in March, and moved into an apartment by myself.

Knitting, there hasn't been much knitting until last night. I caught a killer cold over the weekend, and wound up needing to go home from work early yesterday. Between my 6 hour nap, and 8 hours of nighttime sleep, I cast on and knit the picot hem of Rebekkah's Scroll Lace Socks. (Ravelry users, que them up here. I'm on Ravelry as Jessimuhka, by the way.) I'm knitting them in a deep purple mostly solid Koigu, and so far they are awesome. Once I get a few repeats into the leg, there will be pictures. Hopefully our knitting nights will start up again soon, now that the summer is winding down, and my progress and posting will improve.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I've been MIA lately because I lost both the USB cord and battery charger to my old camera. After spending a couple of days tearing my house apart, I decided it was time for a new camera anyway. I'm still learning how to work all the new features, so these pictures could probably be better, but hopefully as the learning curve picks up the quality of photos here will improve.

While I was camera-less, I finished the Unst socks I started ages ago.

The yarn is Claudia Handpaints in Just Plums. I like this yarn, but I don't love it. The pattern was Nancy Bush's Unst from Knitting on the Road. This is my second pair of socks from that book, and there will probably be more in the future.

After the Unst socks, I started and finished an entire pair of socks in about 10 days.

Monkey Socks, in Mountain Colors Barefoot. I lost the ball band, so I don't know the color name. I think it was something like Alpine maybe?

I loved knitting these socks. The pattern was the perfect mix of interesting and intuitive to make them easy tv knitting while holding my attention. Time for some detail shots.

The leg up close. I still need to figure out taking close ups without getting uneven lighting.

Foot close up. I really like where the little purl triangles meet the stockinette of the foot.

I enjoyed working with this yarn. It's a little heavier than something like Lorna's Laces or Koigu, and made a nice dense sock. I wore them the other day at the house of a friend who has hardwood floors and no heat, and my feet stayed nice and warm. Once I've worked through my sock stash a bit and can buy sock yarn in again I will definitely get some more of this.

And finally, last week I started another pair of socks. These ones are plain 2x1 ribbed in a bright blue Koigu.

Color is 447. I got a 6" cuff and 10" foot out of one ball with only a small amount of yarn left. I'm about 3" into the cuff of the second sock, and will probably take it with me to knitting at Jen's this weekend. She's hosting a frogging party, so I need to look at my in progress list and see if there's anything that needs ripping out. I'm thinking the Fixation stockings might be on the chopping block. I just don't like knitting with Fixation.

The Tina Shawl is continuing on schedule, only 8 rows to go to meet my goal. I plan on lightly blocking the center square before picking up stitches around the edges, probably just a spray blocking so I won't have to cut the yarn off the cone. I'm actually getting excited about that project again, now that it's going to get interesting soon.

That's all for now, but I should be back with more pictures soon.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

I finally took a picture of the socks I started right after finishing the Conwy socks.

They're another pattern from Knitting on the Road, Unst. I'm using Claudia's Handpaints in Just Plums. It's a really nice yarn. I'm not sure exactly what to compare it to, as the base yarn doesn't remind me of any other luxury sock yarns, but I'm pleased with it.

I did a bit of shopping this weekend. The Grove was having their 3rd anniversary sale, with all craft books 40% off. I found a copy of Rowan's All Season Cotton Collection and decided with Cotton Ease coming back, $6 was a good deal for the booklet. Then we drove out to Alpine to visit Lori's. I'd never been out there before (West County San Diego snob here) and was planning on just picking up a couple of sets of Inox Grey DPNs. Well, I got the double points, in US 2 and 3, and another brand of the Teflon coated metal in 2.25mm, but I also saw something else that needed to come home with me.

It's Yarn Place "Heaven", a 55/45 merino/tencel blend. I'd never heard of this yarn before, but damn does it feel nice. And at 3,100 yards for $30, it's enough to make the Spider Queen Shawl at a very good price. The brown will be my Spider Queen Shawl, and the blue I picked up for Krys, after calling her to check the required yardage for the SQ. What are knitting friends for if not to field calls that consist of "Are you by the internets?" "Cool, look this up for me." Ah well, she may have been the only person I didn't call in my "how many cups in a pint?" supermarket trip last week. (My sister Ariel for the win on that one. Check out her website, you get to dress up a cupcake!)

And because I can, gratuitous detail shot. I turned the flash off and tried to hold the camera steady to get a good shot of the color. It's shinier in real life, but other than that pretty accurate.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Another finished pair of socks!

Pattern: Conwy Socks from Knitting on the Road, Sock Patterns for the Traveling Knitter, by Nancy Bush. Fun pattern, with mock cabling and calf shaping.

Yarn: Socks That Rock in one of the Rare Gems colorways. I love this colorway, it reminds me of grapevines and wine. The yarn is nice and soft and squishy too, one of my favorites.

Needles: 2.75 Brittany Birch DPNs. I love these needles, but wish they were a little pointier for the mock cables.

Modifications: I made the legs about an inch shorter because I was worried about running out of yarn (it wouldn't have been a problem, I have plenty left over). Other than that I pretty much followed the pattern to the letter.

Impressions: The pattern was fun to knit, and while it made the yarn do some crazy pooling, I like the outcome. Pooling/flashing doesn't really bother me for the most part, because it's more important the pattern be interesting for me to get it done. I deem them a success.

Close up photos.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

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)

Opal ribbed socks with afterthought heels.

I knit these for my mom. When I started them last spring they were going to be for her birthday, but that didn't happen. I just found out she's having foot surgery the first week of November and will need to be off her feet for 6 weeks. Sound like a time for hand knit socks, at least once whatever bandages come off.

The heel is an afterthought heel.

Waste yarn knit in where heel will go. I like to knit two rows with the waste yarn so I can cut it out instead of picking it out. This picture was taken April 9th, and I hadn't touched them again until yesterday.

Getting the stitches back on the needle, the most annoying part of this heel. I knit the heel over 60% of the socks because my mom's feet are a bit wider than mine.

Stitches distributed and ready to knit. The afterthought heel is basically knit like a toe. Decrease 4 stitches every other row for a while, then every row the last few times around.

I like this heel with self patterning yarn because it doesn't break up the pattern like other types of heels do. I'm also pleased with my ability to make them pretty much match. I hope she likes them.

All pictures of these socks

Posted by Jessimuhka at 04:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I joined the Leapin' Lizards KAL and finished another square.

This picture is with no flash, and the colorway is 157, one of the overstocked colors from Webbs. I have a 2nd ball of this color and a ball of 158, and then I'll see if I can get another square out of all the scraps.

With flash. I really like this colorway. This time I broke and spit spliced the yarn when it was time to change ball ends. For my first square I broke the yarn and left ends, but there's no way I want to leave that many ends. I'm not carrying the yarn up the sides because I think it's too far to carry the right amount and will wind up with that side being either too tight or too loose. The spit splicing solved the problem nicely.

I also started a new sock this weekend, in Lorna's Laces Swirl DK Vera.

No flash

Flash. I'm knitting them on 2.5mm DPNs (the Knitpicks ones. They're ok.) 60 stitches around. This is a tighter gauge then I would normally knit DK yarn at, but I liked how Krys's socks came out using this yarn and 2.0mm needles, so I'm giving this a go. So far so good, and my hands haven't fallen off yet. I'm 2" shy of starting the heel, which will be a toe up flap and gusset, something I haven't tried before. Exciting, I know.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 07:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I have some pictures of my knitting progress this month and figured I should get them up before I set next month's goals. I made some good progress on the Icarus shawl, only 7 rows to go to meet my goal, so I might make it tonight.

I also finished the sleeve of a baby sweater. It's freakin' adorable. The body was completed a couple months ago, only one more sleeve to go.

And finally, the VK Stocking. I'm almost to my knee, but I'm thinking of making them thigh highs because I have plenty of yarn. Then I'll get a garter belt and wear them with skirts. Or, I'll get bored with them and just knit them to the pattern length so I can embroider them. We'll see.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 05:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Finished the first sock and the ribbing of the second while watching Buffy last night. I'm still enjoying the pattern and yarn, so hopefully there will be a new pair of socks soon. This should be a pretty good weekend for knitting. Tomorrow is Rebecca's (who else is going? I just saw Kristen posted she was.), then Sunday is the Kris goodbye gathering. That is going to be sad. I'll probably take the Icarus Shawl to both of those so I can make some progress on the boring part.

Anyway, off to study for a bit so I can go see Cars tonight. New Pixar movie! Yay!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Finished the gusset on the Conwy socks last night, after turning the heel twice.

The first time I turned the heel I was off by a stitch, due to a counting error in the first row of heel turning. I'm back on track and good to go now though. I shortened the leg by an inch for two reasons. First, my leg is a bit bigger around above the 7" mark than the pattern specifies. Second, I weighed my remaining yarn and was almost halfway through the yarn for the first sock. I usually do a 6" leg, so these will still be a bit taller than my average socks. I tried it on, and the fit is very nice. The calf shaping results in a nice snug ankle, and the STR is so soft and pretty.

Tonight is poker night, so probably not much knitting (I will take the sock in case I get knocked out of the game early). If I win, maybe more STR will be my prize. BMFA has some great new colorways up (I love just about ever color of theirs I've seen, so saturated and pretty), so maybe I need a new one?

Posted by Jessimuhka at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I started a new pair of socks this weekend. I've been itching to use my Socks that Rock, so I cast on for a pair of toe up socks which were going to have a lace inset. That didn't work out so hot, so I ripped out the lace bit and started just plain socks. About halfway up the foot, I tried it on, and my normal stitch count was feeling a bit big. Also, I was bored with the plain sock. So I ripped out and looked around for patterns calling for slightly less than my standard sock stitch count.

I love Nancy Bush patterns, but most of them seem to be written for narrower feet than mine. With the slightly heavier weight yarn, I can actually knit one of her patterns without modifications. This is the Conwy Sock from Knitting on the Road. I just finished the calf shaping (which caused the pooling to swirl around), and have about 2" of leg until the heel. Hopefully I'll be turning the heel tonight.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

May Goals

1. Finish Koigu socks - DONE, see below
2. Finish throat cabling on Rogue - Half done. It's freaking hot lately and Rogue is huge.
3. Finish Mom socks - heh. Nope. Probably not going to happen for a while.
4. Start Creatures of the Reef shawl - DONE. Finished it too.
5. Make some progress on either Nordic Stockings or SFCKAL - and again with the nope.
6. Finish sewing zipper in York - also no.
7. Take it easy on starting new projects/buying yarn - I'm giving this one a 'meh'. I did ok I think.

June Goals

1. Finish the little something for the little someone.
2. Get through the boring part of the Icarus Shawl.
3. More Socks!

I think most of my wool sweaters will be set aside for a few weeks. It's just too hot right now for wool in the lap.

Koigu Socks

Yarn: Koigu KPPPM, label missing.
Needles: 2.75mm Birch DPNs
Pattern: Embossed Leaves Socks
Modifications: Lots.
- Regular long tail cast on.
- Only twisted every other row in the twisted ribbing.
- Twisted the vein stitches on the leaves to make them stand out more.
- Regular slip stitch heel flap, French heel, didn't cut and reattach yarn after turning heel.
- Made the socks mirror images of each other, which involved reversing the toe detail for the 2nd sock.
- Only did the toe detail on the top of the foot.
Impressions: This is a pattern that I liked in theory but felt suffered from problems in execution. I'm very happy with how my heavily modified version came out. They fit great and are super comfy. It's my second time knitting this pattern, and I don't think I'd knit a third pair, but I was entertained through two.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 04:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

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)

Koigu sock this morning:

Koigu sock tonight:

I love it. The fit is perfect, and it's so soft. It was a little touch and go with yarn at the end, but I made it. Tomorrow I should cast on for the second one after picking up my school books (classes start again on Tuesday). I know the picture is crap, but that's what you get at 1am. I'll take a better one when both socks are finished and blocked.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 01:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Embossed Leaves socks in Koigu. The multicolor doesn't show the pattern as well, but I don't mind. I'm enjoying knitting them, and my feet have been missing their weekly Koigu fix since the washer ate my Falling Leaves socks. I have 16 rows to go until the heel flap, speedy socks!

The drawing is a top I'm working on for my sister. I was going to link you to the inspiration piece, but it was on a used clothing website and has been sold. Glad I sketched it instead of just bookmarking it. So far we've decided on Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in solid pink. The top has ribbing on the bottom half, with a nipped waist, and lace up top. I'm excited to work on it, once I get the yarn in. It's different from what I usually work on. If it turns out well, I may write up a pattern to share.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 04:44 PM | Permalink

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)

I've been making slow progress on a couple WIPs this week. Finals are coming up, so not a lot of knitting going on here.

I have been making good progress on the Mountain Stream Scarf. A repeat takes just over 20 minutes now, so it makes a good study break. I'm shooting for 30 repeats total, so just 10 to go!

I still have plenty of yarn left. I could probably even make two of these out of one hank of the handpaintedyarn.com lace weight. I love this color too. It's very subtly variegated, maybe that will show up in a sunlight finished object shot.

The other thing I've been working on lately is a plain ribbed sock for my mom. The yarn is Opal, and I'm actually getting the pair to match.

I'm doing an afterthought heel, since I think that looks best with self patterning yarn. I'll take pictures of how I I do an afterthought heel to show you all, when I get to that point.

P.S. How do you like the new blog? I'm excited about it - it's pretty stripped down right now, but I love the categories, and being able to directly respond to comments. If you have a link to my old blog up on your blog or website I'd really appreciate it if you could change the link to this one. Thanks guys!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Lesson learned - always put hand knits in a zippered pillowcase before washing. The aggitator do-hicky seems to have gotten into one of the yarn overs and caused the big sad hole. If you need a more extreme view of the damage, click the photo, then click "all sizes". It's marginally repairable, but I don't have scraps of this colorway around any more, so it would really stand out. It's right on the front of the lower leg, so possibly in the most visible place possible.

The yarn is Koigu (sob!) and the pattern is my own, Falling Leaves. I did get a year of good weekly wear out of them, if we're looking on the bright side. Hand knit socks are not forever.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:24 PM | Permalink

Yesterday I rode up to Long Beach with Wendy, Nancy, Heidi, Hilari, and Crissy (who was smart enought to send around a sign in sheet and get everyone's names/blogs.) Also, thanks to Wendy and Nancy for driving my mooch ass around. I appriciate it ladies!

We all met up at Buster's for lunch with the rest of the SD contingent - Kris, Marisa, and Erika. I hadn't met Erika before and was slightly confused when she arrived, as Kris had mentioned possibly bringing her sister, and Erika didn't look much like Kris. (not that I look much like my sister)

- as well as the LA bloggers - Susan, Jillian, JenLa, Monica, Andrea, Kathy, Roberta, Lori, and Michelle. Lauren made up the CT contingent.

A good time was had by all, so good I failed to take any pictures. Jillian and Kris have pictures up already, so go take a peek! I may have to steal the pirate ship picture from Jillian.

After lunch we all shopped at the Alamitos Bay Yarn Company. They had a bunch of nice things (most tempting - Lorna's Laces in Mineshaft and the Dale baby booklet with the Ladybug sweater) but I was good and didn't buy any yarn (or patterns for non-existent babies).

While we were shopping I noticed Jillian's great bracelet and asked where she got it. There's a picture of it on her blog. Of course, I had to reward my non spending by, um, spending, and ordered this bracelet. Heather was very nice to deal with over email, and it's shipping priority mail tomorrow. Look for a photo of it on my wrist Friday.

Along with the gabbing and shopping there was also knitting. I finished this sock on the drive home. I think I started it Thursday, but it could have been Wed night or early Friday. Cast on for sock 2 last night befor bed.

The pair is for my mom's birthday, in about a month. Should be done in plenty of time (fingers crossed).

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:56 PM | Permalink

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

The official fancy shoes finished socks picture:

Here's a picture of the heels, they fit great.

Statistics -
Pattern: Retro Rib Socks, from Winter 04 Interweave Knits
Yarn: Socks that Rock in Bezyl
Needles: US 2s (2.75mm) Brittany DPNs for one sock and Clover DPNs for the other
Modifications: Dutch heel substituted for pattern heel.
Started: Feb 1, 2006
Completed: Feb 17, 2006
Impressions: I love this pattern and yarn. Socks that Rock yarn is soft, squishy, and thick enough to knit on US 2s. The Retro Rib pattern was great fun to make. I might even make these again some time. They hug my feet perfectly.

Now, to decide what socks to knit my Sockapaloooza. I'm thinking maybe the Embossed Leaves socks from the Winter 05 IK.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:50 PM | Permalink

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

Last night I went to a get together over at Mary-Kay's house. She ordered the best pizza and we all spent the evening knitting and spinning. Typically, I forgot my camera, so you'll have to go see M-K's blog for pictures.

This is what I accomplished over at M-K's. 13 of the 17 repeats for the leg of the second Retro Rib Sock (I think I had 3 or 4 done before last night). Also pictured is a skein of Noro Kureyon I grabbed out of Nancy's up for grabs pile. I already have an idea for something to make out of it.

Also at M-K's were Wendy, Heidi, Crissy, Kristine from Curious Creek and her fiance, Hilari, Susanne from Knitting in La Jolla, and one of M-K's friends. (I really hope I'm not forgetting anyone. In my defense, I had about half a bottle of wine)

We'll have to get together again soon girls! I had so much fun.

P.S. Hilari, thinking of you today!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:46 PM | Permalink

Made some good progress on the Retro Rib Socks this weekend.

I just finished the gusset on the first sock. I went with a Dutch Heel, instead of the heel in the pattern, because Dutch heels fit my foot the best. (and V-heels the worst, for what it's worth) But the most important question, does it fit?

Like a charm! I plan on trying to avoid the SSS by starting the second sock right now. Then, when I finish that one, all I'll have left is the foot of this one. Time to fish out my spare US 2s.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:45 PM | Permalink

I cast on for Retro Rib Socks from Interweave Knits Winter 2004 last night. Theoretically, they were going to be for my Sockapaloooza pal, but they're coming out a bit big for her measurements. Luckily, that makes them perfect for me! 3" out of 8 on the leg so far.

I'm in love with this yarn. It's Socks That Rock in Beryl. This color isn't up on the website, but it's similar to the three in the bottom row in tone range. There will definitely be more of this yarn in my future, it's so soft!

I also want to wave hi to my sock pal! Hopefully my rambling in the preferences section didn't freak you out. I know I like to get lots of direction when knitting for others, so was trying to provide that. I'm really fairly open, I promise.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:44 PM | Permalink

Stocking #1 is finished! It needs a good blocking, as it's a bit snug around the foot, but otherwise, it's great. I even cast on for stocking #2.

Pictured together so you know I'm not just showing an old picture of the first one. I'm already 1/2 of the way through my goals for this month! Yay!

I also got through to SHP to purchase the kit for the Faroe-Patterned Vest. It's going to be hard not to cast on for that immediately ;)

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:24 PM | Permalink

I'm really liking these pictures and my use of the self timer. The only problem is the self timer on my camera is finicky about what it decides to focus on. It took about a dozen pictures to get two in focus ones. Here's the other one.

Pattern Statistics.

Pattern: Jaywalker Socks, by Grumerina
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shephard Sock in Sand Ridge
Needles: Addi Turbos 40" size 1 (2.5mm) and 32" size 1 (2.5mm)
Modifications: I knit them pretty much to pattern specifications, for the larger size, two at once. I decreased the non-patterned stitches on the sole of the foot to 36 stitches, half the amount I use for plain socks on this needle size.
Start Date: December 25, 2005
Finish Date: January 14, 2005
Impressions: I got a slow start on these socks. The pattern is easy, but it didn't really click with me for the first few inches. Once I was about 3" in, they sped up quite a bit. I liked the two socks at once. It decreased portability, but didn't really feel like it took much longer than a single sock, and when I was done I was really done.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:23 PM | Permalink

The Jaywalkers are coming along nicely. The gussets felt like they took forever working both socks at once, but now that they're done, they're done. Just 4" of straight pattern until the toes, maybe I'll manage to finish them this week.

Once these are done, I plan on picking the Norwegian Stocking back up for my sock project. I think it is my only other current sock WIP. I also still need to get back on track with Rogue, maybe over the long weekend.

In Knit Along news, I joined the Sweaters From Camp along and ordered my book over the weekend. It shipped yesterday and should show up tomorrow. I really want to hold off on starting anything new until I swatch for one of those sweaters, so I'm staying strong.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:19 PM | Permalink

My SP5 sent me a great sock kit from Fleece Artist. I got three quarters of the way through them and then set them aside for some reason. Here they are finally finished.

This is a heavier weight yarn, so I knit the socks on US 3s (the pattern called for 4s). They're kind of similar to Jaywalkers in the chevron styling, but I like the way the Jaywalker pattern is written better. These are soft and comfortable. I swapped out the pattern's heels and toes for garter stitch short row heels and toes a la Lucy Neatby. I like the heels a lot, but the toes feel a bit weird.

In Jaywalker news, I've finished one heel. Once I get the second heel completed it will be easier to get a picture, so that will be coming soon.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:17 PM | Permalink

I started a pair of Jaywalkers on Christmas, two at a time on two circs.

Side A:

Side B:

The pooling is pretty awful, but the fit is perfect and they are so soft, so I'm going to let it slide. Trying not to sweat the small stuff these days.

I also finished knitting Mary Ella yesterday. I thought I had snaps, but they seem to have disappeared, so I need to swing by Michaels or JoAnns before the party tonight.

I actually really enjoyed knitting this and it went fairly quickly. Stats:
Yarn: Kit from Earthfaire. It came with DMC Cotton Pearle and beads. I was really pleased with the kit, the beads were very high quality, only about 3 bad beads in the whole tube, there was more than enough of both thread and beads. Miyon gave me the kit (Thanks again!) but it's definitely worth the $5.
Needles: size 0000 DPNs, two of them. Sharp and slippery, but I still have both my eyes.
Modifications: I knit the smallest size, because my wrist circumference was on the low end of the second smallest size. I know cotton stretches over time and I didn't want it to get too big. It's a bit snug now, but will hopefully fit perfectly after a wear or two. I knit a total of 19 pattern repeats. Instead of knitting two together for the decrease I did slip one, knit one, pass slipped stitch over, because it was easier for me with the small yarn and needles.
Started: Dec 19th 2005
Finished: Dec 30th 2005
Overall impressions: I would make more of these, maybe as gifts. It's pretty and didn't take all that long after bead stringing.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:13 PM | Permalink

This morning I grafted the final toe on the Thuja socks.

Pictures:

The pooling is kind of funky, but I think I like it.

Pattern: Thuja by Bobby Ziegler
Yarn: Artyarns Supermerino in color 108
Needles: US 4 Brittany 5" DPNs
Modifications: I picked up more stitches from the heel flap to do the gusset. Other than that, exactly as written.
Time: Each sock took me about 2 days to knit.
Misc: I would totally knit these again. They fit my feet really well and the pattern had just enough going on to keep me interested.

In other news, I discovered yesterday I'd knit my Rogue sleeves on 8s instead of 7s. Note to self, after swatching, put needles you decide against using away. I'm not too excited about starting those over, but it'll be ok. I should be able to save the twisted hem, which is good as I hated knitting that part.

I still need to decide what knitting to take with me up to Fresno. So far I'm thinking Peacock Feathers and the Norwegian Stockings for sure, and possibly Rogue if I can get it back on track. I was going to drive up tomorrow, but I really don't think I'm well enough to drive 6 hours right now, so I'm putting it off until Friday.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:11 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

I'm still no good as small updates over the course of the week, so here's what I've been up to for the past week.

Tuesday night, while waiting for the police to call me back about a neighbor throwing a can of soup through our window, I turned the heel and finished the gusset of Norwegian Stocking 1

Looking at this picture, I can tell I've really improved my Fair Isle tension over the course of this project. The instructions in the book for the heel didn't make any sense to me, so I used a standard V-heel. I'm not really happy with how the gusset stitches got picked up, which I think has something to do with the heel flap coloring. On the next stocking I'll be sure to twist the colors around each other at the ends of the rows. I did figure out a quicker way, for me, to do the heel flap. I knit back and forth, but I can only knit English style right handed, so on what would have been the purl rows I carried both yarns in my right hand. It was kind of awkward, but less so than trying to strand and purl. I had hoped to finish this stocking by the end of the month, but it's not looking likely right now.

Partially because of this:

A sleeve for Rogue. It only took 3 days to finish (aside from the twisted hem, which I'd done a few days earlier), mostly because the cabling was so much fun. I tried to get a detail shot of the cable without the flash, but the light was coming in at too sharp an angle. It does show a good representation of the color though.

I cast on for the second sleeve last night and got through half the hem. The hem is not fun at all, twisted St st on extra small needles, eww. The yarn I'm using is Rowanspun Aran, which come in enormous hanks. But for my gigantic swatch, I would have gotten an entire sleeve out of one hank! I have a whole bag of this yarn, so I'm expecting some leftovers, although I'm sure the hood uses up more yarn than I think it does.

That's all for now. This week will probably be pretty quiet knitwise, as finals are getting close and my birthday is Saturday, so all my fun time will be used for that.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:03 PM | Permalink

Finally got some pictures of my Simply Marilyn sweater.

This was my "enough with the pictures" pose, but I think it turned out the best. This sweater is nice and snuggly. If it would just cool down here so I could wear it! It shouldn't be over 80 in November.

Here's the back.

Project Stats:
Pattern: Simply Marilyn [.pdf] from Interweave Knits.
Yarn: Rowan Cork in Bug, purchased from eBay user 4to4. 9.5 balls used. I really like this yarn, it has great spring and bounce and is super soft. It does grow a lot with washing though, so definitely wash your swatches.
Needles: Addi Turbos, size 11 for the body and 10.5 for the collar.
Modifications: Lengthened body by about 2 inches, sleeves by 3. Lowered neckline about 2 inches.

I've also got an update on the Norwegian Stockings.

[click to big-ify]
Knitting Fair Isle flat is a royal pain in the ass. I'll be glad to get through this heel flap - only 2/3 left to go. I love how these socks fit though, and the two circs method makes it really easy to try them on. I think I got the heel flap in just the right place.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:02 PM | Permalink

I've been making good progress on the Norwegian Stockings,

although I have to retract what I said about the sizing. Now that I have the fair isle going on, they only make it about halfway up my calves comfortably. I really like how they look so far and think they'll be great socks. It should take another 3.5 repeats to get to the heel flap, and then things should go quickly from there.

The two circ method is really growing on me. As much as I love DPNs, my tension much better on these than it was on my mitten. I'm not having much trouble keeping the stitches spread out on the Addis either, and the slickness has been nice so far. The only problem I've had is with the slipperiness of the yarn. If I drop a stitch, it really wants to fall. All and all, this is a really enjoyable knit, and I think I've been sucked back into the world of colorwork. Maybe my next sweater after Rogue will be a fair isle one. I like the Alice sweater from a couple Magknits ago and there's one in the Dale 126 booklet that I like a lot too.

I also finished and blocked the pieces of the Cork sweater this weekend.

By blocked, I really mean washed and laid flat to dry, as I really didn't need to do any substantial blocking. I'm really glad I washed my swatch, as the gauge on Cork expands quite a bit on washing - almost .5 stitch per inch! The pattern is a modified version of Simply Marilyn from Interweave. I lengthened the body and sleeves and lowered the neckline. Hopefully I'll finish seaming this weekend, so the collar can be my reading knitting this week. The original pattern instructs you to knit the collar flat and then seam, but that seems silly, so I'll be knitting it in the round. I'm looking forward to having a big snuggly sweater, Cork is really soft!

And finally, I need some feedback on this last project. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill's Ariel, a cotton/rayon blend that is slightly slubby. It's really beautiful yarn and I want that to be the focus of the wrap. I cast on a simple feather and fan wrap last night, but I think it might be ugly...

(you can click on it to see a bigger picture) I'm really not sure what to do with this yarn, as it's so pretty but won't really work with a lot of stitch patterns. Any suggestions for something simple yet elegant? I do kind of like the pooling that's going on, but I don't know if the intended recipient will feel the same way.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:56 PM | Permalink

I cast on for the Norwegian Stockings from Folk Socks last night and got through the first motif.

I'm using Dale Baby Ull in navy and tan and am loving this yarn. I'd never worked with Dale yarns before and am finding Baby Ull to be soft and evenly spun. It's pretty affordable too.

I'm also trying the two circular method for the first time. It was really fiddley at first - I joined it twisted once, ripped back, then knit the first round with the tail from the cast on, ripped back, and then finally got going properly. This method has definitely improved my fair isle tension, however, so I think the frustration may be worth it.

If any of you with skinny legs are looking to make these, a warning. I'm knitting them with smaller yarn and 0.25mm smaller needles than the pattern calls for, and they are nicely fitting my ample calves, so you may need to use even smaller needles.

I'm really pleased with how these are turning out. They looked a little Harry Potter with just the stripes at the top, but now that the snowflakes are in I'm liking the colors more.

On the other knitting front, I'm on the final sleeve for the chunky sweater. We're heading up to LA today, so I'll work on the sleeve in the car and I just might have a finished sweater by Monday.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:55 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

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

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

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