Jessimuhka Knits

I know I said I wouldn't post a bunch of kitty pictures, but this cracked me up and serves as a progress update on Currer.

That's the beginning of Currer's peplum, with Pepper inside the circular needle. Apparently I wasn't paying enough attention to her need for pettings, so she decided this was the best way to get at my hands. Crazy cat.

I'm a little further along now, but still have quite a bit of peplum to go, about 36 rows. The rest of the sweater pieces are finished though, so once I cast off for this piece it's just assembling and finishing work. The weather is supposed to be really nice this weekend, so I'm hoping to finish in time for our Sunday trip to Balboa Park.

Coming up next, I'm going to try to alternate new knits with UFOs, so either my orange raglan or my brown doily blanket should see some blog time next week, depending on the weather.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Ok, so I finished this ages ago, but was a slacker about sewing the buttons on.

Pattern is from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Almanac, the February baby sweater.
Yarn is Rowan Summer Tweed, 2.5 skeins.
Buttons from Beverly's Fabric.

Overall this was a pretty quick and easy knit. The pattern is "pithy" so I had a bit of trouble interpreting how long the sleeves should be, but it knit up in a weekend. I didn't love working with the yarn. It's kind of dry feeling in the hands, and stiff, because it's a blend of two fibers with no give. It turned out nice though. I have a skein and a half left that I have no idea what to do with.

If you are a San Diego knitter having a baby, this sweater is probably for you ;)

Posted by Jessimuhka at 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I'm working on a sweater of my own design right now. I haven't decided what I want to do with the pattern, so here's a teaser picture.

The yarn is Jaeger Luxury Tweed. I've got about 1/4 of a sleeve done so far.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

After finishing a shawl in a week and a half, I had to cast on multiple new things. First up, the Icarus Shawl from the new IK

This is about two days worth of progress. I'm planning on working at this mainly at Rebecca's on Saturdays, because it's really easy, so I can talk and not screw it up. The yarn is Misti Alpaca lace weight, out of my stash. I picked it up at a 20% off sale somewhere, I believe.

Next up is the Sunrise Circle Jacket [.pdf].

I started this last night in Araucania Nature Wool, that I picked up at $3 a ball from Carodan Farm. I read in a couple of blogs that the yardage for the jacket was coming up short, after I'd already ordered my yarn, so I'm doing the hem facings in blue. It should help stretch my yardage, and I think it will look pretty neat too. I'm about 1/3 through the first sleeve right now, and looking forward to starting knitting the semi-circular front off the top of the sleeve. I should at least have a completed sleeve to show for myself by Friday.

Oh, I'm not going to be able to make it to Rebecca's this week. Dyeing party at Wendy's! Woo! I'll try and remember to take pictures of us all playing with dye.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 12:47 PM | Permalink

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)

It's about time I posted some pictures of Rogue. I've been making good progress over the last couple of weeks.

Here's the progress on the body so far. I've finished the main body and the armhole shaping shaping of the upper back. Soon there will be throat cabling! Woo!

Same picture, no flash. A bit shakey, but at least you can see the cables.

And, the detail shot. I was having a hard time getting this picture, until I had an SMRT moment. I was bracing the camera against my couch, but it was still shaking when I pressed the shutter button, so I finally realized I should use the auto timer. Yay, it worked!

I'm also about 1/3 through my lace scarf from last post - pictures of that in the next update.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 05:38 PM | Permalink

Mountain Stream Scarf from Knitting Zone. I’m using handpaintedyarn.com’s lace weight merino, which is a great deal. This picture is 4.5 repeats into the pattern, about 10 inches. I like my scarves at least 60 inches long, so I’m looking at 25-30 repeats, depending on how much length I think blocking will add.

It’s an Orenburg style scarf, and I’m loving the construction. You start by knitting the bottom border, turn the first corner with short rows, pick up along the edge, turn the second corner, and then knit up. There’s more fun construction at the top edge, resulting in an entirely seamless scarf.

Don’t worry, I haven’t abandoned Rogue. I’m 2/3 through the body now, and will post another picture once I split at the arm holes. There wasn’t very good sun this weekend for taking pictures of cables without a flash. I have set Rogue aside for a bit, as the tight gauge was giving me a bit of wrist pain. Always better to take a break to save the joints.

Had some fun knitting this weekend, at the Whistlestop with the San Diego folks. Nancy gave me some fresh rosemary and I made some excellent chicken last night. There was, unfortunately, a camera crew at the bar for some rinky-dink cable channel doing a piece on knitting in a bar. I think their tag line might have been, “Knitting, not just for Grandma’s anymore” as they questioned all the tattooed and pierced folks on not looking like “typical knitters”. It got pretty annoying after a while, as they were probably there for 2-3 hours. The music had to be turned off. They also had us line up outside and file into the bar with our knitting in hand. Boo.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:58 PM | Permalink

This weekend I met up with Kris, Miyon, Krys, Kristin, and Cora at Starbucks for knitting.

Counter clockwise from foreground: Miyon, Krys, Kris, Kristin, and Cora. I had a lot of fun and am glad I ventured out into the crazy weather to join them. I'm ashamed to say that when it was hailing that morning I considered not going out. Southern California has made me weak.

I also watched a lot of sports this weekend, most notably the Syracuse/Pitt game and Duke/Wake Forrest game, as well as the World Baseball Classic. The WBC is much better than I expected. The second round games yesterday were all very good. I also filled out my NCAA Tournament brackets. All the sports watching meant lots of knitting progress.

Mostly I worked on Rogue and got 1/3 through the body.

Overall picture. I'm doing a cardigan version, because I will never wear a wool pullover in SD.

Detail shot. To get a good detail of cables I turn off the flash, and in this case, braced the camera against a chair to get a steady shot. I really should buy a tripod one of these days.

Oh, I also ordered a zipper for my York sweater, since Kris was nice enough to let me look at her Zipperstop color cards. It should be here in a couple days, and I'll take pictures of my adventures in zipper installation.

Edit: Came home to a package today! My Socks that Rock!

From BMFA. I placed my order right when they came out with their sock club and somehow slipped through the cracks. Kaci was very nice when I called to ask about my order and sent me a bonus skein to make up for the wait. I'm very happy with the customer service. Colorways from top to bottom are; Carbon Dating, Red Rock Canyon, and Rare Gems (bonus skein). It's so soft and pretty! I need to finish one of my socks in progress so I can start a new pair with one of these.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:57 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

Most of my knitting time the past week has been spent swatching for the Faroe Vest. Three swatches in, I'm finally getting 8 stitches/inch.

I've also finished the chart on the Rogue sleeves, so it's onto the plain stockinette bits for those. As long as I knit a row or two on Peacock Feathers tonight or tomorrow I just might meet my goals for the month. yay!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:41 PM | Permalink

Yay! Yarn for the SFCKAL. If you click the picture, it will take you to the Flickr page with notes on the color names. I was having a crummy day yesterday**, but when I got home the box from SHP was on my doorstep. I hugged the box for about 5 minutes before opening it, then hugged the yarn some more. I love you yarn! I was going to hold off on swatching, but hell, I'm the boss of my knitting. If I want to swatch, I'm gonna swatch. Besides, swatching isn't starting a new project. Those are the rules, that I just invented, right now.

*Anyone know which Simpsons THoH this is from? I know it's the one with the Shining, but which number?
**Crummy day due to tweaking my back somehow. I'm feeling a bit better today, but going up and down the stairs is still not fun. I'm blaming it on my Con Law book.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:39 PM | Permalink

Rogue is finally back on track.

Halfway through the cable chart! I think I may actually meet all my goals this month, as long as I manage to knit a couple rows of Peacock Feathers. I'm still liking Rogue.

Most of the knitting on it this weekend was actually done on a mini yarn crawl with Spaaz and Crissy. We started out meeting up with Nancy in Oceanside for a knitting and spinning demo at the library. Then parted ways with Nancy and hit up Noble Knits, Black Sheep, Common Threads, and Knitting by the Beach. I had only been to Common Threads before (and they've made some big changes since the last time I was there) so it was great fun. I was pretty good - bought some Supermerino at Noble Knits, nothing at Black Sheep (oof, the mark-up there!), a Dale booklet at Common Threads, and some bulky baby alpaca at Knitting by the Beach. So that's one goal shot, but whatever. It's a hobby, it's supposed to be fun.

Oh, and Becki, the shoes from the Jaywalker post are from ALDO, although I know what Kenneth Cole ones you're talking about. Tried those on too!

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:36 PM | Permalink

I've decided what sweater to knit for the SFC KAL, Elizabeth Zimmermann's Faroe-Patterned Vest.

I'll be knitting the version pictured, with the ribbed edging. There is also a version with hemmed edging. The book is full of beautiful vests and sweaters, so I think I'll be knitting more than one eventually. I decided on this one for my first, as I think it's one of the most classic designs in the book. I've also always wanted to knit a pattern by EZ, I <3 her.

Next step is to send an email to Schoolhouse Press and order a kit. I need to size it up a bit, with the EZ percentage system, so I'm hoping they'll be able to recommend how much extra yarn to purchase. I'm going with SP instead of direct from the manufacturer because they allow unlimited returns on extra full balls, so I don't have to be too concerned about ordering extras. This is also a less color intensive sweater, making it one of the cheaper ones. I'm so excited to knit this sweater. (Ok, I'm a dork.)

Tomorrow: Nancy tagged me for a meme.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 03:20 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 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

Almost done with Simply Marilyn, all that's left is the collar. Here's how it looks after seaming.

I'm loving the sleeve length. Extra long sleeves make me happy. I'm a little concerned with how much I lowered the neckline, but I'll reserve judgement until the collar is added. Hopefully I'll finish up soon, just 7" of ribbing to go! It's so snuggly.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:58 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

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

I just finished seaming York! All that's left is sewing in the zipper. I looked back in my email and old blog, and it looks like I started this sweater about a year ago and hadn't touched it since last November. This is definitely the type of sweater I chose to make for the finished object, rather than the process. It will replace a dark red ribbed sweater from the Gap that fell apart last year. My WIP drawer is getting empty! The only sweater type WIP I have left is Veste Everest from the most recent IK. Maybe I'll pick that one back up next.

Oh, I ordered the yarn for Rogue, Hardy. I'm on a big green kick lately and will cast on for Rogue as soon as we hit November.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:37 PM | Permalink

I'm about ready to buy yarn for Rogue - Rowanspun Aran. All that's left is to pick out the color. I'm leaning towards either Gables, Autumn, or Hardy. Any suggestions? I'm already working on a sweater in a color very similar to Gables, so I don't know if I should try and broaden my color horizons. Atlantic is pretty too. Midnight I think is too dark, and I'm not a fan of Caviar.

In other news, I started the sleeve caps for York. Only about 30 rows per sleeve to go! Maybe I'll get it sewn together this weekend, after my midterm tomorrow. No more knitting today, time to hunker down with Character Evidence.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 02:36 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

So I started something new yesterday.

It's the first sleeve to the Jenny sweater from Rowan 37. I'm making the sleeve in the round because I really don't like seaming sleeves. The picture is a little wonky. The flash washed out the beads too much so I got this pic in natural light, but the bars over our window leave a shadow. I knit the sock on the bus today and no one talked to me! Yay! I was trying to give off really good Fuck-Off vibes and it must have worked.

My first day on the job was good - everyone is really nice and I think I'll like it there. If you want more info, talk to me personally, as I won't be posting any job details (obviously).

One more thing - there are a lot more icky people on the bus at 6pm than at 7am. That is all.

Edited to add: I was convinced I'd spelled fidelity wrong so I hit edit before I even looked it up. Apparently I'm not as bad a speller as I think I am.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 06:21 PM | Permalink

My first complete adult sized sweater!

I finished the knitting and seaming Saturday night

The carnage. Not pictured - three episodes of Law and Order:SVU

This picture is the only decent shot I could get of the cables in low light. Any shot from above washed out everything.

Sunday I headed to the Whistlestop and Heather snapped this picture for me

I'm really happy with the finished product. I have a nice soft sweater that fits me.

Project stats:
Yarn - Lion Brand Cotton Ease. I used just over 5 skeins. If I'd been able to find my scraps from the front I might have been able to finish with 5 total.
Pattern - Charley from Rowan Mag #37
Needles - US 7 Addi Turbos for edge ribbing, US 8 Clover Bamboo for body and sleeves, and US 6 Addi Turbos for neckline (couldn't find the 7's)
Started - April 26th
Finished - June 18th. This is what happens when you can't commit to one project, everything takes forever.
Techniques learned - cabling without a cable needle! This is so much easier!

Next on the needles:
I cast on for sock 2 yesterday and got through the toe and half the foot. My goal is to finish it before Andrew gets home Friday. I start my new job on Wed though, so we'll see how far I get. After the sock I'm starting Leaha's going away present and finishing up my FBS. I've made it through the first full repeat in the Mystery Stole and I don't like it. Time to rip and pick a new project for the laceweight merino. High on the list is a laceweight FBS (knitting extra repeats until it's large enough) or one of the Fibertrends Shawls. I really want to make Fiddlestick's Peacock Feathers Shawl, but the color is all wrong so it will have to wait until I'm buying yarn again.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 06:14 PM | Permalink

I'm so close to finishing the sleeves for Charley! Hopefully I'll have finished pictures of the sleeves tomorrow and a whole sweater by the weekend.

Last night at Claire De Lunes was great - the Ponchkini was invented (copyright Jessimuhka and Inky). We'll be pitching this genius idea to Knitters sometime soon. Hope to see more of you guys on Sunday at Whistlestop.

Posted by Jessimuhka at 06:13 PM | Permalink