Silk Sadness

Sad news, guys, remember these?

Play at Life Fiber Arts silk hankies (a.k.a. mawata)

I bought them to try spinning silk and it turns out... I don't like it.

I tried!

It... just doesn't feel right. It's hard to explain. Drafting silk is difficult, you have to tug pretty hard and pre-draft before you try spinning it (at least, that's what it seems like I need to do). Which is fine, I suppose, though I think what I've learned is I really like the way it feels to draft wool while spinning it and this is not at all like that.

Where's the twist?

I also can't seem to get enough twist into it. See how loosely the single twisted back on itself? That can't be right, can it? I just don't know! I'm thinking I'm going to have to join the Nutmeg Spinner's Guild of Connecticut and try to make it to their next meeting, whenever that might be. This spinner needs help!

Finally, my wool/silk blend Shiny Slouch hat is taking way too long to dry. I want to wear it already:

Patience, patience, I know.

Have any of you had success with spinning silk? Got some tips?

Make-It-Yourself Monday #2

This week I made the most delicious sand ever.

Yup, you heard that right.

Yum!

I came across the recipe on Pinterest. As far as newer social media sites go, I really like Pinterest. The basic idea is that you see something online that you like and then pin it to one of your boards with a comment. That photo then links back to the site and other people can see and share what you've pinned. I find it to be a handy way of keeping track of interesting recipes or yarn or fiber I want to buy/try. You can see my boards here, if you'd like.

Anyway, back to the making. You basically take a whole box of Nilla Wafers and a handful of Oreos and grind them up in your handy dandy food processor:

It is really amazing how much this stuff looks like sand in person.

Then you do unspeakably tasty things to a couple of boxes of Jell-o pudding and layer the cookie dust and pudding inside ridiculously cute sand pails:

Gotta love layers!

And that's it! The recipe can be found on the Ma Nouvelle Mode blog. Pros: really simple and tasty. Cons: not healthy at all. I made it to bring to the party the Fiasco's family threw for his birthday. His little nephew was so grossed out when he thought he was eating a big spoonful of sand! Too cute.

What's your favorite fool-the-innocent-children recipe?

Check out what everyone else is making!

Order From Chaos

I'm still not sure what came over me, but last week after a particularly boring and unproductive day at work I had an uncontrollable urge to completely reorganize my knitting notions. I just had to do something, you know? So I did this:

AAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!

I emptied out the top two drawers of my plastic knitting cabinet, organized every kind of needle I had by size, and bagged them up tidily. I had previously had them separated by type (straights, circulars, DPNs) but in a very unhelpful way, and it was always a pain while knitting a hat to go searching for both the circulars and DPNs of the same size in different places with everything so jumbled up. Now I have straights and circulars bagged in the gallon sizes by category (sock, small, medium, large, extra-large) and within those bags, sets of DPNs are in smaller sandwich-sized plastic bags labeled by size. No more fishing through a mess to find that 4th DPN of a set! I wish I had a prettier/more environmentally-friendly method than use all the plastic bags ever but this will have to do for now. How do you organize your notions?

In the midst of all this organizing I discovered I had duplicates of sizes that I rarely use and won't need. Actually, they were triplicates. I can justify owning duplicates (one set in metal, one set in bamboo) but definitely not triplicates. Nobody sane needs three pairs of size 13 aluminum knitting needles. So that means we are going to have our first every Woolen Diversions give-away!

Pictured above are:

•  a size 15 (10.0mm) 16" bamboo Clover circular needle
• size 13 (9.0mm) 14" aluminum Susan Bates needles
• size 11 (8.0mm) 10" plastic needles
• size 5 (3.75mm) 14" aluminum Boye needles
• a knitting needle inventory card

And just to sweeten the deal a little, part of the giveaway will be:

• a random 6 gram mini of BMFA Socks that Rock
• a random 5 gram mini of Bugga
• one of my patterns

Currently, I only have one pattern for sale but I have several others in the works so if the winner would like to wait for one of those to be available, he/she can do so. There are a few different ways to enter the drawing:

• "like" Shoelaceswticher Designs on Facebook
• "follow" me on Twitter
• click "add to faves" on my designer page on Ravelry
• queue or fave my designs on Ravelry
• discuss one of my patterns or blog posts on either Ravelry or your own blog (be sure to link appropriately!)

I really enjoy writing this blog and my patterns and would like to spread the word about them a little more, with your generous help. If you'd like to give these needles and mini-skeins a new home and receive a free pattern of mine, please leave a comment below letting me know how you've spread the Woolen Diversions / Shoelaceswitcher Designs love! I will do a random drawing next Sunday, August 5th. (And if you spread the love in multiple ways, I'll count that as multiple entries.)

Who's excited?! :)

Taking Stock

I'm still trying to figure out how I'd like my Year of Projects posts to work. I think Saturdays will be a good day for me to recap the progress I've made in the previous week on my YOP projects. My full list of goals can be seen here but to sum up, I'm aiming to complete 50 projects from 5 categories by the end of June 2013: works-in-progress, socks-in-progress, new non-sock patterns, new sock patterns, and patterns of my own design. Keep in mind I'm also still trying to finish 15 pairs of socks by December 2012. That part sounds crazy, I think. But who knows! I have so many partial pairs it could be quite doable. How about a little summary for each category?

1. WIPs
From this category, I am focusing on my Color Affection shawl. I will probably only work on one of these projects at a time. I am about halfway through the short rows in the third section. I have not been working on this much since I abhor untangling balls of yarn while I knit and for some reason lately the three balls and the circular cord and the shawl itself have all been tangling up a bunch.Grr.

The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga, colorways Nude, Common Emerald Moth, and Fierce Snake

2. SIPs
Nothing to see here, folks. I'll get back on this horse soon.

3. New Projects
I finished my Regina hat/Shiny Slouch, yay! I still need to block it before I can show you it in its completed form. I'm also still working on my Random Washcloth here and there. You can see the most recent photos in my previous post.

4. New Socks
I finally started a pair of my Fiasco socks for myself! I had a 4-hour diversity training yesterday and I needed a simple knit to get me through it and keep me from killing some of the closed-minded people who like to voice their offensive, ignorant opinions. Fiasco cuff to the rescue!

BMFA Socks that Rock Lightweight, colorway Sigur Ros

Of My Own Design
I've been focusing most of my energy in this category recently. I'm still working on my Lillypad socks and my Sasquatch socks for the 2nd and 3rd designs inspired by the How I Met Your Mother tv show (Fiasco being the first). You can see the most recent photos in this post.

I also recently submitted a design idea to Malabrigo for a cowl using their yummy Twist yarn. I am waiting to hear back. I am working on a design to submit for an e-book that Cephalopod Yarns and Cooperative Press are putting together to benefit Afghans for Afghans. Some of us in the CY group wanted to still contribute to the Afghans for Afghans effort, even though the charity knitting program had ended (although I think you can still send your items to A4A directly until sometime in August) so we thought a book of patterns designed to be quick, warm, and appropriate for A4A would be perfect. Hopefully people will be inspired to knit and donate the items while the proceeds from pattern sales will be donated to the organization. I'm super excited about this one.

Finally, after receiving some exciting news that I can't share with you just yet, I've decided to self-publish the design that I had originally submitted to KnitPicks for their special collection. It didn't make it in there, but I still love it. I'm working on knitting a worsted-weight version now and will be looking for testers shortly. Here is my Beribboned Hat, a cousin to my free pattern Beribboned Wrists:

Cephalopod Yarns Traveller, colorway Aokigahara

It has a pretty lace crown detail not visible here, but I'll have to wait until I can find someone else to model it, since my dear Fiasco is not the greatest of photographers.

So all-told, we have:
1. WIPs: 1/10 in progress
2. SIPs: 0/5 in progress
3. New Projects: 1/14 finished, 1/13 left in progress
4. New Socks: 1/10 in progress
5. Of My Own Design: 5/11 in progress

Not too bad! Sometimes it feels like there are too many things going on but I don't know how to do it any other way. Those that can knit on one project at a time fascinate me. I just don't seem capable of that. Do you knit just one thing at a time or a bunch of things?

Work-In-Progress Wednesday #5

It's time for another WIP Wednesday update! (Is it just me, or is time seriously flying by?) I am sad to report that little-to-no progress was made on my Color Affection shawl or any of my sock projects, but I vow to make up for that this week! Turns out that going camping for the weekend seriously cuts down on my knitting time. You'd think it would increase it with all the  relaxing and whatnot, but not so much. I did more spinning than knitting, actually, I think because the spindle is much easier to pick up and put down sporadically. Now, on to the things I did manage to work on!

 Random Washcloth:

Lily Sugar 'N Cream cotton

I might have to rename this project to "Comically Large Washcloth". Folks, it's huge. I'm knitting it on the bias with eyelet rows thrown in. I increased to about 55 stitches before decreasing again, which was perhaps too much. On the other hand, all of my other cotton washcloths tend to shrink up with time, so maybe this is ok. What do you think? It's probably about 8 inches wide.

Shiny Slouch:

The Sanguine Gryphon Codex (soon available from The Verdant Gryphon for a limited time)

My Regina Hat is progressing splendidly. The pattern is clever and fun to work. You knit the band first, then pick up stitches and work the hat inside out so it's mostly knitting but the purl side is the right side. The Codex yarn (52% silk, 48% BFL wool) is just perfect for it, too. I think I'm really going to love the results once blocked. Almost there!

Secret Swatch:

Handspun Bugga fiber, my Rainbow Bright yarn.

Finally, I was up until 2am the other day swatching out some design ideas. I did not intend to be up that late, it just happened! It was really great to knit with the yarn that I spun myself, I think I'm finally getting an idea of how to spin the yarn so that it's something I'll want to knit with later. I used to overspin quite a bit, I think, making the yarn dense and wiry instead of soft and fluffy. This skein is lovely to work with and I can't wait to knit it all up!

Click here to see more WIP Wednesdays!

Make-It-Yourself Monday #1

I'm happy to be able to take part in Make-It-Yourself Monday this week with Lisa over at Wicked Artsy!

I have this crummy little desk from Wal-Mart that serves its purpose of fitting in teeny tiny apartments but stinks in most other ways, the most offensive of which is the pointy metal handle on the only drawer that sticks out two inches right from the middle of the desk.

What genius designed this?

It's horribly annoying, especially for anyone large in the belly region, short in the arm department, or who just plain likes to lean on their desk. I was sick of it, so it had to go.

Be gone, you lil' belly-poking bastard!

In its place, I knit up about 8 inches of I-cord out of some BMFA Socks that Rock Mediumweight that I had leftover from my Scotty socks. I did this while procrastinating working on my research publication, of course.

Calypso helped.

Next I threaded the I-cord through the holes that the handles had been screwed on through. Calypso especially liked that part.

I can haz string?

I tied the two ends together inside the desk nice and snug (remember, wool is stretchy). I could've been really fancy and done a provisional cast on, knitted the I-cord longer, and grafted the ends together so that it was a seamless ring of I-cord, but I chose not to care because it will never be seen. I just tied a knot and let the ends dangle.

I'm an easygoing knitter.

And now I have a cozy new desk handle that adds a little splash of color to an otherwise boring black desk. Plus, it couldn't poke me in the belly if it tried.

Pretty pretty wool.

I love it and I'm embarrassed to think how long I've hated that desk handle before the thought crossed my mind that maybe I should change it?! (It's been MONTHS.) This almost makes me want to install knitted drawer handles to every drawer in the house. It might happen someday.

SS: BFL Bonus!

When I placed my Phat-Fiber-didn't-happen-consolation-prize order of 8 oz. of a merino/silk blend from Natchwoolie, I added a little 0.25 oz. sample of Bluefaced Leicester top because BFL was not one of the 16 breeds included in the Woolgatherings sampler pack that I'm basing my Spinner's Study on and I've been itching to try it.

Yay, new fiber!

Since I had just finished the rainbow-tastic yarn that occupied my Golding spindle for months, I figured I'd spin up the bit of BFL fiber while it was free so we could have a little Spinner's Study bonus! (The Cormo is still being spun on my other spindle.) Now, down to business.

What a nose on these guys! Photo from http://bflsheep.com/.

The Bluefaced Leicester breed (pronounced "Lester", fyi, which sounds way better than the "Like-ester" way I was saying it in my head!) is part of the aptly named English Longwool family. According to the Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook, they are a very old family that is likely descended from a breed brought to Britain from Ancient Rome and their wool is distinguished by its long staple length.

BFL wool has shorter staple lengths than the other breeds in this family (such as Border Leicesters and Leicester Longwools) but they still range from 3-6 inches in length. The micron count is between 24 and 28, on the finer side of the 'medium' range of softness. This fiber is devoid of any kemp or guard hairs (yay!) so it's definitely soft, but its most striking feature is its shininess. It has almost a silky quality when spun with lots of luster. It drafts very easily and spins well, no complaints at all in that department.

Another neat thing about BFL wool is that it is relatively widely available in commercial yarn. It was the first non-Merino, non-"generic wool" yarn I'd ever used. Knitting with Merino and then knitting with BFL is a great lesson in how the properties of the breeds' wool greatly affects the feel and behavior of the yarn. Where Merino is extremely elastic, bouncy, matte, and soft, BFL is more drapey, can be denser, and is usually shiny. It's pretty neat to compare the two and I recommend you try it if you have the chance, keeping in mind that the way the yarn is spun affects its behavior as well.

I like my teensy skein of BFl! I'll have to get more.

Well folks, that little bonus will have to hold you over for bit because as you're reading this I've escaped to the woods for a much-needed weekend of unplugging from computers and reminding myself of my camp-lovin' outdoorsy roots.

Rainbow Bright

Finished yarn! Finished yarn! Yay! I haven't finished a skein of yarn (other than the mini ones from my Spinner's Study) in such a long time. And guys, this one's a beauty.

Yes, it is a giant rainbow-y mix-up (a.k.a. "clown barf"), but I love it. I have no idea what I'll make with it (suggestions welcome) but I do love it.

This is Bugga Fiber sold by Cephalopod Yarns. It is a 70% Superwash Merino / 20% Cashmere / 10% Nylon mix. I have to admit that I don't think I like the Nylon in the mix, or perhaps the superwash-ness of the wool. Whatever it was, there were times when the yarn would slip will spinning and certain sections would overspin and snap. In fact, the yarn snapped three times during plying in some of those extra-brittle sections so I'm glad I was chain plying (3 plies made from a single strand) because I just made three little skeins instead of fretting over a broken ply.

That said, the resulting yarn is truly gorgeous (if I can say so myself). I made certain not to overspin during plying and the result is a springy, soft, squishy skein that I honestly can't wait to use. It came to about 144 yards out of 3.88 ounces at around 11 wraps per inch, making this a light worsted weight yarn.

And the plying! The little mini above was my practice skein for chain plying. I LOVE CHAIN PLYING, GUYS, I REALLY REALLY LOVE IT. It felt so much less fiddly than dealing with separate balls of yarn and it was really much easier than I had expected. I came across this video on somebody's blog (I've read so many recently now that I'm taking part in WIP Wednesdays and the Year of Projects that I forgot where I found it! If it was on your blog, please let me know so I can properly give you a shout-out.) which totally helped me see how the whole process works:

I recommend it! How can I not, when it resulted in this?

I couldn't resist one last glamour shot. :)

If you guys hadn't noticed, I have a little tab at the top of my blog entitled "Spin-tastic!" so you can check out other things I've spun there if you want. What's your favorite method of plying? Got any tips or tricks?

Work-In-Progress Wednesday #4

Happy WIP Wednesday, all! I am happy to report some progress as well as the start of my first new, non-sock project from my Year of Projects list.

First off, the Random Washcloth and the Color Affection shawl look much the same as before, just bigger! (Read: I forgot to take photos, woops!) Now on to the rest.

Sasquatch Socks:

BMFA Socks that Rock Heavyweight, colorway Harlotty

That little leaf design on the heel took me several tries to get right, but I finally like it! I'm paying for the super easy cuff and leg parts now, since I planned for all the fun patterning to happen on the foot. Fun patterning means lots of attempting things, frogging back, and reknitting until they are just right. Maybe other designers can knit things in their mind and execute them perfectly on their first try, but that's not how I work. I try something, get a better idea, and then try that, and repeat until I love it. It's slow-going but the wait makes it all that much more exciting, right? ;)

Lillypad Socks

The Verdant Gryphon Bugga, colorway Yellow Fringe Doris

My Lillypad Socks are progressing well. I just finished the gusset and am at the point where I want to do some different fancy patterning on the foot, so they are waiting for me to have a free evening to really focus on them. It's tough when none of my projects are in the pick-up-and-run stage of knitting, so I started a new one!

Shiny Slouch:

The Sanguine Gryphon Codex, colorway Lionness of Brittany

My first new Year of Projects project is the Regina Hat by Carina Spencer. It's a free pattern that begins with the hat brim knit lengthwise with the body of the hat picked up from it's edge. It's a really neat design and I've been wanting this hat for basically forever, I was just waiting to snag this exact colorway because it's the perfect compliment for the color I'm planning to use for the body of the hat. SG Codex is a discontinued yarn, but The Verdant Gryphon is going to offer it on a limited basis sometime this month. It's fantastic stuff, a dense and drapey blend of BFL wool and silk that is really quite dreamy. Also, if you've never knit any of Carina's patterns before, I recommend Zuzu's Petals, Whippoorwill, and Catkin (the first two I've knit, the last one is on my list). She does some lovely work.

I have a spinning-related WIP that I debated adding here, but I think I'll hold off until my next post so that I can properly gush about its wondefulness. :) Until next time!

Click here to see what everyone else has going on!

Curses!

Have you seen this video yet? I am across it on Facebook. It's a great stop-action video by The Savoy Ballroom featuring lots of knitted goods, set to a fun little ditty about The Knitter's Curse (just get past the first 30 seconds of "Ahhs").

"Don't knit for your lover, don't cast a single stitch.

Put your wool and needles away, or lonely and single you will stay."

I especially like the bridge bit with the scarves and drumset. What's your favorite knitting-related video, silly or otherwise?

Spinning Silliness

Have you guys heard about these Phat Fiber Sample Boxes?

Image from Phat Fiber blog.

As I understand, they are a box full of samples of yarn and/or fiber from a collection of independent fiber artists that go on sale once a month. They sell out within seconds, literally. I heard about them a couple of weeks ago and decided to try to stalk the website and snag one tonight. Unfortunately, I missed out because they went so crazy fast. I can see why, as I love the idea of being able to try a wide variety of fibery goodness before you commit to a full skein or braid. Also, the surprise factor is so fun. I really hope I'm able to catch one sometime.

This month's theme was Seaside Cottage, so it was full of lovely blues and greens. You can see some videos detailing what goes into the boxes here. The theme for August is Arabian Nights, which I predict will involve lots of bright, warm colors. You'll see that the boxes also contain some other random goodies, including a pattern or two. I'm going to contact them to see if I can contribute a pattern for the boxes at some point in the future.

Lots more info can be found in the Ravelry group. You need to sign up for the mailing list to find out when the boxes go on sale. There is also a contest thread you can enter by purchasing something from one of this month's contributers. When you purchase something and post about it in the thread, you are entered to win a box of goodies and/or another prize, which this month is a pair of hand carders. Sounds awesome, right? So, of course I had to enter, which means--oh no!--I had to purchase some fiber. I'll have to show you all when it arrives!

What's the craziest thing you've ever done for yarn/fiber? So far for me, it's sitting at this computer hitting the refresh button like a maniac for 15 minutes or so, hoping a box will become available again when somebody changed their minds.

I'm going to go do something normal now... like spin up the last of my Bugga fiber. :)

Almost done!!

Good Day

I hope you're having a fantastic Saturday! Mine has been full of adventure so far. I went to a great little coffee shop nearby where I was supposed to meet up with a Stitch 'N Bitch group for the first time. I was running late so nobody was there by the time I arrived, but that's ok because the place had fantastic chai tea and a nice artsy atmosphere. I'm looking forward to going back for open mic nights... Brings me back to my college days! I've missed that whole vibe.

Then while the Fiasco and I were strolling around town we came across a woman selling gorgeous handmade glass jewelry. I had purchased one of her pieces before at a farmer's market. I love the colors and shapes she uses. I'm blogging from my phone otherwise I'd link to her site, but try googling Art Salad Studio jewelry.

While at the shop, I spoke to the owner about possibly teaching some knitting classes there in the fall! I think that would be super fun and I really hope it works out. Yay, networking!

We are currently on our way to visit friends near Boston to play games and hang out. Nothing like some concentrated road trip knitting time! Hopefully I'll be able to make lots of progress on my poor neglected Lillypad socks (part of my Year of Projects goals). I was concerned about the fit so I put them off, but I can't resist knitting with the gorgeous yarn (The Verdant Gryphon Bugga) and the design is pretty fun to work. I like when patterns have simple repeats that are easy to keep track of, it's like a built-in row counter for the more complicated parts of the pattern. Whether they fit or not, I still want to finish this sock and get the pattern ready for testing!

Have you had any adventures of your own lately?

SS: Cormo

Yay for finished yarns!

Black Jacob

If you remember from my previous Spinner's Study posts I wasn't totally loving working with the Black Jacob wool. It wasn't particularly soft and the long kemp hairs gave it a prickly hairy feel (rather than soft and woolly). However, you'll notice that it did spin up rather evenly, which makes me happy. Onto the next breed, whose fleece is basically the polar opposite!

Photo from here.

Those fluffballs are Cormo sheep. The breed was developed in Tasmania, Australia by a shepherd who combined Corriedale rams and Merino ewes -- hence, the name Cormo. They were brought to the U.S. in the mid-70's. They are supposedly a very easy-to-care-for breed according to Apple Rose Farm in New Jersey:
        
       "Cormo sheep are an easy going, quiet group with strong flocking instincts. They have a high fertility and deliver twins without assistance. Cormos are hearty and do well on just grass. They are equally suited for the open rangelands and the suburban small farm. Cormo sheep were developed in Tasmania through careful genetic work to cull defects and produce a strong, hearty animal that can take hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters equally well."
 
So obviously, I plan to have some in the future. :)

According to the Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook, their fleece is remarkably consistent because they are bred based on scientific analysis of the fleece. The fleece ranges between 17 and 23 microns, with 90% of it within 2 microns of the average (which is practically unheard of). If you'll remember, a micron count that small lands Cormo squarely within the "fine" range. This is definitely soft stuff!

The staple length is shorter than the others I've worked with recently, between 3 and 5 inches, but on the long side for fleeces so fine. It is indeed incredibly soft, almost cashmere-like soft. Have you ever handled cashmere roving or yarn and felt like it sort of clung to your fingertips, almost sticky (but in a good way)? That's how Cormo feels, which I'm attributing to its fineness. It also is not shiny at all, doesn't have any luster, it's a very dense, matte fiber.

The denseness and stickiness make it a tiny bit difficult to spin evenly, but it isn't that bad. It's not a very easy drafter, you have to tease apart the fiber quite a bit to get some air in there and then watch it carefully as you spin so that you don't draft out too much at once. That said, I still really love it. It feels amazing and is spinning up fine. The FFSB recommends spinning it finely with plenty of twist and notes that after washing the yarn will bloom and plump up splendidly.

If you're interested, you can buy already spun, undyed Cormo yarn in lovely natural shades at the Elsa Wool Company. I want some. Really badly. Hint, hint. ;)

Has anybody knit with Cormo yarn before?

Work-In-Progress Wednesday #3

An alternative title for this post could be "Procrastiknitting". After I went through all that trouble of making my Year of Projects list yesterday, what did I cast on today?


Washcloth:

Lily Sugar 'N Cream Cotton

A washcloth! I haven't knit a washcloth in years, but I needed something portable and simple to bring to work today and none of my current WIPs fall into either of those categories, unfortunately. Are washcloths on the list? Nope! Hence, procrastiknitting.  * shakes head at silly self *


Color Affection:

The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga

At least my Color Affection shawl is progressing steadily. I estimate that I am about 70% done with the short row section. I can't wait to wear this thing! Lately I've been wearing outfits that would coordinate with it so nicely, it's such a tease.


Sasquatch socks: (formerly known as Olive Theory)

BMFA Socks that Rock Heavyweight

The sock for my next design in the series inspired by How I Met Your Mother characters (this one is Marshall's) is still pooling crazily and I decided that I love it. :) We'll see how I feel about it when I get to the foot, which will involve more patterning than the simple rib you see here. I'm excited to get the rest of the heel pattern worked out soon, too. Can you guess what it will look like?


Lillypad socks: 
No picture today, folks, I left the sock in the car and it's too dark out for photos now. I've turned the heel and am on the gusset of my Lillypad socks but I have alarming news: the sock might be too small for me. I know! The horror! I never try my socks on until I'm past the heel. This might sound crazy (there is a lot of sock to knit before that point, after all) but I find I don't get an accurate feel for the fit until I reach the gusset. And well, this one's feeling pretty snug... so I'll have to think about things a bit before proceeding. Sigh.

Anyway, that's all I can manage today, I've got a job application to write! Happy WIP Wednesday, all!

See everyone else's WIP Wednesdays here!