Friday, December 28, 2007

Two FO's

On December 20th, my friend Ana gave birth (after 26 hours of labor) to a healthy, 9 1/4 lb baby boy. Welcome to the world, Alfie! I am incredibly proud of her and very happy that everyone is healthy and happy.

And, I have a great picture now of the blanket I made, that I mentioned in the post previously about the baby shower.

Look! It was part of his coming home ensamble!

Here's another shot, shot, of the happy (but tired) mom and baby.


I can't wait to finally meet him on the 31st!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas

Finally! I can post pictures of the things I've finished!

Here's Jenny's Fetching hat


And Mom's Funky Felted Pillow


And Jeff's Completed Socks


And, as a treat for me, I finished my Maizy Socks. They're incredibly comfortable!



Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take a picture of Mom's pillows. Mom, could you snap a picture of them for me please?

We also got to see my brother, his wife and family. Ben is still as precosious as ever, and Ally is just starting to walk. We never got a picture of her with the Anouk on, but it's going to fit her just right.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

There is a term for this!

So back 2 posts ago, I posted the question of a name for an item which is promised to an expectant mother and the completion of it often coincides with the birth of the child. While time will tell if the item I made was such a thing (we gave it to Ana last night, and she was already having some cntractions), we do have a name for it.

Kidsmet.

Bonus points if you can point out where Jeff got the idea from. I'll give you a hint: Take away one letter.

Monday, December 17, 2007

More craftiness

In addition to finishing stuff up for Ericsson's arrival, I've been furiously working on stuff for Christmas.

But I don't want surprises to be spoiled.

So I'll just say this. Mom's stuff is done and looks cool, Jenny's thing is done and looks cool. Mom Kass's thing is almost done (but looks cool the way it is!) and will be done tonight.

If you're on Ravelry, here is Jenny's thing.

And here is Mom Kass's thing

Is there a term for this?

Of course, when a crafty person has a friend who is pregnant, they will often make stuff for the baby.

At the shower, I presented them with the completed blanket. Which I just realized I completely forgot to take a picture of before giving it to them. Dammit. Oh well, I'll certainly see them and the baby often enough and will have the opportunity no doubt to snap a picture of him on it.

I also presented them with a nursing pillow form and fabric folded around it, simply because I didn't have the chance to complete it before the shower.

Anyway. The title of this post refers to an item which, after it is created, the baby is soon born. I seriously wonder if there isn't an official term for it, as it's been the topic of discussion rather frequently on the knitty board. Well, Ana and Eric are now safely in their newly finished house, and much of their stuff has even been unpacked and put into its rightful place. During the move when the comment was made that the simple relief of being moved would spur things along, Ana had said she hoped Ericsson would wait until Tuesday to be born.

So I hope I was in posession of the "craft item that the baby is waiting for." Because it's done now.

Safe delivery, Ana; Safe journey, Ericsson.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Baby Shower

This past Saturday was the baby shower Jeff and I hosted for our friends, Ana and Eric.

Here are some of the highlights!

Ana is just adorable pregnant, and is here with Eric modeling the matching hats she made for him and their son.


The guys all played the game "sympathy" and wore a backpack with the same amount of weight in it as Ana has put on during her pregnancy.



(I think Phil is worried that he's the Baby Daddy)

Phil didn't take motherhood very seriously.


Brianna showed us what fun Eric and Ana have to look forward to (the bouncy ball was incredibly exciting, although it was too big for her to pick up)


Everyone decorated onesies with fabric markers, and came up with both some very silly and Very VERY silly ones (okay, so a couple were artistic as well)


It was a lot of fun! We need to host awesome parties like this more often!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Productive Thanksgiving!

So after actually very little debate at the LYS, it was concluded that the Anouk was best like this. One flower, and four adorable buttons. I can't believe I was able to find buttons that perfectly matched the flower I already had on there. The button holes work well, although they do catch a little on the flower petals. If Amanda has problems with it I"ll figure out a solution. But the important thing is it's done in time for Ally's 1st birthday! Not that she'd necessarily remember and be annoyed that she didn't get anything for her birthday, but it was important to me to set and meet the deadline.

Amanda may still want more flowers on it (which is fine), but it's easier to add flowers than take them away.



Also, for her 1st birthday pictures, Ally's getting her pictures taken in an adorable green Christmas dress. Amanda came up with the great idea of wanting elf booties for her to wear. So based on this link and blowing up the size to meet the actual size of her foot (which Amanda traced a shoe for us) Mom and I came up with these!



Productive Thanksgiving, no?

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Ally's Jumper

So here it is so far. I still need to weave in all the ends, add the button bands and sew on buttons. My question is how many more flowers?

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Silly quiz

Silly, but fun, not sure I agree with the whole "born to clean" thing, but it's definitely a skill I'm working on.







What kind of yarn are you?




You are Dishcloth Cotton.You are a very hard worker, most at home when you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain Jane, but you are too practical to notice.
Take this quiz!








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Sunday, November 18, 2007

Kimonos and Coincidence

It's funny how The Fates can bring people together with interesting stories to share.

I was at Michael's today, picking up the framed kimono that my Grandfather brought back from the Phillipines after World War II. As I was looking at the kimono, now framed and hanging beautifully (see picture below, sorry about the flash in the picture) a woman asked me where it came from. I gave her what information I had, and she informed me that she was from the Phillipines. Apparently the lion with a swirl motif is common to Mindanao, which is from the southern phillipines, and the kimono is made out of a traditional indonesian silk Batik. It is definitely Philipino in its fabric art and style, but the kimono pattern is obviously Japanese.

At that time, the Phillipines were occupied by Japan, and they attempted to integrate the culture by making traditional dress. She thinks that based on the size and coloration that it was a man's kimono, although my research indicates it is the informal kimono of a single woman (based on the length of the sleeve compared to the height). She didn't really know why it would be so, that the style would be of a woman's kimono, but the fabric be what in that time was masculine. The lions are masculine, there are no orchids in the flower patterns (they appear to be carnations) and orchids were the most feminine flower. Also the lattice pattern is more masculine.

So what can we conclude from masculine fabric made into a feminine garment? Was it some wealthy man's lounge robe, and he had no idea that the cut was feminine? A philipino woman with tastes in fabric that tended to be more masculine but still wanted to display her marital status in the length of her kimono sleeves? A geisha's danna visiting the philipines who wanted to bring back something interesting and different, chose fabrics he liked, and then was killed or captured by my Grandfather's platoon who then took this and the two other kimonos from him?

If only fabric could talk.



Additionally, one of Jeff's coworkers is from indonesia. She confirmed that it is

a batik silk, that it's gorgeous, that it is a masculine fabric because purple was viewed as a masculine fabric in most Asian cultures, and that the lions are a chinese symbol, like fu dogs, and the flowers are very Indonesian. I'm just happy it's safely preserved in my house, and Jeff and I will hang it after Thanksgiving.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Apparently she is

We've asked her this many times, but this is the first time we've gotten the answer on video. Hopefully you can consider this your cute for the day! (also I wanted to play around with loading up a video on blogger)

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Better

So after some deliberation I decided since it will actually take less time to re-do the top than it took to do it in the first place that I should just keep on going with the Anouk.

Here's the process now. See how much more like a little dress it looks? Yeah, I'm an idiot, but at least I think I'll be able to get it done in time for Ally's Birthday.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Anouk

Dear adorable little jumper,

Oh, how I've tried to like you. I bought the softest yarn, I made you machine-washable so that the recipient's mom wouldn't have a problem with your care. I bought such bright colors that will go so well on my little niece.

But the acrylic started to hurt my hands. I was introduced to what a wonder and joy real wool can be. But I tried. I really tried to finish you. For Ally.

Then, after an entire evening of knitting on you, I see this.

Need a close up?


Yeah. Kinda forgot a whole ton of decreasing.

Decreasing that should have happened at the beginning of the time I sat down to knit you. Knitting that would have made the end go so much faster. Damn you, directions that are split between pages!

So do I finish you, or do I send to to the frog pond where you belong and start again with a nicer yarn. Or do I make you into a sweater? A big, bulky sweater using 2 strands of yarn at once so it's over fast, like a band-aid pulled off a hairy arm.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Ravelry . . .

Has been sucking away all of my extra time.

Seriously. They must somehow transfer small amounts of crack through the internet.

I've found so many things I want to make, my stash has been photographed and catalogued, my queue is growing, and I'm sure I still haven't even scratched the surface of what all Ravelry can do for me.

I've already had to budget my Ravelry time pretty severely. I'm going to devote Saturday morning before the in-house Karate Tournament to ravelry-ing. And that's it. I got Christmas presents to make!

In all seriousness, Ravelry is awesome and I love being on it. But ohhhh, the Siren's call!

Here's a screenshot. These are my stashed yarns. I haven't even included any of the acrylic yarns.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

A halloween yarn!

This gem of a story came up on the knitty board. I didn't knit for Jeff until we were securely married, and the sweater I made him is his absolute favorite.

The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater

"What are you knitting?" the woman in the waiting room asked. The knitter was used to being asked questions whenever she knitted in public.

"Oh, well, a sweater for my boyfriend," she said, glancing down in admiration at her grayish, intricately cable-infused handiwork, which was even now nearly completed.

"I'm a knitter, too. Have you heard of the curse of the boyfriend sweater?"

The knitter nodded her head in the negative.

"If you knit your boyfriend a sweater, you'll come to regret it: the relationship will be doomed, and you'll wish you hadn't given him a handknit sweater. Or so they say."

The knitter laughed. "Yeah, well, I spun the yarn myself. I can guarantee I'll get it back. It's my own special blend of sheep's wool and wolf. I told him if we ever broke up, he had to give the sweater back, or it would eat him."

The stranger laughed and nodded appreciably, while unable to help herself to a pet of the sweater. She jerked her hand back when she thought she heard a snarl. Was it her imagination? The knitter kept on knitting, as if she hadn't noticed. "It's beautiful," the stranger said nervously. The knitter smiled, never taking her eyes off her needles.

"Wolves are very loyal to their mates," she added, more to herself than to the stranger.

* * *

Two months later, the boyfriend was now an ex-boyfriend and had been for a few weeks, after he was caught cheating with another woman. Strange things had begun to happen to him. A month earlier, after being out of town with his new girlfriend, he came home to find his bedroom ransacked. His clothes dresser looked, well, splintered and chewed, as if a pitbull had been set loose in there. His clothing and blankets had been mangled and torn. Everything except the handknit sweater, which was still lovingly wrapped and unmolested in its original tissue paper, while everything else around it was in tatters.

Now it was Halloween night. The ex-boyfriend was supposed to be en route to a party at Bamboozles, and he was running late. He was still in the process of replacing his wardrobe. What little he did have was now in the hamper, waiting to be washed. And now, without anything else to wear, the ex-boyfriend reluctantly took up the handknit sweater and put it on for the first time. It fit perfectly. He had to give his ex-girlfriend credit: she had knitted him a fine sweater. He felt a momentary pang of guilt for not returning it, but he just didn't feel like phoning her right now. He squelched the feeling down and grabbed his car keys while heading out the door.

The top half of a huge, beautiful rusty full moon was beginning to peek over the horizon. His skin began to itch as he drove, at first a little, then a lot. "Freakin wool sweater," he muttered to himself, and he cursed his ex-girlfriend. A growl near his ears nearly made him lose control of the wheel. Panicked, he looked in the backseat. There was nothing there. The itching intensified. Indeed, the sweater seemed to ripple all over his body, as though alive. He scarcely noticed the full moon break free of the horizon, he was so itchy. He was still rubbing and scratching his body when, at last, he pulled into Bamboozles. He was tempted to take the sweater off, but a sign on Bamboozles said, "No shirt, no service." Grumbling and scratching, he went in.

The place was crowded. He spotted his girlfriend and she waved him over. "I'm in the mood to dance," she yelled over the buzz of surrounding conversations and music. He let her lead him to the dance floor. It was one of those tunes that was all bass and drums, thump! thump! thump! thump! and not much else. At first the dancing helped him itch non-obtrusively; indeed, his girlfriend thought he was just being sexy as he touched different parts of his chest and arms. He was beginning to find it difficult to breathe, but he didn't want to say anything. He certainly did not want to let on that the sweater was made by his ex-girlfriend. But he knew something was wrong when she stopped and stared. The intricate cable work on the sweater began to move like snakes, constricting and loosening, then constricting again. "Is that some kind of costume?" she yelled over the music. He shook his head in the negative. It was becoming unbearably comfortable now, so he tried taking the sweater off.

A wolfen howl filled Bamboozles so loud that everyone stopped what they were doing to see what was going on. Only the thump! thump! thump! remained, and even the music quit upon the second howl. The boyfriend was now on his knees, trying to remove the sweater, but it clung tightly. "Help me, someone! It's biting me!" At first everyone froze, helpless, as they watched the man's contortions. Someone in the crowd whispered, "Is it an epileptic fit?" Still another, "Should we call 911?"

At last emboldened, his girlfriend helped to free him from the sweater. It took twenty minutes of tugging and pulling to finally free him, and her efforts earned her a nasty bite on her hand. For his part, his back and chest were covered in claw marks and bites.

* * *

The next day, the knitter found her sweater wadded up in her mailbox. She sighed as she took out the familiar garment, with its painstaking cabling and homespun blend. She breathed in its animal scents and smiled. She smoothed it lovingly before putting it on over her t-shirt. As she went inside, it purred, happy to be home again.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Jeff's 30th Birthday

Now that it's all over, and the risk of spoilage is gone, I can blog about the most excellent surprise party I planned for my husband, Jeff's 30th birthday. It started a few weeks ago, when I realized he was getting burned out from work, karate, and DMing/storytelling 3 or 4 different games. I mentioned to our good friend Eric that if he were to throw something, anything, together for his birthday, it would be a wonderful gift.

So Eric planned a classic dungeon crawl. First level characters against goblins, with the hint of a dragon at the end!

Then it occurred to me to really surprise him with this. I handed over a house key to Ana, and arranged for everyone in our usual gaming group to be at the house by 6:30. Hide upstairs with their shoes and the lights off.

I made him his favorite breakfast, French Toast, and Jeff and I spent most of the morning cuddling on the couch watching the DVD from his sister of the Muppets Season 2. Then we got dressed and I took him out to a sushi dinner, followed by a trip to his favorite gaming store. It turned out that chatting it up with a bunch of other gaming nerds really whet his appetite for gaming. He was starting to wax nostalgic for D&D. Now, up until now I had him convinced that I was probably going to run something as a solo game for him. I dropped a few more hints that would lead him down that road, and we went to the grocery store to pick up his cake. He was looking at these tiny little 2-serving ice cream cakes. I convinced him that we needed a bigger one to accomodate for his tradition of birthday cake for breakfast the day after. Oh, and then would you look at that? The price on the next bigger one is only a couple dollars more, and we'll have leftovers!

Ice cream cake in hand and friends parked around on the far side of the house, we get home. I take the cake and tell him to go upstairs and look in the gaming book, that I'd hidden something for him up there. He goes and as soon as he has the lights on, our friends yell Happy Birthday to him, causing him to nearly fall back down the stairs!

He quickly draws up a 1st level character, and much dungeon crawling ensues. Eric did a great job, and Jeff kept whispering to me how awesome this was. All of our friends were wonderful, helping organize schedules, and even coming back early from the Ren Faire to make it to our house on time.

The next day Jeff and I went to the Ren Faire and he got to spend a bit of his birthday money, and we had the usual good time drinking really expensive beer and eating really expensive food.

Jeff has told me that this was the best birthday he's had in a very long time. I'm incredibly appreciative of our friends who helped with the surprise, especially Eric for taking the DMing reigns for an evening (or two, since we didn't kill the dragon yet!).

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

A little stash enhancement

Today was the 1 year anniversary of the Hillsborough Yarn Shop, the Local Yarn Store that showcases my yarn!

Well, I went to the little party, had some fun, and traded in the other two skeins of yarn in the "cherry cordial" colorway that I'd spun up a few weeks ago. I'd had a few nibbles of interest, but everyone quailed at the final price. Fine. I know where to go where people appreciate my handiwork.

I got this, and still have $47 left over in store credit.

ahhh, that's better. I'll just rub it on my hand and the soreness will go away, right?

Oh, and I updated yesterday's post with a picture of the hand. The yellowness is even more pronounced than it is in the picture, but at least it's the color of a healing bruise.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Healing

A few people were asking how my thumb is doing, so I figured a simple post would answer things.

In a word, better. With much restraint and a little prodding from husband Jeff and crafter friend Ana, I took the entire weekend off from crafting of any kind.

I think I now understand smokers' withdrawal symptoms. I had NOTHING I could do with my hands! I felt all fiddly and kept fondling my handspun yarn and untouched sock yarn. Fortunately we had a spectacular day at the market, sold over 6 dozen cookies, and between all the sales and holding down the tent that was trying valiantly to become a kite, I was occupied. I kept the brace on, except at night and in the evenings, when I did some stretches and assessed how the hand was really doing.

Right now I have yellow-blue bruising from the thumb joint to my wrist, but it's faint which means it isn't terribly close to the surface. It still hurts, and aches if I leave it below the level of my heart for too long, probably because it still is a little swollen. It's no longer twice the size of my other thumb joint, but it's still about half again as big. I type a lot at work, but it really hasn't been giving me too much trouble, since I use my right hand thumb for the spacebar.

A picture for the morbidly curious


I'm going to continue to impose the no crafting healing time on myself until Saturday. Give myself at least a whole week to recover. I am going to an anniversary party for my LYS, but I can just buy yarn and have a good time without knitting. Really I can!

Friday, October 19, 2007

So prior to the previous post . . .

. . . I made some cute additions to my felted vest!

I now dub it completely completed. (unless I decide it needs a zipper)

Ready?


And, a closeup!


Pockets!

Mitten pockets!

Warm fully woolen felted mitten pockets!

Wait, damn. My stupid splint doesn't fit into the left one! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!

How important are opposible thumbs anyway?

I don't think my Socktober goals will be met this year. I don't even think that I'll be able to finish Jeff's socks in time for his birthday. grrr.

Oh, why you ask?

Here's why.


The actual injury doesn't show up too well in pictures, but this hurts like the dickens. The red dimple you see at the base of my thumb joint is from swelling, and the joint doesn't really move much, at least not without pain. That IS as straight as I can get my thumb, and you can see just how swollen that joint is. It's really noticeable next to the right hand, but of course I can't take a picture of both my hands.

At karate last night we were doing a drill where one person punches fast and the other blocks fast. Lots of fun, we call it "machine gun middle blocks" I'm helping sensei demonstrate, and that man can block FAST! I'm punching as fast as my arms will go.

Not sure exactly what happened, but he ends up accidentally blocking my left hand - right on the thumb. I feel a crunch and then blinding pain. I finish class, take some ibuprofen and go on with the second class. Thumb hurts like the dickens, but I can still move it, so there's not much else that can be done.

So I get home and try to do some knitting. Hey, it's only my left thumb, not like it's my dominant hand, right? I mean, how much do you really use you non - dominant thumb in knitting? Apparently a lot. I get through one "row" of Jeff's socks and have to stop. I'm nearly in tears because of the pain. So today, I sit at my desk, thankful I hit the spacebar with my right thumb, with a nice new brace I bought from CVS.

Here is my brace

And here are my socks.

I got a lot done, actually. Most of this was accomplished at the Farmer's Market. So now I just need to figure out what I want to do tomorrow in the 4 hours of farmer's market. I usually knit!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Socktober!

I have decided to make a goal of 3 pairs of socks finished in the month of October/Socktober.

Here they are, in order of current completion.

Think I can do it? Anyone else have sock goals for Socktober?

Jenny's Fetching

SIL Jenny finally got her birthday present, and I am able to post all the details about it on my blog without ruining the surprise! Happy Birthday, Jenny.

So DH asks me, about a month out, what I think of making a present for Jenny for her birthday. She loved the Fetching gloves I'd made for myself about a year ago, so I decided to combine that with the spinning I've learned so far, the dyeing I've been playing with, and the knitting I know and love to make her a completely one-of-a kind gift.

I start off with double checking with MIL what her favorite colors are. Black and Green, she says. So I begin with my stash of "black" roving.

Not very black actually, and spun up it comes off as distinctly grey. Not a problem. I'll add 1/4 tsp of Wilton's Moss Green, a dash of vinegar, and let it sit.

After dyeing I abused the yarn, which essentially entails lots of hot soapy water and agitation. I don't have pictures of this because I do it in my bathtub, and I'm not risking my digital camera in such a watery environment.

Afterwards, it's absolutely gorgeous. Here it is next to just a little bit of the grey 2-ply that was left over.

And here's a claustrophobic close-up, showing how well the color really turned out.

Then came the simpler part, making the gloves. I did it on my Grandmother's plastic DPNs, which really work well for these gloves.

And here they are, resting artistically on my white roving. Gently washable, and I just heard from her last night, they're just the right color. Yay!

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Not forgotten, just busy

I know it's been a while since I posted, but the main thing I've been working on couldn't be posted, as it's a suprise for my SIL's birthday. As soon as she gets it I'll post the pictures.

So what has been going on around here? How about a simple before and after shot?

Before:

After:

Aw yeah. Love the Granite Transformations. Totally worth it, and totally beautiful. It's a basic black, but in person it's really sparkly, shiny, with hints of blue and copper if you catch it at just the right angle. I'm still waiting on the sink caulk to dry (that was reinstalled today) but as of tomorrow I"ll have a fully functional kitchen again, new and improved.


And, just to prove that I haven't only been sitting around paying others to put in countertops for me. Here is how much farther I've gotten on the Maizy socks:

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Maizy!

Progress has been coming along on the Maizy socks. I decided to go with a simple toe-up, stockinette sock, maybe with something interesting once I turn the heel. I started with a figure-8 cast on, but instead of increasing every other row, I increased every row. It gives a very funny shape to the sock, but when its's on, it actually fits my toes really well. Not sure I'd do it again like this, but it certainly works.



I finished up two more skeins of "cherry cordial" for a craft fair this Saturday. It went well, the yarn was much ogled but not purchased. I sold a number of neck coolers, and one of my "oxford skirts" The rest of them are here:





I sold enough to pay for my share of the entrance fee, my share of next year's, and enough for a very nice dinner out with Jeff and friends. It was a very good time, and I hope next year will be just as fun. (and maybe a little more profitable)

Friday, September 7, 2007

Complete and total awesomeness!

So, a week ago I was at the Farmer's Market with Mom, and we decided to make a stop at the Hillsborough Yarn Shop to finally check it out. I bought the sock yarn pictured a couple of posts back, and in conversing with Anne, the owner, she became very interested in my handspun yarn. Well, today before karate I dropped by with the three I had available for sale and we worked out that, at least for this time, I'd trade my handspun for store credit. That way she's still making her profit, and I'm getting some gorgeous sock yarn and other tools I need. So, she took all three skeins, and I walked out with a 40" size 0 addi Turbo, and these beauties! (and I still have more than $20 left in store credit!)


Now the only problem is deciding to keep it for myself or make socks for Jeff.

Oh, and I also now have a label for my yarns!

Simply named, but then again, it's the yarn that should catch the eye.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Random Craftiness!

So the pain in my neck (literally) has cleared up, and I have been on to the crafting!

First up we have the armchair sewing caddy I made for my MIL for her birthday! It was fun to make, and I made another one to sell at the market. The second one is yellow as well, but I think I'll make another in a different color.


Next we have the blue vest! Yes, it is completed! woo hoo and go me! I'm aclling it completed, but I am still going to make a couple of modifications to it, namely I am working on the felted mitten that I'm going to cut in half and use as pockets. It will be incredibly cute, I think.


I also have added to my sock stash! I finally got around to visiting the LYS that's near the farmer's market. They had a LOT of really cool yarns, including this. It's Maizey, and it's made from corn silk and stretchy nylon. I couldn't resist the colorway! I'd also sold enough of the neck coolers that I was able to purchase it just from my market money! hooray for stash enabling.


I also got this. Who is it for? Aw heck, he never looks at this blog except when I'm actually working on it. I'm making them for my husband Jeff for Christmas. I'm going to work on them while he's tutoring or while I'm at market, and keep them hidden. They're a very nice masculine color, and I hope he will like them. I think I'm going to follow the Thuja pattern from Knitty, but do "my" toe and heel. (If you're reading this and know Jeff, please don't spoil the surprise!)