Well I've managed to do a little swatch of the beading for the new sock pattern. Here are a couple of pics:

I've learned a lot from this experience already:

1. It's REALLY hard to take a picture of something like this unless you have a few extra hands.

2. Cats are no help when you need a few extra hands.

3. Honey, that Koigu is like buttah!! Now I know what all the fuss is about.

4. I really love the magic loop method. It works for anything.

5. Impaling oneself on an itty bitty crochet hook HURTS!

6. Knitting and crocheting can, in fact, cause bodily harm (see number 4).

7. If the yarn won't go through the bead, try another bead (refer to number 4 for results of not following this procedure).

8. It really is good to "stretch" one's abilities on a regular basis, but proceed with caution (you should know why by now).

In case you are wondering, I'm fine. Just a little puncture. And no...I didn't bleed on the Koigu (which of course, was my main concern).

So far I have to say I'm pretty impressed with myself. I wasn't real sure about this whole bead deal but it's working out pretty well. I'm actually kinda sad that I'm gonna have to frog the swatch but this yarn is precious so there is no sense in trying to keep it for posterity or something. If you haven't worked with Koigu before, I would highly recommend it. I hope to find some more in the future at a better price so I might be able to do something with it again. I seem to be developing a thing for merino wool.

The only problem I'm having so far is trying to figure out how to make this thing so it actually fits. The pattern says to cast on 60 stitches and calls for 8 stitches per inch. I did that but I'm getting 7 stitches per inch on the smallest needles I have. The pattern says sock weight yarn which I think the Koigu is so I'm not totally sure why the gauge is off. I should probably be using a size 1 but I can't find one long enough anywhere and I'm a bit strapped for cash with the holidays and all. I think I'm just going to try it with 45 stitches instead. The Magic Stripes socks that I did were done with 56 stitches on size 4 needles and I got seven stitches to the inch. The only problem is the pattern I'm using now needs a multiple of 5 stitches for the beading to come out right. Hmmm... maybe I should go with 55 instead of 45? Any experts out there care to comment?