Look ma, NO HOLES!!!!

Being a *fluffy* knitter means upsizing many standardized patterns. I'm an avid sock knitter yet I've never knit myself any socks! Upsizing the pattern itself is no problem but knowing how much yarn to use can be. Yes, a 100 gram skein of Opal or 2 50 grams skeins of Regia are enough for the *average* size foot and yes, I can measure the exact gram weight of half of a ball of sock yarn so I can use half for each sock but if I knit the sock top down, how do I know I'll have enough yarn to reach the toe? So I needed to learn how to make socks from the toe up so that I can knit until my yarn runs out. I found the GREATEST cast-on for toe-ups called the Turkish Cast-On. It is demonstrated by Meg Swansen in the fall issue of Vogue and it's definitely worth the cost of the magazine!

NOTE: I usually don't buy Vogue because of the absolute dearth of any patterns written above a size 10 but I was waiting for a study group at Border's and it was the only knitting mag I hadn't read! For those that don't buy Vogue or have no access to American Knitting Mags, I will do a tutorial here on FKD of this technique in the near future because it's REALLY great!

So learning how to do short row heels has been my quest over the last week and by George! I think I've got it! LOOK......

Not too shabby, huh? I was using Plymouth Sockcotta yarn which is a cotton blend sock yarn and kinda splitty so I'm thrilled with how they turned out!!

My inspiration was Alison and her short row tutorial, Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' book, Simple Socks, Plain and Fancy and a little encouragement from a favorite perfectionist and short row heel knitter, Terry ....thanks for your help ladies! These are for mom (my sock guinea pig, hehe ) who has already tried on the finished first sock and LOVES it...she's also happy because all her prior socks were made top down with flap heels and since the short row is a bit less bulky, it fit into her shoe perfectly where sometimes the top down socks do not! :::Debi and Debi's mom do the happy dance together!:::

I got tagged by my great friend Ada so here's the 411 on Fluffy Knitter Deb:

TEN YEARS AGO: I was living in Hollywood, Florida and working with the Visiting Nurses Association of Miami. I was a Clinical Manager for Infusion Services and working mainly with AIDS patients because when AIDS became epidemic (Florida was the state with the second highest number of people diagnosed with AIDS in the country) Oncology Nurses were the most qualified to work with patients who were immunosuppressed.

FIVE YEARS AGO: I was still living in Hollywood, Florida :) I had 3 cats at the time, Jaxon, Mickie and Beau. Beau was a 4 year old Blue Point Himalayan who died suddenly of a pulmonary embolus that summer :(

ONE YEAR AGO: I was just starting grad school for the second time (the first was 13 years ago at U of M for Oncology Clinical Specialist) This time I'm getting a Master's in Human Resource Management and an MBA. I was living in my condo in Plantation, Florida with my precious boys, Jaxon and Mickie both of whom went to the Rainbow Bridge this year.

FIVE SNACKS:

1- Any cheesy chip like Sour Cream and Cheddar Ruffles or Puffed Cheetos

2- Plain M&M's

3- Spicy V-8 juice with lots of black pepper, lime, hot sauce and some celery stalks

4- Ben and Jerry's ice cream

5- Fruit Salad with melon, pineapple and grapes

FIVE SONGS I KNOW ALL THE WORDS TO:

1- Oh Christmas Tree in German!! (I actually don't know the words in English)

2- American Pie

3- Paradise by the Dashboard Light

4-Train In Vain

5- The Star Spangled Banner

FIVE SIX THINGS I WOULD DO WITH $100 MILLION:

1- Pay off all my debt (school loans and such)

2- Put at least 50% in the bank/investments

3- Give to charity

4- Buy a house with a pool here in Florida and one for my parents in California

5- Take a cruise to Holland and Australia

6- Open a killer great yarn store/coffee shop/book store ( I had to add this one!)

FIVE PLACES TO RUN AWAY TO:

1- The Florida Keys

2- The Netherlands

3- San Francisco

4- Tahiti

5- Hawaii

FIVE THINGS I WOULD NEVER WEAR:

1- High heels

2- Mini skirts

3- Fur

4- A nose earring

5- A size zero....hey, a size ten would be a stretch :)

FIVE FAVORITE TV SHOWS:

1- 30 Days

2- Nip/Tuck

3- Rescue Me

4- Leno

5- Gray's Anatomy

FIVE BIGGEST JOYS:

1- A great night's sleep

2- My Pumpkin

3- knitting

4- Learning something new

5- Friendship

FIVE FAVORITE TOYS:

1- Yarn, yarn and more yarn!

2-My Laptop

3- My knitting needle collection

4- My Dyson vacuum :)

5- Beads

PEOPLE TO PASS THIS ON TO: Kim, Liz, Agnes and Kelly

Can't wait to read your answers ladies!

The end of the Shaped Triangle is in sight so I should have some FO pics soon...Pumpkin will be sad tho....one of his favorite things to do is something we call *push-push* around here. He loves to stand on my knitting and knead it, rhythmically pushing alternate paws deep into the pile of knitting I usually have by my side! He can do it for 15 minutes or more and he purrs like a motor boat the whole time! Here he is caught in the act doing push-push on my Shaped Triangle...

Can't you see the rapture on his face? Hope you enjoy your knitting as much as Pumpkin enjoys mine!