I got Knothing, with a silent K

Well it's supposed to be time for "K" in the ABC along and I got KNOTHING!! Knothing grabs me to write about, poor sad little K! Maybe L will be better.

So when ya got knothing and all else fails, the P-Man steps up to the plate as a distraction....

What? You again?? I was knapping!!

I started a new sock and I'm in LOVE!! This is the beginning of the Child's French Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Knancy Bush.


That Knancy, she's brilliant!!
I'm using Louet Gems Pearl in Teal....oh how I heart this yarn!! So soft, such stitch definition....perfection!! I've used the light sportweight Gems Opal before (and Koigu which is made from the Opal and then dyed) but this is my first experience with the fingering weight and it's dreamy!!


I'm also using my DPN's for the first time in a while and oh how I missed them!! Yes, magic loop with a slick pair of addi's is nice but nothing compares to the flow and artistry of the humble DPN!! And I can live without all that time spent schlepping cables thru stitches, with DPNs I get to KNIT!

Here's a close up of the stitch pattern....I love the "pebbled" look of the background!

While waiting to start my "big" WW KIP day project, I'm enjoying just socking it...knothing is better than socknitting, it's like the potato chip of knitting, you gotta have more than one!! And of course one can never have enough sock yarn! I'm even getting a head start on my Holiday Knitting, WOOT!!

Now I leave you with my resident supermodel...


Cause with a face like that, even knothing is something :)
Pumpkin says have a great week everyone!

Uglies, Pretties and a Cutie

definitely not an ugly, Pumpkin's peeping out from his favorite windowsill to thank you for all the kind comments about his kitty angel brother, Jaxon.

Now for the uglies!
Remember the ugly black, gray and brown Sockotta socks I was working on for FK Dad's Day? Well here they are, done with time to spare and whatta ya know? they're not so ugly! Actually, FK Dad will LOVE these comfy cotton blend socks!


And now, because I CAN, a close up! Squee!!!!

Specs:

Mistake Stitch Rib - my own pattern, size #1 (2.5 mm) 40" addi turbo, magic loop method, yo short row heel with mini-gusset.

Plymouth Sockotta cotton/wool blend (I heart this yarn!!)

I predict these *ugly* socks will become one of FK Dad's favorites! Can't wait for Father's Day!

Now on to the pretties!!!
When you're fluffy, it's sometimes hard to find anything socks that fit so I try to knit my fluffy friends socks every year.

These shockers should keep even the fluffiest of feet cozy and easy to find in the snow all winter long! hehehe....but to me, one of the best things about socks is you can really go crazy and knit outside your your friend's comfort zone. See?


This is another one of my favorite yarns! Paton's Kroy.....it's a bit heavier than fingering weight, knits like buttah, is tough and hardwearing yet soft, soft, soft! And CHEAP!! Only problem is the colors are, shall we say, an acquired taste! There used to be some nice bright solids like orange, pink, and green but on checking the Paton's website, it seems those are discontinued. It's a real shame cause this is some great sock yarn! Snatch it up if you can find it!

Specs:

Ridged Feather pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch size #1 (2.5 mm) 40" addi turbos, magic loop method, yo short row heel with mini-gusset

Paton's Kroy 4 ply sock yarn, Fancy Free colorway, slightly more than 2 skanks (I like this so much I'm making footies for myself with the leftovers!)

Again, because a good digi camera is a joy forever, a close up of the stitch pattern.....WOOT!!

Next up, the *really* pretties!
Look what arrived at Casa de Fluffy Deb this week....

Some gorgeous hand made, designer earrings from Twisted Lily Designs!!

Stunning silver earrings with Moss Agate briolettes and Tri-Colored Tourmaline Beads

Have a closer look!

Aren't they lovely? And one of a kind, made just for me too! Go visit Heather over at Twisted Lily Designs and check out her wonderful jewelry, you won't be sorry!

And now as promised, a cutie! In honor of the holiday weekend, it's a TWO P-Man Picture Post!! This is one of my favorite P-Man pics....he's showing you his meatloaf impression :)


To those that celebrate, Happy Memorial Day and here's to a weekend full of good friends, sunshine and lots of knitting water for everyone!!

J is for Jaxon, the Fearless Sock Avenger!

Say hello to my little friend, Jaxon
Jaxon is my sweetness who became part of my life July 3, 1992. I had just lost my Tatiana who was a Tortie Persian - black and orange with big copper eyes. I was so sad to lose my "TeeDee" and could never replace her but I knew if I didn't get a new cat soon, I might never be able to.

I wanted to find the absolute antithesis of my TeeDee who was female and dark with copper eyes. So I got it in my head I wanted a boy who was white or light in color with big blue eyes! Since I love the look of the Persian type cats (round, flat face, short stocky body ) I decided I wanted either a Persian or a Himalayan. (this was also a time when I actually HAD a disposable income :::sigh:::)

So I opened the Sun Sentinel and began my search. There were no light colored Persian males available but a few local breeders had male Flame Point Himalayans. A Flame Point Himmy has an almost white faintly apricot, fur with red "points" - ears, nose, paws and tail. And all Himmys have blue eyes. See?

I had 3 local breeders lined up to see that weekend. It wasn't the best time to be cat shopping because it was the Fourth of July holiday weekend but these three agreed to see me. I visited the first two and altho the kittens were adorable, there was no spark between us.

Feeling disappointed and so lonely without my TeeDee I arrived at the last breeder on the list. A lovely, spirited Englishwoman answered the door and told me that I had arrived at the Thruppence Cattery aka, her living room :)

There were 5 adult cats, all who seemed content, and there were 10 kittens running everywhere. Only 2 of the 10 were Himmys, a female seal point and a flame point male, the rest were tuxedo Persians.

All but the two Himmys were herded into another room while I was invited to get to know this brother and sister. I fell in love with the little flame point male so I sat on the floor to get to know him. Unfortunately, the feeling didn't seem mutual!

Oh, he would come over, give me a sniff and stick around for a quick pat but then take off for more sibling play! In fact, his sister seemed more interested in becoming a part of the FK household than he was! But my heart was set on that "white" male.

I expressed my concerns to the breeder, stating that he didn't seem to like me much! She kindly told me I could take him home for a week and if it wasn't a perfect match, I could bring him back! Now that seemed like a plan to me!

We packed "him" into the small cardboard box I had brought and off we went to our new home. Once we got into the car this tiny furball decided to show me just how strong his lungs were because the racket coming from that tiny body inside that tiny box was HUGE! He meow'ed so loudly incessantly mournfully that I just couldn't take it! I opened the box and let "him" out....

And what did he do, this kitten who didn't seem to like me all that much? He climbed up onto my left shoulder and licked my face the whole way home! That was the day I met my familiar....Thruppence Furball Jaxon (his registered name).

My Jaxon remained a "kisser" his whole life! He would meow until I leaned back so he could walk up my chest and plant his kitty kisses on my face! Ever since he was a small kitten he would sleep on my night table and every 2 hours or so, when HE needed a little attention, he would hop on the bed and start licking my face...believe me, it's is IMPOSSIBLE to sleep thru a sandpaper tongue bath!

When I came back to knitting about 4 years ago, Jaxon was introduced to all things fiber for the first time and it became his mission to sleep on every piece of knitting that ever got washed at Chez FKD!

No matter where I would put the garment to dry, Jaxon would find it! In my bathtub, Jaxon! Kitchen countertop, Jaxon! On top of my computer desk, Jaxon! He never slept in these places on other occasions but when wet wool was involved, his nose went into overdrive and he would find that yarn no matter how precarious the perch!

My Jaxon had a special affinity for socks! I could hardly get him to budge to see if the socks were dry! He "defended" his socks so adamantly, I began calling him my Fearless Sock Avenger! He especially loved to have his picture taken with his socks!
I lost my precious Sock Avenger, Jaxon a year ago last February and I miss him every single day like a physical ache. I know my Jaxon is avenging all the socks the angels knit in kitty heaven.

Luckily a certain Florida Orange came into my life 11 days after I lost my hunnyboy and my P-Man helped bring my smile back to my heart and brings me joy every single day!

I just wish Jaxon and Pumpkin could have met, they would have been such good friends.

It's almost that time again!

I want to thank everyone for the compliments on my Mock Pockets "Twin Set". It was a fun, quick, versatile knit that I highly recommend for some quick summer knit gratification!

I'd also like to thank everyone for the compliments on the new camera and toss out my dilemma to see if anyone out there in Knitbloglandia has any suggestions....

I've gotten feedback that the new pics are "crystal clear" and MUCH improved over the old camera. Here's the dilemma....when I upload the pics from the camera to my photo software, the pics are indeed, crystal clear. When I crop or fine tune the pics, again via my software program, pics are crystal clear. I usually use HELLO to upload my pics to the blog and the pics are again, crystal clear. Yet once the pics are uploaded and I view my blog, the pics are horribly blurry!!

I use AOL as my ISP (you can stop your hysterical laughter and/or shrieks of terror!) and when I view my blog via AOL or Internet Explorer, nothing but blurry, fuzzy pics!!! Any suggestions???

As my header says, It's almost that time again!! What time you ask?

June 10, 2006 is WORLD WIDE KNIT IN PUBLIC DAY!!!!!
click on the button for more info
So get out there and SHOW YOUR STICKS on June 10th by KIP'ing and share your passion with knitters around the world!!
Now what will I be KIP'ing when June 10 rolls around?
I'll be using this:
Rowan All Season's Cotton in Framboise

To knit this:
Hubba, Hubba!! Isn't she a stunner?
It's the Cabled Shell from the Adrienne Vittadini Spring 2006 collection! I can't wait to get started! So join me for WW KIP Day won't you?

Since June 10th is right around the corner (yikes, hurricane season AGAIN! Please PRAY!!!)and I don't want to start another large project in the interim I'll be knitting socks and crocheting Carnival Afghan Medallions until the big WWKIP Day arrives!

I leave you with another arty pic of the handsome P-Man. He looks like he's soaking up the last of the dappled sunlight. Look at his cool shadow! What a stud muffin!

Have a great weekend that's dry and full of stitches!

The new camera is HERE!!!!

And it's a BEAUTY!!!
Let me show you....

The furniture is a commode* FKD Dad made for me a few years back. It stands sentinel at my front door so it's a catch all for my many bags. Isn't that chartreuse one a cutie? Notice the Market Square Bag in it's natural habitat!

I was sitting at my kitchen table reading the new camera manual and I thought taking a pic with so many different objects in it would be a good way to put the new camera to it's first test and it came thru with flying colors!

Ooo, sharp! Clear! Vivid! I'm verklempt, talk amongst yourselves....

Ok, I'm composed :)

Next up - this is a close up of the yarn I used for the Mock Pockets Top, K1C2 Second Time Cotton. I LOVE THIS YARN! It knits up so nice, great stitch definition, not hard on the hands and very soft! I had a hard time getting gauge and had to go down two needle sizes but I seem to have to do that with most cottons and cotton blends.


My only complaint would be that the since yarn is comprised of eight strands of cotton "thread" the twist sometimes causes the yarn to twist on itself and it knots up something fierce! I made the mistake of winding my first skank into a center pull ball. As I was knitting the yarn began imploding into the center and I ended up with a horrific knot that took me almost two hours to undo! Wind this yarn into balls and don't get "fancy" with your ball winder cause you'll be sorry!! Otherwise, this is a wonderful yarn and the marriage of this whimsical yarn with the cute Mock Pockets Top was perfection! Have a look....


I wanted to highlight the green in the colorway so I chose these bright green vintage buttons. I love the seed stitch accents, especially the checkerboard pattern at the bottom hem!

Because I knit this sleeveless top instead of the long sleeved one I originally planned I had lots of yarn left over so I thought I would whip up a matching shawlette!


Again, I wanted to highlight the green to match the top so I added some green beads to the bind off using the crochet method. Doesn't this make a snazzy set?



Specs:

Mock Pockets Top pattern from K1C2 --

4.5 skanks Second Time Cotton in Valencia, Addi Turbo US #6 (4 mm)

Mods: I lengthened the top by 2 inches. The pattern is written for flat knitting which I stuck with because I felt the worsted weight cotton needed the "structure" of side seams rather than knitting in the round. The pattern also called for knitting the sleeve and collar bands flat and then sewing the sweater together. Instead, I used a 3 needle bind off for both shoulders, mattress stitched the side seams and then picked up stitches and knit in the round for both the collar and sleeve bands. This made for a much smoother, seamless finish and is much more attractive, in my opinion.

Caryl's Kerchief Shawlette --

2.5 skanks Second Time Cotton, Addi Turbo US #9 (6 mm)

8 pattern repeats for a Shawlette rather than the 5 recommended by the pattern for a Kerchief

About 300 Green, silver lined 2/0 Seed Beads, #9 crochet hook

I love this "set" and I'm really pleased with how it turned out!


And now for some really good news!!

FK Mom LOVES her Mother's Day Diamond Fantasy Shawl!! YAY!! Just look how cute she is....


We celebrated early on Saturday because FK Dad is taking her to a show today. She took it out of the gift bag, wrapped it around her shoulders and wore it all day! She also told me of all the other places she plans to "show it off"...her weekly card game, dinner with some friends, ect. Ding! Ding! Ding! I think we finally have a winner here! I really think she's gonna use this one :)

And last but never least, my P-Man basking in the fading, dappled sunlight....


So what's the verdict on the new camera? I'M TICKLED PINK :)

And I heartily recommend my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2 Digital Camera!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!
* ETA: The "commode" FK Dad made is modeled after an old fashioned toilet which was used in wealthier homes before the advent of indoor plumbing. It had a seat with a door that when lifted, exposed a "chamber pot". MY commode has a seat with a trap door, sans chamber pot....in fact, it's where I store a goodly portion of my stash :)

Another teaser while awaiting the new camera...

I thought this was way cool so I totally stole it from Carole :)
Have Fun!!
Take My Quiz

Hot off the presses!!!

click to embiggen
Newspaper Generator via Mason-Dixon Knitting

Just a bunch of stuff.....

Thanks for all the wonderful compliments on Lizzie's Lacy Ribs Socks! I hope you all enjoy the pattern and I'd LOVE to see any of the finished socks you knit!

So, I didn't go to MDS&W again but I did have a fruitful and productive week/weekend nonetheless!

I finished knitting the Mock Pockets Top and it is SO CUTE!! I really love how it came out and I can't wait to wear it! It's blocking as I write this so as soon as it's dry I'll give you a peek and all the specs!

Since it's a sleeveless top and I had 3 hanks of the Second Time Cotton left over, I started a Caryls' Kerchief in the same yarn as a matching shawlette to throw over my arms when the Florida AC is set to frigid! It's a quick but pretty pattern and I think it will make a lovely "set" with the Mock Pockets Top.

In addition to getting lots of knitting time, I also made an amazing find. Maybe I'm the last to discover this but do you all know about USPS.com?

OMG, this is the best thing EVER for those Post Office Challenged like me!! I HATE going to the P.O. because no matter what time of day I go, there is always at least an hour long wait!

Well, no more! You get your packages all ready for mailing, you log on to USPS.com where you are painlessly guided thru the mailing process (including return receipt, insurance, ect.) you pay by credit card, you print out the mailing label AND YOU CALL YOU LOCAL POST OFFICE FOR A PICK UP at your home or office!! Brilliant!!

I mailed out my Sockapaloooza socks, a couple of sock yarn swaps, and Lizzie's birthday present this way and it worked like a charm!! Oh, joy!! NO MORE POST OFFICE!!! You can even order FREE mailing bags and boxes thru the site and have your postal carrier deliver them right to your door! Try this service, you will be thrilled!!

Speaking of Sockapaloooza, MY socks arrived and they are perfection!!!

First my generous and thoughtful pal sent some needle protectors in the shape of socks and this lovely all purpose school knitting bag with a beautiful picture of her adopted city, Santa Barbara, California! Isn't it cute?

You see, her name is Malle and she's a Danish ex-pat! She's a very talented knitter as you can see from her blog here and thru the most beautiful socks she sent me! LOOK!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE these footies! They are *exactly* what I wanted! The color is perfect, the fit divine and that pom pom is just the bees knees! Thank you Malle for making me smile and for knitting such adorable socks!

Now the P-Man didn't want to steal Lizzie's thunder so he sat out the last post but we here at FKD know his fans find it hard to live without a Pumpkin fix for a whole week so he agreed to a little P-Man beefcake....

A little blurry but a fuzzy P-Man is better than no P-Man at all, right? Mom promises me someday we'll get a real camera, not a Fisher-Price one :)

Be back soon with a FO and a Global KIP!

Presenting Lizzie's Lacy Ribs!

A special friend of mine has a birthday today! Yes, it's Lizzie's bithday so go wish her a happy one, I'll wait right here.....

Now that you're back, here's my story....

Liz is an avid sock knitter too but she had never knit with Mountain Colors Bearfoot which is one of my most favorite sock yarns! I knew her birthday was coming up so I decided to knit her some socks with the lovely Bearfoot.

After much debate, I chose the rich and beautiful Meadow colorway. Now Bearfoot has a high mohair content which translates to less elasticity and memory, or the commonly used technical term "sproing"....hehehe. I wanted some type of pattern that would provide the sproing the yarn itself lacked. I wanted a rib but something more special than a 2x2 or even a mistake stitch. After much thought and perusal of stitch dictionaries I give you

LIZZIE'S LACY RIBS!!
This is a simple lace rib with a 7 stitch, 4 row repeat
With lots of SPROING to give even the limpest cotton some memory!
The attractive rib works perfectly for ALL yarns but especially well for yarns with little sproing like alpaca, mohair, cotton and cotton blends
For my samples I used (L to R) Paton's Kroy, Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Brown Sheep Cotton Fine
And best of all, the pattern is FREE!!!
The pattern is written in SEVEN sizes, from toddler to *Fluffy* so there's a size to please every foot!
So help Lizzie's celebrate her day and help yourself to a new pattern over there >> on my side bar!

Just in time for summer when cotton socks are all the rage and floppy, saggy cuffs aren't :)
Enjoy!!!