In the interest of full disclosure

I bought yarn! Yes, it's true, I caved!

Now before you get all judgy here's the facts....

I live in a semi-tropical climate (Semi? I dunno, it's pretty damn tropical 51 weeks a year!)

I love to knit socks!

Many of the feet I knit for live in the same semi-tropical climate and/or have enough wool socks.

Many of said feet have requested cotton sockage but as we obsessed avid socknitters know the choices among cotton sock yarns leave something to be desired. Oh some are pretty indeed but since cotton has no memory there's a high incidence of Floppy Stretched Out Sock Syndrome (FSOSS), even if the sock has some wool/nylon content.

Enter the addition of some sort of "elastic" to conquer FSOSS, socknitters rejoice! But....and there's always a but, right?.....But, the cotton/elastic yarns are all on the somewhat *fluffy* side being of at least a sportweight density. Cascade Fixation and Socks That Rock Sock Candy are two that come readily to mind - both lovely yarns but of a thickness that can make any shoe a tight squeeze!

Where oh where are the soft, thin, pretty, STRETCHY fingering weight cotton yarns of a socknitters dreams??

When I decided that 2007 was to be my year of knitting from the stash, I made my rules short and sweet...don't by yarn and sock yarns DO VERY MUCH COUNT!! In fact, without sock yarns I would have a pretty anemic stash and as the sockyarn stash stands now, I believe I could cover a good many of the feet in Ft. Lauderdale and still have leftovers :)

The one caveat I did not disclose was that I had heard a rumor....yes, there was a long awaited STRETCHY fingering weight cotton sock yarn on the horizon and I knew that I would be indulging.

And so I have.....

Rosewater, Fall Herbs and Painted Iris

This is Panda Cotton from Crystal Palace. It's a bamboo, cotton and elastic blend and it's as soft as a baby's bottom! And it's fingering weight! And it's light and comes in lots of dreamy colors, both variegated and solid! Woo hoo, I'm bending my Brittany's with joy!

I haven't swatched yet but when I do I'll give y'all a full review.

So what can I say, the flesh is weak but isn't it a woman's perrogative to change her mind? :)

What have I been doing since my last post? Well, lots of knitting has occurred but not lots of picture taking. I knit a second pair the Wine and Roses Mitts because my sis-in-law fell in love with them when she was here for Dad's funeral. I also knit my big footed brother as well as a friend some felted clogs that look very much like these....his in a dark aubergine Galway and hers in a funky grass green heather with bright tangerine trim Cascade 220.

I'm eagerly awaiting the start of the Forest Path Stole-a-long that starts on Feb. 1. We're up to 40 participants now, woot!! So while I wait it's more of the little projects for me. I cast these on this morning:


It's my first green sock for the Green Sock unKAL!!

It's the Oblique Openwork pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. I'm using Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the Evergreen colorway. It's hard to capture the color but it's a rich blend of spruce, olive, teal, navy and a bit of burgundy. So soft and pretty! I adore knitting with Bearfoot!

Since the knitting pics are skimpy I aim to appease with two beautiful non-knitting pics here at Chez FKD so I give you....

My first Saturday Sky of 2007

It was such a clear, glorious day with cool ocean breezes and warm, golden sunshine...it's days like these that make me realize how lucky I am to live in a place where cotton socks rule :)

As always, my handsome Florida Orange bids you adieu

(I just love it when he tucks his little feet in like this!)
and says have a great week with lots of even stitches!