Sunday, February 04, 2007

F to the O and new beginnings

Sorry to have stayed away so long, did ya miss me? I've been down with the bug that seems to be going around. Never fear, even tho activities other than sleeping and taking Nyquil have been minimal, there has been knitting!

Add to sickness the omnipresent cloudy, gray skies we've been having and photo ops have been few but we persevere here at Casa de FKD.

Without further ado, my first finished sock of 2007!


Specs:

Oblique Openwork from Sentsational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch

Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Evergreen, US #1 (2.25mm) Aero DPNs

Mini-gusset yo short row heel

Bearfoot is one of my very favorite sock yarns! It's supersoft, the colors are glorious and it makes some of the warmest socks you'll ever wear! Plus it's superwash! I love the slightly beefier heft of Bearfoot too, the only drawback being the mohair content doesn't give the fabric much sproing...but a nice rib like the Oblique Openwork saves the day! I hope these socks like their new home in a much chillier climate!

ETA: Speaking of socks, if anyone has unsuccessfully tried to obtain my free sock patterns, the links are now fixed, help yourself!

February heralded the start of the Forest Path Stole-a-Long and here are my humble beginnings...


I've never knit with pure silk before and this Handmaiden Lace Silk is just dreamy! It's a challenge to knit because it is very slippery but the color, soft smoothness and drape are pure heaven, no crunchy silk here! I'm using Aero Teflon circs, size 3.0mm (a US 2.5) which I found the easiest to tame the slick factor after swatching with Crystal Palace bamboo, Bryspuns, Addi's turbos and Addi naturas - thank god for needle obsessivness, right ? :)

I love how this is starting out I can't wait to get to the actual entrelac!

The FPS has absolutely NO portability at the moment (will it ever? hee!) so the on-the-go project is of course, wristers! (bet you thought I was gonna say socks!)

I'm using RYC Cashsoft DK in Clementine and US #2 (2.75mm) DPNs. OMG, if I ever entertain the notion to knit underwear, THIS is the stuff I'm doing it with! Don't worry I'll spare you that FO but this yarn is so so soft with such fabulous stitch definition it's hard to resist! YUM!! A most hearty thumbs up!

I leave you with a "sort of" action shot of the P-Man enjoying one of his favorite activities....our roof is finally being repaired a mere 16 months post Wilma (you know we don't say the H word around here. Ever.) and the construction has disrupted what is apparently an entire pigeon village! Pumpkin loves to watch the pigeons land on my balcony and window sills all day. When he spots one his tail swishes furiously and he runs to the window, leaps straight up almost 5 feet to the sill and paces back and forth wishing he could join in the pigeon fun.

I took this pic just as he was about to leap for the sill -- P-Man the flying wonder cat!

Hope your week is full of comparable fun! :)

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

So sorry to hear you've been sick - I was wondering where you were! Lovely knits!

Beth said...

The ribbing and cable are PERFECT on those wristers! And well, the color too. ;)

Dave said...

I love the colours in the Bearfoot socks. And great wristers -- very nice cable work! ;-)

La Cabeza Grande said...

Hello, dahling. Sorry to hear you've been under the weather :o(

J'adore the muted, moving colors of that silk. Great choice! Now, I must find some RYC Cashsoft that needs a new home.

Sharlene said...

So did the P-man get to watch any of the Kitten Half Time show on Animal Planet? I couldn't get any of our cats interested in it. :)

A question--I've been trying to download your sock patterns, and it would alwyas give me an error. I tried it today and got this weird message from a wireless company to send a message. That doesn't seem right!

Anonymous said...

Hope you're feeling better soon.

The socks and wristers are great. What pattern is that for the wristers? I like it a lot.

Anonymous said...

I did the Oblique Openwork sock for my mom for Hannukah in a plain grey. It looks so much better in the Mountain Colors Bearfoot.

Hope you're feeling 100% soon.

Anonymous said...

The forest path yarn is beautiful and I love the wristies :-) I have a pair of socks knitted in that exact yarn - they are the socks of doom that killed me off in sock wars. They are amazingly soft on the feet, don't pill and are machine washable - heaven!

Carole Knits said...

I hope you're feeling much better. Love the socks and the wristers, too.

Norma said...

I hope you're feeling much, much better.

*I* live in a colder climate!!!! heehee

LOVE those wristers. So elegant!

Dorothy said...

So glad you're on the mend. Love the wristers - are those your own pattern or a published one. I wear mine constantly and could probably use some new ones. I'm not sure FPS will ever be portable - too fiddly, but not as difficult as I expected!
dswaite@mac.com

Anonymous said...

I thought of you and P-man when I heard about the tornado - I didn't know if that was anywhere near you though!
Lovely socks and the wrist-warmers are stunning!

Alison said...

Hope you're feeling better! I really am going to pick the FPS up soon, but I've had a grand desire to finish a vest lately. Hopefully, that will be finished by the end of the week.

Really nice socks, as usual:) Hi, P-Man!

AuntieAnn said...

I love those wristers -- is the pattern yours, or can you point us to the source?

Leah said...

What lovely projects you have going on. I knit a pair of socks out of Bearfoot once, and while I love the color, I found that the mohair wants to felt if I wash them in the machine.

The Cashsoft mitts are beautiful. I have some Cashsoft in lavender in my stash. I may just have to break it out thanks to your inspiration.

Nana Sadie said...

Hope you're back on your feet soon! And love those mitts! (they match the P-Man!)
(((hugs)))

Marguerite said...

Love those wristers. Did you design them yourself?

I'm a sucker for ribs that turn into cables and back to ribs again and that one is perfect.

Anonymous said...

I was very excited I finished Tier 1 of the Forest Path. The bad part about lace, pictures are awful!

P-ma is too cute.

And I absolutely adore those wristlets! Is it your own pattern?

Lorette said...

Nice socks, the stole is looking good, and the mittenettes match P-man perfectly! I love that ready-to-leap photo.

Anonymous said...

Ooh, love those wristers! Please do tell where you got the pattern. =)

Janina the Mom Beast said...

Oooooh, sigh, flutter, faint. I am swooning over the color of your Handmaiden silk! SO lovely!

Anonymous said...

That silk is stunning!! (Mine arrived yesterday.)

Meg said...

Looks like you're up to about the same place I am with the FPS; your yarn is simply lovely.
My dog and your cat have a lot in common - except my dog does not possess the agility to walk on a window sill, more's the pity!

Cathy said...

The socks are great as usual Debi and the wristers are gorgeous! My two favorite things to knit :) I love the color of your silk and can't wait to see how it shapes up. As usual the PMan is handsome as ever!

I hope you are all better really soon - we've all had the "stomach bug" here - definately no fun at all!

Bliss said...

Beautiful knitting! I hope you are feeling better soon. P-Man rules as usual. ;)

Patricia said...

Those socks are lovely but what caught mmy attention were those wristers. Wow, my favorite color and those cables..

Carol said...

Very nice socks! Love the color too. And the wristers are beautiful! Nice to have a little sun after all that gray huh? I'm glad you're feeling better, there is so much going around here these days. I'm guessing the P-Man is a great hunter. At lwast he has some live toys to play with:)

WandaWoman said...

Yum, handmaiden silk. The beginnings of the FPS look beautiful.