Sunday, July 29, 2007

Knowledge Is Power!

Read this and be sure to tell EVERYONE you love to read it as well! (remember men get breast cancer too!) Post it to your blog and spread the word because KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!

And since were making today all about the PSA this is something everyone should always remember:

SEVEN WARNING SIGNS OF CANCER

**CAUTION**

C – Change in bowel or bladder habits

A – A sore that doesn’t heal

U – Unusual bleeding or discharge

T – Thickening or lump in breast or elsewhere

I – Indigestion or difficulty swallowing

O – Obvious change in wart or mole

N – Nagging cough or hoarseness


You can't knit or enjoy handknits if you're not around!!

Friday, July 27, 2007

Fiberlicious Friday and other stuff


Guess what I found?


Well, honestly it was
Auntie Carol's super sleuthing skills that tracked it down but look what I got!

It's the much coveted Kureyon #91!! Friday Fiber, yarn pr0n and a happy FKDeb all in one shot! YAY!

Thanks for doing such great PI work Carol!



I started a new sock.....


This is the beginning of the Go With The Flow socks by Evelyn Clark from IK's Favorite Socks.

I'm using some well marinated Elann Sock it to Me Colori because it's so PINK :)

This is a gift for a professional colleague who's been very kind to me, especially when I lost my Dad last December. She of course knows I knit and I told her I'd really love to knit her some socks. She loved the idea so when I asked her what color, after much thought she came up with BLACK. Um, no way! Ok then how about navy? Um, PASS!

I told her she must expand her color horizions and where better to do it than on one's feet (that don't even have to been seen in public if that's your choice!) So she chose pink....little did she know she was getting PINK!! But they are really cute and it's a cool pattern so I think she won't freak out too much, I hope! :)

I finished Bonita and she's gorgeous! She's blocked and drying as I write this (boy do I *hate* blocking, but I *love* the result) and when she's dry I'll just need to do a bit of finishing and she'll be ready for her debut.

Here's a little teaser showing some Bonita knitting and knails.....


That's another OPI color, called You Red My Mind! Doesn't it look great with Bonita?

Lastly but never least, I leave you with another gorgeous pic of the P-Man sitting on his throw rug "throne".


Enjoy your weekend!


Friday, July 20, 2007

Eye Candy Friday



I'm not real big on the "look at the yarn I bought" kinda posts but I had to share this stunning yarn I just acquired...

And why did this yarn speak so loudly to me, besides being drawn in by it's obvious beauty? Check the name...


KOI, VEY! :)

My love of all things Koi is well documented here at Blog de Fluffy and when I saw the name of this gorgeous yarn I knew it had to be mine!


This is my first time seeing (sniffing, petting, fondling) Urban Gypz yarn and it's super yummy! Really, really soft superwash merino and TONS of yarndage - 560 yards to be exact! Gorgeous and economical, what more can a girl ask for? Suberb and super fast shipping yarn pr0n merchant
here :)


Have a great weekend and try to keep cool!


Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Three times is the charm?

I'm knitting away on Bonita.

I've finished the front for the SECOND time and since, for me, the front and the back are the same (I'll explain more when the tank is finished which I PRAY is by this weekend!) I'm knitting the same piece for the third time! Ah, the bane of being born a Virgo - perfectionism!

But it is coming out quite lovely and I'm more than eager to be finished, so I'm hoping knitting it three times will be the charm! Soon, soon....

As a respite from all things Bonita I've finished my first pair of socks for the Summer of Socks.

I give you Smooshy Scrolls


Specs:

Scrolls pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch

Smooshy sock yarn by Dream In Color purchased here (Kris just got a new shipment in so hurry on over if you've been dying to try the "it" yarn of the moment) Colorway: Ruby River

Toe up using the Turkish Cast On and magic loop on 32" size 1.5 (2.5 mm) Addi Turbos.

Sewn down picot hem bind off.

I LOVED every stitch of these socks!! The yarn is a *dream* to knit with and the color is just glorious! The yarn is a bit beefier than standard fingering weight so knitting it on size 1.5 needles gave me a nice firm fabric yet the yarn stayed super soft and drapey. I'm totally smitten and will use this delightful sock yarn again and again.....plus the pattern was lots of fun and I always get a lil thrill when I see how easy the Turkish cast on is and how perfect it makes sock toes look! In fact I might be becoming a toe-up convert for just that reason :)

My needles are sockless at the moment (shocking, I know!) but I really want to focus on finishing Bonita because my next "big" project has a deadline and I want to get the ball rolling (and y'all know I can't handle more than 2 WIPs at a time!)

I leave you with one of my favorite pics of the P-Man that I've taken in a while.....he's sitting on "his" rug that he loves to rough up and bunny kick (which I've placed there to protect the carnival throw cause there will be NO bunny kicking of the throw no matter how cute the P-Man is!)

Isn't he gorgeous?


See you soon, hopefully with a finished Bonita, a new sock and another new WIP!!

Have a great week!!


PS - no luck on the Kureyon #91 but I'm still looking if anyone happens to find it!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Desperately Seeking...

No, not Susan but 2 measly skeins of yarn.....

Does anyone have 2 skeins of Noro Kureyon in color #91, (gray, magenta, turquoise, taupe) ANY dyelot that they would be willing to part with?

I'll either pay for it, or we can figure out a trade.....anybody? anybody? Bueller? :)

PLEASE let me know! Thanks!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

It's all about the P-Man


Cause it's his THIRD BIRTHDAY!!!!!


So our day will be spent eating lots of these...


And playing with his new birthday toy...


And playing...


And playing...


Enjoy your day, sweet boy!! Happy Birthday!!

Kittyman purrs and chirps of thanks to Auntie La for his special presents! My mail carrier got a real kick out of delivering a package addressed to Pumpkin :)

Back soon with actual knitting but I didn't want to steal the P-Man's thunder!

Thursday, July 05, 2007

You can come a'knockin....


Cause Blog de Fluffy is ROCKIN'!


Look!
Carol (infamous purveyor of recent kitty pr0n) nominated me for a


Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

award!! Woo Hoo!

So now I get to share the love and nominate 5 more Rockin' Girls!

It's next to impossible to narrow it down to only five but here goes....


1 -
Agnes


2 - Kris


3 - Kristi


4 - Karen


5 - Lorette

Go forth and spread the love, Rockin' Girls and so on, and so on and so on.....(remember that old commercial, bonus points if you remember the product!)

One of the ways bloggin' girls rock is Knitting and Knails!

Kristi and I have been playing around showing off our knails with our knitting....

Here's sock #2 of my Smooshy Scrolls with my latest matching mani...


Pumpkin prefers au naturale :)


Come on knitters, show off your knails!

Monday, July 02, 2007

Bonita Redux


The good news is, I'm still in love and love is all about compromise, right?

Here's Bonita's sad tale of woe.....

I'm knitting along on the back, happy as a clam, beading my lil heart out. Not especially thrilled with how the shaping works with the lace (of course there are no guidelines in the pattern, just "incorporate lace pattern into shaping" and the decreases/yo's arent paired in the last repeat so one can't help but increase! Makes the shaping a bit more taxing than it appears!) but I can live with the result.

I finish all ten lace repeats which means I've also added about 200 bead to the lil beauty. I count my stitches ( I swear I did, I SWEAR!!) and I'm knitting along on the stockinette bodice. I notice that the stockinette portion looks a bit bigger than the lace but I figure that's because the lace pulls in a bit so I'm not worried. (famous last words here - take note!)

So I finish the bodice and work the left neck, armscythe and shoulder. Looks perfect so I short row the shoulder, place the stitches on a holder and begin the right neck, armscythe and shoulder.....and discover somehow I've gained an extra EIGHT stitches between the last lace row and the stockinette bodice!

Now 8 stitches isn't that much in my fluffy world - the bodice IS quite a bit bigger than the lace but the real deal breaker is now the neckline/armscythe/shoulders are not centered! So the left side has to go! Plus on re-evaluation, the bodice really IS kinda big and the shaping isn't perfect....

So I took the opportunity to rip the whole thing out! :) Yep, 4 full skeins of yarn and 200 beads bit the dust!

Of course I do still love the top, and I LOVE the beads so I'm back to knitting Bonita #2 except this time I added selvage stitches and have decided to omit the shaping. The shaping was quite minimal (and not worth the headache) and frankly the texture and elasticity of the lace and the yarn (and the fluffy wearer!) adds enough shaping by itself.

So that's our story, Bonita's down but she's not out! At this point I've only done one pattern repeat so no "new" pictures yet.

I did finish the first sock of my Smooshy Scrolls, see?

Este calcetin es bonita, si? :)


I was cleaning up this afternoon and look what I found under Pumpkin's kitty bed......


His stash of genuine kitty pr0n cheesecake*!


My boy's a lil devil! Just look at that sly demeanor :)


To all those that celebrate, Happy Independence Day and Happy Birthday America!

*thanks for the chuckle Auntie Carol! :)

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Bonita?


Ay Caramba!