Mystery - Revealed!

Apropos of the symbolic newness a New Year brings knitting the January Mystery Sock was a new and very rewarding experience for me!

When I joined the Sock Knitters Anonymous Group on Ravelry, to further expand my knitting horizons I volunteered to be a test knitter for one of the months with a Mystery Sock.

Now anyone who's read this here Blog de Fluffy for more than about 3 minutes knows I've got a bit of an *ahem* controlling compulsive personality :)

Knitting a sock blindly without knowing what the final product would be was definitely a step outside my knitting comfort zone plus said sock included the dreaded intarsia!! EEK!!

But I joined the SKA to spread my sock knitting wings and I am so glad I did!!

Sara, aka Fyberduck, designer extraordinaire and Grand Poobah ( founder and administrator) of the SKA group chose a Valentine-ish theme and came up with a really clever and adorable sock. Every week during the month of January a new clue was released....

Here's clue #1

This was my first experience with Shibui and I totally ♥ this yarn! It's super soft with a nice firm twist and delicious, rich color!

Next, clues # 2 and #3

Despite my fear of the dreaded intarsia, I ADORE this part of the sock!! I got myself all bunched up needlessly cause intarsia is easy!!! Yep, I said it, it's easy! :)

I don't think there will be tons of intarsia in my knitting future cause it does interrupt the "flow" of the knitting but I definitely see some argyles down the road in juicy bright colors!

What I love best about the design is that the pair isn't complete unless it's together. Now if that isn't all mushy and valentine-y, I don't know what is!

Finally the last clue brings this charming design together...

Aren't they adorable?

Mine will be a gift for a special friend, I hope she likes them as much as I do!

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to knit these wonderful socks despite my unfounded fears and to work with Sara...it's also been beyond cool to see the other members of SKA knit the very same sock but interpret it in their own way and make it their own.

Plus there's still a bit of Mystery to come...since January has five weeks, Sara won't be revealing the design name and significance until next Tuesday and it will be a surprise, even to me!

There's plenty of room in the SKA for those that want to join us and even plenty of time to knit a January sock, whether you choose your own Mystery or our other January option, a Cookie A design. Come on, you know you wanna...we have so much fun! :)

Of course it no mystery that a certain someone is a bit of a ham...

Here he is doing his "Aren't I beyond cute?" interpretive wiggle dance which actually means Happy Tuesday, see ya soon! (he told me to tell y'all that!)

Joined again!

The human race that is! Thanks for all the well wishes, this crud that's going around is brutal!! Achy, feverish, sore throat and the worst dizziness I've ever experienced! And I actually got a flu shot!! Oh well, at least it's in the past and the P-Man was the perfect, attentive nurse :)

I'm not that much of a joiner but I did have fun with the ABC-along of 2006. So I thought about joining the 2008 version but I wasn't sure I had another 26 interesting tidbits to share.

Then my feverish brain came up with what I think could be a cool idea...
I had such a great response to my Favorite Things post when I thought about what I wanted to say over the next year, I thought y'all might enjoy a year long "favorite things". So join I did!

To start things off, A is for Apple.....

Not just any apple here at Chez Blog de Fluffy, oh no! I give you the HONEY CRISP apple!


Developed as a hybrid between the Macoun and the Honeygold apples at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities this delectable treat has only been available since 1991.

It is a slightly tart, deliciously sweet, firm apple and frankly I think it's the perfect apple! It's so crispy and wonderful to eat even people who aren't apple lovers are converted forever.

Look for Honey Crisps in your local markets or ask your green grocer to get them in next fall, you won't be sorry!

Since I'm just back from a icky flu bug interlude blog hiatus, I'll start back slowly but next week I'll reveal the Mystery Socks, show off some amazing new socks, some new knails and in an unprecedented departure from the usual, some actual non-sock knitting - imagine that! I mean, even the Queen of Socks needs a little variety, right?

Now for all of you who are suffering from P-Man withdrawal, I give you the world's best nurse...


Poor little guy's exhausted from taking care of his Mom!

Have a great weekend, see ya next week!
ETA: Drats! I forgot to measure his bunny thumper when I had the chance :(

EATA:(edited again to add) 4.75 inches! What a he man :)

Down for the count....

The P-Man is taking good care of me and I'll be back when I feel human again! Til then try to miss us :)