Holiday Gift Eye Candy :)

In my last post, I mentioned I was going to be the designer of the November Mystery Sock for the Sock Knitters Anonymous Group on Ravelry.

Well the month is almost over and I'm happy to say the design was a great success! Have a look at all these gorgeous socks! (Ravelry link)

Now I couldn't forget my faithful blog readers, could I? (hello, is anyone out there, heheh)

So if you're not on Ravelry or Groups just aren't your thing, have a peek at these......

This pair was my "prototype". The name of the sock is Mad About Plaid which, when I considered taking on this challenge is what came to me before anything else....you see I've never even knit a mosaic/slipped stitch design before so designing one was a real challenge!

The name Mad About Plaid came to me so I set out to figure how I could replicate "plaid" in a sock. I think I came pretty close, huh? :)

It was also important to me that the sock have appeal for a man or a woman.

When I swatched the designs I actually purposely chose colors that I would never use together (try camo, pink/orange striped and a navy/green variegate - yuck!), yet they worked!

I discovered as long as the three colors have very different values and strong contrast, they worked! So I decided to test my theory with my "prototype socks" you see above. Not for the shy and retiring sock wearer, right? (as an aside, I was going to give them to my 20-something cousin until my hot and groovy WAY older than 20-something Mom decided these socks were HERS. PERIOD. In fact, she can't wait to show them off to her canasta group! hehe)

Next, I wanted to make sure they were appealing to the Y chromosome set too....

Mad About Plaid, Manly version

Hey, big boy....new in town?
Lastly, I wanted to try a "negative" version, reversing the light and dark values....

Nothing "negative" about these babies!
I'm really proud of these and the experience has been mostly wonderful! And while I recognize that, yes, I am far too thin-skinned to put myself out there as a "designer" full time, it's nice to reach for the stars every now and again!

So if you have a hankering for some plaid, there's a non-Ravelry link on my sidebar here or you can find my pattern on Ravelry here.

It's a simple pattern so don't fear the colorwork! If you can slip a stitch, you can knit these patterns - there is no stranding or floats so it's easy peasy and quite fun to knit!

Oh and in case you have a hankerin' for plaid but not into socks so much right now.....

I designed some matching Mad About Plaid Mitts too :)

Whether you knit em for yourself or someone on your holiday list, I hope y'all enjoy my gifts to you!

So many socks!!

Anyone who knows me even a little, knows I am a pretty monogamous knitter.

For me it's one "big" project and one smaller/portable project, usually socks. Any more than that and I get nervous and jerky - I'm just not a knitter who does well with multiple WIP's.

Since the Vest from Hades has been my "big" project since February (February!!! GAH that makes me shudder just to put in writing how long it took me to force myself to finally finish the heinous beast!) I've knit a lot of socks :)

I'm also almost finished with the Fugly Sock Yarn Blanket of Doom v2 but I'll save that for another post.

I've been holding out on my FKD fans and have not shown you all the socks cropping up around Chez Blog de Fluffy so I made y'all a little mosaic.....

1. Quilted Lava Socks, 2. SKA July Mystery Sock, 3. Little Pumpkin Socks,
4. Cheetos Redux, 5. Fluffy Fowards, 6. Blue Komets


All the Deets are here on my Rav project page if you're interested.

These were a fun group of socks.....the upper middle ones were a Microgauge Mystery Sock designed by Rebecca Hatcher for the Sock Knitters Anonymous Group. The microgauge (10 or more stitches per inch) almost killed my wrists but they have the coolest toe up heel construction ever! Plus they were a truly gorgeous sock!

The socks in the upper right corner were a prize I donated for Claudia's MS Ride last spring. Imagine my freak out chagrin when I found out said prize winner was none other than prolific sock designer, Anne Hanson! But I did my best and I think she really liked them cause she gave them a rave review!

Speaking of mosaics and Mystery socks....(smooth segue, huh?) you may not know that along with SKA's monthly technique and designer challenges (as well as being the fouth largest group on Ravelry!!) every other month we have a Mystery Sock that reflects the technique of that month's challenge.

November's challenge will be mosiac/slip stitch knitting and the Mystery Sock is being designed by an eager yet humble (and terrified!) designer....ME!!

I'm always encouraging the members to challenge themselves and grow as knitter's and I figured I needed to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. So despite never having ever knit a mosaic pattern, I designed one :)

i'm too thin skinned to be "a designer" but I am very proud of the pattern. It's a clean, classic design that in the right colors, could be for a woman or a man. Plus I had a really cool test knitter who gave the pattern two thumbs up! So if you want more info or care to join us :::quiver::: the more the merrier!



The P-Man says peek on in, you'll have a good time! See ya there!

G is for .......

Good knits gone bad... but I'll get to that...

I hope you all enjoyed the movie quotes...that last one was a stumper but Melanie finally got it! If you haven't already, visit my last post for all the answers - thanks for playing!

Now back to the good knits gone bad...

Remember this?
That's Mom and Dad in their His n Hers Ribby Cardis taken in 2005, just about a year before my Dad passed away.

They both wore their sweaters very often and my Mom still wore hers a lot.

Despite having donated all my Dad's clothes to Goodwill she saved his sweater and it was the only thing left in his "side" of the armoire.

Prior to this, my Mom brought the sweaters over here for me to wash when they needed it. They are not superwash but I washed them in cold water in the gentle cycle and blocked them on my blocking board with no problem.

This time around my Mom decided that she could wash it just as easily ::::cue scary impending doom music:::: so she put it in her washer on the delicate cycle and this is what she pulled out....(smallish 7 pound kitty for scale)

as always, click to embiggen if you can stand it :)

Yep, it's an unwearable felted dickie! Even if she could get it on, it is barely long enough to cover Mom's bust now.

Turns out her machine agitates a lot more than mine plus we figured out now (d'oh!) that her "cold cycle" groundwater is probably a lot warmer then mine since mine has to come up to the fifth floor and she lives in a one story home.

Mom was just devastated and upset that all my hard work had been ruined but....there is some good news even when good knits go bad....

As bittersweet as it is, my Mom is glad to have a reason to wear my Dad's sweater. She's glad that it won't just be sitting in the closet looking lonely anymore and it gives her some comfort to "feel" my Dad's sweater giving her a hug.

Plus a certain someone seems to have found a new object of his affection......

From the minute I put it down to take a picture, Pumpkin's interest was most definitely piqued!

He kneads it constantly while purring like a motorboat and he bunny kicks it when he wants to play and he's even made it his new bed...

And even when he's not sleeping on it, he's defending his turf!
So in the end, good knits gone bad aint so bad afterall -- Mom's happy, the P-Man is happy and I have great blog fodder even tho it cost me a sweater! :)


On to the knits that survived the carnage, heh.

Annetrelac Socks!

The Sock Knitters Anonymous Challenge for March was entrelac and despite having knit entrelac a few times before I couldn't think of a pattern to show of this gorgeous Bearfoot yarn any better!

Specs:

Annetrelac socks by Sandy Beadle, Interweave Knits, Holiday 2007

1 skein Mountain Colors Bearfoot, Goldrush colorway

Mods: Bearfoot is a "beefy" fingering weight yarn with little memory because of the mohair content. I cast on 64 stitches (instead of 72) with a 2.5 mm 32” circ. Because entrelac is knit on the bias it often swatches out with a much higher gauge than regular circular knitting. To compensate for that I switched to a 2.0 mm when I started the entrelac and decreased to 36 stitches so I had six “squares” in each round rather than the 8 the pattern had.

After 9 rounds of the entrelac I returned to the 2.5mm needle and increased back 64 stitches.

I added a mini flap of 8 garter rows and then worked a garter stitch short row heel over 32 stitches.

I then decreased the gusset down to 60 total stitches for the foot. (32 for the instep/28 for the sole)

I also added a 6x2 rib to the instep for a snug fit.

I knit for a size 10.5 mens shoe and I had a tiny bit of yarn left over.

Here's a close up of the wonderful heel

As an aside, this was my second garter stitch short row heel and I totally ♥ it!! It's a great fit, looks sharp and despite having to double wrap the short rows, you don't have to pick up the wraps because of the texture of the garter stitch hides them and best of all - NO HOLES!! :)

All in all, an easy knit with a jazzy end product - I give the yarn and pattern two thumbs up!

Speaking of thumbs....and the rest of my knails, yuk yuk yuk...

Here's my latest sock with my latest knails...

The sock is called "Pink Blossom" and I'm test knitting it so no links (but it's WAY cute!) the yarn is Panda Cotton in the Ember Glow colorway, and the knails are OPI Brights Collection in "Color Me Blue"....I've been noticing a lack of blue in my color palate of late so I thought I'd rectify that in a big way :)

Also please note what the sock is leaning on....yep, it's baaaaaack!!!

Keep your fingers crossed that she keeps working and the P-Man and I will be back soon. Have a great weekend and knit lots!

Sweet Swap Success!

Before I get to the swag, there's some good news and bad news....the good news is the Gateway Dude showed up. The bad news is the motherboard is "DOA" and a new one is being sent, scheduled to be installed next week. I can't wait. The good news is I still have my much loved old laptop with the bouncing cursor. The bad news is it only takes me about four hours to type and retype and retype and retype yet again each post :)

So don't expect lots of posts but I'm trying - I know the P-Man fans need an occasional fix!

On to the knitting and the swag!!

My longtime readers know I haven't had much success with swaps and secret pals and such - either I got a box full of re-gifted dreck or I got nothing at all. And of course who can forget the world's most expensive skein of sock yarn? So I was a bit reluctant to join any more swaps as you might imagine.

About a year ago I met Kimberly - somehow I linked to her blog or she to mine but we had a lot in common, hit it off and became friends.

Kim's an ex-pat living in Berlin, teaching Spanish (the irony of that never fails to crack me up!) and so we got to chatting about her missing some American goodies and me wanting to be introduced to some German goodies, especially of the Wollmeise kind! Plus her experiences with swaps weren't so hot either.

So we decided a swap with someone we already knew (and liked a lot!) couldn't fail and boy were we right! That Kim sure does know her swag.....have a peek.....

(as always, click to embiggen)

The bag in the back is a typical Berlin "tourist" bag and has pics of the city's sights on it. Inside were an adorable green zippered bag Kim made for me (she's a sewing goddess!) a wooden shawl pin with a kitty carved on top, a lavender sachet, a sheep cookie cutter, a vintage German crochet mag (so cool!!) some adorable stitch markers she and her sweet daughter Alida made for me (there's a beer stein and a hamburger in there, hee!), a sheepy game, a postcard of a typical Berlin curry shop (what is it with Europeans and curry??) 2 beautiful skeins of Trekking that a special visitor snatched immediately and last but surely not least, a beautiful skein of Wollmeise!

You can see what I sent to Kim here

Thank you so much Kimberly, you have restored my faith in swaps, at least with you :)

Now if that wasn't enough, look what else came in the mail.....

I've never been to any type of yarn, sheep or wool festival but lucky for me, my knitting friends got my back!

My sweet buddy Agnes always thinks of me when she goes to Stitches West. Look what goodies just arrived....

Yep, those are Cookie A's brilliant new sock patterns!! They are all stunning but Stricken (right) is calling my name very loudly! (the new patterns aren't on her site yet but should be soon) Plus she sent that oh so soft and beautiful skein of Lisa Souza Merino in the Goldilocks colorway because she said it reminded her of Pumpkin! It's a huge skein so rather than socks, I'm thinking shawl...oh the possibilities - I am such a lucky woman! Thank you again Agnes, you're the best knitting "connection" a girl could have :)

For some actual knitting, I finished my *best sock yarn* socks (snark)

Specs:

pattern: Pretty Comfy Sock by Debbi Young

2 skeins Cascade Fixation, Burgundy

Magic Loop, 32" addi turbo size US #3 (3.25 mm)

Mods: I changed the wrapped short row heel as specified in the pattern to my usual yo short row heel but because of the stretch in the yarn, I omitted the mini flap and gusset.

Cascade is hardly the "it" yarn for socks as my cousin was led to believe but it does have it's place. The socks are very soft and stretchy and they knit up into a very cute sock that i'm sure my cousin will love.

Y'all know me, one sock finished, another one begun....the March SKA challenge is an Ann Budd sock or entrelac. Guess which I chose :)

This is the Annetrelac sock from IK in some delicious Bearfoot.

Also note the perfectly coordinated knails! The mani is done with OPI "Red-y to Help", a lacquer developed to help the American Red Cross with a percentage of the sales going to support this very worthy charity. Now that's my kinda mani - beautiful knails and doing a good deed too! :)

I didn't touch my Mom's vest since my last post - I was busy with a very special visitor last week but I'll tell you all about that next time.

Til then the P-Man will keep you smiling....

Doesn't he look like he just heard a really funny joke?

Keep on knitting lots and I'll be back when I can, Gateway willing!

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!)