This and that.....

Thanks everyone for the wonderful compliments on my Shaped Triangle! I'm glad you like her as much as I do! She's made her debut outing and I got lots of compliments so despite all her fractious challenges, I have a shawl I will love for a good long time!

Julia tagged me for a new meme. Here are the rules:

1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five people to do the same

My 23rd post's fifth sentence is

As they say, whatever floats your boat and if knitting ADD works for you, god bless ya!

I was talking about how I'm a two project only knitter and how when I read that other knitters have 5, 10 or even more projects on the go, I break out in hives and wonder how they ever get to a FO??

Since this is so apropos of our many conversations, I tag you Dorothy as well as Kris, Ada, Agnes and Heather

Well, the birthday may be over but the presents keep on coming!

I got these bee-you-tee-ful stitch markers from La

Aren't they adorable?

Even the P-Man got a gift! His wonderful Auntie Agnes sent him a gift certificate to Petco! How cool is that? He knows I'm gonna get him something yummy and/or fun with it, can't you see his excitement? :)


La and Agnes sent me even more presents!! La very generously sent me the adorable note cards with both a kitty and a sweater motif, a "chick" mug (and being it's not Easter, I'm guessing it's cause I'm a cool chick, hehe), some yummy tea and some delicious smelling personal care stuff for my bath. Agnes sent me the very beautiful skein of Sockotta sock yarn in my favorite color combo of pink, orange and yellow! Thanks ladies, your generosity makes everyday a birthday and your friendship makes me blessed!


Here's a close up of the tea box....**STASH** Tea!! Get it? Stash tea? Leave it to La to find knitting themed tea!! Of course she might have been referring to the illegal smokeable other kind of stash but since this isn't Amsterdam, we won't go there!! hehehe......


So what's being knitted at FKD these days you ask?? I'm almost finished with the "Socks for Fluffy Feet" that I've designed so once I finish, if there is any interest, I'll write up and post the pattern. I've also started a Ribby Cardi for my Dad but being that I've not gotten very far and it's not very fancy to look at I'll post when I have something of interest to show.

Speaking of something of interest, here's one of my favorite pics of my lil guy......we were playing with his "bird" (some feathers on a string attached to a wand) and he was having a fine time! You can just see the tip of the red feather and that ratty thing in the lower left is his well loved and oft played with knitted catnip mouse.

Pumpkin and I have lots of fun here a FKD, hope your week is fun filled too!

Shaping Linen

Can a knitting project be the love of your life and the bane of your existence at the same time? Cause I think my latest project fits that bill to a "T"!!

I refer to the pleasure of the Shaped Triangle and the pain of knitting this lovely shawl in Linen!!

When I first perused the wonderful book, A Gathering of Lace, and spied the Shaped Triangle I knew executing it's lacey beauty would be in my near future. I decided I needed a "lightweight" black shawl since afterall, I do live in a tropical climate. I had heard great things about Euroflax Linen (mostly from Kay) and had always wanted to try it. Ah, the perfect marriage of pattern and yarn, the Shaped Triangle and black lace weight linen.....or so I thought....

First off, finding a needle that was pointed enough for intricate lace and worked well with the linen was no easy task! I swatched with Addi Turbos (a horrid coupling!) Crystal Palace Bamboo circs (too grabby) Denise Interchangeables - these were very good except the needle size that produced the fabric I liked best was a #4 US (3.5 mm) and the Denise needles go no smaller than a #5! I finally ended up with Aero Gray Teflon (Aeros are the same as Inox but sold in Canada). The Aero needles are nice and pointy for the lace with soft, flexible cables and grabbed the linen just enough to tame it's slick, slippery nature -- mostly....

The shawl is knit from the center top down and the first pattern is a sort of bramble stitch so NO MARKERS could be used!! And believe me, that slippery linen had a mind of it's own! I re-knit that first section a few times too many and I became intimately acquainted with life lines! Thank god for life lines!!!

Once you get past the brambles, the pattern is more amenable to using stitch markers for landmarks so managing the linen and keeping the correct stitch count got a little easier. And honestly, it's a great pattern....fun to knit, well written, and the pattern changes throughout so there is no boredom. **Be sure to check the XRX/Knitter's site for errata because there are lots of errors in various editions and printings of the book**

The linen, on the other hand, showed it's evil nature all the way through! This stuff sheds like a mofo! There were tiny black hairs EVERYWHERE!! And during my sweaty bout with Katrina, they were all over ME! In fact, when I washed and dried the shawl, this is what was in my lint trap....

I put in the skein of yarn for perspective...that's a big, honking wad of lint there!! Almost as big as my head, LOL!!

Despite all the slipperiness and the shedding factor, in the end I have a shawl I really *love*! She's soft and light with a nice sheen.....Here, let my spokesmodel, Pumpkin give you a glimpse of the Shaped loveliness.....


And a close up of the lovely border and point....


One of the **Best** things about linen?? NO BLOCKING!! These pics are straight out of the dryer! As much as I love knitting lace, blocking lace is not for the weak....and not having to worry about blocking definitely made up for the unruliness of the linen!

Here's the ubiquitous outside, over the railing shot....

Isn't she pretty?
Specs:

Shaped Triangle from A Gathering of Lace using approx. 1300 yards of Euroflax Paris (laceweight) linen in Black and a size #4 US (3.5 mm ) Aero Teflon circular needle.

I really enjoyed making this fun to knit and beautiful shawl and I plan to make it again someday . In fact, I have some dark teal Koigu picked out already because I am eager to see the contrast between the resilient wool vs. the very inelastic linen. I also a plan to use linen again but not anytime *real* soon, hehehe....

I'm really happy with the finished product and I heartily recommend her to anyone looking for some lace knitting with a bit of a bite!

Have a good week and think good thoughts for our brothers and sisters in the path of Rita!

And thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes!!

Sockage!

It's all socks, all the time lately at FKD! First up we have the completed pair of my first successful ever short row heels! These were knit top-down with the Priscilla Gibson-Roberts short row heel. I usually knit my socks top down with a flap heel so this was a bit outside the box for me. I'm really happy with the way these turned out and my Mom (the recipient) is totally thrilled.

My next foray into sock adventure will be to go even further outside the box and do a toe up sock with a short row heel...WOOT!! Can you stand the excitement??
Actually I'm working on a pair now with a lovely lace pattern and the Turkish Cast-On I mentioned in my last post. These socks will be easy to upsize or downsize in the foot or calf area so if the socks come out the way I hope, I'll post the free pattern...stay tuned!

This week was the finale of Alison's wonderful Sockapalooza 2 and look what a lucky girl I am......

Since this is my birthday week, my wonderful sock pal sent my socks wrapped in an adorable personalized birthday sock label!

And could these socks be any more gorgeous!!! They are made of the softest Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in the stunning Wild Cherry colorway. My sock pal Susan (unfortunately she doesn't have a blog) used the Go With the Flow pattern from IK and I've never seen such perfect knitting! They are just soft and lovely and wonderful...THANK YOU SUSAN! I love my new socks!


Coincidently, I just knit the Go With The Flow socks myself! They became an impromptu gift for an admiring fellow blogger, Heather. And because Heather is such a sweetie, she sent me a little something too....behold.....


A beautiful bottle of my favorite nail polish - OPI, an adorable cat picture frame soon to be filled with the P-Man visage, a stunning agate and silver bracelet that Heather made herself, a Belly Dancing kit (this could be very scary!!) and a whisper soft hank of handspun merino that Heather, who is obviously a spinning prodigy as she *just* took up spinning, spun herself!! Double WOOT!!! Thank you so much Heather! Oh, and a bag of plain M&M's that seem to have, um, disappeared :)

Tomorrow is my actual birthday, so the P-Man is resting up in anticipation of the day's festivities. Hope everyone has a great weekend ....the linen Shaped Triangle is finished so lots-o-pics next week, see ya then!

Look ma, NO HOLES!!!!

Being a *fluffy* knitter means upsizing many standardized patterns. I'm an avid sock knitter yet I've never knit myself any socks! Upsizing the pattern itself is no problem but knowing how much yarn to use can be. Yes, a 100 gram skein of Opal or 2 50 grams skeins of Regia are enough for the *average* size foot and yes, I can measure the exact gram weight of half of a ball of sock yarn so I can use half for each sock but if I knit the sock top down, how do I know I'll have enough yarn to reach the toe? So I needed to learn how to make socks from the toe up so that I can knit until my yarn runs out. I found the GREATEST cast-on for toe-ups called the Turkish Cast-On. It is demonstrated by Meg Swansen in the fall issue of Vogue and it's definitely worth the cost of the magazine!

NOTE: I usually don't buy Vogue because of the absolute dearth of any patterns written above a size 10 but I was waiting for a study group at Border's and it was the only knitting mag I hadn't read! For those that don't buy Vogue or have no access to American Knitting Mags, I will do a tutorial here on FKD of this technique in the near future because it's REALLY great!

So learning how to do short row heels has been my quest over the last week and by George! I think I've got it! LOOK......

Not too shabby, huh? I was using Plymouth Sockcotta yarn which is a cotton blend sock yarn and kinda splitty so I'm thrilled with how they turned out!!

My inspiration was Alison and her short row tutorial, Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' book, Simple Socks, Plain and Fancy and a little encouragement from a favorite perfectionist and short row heel knitter, Terry ....thanks for your help ladies! These are for mom (my sock guinea pig, hehe ) who has already tried on the finished first sock and LOVES it...she's also happy because all her prior socks were made top down with flap heels and since the short row is a bit less bulky, it fit into her shoe perfectly where sometimes the top down socks do not! :::Debi and Debi's mom do the happy dance together!:::

I got tagged by my great friend Ada so here's the 411 on Fluffy Knitter Deb:

TEN YEARS AGO: I was living in Hollywood, Florida and working with the Visiting Nurses Association of Miami. I was a Clinical Manager for Infusion Services and working mainly with AIDS patients because when AIDS became epidemic (Florida was the state with the second highest number of people diagnosed with AIDS in the country) Oncology Nurses were the most qualified to work with patients who were immunosuppressed.

FIVE YEARS AGO: I was still living in Hollywood, Florida :) I had 3 cats at the time, Jaxon, Mickie and Beau. Beau was a 4 year old Blue Point Himalayan who died suddenly of a pulmonary embolus that summer :(

ONE YEAR AGO: I was just starting grad school for the second time (the first was 13 years ago at U of M for Oncology Clinical Specialist) This time I'm getting a Master's in Human Resource Management and an MBA. I was living in my condo in Plantation, Florida with my precious boys, Jaxon and Mickie both of whom went to the Rainbow Bridge this year.

FIVE SNACKS:

1- Any cheesy chip like Sour Cream and Cheddar Ruffles or Puffed Cheetos

2- Plain M&M's

3- Spicy V-8 juice with lots of black pepper, lime, hot sauce and some celery stalks

4- Ben and Jerry's ice cream

5- Fruit Salad with melon, pineapple and grapes

FIVE SONGS I KNOW ALL THE WORDS TO:

1- Oh Christmas Tree in German!! (I actually don't know the words in English)

2- American Pie

3- Paradise by the Dashboard Light

4-Train In Vain

5- The Star Spangled Banner

FIVE SIX THINGS I WOULD DO WITH $100 MILLION:

1- Pay off all my debt (school loans and such)

2- Put at least 50% in the bank/investments

3- Give to charity

4- Buy a house with a pool here in Florida and one for my parents in California

5- Take a cruise to Holland and Australia

6- Open a killer great yarn store/coffee shop/book store ( I had to add this one!)

FIVE PLACES TO RUN AWAY TO:

1- The Florida Keys

2- The Netherlands

3- San Francisco

4- Tahiti

5- Hawaii

FIVE THINGS I WOULD NEVER WEAR:

1- High heels

2- Mini skirts

3- Fur

4- A nose earring

5- A size zero....hey, a size ten would be a stretch :)

FIVE FAVORITE TV SHOWS:

1- 30 Days

2- Nip/Tuck

3- Rescue Me

4- Leno

5- Gray's Anatomy

FIVE BIGGEST JOYS:

1- A great night's sleep

2- My Pumpkin

3- knitting

4- Learning something new

5- Friendship

FIVE FAVORITE TOYS:

1- Yarn, yarn and more yarn!

2-My Laptop

3- My knitting needle collection

4- My Dyson vacuum :)

5- Beads

PEOPLE TO PASS THIS ON TO: Kim, Liz, Agnes and Kelly

Can't wait to read your answers ladies!

The end of the Shaped Triangle is in sight so I should have some FO pics soon...Pumpkin will be sad tho....one of his favorite things to do is something we call *push-push* around here. He loves to stand on my knitting and knead it, rhythmically pushing alternate paws deep into the pile of knitting I usually have by my side! He can do it for 15 minutes or more and he purrs like a motor boat the whole time! Here he is caught in the act doing push-push on my Shaped Triangle...

Can't you see the rapture on his face? Hope you enjoy your knitting as much as Pumpkin enjoys mine!

Let the festivities begin!!

Ah, the glorious month of September.....my *birthday* month!! And so the celebration begins!

Earlier this week, the FedEx guy knocked on my door with something that looked like a letter....odd, cause I wasn't expecting anything but it is the *birthday* month so one never knows what to expect! What did Mr. FedEx bring me??

SIX Gift certificates for SIX pints of Ben and Jerry's fabulous ice cream!!

These came from New York City Mouse of Country Mice in the City just because she's wonderful and she just had a birthday too! With Ophelia lurking too close for comfort, I don't think I'll be re-stocking my freezer with these goodies til winter but they will be thoroughly enjoyed eventually!! Thanks a million, NYC Mouse, your thoughtful gesture was beyond sweet!

Now a birthday girl can't have enough sock yarn, right? Another friend (who doesn't blog or knit no matter how hard I try!) knows me pretty well cause she sent me the gift that makes my heart sing!! Beautemous SOCK YARN!! Oh BOY!!

Left to right, Meilenweit Cotton Yarn - color #2220, Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in Champlain Sunset and Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Black Watch. I'm an avid sock knitter but I've never tried CTH before and this colorway is GLORIOUS!!! I'm really eager to try it but I think I'll just pet it for a while! I love cotton sock yarn, Meilenweit knits up like a dream and I love that stripey goodness! Lastly, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport got my vote for "the perfect yarn to take to a deserted island" right Ann? I love the Black Watch colorway and this is my favorite all around yarn for more than just socks! Thanks J, you really made my birthday special!


Every year I treat myself to one special gift and this year I chose this........


To make this.....

This is the Forest Path Stole from Interweave Knits - Summer 2003. I fell in love with the pattern and I've been looking for the perfect yarn for a while. The pattern calls for Suri Alpaca but alas I am allergic to alpaca and it's a bit warm for Florida anyway. I didn't want a plain cream yarn as the pattern shows or a plain solid yarn but I also didn't want a busy colorway to obscure the beautiful lace patterning. I finally decided on the custom dyed merino from Mystical Creations Yarns you see above. It is supposed to be reminscent of a rose garden which I felt was appropriate for the flowery lace in the pattern. I'm very happy with the delicacy of the colors but the green is a bit more "neon" than I expected. The color in the pic is very true on my monitor, what do the masses think?

To add to the birthday celebration, September 15 is the mail date for Sockapaltwoza so I'll be gifting my sock pal and getting some wonderful hand knit "birthday" socks....good thing cause the P-man seems to have appropriated my Ugg slipper for his own and that leaves me with chilly feet, heheh.....


To assuage my feelings of guilt over all this "conspicuous consumption" when so many Americans have so little right now, I remind everyone to visit Give a Little and make a donation so you can win some gifts of your own AND make someone who needs a smile and a helping hand feel like it's their *Birthday* too!!

Pumpkin and I wish everyone a great weekend!

Knitters ROCK!!!!

Wowie WOW WOW WOW!!!Thru Margene and Susan's Give a Little Campaign knitters have raised almost $55,000!!!!!! What an amazing and generous family the knitting community is! Thank you once again for organizing this campaign and all your hard work ladies and thank you knitters (and those that love us) everywhere!!!

To briefly remind everyone, to "sweeten the pot" Susan and Margene will be drawing names weekly to award thank you gifts for everyone who makes a donation to The American Red Cross

As well as monetary donations, knitters have donated some amazing and *coveted* items as thank you gifts! I thought I would post pics of what I am donating so everyone can see what they can win!

First up, here is the Caryl's Kerchief I've donated
It's a lovely golden, olive, cream and rust Koigu with pretty orange beads*....perfect over a warm sweater on a crisp autumn day! Wouldn't it look glam over a nice warm brown turtleneck? Go on, make a donation and it could be yours :)

Next we have 8 skeins of Rowanspun 4 ply in deep, rich, tweedy jewel tones: 2 in Sapphire, 4 in Burgundy and 2 in Jade. Single ply these would make a beautiful, rustic shawl or even a color block sweater and used doubled, they would make dense warm mittens, a scarf or hat. This yarn is sooooo lovely (and now discontinued!!!), knit up it looks like tweedy velvet! Interested? Make just a lil donation :)

There is knitting happening at Chez FKD.....here's a peek at my linen Shaped Triangle. The body is complete and I'm working on the border. I fear I will be working on the border for many moons to come because it's really slow going!! I've finished 15 out of about 70 repeats! WOOT!!!:::insert sarcasm here::: I have to turn the shawl for every row and it's a *PIA*....I can't "purl back backwards" like I did for my faroese shawl because altho the border is garter stitch just like the faroese was, this border has a K2tog at the beginning and that is next to impossible to do backwards! In fact, it takes longer than it does to flip the shawl and knit so it's not worth the trouble....grrrr!! So I should have a finished object sometime next spring, heheh.....

Doesn't the inelasticity of the linen make my shawl look like I've already blocked it? I wish!!! I cannot wait to wash this albatross lovely shawl and see what the final product looks like!!

Now I do have a query for the knitting masses....I *always* have socks on my needles and I *love* sock knitting but I'm trying to expand my horizons. I've tried the short row heel before and was unsatisfied. I've come back to it again and I'm still unsatisfied!! I've tried wrapped stitches a la Wendy and the backwards yarnover a la Alison and Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and I'm still getting huge, wonky holes!!! I tighten my stitches to within an inch of their little fibery lives yet I still have unappealing short row heels. I've tried both metal and bamboo needles, all without success....any tips/suggestions oh wise knitting community?? Please leave suggestions in the comments, I'm desperate!!

In my last post I used this pic to remind people of the animal friends that have been affected by Katrina. I love this pic of the P-Man so much, I'm shamelessly using it again, only this time you can click on the pic for the super, duper enlarged version of Pumpkin the Wonder Cat! And you can donate to help the animals here The Humane Society

Pumpkin says Thanks, and have a great week you amazing knitting friends!!

* altho I've made the Caryl's Kerchief before, this was my first attempt at adding the beads using the crochet method rather that the stringing on method the pattern suggests and I'm VERY happy with the result! I'll be using only the crochet method from now on!

Thru all crisis...

Knitters come together!

Click the button if you can help!
Thanks to Margene and
Susan for rallying and organizing this wonderful and supportive community!And if you let these two amazing women know that you made a donation, you could win a FABULOUS prize!

And Pumpkin reminds you not to forget some of his buddies might be hurting too! If you click on his picture you can help our four legged, furry, or feathered friends who might be suffering from this disaster too!

Every woman needs battery operated devices!

No, not *those* devices,this is a knitting blog! :)

After spending the last 48 hours without electricity thanks to Ms. Katrina, I have a renewed appreciation for all things battery operated.

Thank you blogger friends, for all the concern for me and my fellow Floridians (The P-Man and I are fine La and Margene)

My power went out about 6pm Thursday night and stayed off til Saturday evening around 9pm. Honestly, I have never been hotter or more miserable in my life!! Last year, some of the outer bands of Jeanne knocked out my power for about 36 hours too but I don't recall being quite this miserable! My fridge/freezer bit the dust a lot sooner this year too...I had to pitch just about everything. Now our thoughts must be with our friends in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi because what was a miserable 48 hours for me and my lil P-Man in a category 1 storm is now a category 4 storm headed their way!! Edit: Make that a category FIVE!!! storm OMG!! Please send good thoughts!!

Speaking of Pumpkin, this was his first hurricane and he did pretty well. He freaked a bit (as did his mom!) when a giant tree in the courtyard of my complex fell over and crashed into the pool, taking the power lines with it! Otherwise he was his usual easygoing albeit sweltering self. Here's a pic......

He was so listless, he kinda just layed around. He kept sniffing his catnip mousie, like it was his "smelling salts". He would have a good sniff, play for a few seconds and then remember how ^%$^&* hot he was!....I guess all the wet air refreshed his catnip and made it extra potent. Once the A/C came back on he was running all over the house with his mousie, and we had a special dinner of roast chicken (salvaged from the freezer thaw, how fortuitous, hehe)

So what did Fluffy Knitter Deb do for 48 hours? Why she KNIT of course!! During the day while listening to my battery operated radio I knit madly on my Shaped Triangle linen shawl. I'm now on row 183 (of 188!!) As an aside, this linen sheds like crazy, little tiny black hairs are everywhere! Now here I am, no A/C, sweating like you don't wanna know and I'm knitting this shedding black linen shawl.....so after many hours knitting merrily along I look down and I've turned into WOLF WOMAN !! Black, hairy arms from wrist to elbow!! EEK!! I'll spare you the visuals but I did use my battery operated digital camera to take this cool extreme close up of my almost finished shawl, see?


Now even I am not crazy enough to knit a slippery black linen shawl in the dark so by the grace of my battery operated Radio Shack Book Light balanced on my "front porch" (as Wendy would say) at night I finished these:


These are Go With The Flow socks from IK Summer 2005. I knit them with Elann Sock-It-To-Me Colori sock yarn in the Mexicali colorway and a set of 5 Aero #1 (2.25mm) teflon DPNs. This is a wonderful pattern and it makes a unique, stretchy sock that was a very fun knit!
I really love how these came out and I'm doubly excited because a friend and fellow blogger admired them so much when I posted them as WIP a few weeks ago that I got her specs, made the socks a custom fit and I'm sending them to her!! So heads up Heather, this sock's for you!

Thanks to modern science and battery operated devices, my stint as "Pioneer Knitting Wolf-Woman" wasn't as bad as it could have been! How did those pioneers do it? Wait, wasn't their life expectancy like 35??? Yup, they died of boredom at 35 cause they had no battery operated devices of *any* kind ;)

So today, the sun is shining, the tank is clean* and I truly am a lucky, lucky woman in so many ways!!

*easy movie quote if you have grandchildren, nephews under 4 y/o (I have 2!) or just love sweet, silly movies at any age!

Lace of my past and the P-Man hears a good joke

Hi blog world!! Long time, no see...miss me? hehe....

I've been really busy with the usual end of semester bollocks higher learning of final exams, term projects and papers, oh my!! so my blog went a bit fallow. Besides, I didn't think anyone would mind looking at the beading tutorial a while longer since I've gotten such a wonderful and positive response to it! Thanx for all the great feedback and if I can ever offer any assistance for beading (or other topics for that matter) feel free to leave a comment or send me an email and I'll do my best to pay it forward for all the sharing and support this knitting community has given me!

Now I have a whole, glorious six days before classes resume. And, lucky me, one of my classes this term is Accounting!! YIKES!! For a woman who has *never* even balanced her own checkbook, this does not bode well!! (altho, I also have surprisingly never bounced a check!) Send me positive numeric vibes, would you? At least I have my knitting to keep me somewhat sane!

I'm still working on the linen Shaped Triangle Shawl but the end is in sight as I am on row 165 of 188 plus the border. The rows are soooo long and slow now as there are about 400 stitches on the needles but I'm chugging along because I am really eager to finish and see how the linen changes when washed and blocked. Unfortunately, because there are so many slippery stitches on the 32" circs, pics would just look like a tangled mess of skinny rope! I hope this will be a FO in the next week or so and I'll take plenty of pics then! I've also finished 1 1/2 socks of my Go With The Flow socks so they should be a FO and pic worthy soon too.

But just when you think this will be a pic-less post, Lace to the rescue cause everybody *loves* pics, right?

Right before I started this blog I finished Madli's Shawl from Summer 2004 Interweave Knits. I *loved* making this shawl, I *love* the yarn I used and I *love* the finished product so I thought I would share it now.

I used 3.5 skeins of Naturespun Fingering Weight in French Clay and a US #7 addi natura bamboo circ (but knit back and fourth, of course - I don't own straight needles other than DPN's anymore) This was my first experience with the dreaded nupp -- the little bobbles you see interspersed between the vines and on the border. The pattern suggested that you loosely *K1, yo* a total of seven times in the same stitch on the public side and purl SEVEN together on the return row!! I found this nearly impossible as the yo's tightened up to the needle and made it impossible to scoop up all seven stitches no matter how hard I tried! I didn't want to leave out the nupps as I feel they give real character to the finished shawl. My solution was to K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1 in the same stitch VERY loosely...the purls gave the nupp some stability and support and the purls didn't tighten up on the needle the way the yo's did. I found this made a compact, neat nupp with not too much fuss and it prevented lots of vituperatives and tearing of hair :) Here's a close up of the border and those fractious nupps...


Another frightening interesting aspect of this shawl is you knit the border and the body pattern repeats and then leave the live stitches on the needle. You then knit a second border and kitchener the 110 stitches together! A bit daunting at first but not too difficult with absolute silence, lots of caffeine and a kitchener cheat sheet close at hand! (Margene - if you want to knit Madli, you can come for a visit or mail me the pieces and I'll kitchener for ya!)

The shawl was a gift for my Mom and she *loves* it too! I plan to make it again someday soon in black Kid Silk Haze cause I'm a knitter who loves herself some Madli's Shawl and a good challenge! (or has serious masochistic issues, hehe)

Now I know this blog has been suffering some serious Pumpkin withdrawal....
I just *love* this pic cause it looks as if Pumpkin is laughing at the great joke he just heard....A mouse and some catnip went into a bar.....


Pumpkin says have a great week, a good laugh and some knitting *love* of your own!!

By special request, Beading Made Easy!

As promised, here's the scoop on beaded knitting, crochet style. I much prefer this method because it saves me from having to string hundreds of beads onto my yarn, a pretty onerous task if ya ask me! Plus it saves wear and tear on the yarn since you don't have to slide all those beads along the length of the yarn as you do with the knitted on method. Lastly, I feel this method "seats" the bead on the knitting better because you place the bead over BOTH legs of the stitch, unlike the knitted on method where sometimes the beads slip to the purl/private side and are difficult to see in the knitted fabric. So let's begin....

Of course, the proper tools are of utmost importance! You need crochet hooks small enough for the bead to slide *over* the hook...and man, that's tiny! I put a dime in the frame for perspective. From top to bottom: #9, #10, #11, #13...the higher the number, the smaller the hook.

Here you can see just how tiny these hooks really are. You can barely discern the hook part from the shaft.


I use seed beads for my knitting. Here are some commonly used sizes with corresponding hooks.

On the bottom we have size 8/0 beads on a #13 hook.This is used for fingering weight yarn.

The middle is size 6/0 beads on a #11 hook. This is used with sport weight yarn. I have used this size on DK and Worsted Weight yarns but it's a pretty tight fit and pretty difficult to get the yarn thru the bead without shreading it.

On top are size 3/0 beads on a size #10 hook. These are the beads I used on Kiri and would fit very comfortably on yarn as thick as Aran weight. Unfortunately, 3/0 beads are pretty hard to find. You can find 5/0 beads much more easily and 5/0's are perfect for up to DK/Worsted Weight.


Now for the "how to" portion of our broadcast....

Step 1: **For this demonstration I used sportweight yarn, size 6/0 seed beads and a size #11 crochet hook**

With the bead loaded on the crochet hook, knit (or purl, if you choose) to the stitch on the left knitting needle where you want to place the bead. Leave the stitch on the needle and lift the stitch with the crochet hook.

Step 2:

With the crochet hook, pull the yarn thru the hole in the bead while, at the same time, sliding the stitch off the left knitting needle.I hold the bead with my left hand while I do this, and the hook in my right. Make sure to get the whole stitch thru the bead.

Step 3:

Return the beaded stitch to the left knitting needle.

Step 4:

Knit the beaded stitch as you normally would, transferring the completed stitch to the right knitting needle.





Step 5:

Knit on as you normally would, placing beads wherever you choose.
And there you have it....real tough, hmmm?

I find beads look best with at least one stitch between each bead. I also prefer a "plain" (non-beaded) row of stitches between each beaded row.


VOILA!!!!
Here's a close up of my Sockapal2za beaded socks just to illustrate how the beads look in the fabric.. I used 8/0 seed beads on fingering weight sock yarn and a #13 crochet hook. I left a plain row in between each beaded row.


Since I started beading, two wonderful bead shops have opened locally so I can browse up close and personal :)

Prior to that, I got all my beads and crochet hooks from The Beadwrangler Great selection, fast delivery and wonderful customer service!

Another good resource is Earth Faire This is where I found the 3/0 beads for my Kiri. This is a good place to find a unique bead selection and interesting color mixes.

So now that you see how easy it is, get your self some crochet hooks and some pretty beads and get yourself out there beading...add some spice to your knitting!! Have fun!

Next Up.....

First of all I want to say a great big thank you for all the lovely compliments on my Kiri. You all sure know how to make a knitter's day :)

I've gotten some feed back on how I did the beading on Kiri so in the next week or so, I'll do a picture tutorial showing how I crocheted the beads on. It's really easy and fun when you have the right tools and much easier than stringing 1000 beads and knitting them on plus it's easier on the yarn not having to slide all those beads around....so stay tuned for the next episode!!

Since it's still the Summer of Lace, I'm still lacing away. I finished this Caryl's Kerchief to get a jump start on holiday knitting for a special friend. I used one skein of Socks That Rock sock yarn by Blue Moon Fiber Arts in the Pebbles colorway. It's hard to see but I also beaded the edge with 5/0 orange-y, topaz triangular seed beads. This is a fun, quick knit with a lot of pizzazz and can be used as a scarf or shawlette. Note: these beads were strung on and knitted into the cast on as per the pattern but next time I think I'll try crocheting the beads on the edge and see how that works.

Isn't she glamorous?

And keeping right in step with all lace, all the time here a FKD (that's FluffyKnitterDeb shorthand, hehe) I'm also working on some lace socks. These are the Go With The Flow socks designed by Evelyn Clark from the Summer 2005 issue of Interweave Knits. A fun simple lace pattern with lots of ribby stretch for a perfect fit. I'm loving this pattern and I think it looks great in this Mexicali colorway.Ole!

Since finishing Kiri, my "big" project is The Shaped Triangle shawl from A Gathering of Lace (a fabulous book for anyone even thinking of knitting lace!) I am using laceweight LINEN for this shawl, yes LINEN! I'm a linen virgin *blush* but since linen is so cool in the heat of summer, I thought it would make a lovely summer wrap. You can see the spool of linen in the pic and the very thin "string" at the bottom of the shawl. It's rather like knitting with thin rope and slippery as the dickens!! When I swatched I thought it would need the grab of bamboo to tame the slickness of the linen but I found it too grabby. I then tried my Denise needles, again too grabby. Next up, addi turbos...yikes! addi's and linen do not play well together...WAY too slippery and the points are really too blunt for lace! So I ended up very happy with my Inox Teflon Circs. I thought they too might be too slick but they were just perfect. And the Inox Teflon has the **best** points for lace knitting. I just wish they came in lengths longer than 80 cm cause I would really love a 40 inch Inox Gray! I wonder why the Inox Express comes in 40 inch but not the Teflon?

I'm getting an odd, stiff, wrinkled sort of fabric but I'm told by those in the know (hi Kay!!) linen softens up and develops an incomparable drape when washed and dried. Perfect for a summer shawl, n'est ce pas? We shall see....

Now for the kitty portion of our broadcast, the P-Man is something of a velcro kitty. He follows me from room to room and I'm always in his line of sight. Recently, he's taken to jumping into the bathtub as I'm preparing to shower! Here's proof.....

Now if I could only get him to pay my Visa bill.....

Knit on and stay cool!!

Presentng Ms. Kiri

Kiri is finished! She was a GREAT knit and I am soooo happy with how she turned out! Here she is for her glamor shots......

Blocked and drying on the bed

A close up of her edging, showing off her pretty pearl bead border

And her lovely center edging (my favorite part!)

An outside pic on a dark towel so you can really see her shapely leaves

And lounging outside, trying not to MELT (it's *HOT* here!!)

Specs:

Kiri adapted and designed by Polly of All Tangled Up

Used 8.5 skeins of Shine, a sportweight cotton/modal blend from Knitpicks

Size #6 US (4mm) Addi Natura Bamboo 40" circ. I didn't check gauge, just swatched til I found a tension and fabric I found pleasing and that worked with the yarn.

Mods: I enlarged the pattern by knitting 16 pattern repeats instead of the 12 suggested by the pattern and I added size 3/0 pearl colored beads by crocheting them onto the last 2 rows of the edging between the yarn overs and every stitch in the bind off row. The pattern also calls for an SKP for the left leaning decrease on each leaf but I did an SSK instead (I slip my first stitch as if to knit and my second stitch as if to purl for the SSK) I felt it made a neater edge on the leaf and more closely matched the K2tog of the right leaning decreases.

I absoultely *love* how she turned out and she is a knitting project I am very proud of! The stitch definition is amazing, she's incredibly soft, the style is versitile as the pearl edging can dress her up yet she's also perfect with a jean skirt for a trip to the freezing supermarket! Just about the perfect knit project all in all! :::Debi does serious happy dance:::

My poor Pumpkin longs to come outside when Mom does but he's an indoor/screened in balcony kinda kitty. When I leave the house, he stands sentinel in my front window and waits for my return.....awwwwwwwww!
Doesn't he look so sad?
Have no fear, he got lots of chicken when the photo session was over :)

Have a great week !