Bonita es una nueva camisa muy bonita!

After much ado (and much frogging and re-knitting!) Bonita is finally here for her debut!

Her pretty scoop neck and bodice

Her wavy beaded edges

Her lovely lace and chartreuse beads

And the money shot!

Specs:

Bonita from Rowan #41

Second to largest size - 46 inch chest measurement

8.5 skeins Berroco Nostalgia, colorway #6672 "Gecko"

Size #3 (3.25 mm) 32" Addi Lace circular needles

Approx. 400 size 2/0 chartreuse seed beads

Mods:

Well of course being me, I changed just about everything :)

I subbed the yarn. I found the called for Rowan Damask not only ridiculously spendy but really too busy to show off the lace well.

I had just used the Berroco Nostalgia to make the Retro Redux Shrug and loved it so I was glad to find a colorway I liked that worked well with the lace. I adore the green and I think the chartreuse beads really compliment the design.

The Nostalgia is a cotton/microfiber blend with a lot of bounce so it was a dream to knit. It's a good thing because if you recall, I decided I wasn't happy with the first incarnation of the "front" because I was off a few stitches and I didn't like the shaping so I frogged the whole front, 200 beads included! (I also omitted the shaping completely in v.2 cause I figured being fluffy gives me built in shaping, heh!)

I always have a very loose gauge with cotton so I had to go down FOUR needle sizes to get gauge! The pattern called for a #7, I used a #3.

The finished product is next to the skin soft with lots of memory so unlike pure cotton I don't worry about it stretching out into a tent by the end of the day! I LOVE this yarn, can ya tell?

The original pattern calls for a SKP to form the lace but I changed mine to my preferred centered double decrease which is why you can see a more defined "line" with each lace repeat (click to embiggen for a closer look!)

The original pattern design had a rather high neck in the front and a "scoop" in the back from which you were instructed to knit an I-cord from which you were to hang a shell ornament that hung down the back into the scoop as a sort of backwards necklace. Um, no thanks :)

I knit two "backs" and made mine more of a tank than a shell with a scoop neck both back and front. A design much more Florida friendly! I figure if it's warm enough to go sleeveless with lace who wants a high neck with a shell hanging down your back, right?

In summary, te quiero mi Bonita!! I love how she turned out - the fit is great, it's nice and cool, it can be dressed up or down and it was an easy, enjoyable knit! I would totally recommend this as a first lace top for any lace newbie.

I leave you with my Director of Photography taking a little break. The photo shoot was so hard on my P-Man he needed a bit of Kitty TV to relax with.

Have a great week!

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!

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! :)

Bonita?

Ay Caramba!

Old socks, new socks, pink socks, blue socks

Best chuckle of the day....

I was checking my blog stats and I saw a lot of visitors from a particular site so I clicked on the link to see what was making FKD so popular. It was a blog from a woman in France and the link on her sidebar was for my beading tutorial .....It was listed as "Blog de Fluffy" :)

Yesterday was the first day of summer so of course that means it's

Summer of Socks 2007!!
Here's my first sock of summer.....

It's the "new" pink sock - Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn in the Ruby River colorway and it's totally luscious!! Really soft and look at that color!

It's a toe up sock using the Turkish cast on and Scroll Lace from More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch, another great sock book BTW.


Now here's the "old" blue sock...a finished Thelonious!

Specs:

Thelonious designed by Cookie A.

2 skeins Gems Pearl, colorway Neptune. Size US#1 (2.25mm) Aero DPNs

ETA: The pattern states that the "sock is not as stretchy as regular rib because of the traveling stitches". Because of this I used a US #1.5 (2.5 mm) for the leg and switched to the smaller needle for the rest of the sock.

Mods: NONE!! because Cookie is such an amazing designer I knit every stitch as the pattern suggested and loved every one!

It's a great pattern and a really great looking sock - the chart may look overwhelming but it's very intuitive and once you get into it, it's a really fun and interesting knit! I can't recommend Cookie's patterns highly enough but I know that's preaching to the choir cause almost everyone is already knitting her Monkey pattern :)

My other WIP is Bonita, here's her progress....

I'm absolutely LOVING this tank! I just wish I could capture the true grassy spring green of the yarn and the beautiful beads.

I leave you with my favorite guy hanging out in one of his favorite spots......

whatever pattern I'm working on (and trying to read!) Maybe if he does it enough he'll let me teach HIM to knit :)

Have a great first weekend of summer from all of us here at Blog de Fluffy!

One knitter's nightmare is another knitter's dream

And the new owner of the FPS nightmare DREAM is.....Cheryl!!

The best news is, she really wants to continue what I've already started so it's win/win for both of us! YAY!!

Can you believe it, Cheryl just FINISHED a gorgeous FPS and she actually really wants to knit another one!! Here's another lil secret: our Cheryl has a pattern in the new Knitty!! Now clearly this is one of those Knitting Goddesses I previously made reference to :)

Cheryl, if you would please contact me with your mailing info, your SECOND FPS will be winging it's way to your doorstep faster than you can say laceweight sucks rocks! :)

Congrats you crazy woman Cheryl and thanks again for everyone else who bared their souls and their knitting disasters!

Moving forward, here's the cute little FO I mentioned....

It's the Dolly Bag from Rowan

Isn't she adorable?

This was this season's thank you gift for renewing my status as a Rowanette. She's knit with 2 skeins of Handknit Cotton in the Celery colorway and as size 4 US (3.5 mm) Addi Lace needle. The pattern called for a size 6 but I alway have loose tension with cottons and I wanted a very firm fabric because the bag isn't lined.

This was a totally fun knit. I cabled without a cable needle and even the bobbles/nupps weren't heinous cause they are the knit in the front and back of the stitch x5 then slip the 4 stitches over the 5th kind NOT the purl a zillion stitches together on the purl row kind! (::::cough FPS cough::::)

I think the FK Mom has her eye on this cause it is fairly sturdy and not as "Dolly" as the name implies as it is about 8 inches wide at the bottom and 6 inches tall without the handles. If you have the kit I highly recommend this bag for a quick summer knit!

Unfortunately, I didn't make it out for WWKIP day because I had the headache of the century! All the rain and barometric changes completely did me in (altho I did knit in front of my two neighbors so that kinda counts, right?)

I was down for the count but I did manage to start Bonita later in the evening. Then I started her again on Sunday cause as we all know, swatches LIE!!

The pattern calls for a US #5 for a gauge of 5.5 sts/inch. I was a hair under at 5.75 sts/inch so I went down to #4 and 6 sts/ inch, did the math and picked the larger size. Of course when I knit the first full pattern repeat and pulled her off the needles she was ginormous! So now I'm knitting the smaller size with a US #3! It's that pesky tension and cotton thing again! Good thing I happen to have made a recent acquisition of a full set of Addi Lace needles so I had my feathers numbered for just such an emergency! (bonus points if you get that reference - my brother used to do the most hilarious impression of the speaker of that phrase when we were kids and still does on request, heh!)

So even tho this is less knitting than I hoped to accomplish by now, here she is......

Isn't she pretty?
I ADORE the Nostalgia yarn I'm using, it's so sproingy and soft! Plus I love the subtle variegation and how it looks with the beads and the lace! See? I never waxed this poetic about the FPS :)

This is a WIP I'm *really* enjoying!

Of course I can't let that picture slide by without a mention of my current manicure - this is another of OPI's "Brights Collection" called "Call My Cell-ery" . How could you not love that name?? I admit the color is a bit Shrek meets Slime but I'm getting a kick out of matching my manicure to my knits! Plus it's a fun summery color so why not? I must admit however, if I don't knit something red or pink soon everyone I know is gonna think of me as "the weird knitting lady with the funky nails and the handsome and studly cat" Oh wait, they already do :)

Speaking of handsome and studly cats, will this one do?

I think so :)

How can you mend a broken heart?

Altho I'm sad to leave my Forest Path Stole to the knitting of my past I take comfort in the fact that some lucky FKD fan will knit her and give her the love she deserves!

I must say that the stories y'all have shared have been hilarious as well as painful but it's good to know we're all human and we're all in good company :)

Don't forget you still have til Sunday if you're interested in making her your own, just keep the tales of knitted woe coming.... it's so entertaining freeing, isn't it?

So how does a knitter mend a broken heart? Why she begins a new project of course!

What has won my heart in place of the FPS? Well....

I'll be using this:

Berroco Nostalgia, color #6672 - "Gecko" (fitting for a Floridan, huh?) which is actually much more spring/grass green than the color on my monitor but since it's been raining like Armageddon for the last 3 days, this is the best I could do. It's a soft, light cotton/microfiber blend with a hint of a shiny nylon - it's a dream to knit with and so pretty! In fact I knit the Retro Redux Shrug with it a few weeks ago.

To knit this:

Bonita from Rowan #41
Who's neckline I will be embellishing with these:

BTW, these beads ARE the perfect color for the yarn, I have no clue why their color is so true while the yarn is not. I plan on wearing Bonita "backwards" which is why it will be perfect for some knitted beading but I'll explain more once I start her.

I'm really excited about this new WIP. I'll be starting Bonita on Saturday which is WORLD WIDE KNIT IN PUBLIC DAY and I think it will work wonders in helping me get over my recent breakup :)

What will y'all be knitting on WWKIP Day?

I'm still working on my Thelonious socks which are quite beautiful but I'll save that for next week along with another cute lil FO I completed today. I'm such a tease I know but I gotta pace myself :)

I will, however share a wonderful gift I got this week....

I know I'm doing the KFYS '07 (HAR.) and I know I said sock yarn, for me, counts but a friend wanted to buy me something special for a favor I did and she just happened to know exactly what I wanted. After all I did say any and all GIFTS anyone felt the need to bestow upon me did NOT count! So how about a little yarn pr0n baybee.....

That's Dream in Color sock yarn from Kris at Sonny and Shear

Four glorious skeins of Smooshy Sock in Happy Forest, Beach Fog, Ruby River, and Giant Peach.

It's uber soft and the depth of color is amazing! Plus Kris is a good friend of mine and I had to support in her endeavor of her new online yarn shop, now didn't I?

I can't wait to start a new sock in this yummy yarn!

Go pay Kris a visit, she's a real sweetie with great products and fabulous customer service! She even includes nice little surprises in each order (FK Mom loved the raspberry tea!), has a great free shipping deal and rewards for her loyal customers! Come on you know you wanna have a peek!

Now to close with some manly kitty pr0n. Seems kitty tummies are all the rage around Knitbloglandia these days - here's the P-Man's contribution!

Have a great weekend and get out there and Knit in Public!!