Eye Candy Friday

Some serious yarn pr0n....
(as always, click to embiggen - you wont be sorry!)

Enjoy!and happy weekend!

Random Friday

Thanks for all the compliments on La Dolce Vita!

I'm hoping my SIL likes it as much as everyone here! I'll try to get some modeling pics once it's gifted so you can see it on a real body cause it sure is pretty and will look stunning with her olive-toned beauty!

Regarding my Veteran's Day post...I know lots of us have seen the familiar poppy boutonniere but I'm guessing many of us didn't know the origin of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance, me included.

The poem I posted In Flander's Fields, written by Canadian field doctor John McCrae during World War I is the inspiration for using poppies for remembering and honoring our veterans. He wrote it after presiding, in lieu of having no Chaplain, over the funeral of a close friend and comrade and was touched by the poppies growing amid the headstones in a small cemetery in Belgium. I think the poem is just as touching and important 93 years later...sadly.

Now for some less sobering randomness, look what I got in the mail.....

How cool is this??
Anyone who's ever gotten an email from me knows my address is CherryRipeGirl@comcast.net. Altho many of the online losers are sure that has some deviant meaning, the origin of the name is simply that an ex-boyfriend who was an Aussie ex-pat from Perth gave it to me. Cherry Ripes are a very popular candy Down Under and it was his Aussie way of calling me his sweetie (awwww!)

Donna, knitter extraordinaire and owner of the cutest whisk broom lovin' bunny ever was sweet enough to think that I should taste my namesake and so she sent me a bag of Cherry Ripes straight from Oz!! So YUMMY!! And that purple-y black something else peeking from behind the candy is a really yummy, gorgeous skein of cashmere sock yarn from The Knittery in the colorway, Midnight! (no Beth, you can't have it!) Thank you so much Donna, both your gifts were totally wonderful!

Because I had a few requests I've added new pattern to my side bar - my
Extra Warm Kureyon Wristers in two sizes! Enjoy!

One last bit of random before I go, heh...

On Ravelry, I belong to the Sock Knitters Anonymous Group (as an aside, a very fun, active group with a cool Sockdown Challenge every month - come and join us!)

I posted this to the group and the subject still intrigues me so I'm posting it again here....

In one of the Ravelry forums there is thread titled "Not feeling the sock love?" or something to that affect...

It was a thread for people who don't knit socks and don't get sock knitting (Imagine that???? Hehe)

Some of the comments really surprised me tho -- many posters responded that they don't knit socks because "they don't wear socks" or they "don't wear handknit socks".

This indicated to me that unless the knitter is wearing the socks herself, she's not knitting them! This concept really surprised me cause here at Chez Fluffy, 90% of the socks I knit are for someone else. I would also say that at least 50% of the other items I knit are for someone else too.

So what do you all think, are most knitters "selfish"? ***

***I used the word selfish in quotes because I don't think knitting for one's self is a bad thing, it was just a surprising observation as a reason not to knit socks.

Lastly, a random pic of my favorite kitty man

Getting a random and much appreciated head scratch!

Have a wonderful week, see you before Turkey Day!!

Everybody into the pool!

If you're one of those knitters who freaks out when handpainted yarn pools, avert your eyes now cause I've got a doozy for ya!

This is my new sock yarn from Claudia at Tausendschon. The colorway is "schlangengift". (I love this yarn, btw - so vibrant, so soft!)

Personally I've yet to discover pooling, flashing, ect. I didn't like. I think it's one of the best things about handpainted yarns, the interesting designs that form and undulate across the garment.

When I saw how this was knitting up I knew it was tailor made for my niece! She *LOVES* pooling because she thinks it looks like lightening bolts (me too!)

I'm knitting this on US size #0 (2.0mm) because I wanted to maintain the cool pooling ( I usually eschew #0's for #1 and 8 sts/inch - on the #0's I'm getting 9.5!) and I'm knitting plain stockinette cause I figured the yarn was shouting loudly enough :) Isn't it great?

Here's another kind of pool...

Carolyn is starting a new online shop called SpinningYarnsOnline.com. She spins and hand dyes her own yarn plus has cute bags and accessories. She contacted me to try some of her yarn...

Meet Pool...

I haven't swatched with it yet but I can say it's super soft and the colors are vibrant and rich! It's 100% superwash merino fingering weight and I can't wait to knit some socks with it! Go pay Carolyn a visit, you wont be sorry :)

Here are my finished footies...

Specs:

Breeze footies from Knitty

1 Skein Regia Stretch in Blue Jeans

Magic Loop US #1 (2.25mm) 32" circular needle

I think these footies are beyond cute and I think my mail carrier will love them!

The pattern is written for 3 DPNs which I *hate*, it just feels so awkward and cumbersome to me ( I prefer 4).

I switched to magic loop so I could have the instep pattern on one needle and the sole stitches on the other and it worked great! It also made it easier to cable without a cable needle! One other slight mod I made is that the heel is written as C4B but I find it much easier to cable without a cable needle using C4F. So my footies are actually mirrored cables, the first having C4B and switching to C4F for the second. Yes, I know, I admit it, I cannot leave a pattern be :)

ETA: D'oh! I totally forgot my other mods! The pattern calls for Mandarin Petit cotton which apparently is much thicker than Regia Stretch (7 sts./inch) To accommodate my smaller gauge (8 sts/inch) I worked on 64 stitches throughout the body of the sock by casting on 64, not doing the first decreases as per the pattern and adding an extra knit stitch at the start and end of the instep panel. I made the medium size sock but I did the pattern repeats for the large to make the socks long enough for a size 7.5 foot.

It's a holiday weekend for those of us in the States so while you're eating a hot dog and taking an end of summer last dip in the pool think about those that aren't so fortunate. Two of our fellow knit bloggers are taking to the streets to help so I thought I'd spread the word...

Julie of Noolie Knits is raising funds for a special friend battling Multiple Myeloma and others coping with Leukemia and Lymphoma.
You can help Julie and offer support here: Julie's Donation Blog


Carole of Carole Knits fame is walking to fight breast cancer again this year!


You can help Carole stomp out breast cancer by donating here: Carole's Donation Blog

The P-Man can't walk with Carole or Julie but he's making biscuits in empathy cause these are such worthy causes!

Have a great holiday/weekend everyone!!

I'm sensing a theme here

What is it about a certain color that just draws you in and stays in your fancy?

When I loaded some of my FO's to Ravelry I noticed a predominance of green which should come as no surprise cause I'm always singing green's praises. It's funny cause I really don't wear green, I look terrible in it and prior to Bonita there wasn't a spot of it in my wardrobe! (I can get away with Bonita because it's a very dilute green with a strong cream base and the scoop neck keeps the green away from my face). I can't wear it but I love to look at it so I knit it for everyone else!

Because my knits were so "verdant" I thought I should change up my knitting a little and expand my color horizons except now everything is pink or blue! A few months ago I wrote a post called old socks, new socks, pink socks blue socks.... and what did I just finish? Pink socks! And what did I cast on? Blue socks! Plus miles and miles of blue garter stitch comprise the Esprit Tank. Sheesh, maybe I need some purple and brown? (btw, I really don't like brown and I'm meh about purple)

One color that I totally LOVE that was never on my radar screen at all is orange!
I find myself drawn almost as strongly to orange as I've always been to green.

Have you found your color tastes changing over time? I dunno, maybe it's the exposure on knit blogs to so many lovely knits in so many colors I'd never even considered before....or maybe it's hormones :)

At any rate here's the "old" sock, they're pink.....

Specs:

Twin Rib from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch

One skein Louet Opal (sportweight) in Pink Panther (I used every centimeter!) size #1 (2.5 mm) 32" Addi Turbo.

Toe-up using magic loop and the Turkish cast on. YO short row heels.

Bound off using a tubular bind off (I LOVE this for toe-up socks!)

I wanted a "solid" pattern because the recipient lives in New Hampshire and the Twin Rib had just enough punch to keep it interesting while being super easy. The yarn is a dream to knit with except for the fact that there were FIVE KNOTS in one skein - I hate that especially for socks when you want as few ends as possible. I wrote to Louet and they were very contrite and shocked that a skein like that made it to a consumer plus they are sending new yarn so all is well :)

I couldn't have my needles languishing so here are the new socks, they're blue...

This is the beginning of Breeze from Knitty in Regia stretch. This is a very fun pattern and who doesn't love footies? These are gonna be a Christmas gift for my mail carrier, Laura.

I'm slogging along on the Esprit Tank, I've almost finished the front and then I get to knit it all over again for the back, lucky me!

Now for a little fiberlicious eye candy...have a gander at these...

These beauties came from here: Claudia's Place - Tausendschon

I found Claudia's beautiful yarn while surfing around and then I found it on Ravelry too. I fell in love with the glorious, saturated color (oooh, ORANGE!!) so I contacted Claudia who couldn't be nicer or more helpful. Her site is all in German but she speaks perfect English plus she's having the website translated to English over the next month or so.

The yarn is super soft, a dream to knit with even prettier in person plus VERY reasonably priced! I got these four skeins including shipping for under $60!! These happen to be superwash with nylon (my preferred sock yarn) but she has lots of other handpainted fiber selections. Plus shipping was FAST! So go visit Claudia for some unique colorful fiberliciousness!

Come to think of it, I can think of a reason I've fallen in love with orange.....must be this handsome dude.....

Hasn't he made you an orange fan too? :)

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!

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!