Hurricane Wilma Week 2 or BITE ME REALLY HARD, JEB!!!!

First off, Pumpkin and I want to thank everyone for the support. Every single comment means more than I can hope to convey because it helps me feel connected in this surreal tableau that continues into yet another week...

We are still without power here at the hovel I now call home Casa de FKD. I have a rudimentary door out front that doesn't lock and the back glass door maintains it's precarious perch unchanged. Water is dwindling and food is getting pretty scarce, last's night's meal was some defrosted pasta sauce, hold the pasta :) -- ya gotta have a sense of humor, right? My carpets have all been ripped out because the mildew was running rampant on my saturated floors. Power may not be restored until NOVEMBER 22!!! And because my life isn't interesting enough, I now have a wicked cold that I'm convinced is bird flu with the luck I've been having!

Here's the latest FEMA fubar...I registered for assistance on Oct. 27. At that time I was told that the agent would attempt to contact me but if he couldn't he would "just show up". I called back today to make sure my claim was in the system and verified with the FEMA phone person that the agent did NOT need to contact me directly for an inspection to be made because I still have no phone service and no where to charge my cell (but for the kindness of a neighbor with a generator but I hate to impose!) and this time I was told "oh no, the agent will attempt to contact you three times and if he can't reach you, WE CLOSE THE CASE!! Fucking GENIUS!! And just how is he supposed to do that when I HAVE NO POWER?? Sheesh!!

I have a few minutes computer time now and again thanks to said kind and generator endowed neighbor so I'll say hi when I can.

I finished the Hurricane Socks, now I'm on Wlma's Week 2 Socks.

Pumpkin's hanging in there, still really jumpy and nervous but still a handsome devil and keeping his Mom's spirits up!

And asshat Jeb?....I HAD provisions for three days....YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THREE WEEKS!!!!!!

Wilma - 1, Fluffy Knitter Deb - 0

I'm posting this mainly to have a permanent record. Pumpkin and I are ok, Casa de FKD is not!

This morning at about 8 am, Wilma arrived at FKD with a vengence. The winds had been clocked at 120 miles per hour (category 3) and were howling like a freight train outside and rain that sounded like machine gun fire was pelting every window. The front wall of Wilma was to last about 90 minutes, the eye about an hour and the back wall another 90 minutes. She made lanndfall on the west coast of Florida and headed for Broward County with a spiteful gleam in her eye.

The winds were so brutal and frightening, Pumpkin and I retired to the safety of my walk-in closet. I brought my knitting for comfort, some Diet Coke for me and Greenies for the P-Man, a cell phone and a flashlight and we hunkered down to ride out the storm, thinking that all would be well by noon.

At about 8:30 I heard an enormous BOOM and my whole condo shook!! With trepidation I peeked out my bedroom door and to my shock and horror, saw that my front door had been blown right off its hinges and a giant, twisted hunk of metal was wending it's way over my threshold and right towards me!! I quickly shut the door and ran back into the closet.....

Suddenly, another huge BOOM....the pressure from the missing front door caused the huge sheet of glass that was in the the sliding glass door in the back of my condo to be sucked right out of door frame, sucking the vertical blinds out with it!!! And the wind and rain that was now ripping thru my HOME was almost strong enough to knock me off my feet! I grabbed on to my bedroom door and with Herculean effort slammed it closed and ran back to the relative safety of my closet where I could do nothing but shake and cry. I have never been so frightened in my entire life!! Poor Pumpkin was curled up in a firghtened ball way in the back of my closet. I know he was crying too!

At about 9:30 everything became eerily silent....the eye of the storm was passing over. I ventured from my "bunker" to see what damage had been done....OMG! I returned to my closet and my uncontrollable sobbing, as the raging wind and rain again began to batter my condo in resumed fury.

At about 11:45 am the winds began to slow and the pelting rain to taper. I has gained a modicum of composure by this point when I heard a male voice calling my name...my downstairs neighbor Alberto, had come to see if I had survived. I thought it was the voice of God.....

This is what I saw when I emerged....pics by Alberto. Click to see a larger view.

door from outside


door from inside


wood from door frame


giant metal roof piece

roof chunk in living room, flattened door behind it


living room

shattered glass curio cabinet


kitchen

kitchen 2

sliding glass door to balcony


back door with bowed out glass, verticals sucked thru

I have no power and my computer battery is about done. I have no front or back door so I can't leave, and I've had no word from Mom and Dad who live an hour north! What else don't I have? Well, that would be homeowner's insurance.....I'm a "starving" Grad student, remember? I do however have leaves everywhere, a completely saturated carpet and a melting fridge and freezer, torn screens on my porch and raisins scattered everywhere as they were sucked from my kitchen cabinets. The good news? I , and my condo association president I might add, do see this as clear culpability on the condo's part since the giant, flying metal thing that caused all this just happens to be big hunk-o-condo ROOF!! ( there were other peices hanging from tree branches and scattered around the property) Between the condo association's insurance and FEMA, we should be ok altho it will take a while and I'm not sure where I'll be staying or when I'll be able to post again but thanks for all your well wishes! Imagine if the P-Man and I didn't have those? ::::shudder::::

Oh, and knitting content? I actually turned the heel of a new sock thru my tears by flashlight, in my closet.

Hope to be back soon.... addendum: Bro in Sanfrancisco spoke to the 'rents, they are fine, no damage but no power.

Follow up on using the Turkish Cast-On

I've gotten a lot of feedback on this technique and how I used it for the socks and the little pouch.

For the socks: I cast on 12 stitches (6 wraps) and worked the first two rows per the instructions. I then switched to 4 DPNs - 3 stitches per needle - as this is my preferred method for knitting socks (those that use magic loop or 2 circs can easily adapt this for your preferred method) I wanted to use a "star toe" so I increased 4 stitches EVERY row as follows: At the beginning of each needle K1, M1, knit to end. I increased in this manner until I had a total of 24 stitches and then increased EVERY OTHER ROW until I had 64 stitches (for a woman's medium and an 8 inch circumference). At this point you can add whatever pattern you choose - keep in mind that the pattern you choose, if you are designing your own sock, may decrease (lace) or increase (cables) the number of stitches you need.

If you prefer the standard wedge toe: Cast on 12 stitches (6 wraps) and work the first 2 rows as instructed. Distribute stitches on 4 DPNs and increase every row as follows: K1, M1, knit to end of needle 1. Knit across needle 2 to last 2 stitches, M1, K1. K1, M1, knit to end of needle 3. Knit across needle 4 to last 2 stitches, M1, K1. Continue to increase in this manner EVERY row until you have 24 total stitches then increase EVERY OTHER ROW until you have 64 stitches. For magic loop or 2 circs follow the above with 6 stitches per needle to start.

For the little pouch: I cast on 40 stitches using the Turkish Cast-On (20 wraps) I worked the first 2 rows as instructed and 2 additional rows. I then increased 4 stitches: On the next row K1, M1, knit to last 2 stitches, M1, K1. Turn. K1, M1, knit to last 2 stitches, M1, K1. I then worked even for 3 inches. Next row K2, yo, k2 tog repeat to end. Turn. Repeat eyelet row. Work 2 more rows even then bind off. Make a cord of your choice ( crochet, lucet, I-cord, twisted) and thread thru eyelets. No SEAMS! Voila!

Feel free to leave any questions in the comments or email me!

Enjoy!

Knitting Made Easier - Turkish Cast On Tutorial

The Turkish Cast-On was recently featured in an article by Meg Swansen in the fall issue of Vogue Knitting.

I found this technique so brilliant I thought I would share it.

The Turkish Cast-On is an invisible cast on that forms a closed end. It is perfect for things like sock toes, mittens, glove fingers, pouches and purses....as I worked it I even thought, "wow this would be a great cast on for the legs and arms of a stuffed teddy bear!"

To work the Turkish Cast-On you need two same sized circular needles. For this demonstration I used two US # 7 (4.5mm) needles - a 24" Addi turbo and a 26" Crystal Palace bamboo so you can differentiate between each needle.
ETA: This technique is easily adapted to the magic loop method, using one circular needle to execute the technique rather than two. However, using two different types of circs as I have for this tutorial does make the technique a bit easier to visualize when first starting out.
STEP 1:

On the bamboo needle make a slip knot.

Hold both needles paralell and in your left hand with the tips pointing to the right and the silver needle on top.Hold the working yarn behind the silver needle.

STEP 2:
With the working yarn behind the silver needle, working left to right, wrap the yarn loosely around both needles.



Wrap as many time as equal to HALF the total numer of desired stitches. In the sample below, 15 wraps = 30 working stitches.



STEP 3:

With your right hand, pull the bottom (bamboo) needle to the right so that the wrapped loops are now on the cable of the needle. Allow the bamboo needle to dangle.




STEP 4:

Grasp the non-working end of the silver needle and bring it up to knit into the loops on the silver needle.






STEP 5:

After knitting the loops on the silver needle, turn the work.
Slide the bamboo needle loops on to the tip of the bamboo needle.





And slide the silver needle to the right so that the loops are now on the silver needle cable and the silver needle is dangling.



STEP 6:
Slide the slip knot off the tip of the bamboo needle and undo it, just allowing it to hang. With the working yarn coming from the last stitch on the silver needle knit across the loops with the bamboo needle.





Step 7:

Pull the bamboo needle thru to the right so the new stitches are on the cable and the bamboo needle is dangling.
Turn.
Slide the stiches to the tip of the silver needle and knit across with the other end of the silver needle.




Repeat from Step 5 alternating needles with each row. As you alternate between the two needles a firm, seamless two sided "pocket" will form.






The instructions may seem a bit verbose and daunting but if you "Just Do It" it's really very easy...get 2 different circs and some yarn and work step by step and it will all become clear once you put the tutorial into actual practice!
I used the Turkish Cast-On for my toe-up Chervon Lace socks...here's a close up




I found the Turkish Cast-On much easier than all the other toe-up cast on's that I've tried and I prefer not having to worry about any waste yarn.
I also used it to whip up this little pouch for a special friend to store her stitch markers in. Notice the seamless construction of the Turkish Cast-On and the lovely Lucet cord :)





I really like this cast on and I see so many practical uses for it....I hope you give it a try and enjoy it as much as I have!




Happy Knitting!




**FOR MORE DETAILED INFO ON USING THE TURKISH CAST ON FOR SOCK TOES OR MAKING A POUCH, SEE THE OCTOBER 21, 2005 ENTRY IN MY ARCHIVES HERE!**

What Debi Needs or Debi's busy preparing her next "Made Easy" tutorial....

I'm still on Sleeve Island despite all Pumpkin's help and diligently at work on the next "Made Easy" tutorial for the Turkish Cast-On so no knitting pics today.

Instead I nicked this from Liz cause I thought it was funny....feel free to nick it from me too!

Google Your Name needs as in "Debi needs" and see what comes up. Here's mine......

Debi needs historical updates

Debi need to raise at least $2500 ("at least"...that's for sure!)

Debi needs help copying, collating, stamping, and stickering

Debi needs some help with a history project

Debi needs a haircut (and some serious Loreal Preference Medium Auburn)

Debi needs water wings and an inner tube (huh? FYI, *fluffy* FLOATS!!)

Debi needs silence (tutorial genius at work, hehehe...)

Debi needs to leave (but she'll be baaaaaack!!)


Because the P-Man is such an important contributor to FKD I gave his name a google just for giggles....his hits are much better than mine!! Must be the season.....

Pumpkin needs to be more noticeable (YAY!!)

Pumpkin needs to live

Pumpkin needs to grow (see below)

Pumpkin needs satisfaction (don't we all?)

Pumpkin needs a vent hole (YIKES!!!)

Pumpkin needs to break 1000 pounds (and with our new Greenies supply he's well on his way!-- thanks Lucy and Auntie Agnes!)

Pumpkin needs the most amount of space

Pumpkin needs to be Pagan (sorry, we run an non-denominational cat household here at FKD)

Here's the P-Man getting himself busy with grooming chores and catnip mouse activities while he too waits for some knitting content!

I didn't want to steal the thunder from all the Rhinebeck Returnees and their spoils so I'll be back on Wednesday with the tutorial. See you then!

...Oh, Debi says bye too :)

I've got a new toy and I return for more punishment

I always wanted one of these and now I finally have one! Any guesses what it is?

It's a bloodwood LUCET

What's a lucet you query? Here's the definition from Wickipedia:

Lucet is a method of cordmaking or braiding which is believed to date back to the Viking era. Lucet cord is square, strong, and slightly springy. It closely resembles knitted I-cord or the cord produced on a knitting spool. Lucet cord is formed by a series of loops, and will therefore unravel if cut.
The only tools necessary to lucet are a length of yarn and a lucet, also called a lucet fork. The lucet fork is normally made of wood, with two prongs at one end and a handle on the other. It may also have a hole through which the cord can be pulled. The yarn is wound around the fork, forming loops, which are then lifted with the fingers over the working yarn and tightened to form the cord. The cord is wrapped around the lucet handle as it grows.
Lucet cord can be used for decorative edging, draw-strings, lacing, and any other use where a strong cord is needed.

I love exotic wood and this bloodwood lucet matches another of my special knitting accoutrements, my bloodwood darning egg, right Margene?

I have a design rolling around in my head that calls for a drawstring so rather than knitting miles of I-cord I thought a lucet would be much more fun! I practiced with the little cord in the pic and it is FUN!! It seems to be much sturdier than knitted I-cord and a bit faster so all in all, I'm really enjoying this new toy! I got mine here if you want one too.

And the gifts keep on coming.....
I got some $$ for my birthday with the express instruction to "buy myself some yarn with it" so I did :)

I know I must be a glutton for punishment but I went back for more Euroflax laceweight LINEN (eek!)
This time I picked some in the color Sage. The color in the pic is pretty true, it's a dark Sage cause it's much darker than the [Martha Stewart for K-Mart] Sage blanket it's resting on! All kidding aside, it's a really lovely color and it will make another beautiful, drapey, lightweight shawl someday soon (I'm addicted too, Catherine!) I also bought the lovely Cherry Red Louet Gems Opal yarn for some juicy red socks for ME! See, I finally knit myself some socks and now I'm unstoppable, muahahahahaha.....


I also wanted to share my dealer source for Euroflax Linen. It's Nancy at Handknitting.com Nancy is very helpful with great customer service, excellent prices (and frequent sales too!) and the yarn comes coned directly from Louet so you get the best right from the source! She also has lots of nice sock yarn and other interesting wares....go pay her a visit and try a little linen, you know you wanna.....

As far as knitting here at FKD, I've knit maybe another inch on the Ocean Lace Stole so no pics there but I did finish both fronts of the Manly Ribby Cardi and I've now cruised over to Sleeve Island!


I'd like to finish quickly so I can order the zipper and get this project done but I'm sure with the assistance of my lil helper, I'll be rescued from Sleeve Island real soon! See.......


Such a helpful lil guy, my P-Man is :)
All those fiber lovers lucky enough to be off to Rhinebeck this weekend bite me have a wonderful time!!! And to those of us left behind, remember misery loves company :) Have a great weekend no matter where you are!!

Next week as promised, a pictorial on the GREAT Turkish Cast-On so see you then!

Two by two by two....

Well I'm finally back.....miss me?

Where have I been, you ask? Well, in the last TWO weeks I have -

Had TWO hard drives bite the dust !!

Finished TWO current projects

Started TWO new WIPs

Are you sensing a pattern here :)

About the hard drives.....to make a long and painful story short -- NEVER BUY A GATEWAY!!!!!

I think ::::fingers crossed:::: I have things under control now and should be able to resume my place among the virtual world once again!

Now on to more pleasant topics....new works in progress!

First we have Ribby Cardi, the manly version. This is my second Ribby, the first having been completed last spring as a very early Chanukah gift for my Mom. This one is the Dad version....yes, the 'rents will be "The Family Ribby" this holiday season, hehe......

This one is Peruvian Highland Wool from Elann in color Redwood. I've completed the back and have started working on both fronts simultaneously.

For my second WIP I wanted something a bit more portable. This is the Ocean Lace Stole from Just One More Row. It's a very simple lace pattern done in baby loop mohair. The yarn is a royal pain to work with but the colorway is just gorgeous! It's hard to tell in the pic but it's a lovely teal blue, violet and kelly green. This is a gift for a special friend and (dare I say it?) the completion of my holiday knitting for 2005!! YAY!!!


The finished objects over the last 2 weeks consisted of two pairs of socks. The first are the pair I designed myself. These are my very first toe up socks and I used the previously mentioned Turkish Cast-On. These are for a friend who is quite tall as well as *fluffy* so these will fit a size 12 (!) and a very full calf and ankle. They have a pretty chevron lace panel down the front of the entire sock and 3 additional lace panels were added to increase the circumference of the ankle/calf. The stitch count could easily be adjusted to fit smaller or fluffier feet so if there is an interest, I will write up the pattern. Edit: The original pic I posted of these socks was so horrible, I waited for a bit of sunshine and tried again !


Have you ever heard the story of the shoemakers children who went barefoot? Well up until now, I was " barefoot" as this avid sock knitter NEVER knit socks for herself !! Now, all that has changed and I give you the first ever self knit Fluffy Knitter Deb socks........


TA DA!!!
These were knit in the pretty Sockotta given to me by Agnes for my birthday and I must say It's about time and I will be knitting lots more in the future!!! Pretty nice short row heels there, hmmmm? I love these beautiful socks, thanks again Auntie Agnes!

Keeping in the theme of TWO, here is the P-Man engaging in one of his favorite pastimes....sitting on my bedroom window sill, gazing serenely at the world below ( I live on the fifth and top floor)


And view number TWO

TWO times the cuteness :)
It's good to be back! I hope it sticks.....

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!