How it got its name

So we have your Hawaii mini-socks,

and your fair isle hat,

but that's not you came here to see, is it?

Does any one know what this means?:

If you guessed, fringe, you are correct. If you correctly identified Bunny's Little Helpers at top right and bottom right by their distinctive markings, then extra points for you.

And so the knitting part is finally finished, and the fringe is cut and divvied up, and I start to workin' on it, but The Man sends me to bed because I am full of snot and he thinks that putting fringe on a throw looks strenuous. So I don't finish until Sunday. But I do finish.

Pretty pretty pretty pretty! And you can see why it's called Absolutely Fabulous.

This is not a stronger-than-dirt machine washable green blankie. This is a hand-wash, be gentle throw. I need to protect it from The Boys, but I don't want to put it under glass either.

Do You Want to See Ab-Fab?

Ab-Fab wants four pattern repeats (more or less). I have one, and here it is:









Today's plan is all Ab-Fab, all the time. I am mightily sick of the winter cardigan:









I have a back and one of the fronts done, and have started the second front and have about 16 inches of stockinette to look forward to before I even start the shaping. Yawn. Not much of a photo, either, is it?



I have two socks going. One is the second of the May sock club socks. It's time to do the gusset increases, but I am working on Ab-Fab today. The second is a plain sock in a green and blue yarn that is not for The Man. Lately he seems to think that if it isn't for me, it might be for him. Well this one isn't for him, so don't even ask.









Nice sunshine and autumn leaves, but not very true yarn colors.



I can also report significant progress on the secret project, but if I said anything else, I would blow the secret.



When the Ab-Fab is done, I am going to do one last beagle blanket and finish off the crappy brown acrylic once and for all. I even had a pattern (of sorts) picked out, but it was in a book-that-is-no-more so I'm going to have to see if I can find it in one of the other books or replace the one that Yarn Bandit ate. We'll see. Trolling through my yarn books usually leads to startitis and stash enhancement, and I've been so good lately.

Very Very Angry

Bunny is not happy with a certain someone because of this. She has had her lunch and checked the mail and clammed down a little, but grrr still. She needs to sit in the sun and listen to Brahms and knit. But what to knit?

There are socks for Nephew Henry and The Man to work on, but they are boring.

There is The Man's red sweater. Again: boring. I have the back and some of the front done. Actually, I did the back twice. Once again, my gauge swatch lied, the rotten stinking jerkwad, so I ended up with a sweater back that, if completed, would fit one and a half The Mans. So I ripped back twenty eight inches of stockinette and started over. I took these photos inside last week with the able contribution of Photographer's Assistant/Spokesmodel Kirby:

Here's another one from last week:

That would be the September sock club sock. We all know that Bunny can't start that until she finishes the July sock club sock. Did you know that Lantern Moon needles are awesome? They are. I like the ebony ones and the rosewood ones. In fact, I was knitting Nephew Henry's socks on a new set of ebony Lantern Moon size one's. I left for work with four needles, and came home with two good needles and the jacked-up one you see next to September. I would recommend to you that Lantern Moon dpns in the smaller sizes are not really toss-em-in-the-bag sort of needles, unless you are happy to drop twenty-five bucks for a new set every freaking time you break one.

Hmmmm. Where was I? Oh, yes. Today I have been taking photos outside. What shall I knit on?

Wahoo doggy sweater? It is now 13 inches long. Kirby is sixteen inches long from collar to the base of his tail. Who thinks I should follow the pattern and knit to eighteen inches before starting the stripey border? Then there is the winter cardi, but that's just several acres of black stockinette stitch, and I've done two balls of yarn on that already this week.

And you can stay inside too, little monster. I am unmoved by your cuteness. I am unimpressed by your pouting.

I could go to work on the May sock club sock, the toe of which you can see perched among today's new arrivals. Nah. I don't feel like being wedded to a pattern today. The new yarn is for two lace projects which, again, requires being wedded to a pattern. Angry Bunny does not need something requiring precision; she needs something soothing and gentle. Not like either of the two secret projects which will not be shown here but which both require counting.

Sorry, sweetheart. You have to stay in too. I just don't have it in me to chase you into the weeds of Lucy's yard next door, and I can tell that's where you want to go.

So what's left?

Ab-Fab is left. Mohair. Ugh. Not today. At least not now.

And so, Wahoo doggy sweater it is! Maybe I can finish the back before The Man gets home.

Startitis

I finished the hunter orange socks. Yes, they really are pretty much that orange. The name of the colorway is"goldfish," if that gives you any idea. I thought that the intensity of the color needed a delicate stitch pattern to mitigate it.






I think I chose wisely. I really like the look of this. Of course, there is how things look, and there is how things are. I'm sending these to my mother so she can road-test them, since they are 100% bamboo fiber, and not very elastic.

Also, I have de-classified a secret project. They were intended for someone else, but The Man asked for them and, well, a yarn like this needs to be with someone who can appreciate it. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought it. Behold another pair of self-striping Man socks:



Up there on top is the beginning of a pair of socks for Nephew Henry. His mother told me he might get a kick out of hand-knit socks. I sure do, but I've never heard of a kid who gave a fig about socks. This could very well be a set-up to punk stupid old Aunt Dirtbunny. I don't care, though, because

I LIKE KNITTING SOCKS

If Nephew Henry would prefer to fill them with gravel and use them as a weapon instead of wear them, well, that's up to him. Once I give it away, I have no say in what happens to it. However, in case they do end up being weaponized, I'm also going to make a pair for Henry's little brother Peter. We wouldn't want Peter to be defenseless.


Did you know that I have dogs here? Well, I do, and about two years ago I got a book of dog sweater patterns and proceeded to order yarn to make about half of the patterns in the book. It has been a year, more or less, since I made a dog sweater, and we all know how Bunny feels about Ye Olde Yarne. So I have invaded my stash and cast on a Wahoo Doggy Sweater:




I showed it to The Man last night and he didn't recognize his own school colors. In his defense, he was watching Serie A soccer (Juventus and Udinese--Gigi has apparently gotten a haircut since Euro 2008, if you are interested), and Bunny should know by now that he shuts down during TV sports. I mean, geez, he works so hard and has to put up with so much crap around here; is it really too much to ask that he gets a little time to watch el futbol without a lot of bullshit?


Here is the really big news. Bunny worked up the nerve to open her Ab-Fab kit. It has all the yarn it's supposed to have and I picked which of the patterns to use. Guess what?

Three hanks of MOHAIR! You betcha. The first three hanks are wound and ready to go. It's not officially on the needles yet, but it soon will be. As will my winter cardi. I am going to swatch it this week. I swear!