You're gorgeous, Frankie! I always knew it.

Scrumptious! But can she hunt rats?

Second!
Frankie is BEE YOO TEE FULL!
Wish my Doorjamb was so elegant...

She hunts crickets, does that count? LOL

And doesn't she look like she is smiling in that bottom pic? I swear, she and Bob both smile. No lie.

right on, next american top model..look at those whiskers!!!!! fabulous!

If there was any sunshine in my window, I'd lie in it too!

What a BEAUTY she is!! I love the black/orange line right down the middle of her face! She looks like a Flyers' fan!

Cats absolutely smile (except Soba, who smirks while composing her manifesto). Roy is doing it in spades in his beautiful fang picture.

Those are fabulous shots! Frankie is so beautiful, and of course the right photographer makes all the difference! She IS smiling! You should frame those.

What a gorgeous cat. And so humble too.

I've got a Diva Tortie and she smiles, too, especially when in a cozy, warm sunshine spot (not that we've got a lot of that here in Michigan, where 18 degrees is feeling like a heat wave).
BTW, does anyone have a source for really cute knitting needles? I saw a picture of some single points that had little figurine-type-things at the top -so cute! - but I can't find the link!
And, Laurie, like everyone else here, I look forward EVERY DAY to your posts. Thanks for a great blog!

Yes, she is smiling! I believe you. My kitty smiles, too :)

I believe you -- I had a cat who would smile everytime someone petted his head. Frankie is a beautiful kitty. And Roy is such a sweetie. Love his fang. :)

The prettiest kitty ever! My Minnie is a Tortie too...and she's gee-orgeous!

Excellent photos! The dark and light sides of her face with the line right down the middle, remind me of my son's Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith poster where it's Anakin on one side, and Darth Vader on the other (you know, where he's on the verge of joining the Dark Side of the Force). Seriously, though, beautiful kitty! Much more so than Darth Vader...with a kid around the house with a Star Wars fixation, these things just seem to come to me...

She better watch it. She's giving Soba some competition.

I could look at pictures of cats all day.

My cats don't smile, they smirk.

Frankie's Doppelganger lives with me here in Kansas. Her name is Ariel and she's just the sweetest thing who smiles all the time too.

Frankie is so beautiful! I really notice it in her close-ups. "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille!"

She's prettier than Soba. Eek! Can I say that? I maybe better watch my back now....

Stunning! My cat smiles too. Just not very much lately.

I was just going to post about the "I'm ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille" line, when Leeny took the words right out of my mouth.

Now I don't have anything witty to say about this dramatic feline beauty. Ah well ...

Frankie is stunning :-) Animals can definitely smile. My black lab smiles at me in the morning when I wake up and when I come home in the evening...his top lip curls, his teeth show and he does his happy dance.....pets are the BEST :-)

The line down her face is so crisp and clear and her color combo would make beautiful variegated or self-striping yarn. Puuurrrfect!

Leeny, if you wake up one morning with claw marks all over, start looking for sobakowa... LOL

Doesn't frankie look like an orange cat who's dressed up as a black cat? She has become such a snuggler lately, too, giving Roy some competition for the lap.

Luckily, this is plenty of lap ;)

Fantastic Frankie Triptych!

I love the "wistful but happy profile angle"! Frankie is a cat for all times, an iconoclastic visionary. An inspiration to us all!

How about America's Next Top Cat?

Wow, that 50/50 nose is amazing

Oh, yes, cats smile. My Ganache not only smiles when she purrs, she snores when she sleeps.

Kate Moss has nothing going on Frankie for the thoughtful pout. I see Ralph Lauren ads in Frankie's future.

I think Phantom of the Opera every time I see her.

She's a stunning cat.

Frankie gives good face! Tyra, eat your heart out.

frankie - you're lookin' great! it was your last picture that inspired me to knit a kittypi for my cat!

thanks laurie - always good to see the cats doing well. i left mine in a biting frenzy this morning... it's nice to see some well behaved, happy cats... rose was not that - not today...

Now THAT is one eye-wateringly beautiful cat. All of us afficianados know that these are not merely "pets"; they really are loving soulmate-protectors of us. Her face is amazing! I tried taking a pretty picture of Evangeline in her morning sunbath, but her head was in the shade and they all looked like I had a headless cat. I'll get good ones, then I need to learn how to post them. Anywhere. I may die of old age before my son comes over to teach me how to put'em on CDs. (Ungrateful boy - and I was always so good about changing his didies.)

My kitty is a little too dense to pull off the model thing. He thinks the camera is something to sit on. Doesn't matter that he's 16 and comfortable, when the camera comes out he'll wander all the way across the room to rub on it.

I love him. :D

No 'Blue Steel'? ;)

Do you think Frankie could qualify as bi-racial with that orange/black line? I think its GREAT.

Thanks for the post, Laurie! Always a highlight of the work day!

What a beautiful kitty! Stunning!

I'm a relative newcomer to your blog, and I spent time last week reading your archives - wish you were my knitting buddy! Wanna come to PA?

wow, great shots! My cats are so hard to photograph. He has such a beautiful face :)

Is that ACTUAL SUNSHINE????? AHHHH...sunshine....how I remember you from seasons past...and how I miss you. /sob/

BTW...Frankie is one of the most beautiful cats I've ever seen! Hands down!

Oh, Frankie kicks Tyra's butt any day of the week!!

Frankie is so beautiful.

W. :)

Frankie has a lovely smile. My Angus would smile. He is in kitty heaven now. sniff.

Frankie is gorgeous! I love me some good calico shots. (Nimue's giving me the momma, please, no more photos today look of disdain as we speak.)

Fabulous, dahlink!

What a pretty Kitty! I love your nose the best! Is that weird?

Please keep up with the posing
Kimber

Oh that profile, beautiful dawling, now pout a little for the camera... oh that's it, gorgeous!

Frankie can't help reminding me of "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield." Laurie, you know how you're always talking about famous people and I never have a clue who they are? Back atcha: a cultural reference you're too young to know.

I love Frankie! (Don't tell Soba)

Frankie, Dahling - - you look MAH-VELOUS - - SIMPLY MAH-VELOUS . . . :-)

(I just love Torties . . . )

Hi Laurie, I read your blog from New Zealand and I think you have a British sense of humour at heart. I read your recent pom-pom tutorial, and noticed that I haven't seen any online tutes describing the way I always did them as a child: get a cardboard circle the same diameter as your desired pom-pom, two is infinitely better. Make them of stiff cardboard. Of course they both have a hole in the middle - if you cheat and make your hole too small, you will get a very sparse pom-pom.
Wind around both until the hole is tiny and you can just get the tip of your little finger in (up until then, use the tip of that finger to pull the wool through as the hole gets small). It's helpful to wind your lengths into tiny balls, at least to begin with (when the hole's larger).
Begin to cut the edge in just one place with pointy-tipped SHARP scissors, as soon as you have exposed the cardboard inner slide the lower scissor between the two pieces of card. Then cut around, keeping the scissors lined up between the cards. Once you've finished cutting all around, carefully slide a piece of wool between them and tie tightly. Pull apart the pieces of card.
I've never tried any of the other ways I've seen, but this method always gave me perfect pom-poms!
God I hate typing that word.
Sarah

Alternate caption for the 3rd picture:

"Make ready my ship, commander, we must show these dogs what we are made of!"

The above is exactly how I made pompons as a kid! (My masterpiece: a white easter chicken made from two pompons and some felt)

And yay for Frankie gorgeousness!

Hmmm, I couldn't put my finger on what was different about Frankie in these photos. Ahhh yes, there's sunlight!

I absolutely LOVE how some calicos/tortoiseshells have coloring that splits their faces in half. It's like getting two cats in one, depending on which side is facing you.

Frankie is a lil hottie. And i like how her smile looks like it's got that curved line at the end, the way people draw cheeks on their smileyfaces.

Oh, she is just beautiful!!! She knows it too, doesn't she?!

Your cats are so beautiful, and I love that you post pictures of them all the time. Probably 80% of the pictures I take are of my two kitties. :)

All your kitties are beautiful but I must confess my heart belongs to Roy. I checked out his Catster page and it made me cry. He's blessed to be with you and in a loving home.

when are you going to write your anti-V-Day rant? i can't wait...

work it girl!

Kitty!

That's all. ^_^

Does your cat date outside its race? Bossy has a great Great Dane...

what an awesome face- it is like one of those drama masks.

Oh, MEOW!

Those Torties, they know they are the hotnesses!

Our cats all smile from time to time, but Blue and Shamu are the best at it and share their smiles most often. Our eldest, Tessie, has a wonderful beatific Buddha-smile that she wears almost all the time. Of course she is 18 so she spends most of her time meditating.

I am just green with envy (wait, that could be moss or lichen) at your sunshine as we are deep in our 9-month-long 'season' of grey rainy windy rain. *sigh*

Of course she smiles! My dogs smile. One practically giggles. Your Frankie is a stunner. You're lucky to have each other.

I've been reading and loving your blog for about a year now, but don't think I've commented. I must be a natural born lurker. I had to come out for the smiley cat, though. I've got two cats that that I swear smile as well. One is Pooka, who seems to have Bob's appetite for...ummm...life. Yeah. :3 The other is Wolfie, who is my sweet old snow tiger, and who looks so much like your Roy that my heart melts every time I see your pics. Not that it wouldn't anyway. How could you not love that face?

Has anyone else made the joke about the new Pussycat Dolls reality show? And how Frankie would be perfect? Yes? No?

She's definitely model material. What a stunner!

She's smiling because she's secretly plotting the takeover with Soba. Be careful of those smiles!

You go, Miss Frankie :)

Wet your lips and make love to the camera, baby!

you freakin' kill me over here!
grrl, i needed that laugh after the week i've had...

I just love how God has painted her face with the line right down the middle... it's as if he was designing another cat & just got tired & decided to just put those 2 together instead!!!

What a cutie.