"margaritaville"

i am really happy. of course, who wouldn't be happy after spending an afternoon with a pitcher (or two) of margaritas (on the rocks, please)?! but i am not talking about THAT kind of "margaritaville". i am talking about THIS "margaritaville"...

"margaritaville"
theknitter's july sotm club kit

regia cotton color (#4177)
needles: us 1.5 (2,5mm)
gauge: 8 sts/inch

close-up of stitch

i love the play of the stitch with the yarn. i even managed to get the ribbing to flow into the heel flap. how sneaky is that?! all in all, a very playful sock for the summer.

i have gotten into a market bag kick and have been playing with different patterns. the one on the left is the ever popular "everlasting bagstopper" with some modifications. i made the body a little shorter than the pattern, added two 12" handles knit in linen stitch, and added some extra decorative stockinette copied from yeayeayeah's tequila sunrise bagstopper. the other bag is crocheted and i don't remember the pattern. it stretches to hold so much that i cannot carry the bag. sometimes i think the clerks take it as a challenge to see how much stuff they can put in the bag.



i have a couple of more patterns printed out to knit. although, i do like the bagstopper so far. both of these are made in bernat handicrafte cotton and my thumbs hurt. knitting the bagstopper in 3 days didn't help.

some of my newer acquistions of lace yarn.

top (l to r): blue moon fiberarts lucious single silk in lapis, cherry tree hill merino lace in dusk
bottom: skacel merino lace #1785

i am definitely in a yarn rut as far as colors go. if you notice, all my projects have the same color scheme!!! but i love it. what am i to do?!

i still haven't blocked my swallowtail shawl. soon...

i'm almost finished

...with my swallowtail shawl. i just need to weave in the ends and give it a bath and a stretch. i was getting bored with the shawl for some reason. maybe the nupps (yes, i did the nupps) were subtly driving me nuts. photos after i block it.

i also finished a market bag for my mil. i gave it to her before taking a pix. all market bags basically look the same and it is a boring beige so you aren't missing much. she did comment that it didn't look very big but my hubby, in turn, asked her how much can she carry at one time anyway! she doesn't know how much that bag is going to stretch!

CONTEST ALERT:

well, how would you like to win some flat feet yarn? go visit darcy and leave her a comment. if you would be so kind as to mention that you were referred by me, i would greatly appreciate it. yes, brownie point entries here. contest ends august 8th at midnight her time. of course, if you win, you send the yarn to me. (yeah, right!)

and dr laura is hosting a olympic sox competiton of sorts. she has prizes. go check it out!

wanna win some addi lace needles?

go here:

http://domestic-miss.blogspot.com/2008/07/knitting-give-away.html

contest ends july 31st, uk time.

as far as knitting goes, i am finally down to the border of my swallowtail shawl. i am missing a stitch! i dropped a yarn-over on the last row of the lov #2. sigh! the nupps weren't that bad once i figured out a way to purl 5. my first set is kinda wonky because i was trying different ways of doing it.

looks like theknitter's july sotm club kits are arriving on doorsteps. i should be able to show you the sock next week. i really had fun with this one.

meet me at the fair

just a quick post. went to the county fair yesterday to see if i got any ribbons for my entries. i entered 2 shawls and 2 pairs of socks.

"zen garden" got a blue ribbon!

and...

"swan lake" got BEST OF SHOW!

and, yes! i am thrilled!

my other pair of socks received an honorable mention and my "mystic light" shawl got a third place. i am a bit upset though. this is the second time that they have shown the wrong side of a shawl as the "right" side. the shawl was also draped so you only saw the front points and not the back where all the action in. one year, i did pin a note that read "this is the right side". i guess i should have done that again this year. oh well! i guess that they don't have any knitters to help set up the displays.

i did eat the required funnel cake, garlic fries, cotton candy, fudge, and orange treet (plus a pulled pork sandwich and a beef burrito)! have to have the funnel cake, if nothing else!!!

we went over to see some of the livestock. they had cows, goats, pigs, and sheep (without all their woolies). but look at this...

the goats are wearing sweaters! probably to keep them clean for showing. funny, huh?