"p" is for

"pretty pleased" with himself! (and a little bit "proud" too!)

i hate sewing in the ends after i finish a project. i especially hate sewing in the ends on cotton dishcloths. my hubby is the dishwasher in the family (and no, you can't have him) and likes using handknit dishcloths. one day, he asked how hard it was to sew those ends in. thus, it became his job to finish off the dishcloths.

a few months later, he asked how hard it was to knit dishcloths. so, i got him a set of knitting needles and cotton yarn and proceeded to teach him how to do the knit stitch, cast on and bind off. This is his third dishcloth. he likes them small.

well, a couple of weeks ago, he came home from work and asked if i had any yarn that could be used to knit a scarf. after overcoming my shock, i asked "why?" he had decided that he wanted to knit one for his co-worker. so, i dug around and found two balls of patons allure in a pretty teal.









hubby is almost done with the scarf and as you can see, he is VERY "proud" of himself. today, we went yarn shopping for more yarn so he can knit a scarf for his mom. (my ulterior motive is to keep him out of MY stash! i am definitely going to have to find better hiding spots for my good stuff!)

the reason for the lei is that he thinks he deserves a trip to hawaii as a reward for finishing his first really big project.

he has even said, "wait, i need to finish this row first!" is that good or what!?!!

he is on his way....

ps. our sons laughed when they saw both of us sitting at the table knitting. their turn will come. they just don't know it yet.

"o" is for

.."ooh, child..."

i've finally given a name to the sock formerly known as "it's a mystery sock kal." my friend, debi, said the name made her think of this song. of course, now, she can't get it out of her head! LOL!

anyway, as i mentioned before, the sock reminded me of the child empress of fantasia who also needed a name. what better name for the sock than the one bastian shouted out?!

"moonchild"
aka the sock formerly known as "it's a mystery sock kal"

the pattern is available for sale on my rav shop for a special discounted price of $5 until october 9th. after that, the price will be $6.

and special thanks to katrin who suggested this name.

"n" is for

...'nnouncing the winner of the copy of the joy of sox!

some very interesting things in your knitting bags! sounds like "some" of us need to dump our bags out more often! LOL!

being from the old school, i like to do things the old fashion way...yep. i cut up all your comments and stuck them in here:


shook everything around and drew out this:

*

*

*

*

*

so, yoyo socksister! you have won a copy of the new sock book, the joy of sox, courtesy of lark books and moi! congratulations! i hope you enjoy the patterns. please email me at ajmcfong at yahoo dot com with your mailing address and i will get this lovely book out to you.

and because so many of you took the time to leave me a comment, i decided to draw 3 more names and will be giving you a pattern of your choice from my ravelry store. you can also pick the mystery sock but the pattern will not be available until october.

kate
turtle
stacy

if you gals would pm me (rav id is bellybuttonknits) over on rav with your choice of pattern, i will get the pattern out to you.

thank you all for playing along!

obligatory ugly hummingbird picture
6-21-09

one of my friends sent me a picture of a baby cockatoo and it's even uglier than baby hummingbirds!

"m" is for

..."make" someone happy AND "mystery" socks!

i want to make someone happy by giving away a copy of the joy of sox! here's the deal. leave me a comment ON THIS POST telling me the strangest thing you have in your knitting bag and why it's there. i keep a small superball in my knitting bag. it's perfect for sticking in sock toes while you are trying to even out that little kitchener graft! strange but it works. or if you are more normal than that, you can leave me a comment telling me why you think you deserve the book or how/why you got into sock knitting. once upon a time, i honestly did think it was strange for people to be hand knitting socks!

deadline for posting a comment will be tuesday, september 15th! us residents only, this time. sorry. please leave me a way to contact you should you be the lucky winner.

and the final clue for the carefree mystery sock kal went out over the weekend. so i can share some pictures with you.

my pattern still doesn't have a real name...
kind of like the empress of fantasia in neverending story

it's a mystery sock

pathetic, huh?!

crystal palace yarn - panda wool (ultramarine)
us 1.5 (2.5mm) needles
i love them but i only wish i had added some sparkly beads

hummingbirds
6/20/09

i kept wondering when they would get cute!

"l" is for

...LOTUS!

color me EXCITED!

and you have a reason to be excited too! i have a copy of the book to give away, courtesy of lark books. weren't they nice? check back in a few days while i come up with some kind of contest.

**singing, "i'm so excited!!!! lalalala!!! so excited!!!**

"k" is for

kal!

my mystery sock kal starts tomorrow. wish me luck! i've never lead a mystery kal before. and i found the pattern was much more work to write up than a regular pattern. but then i do tend to make things a tad more "jazzy" than required. and yes, that was a hint. LOL! you should be scared! :op

hummingbirds
6-19-09
bigger but still ugly

"j" is for

...just because i can.

remember that noro yarn that i knit into :

the entrelac scarf?

i actually finished the scarf, using 4 skeins of noro. didn't like it so frogged the entire scarf and started

the mystery of marie roger scarf

i liked how the colors were making stripes. however, i kept losing my place in the scarf and ending up tinking back at several times. do you know how frustrating it is to find a mistake in a scarf that is knit lengthwise?! yes, close to 300 stitches in a row. and yes, i did...

ten stitch scarf

the yarn is in its third reincarnation of a scarf! and i think i will keep this one. i did have to frog this version once after knitting 3 -4 repeats because i realized that i was knitting the corners wrong and that they were not sitting flat. i get easily confused, thankyouverymuch.

i don't think i have ever gotten so much play value from any of my other yarn. seriously!

and you all know i love contests. barbara bretton (author of "casting spells" and other romance novels) of romancing the yarn blog is having a 2 month prize giveway. well, i won her drawing for july 11th. she sent me this cute bag, bookmark, a magnet (it's some place), and 2 skeins of elann baby cashmere (perfect for a scarf-and you all thought i was scary with socks! LOL!)

there is still a month to go for the daily drawings so go on over and sign up. it's really easy!

and the sign-ups are open for the carefree mystery sock kal. as i mentioned in my last post, i am designing the socks and i hope some of you decide to play with me. i hate being lonesome. you do need to join the carefree kal blog in order the receive the clues. there will be a limit to the number of people allowed to join just cause that's the way blogger plays.

hummingbirds

6-17-09

"i" is for

... itsy-bitsy! ( stretching it, i know!)

"vauvan sukka"
which translates to "train socks" (i think)
my way

kroy sock yarn
us 1.5 needles (2.5mm)
40 sts (probably 3-6 months)

saw these adorable baby socks on ravelry but the pattern is not available. it would have been in finnish anyway (and my knowledge of finnish is even less than german which is virtually non-existent). so what was i to do? why, reverse knit the socks, of course. as per protocol, i knit three socks to get the two. i started off with some leftovers and got to the last 6 rounds of the toe to realize that i would not have enough for a pair (unless i downsize to 32 sts). groan! well, you know me and the frog pond. so, i started all over again with a new skein of yarn. the socks are sooo itsy-bitsy (that they make you want to start talking in a high squeaky voice!).

i may write up my version just so i have a reference for future pairs. i love how they turned out!

in september, we will be having a mystery sock kal over at the carefree kal blog. i have the sock done and just have to write up the clues. let me know if you are interested in playing along. you have to be a member of the blog to receive the clues.

hummingbirds
6/15/09

they've grown a lot in 2 days. still looking like plucked chickens.

"h" is for

....hummingbirds! my hubby spotted a hummingbird's nest in a tree in front of our house. we weren't sure if the nest was active so i used our digital camera to take a picture of the inside of the nest.

look at what we found!

may 31, 2009

mama wasn't sitting on the nest when hubby first spotted the nest. it was very well camouflaged in the leaves. later, mama came back and we got a shot of her sitting on the nest. can you see her?

here's a closer look at her. she wasn't afraid of us.

i took a couple of pictures of an old nest that we found on the ground a couple of years ago. the inside of the nest is about the size of a quarter. i imagine the eggs are a bit smaller than pinto beans.

then i stuck the nest next to a dwarf marigold flower

it wasn't until almost 2 weeks later that i thought to see if the eggs had hatched. ding-dong here should have been checking everyday; then i could tell you how old the babies are.

june 13th
did you know that the hummingbirds use spiderwebs to build their nests? it looks funny to see the nest stretch and wiggle as the babies get bigger and move around.

the mama hummingbird usually lays two eggs; laying one, skipping a day, and then laying another. she does not start sitting on the eggs until both are laid. it takes 16-18 days before the eggs hatch. the babies are born naked and without the characteristic long hummingbird beak (which i am sure makes mama happy). they really are butt-ugly!

fledging usually takes place about 3 weeks after the babies hatch so i suspect that i will find the nest empty soon as the babes venture out with mama.

we have been following their progress and have been taking pictures every day or so. i will be posting more pictures. it's not everyday that we get an opportunity like this. isn't nature wonderful?!

"g" is for

....goody! goodies!!!!

i won a blogiversary drawing over at learner's per-knit by sharing my ugliest project. and no, i didn't win because mine was the ugliest, thankyouverymuch! but ugly did beget something most lovely....

storm moon knits - tornado sock yarn
"i kissed a girl" colorway

i love it! thank you, kristen!

and then i did finish my pair of "kai-meis" -only my way! i added the lace panel down the sides of the legs. i just can't do 6 inches of plain k3p3 ribbing. i'm sorry!

"kai-meis"
from sock innovations by cookie a
mini-mochi in violet rainbow
us 1.5 needles (2.5mm)

submitted them for the may contest on socktopia over on ravelry and won this:

the yarn is called "yummy' and is new to me. i love the colors. emm1e, the mod, personalized the prize by checking my rav profile. isn't she the sweetest thing?!

my hubby and i went to go see the new star trek. i was dubious about this as i grew up watching the original star trek. i must admit that the actors did a remarkable job capturing the essence of the original characters. and oh my! the "new" spock looked more like the "original" spock than the "old" spock did. i didn't realize that leonard nimoy was in this one. what a surprise!

oh boy! now i get to do "H"! i have something wonderful!

taking a break from the alphabet

to let you know that i've finally got "zen garden" ready for sale over at my ravelry shop. only took me a year and a half! i am working on my other patterns...slowly! very slowly

!

"f" for

..."fluffy, fun, fiber!"

lookie what i got in the mail from my "best friend" , susan (crystal palace yarns). YES! mochi plus in my favorite color. it is a new addition to my "stuff the mattress with mini-mochi and mochi-plus" campaign. for some reason, i can never capture the richness of the colors. the colors are more saturated than the photo. thinking these will make a beautiful scarf.


and i won a blog contest over at http://www.danido.com!

dani also has an etsy shop http://danidocrafty.etsy.com

she has a sock yarn club where her inspiration comes from "great rock 'n roll." the colorway i won is called "one beat." pretty, huh?! she also included some swag. thank you, dani!

"e" is for

...someone ELSE is having a contest.

ok, i cheated but hey! go visit ruffled feathers who is celebrating 300 posts with a drawing! don't look at me! it's going to be a LONG while before i get there!

"d" is for

...dewdrops! hey, i'm on a roll here! lace, cables, AND BEADS! (yes, i seem to be on a bead kick right now. why do you ask?!) i LOVE my lace, cables, and beads!

"dewsdrops"
designed for theknitter.com's luxury sock club
april 2009

pagewood farm "st. elias" in watermelon
us size 1.5 (2.5mm) needles
gauge: 8.5 sts & 12 rows per inch

sparkly cuff
(the pattern for the kit only has one row of beads)

carried design down heel flap
(i love fancy heels!)

i loved this yarn. it was so soft and the yardage was very generous...450 yds/150gm. i had a lot left-over. was going to weigh it just out of curiosity but haven't gotten around to it. the colors didn't pool or stripe which was nice. AND (are you sitting down?) i finished BOTH socks! pictures of both to follow later.

"c" is for

...crazy! it's been over a month since my last post. i don't know what i am doing! income taxes (yes, i waited to the last minute. why are you asking?) and 3 sock patterns to be knitted and written up.

i did finish knitting a mismatched pair of "bling" ("just a little" and a "bada" version) for the 50 socks/50 states book cd. yep! mismatched socks are my lifestyle. NOT! i really do have a problem wearing mismatched socks. remember! i am the person who knit 4 mitts to finally get a pair of matching jasmine fingerless mitts. yes, that would be me. so i plan on knitting another pair of "just a little bada bling". i am going to try it with a beaded cuff, beaded centers, and beaded back sides so the beads go down the heel flap but not the front insteps; so this would be inbetween the two versions.

"bling"
"just a little" version on left, "bada" version on the right

then i have to finish up theknitter.com's april luxury sock kit. loved the yarn and really had fun with the pattern. the kits should be in the mail soon so i will be able to show you the socks in the next week or so. i also designed theknitter.com's may sotm club socks. loved this yarn too. i am actually knitting the mate to this one and may have a real PAIR to show you when i can.

other than that, i was just sent a new batch of mini-mochi which has been spun a little tighter than the original batches. seems like the yarn will be less splitty but it is not as fluffy. i am wondering if the yarn will fluff back up after washing? i kind of like the fluffy mm. well, off to check out the stitch pattern books; i am thinking scarf!

i've signed up for so many mystery sock/shawl kals for the months of april and may that i can't keep track of the clue releases and of course, have not started any of them. oh yeah, i am still working on my "i am not a lemming leyburn" socks too. that kal officially ended march 31st. oops!

"b" is for

...bada bling! i think i overdid the bling for arkansas. i have been in denial the whole way down the leg, the heel flap (though i do like the sparklies on the flap!), the gusset, and starting down the foot.




















so, i have this version on hold and have started another version with "just a little bling"!

just some sparklies on the cuff and 3 in the middle of each motif.
i will miss the glitzy heel flap.

if anyone wants to see me, i'll be down at the frog pond. someone pass me the pitcher....