"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...

to market, to market

to buy...

my first stop at stitches west market was webs. the salesgirl was very helpful and without my asking, directed me to the sock yarn. (could it have been the pomatomus socks i had on?) i found the tofutsies yarn that was on my list. i also found some of webs' house brand of hand-dyed sock yarn which was NOT on my list. needless to say, i qualified for the 25% discount.

top row: tofutsies #723, alpaca/ silk lace wt in burgundy, tofutsies #733
bottom row: kangaroo dyer hand-dyed franklin sock yarn (wool/nylon blend) cherries, twilight, blueberry




lisa souza

on the left is sock! merino in "emerald city"
on the right is sock! in "little devil"

to the right : claudia's hand-painted yarn in "just plum"

brooks farm primero kid mohair

sock yarn from ellen's half-pint farm

notice a color scheme going here? i was trying very hard to get out of my comfort zone too. oh well, i'm happy!