happy! happy! joy! joy!

where has this month gone? i don't know that i have accomplished much this month. i definitely haven't been posting, but i have been winning some contests out in blogsville.

first, from tonya at theshizknit: i received these a while back but never got around to taking a photo.

3 skeins of rowan denim
a cute pattern written by tonya
AND chocolate candy

i've never knit with denim yarn. it will be a different experience knitting to allow for shrinkage. i am not sure what i want to make with this yet. i saw a pattern for a cute tote bag but that took 4 skeins. i was thinking of making the bag a bit smaller or i can let the yarn age until i find the right project. any suggestions?

i was most surprised to win the addi lace needles and these cute handmade cupcake buttons (from south africa) from stephanie. you can't blame me. i did tell you about her contest! see blog entry from july 22!

my first pair of addi lace needles! i have signed up for all those shawl/stole mystery kals so these little babies will be used A LOT. i did test-drive these needles at stitches west a couple of years ago. they are very nice. the buttons are even cuter in person. i will be saving these for some very special baby. or maybe i will start making sweaters that just need ONE button. thank you, stephanie (who sent these all the way from the uk. they arrived within a week. pretty good, hey?!)

i have also been doing some olympic knitting while watching our athletes and their erratic results (i am still shaking my head over that baton pass in the relays, DOH!). i finished a pair of socks for olympicsox2008. it was a very hang-loose "competition". i wanted to see how "margaritaville" would knit up in a different stripey yarn.

"margaritaville"

red heart "heart & sole" in watercolor stripes
needles: us 1.5 (2.5mm) for the leg & us 1 (2.25mm) for the foot
gauge: 9 sts/inch in stockinette using 2.25mm needle
made for my niece who felted her panda wool "horcrux" socks
(she claimed that someone in her household washed her socks wrong)

this pattern is perfect for stripes. i LOVE it. it is a fun pattern, even if i say so myself. the yarn is actually pretty nice. i am not that into aloe soaked yarn but liked these colors. i even managed to make identical socks. happy! happy! joy! joy! now, if my niece can stop shrinking her socks. she just started college and will now really be responsible for her own laundry.

and check out these cute little babies. we went to the california state fair on opening day. uc davis vet school brought over some animals that were due to deliver during the week. we could actually watch the delivery if our timing was right (or wrong, as the case may be. did you ever watch city slickers when billy crystal's character helps deliver a calf? would major gross some kids out).

newborn long horn sheep
less than 24 hours old

we also saw piglets and a bullcalf. my camera batteries were getting low so no pixs.

i won one more thing but i haven't had a chance to take a picture yet. i just received it yesterday.

i am slowly approaching my 100th post and i have been lucky to be on the winning end of some wonderful blog contests. seems a good time to start thinking about "sharing the wealth" again. stay tuned. i'm thinking.

**DANGER, WILL ROBINSON, DANGER**

"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?

where have i been?

well, i have been busy knitting and frogging socks and shawls.

i had 4 sock patterns to knit and write up in the last two months. the first was for robyn's nest. to be truthful, i did not care for the yarn. it was scratchy and didn't have any "sproing". it was hard finding a pattern that would work with the colors too. i spent a lot of time at the frog pond with this one.

" 'round robyn's house"
may kit for robyn's nest sotm club

yarn: jennifer flock sock in exclusive colorway (robyn's nest)
needles: us 1 (2.25 mm)
gauge: 8.5 sts/inch

then, i did theknitter's luxury sock club kit for may. i truly love this yarn. anne is very soft and has great yardage. i love the pattern too. lace and cables are my favorite!

"leilani"

yarn: schaefer yarn anne in "bugs"
needles: us 0 (2 mm)
gauge: 11 sts/inch (very tiny)

and there is this...

what are they?!

well, they are the bottoms of some socks. i can't show you the rest of the socks but i can tell you that they are for a new sock book to be published by lark books in the fall of 2009. yes!!! I'M SO EXCITED!!!! can't say anything else as we are all sworn to secrecy. off to finish writing the pattern.

and i just finished the july sotm club kit for theknitter. can't show that sock to you yet but i will tell you that i had a lot of fun with it.

i finished my noro entrelac scarf. used 4 skeins and i managed to manipulate the colors so they are in the same order in the scarf. i have gotten very good at knitting backwards! my swallowtail shawl is at the first lov motif. i am doing the nupps...groan. but it is true that if you knit loosely on the previous row, it is much easier to p5tog.

i have been totally playing with crockpot cooking this month too. did you know you can make lasagna in the crockpot? and you don't have to boil the noodles first? and the lasagna was delicious. i made bread pudding last night. i am in love!!!

when friends help friends shop...

this happens...

top: alpaca sox in dusty morning
bottom: noro sox #180, #40, #150

pretty, huh? barbara went to webs and i needed to help her so she could get the biggest discount. that's what friends are for, right? so she helped me get noro #40 and the alpaca sox. and debi helped me get the other two noro sox. i think i am going to use the #40 for the annetrelac socks and will probably use the other two for a scarf or shawl. thank you, friends!!

it seems the jojoland yarn is relabeled as house brand yarns and so i managed to find what looks like jojoland "harmony" at yarntreehouse labeled as "bloom" for only $4.99 a skein. they look to be the same colorways. i thought i had ordered c01 but received c04 (almost the same as co1 but a little darker) and c09. i didn't save a copy of my original order so can't really complain. it looks like the prices just got raised to $5.99. i think i may use the purple one for the goddess knits anniversary mystery shawl kal (deadline for sign-ups is may 30th and the first clue is released june 14th) and the lighter pastel for a sampler stole over at badcatdesigns. i enabled debi to buy some of this yarn too because "friends help friends shop!"

yarn treehouse "bloom" c04 (upper) & c09 (lower)

i started to tell you about my visit to article pract in my last post. well, hubby was home for the day and i told him that one of my new knitting friends had talked about this place in oakland that had a really good fried chicken sandwiches. he loves trying new places so off we go to bakesale betty for lunch. guess who was in line as we were leaving the restaurant?! tapmouse and nartian!! the two peoples who talked this place up in the first place. tapmouse gave me this cute little sheep bag because i played along on her blog contest a few months ago.

thank you, tapmouse!

the sandwich was absolutely yummy! we will be going back again! we also bought their strawberry shortcake and some pecan stickybuns. all yummy, yummy, yummy! but the real reason i wanted to go was because article pract is almost next door to bakesale betty. it is a nice little store with lots of stuff in a small space but everything is well organized and they do have a very good selection. i was good and only came out with this....

malabrigo lace in tortuga
(it's a purplish/black and so soft)

and it was on sale!!!!!!!!!

i also won a copy of "knit kimono" from socks and more. laura is hosting a contest (featuring crystal palace yarns) every month for the next few months. the color for may is lilac and june is white (i think). so if you have anything knit up using any of crystal palace yarn in this month' featured color, let laura know and she will enter you in the drawing.

i am still enjoying the entrelac scarf (why does noro have soooo many knots? 3 in the first skein, 1 -so far in the 2nd). i am easily entertained by the color changes. i am slowly working on the swallowtail shawl. and i have finally decided on a pattern for theknitter's july sotm club yarn.

what's going on in your little corner of cyberspace?!