brezel socks and biddle’s escape

I’m calling my May socks “Brezel Socken” because the cable is supposed to resemble pretzels, and I LOVE German pretzels. The yarn is STR mediumweight in the colorway saffron jungle that I bought at MDSW 2011. When it comes to working with meduimweight sock yarn, I get a huge mental block because the gauge is much larger than I’m used to for socks. I decided to design a ribbed sock with a pretzel cable which runs down one side of the leg to the toe. Sock #2 has the same cable on the opposite side. I’m trying a gusset construction that I’ve never done before and I’m not sure I’m sold on it, yet…

Today some of my knitting buddies and I went to a brand new coffee shop/bead store in Regent Square called Biddle’s Escape Coffee & Bead Shop at 401 Biddle Ave. It’s a great cafe with a sweet front patio/deck offering lots of seating and shade trees. It’s a perfect cafe for hosting knitting groups. Too bad I’m like on the entire other side of the city from this shop because I’m sure I would go there quite a bit if I lived closer. (Thanks for the ride, Rachel!)

what’s the haps?

I finished up 2 projects in the last week- my April synesthesia socks and the alpaca shawlette. I appear to be crushing on green at the moment.

Pattern: Ka’ana Shawlette by Jennifer Weissman (my project name is Estoy Enamorado after the song by Wisin & Yandel of course)
Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist Baby Twist in light green (color 4001)
Needles: US 5 (3.75mm) and US 8 (5.0mm)

This was an impulse project. I knew I needed to knit this shawlette the instant I saw the pattern in the Ravelry database. The Alpaca yarn from my stash was great for this project. It’s soft, squishy and exceedingly warm. I haven’t yet decided who the recipient of this shawlette will be, but whoever it is will never be cold again, that’s for sure. I recommend this pattern, it was fun to knit. I may make another gasp!

Pattern: Cadence Socks by verybusymonkey (my project name is Bunny Manders after the sidekick in the Raffles stories)
Yarn: Fiber Optic Foot Notes in the colorway Meadow
Needles: US 1 (2.25mm)

Somehow I ended up knitting sock #1 twice so the socks aren’t mirrored. They still turned out lovely and I just LOVE how this yarn knits up! Now on to my May synesthesia socks in orange…

MDSW 2012

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2012.

And here’s what I bought. Yup, this really is all of it.

From left to right: Fiber Optic Foot Notes in Sage Batik; Fiber Optic Foot Notes in Rouge Batik; Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Select in River Run; and Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Select Semi Solids in Wheat.

Three of these 4 skeins are earmarked for synesthesia sock projects: August (sage), September (rouge) and November (wheat). I also went into the Miss Babs, Verdant Gryphon and The Fold booths hoping to find some sock yarn to add to this lot but somehow came away empty handed. Probably for the best…

Saturday night we went to the Ravelry LSG dinner meetup, and I’m sorry to say I have no photographic proof of this because my camera battery died. I met some really nice LSGers and a sweet dog named Kasey. Thanks to the organizers, it was fun!

estoy enamorado

My “Bunny Manders” April socks are growing, albeit slowly. According to the pattern, both socks are knit exactly the same until somewhere in clue #3 where one is supposed to do something different on the second sock. I missed that part of the instructions somehow and ended up knitting two “sock #1s”. I guess my socks will be identical rather than, uh, whatever they’re supposed to be- mirrored? No matter, they’ll still be cute.

My sock progress has been hampered by a new shawlette pattern. It’s the Ka’ana Shawlette by Jennifer Weissman. I just knew I needed to knit it and wanted to use my alpaca with a twist yarn from my stash. I’ve named my project Estoy Enamorado, partly because it was love at first sight, and partly because I was listening to the song Estoy Enamorado by Wisin & Yandel while knitting this swatch below:

This is a night photo so the quality is poor and the color is off. It’s more of a lighter green. I’m partway through knitting the body of the shawlette and will take some better photos once it’s finished. Then maybe I can get back to sock knitting.

a very exciting afternoon…

More of the same… knitting on my Bunny Manders socks. Since this photo was taken yesterday, I’ve knit both heels and now I’m decreasing on the gussets. Yes, an exciting afternoon indeed.

To add to all the sock knitting excitement, I’ve just baked some Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread. This is a genius recipe. It’s really easy and delicious. Handy tip: make sure to put a pan under your bread pan because the cinnamon-sugar filling bubbles over the sides. Mmmmm…

Later I may mosey downstairs to the front porch to do some Zumba! But I’m feeling very lazy today so we shall see if that actually happens. Especially with a full loaf of cinnamon sugar bread calling!

Bunny Manders, or, socks for burglars?

When we last met I had just started on my light green April socks which I named Bunny Manders. They contained a lovely leafy stitch pattern and would have been beautiful socks. However, the stitch pattern was so incredibly frustrating to knit, plus the socks were so tight that I couldn’t fit them over my heel. So I said tschüss to my leafy socks and I ripped them out. Now I’m knitting Cadence Socks by verybusymonkey (though I’m still calling my project Bunny Manders). Many of verybusymonkey’s designs are right up my alley, and these are especially cute. This pattern was originally a mystery sock and I’ve just finished clue #1 today. So far so good!

And then I did some Zumba! on my front porch. My twice-weekly class is great but it just isn’t enough. So I put together a playlist, danced up a storm, and now I’m all Zumba’d! out. All the songs/routines are from last semester’s class except for the Daddy Yankee song. I choreographed dance moves to that one and it’s a killer routine if I do say so myself.

1. I need to know – Marc Anthony (warm up)
2. Zumba he Zumba ha – DJ Mam’s (feat. Soldat Jahman, Luis Guisao)
3. Yo no se mañana (salsa version) – Luis Enrique
4. Danza kuduro – Don Omar
5. Beautiful liar – Beyoncé (feat. Shakira)
6. La despedida – Daddy Yankee
7. Pegate – Grupo Treo
8. Latinos – Proyecto Uno
9. El amor – Tito “El Bambino” (cool down)

For those of you in the Pittsburgh area who are looking for a fitness class to join, I got your class right here:

Zumba!
4:30pm-5:30pm, Tuesday and Thursday
Northway Christian Community Church on McKee Place in Oakland (between Forbes and 5th Ave).
Only $5 per class. Drop in, no registration or experience necessary. Fun will be had by all!

Síguelo socks: the finale

And my March socks are done!

Pattern: my own design I named after the song Síguelo by Wisin & Yandel. Because why not.
Yarn: Pagewood Farm Denali hand dyed sock yarn in the vibrant colorway orange spice
Needles: US 1 – 2.25 mm (the regular size 1 needles)

So here’s the deal. I like the stitch pattern. It’s fine. I just don’t think I’m cut out for bright orange socks. Three pairs down, nine more pairs to go…

I started my light green April socks today and I’m not naming them after a reggaeton song this time. Yes, shocking, I know! I’m calling these socks Bunny Manders after the sidekick in the Raffles stories by E. W. Hornung. Raffles is a gentleman thief in London during the 1890s and Bunny Manders is his naive companion. Great reading, even better TV series. Go watch it. I’ll wait. I’ve got some knitting to keep me busy.