chocolate with a little bite

Posted on Posted in book reviews/events, projects

what goes better with morning cawfee??
that’s the david sock in prgress on my side of the table and on beckie’s side, the beginning of a tidelines sock in her handspun blend of wool/angora.

last night i put some inches onto the white scarf while we watched american idol again; it’s growing, yay.

a bit of drama this morning when kim took the dogs for a short walk—chica was attacked by another dog, one that kim doesn’t know, which came flying out of nowhere and mauled her. she escaped with some injuries, so off to the vet she went for examination and stitches. they are keeping her overnight and hopefully she’ll feel calmer tomorrow (she dealt out a few bites herself when we tried to inspect her wounds). ah, me.

after the brouhaha was over, we headed off to meet jocelyn in encinitas as planned—we managed to arrive on time and started off by perusing the offerings at common threads.

jocelyn has been very busy working on a test knit of ondule and outdid herself getting it done for our visit.

we love this color on her—she ordered a beautiful colorway of grandma’s blessing in a cheerful blend of corals, pinks, and oranges; yummy. thank you jocelyn—you are WAY awesome.

we spent enough time in the shop to see everything, taking advantage of the lovely sitting area in the back to look through books and compare projects.

we all found something yummy to take home

i needed a couple of needles, but also could not resist the tug of this deliciously orange malabrigo sock yarn. i don’t really need sock yarn but i might know someone who needs orange socks to go with her new sweater.

there was also great selection of buttons, so i finally remembered to buy a set for a black sweater which has been losing buttons for several years and which i never remember to replace

these pewter piecrust buttons were exactly the right size and will make a great accent down the front of the otherwise rather plain cardigan.

we finally dragged ourselves away form the yarn shop to answer the call of the peruvian restaurant up the street. there we spent a good couple of hours oohing and ahhing over the yummy food and laughing ourselves sick

while the restaurant hosts kindly lavished us with friendly attention. another great meal, complete with an intriguingly hot dipping sauce you can buy to take home in jars—which we did.

next we headed further up the street to chiao chocolates for a sweet and some knitting time together.

in an unusual turn of events, i found myself unable eat another thing (well, ok, i cleaned my plate at lunch), but those guys had gelato treats (i took my chocolate home).

then we got down to business

beckie worked on her sock which she is knitting with STR lightweight in colorway loch ness. every time i see this sock i crave a skein for myself.

jocelyn is working on a scarf of her own design in sea silk and darned if i can remember the colorway (maybe sangria?)

and kim is working on shawl that jazz, following stephanie’s lead in blue moon twisted, colorway lodestone.

branson, the very nice guy behind the counter at the shop, showed quite a bit of interest in our get-together and asked if we meet every month to crochet. we forgave him for the faux pas since he thought it was so cool that we used this excuse to stay in touch

when we explained that we actually came halfway across the country to knit in his shop, he was completely impressed.

i worked on the roger sock (and in the car on the way to and fro i worked on the david sock). we chatted and knitted together for about an hour—it was completely wonderful.

i finished the leg of the roger and started the heel flap, then took a pause; i’m not sure if i should do the flap heel with its particular texture or a smooth short-row heel. the smooth heel might show off the texture of the sock body a little better, hmmm.

chris has let me know that roger loves the sock so far, so maybe i should ask him . . .

25 thoughts on “chocolate with a little bite

  1. I think that, at this point, a lot of your readers would love to be friends with Kim: vacation time with her sounds like a great deal of fun! Enjoy!

  2. The sea silk looks like “bittersweet”. I have some myself. Part of it is a smashing clapotis.

  3. I am completely fascinated with mens knitwear lately. We as friends and “wives” do so much to get the men in our lives to wear wool. I do have a question though, what is a standard leg length for mens socks?
    P.S. the Roger sock kicks ass!

  4. You know, I had the same pause at the heel of Stanfield 16 patterned sock. I did the first sock with a smooth K1 Sl 1 heel. Just to see what it looked like I used the textured Partridge stitch on the second heel…I liked the lack of a bulge between the sock and the heel. Took it back to make the heels match but will try to remember that research on next sock.

  5. How much longer for the sweater? I just can’t wait! I love it. I’m loving the white, as well. I know you’re having a wonderful time. You have the best job, ever!

  6. Tell Kim and Chica that I am sending positive thoughts their way. Walks are meant to be fun not scary. Hoping that this never ever happens again!!!!

  7. Your sock patterns alwyas look so cozy! Your vacation is looking like a ton of fun, and it is giving me ideas for my trip to San Diego in a few weeks. Thanks again for all of the cheerful blog posts.

  8. Oh, so much good eye candy today! I’ve “almost” bought that Malabrigo sock in terracotta several times! (even though I have a healthy collection of sock yarn in that shade). I’ve always loved Loch Ness and thought about making a pair of thuja’s out of it in heavyweight. But the best part is seeing Ondule again- what a great pattern! I can’t wait to make it.

    Chocolate, gelato, yarn, friends – what more could you ask for?

  9. What a terrible thing! I hope you notified animal control of this menace to the neighborhood.

    I *love* Common Threads and Encinitas ~ one of the many little gems by the sea.

  10. I’m sorry to hear about the dog, I hope she is better soon!

    Love that stitch pattern for the Roger socks. Have actually made one pair with it myself 😉

    Did you tell the ice cream guy the difference between crochet and knitting? 😉

  11. What a fun time – knitting -food – friends. Tell Kim that we all want to be her friend!

  12. i vote for a textured heel; it would be cool to see those ribs winding all the way down. jocelyn’s ondule looks great; what a fabulous colorway!

  13. I just hope Ondule will be in plus size – this is the type of classic knit that i want to make my own !!!

  14. What a great trip! What’s better than good friends, good food, and great yarn. I hope the dog wasn’t hurt too bad.

    Thanks for the link!

  15. Oh no, poor Chica! I love the Roger sock. I don’t know if hubby will go for it but I certainly need to knit myself a pair.

  16. I absolutely love the Roger Sock! What color of Grandma’s Blessing are you using? I think I’m in love with it.

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