Wednesday, May 07, 2008

MDS&W & Sock Pentathlon Sock #2

In case you are wondering, that's "Maryland Sheep and Wool". I wasn't able to go last year, but this year, I was SOOOOO there.

I took a half day on Friday and took the train down to Baltimore. I've never taken Amtrak before and I have to say I had quite a pleasant experience. And I met a couple of nice people too! Once I got there, I took a taxi and went to MamaE's Party! Sadly, I didn't take ANY picture! I was too excited to meet E and SweetSheep!!! But I did get a photo with them the next day!



Sneaksleep came and meet me up at the party, and after the party, I went back with her to her house for a nap cap and got up for the big day.



And see who we saw!!! :)



Zarzuela!!! She had move to Jersey a couple of years back and I haven't seen her since then! It was so great to see her there!

There were lots of sheep, llamas, alpacas, angora bunnies, and of course, there were food, yarn, and people spinning.





And while I was eating lunch, I noticed quite a bit of buttercup:



After the first day, Sneaksleep and I went to the Ravelry party - it was fun, and a lot less people than I expected. We stayed for a little while before we went and met up with the rest of the New Haven gang for some fondue at Melting Pot.



That was the first time I've been to a Melting Pot and it was so much fun! Although a little on the pricey side, but it was totally worth it, especially the chocolate fondue!





Yum. (that was the s'mores fondue, you should try it if you go!)

Sunday was a lot less intense, even the traffic was a lot less. Sneaksleep and I say goodbye after an hour in the fairground, and I left with Sami, Karen, Brenda and Beth around noon. While I was in the car, I was busy working on the Sock Pentathlon Sock #2 - Berlin Muster. I finished first sock while in the car on the way home, but the sewing needles were in the trunk with my overnight bag, so I couldn't finish the grafting, so what is a girl to do?



Use the buttons I got from the festival and parties! (and you call me crazy, collecting pins and all!) And since I couldn't knit while I'm at work, slowly, I finally finished the pair this morning, although, not without a hitch - again, that stupid little sewing needle. So the engineer in me took over, and fond something to use:



Twisty-tie!!! Yes, you read that right! And a few minutes after, I have these:



Pattern - Berlin Muster by Kristin Benecken
Yarn Used - 0.56 skein of Valley Yarn Franklin
Needles - Harmony size 1
Gauge - 8 sts per inch
Knit - May 01, 08 to May 07, 2008
Modification - I reduced the purl stitch so it's only 56 stitches, although I probably could still go down a bit since the lace is quite stretchy.

The pattern was fairly easy, although everyone had a hard time to get it started due to various reasons. The yarn was wonderful. I love it so much I want to get more of it! I have plenty of it left to do another pair of socks! You can read my full review here.

Well, now both of that are blogged and in the bag, it is time for me to rest my eyes. Good Night.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't believe I managed to miss crossing paths with you both days there. I owe you a tattoo!

anphoe said...

Jealous!! I want to go next year...

The buttercup picture is cool!

And the twisty-tie? Smart idea!!!

Unknown said...

Love the color of yarn picked for your socks! And the trip sounds like it was a lot of fun and you saw a lot. Way to go!

KnelleyBelley said...

Looks like so much fun. So jealous!

Your socks are beauties!

Knittymuggins said...

Wow! Looks like you had tons of fun! The photos are great - thanks for sharing :)

And those socks - gorgeous!

knittymuggins

Octopus Knits said...

Great photos (the flame definitely shows up over the smores fondue!), and awesome socks!

Anonymous said...

I too enjoyed the MD Sheep & Wool Fesitval. I just recently learned about the sock pentathlon and can't get on the yahoo site to join at this point. But I have found the first 2 patterns on the Internet, and thanks to you and your link to the German version of Berlin Muster was able to get that to "vet" the pattern and found an error in line 5 of the translation. But the chart is correct. I am looking forward to doing these two socks and would love to follow along if you have any hints as to how to do that.
Priscilla