Do you know the saying ‘The shoemaker’s children go barefoot’? I’m afraid it applies to me in the variation ‘the sock knitter’s (grand)children go barefoot’. My daughter’s socks are all completely worn out and I believe I’ve never even knit a single pair of socks for my grandsons. Shame on me! As a start to remedying that, I’ve knit a pair of ‘coffee bean’ socks for my daughter.
Yarn: Lana Grossa ‘Meilenweit Vintage Socks’, shade 1008 (100 g/400 m/437 yds; 75% merino/25% polyamide).
On the leg, I used the ‘coffee bean’ stitch pattern:
Most of you will probably know it. For those of you who do not, it is a nice and stretchy variation on k2/p2 ribbing that is knit as follows:
Coffee Bean Stitch Pattern
(knit in the round on a number of stitches divisible by 4)
Rnd 1: (k2, p2) repeat to end of rnd.
Rnd 2: (k1, yo, k1, p2) repeat to end of rnd.
Rnd 3: (k3, p2) repeat to end of rnd.
Rnd 4: (sl1, k2, psso2, p2) repeat to end of rnd.
Abbreviations: k=knit; p=purl; psso2=pass slipped st over 2 knit sts; rnd=round; sl1=slip 1 st purlwise; st(s)=stitch(es); yo=yarn over.
On the top of the foot, I let the coffee beans transition into k2/p2 rib:
The coffee bean socks made me think of the coffee pot sculpture in the Frisian town of Joure. I photographed it on the way to a yarn shop (where else?) on a beautiful sunny winter’s day.
The sculpture was made by Klaas Gubbels, an artist working in many different media who has spent his entire career focusing on a very limited number of subjects: tables, chairs and… coffee pots.
Talking about coffee beans and coffee pots, I am not a coffee drinker at all. My husband is, though, and he has kindly given me permission to publish his coffee ice cream recipe here.
Mocha coffee ice cream
Ingredients:
250 g Whole milk
150 g Whipping cream (30%)
30 g Skimmed milk powder
100 g Caster sugar
60 g Strong coffee, cooled
1 g Guar gum (available online from e.g. baker’s ingredients shops)
Method:
- Mix all wet ingredients.
- Mix all dry ingredients and stir into wet ingredients.
- Leave in fridge for approx. 8 hours.
- Pour into bowl of ice cream machine and churn on ‘gelato’ setting for approx. 40 minutes.
- For an extra special treat, serve the ice cream with some chilled strong coffee with a dash of whisky poured over.
Lovely socks. I ought to try that pattern. Thanks for the recipe too. I’m not a coffee drinker but that looks really nice and I think I’ll try it before summer is over.
It’s a lovely and simple little pattern, perfect for socks or cuffs on mittens. Without pouring over any extra coffee, the ice cream itself has a very mild coffee taste. Hope you’ll like it.
Lovely socks. Yummy ice cream and sculpture. As the week here has gone from tropical heat to fall damp and cool, this is a good celebration of the good things in both seasons!
Ah, the transition into autumn, that’s so nice. We’re still in that in-between stage. Cooler today and this weekend, but probably warmer again next week. Well, not long now before we’re really into autumn. Enjoy your weekend!
The socks are lovely! It’s always good to have those alternatives for “typical” ribbons, just to make things a bit special.
I always have socks on the go, back with a sock and a half stashed everywhere…I’m not a great finisher. I must finish some because my husband’s sick drawer is full of handknits, but mine is not. Hmmm. I think I see the problem. 🙂
I am a coffee drinker and adore coffee ice cream. I’ll be keeping this recipe, it sounds wonderful!
Thank you!