Twas the week before Christmas

All the Chicks were knitting! And...

eating! We had two treats today! Barbara B made sourdough molasses gingerbread cookies and Jan made chocolate bark. Yummy on both plates! Barbara was out sick last week and Jan was afraid we'd go hungry because she wasn't sure if Barbara would be here this week so she made the bark. My Chicks take such good care of each other.

Carole finished the Squarshy Hat for the inventory. It uses bulky weight yarn so it works up quickly.

Nancy made a Swirl Hat for her 6 month old granddaughter. 

The yarn colors are perfect for a little baby girl!

Maureen's Helix Hat has such great colors! And even though it's an easy pattern, there is just enough going on to keep you interested but still be easy social knitting.

Carole chose a Christmas-y green bulky weight yarn to make...

the Easy Cabled Hat. The pattern calls for a size 8 needle for the ribbed cuff and size 10 for the crown. This would be a good pattern to practice cabling without a needle.

Nancy's current project is another hat for her granddaughter who will be the best dressed baby in town.

The Luuk Hat pattern includes instructions for sizes from preemie to adult and it's free!

Jan started a new project with the prettiest bright red yarn.

The One Skein Lima Neckerchief is a pattern that was designed specifically for alpaca yarn. Jan did bring to my attention that there is a mistake in the pattern 

but you can find the correction on the project page.

 

Dorah had some Noro yarn in her stash so she's making a basic beanie, cast on a whole whack of stitches, knit some ribbing for an inch or so, then knit every round until it looks like you should start decreasing the crown, then decrease to the closure at the top of the hat. 

I may have simplified that a bit. ;) LOL!

Barbara B started a new project called...

Basic Men's Large Beanie. She's practicing the technique for jogless stripes for multiple rounds of color and single rounds of color. 

On my needles is a DK weight yarn. I started to make a 2X2 knitted cap and then decided to make tiny twists with the knit2 stitches so it looks like mini cables. 

Nancy wore a gorgeous shawl she knitted for herself called Floatini. It requires a smooth fingering weight yarn and a mohair to create the leaves. If you like knitting short rows as Nancy does, this is the pattern for you. She used the German Short Rows technique but YouTube has many videos to teach other methods for short rows as well.

 We won't be meeting through the weeks of the holidays so let me take this time to wish you all a blessed holiday season and a happy new year. And don't forget...keep those needles clicking!

In between donation cycles

Last Wednesday Nancy, Jan, and I delivered our warm woolies to Things of My Very Own. This is a non-profit organization which protects and supports families who find themselves in crisis situations. We were so warmly greeted by such grateful staff. It makes us feel like we are making a difference.

This week we start a new cycle. We spent some time brainstorming possibilities for our next recipient. Cinzia will be doing some searching for a strong candidate in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, we are knitting whatever strikes our fancy. I cast on for a 2X2 ribbed hat using a DK weight yarn. I'm trying to be more mindful about making items that a man would like to wear. It's so easy for me to find feminine knits I enjoy making that I have to be conscientious about knitting more                                                                masculine items.                                                                

Nancy started a cute little baby hat using a cheerful variegated yarn.

It is the Swirl Hat, a paid pattern on Ravelry and a good project for social knitting.

Cinzia found a colorful bulky weight yarn in the stash and cast on for a 3X1 hat which she almost finished in the two hours spent at my house. Size 13 needles and fat yarn make a quick knit.

Margaret found a pattern for fingerless gloves from a designer who has wonderful tutorial videos on YouTube.

These fingerless mitts use bulky weight yarn so they will be a quick knit too. You can also purchase the pattern on Ravelry if you don't want to follow the video.

Maureen chose a great color combo for her Helix Hat!

Barbara is making a Mistake Stitch Hat. I like how the ridges grow on the bias across the hat.

Dorah bought a collection of mini skeins to make a Reverb Shawl for her collection.

The last two skeins will finish off the triangular shawl perfectly.

Barbara B stayed home today because she was feeling under the weather this week and didn't want to share germs with us. Luckily, I baked a banana bread yesterday so the Chicks didn't have to go through snack deprivation. Feel better soon Barbara and not just because we miss your treats! LOL!

It's a dreary, damp day so I'm headed off to make a warm, comforting soup for dinner. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

 

Time to take inventory

Today was the day we look through all the items that were painstakingly created over the last few months and try to remember the names of the patterns. Or what fiber we used. Or who made it! It's always fun to revisit a project after it has been completed and set aside for a new one. 

Included in our donation to Things of My Very Own are as follows:

3 Hat and scarf sets, 3 hat and sweater sets, 55 hats, 3 pairs of socks, 8 cowls, 8 baby and toddler sweaters, 4 scarves, 1 pair fingerless mitts, and 5 stuffed chicken toys. Our grand total is 90 items (100 if you count pairs as two separate items because it's twice the work). Great job Chicks!!!

We will make the drop off tomorrow then decide our next project recipient.

In the meantime, we are all casting on for new projects because, well, because we can! I don't know about the rest of you but I cannot let knitting needles sit idly by and not be working with my hands.

I started the Orchard Harvest Beanie, a really nice pattern designed by one of my current favorite designers, Benjamin Matthews. His patterns are well written and easy to follow. He releases his patterns for free for a limited time and then they must be purchased on Ravelry. If you join a Facebook page for Ravelry Free Patterns you could be one of the lucky ones who finds his patterns when they are still free.

Jan also just started a hat called Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend and it's a freebie!

Her color choice for the yarn is a good one for showing off the lacy diamond pattern.

Carole started the Squarshy Hat, another freebie designed for bulky weight yarn. See how nice the details show up in this color yarn. 

She is also working on a Mistake Stitch Cowl. I don't know if this is the exact pattern she is using but it's one of many on Ravelry.

Barbara K laughingly calls this The Scarf that Never Ends. It's a lovely fabric but it takes so long because of the small gauge needles and yarn. It's the Mistake Stitch Scarf FYI.

Nancy picked out two complimentary colors to make a cowl which she is finding a lot of fun to knit.

The Dotty Cowl is a colorwork project with so many color possibilities. And it's free!

Barbara B is getting beautiful stitch definition for her new hat.

The Spruski Hat uses a DK weight yarn and has nice design elements. It's a paid pattern on Ravelry.

And don't let me forget this week's delicious contribution, Barbara B's sourdough cinnamon buns! MMMM! I'm still licking my fingers!

Well, I need to prepare dinner and feed the always hungry Fozzie so 

have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

It's a good thing my head is attached!

We had a small group with mighty discussions today but as a result, my brain totally forgot to take pictures of what we were knitting. Oh well...

 I did get pictures of hats. Dorah made gifts for the people who supply her with good veggies and eggs. But did I get the names of the patterns? I think the one on the right is the Orchard Harvest Beanie by Benjamin Matthews. He sells his patterns on Ravelry and they are always well written and easy to understand. The blue one on the left...your guess is as good as mine.

I finished a beanie last night but I didn't use a pattern. After a while, hats just jump off the needles without any directions.

I did use a new to me technique though. I wanted to learn how to knit one row stripes with no jogs so I searched on YouTube and found this tutorial which made it very easy to knit. Grace O'Neill is the instructor and she has the most soothing voice and sweetest accent. I could listen to her all day.

But thank goodness I remembered to get a picture of today's snack! Barbara B. made sourdough thumbprint fig jam cookies. I may have taken a few extra off her hands so she doesn't have to eat them all herself. ;)

The Chicks will be taking a break next week to prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday. Here's hoping you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and maybe find a moment to keep those needles clicking.

Too cold for deck knitting

NOW the weather is too cold for deck knitting! It's a very windy 46 degrees out there so I opted to be cozy around the kitchen table. But if you look behind Barbara B and Maureen you can see my begonia thinks it is still summer. It's an explosion of bright red blossoms!

Barbara B's sourdough treat this week is a pleasantly spicy pumpkin bread, of which the texture and moisture are perfection!

Margaret is at the decreasing portion of her 1898 Hat. A little further on you'll see it completed.

Nancy had started the Foliage Hat last week but this acrylic/wool blend yarn had other plans. So it was frogged in favor of...

the Stretchy Swirl Beanie. She and I were lucky to get the pattern for free during an introductory offer but now it's a paid pattern.

Barbara B just started this scarf but had to write to the designer because she found an error in the pattern.

The designer got right on the case and updated the written pattern immediately. So if you search for the Stitch School Scarf now, it is correct.

I started my own version of an emotional support chicken which I designed using two knitted squares. If you'd like to knit one, follow these directions.

Used left over sock yarns, size 2 DP’s

CO 8 sts on 4 DP’s 

K 1 round 

Kfb of each st 

K1 round 

At each end of each needle kfb 

Alternate K a round with an increase round until desired size. Bind off. Knit two squares. Place wrong sides together and join 3 sides by sewing a seam or crochet together then add comb and beak and embroider eyes. Stuff then flatten tail end in opposite direction from the other 3 sides and seam shut.

crochet comb on top of head with SC, HDC, DC, HDC, SC, 3 times. 

beak is SC, DC, SC,then weave in ends

This one was made with 20 stitches on each one of the four needles for a total of 80 stitches around. She's just big enough to fit in the palm of a little one's hand.

Here is Margaret's 1898 Hat all ready to have the ends woven in and put into inventory.

Barbara K just started a striped hat with yarns that compliment each other beautifully. She plans on alternating two row bands of color to the top of the crown.

And Maureen's Totally Biased cowl has a new color added this week. I think her plan is to use up all the yarn so it will be long enough to wrap more than once around the neck. This is a good pattern for self striping yarns, gradients, or tonals.

You're all caught up for now. Be kind to yourself and others and have a great week. As always, keep those needles clicking!