Your greatness is not what you have, it's what you give.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Brownies for Dorah

"Someone" was the first to arrive at knitting group today. He took the chair right beside me and stayed until the first Chick arrived. He made a couple of appearances to check out everyone's knitting bag to be sure they weren't trying to sneak in any contraband. LOL! Then Fozzie scurried away until 3 o'clock when he heard the door close after the last Chick left. 
Since Dorah missed Barbara B's homemade sourdough brownies the last time she made them, Barbara was kind enough to bring them again for all of us to enjoy.

In between nibbling the delicious brownies and knitting we talked about composting do's and don'ts and how you can now be composted after death instead of the traditional burial. I wouldn't mind giving back to Mother Earth after all the good she's done for me! Then Dorah piped up that we managed to not talk politics all the way until 2:17pm! It's one of the by laws that we try to obey but Dorah always brings it up and we get a good belly laugh at the timing. Barbara B. is usually the one to make note of the time but Dorah played timekeeper today. Luckily, we are pretty much like minded individuals so there's never an argument and sometimes we get new information we might have missed. But for the most part we try to keep our discussions light and entertaining.
Carole completed the Helix Baby Hat I showed you last week, adorable! And has already picked yarn...
for the next one. It's a great way to use up small left overs that would otherwise 
wind up as trash or bird nests.
She is currently working on this cute little cardigan called Knit Baby Jacket Set. It's a freebie on Ravelry.
And just look at the adorable self patterning yarn she chose for it! The process strategically dyes the yarn to produce little flower buds and saves you from having to knit Fair Isle patterning.
Nancy finished her Dot Shawl by Casapinka and wore it to show us how beautiful it is. She did a lovely job of knitting and blocking it for a perfect finish!
Her current project uses these two yarns. The one on the right was the remains of a baby blanket she knitted for her daughter's friend.
Now they will come together to make a helix baby hat. We both loved how the little blips of color pop up every now and then for a pretty pattern.
Dorah is finishing up the body of the baby sweater she's working on. This is the point where she will start the garter stitch edge to match the button bands. The next step will be to put the sleeve stitches on a circular needle to knit them in the round. I have found that when I transition from flat knitting the body to knitting the sleeves in the round that the stitches look different. That's because when you knit a row and purl a row for flat stockinette stitch the wrong side stitches are looser than the right side stitches, as opposed to knitting every round where every row is knit stitch, it becomes more tightly knit. So I always go up a needle size to make up for the discrepancy.
I started the afternoon trying to finish up my Easy Shawl by Martina Behm but was easily bored and switched to...
the Top Down Raglan Child's Sweater for which I am using a self striping yarn. I have a few inches more to go before I can start the sleeves. I think I will use the magic loop and knit two at a time so they are the same exact size.
Margaret is about halfway through her helix baby hat. She will knit it to 5 inches or so and begin the decrease portion to close the top of the hat.
Barbara B. finished one of her baby socks and has the second started. She's using DP's, double pointed needles to knit them.
Jan's Changing Staircase Shawl is coming along nicely. She said she has the rubber mat tiles that fit together like a puzzle so she can block and pin it into place to open up the pretty lace sections of the shawl.
That's a wrap (pun intended) for today. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!
 

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

A snowbird returns

If you look at the far end of the table, between Dorah on the left and Barbara B on the right, you'll see Jan who has returned from her winter break. She spent time in California and Florida where she said it was too cold to do the usual vacation activities so she had lots of time to knit. 
It's good to have you back Jan! 
Today's hot topic was about sourdough because Barbara B made delicious carrot cake cupcakes! She schooled us on all the varieties of food you can make with sourdough starter. It's not just for bread!
Nancy was getting pointers from Carole on how to make a Helix Hat. Carole loves them because they use up small amounts of yarn leftovers.
Carole wasn't sure about the selection of leftovers but they blended together beautifully to make a cheerful little baby hat.
Nancy is nearing the finish line on her Dot Shawl. She has decided to do the edging in just the purple yarn to highlight the little bobbles.
Janna found a lovely superwash merino in her stash in enough quantity to make a baby blanket. The Someday Baby Blanket in this yarn will have great stitch definition to highlight the basket weave design.
Barbara B started a pair of baby socks using TAAT magic loop method (two at a time). It's a good way to insure you get two socks of the same exact size...ask me how I know. LOL!
I will never knit two socks separately again!
Jan started a Changing Staircases Shawl, a free pattern on Ravelry. The variegated yarn will add some movement to the stockinette sections.
Dorah started a baby cardigan for a friend's baby and set it aside. That baby is probably in fourth grade now so the Chicks' inventory will benefit from her procrastination.
Cinzia designed a sweater for herself and is working both sleeves together on one needle. This will insure all decreases and design motifs will be the same on both sleeves, just like the TAAT socks.
Annika's lace scarf is getting longer. She said the pattern is an easy one to memorize even though it looks complicated. There is only one row to which you have to pay attention. The others are just knit or purl all stitches.
Margaret cast on 60 stitches to start a baby hat.
I didn't get a chance to ask, but these are the two yarns she will incorporate into the design. 
I'm thinking stripes most likely.
I'm working on the Top Down Raglan Child's Sweater which is a free pattern on Ravelry. It suggests buttons all the way to the bottom edge but I think I'll just use three.
Barbara B completed this adorable Short Row Baby Hat using the yarn that my daughter dyed with Kool Ait. The yarn is a soft baby alpaca which will require gentle care but hats don't get washed all that much...do they?
Carole used a 100% acrylic yarn about which she wasn't all that crazy but the finished Beach Pebbles Cowl turned out to her liking. It looks great and has such nice texture.
I spent ages vacuuming cat fur off the velvet seat cushions this morning so the Chicks wouldn't leave my house with "souvenirs" attached to their clothing. Guess what happened the second the last person left and the door closed! You can tell by the expression in his eyes that Fozzie knows the rules but just doesn't care! LOL! 
It's a good thing he's cute! 
Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!
 

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

This week's culinary delight is...

Barbara B. made sourdough chocolate chip muffins for our snack this week. And yes! They were finger lickin' good! It's has reached the point where she is now taking requests. I think I heard someone throw out a suggestion for carrot cake for next week. LOL!
But we are here to knit after all so we had to wait until later in the session to get our fingers all chocolatey. 
Nancy mentioned to Janna that she had a pair of earrings that were designed after RBG's lace collar so she wore them today. They do look just like the Dissent Cowl!
Barbara B finished her Breathe and Hope Shawl in time to wear it today. She looks lovely with it.
Nancy collected some left over sock yarn to make a LOSY hat. The purple is beautifully highlighted by the Malabrigo earth colors.
Barbara's baby project is the sideways knitted Short Row Baby Hat.
She is using yarn which my daughter dyed using Kool Aid.
The fiber blend of wool and alpaca makes it nice and soft.
Annika was happy to start a scarf after all the Icelandic wool hats she had been knitting. The pattern is very similar to a feather and fan pattern.
Janna was coming down the home stretch on her Easy Scarf by Martina Behm. There were six more rows to be knitted before the bind off row.
She was worried that she would run out of yarn before finishing off the last stitch.
But the "Knitting Goddesses" had her back. She finished with almost 4 yards left over. If you ever find yourself with not enough yarn to finish the bind off row you can always use the yarnless bind off but it makes for a less elastic edge.
I am knitting the same Easy Scarf but with a lighter fingering weight yarn and smaller needle so it's taking me much longer to complete. Janna used a DK weight yarn and size 7 needle and I'm using a size 4 needle and twice as much yarn for a much longer scarf. At this rate I'm hoping to have it finished by next winter. ;)
If you are local to the Albany Capital District there is a brewery called Nine Pin Cider Works which holds a yarn swap on the third Thursday of the month. It is advertised as bring yarn you would like to give away and pick up new yarn to refresh your stash as long as you buy a cider. They even invite you to stay and work on your project if you want. This month only it is being held on the last Thursday so I'll be bringing my designated driver and some yarn. Maybe I'll see you there. In the meantime, keep those needles clicking.
 

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

You know that rule?

We knitters have an unwritten rule...we knit so we won't eat. Well, when Barbara B. aka the Queen of Sourdough, comes to our Tuesday get-togethers armed with her homemade goodies, we can't refuse! Look at those happy faces. 
This is why everyone is smiling! Barbara used some of the discard of the sourdough starter to make brownies. And boy! They were good! So we all had some nibbles and then got down to work.
Janna used Knit Picks Chroma fingering weight yarn to make this lacy scarf and brought it in to see if any of us remembered the name of the pattern. After some searching, she was able to find it to share with Annika so she could make one too.
Janna is smiling here because she has finally used up ALL of the pink, green, and blue yarns on the last Helix Hat in a long line of pink/green/blue hats.
She also completed her Dissent Cowl, a design to honor RBG.
Her newest project is the Easy Scarf from Martina Behm. Janna reminded me that this is the yarn she bought when we visited WEBS in 2018 and she's finally getting around to using it. Sometimes you have to wait for the yarn to speak to you so you know what it wants to become.
Barbara K. is loving this pleated scarf with the soft pastel yarn's lovely colors. The slow changing colors make a nice transition throughout the length of the fabric.
Carole's newest granddaughter, Ruby, has outgrown the first hat she knitted for her. So this will be the next size up for her.
Carole chose a Sirdar Baby Yarn in DK weight and a size 5 needle to make the self patterning cap with a rolled edge.
She finished it up before we were done for the day. The Simple Baby Hat is a freebie on Ravelry.
Earlier in the post you saw the Easy Scarf that Janna is starting and here is mine which I started over the weekend. My hubby and I had a lunch date on Saturday in Red Hook, NY and made our way home through Chatham where there just so happens to be a yarn shop called The Warm Ewe. I found this Lang Mille Fiori superwash merino in fingering weight and it called my name. By the way, lunch was fantastic at a Greek restaurant called Mazi. They just opened last year and I hope they are successful because I would love to go back and try many more of their menu options.
Annika finished the hat from last week and started what will be the last of the Icelandic Wool hats as she has reached the end of the stash.
Barbara B. is working on the Moose Balaclava, another free pattern on Ravelry. The original pattern calls for two weights of yarn held together to make the equivalent of a bulky weight but you are the master of your knitting so you can do whatever your little heart desires as long as it fits. ;)
Nancy's Dot Shawl by Casapinka is coming along beautifully. It uses fingering weight yarns and each dot looks like a bobble but is actually made by purling 2 stitches together so there's no annoying turning back and forth with each one.
You might remember Carole's Helix Hat from last week when she was worried she might run out of the green yarn before reaching the finish line. Well, I'm happy to report that because the rounds get smaller with each decreasing round, she was able to complete the hat with 10 inches of yarn to spare! 
Whew! That's cutting it close!
And you have seen Nancy's gossamer cowl in progress in the last few weeks. Today she wore it and it's gorgeous! The colors compliment her blouse perfectly!
We're going to spend a few more weeks knitting for ourselves and then it's back to knitting for a cause. The upcoming recipient will be the Alpha Pregnancy Center. We will be knitting for babies and their mommas so you'll be seeing wee little items in the coming months.
 Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!