Her Very First Finished Project and a Bunch of Stuff

Sheila finished her very first ever knitted project! She practiced her knit stitch diligently and now it's time to....

learn how to purl. One of the many things I admire about Sheila is her persistence. She is showing more confidence in how she handles the yarn and needles. Once she masters this purl stitch she'll be on her way to endless knitting possibilities!
Kathleen will have this top down cardigan finished by next week.

Joyce was reading about our next possible recipient. I have to make contact to see what they will need. But we still have some time since we're not finished with our current project.

I think Maureen is getting bored with her reversible stripes scarf and decided to start something quick and easy. This pretty red scarf will have a keyhole pocket through which you tuck the end.

I think the winter weather is getting to me too. I've been jumping to new projects so much that I now have six projects going at once. Starting at center bottom and going clockwise: a russet silk and merino yarn will become a donation cable scarf with open work between the cables (made by unraveling last stitch between cables), the soft sage green is a baby alpaca and silk blend Angel Wings shawl from Evelyn Clark that I'm making for myself, a simple Noro sock yarn shawl for donation, the fuschia is Jojoland 100% cashmere (very affordable!) and will be a scarf maybe for me, the variegated scarf is a simple K1P1 stitch using Decadent Fibers wool and mohair blend and will match the hat I finished a couple of weeks ago, also for donation, and finally I went to a clearance sale at Wool n' Word in West Sand Lake, NY and found some yummy soft baby alpaca to make a reversible stripes scarf. I love the bright purple and sour apple green together and it really highlights the stripes.

The weather better improve soon or I'm going to run out of needles!

Stephanie of Wool n' Word is closing her store to set out for new adventures. So if you're in the area make time to check out her sale. You don't have much time though. The last day will be Saturday, Jan. 30. We Chicks wish you much luck and love Stephanie wherever life takes you!

Long Time, No See

It's been a long while since Karin has been able to join our afternoon sessions but it was our good luck that she had two hours to spare this week. You know, when she first joined us we were somewhat intimidated by Karin's knitting prowess. For heaven's sake, she practically came out of the womb knitting! LOL! As you can see by her photo, she can really swing those knitting needles! Welcome back, Karin!

Kathleen added two more items to this week's inventory. The "Mistake Scarf" pattern uses a really soft yarn and the favorite pattern of our group is the Cabin Fever top down cardigan, which Kathleen executes perfectly every time.
This was everything we added to this week's inventory.
Elaine brought us a shopping bag full of yarn and it looks like the ladies couldn't wait to dive in to pick out their favorites.

I don't know where Karin found the self control to wait patiently for her turn. Oh yeah, she has lots of stash of her own at home. And yet somehow she left with three skeins of Brown Sheep in beige to add to a beautiful navy blue for a child's sweater. Atta girl Karin! Take as much as you like!

Barbara finished a lovely stole using a hand dyed yarn that was a Christmas gift last year.

The lace pattern was very pretty and showed off the colors to their best.

Elaine is working on a Gansey sweater for donation. The texture of the pattern is beautiful.

Karen checked out the pattern for a scarf she is crocheting (she is our "Crochet Queen" afterall) using a bamboo/merino blend yarn that feels like a cloud.

Judy picked out a pattern for a hat and scarf so she could use up some of our donated stash.

And Maureen's reversible stripes scarf keeps growing and growing and growing....

As does Joyce's reversible scarf. They are both looking great ladies!

The other day I leaned out to get my newspaper and there, leaning on the ledge was a UPS package addressed to me. My mind started racing! What did I order? Nothing that I could remember. Upon opening the package I was shocked to see this knitting book. I knew for sure I didn't order it and there was no invoice included. From where had it come? I looked at the return address and called the publisher to try to solve this mystery. The nice lady at customer service said I must have entered an online contest (not likely, I don't do that kind of thing) but that she had been flooded with phone calls all day from people wanting to know why they received books they hadn't ordered.

Well, now I have a nice new knitting book to add to my personal library. Thanks to whoever sent this to me!

Building Inventory

I finished a couple of items for http://uscri.refugees.org/site/PageNavigator/Albany/AlbanyHomeFeature3 this past week. This little hat fits a baby of 12 to 18 months and uses a small amount of sock weight yarn. I used the last of the Mirasol Chirapa 100% merino and had just enough to make the pompom.

Using two skeins of Noro Kureyon and two skeins of Noro Silk Garden I made this colorful striped scarf. The pattern comes from Jared Flood of http://brooklyntweed.blogspot.com/2007/04/noro-scarf.html
You can use two variegated colored yarns as I did here, or one solid and one variegated. It's fun to watch the colors evolve while the scarf grows in length.
Kathleen finished three more items this week. She just might singlehandedly push us over the 1,000 mark this year.
Barbara started a hat and...

Sheila is plugging along on her scarf. The word "tink" is becoming a part of her vocabulary.

We had a surprise visitor this week during the evening group meeting. Baby Ellie, who is Joyce's granddaughter/Allison's daughter came to cheer up Maureen, who lost her father recently. Our love and prayers for comfort go out for you Maureen on the passing of your Dad, Edward McDonald.

Ellie tried on the baby hat so we could get an idea of what sizes it would fit. She makes a cute model.

While Ellie visited we tested the old wive's tale of handing a baby girl a knitting needle. She readily grabbed it so it looks like we have a future Chick in our midst.

Joyce is working on a shawl for USCRI using some Lion Brand Homespun yarn.

And Judy was going to work on a colorful child's hat until she discovered she didn't bring her pattern.

On to plan B, check out a knitting book that used to belong to Maureen's late mother-in-law. It dates back to the 1980's so we all had a good laugh at the sweaters and styles.

Maureen is catching up on her knitting and is showing progress with her reversible stripes scarf.

So that brings you up to date with our projects. What are you knitting?

BRRRRRRR!!!!!

In spite of the fact that it was 22 degrees outside today, I called my neighbor to go for a walk. I searched through the hatbox and found my old earflap hat that I used to use for cross country skiing. It is bright hot pink so I knew traffic would have no trouble seeing me! LOL! We braved the cold and some wind for 45 minutes and then had to call it quits because we couldn't feel our legs and noses anymore. But it felt so good to get out and feel the fresh air.

This week with the Chicks featured Kathleen with four new things she knitted since we last met. The baby hoodie, a pair of mittens, and two carriage blankets will be saved for our upcoming donations to the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Since most of the clients come from warm countries, they are certainly going to need some warm fuzzies to cozy up to.

Elaine finished her hat on which she worked last week. That will go into the inventory for USCRI also. It's a pretty oatmeal color yarn.
Sheila has made great progress on her scarf and is feeling confident about finding mistakes and fixing them. Good job Sheila!

I finished a quick scarf from http://knittingpatterncentral.com called "La Neckerchief Scarf". It's a free pattern and it took all of six hours to make. I used some donated yarn, Koigu Kersti and this also will go to USCRI.

Using Mirasol Chirapa 100% merino wool, I also made the same scarf and a matching hat. The hat pattern comes from the book "101 Small Indulgences: Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders". It's called the Wysteria Waves Beanie.

I thought the chevron lace was a pretty touch to an otherwise plain hat. And maybe it will just make living in a cold climate a little more tolerable for someone who misses their home in warmer temperatures.

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to sit by the fire tonight. Stay warm and well!

Happy New Year!

Last Tuesday Barb showed us all her new cowl that she whipped up for a gift. She enjoyed making it so much she made another for herself. It was made using a size 17 needle with bulky yarn so it didn't take long at all.

Elaine was finishing up a hat and....
Sheila is getting the hang of knitting with a variegated yarn. Her stitches are starting to show even tension, something which isn't too easy for beginners.

I had leftovers from my Clapotis so I used some to make this little cowl. It's a silk and baby alpaca blend making it very soft against the skin.

On the day after Christmas, Moose came to our house to see if Santa left any gifts for him and sure enough! He had a bunch to open! His favorite was a "Wiggles" backpack filled with Wiggles playthings.

Santa also brought him a real guitar. Moose immediately began "playing" Beatles music. He sang all the words to "Yellow Submarine" and entertained us all.

When we went to visit Great Grandpa, Gigi, and Great Aunt Jamie Moose found out Santa left him some gifts there too. Elmo and his storybook were a big hit.

Great Grandpa (Poppop Billy) gave Moose a new wrist watch. Every time we asked Moose what time is it he answered five o'clock.

Gigi or Great Grandma (my mother), modeled the infinity scarf I made for her using Karin's Periwinkle Sheep sock yarn.

And Aunt Jamie (my sister) loved her new cowl made with Mini Mochi.

A few days after Christmas it snowed enough for Moose to clean my driveway. He loved helping his Daddy shovel the snow.

Tonight we decided to make chocolate chip cookies. Moose is wearing my grandmother's apron which means it has been passed down through five generations!

These break and bake cookies sure make baking easy!

But getting them from the package to the cookie sheet can be a little tricky!

The wait for the cookies to bake can be tedious.

But they are finally done and we ate them so quickly we didn't get a chance to take a picture.

I had a wonderful visit with Moose and his parents but they have to go home tomorrow. I'm going to miss him but I have lots of great pictures to remind me of his visit.

Oh! And did I tell you about another Christmas gift? We won't get to see it until this summer but Moose is going to be a big brother. His Mommy, my daughter, is pregnant and Moose is telling everyone he's going to buy a sister. I sure hope he won't be disappointed if he gets a brother.

With the new year comes a new project for the Chicks. We'll be knitting clothing to donate to refugees through the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Stay tuned to see what we'll be making. For now we hope you all have a happy and healthy new year!