A cozy evening by the fire

Let me set the mood. Fire crackling, soft smooth jazz playing, cup of warm herbal tea brewing, and friendly conversation. 

Carole finished her sailboat blanket. Isn't that a cute pattern?! The yarn is a machine washable and dryable acrylic just waiting for a cute little boy to cuddle.

 She also finished this sweet little cardigan using Berroco Vintage yarn.

 Also going into the inventory for this month's donation is a cute pink hat for a little girl.

 Maureen is just about finished with her yellow baby cardi.

 She's down to the last few rows of the button band and then just the finishing touches and buttons.

 I worked on a pair of fingerless mitts with a self striping fingering weight yarn. And check out my fuzzy socks! I feel like a muppet!

Maybe next week I'll have enough knitted to show you some progress. I better get back to them now. Have a great week and happy knitting!

Finishing Up

Barbara finished the Baby Surprise Jacket and proclaimed it the last one she will EVER knit! I don't blame her. There is a lot of stitch counting involved which she finds disturbing. Funny thing is she is an accountant! But I know what she means. It's an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern which advertises it is knitting without tears. I beg to differ. I have to admit that even though I consider myself pretty adept at knitting, this pattern almost brought me to my knees the first time I made it. So now Barb just needs buttons and it will be added to inventory.

 Kathleen finished a BSJ also. Those bright green buttons really pull out the colors and make it pop!

 Another Kathleen project finished. This sweater is an acrylic yarn which makes it machine washable.

 Barbara offered to model a hat Kathleen made for our next project. How nicely it matches her sweater!

 We had a full house this evening. From left to right going across the bottom of the screen: me, Maureen, Carole, Beth, Karin. We haven't seen Karin in a long time. It was good to have her back in the fold!

 Carole worked on a chemo cap for our upcoming donation project.

 Karin finished up a pair of socks for her daughter.

 And Beth started a sweater. Check out those pretty stitch markers! They are like jewelry for your knitting!

  We were cracking up over that HUGE skein of yarn Maureen was knitting. It looks like an ostrich egg on her lap!

I finished a Daybreak shawl last week which will go into our next donation. I was going to make this shawl for myself using some sock weight yarn from my stash but after starting and frogging it three times I decided to try it in a worsted weight to make it easier to read. I really like the way it turned out and as you will see further down it helped tremendously with the fingering weight yarn.

 Last week I mentioned I finished the grey hoodie. Now it's ready to keep some cute little munchkin warm.

 I started another baby sweater this week. From this photo you can tell it will be colorful but it's hard to tell it's a sweater. Trust me. It will become a sweater eventually.

 Here is the Daybreak shawl I'm knitting for myself. The yarn is Periwinkle Sheep Watercolors. The darker color is "Past Midnight" and the lighter is "Cloud Dancer". I'm really happy with the results so far.

Well, I better get back to those projects. They aren't going to knit themselves!

A few FO's

I knitted a pair of sockettes for Amanda's birthday gift so she could wear flats without a sock showing.

They fit her perfectly and she loved them.

And still on blocking wires is a blanket knitted in the round. Yes, I know it's square but trust me, it's knitted in the round. I bought the yarn at a yard sale for less than a dollar and got over 400 yards of yarn. I'd say that was a good bargain! This will go into our current project for children in need.

Beth showed us the shawl she's working on at home for herself. It has a pretty lace edge that is knitted first lengthwise and then the shawl stitches are picked up on the long edge and knitted in short rows.

Tonight Carole was working on a 5 hour boy's sweater and Beth was working on a baby hat with a cute lace edging.

I snapped a couple of quick photos this weekend when I visited the grands. Moose is always busy, just like his Mom at that age. It's hard to get a picture of him that isn't blurry!

And even though it doesn't look like he's enjoying himself, Leo really loves to fly.

I had such a good time cuddling with my munchkins this weekend. I'm looking forward to the next time I can hold them and smother them with kisses!

It's Tuesday again!

My son tried on the socks I knitted for his Christmas gift and they fit perfectly. Wow! He has big feet! You never realize things like that until you have to knit inches and inches of stockinette. I doubt I'll ever make a sweater for him.

I finished another Ishbel shawl as a gift for someone. It's a surprise so I can't say who. I used Online Sock weight yarn, a blend of nylon and acrylic. I was reluctant to use this yarn for a lace shawl but the recipient wanted a pure white shawl and I couldn't find any natural fibers in pure white so I gave it a try. The shawl soaked in very warm water for 30 minutes before I pinned it out and gave it a good steaming to "kill" the acrylic. I'm really happy with the result.

 Barbara wore her beautiful sweater today. She bought the pattern from WEBS and used a Valley Yarn bulky weight. I love the way the sleeves come to a point on the top of her hands.

 Then she got to work on her Baby Surprise Jacket. The colors look great together.

 Carole is down to the last few rows of garter ridge for the border of the baby afghan with the sailboats.

 And Maureen started the cute baby sweater she picked out last week.

 It's from a pattern book that uses Cascade 220 yarns. It's going to be a cutie.

I'm finishing up a hoodie which will be done by next week and ready for photos. Stay tuned for the finished project.

Starting a new donation project and Christmas with the Masons

Kathleen has had two weeks to knit up a storm and she didn't disappoint.

Hats, mittens, and a blanket were just the beginning.

Another leaf and lace sweater set was added,

as was a cute little flowered hat

and a lacy cap.

Barbara decided to make a Baby Surprise Jacket so she was just beginning it this afternoon.

Maureen finished her Baby Sophisticate Jacket.

Carole is finishing up an infinity scarf for her daughter who decided it needed to be longer.

And Beth needed only to sew buttons on her little jacket.

Super Moose, I mean, Superman came to visit us at Christmas.

He read all the tags so he could distribute the gifts.

We had a full house. The Collins brought Moose and Leo, John and Andrew came down from upstate, and my parents and sister came over from Connecticut.

And it was a very knitty Christmas. Amanda made dinosaurs for her boys and her brother.

And she hunted all over New Jersey and Pennsylvania to buy this mug for me after the first one accidentally broke.

Moose dyed the yarn and Amanda designed and knitted this lovely shawlette for me.

I love the size of it. I can wear it like a scarf or shawl.

Ron's mittens fit perfectly which was a miracle since I tried not to let him see me making them.

Leo loved his new toy and figured out how to make it pop!

Amanda loved the scarf I made for her and the tiger eye button made a good bead.

It was a good day all around and we all loved the knitty goodness.

Now that the new year is here I have ideas for knitting all kinds of pretty things. I wish I had enough hours in the day to make them! Maybe I can make a resolution to learn how to knit in my sleep!