Warm hands, warm heads, warm hearts

Barbara was planning on making a scarf with this fingering weight yarn but it turned out to be too narrow and so "Plan B" has been initiated and it will be a headband instead. It will be lovely with those cables.

Today was a bit nippy out so she wore her hand knit cowl. I don't know about you but I love when the weather turns cold and I get the chance to wear all my shawls and scarves I've knitted over the years.

 Kathleen was absent the last three weeks so she brought many items that she finished over that time. She just kept pulling things out of her magic bag!

 First up was a warm woolen vest.

 These mittens will go into inventory for our future donations as they are probably too small for our current needs. 

 I like how the yarn makes a pattern on these matching woolies.

 These mittens will be just right for the ladies at the homeless shelter.

 Love that April Showers scarf.

 One of Kathleen's daughters gave her a set of light up knitting needles. I guess they come in handy if you have a knitting emergency when you're at the movie theater!

 We were busy bees tonight too.

 Maureen's cowl is very pretty with the two tone pattern.

 Beth showed us her Hanne Falkenberg sweater that she made from a kit. She said it took a year to make but when you take into account how many other things she knitted that year too it most surely didn't take the whole year.

 The sweater uses three colors of yarn held together for some rows and used singly for others to make this interesting texture. It's really pretty!

 Carole's scarf is growing longer while her cabled cowl awaits a quiet time so she can kitchener stitch the ends together.

 And Beth's scarf is progressing nicely too.

 I'm in the home stretch of my scarf also. There isn't much yarn left so it should be done by next week.

 I started a cabled cowl also. This has a provisional cast on so I can kitchener stitch it closed when it's long enough. Depending on how bored I get with it, that might be sooner than later! LOL!

But it has just enough going on in the pattern to hold my interest for now. And it's easy to knit when I'm a car passenger. 

Well, it's not too late so I think I'll get back to the striped scarf so I can finish it off before next week. Keep your needles clicking!

There will be warmth

We Chicks finished lots of hats and earwarmers this week. First up is Maureen's hat with the beautiful textured stitch. She used a 100% wool so this will definitely be warm on a cold winter day.

 Next up is Dorah's earwarmer headband for which she used a Malabrigo Silky Merino yarn. The soft touch of this yarn will surely be a favorite winter garment for a cold set of ears.

 Beth showed us the two hats she made for a nephew and a niece. Their family are avid fans of the Redskins football team and even though it doesn't look it in this photo, the colors are the team colors.

She added a feminine touch for the niece's hat. 

 I used my favorite hat formula to make an original design. Someday I might find the time to write this pattern down and put it up on Ravelry. This hat uses Tahki Yarn called Coast, a wool and cotton blend.

 The matching mittens should have their thumbs by the end of today.

 Carole is almost finished with her cabled cowl. Just look at those beautiful cables!

 Maureen's new project is a two tone cowl using Cascade 220 in peach and a deep burnt orange.

 And Dorah's next project is this lovely beret hat. Can't wait to see how these turn out.

Two more photos of my grands. On their way home from our visit to the NY Sheep and Wool Festival on Sunday (no I didn't take any photos of the festival) we stopped for lunch at the Texas Roadhouse. Leo checked out the drink menu. I think he ordered a marguerita! HAHAHA!!!

 And Moose wouldn't leave until he had the chance to try out the saddle.

YEEHAW!!!

Fall Fun

My grandsons are visiting this weekend so their grandfather and I thought it was a good idea to keep the pile of leaves in the yard until they had a chance to play in them.  Looks like Leo isn't too sure what to do with them.

 Moose knew exactly how to get started!

 Playing hard requires some resting too!

 Now he's getting the hang of it.

 This is fun, isn't it?!

 Pick those legs up high. It's a deep pile of leaves! 

 This is what happens when you have fun in the fall.

 I think Leo is a pro at leaf pile jumping now.

More cables and ridges

Barbara is back after a two week vacation through Civil War sites in Pennsylvania on the way through to Virginia. She said there wasn't much color in the trees yet but she had a nice time anyway. She finished a hat and scarf set for our inventory. This mistake stitch scarf and ribbed hat will be a cozy warmer-upper!

 She has started another project using Periwinkle Sheep yarn. This is a beautiful royal purple.

 And here is the beginning of the Palindrome Scarf. It is a reversible cables pattern for a lovely scarf that looks great from both sides.

 Beth is working on a lovely scarf using a Berroco yarn. This scarf also looks great on both sides. 

 This is the pattern that Dorah is knitting. I mentioned last week that she was knitting a short row ear warmer.

 And here is her progress using a lovely silk yarn. Isn't that purple luscious?!

 Carole's cowl is showing off its cables. That pink yarn on the cast on edge is the provisional cast on which will leave live stitches onto which the bind off edge can be joined to make a seamless circle of knitting.

 Maureen's knitting is growing as we speak.

 Last week I showed you my headband in progress which I was making for my son. Well, that one is finished and this is actually the second one. It worked up so quickly that I decided to knit another to put into inventory for donation. 

I see many more of these headbands in my knitting future!

You're not the boss of me!

Does your yarn act like a spoiled teenage girl? Mine does! A few weeks ago I wanted to make a fern lace scarf from a pattern I improvised and which I've knitted at least 2 or 3 times before. 

Well! That pretty yarn behaved abominably and insisted on making me knit the wrong stitches where they shouldn't have been. After a few false starts and stops and lots of frogging I finally came to the realization that this yarn did not want to be a fern lace scarf! It wanted to be this pretty cowl below. Not a missed stitch in the whole project!

Fast forward to September 28. I was going to make a chevron scarf using a stockinette and reverse stockinette stitch that makes a very cute scarf. I've made it before too using this exact same yarn, Mini Mochi. The long lengths of color lend itself perfectly to this pattern, changing ridges with each color change. But the yarn had its own idea of what it wanted to be. I kept losing the center of the pattern, even with stitch markers. Then the colors were not matching up with the ridges. OK! OK! I know what you're trying to tell me yarn! You don't want to be this scarf! You want to be a Noro Striped Scarf. Fine! I have to admit I do like the way the colors play off each other. Next time I should listen more carefully.

Carole started a cabled cowl with a provisional cast on. That's where you put the cast on stitches on a temporary piece of yarn so when you're finished knitting you have live stitches that can be picked up and knitted outward in the other direction or in this case they can be knitted together or stitched together with the live stitches at the bind off end of the cowl. This leaves you with an endless circle of knitting and no discernible seam.

By evening's end Carole had the beginnings of the cables showing already.

She also finished a pair of Cafe au Lait Fingerless Mitts for donation. This yarn has great stitch definition to show off that pretty knitting pattern.

Dorah is using this pretty silk blend yarn to make a headband/earwarmer. She is using a pattern that calls for short rows. It will be a great addition to the inventory.

And lastly, Maureen's hat is showing off its pattern. That should be finished soon. Looking good!

Oh wait! One more knitted yumminess. I am knitting a headband/earwarmer for my son for one of his Christmas gifts. It's ok, he had to try it on so he has seen it already. I'm using Periwinkle Sheep BFL in Harvest Moon. I think it might be a test color because I haven't seen it around much.

I did my provisional cast on directly onto a knitting needle cable so I can Kitchener the ends together and make it seamless. I just have to try it on Drew one more time to make sure it fits. It's going to look great with his new orange winter hoodie!