Small Projects, Big Warmth

Our weather was absolutely beautiful today. We knitted outdoors in 70 degrees and no humidity! And the evening group sat outside too. This is only the second time all summer we were able to sit outside for the evening session. What a pleasure!

We start this week's Show and Tell with Liz's cowl. It's a straight forward knit a few stitches, purl a few stitches and you get a lovely finished product. It will be a nice warm addition to someone's wardrobe.

 Kathleen made two hats this week. This first one has a roll up brim which Kathleen said took a LOT of yarn because it is double thickness, right where you need it to keep warm. Very stylish!

 Her second hat is also very stylish. The stockinette pattern makes it roll all by itself.

 We all laughed about the never-ending scarf! Kathleen swears there are gremlins that come out at night to rip out her knitting when no one is looking. Sometimes scarves do feel like they will never end.

 Barbara just started this hat so there wasn't much knitting to show. Next week you'll get to see this one live. She is using a very pretty tonal purple yarn.

 Cinzia blocked her baby blanket just in time to add it to our baby items for this donation cycle.

 And finished the snaps on her cute little cardigan also going in with our current donation inventory.

 Her daughter, Sofia, finished the first bootie and will have the second one done to add to the inventory which will be delivered next week.

 My daughter visited this past week with her husband and my grandsons and while she was here she knitted her own design cowl. 

 It can be worn two ways, this is one where the buttons make a straight cowl. The other way makes a pointed bandana.

 Last week Carole's cowl was only about an inch wide. Now look at how much she has knitted! I like how the stitches curve back and forth. And the yarn stripes horizontally play against the pattern nicely.

 Beth's cowl is zipping along quickly too.

 Maureen's hat is showing the beginnings of the leaf pattern just after the ribbing edge.

 And lastly, I'm working on another never-ending scarf. The color changes in the yarn keep me fascinated enough to want to go on though.

                                  

My grandsons had a good visit with us last week. I took them to Woodstock, NY where Moose wanted to remember his visit with a pose in the "Woodstock Love Knot". Leo was asleep in his stroller.

Another day we went to Hoffman's Playland in Latham, NY. It's a small amusement park which has be in operation since 1952 but will be closing this year for good. I had to make sure the boys went there before it was gone forever.

And Leo slept through most of it.

 Amanda did wake him up before we left so he could get to ride some amusements too. 

He's watching his big brother to see what to do.

I love the expression on Leo's face. Apparently he was not too fond of the little girl behind him ringing the bell constantly.

I think Moose is going to be a daredevil!

Is that not the most joyful expression?!

On Sunday Moose played in the Little Tykes golf tournament and placed first in his age level. After he played a hole in the tournament he made a quick change and dove into the pool for a quick swim before he accepted his award.

That's one proud kid! His first prize was a whole box of golf balls and those are not cheap!

Move over Tiger, there's a Moose on your trail!

More Yarn! And wrapping up the inventory

It looks like our "Fairy Yarn Mother" visited the Chicks again! Many thanks to her for the most generous gifts of yarn! I can't wait to see the expressions on the faces of my Chicks when they see this.

 Ok, Kathleen, is that a look of "Oh boy! Look at all the yarn!" or "Oh boy! I have a ton of knitting I have to do!"?

 The ladies dove right in. It was like Christmas morning for big people!

 Kathleen and Liz set out multiple possibilities for projects. The creative juices were really flowing.

 Once everyone settled on what yarns they wanted we sat down for show and tell. Barbara finished a sweet little cardigan from the 60 Quick Baby Knits book. I think she used Plymouth Encore for this machine washable cardi.

 These sweet little mittens were also Encore yarn from the needles of Barbara. The pattern is free on Ravelry.

 Liz added another sweet sleeveless sweaters to the inventory.

And Kathleen added one too.

 Kathleen added this ensemble for our next projects inventory. Looks like she has the jump on the rest of us.

 Carole used up almost all the pink yarn on a preemie hat.

 The evening Chicks worked on labeling all our baby clothes this time. The afternoon Chicks usually do this but the evening ladies wanted the opportunity to reminisce about our past projects before they went out to comfort the little ones for whom we knitted.

 Look at all those cute little baby clothes! Our final tally was 88 items! Way to go Chicks!!!

 We had a surprise visit from my DD Amanda too. Well, it was a surprise to the Chicks, not me. She helped me sort through all those bags of yarn and organize them according to weight. Thank you Amanda, I couldn't have done it without you!

 Carole is knitting a lovely cowl for our adult projects.

 Her cowl reminds me of a peppermint candy.

 Beth is working on a cowl too. This is The Last Minute Cowl, a very easy, free pattern on Ravelry. If you can purl and knit, you can make this cowl.

 Maureen cast on stitches for this pretty hat...

 And Dorah cast on for this pretty hat. That's a beautiful shade of red!

And before I go here is one more finished project we added to the baby donations. I hunted through my button box for those three little autumn leaf buttons and had just enough yarn left for a quick ribbed hat to match. 

Now I'll have to change my mindset to knitting for adults again. My head is swimming with ideas!

Too muggy to knit outside

The "Chicks of the Evening" met yesterday. Afternoon ladies had the day off. But they'll be back on duty next week.

Carole's Sunnyside Cardigan is finished, buttons and all! It's so cute. Makes me wish I had a little baby to knit for. What am I saying?! I have lots of babies to knit for, I just don't know them!

 Carole started a new project last night but I'm not sure I remember what it is. I think she said she would be making a hat. That's the problem with having more than one conversation going at the same time. Knitting I can handle, talking, not so much!

 Maureen was down to the decreases nearing the end of a baby hat and she finished it so quickly she had to go home and look for something else to knit. Good thing she lives right across the street from me.

 I put some pretty skeins of yarn out on the table for inspiration and Carole and Cinzia checked them out. Carole was hooked. I can't wait to see what she knits.

 And there is Sofia between Dorah and me. I guess we didn't scare her last week. I'm so happy to have another generation interested in carrying on the knitting skills!

 Dorah is nearing the end of her Brickless scarf/shawl. Such a pretty yarn too! Do you think I can remember what it's called? Mrs. something or other...

Sofia's bootie is growing nicely. I'm so proud of how easily she picked up new techniques. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished pair.

                                 

I have one more sleeve to go on my Simple Baby Pullover using Cascade 220 yarn. I went to the Farmer's Market in Delmar last Saturday to get beets, basil, and tomatoes and came home with a lovely yarn bowl instead. That's it to the left of the sweater. It's the loveliest deep teal glaze with a slot for yarn on one side and two small holes on the other for what I can only assume is for two color knitting.

 I'm slowly making progress on my son's sock blanket. It's going to be wide enough for a full/queen size bed. Each square takes about 25 minutes to knit, once I decide what yarn to use. I try to be careful not to use the same yarn too close to each other. When it's done I'll attach a black i-cord edging to give it a clean finish.

 I took the lazy way out on my Sectores Scarf. It was supposed to be knitted until I ran out of yarn

which would have made it very long but I grew tired of it quickly so I decided to make a shoulder shawl instead. I used Poems Sock Yarn that has a long, slow color change. I didn't even notice until I took this photo that I started and ended with exactly the same amount of pink yarn! I love when patterns work out that way! Serendipity!!! This will go into inventory for a future donation.

Next week I think we will be labeling all the items to be donated. Check back then for our final tally.