Not another one?!?!

You are probably getting sick and tired of seeing my 1898 Hat but I can't help it. When I wake up in the morning the stitches are already on my needle and ready to be knitted! It's a miracle!

You know that old saying? When life hands you lemons, make lemonade! I ran out of yarn with this one so with only 6 inches of yarn left I bound off and turned this hat into a ponytail hat so someone with long hair can accommodate the ponytail without discomfort.

And just as soon as it was bound off...POOF! another took its place! I started it on Sunday. By last night I had the earflaps finished and picked up the 84 stitches for the crown.

After tonight's two hour session it was done. It really is addictive knitting!

Elaine's hat is showing off its cables nicely. In between cables is another pattern going on. When it's finished I'll be better able to show you.

Barbara cast on stitches for a Spiral hat using some left over Noro Silk Garden from her stash. It's going to be pretty with all those lovely colors.

Margaret added a nice little cowl to the inventory tonight and went on to start...

a hat with stripes.

It's going to look like this.

Dorah's cowl in seed stitch is almost done. Another inch or two and she'll sew the narrow ends together with the mattress stitch.

Carole promised us her Wolkig cowl will be finished by next week. Now that she's retired she is busier than ever! She wondered how she managed to accomplish everything she did before when she worked full time! Isn't that always what happens when you retire?

Maureen is back too! She's working on a baby blanket now but will start a hat soon.

With two more Chicks looking into retiring in another year or two we joked about how they will be able to join the afternoon group. It's going to get crowded! I might have to add another afternoon! LOL!

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Warm heads and necks

The 1898 Hat is a self-knitting hat. This is my third so far and it's a pleasure to make. The pattern calls for 180 yards of yarn so Cascade 220, which is 220 yards, or Plymouth Encore, which is 200 yards, are perfect for this project. The earflap section is knitted flat and then folded, the edge from which stitches are then picked up and knitted in the round to the decreasing portion of the crown. Seriously, if I didn't do anything but knit I could make it in a day and a half. Unfortunately, I do have to get up and move every once in a while if I want to stay healthy. Man! I hate when life gets in the way of my hobbies! 😉

 Elaine is working on a double cuffed hat too. The 1x1 ribbing will be folded up after she works the cable design. This hat uses worsted weight yarn too.

 Barbara is making a 2x2 ribbed hat with the Shields of Garnet yarn from Periwinkle Sheep. All three of us were lamenting the fact that we might run out of yarn before we reach the end of our hats so we brainstormed a solution. Make it a ponytail hat! You know, those hats with the hole in the top so you can pull your ponytail through?

 Margaret finished her lovely Fair Isle hat for which she designed the pattern herself. Her original written pattern was a freebie but after starting it three times and finding an error in the chart of the design, she decided to make up her own Fair Isle pattern. It turned out lovely!

 Carole added a few things to the inventory tonight. She loves the Birthday Cowl, a simple repeating pattern which is good for mindless knitting.

 A friend of hers made this pretty cowl and decided to donate to our cause. Thank you Carole's friend!!!

 Carole's Wolkig is growing and soon may be finished. We compared it to my completed cowl and she has a few more inches to go or until she's bored.

 Beth worked on her Fair Isle cowl which is knitted in the round. That yellow yarn at the edge is for the provisional cast on so she can graft the two ends together and you'll never know where it starts or ends.

 She also added to our inventory with a pair of cozy, thick, bed socks. They were her first attempt at toe up socks, proving to Beth that she prefers cuff down. That's ok, you never know until you try.

We're still waiting for spring to arrive here in the Capital District of NY. Someone said we even had snow flurries this morning. Even I am getting annoyed at Mother Nature and I LOVE winter! Come June we'll probably all be complaining of the heat and humidity. So I guess I better enjoy the cool air while I can. 

Look who's back!

Elaine came to visit today. She and Barbara are both working on hats for the homeless women veterans of Saratoga County.

 This one, the 1898 hat, practically made itself. It's so easy that it took two days to complete.

 I immediately cast on for another with some Lamb's Pride Worsted Wool. I started it last night around 9PM.

 By 9PM tonight I finished the cuff/ear band and I'm ready to pick up stitches for the crown.

But that will have to wait until tomorrow. If I didn't have to do silly things like eat and sleep, it would have been finished by now! ;)

Since I forgot to take pictures of the evening knitting progress, you'll have to wait until next week to see what my Chicks have been up to. By then they will have made a bit more progress to show you. For now, keep those needles clicking!