Toys!

Because we are knitting for Community Maternity Services this cycle, we Chicks have decided to make toys for the cute, little munchkins in need. I found Izzy Teddy Bear Doll pattern on Ravelry and had a good time making him with scraps of yarn. He's constructed with a tube of knitting which is stuffed and then seams are sewn to define the arms and legs. I would recommend using doll making needles to sew the back stitches to outline the limbs because a tapestry needle with blunt point which is usually used for sewing up knitting, isn't sharp enough to make it through the stuffing. 

 It wasn't until I made the Peeps bunny that I remembered I had doll making needles in my supplies. Their sharp points made it so much easier to sew through the stuffing.

 And his cotton tail was a cinch to attach.

 The Throwback Pixie hood and matching booties were a quick knit too. I had some small amounts of sock yarn to crochet the posies on the toes of the booties.

 Two more baby hats joined the inventory when I found another small ball of dk weight yarn to make generic toppers for babies.

 Janna completed her Helix hat and finished off the top with a cute little braid. There was still more yarn left over so...

She started another Teddy this afternoon and already has him finished up to his crew neck sweater.

Elaine brought us two more hats.

And had enough yarn to start another in the same pretty variegated blue, green, and yellow.

Cinzia crocheted a cute little tabard vest for a boy. The crochet stitches give it a nice texture.

And now she's crocheting this cute little crocodile. She'll be embroidering eyes with yarn so little ones won't be injured by button eyes.

So far Cinzia has the head finished.

There won't be evening knitting today, so that's all for now. Enjoy the week and keep those needles clicking!

Welcome home Barbara K.

Barbara K. is back from her winter break in Florida. And boy! Did we miss her! While there she finished a baby blanket using two strands of acrylic for a cheerful, speckly broken rib blanket.

 Lion Brand yarn was the variegated yarn she used.

 Cinzia is in a crochet mood so she whipped up a cute little cardigan with a lightweight merino/cotton blend yarn. 

 And her little tunic is finished too.

 She hunted through my button boxes for these cute little cow buttons. I love it!

 Janna finished her pullover and did a beautiful job with the inset of whales.

 She decided to use the leftover yarn to make a helix pattern hat to go with it.

 Cinzia found some yarn in our stash to crochet a baby boy's vest.

 Then she found a neutral beige to make another vest.

 Carole worked on a baby hat to break the boredom from...

 her yellow Simple Baby Pullover. Sometimes those rows and rows of stockinette get tedious and we all need a break.

She showed us her personal project for which she is using Periwinkle Sheep Merino dk yarn.

 It's a luscious garter stitch shawl in a simple eyelet pattern and will be finished with a deeper shade of gray as the shawl grows longer.

 Margaret worked on her little ear flap hat but had to quit after an hour because she thinks she has tennis elbow from knitting. Don't laugh! It happens! The first time I experienced it, I had been cross stitching a sampler on a deadline and after so much repetitive movement, my elbow rebelled the only way it knew how. OUCH!

 Dorah finished her pullover and stuffed it in her knitting bag to weave in the ends later. Then she cast on for a basic baby hat with this cheerful, self-striping yarn.

 If I hadn't been busy knitting 3 different stealth projects last week I might have finished my pixie hood by now. Just a few more rows and I'll be finished.

Tomorrow is the first day of spring so get out and enjoy it! But bring your knitting.

Ooopsie!

Every now and then my brain goes on vacation without me. That happened this Tuesday when I met with the afternoon Chicks but the evening Chicks who had planned on joining me had last minute conflicts which forced them to cancel late in the day. My husband had plans to meet his golfing buddies for dinner and review of the 2019 golf rules (yeah, that's a thing they like to do) so I decided to take myself out to dinner and veg out for the evening. Unfortunately, that meant I also forgot to post this week's episode of the Chicks' progress. So here we are on Friday, when I should be preparing for my afternoon stitchers at the Albany Public Library, writing the blog post a few days late. Better than never, right?

Cinzia finished her lovely cowl which was inspired by the Zickzack scarf by grafting the provisionally cast on edge with the bind off edge. It turned out beautifully and was a good way to use the yarn which wasn't in enough quantity to make a long scarf. The solid purple yarn is Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worseted and the variegated is Noro Silk Garden. It's just beautiful!

 Elaine's baby hats were a welcome addition to our inventory. They were knitted with an easily washable acrylic.

 A few weeks ago I knitted myself a beret which turned out nicely but didn't look nice on me. Rather than waste yarn on a hat I would never wear, I frogged the hat and made a different style with a double knit band for extra warmth. The Merino dk and Wolke yarns are both from Periwinkle Sheep and the fur pompom was purchased online. Now there's a hat I will wear!

 On the needles now is a Throwback Pixie hood in a generic beige so it will be appropriate for either gender.

 And Elaine cast on for another baby hat.

Let's hope next week I get my act together sooner than Friday. ;)

We made our delivery

Janna, Carole, and I delivered our goodies to Unity House in Troy, NY this morning and were received with such warmth and gratefulness that we floated through the rest of our day. We took a guided tour of the modern facility with wonderful amenities available to those of our community who are in need of their services. When I returned home I saw a Facebook post on their blog with a lovely article about our visit. I often say that we don't do what we do for a pat on the back but Boy! It sure makes us feel good when our hard work and skills are recognized. 

Now we get back to our knitting needles and crochet hooks so we can prepare for our next recipients, Community Maternity Services of Albany. We already have a few finished items for our inventory. I whipped out a few things this week because the teeny tiny items knit up so quickly. These Saartje Booties were knitted simultaneously on magic loop so they would be the same size. I remember that before I learned magic loop, I knitted a pair of baby socks, one at a time and the sizes were vastly different. So I knitted a third sock figuring it would match one of the others. Well, not so much! How can I knit the same pattern with the same yarn and the same size needle and get 3 different sizes? I guess I was stressed out more with one of those socks.

 To make a little matched set I also knitted this little princess of a bonnet which is said to be a replica of Princess Charlotte's hat that she wore home from the hospital.

 And my all time favorite hoodie to knit is the Throwback Pixie Hood. In this small size it takes only a few days to knit.

 Margaret worked hard this week and added two little hats to our inventory. First was this cute little cap with a generic blue yarn. Something for the little boys.

 And she learned how to do a yarnover for the first time when knitting the eyelets through which she threaded the ties for the little slouchy hat.

 Barbara K. is on vacation but that didn't stop her from knitting a lovely machine washable and dryable baby blanket.

 Janna made progress on her little whale pullover. She is finishing up the bottom ribbing and will move on to the sleeves this week.

 And Cinzia turned running out of yarn into a design element. There wasn't enough green yarn so she used the white to finish the body and will edge the neckline with the same white yarn to hold the design together.

 Margaret started an earflap hat and together we discovered an error in the pattern. The instructions said to do a 3 needle bind off to attach the earflaps but that would prevent the knitting continuing up the hat. You would be left with a hole over each ear!

 Carole's baby pullover has been joined at the end of the button band and soon she will put the sleeve stitches on a holder to continue knitting the body.

The contrast of the graphic colors in Barbara B's crocheted blanket is striking! This is going to be a treasured blankie to some lucky munchkin!

I'm going to search through my patterns for some more inspiration to see what I can whip up for our next week's blog post. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!