Starting a new cycle

Last week we delivered our cute little stuffed toys to the Albany Police so this week we begin a new project. Our latest creations will be donated to the homeless women veterans at Guardian House in Saratoga County.

We already have some finished items for inventory. Barbara B. made the Easy Ombre slouch hat which looks like falling snowflakes on a red background.

She also made the world's softest socks from Loops and Threads yarn. I believe it's a bamboo blend yarn, the softness which I have never felt before.

                          

This little hat will go into a future donation which will include children too.

Cinzia finished the bulky weight yarn hat, another child size for future donations.

And her little romper with the cute little green buttons will be saved for a future date also.

Last week I showed you a scarf in progress which I was waffle weaving on my rigid heddle loom. This week it's done and waiting for the fringe to be twisted before it goes into the bath to bloom the fibers.

Then last night I felt inspired by a silk and merino blend yarn from Malabrigo that I found in my stash. I started warping the loom at 7PM and by 9:45PM I was past the halfway point. I finished it off right before the evening Chicks arrived and took it off the loom, catching a thread on the nylon strap which holds the front apron rod. Did you hear me scream when I discovered about 2 inches of yarn had been pulled out of the pattern?!?! After I said a few choice words, I took a tapestry needle and worked the thread back into place. This scarf is going to be made into a cowl after wet finishing.

The black box on Barbara B.'s left thumb is her row counter. She needs it for the hat she's making with this lovely yarn. 

This is the pattern she's using for it.

Barbara K. was hard at work on her project but we won't get to see it finished until after her winter sabbatical in Florida.

Cinzia started a ZickZack scarf with these pretty purple yarns from Berroco.

And Debbie is working on her hat with a lovely green worsted weight.

I had enough pink yarn left over from the scarf to make a hat to match. But boy! It seems to be taking forever compared to how quickly the scarf was woven!

Margaret almost finished her hat from last week. Those bulky weight yarn make quick work on fat needles.

Carole's hat shows beautiful stitch definition with the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino yarn. And such a lovely lavender color too!

She's made this hat before. I know the ladies of Guardian House will love it.

And Maureen is almost finished with her 1898 hat with the double thick ear flaps for warmth. This is such an entertaining pattern to knit. Everyone to whom I've introduced the pattern loves it.

And I just have to show you the gorgeous blanket Carole wove over 30 years ago on her harness loom. What a beautiful creation!!! She said it's the last thing she wove before she put her loom away in storage. I wonder if I can inspire her to start again! It is breathtaking!

And she wove it double on a narrow loom. That is to say, she wove it in two layers that connect on one edge so when it comes off the loom, she unfolds it to reveal it is double the width of when it was on the loom! MAGIC! I want her to teach me how to do that! If only she could remember...

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

We made our delivery!

Yesterday was delivery day at the Albany Police Department. Even the canine wanted to be included. We were warmly greeted by Officer Brian Hawley (second from the left) and everyone who walked by the toys ooohed and ahhhed over them. It made each of us feel good that they were so warmly received. Thanks again for accepting our gift APD!

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!

Well, no lions or tigers, but there were bears in that tall pile of toys. The two Barbaras and Debbie helped attach labels to all 57 of the toys.

 Barbara K. brought us the burgundy kitty and Jan made the adorable mermaid, puppy, and bunny.

 Is it a herd or hedgehogs? Litter? Bunch? Well, whatever you call them, we had a lot of hedgehogs. Each one had its own personality too.

 Then there were the fraternal triplets.

 The raccoon kept the owls company.

 And a panda made it all the way from China  Glenmont.

 There was an explosion of kittens of all shapes and sizes.

 And a penguin made friends with an elephant and bunny.

 Little Red Riding Hood made fast friends with the others.

 And look at all those happy faces! These toys surely will brighten some little munchkins faces. As I said in the past, these toys will be donated this week to the Albany Police Force for distribution to children who face traumatic situations.

 Margaret put the finishing touches on the hat I showed you last week.

And then she immediately cast on for another of different colors.

Carole brought this darling baby set to show us the gift she is making for a friend's new grandbaby. She used Sirdar Crofter yarn, and acrylic and nylon blend which is very soft and machine washable and dryable.

Dorah showed us her "The Shift" cowl she made for herself. It has beautiful purples and grays. There is just a short seam to sew up and she'll be wearing it soon.

For now she's decreasing for the top of her Debbie Bliss Cashmerino mitten.

Carole's Olivia cowl is at the portion where she has to graft the two live ends together to form a cowl.

I was at least 6 inches into a cowl with this lovely yarn when it decided to be stubborn and hide a mistake which threw off the whole pattern. So I frogged it and now it's going to be a chevron shaped cowl with grafted ends. The white yarn is the provisional cast on which holds the live stitches for grafting later.

I have this pretty pink waffle weave scarf on my loom right now. Hopefully, I will have it nearly finished by the weekend.

These last 5 items will start the ball rolling for our next recipient, The Guardian House for homeless women veterans. So I better stop talking and get to weaving and knitting so I can fill up the inventory. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Finishing up the dolls

We are winding down our projects, trying to finish up the toys and dolls. Debbie finished her little girl doll with her cute Mary Jane shoes and Peter Pan collar. My little boy doll needs a few touches.

 By the end of the evening he had his turtleneck sweater and matching cap. The bear was knitted by one of Carole's friends who wanted to learn how to make one and she graciously donated him to us.

 Jan added two finished toys to the inventory and has to add a face to the fuzzy bear and has a way to go with her mermaid. That's going to be one adorable doll!

 Cinzia was back today after a long hiatus. She brought us four hats, one of which was crocheted, the rest knitted.

 Margaret added her kitty to the litter and then started...

a hat using bulky yarn. Our favorite quote from Margaret tonight was, "I could fall in love with bulky yarn!" She likes how quickly it knits up a project. This hat is a copy of the hat that Julia Roberts wears in the movie "Stepmom".

Cinzia got distracted watching a movie while knitting a hat so Plan B was to make it into a romper. Looks good to me!

Carole was knitting along nicely on her Olivia cowl when she discovered she suddenly had too many stitches. It happens to the best of us knitters. She'll be back on track in no time.

Dorah was planning on making a shawl with this beautiful cashmerino yarn from Debbie Bliss but the pattern was so poorly written that it was too difficult to decipher. So her Plan B was to make mittens instead. These are going to be beautiful. The color is so luscious and the fiber is cloud soft.

I haven't worked on my loom in over a week as other things have taken my attention. But I plan to get back to it soon. I have some ideas floating around in my head. I just wonder if they will work. If not, I can always knit something! Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

More stuffies for the Police

For those readers who might have missed it, we Chicks are making stuffed toys, also known as Amigurumi, to give to the Albany Police Department for officers to distribute to children who might be involved in a traumatic situation. Janna and Barbara K. are holding just a few of the over 40, so far, that we have knitted or crocheted.

 Some are animals and some are people, as is the case with Debbie's doll.

 Her Little Red Riding Hood turned out to be an adorable doll, complete with basket, surrounded by hedgehogs, teddy bear, owl, and cat.

 Another dolly with two more hedgehog friends joined the collection.

 As did two more cheerful teddies, another owl and an elephant.

 Maureen was busy making hats. This 1898 hat will be real cozy.

 And her spiral hat came with a matching cowl.

 Maureen was inspired by Dorah to make a Helix hat with pretty pinks and gray.

 And Dorah's hat went into inventory too.

 Santa (my hubby really) heard my wishes and brought me a new toy for Christmas! I am now the proud owner of an Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom. I had been watching Youtube video tutorials for quite a while now so my first lesson went quite smoothly.

 I cranked out a scarf in two days as opposed to knitting one in two weeks OR MORE! This was my first try and while the edges are a bit wonky (hey! it's only my first try), I am proud to say it is a wearable work of art. I have yet to decide how to finish off the fringe.

 My fourth try at weaving shows much improvement. This cowl needs a couple of buttons to adorn the edges but it's officially finished, again, except for the fringe.

I think I'm going to like weaving as much as I like knitting and it certainly will be a lot quicker. Now I have to dig through my stash to find yarn which will hold up under the stress of warping. Not all knitting yarns will withstand the stretch on the loom...ask me how I know! As I always say, mistakes are lessons learned. Some harder than others!