Great minds think alike

Dorah and I must have been on the same wavelength today since we both chose tie-dyed shirts and are using our matching project bags that I made. Great minds...

Dorah added the new color to her color blocked hat and a short time later...

She added color number three. This was the project she wanted to make to learn how to knit

 jogless stripes. Looking good!

Janna was telling the Chicks about the technique she had to learn for her Yara Shawl.

Some of the striped areas are knitted flat on a circular needle so she could slide the work to the opposite end and knit the same row with another color from the reversed direction to make a "broken" effect in the stitch pattern. It sounds more complicated than it is and creates a lovely pattern.

This is the free sock pattern Barbara B. is using for a pair of baby socks to go with the hat and cardigan she is making for her daughter's friend.

It's such a sweet set and she's doing a fine job making it.

Barbara K.'s Ex's and O's Hat is coming along nicely. We are all so proud of Barbara for her very first try at following a knitting chart to create the x and o pattern.

Another patterned knit is Janna's Arona Cowl, knitted in mosaic technique. This pattern is written out as opposed to following a graph chart.

Cinzia started this t-shirt last week on circular needles but switched over to her long straight needles so she could knit more comfortably. She holds the needle under one arm to stabilize it and then she can knit faster. This was the way my grandmother taught me to knit when I was in grade school. Over time I decided to learn continental style to take the strain off my neck and shoulders. I guess I wasn't a relaxed knitter since Cinzia doesn't seem to have any problem with this method.

Carole's Easy Scarf is slowly nearing the end. The change in the colors midstream make a lovely definition to the directional change in the knitting.

Maureen is using an app on her i-Pad called Knit Companion. It gives the knitter the ability to highlight the row of knitting without having to use sticky notes on a paper pattern.

Her Step Zeppelin Cowl is coming along nicely.

Everyone made progress this week except me! This is the result of two hours of knitting. One-hundred-fifteen stitches and five rows in, my stitch count was wrong and it was a pattern I couldn't fudge. We all agreed the yarn didn't want to be the cowl I had chosen to knit.

But all was not lost. I finished this cowl, "Just Keep Swimming", last night and steam blocked it just before the Chicks arrived today.

Carole attended a sewing retreat last weekend to make this gorgeous project bag. The fabric has the names of some of the places she's visited over the years but because of the layout she couldn't fit "Paris" on the outside. So it became a pocket inside! My Chicks are such multi-talented people!

Well, I'm going on a hunt for a different pattern and maybe even a different yarn to start a new project. Wish me luck and keep those needles clicking!

 

Last week we were outside, this week not so much

The cool, drizzly weather drove us inside this week. But I had a nice hot pot of homemade chai masala for anyone who needed a warming up. I watched a video or 400 of how to make your own spice blend, bought myself a marble mortar and pestle, visited the local ethnic food store for spices, and have been making it almost every morning for breakfast.

Cinzia, standing on the right, wound some yarn so she could start her project. You'll see the beginning a little further down.

Barbara K. jumped right into this hat pattern with a purple and charcoal combo. You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.

Her cast on shows where she placed markers to divide the stitches so she can keep

 her place while knitting.

Barbara B. is making a baby gift for her daughter's friend using a machine wash and dry acrylic which she found at Michael's. It was surprisingly soft and looks to be knitting up quite nicely.

This is the pattern and it's free on Ravelry. I think this is the second one she's made, so far!

Janna's cowl is made with slipped stitches to create a geometric pattern. It's coming along beautifully!

The Arona Cowl is available for purchase on Ravelry but I was lucky to have caught it on the original day that it was offered for free so I could share it with the Chicks.

Dorah picked out three lovely rosy pink yarns to make a basic beanie hat with wide stripes.

Here she is after a few rows of the brim and will be changing to the light pink very soon. She is using this hat as an opportunity to learn how to make jogless stripes in circular knitting.

Margaret has finished the brim of her 1898 hat and is picking up stitches to knit the crown. Because so much of the bottom edge has been knitted by making the brim in this manner, the hat seems to fly off the needles by the time you get to knitting the crown.

Maureen's Step Zeppelin Cowl is made by slipping stitches, much like the way Janna is making her cowl. The pattern is easy to memorize and therefore makes good conversational knitting in a group. Some patterns are strictly TV knitting because they require too much attention to talk and knit simultaneously.

And here is the beginnings of Cinzia's project. It's called Panopeia and is free on Ravelry. It's a pretty lacy top t-shirt which looks like a great summer blouse for warmer weather. Cinzia needed yarn in the appropriate weight to make this and it just so happens I was going through the stash and came across this lovely merino/silk blend, which happens to be the kind of yarn used in the original sweater. Unfortunately, it is a lighter weight yarn but luckily there is enough for her to use two strands held together to get gauge.

I'm working on Just Keep Swimming Cowl using some Berroco Comfort in baby pastel colors. Because this is made with an acrylic/nylon blend yarn, I'm going to have to do some fancy blocking when it's finished to bring out the beauty of the design. There is also a Just Keep Swimming Hat to match and both patterns are free on Ravelry.

Dorah finished her Helix Hat on the left and Margaret finished her hat on the right which used up the last of the Kool Aid dyed yarn from my daughter's donation of yarn.

And if you'll indulge me for just a moment, I have to be a proud grandma and show you my grandsons whom we visited out of state this past weekend. I'm so proud of these kind, smart, and generous young men. It's difficult for me to believe how grown up they seem now. 

And yes, I'm the shortest one in the family! LOL!

That's all for now. I'll get back to my knitting so I have something new to show you next week. 

In the meantime, keep those needles clicking!

It must be spring!

Today was our first day of outdoor knitting! 

You can tell by the happy smiles on everyone's face that we all loved being out in the fresh air and catching up with each other's current events. Dorah is back from her quick trip to opening day Mets game in Miami, Cinzia has returned from Japan where she visited her son, and Maureen, Jan A. and Barbara K. all enjoyed some time in Florida to escape the mud season up here.

And it was very comfortable until the sun hid behind some clouds and the wind picked up. By that time we were ready to pack up and head home.

Cinzia has a beautiful yarn, from Bad Sheep Yarn Co., to use for the Reyna Shawl she is making.

Janna picked nicely contrasting colors for her Step Zeppelin Cowl. This pattern has charts and written instructions for making the slipped stitch motif.

Jan A.'s Close to You Shawl is coming along beautifully! 

The pretty tonal purple yarn highlights the lace perfectly.

Maureen is making progress on her TAAT (Two at a time) socks. She is using the magic loop toe up technique so the socks will be exactly the same size and she won't have to be concerned with trying to remember what she did for the first sock to replicate it on the second because she will be making them simultaneously.

Dorah's Helix Hat is almost finished. A few more rows of decreasing and it will be ready for inventory.

 Jan P. joined us after a long hiatus. She is using a lovely pink to gray variegated yarn that looks to be a mohair to make a mobius cowl.

Barbara K.'s mobius cowl has grown since we last saw it. This is such a versatile garment which can be worn around the neck, pulled over the shoulders like a shrug, or over the head as a hood.

Carole's Easy Scarf has reached the halfway mark and then some. You can see the divide right there in the middle where the color changes abruptly. Now she will be knitting in the opposite direction and picking up stitches from the live edge. It's a bit tricky but makes sense when you see it being knitted.

I finished the Czapka or Polish Cap, a pattern I wrote down after watching a foreign video on YouTube. I decided to make a matching cowl which will be completed soon.

Jan A. was busy making hats and brought three completed for our inventory. The first is a slouchy hat with a bold gray stripe.

The next two are both Helix Hats.

These are great stash busters to use up scraps of yarn left from other projects.

Jan P. completed some hats too. This one is the Ex's and O's hat from a KAL (Knit-a-long project) from the Lonely Hearts Club on Ravelry.These were made with Berroco Vintage yarn in DK weight.

 

She made a Helix hat too. I think we all have been obsessed with this pattern at one time or another.

And last but not least is the Turn a Square Hat with the decrease method that creates a square at the top of a round hat. Those clever little designers!

As we were knitting in the yard someone stopped by to say hello and it turns out she lives in Michigan and follows this blog. She is visiting her daughter and family who live around the corner in my neighborhood. After speaking with her a few minutes some of us realized we knew her years ago when she lived in town. She is a fellow knitter and goes by the name knitinthemitt on Instagram. 

Kathy remember, next time bring your knitting.

And as always, keep those needles clicking.

Brighten your cloudy day with knitting

Barbara B., Maureen, and Carole joined me this cloudy afternoon. Happily, the weather doesn't have any influence on our knitting activities!

Barbara is using a Debra Norville 100% acrylic yarn to make this bright hat. The fiber is surprisingly soft and easy on her hands. Some of us don't enjoy knitting with acrylic as it doesn't have the elasticity of a natural fiber and it takes its toll on our hands. But this one is a really nice quality and it's machine washable which is a big plus in my book!

The pattern for the Red Diamonds Hat is offered for free on Ravelry. Just follow the link.

Maureen is making the Step Zeppelin Cowl which uses slipped stitches to make a lovely mosaic pattern. If you were lucky and found the pattern during the first 24 hours that it was posted, you could have it for free but now they are charging for the electronic PDF.

Carole continues to add length to her Easy Scarf by Martina Behm. It seems to be a slow going pattern but then suddenly you find yourself at the last few rows and it's done. I think it feels like it's taking forever because the first part of the scarf is when all the increasing of stitches is knitted and then you turn a corner and the stitches decrease. Before you know it, you're sliding into home base and it's done!

She showed us her next project which is the Morton Cowl which she is making for herself. Those colors are beautiful! The variegated yarn is from Manos del Uraguay and the gray is Berroco Vintage.

I thought this plain beige yarn needed some perking up so I chose a favorite hat pattern of mine called Czapka. On one of my marathon "falling down the rabbit hole" internet searches for patterns on YouTube I came across this video which was narrated by a Polish woman, I think. I turned the sound off and watched her knit while simultaneously writing the pattern so I could duplicate it. Today I looked up the video to show the Chicks and noticed that in the meantime, someone had written the pattern in English in the video notes. Too bad they didn't do it sooner. I could have saved myself some time to knit. LOL!

Carole completed her lovely Brioche Cowl. This side is predominantly a pretty light teal color and..

Inside is the dove gray side with teal border. The great thing about Brioche stitch is it gives you two garments in one!

My kitty, Fozzie, is patting my foot as I sit here which can mean only one thing... he wants to eat...AGAIN! We've been good pet parents and have limited his feeding times to try to trim his waistline since he was quite overweight when we rescued him two years ago. I can see a change in his girth but we'll find out just how much he's trimmed down when we take him for is annual exam this week. I hope the vet doesn't give me a lecture! LOL! 

 I hope you all have a great week and keep those needles clicking!