HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

I can't believe it's been 18 years with these wonderful women! I think Barbara K. and Maureen are the only original members from way back in 2005 but I am blessed with a great team. Our annual dinner is  my way to show my appreciation for their time and effort devoted to making my dream come to fruition. 

Barbara K. just returned from her cruise through the Panama Canal so we got to hear all about her adventure.

Maureen, Dorah, and Carole caught up on the current events. 

And then it was time to eat.

We look forward to Dorah's Gazpacho every year because it's so good. I hope she doesn't get tired of making it. Janna made delicious cucumber rounds with toppings of fresh herbs and Kalamata olives on a creamy spread.

Main course and sides were delicious too. Jan brought a tossed salad with cheese and pomegranate seeds and fresh squash. Barbara K. made a scrumptious cornbread. We joked that we knew Maureen was used to making snacks for her grandchildren because she cut the yummy fruit salad into bite sized pieces you could pick up with your fork. Barbara B's bbq pulled chicken was so good and we all got the recipe! I made a chicken shawarma with a creamy garlic sauce that will keep the vampires away.

For dessert Cinzia and Carole outdid themselves with an apple cake and a blueberry lemon cake a la mode, respectively. And Margaret brought up the rear with some refreshing beverages.

Not only are these ladies great knitters, they are also fantastic cooks! We jokingly said that if the time comes that we recruit new members, we are going to have to give them a cooking test first! LOL!

All through our dinner we could feel eyes watching us. 

I guess Fozzie wanted to be part of the festivities too.

So to my Chicks let me say thank you for another wonderful and productive year of helping others. I couldn't do it without you! I usually end with Keep those needles clicking! but tonight, take a day off and rest up for the next round of projects. 

I love you all!

Labeling Day

Dorah, Maureen, Barbara B., Jan, and Carole helped organize and label everything we've been making for the last few months.

Our original recipients fell through so we reorganized and all these lovely items will be delivered tomorrow to The Grassroot Givers on Washington Avenue in Albany.

Each piece gets a label with laundering instructions and our Chicks logo attached.

Barbara B. made this lovely shrug with a merino and alpaca blend yarn and gifted it to Jan for her mother. This is a great shoulder warmer right down to the wrists.

We collected 60 hats, 25 cowls, 4 scarves, 6 sets of hats with matching cowls (12 more items), 12 shawls, 1 blouse, 5 headbands, 2 pairs of mittens (4 items), and a pair of socks (2 items) for a grand total of 125 items. 

I now count pairs as individual items because we are still knitting two things not one large one.

Afterward, we took a well earned rest, mostly because some of us didn't bring our knitting.😉

Carole worked on the Oktoberfest Hat using a beautiful hand dyed yarn which is actually a blend of autumn colors not purple as you see in this picture. 

The editing features on this computer are not up to snuff.

                              

This is a more accurate rendering of the yarn color. It's a free pattern and a good gender neutral hat.

Carole also showed us her progress on her variation of the Musselburgh Hat. After seeing how I combined sock yarns using the Helix method, she decided to give it a try and it looks great!

I finally reached the other side of the reversible Helix version of my Musselburgh and I'm loving the purple! When this is finished, the wearer will have the option to wear the crazy stripes with a solid purple cuff or the purple hat with crazy stripes cuff.

Barbara B. worked on her baby blanket which has a simple knit some purl some stitch to create a nice block pattern.

Then she shared a brilliant idea of hers to use one of those spring loaded cord keepers (that you find on the end of the ski jacket ties) to move the stitches along the needle cord when it's a wide project like her blanket. It saves some time and effort if you don't have to stop every few stitches to push the work along the cable cord. She's a smart one!

While my computer is open I have to write the inventory list that accompanies the donation for tomorrow. So have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Perfect weather for an afternoon on the deck

We couldn't have asked for a nicer day to sit outside. Gentle breezes kept us cool as the sound of a small waterfall kept us tranquil. We traded recipe stories (Barbara B. thinks we should write a cookbook) and got a little riled up about current events even though one of the mission statements is to not discuss politics. Sometimes it's just unavoidable. But we centered ourselves back to knitting.

Maureen finished this sweet cardigan called Olive You Baby Sweater which will be gifted to a friend. She chose the most adorable ladybug buttons to highlight the asymmetrical closure. 

That's going to be one lucky baby to get such a nice gift.

Janna had a whole collection of FO's to drop off today. The cowls on either side of the hats are both knitted using a slipped stitch technique to accomplish the intricate patterns. The one on the right is the Arona Cowl and on the left is Step Zeppelin. The two hats on top are both Helix Hats. The bottom hat is a combination of slipped stitches and Fair Isle technique.

Barbara K. finished the Helix Hat she worked on last week. And further along you'll see the next one she started. She's hooked!

Maureen's Close to You Shawl is finished too. 

You can see the pretty lace edging silhouetted in the sunlight.

Barbara B. dyed her own yarn for the Gefion pullover sweater using gel food coloring for cake icing. She did a fabulous job and she inspired me to give it a go. I'm waiting for the bare yarn to be delivered, then she's going to come over and we'll have a painting party.

 

Dorah has come a long way on her shawl and the gradient yarn is showing off nicely with this pattern.

Margaret had to frog a few rows but she's back on track with a hat she designed.

Janna started another baby hat just like the two pictured here. She's trying hard to use up all that yellow yarn but I think Rumplestiltskin comes at night and spins more to add to the stash.😉

Here is Barbara K's latest Helix Hat. She's working through all those leftover yarns and putting them to good use.

My version of the Musselburgh Hat is almost to the halfway mark and then I'll switch to a solid color yarn to knit the remainder of the hat. Once finished, the solid portion will be pushed inside the striped portion and the hat will be reversible with a solid cuff on the printed side and a printed cuff on the solid side. I can't wait to see it completed. Unlike the original Musselburgh pattern, both this hat and Carole's (next picture) are knitted with three different striped and patterned sock yarns using the Helix method of striping.

Carole is making the same hat but she hasn't decided if she's going to make it reversible. She doesn't have to make up her mind until she gets to the bottom edge where she will either keep going or knit a ribbed cuff and call it a day.

Maureen's Helix hat uses worsted weight yarn so it won't take her forever and a day to complete like Carole's and mine which are size 2 needles and sock weight yarns.

This sweet face is staring holes through me right now so if I know what's good for me, I'll feed Fozzie before he resorts to chewing on electrical cords.

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

It feels like summer

We can't even call it Indian Summer yet because we haven't had the first frost but it is HOT today! I'm so grateful to have AC so I can breathe in comfort. Imagine what it would be like knitting winter clothes with wool if there wasn't central air!

Carole's twin grandsons started preschool. One of them is very unhappy that he has to go everyday but luckily he has a loving brother who is there to console him. One of Jan's grandsons said he's starting preschool too and when asked what is preschool, his answer was "Professional School". 

I love kids and their quick thinking!

Dorah finished and blocked the Prime Numbers Shawl which makes a nice medium size triangle. 

 

The sections are knitted in rows of prime numbers which are separated by a garter ridge of contrasting color surrounding an eyelet row. It's good TV knitting and works up quickly.

Carole finished her Hot Springs Willow Hat which has those great cables running up the hat. She said it's not hard unless you're trying to watch the US Open while knitting. 😉

Barbara B. added a basic striped beanie that used a self striping yarn so there are no ends to weave in when you're done.

Last week she invited me to watch her dye yarn for the first time using Wilton Icing Dyes. That yummy yellow at the top is the result of submerging the hank of yarn in a pot of dye. She had the variegated yarn in her stash so she decided to use the yellow to make the heels and cuffs to compliment the patterned yarn.

This is the end result of the other yarns she dyed using a different technique. This yarn was dyed using a low immersion, I think that's what it's called, where the prepared wet yarn is placed in a shallow pan and the dyes are applied in certain spots to get a more variegated effect. It looked like she was having so much fun that I bought some icing dye and will give it a try myself.

But for now I'm working on my own version of the Musselburgh Hat. I am using a slightly different increase method than the original pattern and decided to have fun with three different sock yarns to make it a Helix Hat. The first hat is knitted from the top down and all the way through to the decreasing portion of the second hat, finished off, and then one hat is pushed up inside the other to form a double thick hat. It can have a slouchy look without a brim or fold up the cuff to make a fitted hat. It's totally reversible and you can have fun using solid yarn on one side and variegated on the other. 

I'm almost at the halfway mark.

I picked out three totally random yarns and they are playing so nicely together!

Dorah is making a cozy triangular shawl using a gradient yarn of a steely blue/gray color.

This is Carole's Musselburgh variation at the very start of the top of the crown which is the increasing section. She is going to knit about two inches of increasing stitches to give herself enough fabric to get past the fiddly part of the magic loop.

This is the yarn with long color changes. Soon she will add two other yarns and

 incorporate the Helix technique.

Jan's Sleeping with the Zucchini Shawl is slowly growing. It's going to be so pretty! The final band of knitting will be a pretty lace edging.

That's all for now. I hope you are staying cool this week. And as always, keep those needles clicking!