We had an ice storm

Mother Nature decided she wasn't ready for spring and sent us a rough mix of ice and snow which took down many trees and power lines in our community. Nancy and Barbara K. were without power for a couple of days and had to miss this afternoon's gathering so they could replace all the food they lost during the outage. And Carole was stuck in her house for two days because a tree fell across her driveway. But there was beauty to be found if you looked for it. The trees were adorned with crystals of ice that sparkled like diamonds. By Sunday afternoon all the roads were clear but the ice remained on the branches which glistened in the sunlight. Luckily, the driveway was clear so the Chicks could walk safely to my door.

And no sooner did Dorah's butt hit the chair that she brought up the subject of politics! 

I think she broke her own record! LOL! 

Well, she needed to get it off her chest and no arguments were incited so it's all good. 

She finished the baby cardigan and sewed the buttons in place.

The little red buttons added a nice pop of color to the popcorn texture of the bodice.

Last week she brought in some yarn from her stash that was calling her name so she just had to make the Hitchhiker Shawl with it. What a lovely result!

 The project she chose to make for the babies is the Knit Baby Jacket Set for which she is using a DK/sport weight, self striping yarn.

                                             

Barbara B. has a sweet little hat on her needles which will be added to the sweater and socks you will see later in the post. It's the Baby Hat with Double Rib Cuff.

Carole finished this adorable cardigan and was able to get the sleeves to match. She also added a button band of flowers to match the stripes. The pattern is the same one Dorah started.

Currently on her needles is another Helix Hat made with the leftovers from other baby projects.

Janna's Someday Baby Blanket is taking time to grow but it will be worth it in the end.

Annika's Eyelet Stripe Baby Blanket is in the beginning stages and looks like it will be cozy.

Jan is working on the Top Down Raglan Child's Sweater. This is her first attempt at a top down sweater and she's learning a lot with this pattern. It's looking great!

Cinzia worked on the sleeves of a sweater she designed herself. The pretty blue yarn is a soft cotton with lovely stitch definition.

I finished my version of the Top Down Raglan Child's Sweater and stacked it on top of Barbara's Baby Sweater to compare sizes. I think the pink is about a 3-6 month size while the gray is maybe 6-9 month.

Barbara just needs to get buttons for her cardigan.

She made a pair of socks/booties to go with it and the hat I showed you earlier.

On my needles is the Beloved hat from Tincanknits. It starts with an I-cord and grows, using short row shaping, up over one ear and down the other.

I almost forgot to show you the delicious treat Barbara B. made for us this week. These are blueberry-lemon muffins and they were good!!!

That's all there is this week. Hopefully the temperatures will behave more like spring soon. Not that I'm complaining...when it snows I get to stay inside to knit. 

Speaking of, keep those needles clicking and have a great week!

Working on baby clothes

We all look so serious.The truth is I was playing the "Lazy Cat Jazz" station on Spotify quietly in the background and everyone was feeling Zen. 

Then my husband roused us from our meditations long enough to catch everyone smiling.

Margaret needed reassurance that she was knitting her Helix Hat correctly so Carole offered assistance. For some undetermined reason, the point at which Margaret changes yarns makes a line on the right side of her work. Carole and I watched how she transitions from one color to another and she's doing it correctly so we're stumped as to why.

Here is another sweet little Helix Hat that flew off Margaret's knitting needles.

Carole and Nancy were comparing notes on their projects which used the same yarns. Nancy used the Sirdar Baby Yarn to make this adorable blanket while Carole used the same yarn for...

the Knit Baby Jacket Set, a free pattern on Ravelry. The live sleeve stitches are ready to be picked up and knitted. Carole is trying her best to continue the self patterning design on the sleeves so they match up with each other.

I have the sleeve stitches of The Top Down Raglan Child's Sweater on a 40" circular needle so I can knit both sleeves simultaneously using the magic loop method. I know both sleeves will match because I'm knitting any modifications at the same time for each sleeve and won't have to rely on notes or, better yet, memory to knit the second sleeve exactly like the first.

Jan started the same pattern today. This is her first ever sweater and a top down sweater at that! She's doing a great job and has already knitted the first buttonhole.

She chose a machine wash and dry acrylic in DK weight as per the pattern.

Annika's scarf is getting so long that I had to back up to get the whole picture. 

We thought it would be nice to make a few things for the mothers of the babies for whom we are knitting so they don't feel left out.

Janna's Someday Baby Blanket is a real labor of love. The non-traditional baby color is beautiful and the yarn gives great stitch definition to the pattern.

Nancy started the Maine Baby Hat which is a free pattern on Ravelry. It gives the information to knit the hat in several sizes and in multiple different weights of yarn. It's a great reference guide if you want to improvise.

She's using three lovely shades of baby alpaca yarn from Sandes Garn to make a Helix Hat too.

Margaret's next project is the Barley Hat from tincanknits. I've linked you to the DK weight version but there are also versions in worsted weight and sock or fingering weight yarns.

She is trying her hand at the Helix technique again. This time she is going to try this technique which is slightly different from the traditional technique. She might have better success with eliminating the wonky line in her knitting.

The Lazy Cat Jazz is still playing and I'm feeling sleepy. I think I'll look for Fozzie and see if he wants to nap with me. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

 

Brownies for Dorah

"Someone" was the first to arrive at knitting group today. He took the chair right beside me and stayed until the first Chick arrived. He made a couple of appearances to check out everyone's knitting bag to be sure they weren't trying to sneak in any contraband. LOL! Then Fozzie scurried away until 3 o'clock when he heard the door close after the last Chick left. 

Since Dorah missed Barbara B's homemade sourdough brownies the last time she made them, Barbara was kind enough to bring them again for all of us to enjoy.

In between nibbling the delicious brownies and knitting we talked about composting do's and don'ts and how you can now be composted after death instead of the traditional burial. I wouldn't mind giving back to Mother Earth after all the good she's done for me! Then Dorah piped up that we managed to not talk politics all the way until 2:17pm! It's one of the by laws that we try to obey but Dorah always brings it up and we get a good belly laugh at the timing. Barbara B. is usually the one to make note of the time but Dorah played timekeeper today. Luckily, we are pretty much like minded individuals so there's never an argument and sometimes we get new information we might have missed. But for the most part we try to keep our discussions light and entertaining.

Carole completed the Helix Baby Hat I showed you last week, adorable! And has already picked yarn...

for the next one. It's a great way to use up small left overs that would otherwise 

wind up as trash or bird nests.

She is currently working on this cute little cardigan called Knit Baby Jacket Set. It's a freebie on Ravelry.

And just look at the adorable self patterning yarn she chose for it! The process strategically dyes the yarn to produce little flower buds and saves you from having to knit Fair Isle patterning.

Nancy finished her Dot Shawl by Casapinka and wore it to show us how beautiful it is. She did a lovely job of knitting and blocking it for a perfect finish!

Her current project uses these two yarns. The one on the right was the remains of a baby blanket she knitted for her daughter's friend.

Now they will come together to make a helix baby hat. We both loved how the little blips of color pop up every now and then for a pretty pattern.

Dorah is finishing up the body of the baby sweater she's working on. This is the point where she will start the garter stitch edge to match the button bands. The next step will be to put the sleeve stitches on a circular needle to knit them in the round. I have found that when I transition from flat knitting the body to knitting the sleeves in the round that the stitches look different. That's because when you knit a row and purl a row for flat stockinette stitch the wrong side stitches are looser than the right side stitches, as opposed to knitting every round where every row is knit stitch, it becomes more tightly knit. So I always go up a needle size to make up for the discrepancy.

I started the afternoon trying to finish up my Easy Shawl by Martina Behm but was easily bored and switched to...

the Top Down Raglan Child's Sweater for which I am using a self striping yarn. I have a few inches more to go before I can start the sleeves. I think I will use the magic loop and knit two at a time so they are the same exact size.

Margaret is about halfway through her helix baby hat. She will knit it to 5 inches or so and begin the decrease portion to close the top of the hat.

Barbara B. finished one of her baby socks and has the second started. She's using DP's, double pointed needles to knit them.

Jan's Changing Staircase Shawl is coming along nicely. She said she has the rubber mat tiles that fit together like a puzzle so she can block and pin it into place to open up the pretty lace sections of the shawl.

That's a wrap (pun intended) for today. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

 

A snowbird returns

If you look at the far end of the table, between Dorah on the left and Barbara B on the right, you'll see Jan who has returned from her winter break. She spent time in California and Florida where she said it was too cold to do the usual vacation activities so she had lots of time to knit. 

It's good to have you back Jan! 

Today's hot topic was about sourdough because Barbara B made delicious carrot cake cupcakes! She schooled us on all the varieties of food you can make with sourdough starter. It's not just for bread!

Nancy was getting pointers from Carole on how to make a Helix Hat. Carole loves them because they use up small amounts of yarn leftovers.

Carole wasn't sure about the selection of leftovers but they blended together beautifully to make a cheerful little baby hat.

Nancy is nearing the finish line on her Dot Shawl. She has decided to do the edging in just the purple yarn to highlight the little bobbles.

Janna found a lovely superwash merino in her stash in enough quantity to make a baby blanket. The Someday Baby Blanket in this yarn will have great stitch definition to highlight the basket weave design.

Barbara B started a pair of baby socks using TAAT magic loop method (two at a time). It's a good way to insure you get two socks of the same exact size...ask me how I know. LOL!

I will never knit two socks separately again!

Jan started a Changing Staircases Shawl, a free pattern on Ravelry. The variegated yarn will add some movement to the stockinette sections.

Dorah started a baby cardigan for a friend's baby and set it aside. That baby is probably in fourth grade now so the Chicks' inventory will benefit from her procrastination.

Cinzia designed a sweater for herself and is working both sleeves together on one needle. This will insure all decreases and design motifs will be the same on both sleeves, just like the TAAT socks.

Annika's lace scarf is getting longer. She said the pattern is an easy one to memorize even though it looks complicated. There is only one row to which you have to pay attention. The others are just knit or purl all stitches.

Margaret cast on 60 stitches to start a baby hat.

I didn't get a chance to ask, but these are the two yarns she will incorporate into the design. 

I'm thinking stripes most likely.

I'm working on the Top Down Raglan Child's Sweater which is a free pattern on Ravelry. It suggests buttons all the way to the bottom edge but I think I'll just use three.

Barbara B completed this adorable Short Row Baby Hat using the yarn that my daughter dyed with Kool Ait. The yarn is a soft baby alpaca which will require gentle care but hats don't get washed all that much...do they?

Carole used a 100% acrylic yarn about which she wasn't all that crazy but the finished Beach Pebbles Cowl turned out to her liking. It looks great and has such nice texture.

I spent ages vacuuming cat fur off the velvet seat cushions this morning so the Chicks wouldn't leave my house with "souvenirs" attached to their clothing. Guess what happened the second the last person left and the door closed! You can tell by the expression in his eyes that Fozzie knows the rules but just doesn't care! LOL! 

It's a good thing he's cute! 

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!