Guess what! We're back outside!

After what seems like decades of rainy days, we had a delightfully balmy day for deck knitting. The cool breezes wafted the 75 degrees all around us, keeping us cool while we discussed our children and grandchildren, knitting projects, and food. There's always talk about food.

Speaking of food, today's Barbara B treat was sourdough chocolate chip cookies. She didn't have many leftovers to bring home ;). They were sprinkled lightly with a little sea salt, making the perfect flavor pizzazz!

                                          

Carole went stash diving and found some FOs that she forgot she had. The Man Hat is one which goes into our inventory.

This is another she found which she remembered a friend of hers made and gave to her for our group. However, when she called the friend to inquire about the name of the pattern, she didn't recall knitting it, let alone the name of it. Carole and I did a quick search on Ravelry but there were 50 pages of patterns! Between the two of us, we figured out there are short rows involved so I think I might be able to duplicate it and write my own directions. But hey! If you recognize this pattern, would you please save me the trouble and tell me what it is?!?!

Carole remembered that it's a man's hat but I tried it on and it makes a cute woman's slouchy hat too!

She found a UFO using this self patterning yarn from Hayfield called Baby Blossom.

She started the Oh Baby! Cardi and forgot it in a project bag so she decided to pick it back up again and finish it. The yarn is dyed so it will automatically knit the flower design as long as you knit it in roughly the same gauge as is on the label.

I felt like some mindless knitting so I started a 2x2 ribbed Soldier's Hat. It's one of those patterns you could practically knit in your sleep!

Nancy is back from her vacation to Greece where she and her husband stayed on the island on which his mother was born. The pictures of the ocean view from her Air B&B were breathtaking, as was the photo of the narrow road with switchback turns overlooking a beach with turquoise waters her husband drove, but breathtaking for a different reason! Her current project is a Helix Hat.

These two yarns will make a subtle stripe, sure to be loved and warm.

Margaret is working the brim/ear flap of her 1898 Hat using two colors held together.

Cinzia brought some yarn and needles and waited for it to speak to her.

She has a pretty lace pattern going on here but still doesn't know what it will become.

Barbara B is almost finished with her 1898 hat. 

Once the ear flaps are knitted, the crown finishes up lickety split!

Maureen's Close to You Shawl/Scarf has grown quickly since last we saw it. The self striping yarn knits up to look like she's using two different balls of yarn but it's really only one.

Dorah's Helix Hat is coming along great. At first she was a bit unsure if the colors would coordinate well with each other but I think it looks great!

Jan worked on her Reverb Shawl. I'll bet she's glad she doesn't have to knit with black yarn anymore!

A few weeks ago I think I showed you this scarf my daughter started but doesn't have time to finish. Jan stepped up to "read" the stitches and figure out how to finish it. And here it is! She did a beautiful job! There will be a few more of my daughter's WIPs being completed in the future as I am working on two right now.

I'm going to go back outside for dinner on the deck tonight since we don't know how long this nice weather is going to last. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Too chilly for deck knitting

Boy! One week inside, one week outside, now we're back inside. Mother Nature can't make up her mind about the spring weather. I even had to pump the heat up from 64 degrees in the house because it was just a little too chilly to sit still for two hours. I will appreciate it though because I'm not a summer person, even though that's when I was born. I often say my perfect day would be bright sunshine, zero degrees in January, and bundled up in my finest hand knit woolens. It's my favorite season for walking.

Ok, now that you all know I'm crazy, let's get on with the knitting.

 Maureen knitted the Sunnyside sweater for a baby gift using a lovely, soft yarn from Wonderland Yarns called Mary Ann. It was labeled as machine washable but hand washing is recommended. It probably won't get soiled before the baby outgrows it anyway. The pattern includes two different versions, this one is a lacy insert and the other is a cable insert.

Her current WIP is the Close to You Shawl. If you remember last week, Maureen was knitting something else with this yarn. But it had other ideas and this seems to be a better pattern for it.

Barbara B finished the 1898  Hat using a self striping yarn that adds some pizazz to an otherwise quiet design. You can see here that the ear flap cuff is knitted in a different direction from the crown. The basic pattern is easy and lends itself to creative variations.

She already has a second one started in a nice neutral gray.

And Margaret started one too. Her decision to hold two different colored yarns together make for a nice new colorway. That's a good way to use up odds and ends of yarn too.

Tina started right in on a Totally Biased Cowl using yarn she purchased on last week's trip to the preview of WEBS tent sale in Northampton, Massachusetts. We all had better luck finding yarns we needed on this trip. Now I need a few more hours in the day to knit it all! 

Jan decided to stick with the black yarn on her Reverb Shawl. She wore her neck lamp today to make it easier on her eyes to see the stitches.

I have a couple of more inches to knit on my Braided Blue Headband which is a pattern I found on YouTube. This video is spoken in English so I didn't have to watch it a million times to figure out the pattern. As soon as I reach the required size, those short ends will be grafted together for a seamless join.

Our "Sourdough Queen" Barbara B brought sourdough lemon bars today. If I say they were delicious they must be because I'm not a big fan of lemon desserts. She won me over with these! She twisted my arm (yeah, right) to take a few for later. ;)

Well, I have a ton of knitting that needs to be finished so I'll wish you a great week ahead and

 keep those needles clicking!

75 Degrees and no humidity!

It was the perfect afternoon for deck knitting today! The breezes were so gentle that they hardly moved the wind chimes. Sometimes they get going so vigorously that I have to put them on the floor! LOL!

I found a YouTube video for a knitted headband which was dubbed in English, designed by a German knitter. It is knitting up very quickly and I made it through the fussy part while the Chicks were here so I would say it's pretty easy too. It starts with a provisional cast on and is knitted as a tube. The ends will be grafted when it reaches the proper length.

Barbara B just started the Rainbow Indigo Fisherman's Beanie using a lush burgundy yarn. On a side note, the hat pictured is not blue and pink stripes. Barb's printer was running low on ink! LOL!

Margaret started the Copycat C.C. Beanie which begins with a provisional cast on so the cuff can be double thick with a lovely edge. The pattern is free on Ravelry and even has a link to a video tutorial.

Tina is almost ready to connect the ends of the ear flap/cuff portion of her 1898 Hat. This is another pattern which begins with a provisional cast on. The ends can either be grafted or finished with a 3 needle bind off. Then stitches are picked up along the straight edge and the crown is finished.

Maureen is working on the beginnings of another baby blanket with the cars and trucks design. Sorry I didn't get the pattern name.

Last week I presented the ladies with a bag of UFOs that my daughter donated and Jan was courageous enough to choose a pretty purple tonal yarn shawl that was about a third of the way through. She is placing a lifeline and will attempt to finish it in the same manner as it was started. It's too bad my daughter didn't write down her directions. But we were able to figure out the basic stitches and Jan will take it from here.

Dorah started a Helix Hat. I'm excited to see these colors together. You never know how it will turn out but somehow even the most unlikely combinations look great!

                                          

She also added the completed Bias Scarf to our inventory. She used a Noro brand yarn. They have the prettiest colorways!

And not to be forgotten, our treat today was Sourdough Zucchini Banana Bread and BOY! It was delicious! I don't know if it's the sourdough starter but even sweet breads are not sickeningly sweet, they're just right!

We've got another Field Trip planned to WEBS for their annual tent sale. I hope I have better luck with child friendly/machine washable colors this trip. I need to stock up on some cables for my interchangeable needles too. Well, I'm off to start dinner. 

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

 

Just four of us for a quiet afternoon

We four were the only ones who didn't have conflicting schedules this week. And without Barbara B there were no sourdough treats to snack on either. But we had a lively conversation about current events and the local wildlife. It seems with the warmer temps we have had an influx of carpenter bees in the neighborhood. I've heard the males are aggressively intimidating but they can't sting. They'll just hover and stare at you until you give up and leave.We all have had our share of experiences with critters like skunks, mice, and squirrels. And since the woods about 3/4 of a mile down the road have been cleared for new housing construction, we have added annual visits from the bears and deer too.

I visited my daughter in Pennsylvania last week to attend the academic awards ceremony for my high school graduating grandson and his friends. My husband and I had a lovely time and felt encouraged seeing the bright minds who will one day be leading and caring for us. I also came home with a huge bag of yarn and UFOs that my daughter hasn't had time to finish and doesn't want it to go to waste. Let me just say, PLEASE PLEASE don't try to knit from a hank of yarn without winding it into a cake first! This is after an hour and a half of untying tangles and I still have a long way to go. My daughter started an asymmetrical shawl with this lace weight yarn which looks like she was using two strands together. Try as I might, I had to surrender and cut the project away from the tangles to concentrate on winding the yarn. Once it looks manageable, I will decide what to do with the UFO. She also included some really pretty shawls which are in the early stages of her creativity without a written pattern. My daughter is a very talented designer who doesn't write down her process because, like her mother, she thinks she will remember how she made it. I had to dissect one to figure out the pattern and will enjoy knitting it into a FO!

One of the UFOs is a pretty purple shawl she started that alternates stockinette background with a simple K2tog, YO pattern bordered with garter ridges. Jan liked it and offered to work on it in her spare time. 

Jan's current project is the Reverb Shawl. She wanted to knit the portion of the shawl with the smallest section so she could use the black yarn for the least amount of time. But when it didn't look like the picture, we discovered together that it was not a bottom up pattern and so the black yarn will actually be at the widest section which will result in using the black yarn for a longer time. Oh well, she might frog it and start over.

Maureen made an adorable baby blanket for a wee one who will be coming into the world soon. She used Cascade 220 superwash and just found out another baby in another family is on his way so she might be making another one. The vehicles are knitted in relief using knits and purls to create the pattern. She told us about the app, Knit Companion, which she uses to keep her on track with the graph to create the design. She highly recommends it for those who prefer using a digital tracker for their knitting.

The Bankhead Hat she has been working on these past few weeks has been completed. It can be worn slightly slouchy or with the cuff folded up.

Maureen continues to work on her cowl which matches...

the hat she completed some weeks ago.

I decided to spice up the 1898 Hat with a horizontal braid dividing the ear flaps from the crown. I just reached the 5" mark and will begin decreasing the crown to close the top.

Barbara K started a hat but is open to what pattern she will use. I love that my Chicks let the wind take them where the design goddesses lead! They are not afraid to be creative!

Well, all those UFOs are not going to knit themselves. Where is Rumplestiltskin when you need him! Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!