Raindrops and Blueberry Lemon Bars

The raindrops and muggy air kept us inside with the AC today. No one seemed to mind though.

Barbara B made sourdough blueberry lemon bars for us. Soooo gooood!!! She used whole fresh blueberries so the taste was fresh and bright.

 We had a few FOs today too. Nancy finished the Helix Hat that was knitted with a gradient yarn and solid white yarn. We both love the results. And the pompom for the finishing touch is perfect.

I finally remembered to get a picture of the shawl that Jan completed. This was one my daughter designed and started and then life got in her way and she never got back to it. She gave me a bag filled with WIPs and this was the one Jan chose to complete. I am so proud of her too! She was able to examine the pattern and read the stitches so she could continue the design and finish it. This will go into our inventory for a future donation.

Barbara B knitted a Raglan Cowl using Plymouth Encore Worsted. Such a pretty teal color! It starts at the top of the neckline and grows through the raglan increases.

Maureen worked on her Close to You Shawl and...

an 1898 Hat. She had a lightweight variegated yarn left from another project which blended perfectly with the solid blue yarn. What a great way to make this hat unique!

This is Jan's Leftie scarf by Martina Behm. It uses mini skeins of multi colors to create these cute little leaves at the long edge of the scarf. Jan is knitting it for a friend and wondered if it was long enough. We all agreed, if you have to ask, it probably is so, you can stop knitting. She appreciated that answer!

Tina wasn't here when we all started the Welter Hat so she got a private lesson on the short row portion. As I said before, the pattern can be a little tricky so it's important to use stitch markers to denote every finished short row and another of a distinct color to signify the right side of the work. Maureen had a great suggestion to make all the short row indicators on the right side one color and all those on the wrong side a contrasting color to make them easier to count.

Barbara B bought this adorable yarn at WEBS called Plymouth Dream Baby DK Paintpot and it's perfect for her Top Down Raglan Child's Sweater. It's a self patterning yarn and now I feel like I need to get some too. LOL!

Carole used her fancy neck lamp magnifier while she worked on her Welter Hat. 

And while I planned to knit on my Welter Hat, I found I was too easily distracted from the pattern by good conversation so I put it aside to work on it later.

I knitted the Bandana Cowl instead that started out as another shawl my daughter was going to knit but I couldn't bring myself to knit yards and yards of this pretty yarn for what seemed like an eternity. Plan B was put into effect and a cowl it is. I think a few more inches of stockinette and then I'll give it a garter edge border and bind off.

Nancy received a free pattern called The Bright Side when she purchased a skein of "Dark Side of the Moon" by Alexandra-The Art of Yarn. The yarn is dyed in sections so that the shawl is knitted in stockinette stitch until you reach a burst of color. The pattern is available for free on Ravelry.

 Then you knit that colored section in the opposite stitch that shows up to create this raised section that shows up randomly across the fabric knitted. It's a very clever method which Nancy says is good for social knitting but also has enough going on to keep boredom away. 

Nancy was inspired by one of the knitters in my other group who was knitting the same shawl with a black background and multi colored bars.

It's still raining but I won't complain. Next week the first heat wave of the summer is supposed to strike and I'm not looking forward to it. Between allergies and humidity, I'm already looking forward to winter. But I am grateful to have air conditioning so I can hunker down in my comfy chair and knit the day away. Until next week, keep those needles clicking!