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!

Our KAL is coming along

I'll start by showing you Barbara B's soudough cinnamon coffee cake treat. It was sooo good! Honestly, I don't think this woman can bake a bad batch of anything!

She also finished her second Welter Hat. 

Her first one was the one where she learned the short row lessons and it turned out great!

Nancy's looked great too. But she was concerned that it looked much larger than the others. There are a number of factors which could influence this. She might be a loose knitter or the worsted weight yarn she used was slightly different in gauge than the others. In any case, I always say, "It will fit someone!"

My first Welter Hat was certainly a learning curve. The pattern said it required 225 yards of worsted weight yarn but as you can see, I had plenty of yarn left over from a 200 yard skein!

My guess is the pattern designer just listed the yardage on the skein of yarn she bought to use for the hat and not the actual yardage she used. This is my second hat and it certainly knitted up much more quickly than the first one. I like to remind my knitters when they are feeling stumped and discouraged that I make all the mistakes first so they don't have to. This is definitely a fun pattern to knit!

Everyone looked up long enough to snap a picture and then...

Got right back to work on their respective projects.

Dorah brought her rainbow socks she is knitting for her daughter to show me how lovely the yarn is. She couldn't remember the brand but it was so soft! She likes to knit with DPs from the cuff down with a heel flap and short row heel.

Her Chicks project is the Helix Hat which made her question the color choice 

but we both agree it looks perfect!

Carole worked out the kinks on her Welter Hat. The directions are not very clearly written but with all our heads together we are figuring it out.

Margaret sat beside me for moral support but she did a great job. This is one of those patterns that makes you question every step because at first glance it doesn't make sense. But I keep reminding the knitters, this is one of those patterns that you need to follow one row at a time, don't read ahead, and please don't overthink it. Just trust the process.

Barbara B finished a sweet pastel beanie and started another.

Nancy chose a pretty variegated yarn to make a beanie which she is still deciding if it will be a Helix Hat or something else.

Barbara K started a basic 2x2 beanie like the 2023 Soldiers Hat.

And Maureen started the first welt on her Welter Hat. The ribbing is tricky because it's a twisted rib which instructs you to Ktbl on the right side when knitting in the round. But when making the wrap and turn short row, you are now knitting from the wrong side, back to the 16th stitch from the beginning and on the wrong side those stitches must be Ptbl to show up twisted on the right side. As we discussed, this pattern really exercises our brains which, as we move on in years, is very important for our health.

I'm giving my brain a short rest for my next project to knit a bandana style cowl. This is the yarn my daughter gave me which she had already started a triangular shawl but I didn't think a high school student would want to wear a shawl so a bandana cowl it is! 

It will look better after a thorough blocking.

"Someone" is sitting directly in front of the refrigerator, hoping I'll notice and feed him...AGAIN!

Sorry Fozzie, dinner won't be served until 5PM, which means I need to get going to prepare it! 

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Starting our KAL

If you look closely, right in the center, we had a visitor today. Elena Fasullo is Cinzia's daughter and she stopped by to say hello before she prepares to go off to law school. 

She has been stopping by to say hi since she was a little girl and even made it into a story that aired on WNYT when we Chicks celebrated our 10th anniversary. She spent the afternoon crocheting soap pouches with cotton yarn. The bar of soap is inserted into the pouch and then it serves as a washcloth. I can't believe she is off to law school soon! Best of luck Elena!

                                             

This is the KAL we are starting together. It's the Welter Hat which was inspired by...

 the hat that Carole brought to show us last week. She couldn't remember where she got the pattern or what the name was so I had to put on my Sherlock Holmes hat and do some investigating. At first I thought I would examine the hat and try to figure out how to knit the short rows and write up the pattern myself. But that soon turned out to be an exercise in futility. So for the third time, I searched Ravelry and narrowed down the parameters of the search further and lo and behold! The pattern showed up! I was so excited but it was short lived because it came from a book which was out of print.

I remembered that I could search sites for books out of print and HOORAY! I found a copy which arrived in the mail yesterday! I stayed up late last night figuring out the short rows on the ribbing portion so I could help everyone who wanted to participate in the KAL. 

I always say, I make all the mistakes first so you don't have to. 

It was a little fiddly and I decided to put locking stitch markers at every station where there was a wrap and turn. Nancy, Jan, and Margaret surrounded me so we could follow, step by step, each row.

Margaret worked on the twisted ribbing for the required 1 inch and then the "fun" began.

The instructions were a little muddy, written by someone who knows what she's talking about but maybe isn't the best at writing a clearly planned out pattern. There seemed to be a lot of looking back and forth across the page for clarity. 

Nancy's hat is almost the same color as Margaret's. 

Barbara B called me last night to get some help so she was a little further along but then we discovered that, because of that lack of clarity, she had knitted too many short rows and had to tink back. She's on the right track now.

Jan started it last night too but needed to go down in needle size so she started again this afternoon and was able to reach the short rows where she needed some hand holding to get going.

 That's what I'm here for!

Cinzia worked on the back portion of a sweet little dress she is knitting for our other group, The Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels.

Carole worked on the self patterning yarn baby sweater. She opted to work on something a little less stressful while looking on as we worked out the short rows situation.

We earned our break for some Sourdough Rhubarb Quick bread from the magic oven of Barbara B.

Barbara B thought the name of the designer of the Welter Hat sounded familiar so she searched her FOs on Ravelry and sure enough! She knitted the Ruckle Hat by Jennifer Dassau, the exact same designer!

Tina had a previous engagement today but she sent me a picture of her completed 1898 Hat

 and Totally Biased Cowl.  Both these patterns are free on Ravelry.

Well, I have to get back to my Welter Hat. I need to keep one step ahead of everyone else so if they have another question, I'll have an answer...I hope. 😉

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

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!