Cinzia is back!

There she is on the bottom right of the picture. She accompanied her husband on his almost year long sabbatical to Spain and Sweden and returned just two weeks ago. She entertained us with stories of her escapades through Seville, and surrounds, to Morocco, a month in Italy visiting family, and getting to experience the weird contrast of day and night in Sweden. She tried delicious local foods, walked many more than 20,000 steps some days, and experienced the local culture and people for a memorable time away from her Albany home. We're glad to have her back and I can breathe a sigh of relief that her orchids survived their stay with me and one even bloomed! Welcome back, Cinzia!

She brought some cannoli to serve with Barbara B's yummy sourdough donut holes. I was a bit of a glutton and tried all three!

 

Dorah finished her One Row Handspun Scarf and was so excited it's done!

Barbara B is using Lolabean yarn for her Workday Scarf which is the same pattern that...

Nancy is knitting with her variegated yarn. To look quickly you would think they're two different scarves. It just goes to show how much influence a yarn has on the finished project.

Cinzia is working on a child's short sleeved T-shirt with a pretty lace accent.

And Maureen is working on the Bankhead Beanie with the twisted ribbing cuff.

Margaret was busy during the week so she apologized for not having made much progress on her Bewind Hat. That's ok, we have time.

My needles are busily clicking away at a Benjamin Matthews design called Rock Ridge Beanie. I'm holding my breath though because the yarn didn't have a label and I was sure it was a skein of Cascade 220 Superwash which has 200 yards which is what the pattern requires...except, I'm running out of yarn quickly! I might be frogging this for a single cuff instead of a 5 inch folded cuff.

My "supervisor" is sending me thought waves that it's almost snack time.

Somehow it feels like it is always snack time with this fuzzball! But how can you resist that smile?!?! Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Can you believe I didn't knit from Friday afternoon to Monday?!?!

But I had a legitimate reason! My babies were visiting!!! Well, I guess since they're both towering over me I can't call them babies anymore. They finished their first year of college and high school and are looking forward to summer jobs. I wish they didn't live so far away. Three days isn't long enough to spend with them. We had a great time though. Leo (the younger one) made a delicious chicken and dumpling dinner from scratch on Saturday for all of us. He loves his culinary arts class this semester and I love having him show me what he's learned! Poppop took them for a golf lesson and then a quick 9 holes before it rained on Saturday. So it was a full weekend of fun, hugs, and kisses. 

Now, on to the knitting news this week.

It was almost a full deck today. Cinzia and Carole had conflicts but everyone else was here.

 Margaret just started the Bewind Hat. It is a freebie on Ravelry and has a nice raised diagonal stitch design on a stockinette background for an easy project.

Jan worked on her Simple Little Scarf and by the time she left...

it was finished and just the ends needed weaving in. This is also a freebie pattern on Ravelry.

Dorah is working hard at making her One Row Handspun Scarf longer (another freebie). She is using a baby alpaca yarn for the softest fabric!

And Nancy confessed she hasn't worked at all on her Workday Scarf. But she had a real good reason. She was touring the island of Kauai!!! She had a lovely time and is back to her knitting projects.

Barbara B is about at the middle of her Mill City Shawl (another free pattern) for which she is using a pretty variegated fingering weight yarn.

Maureen finished her 1898 Hat and has start a ribbed cuff for another pattern of which I didn't get the name.

Barbara K didn't have a label for this pretty yarn but...

she is using the same One Row Handspun Scarf pattern that Dorah is knitting. The long slow color changes will make a pretty effect to the overall look of the fabric.

The cuff is growing on my Rock Ridge Beanie, a Benjamin Matthews hat pattern. I think this is  a Cascade 220 superwash wool yarn. Somewhere along the way I lost the label.

Tina is on the decreasing side of her French Twist scarf. It looks just like the sample in the pattern!

And don't let me forget to describe Barbara B's sourdough apple donut cake! It was moist and tender and not so sweet that you could feel the decay forming in your teeth!!! LOL! Deeeelicious!!!

Well, I need to make up for the missed knitting hours this weekend so I better wrap this up. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Getting prepared for this Friday's Yarn Bombing

The Chicks are collaborating with The Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels on the annual yarn bombing which is held on Delaware Avenue in front of the Albany Public Library. We need to attach labels to all our donations so anyone passing by will know that they can take whatever items they need to keep warm this winter.

Our group collected and labeled 2 hat and cowl sets, 4 cowls, 7 scarves, 26 hats, and 6 pairs of mittens. 

Cinzia finished her Reversible Stripes Scarf and will save it for Friday's labeling.

Now that we have completed yarn bombing knitting we can concentrate on our next cycle of knitting which will be donated to Knit the Rainbow in NYC. Janna's first project on the needles will be a Helix Hat with these cheerful colors.

Annika has chosen a cabled cowl pattern for which she will use this softly dappled gradient yarn. The Woodnote Cowl uses approximately 200 yards of a worsted weight yarn.

Barbara B. is dropping stripes whenever the mood strikes her to make a lovely 22.5 Degrees Shawl. The bind off of this wide, shallow triangular shawl creates a pretty scalloped edge.

Dorah's Bewind Hat was finished before we broke for the day. 

The label has been attached and it's ready for Friday.

I happened to see this Sava Springs Cap pattern being offered for free on a Facebook page the day of release and was lucky enough to get it. I'm using a Patons Classic Wool in worsted weight. It's a pretty heather blue-green color which refuses to show up in the photo.

As soon as Dorah finished her Bewind Hat, she cast on for the Splendid Squares Hat.

It's going to be a stunner in her Malabrigo yarn.

As you can see I'm being summoned for yet another food run for the King Fozzie. So before he starts biting the wires of my computer, I'll leave you with my weekly words....

Keep those needles clicking!

The last fiber festival of the season

Last Saturday Barbara K., Dorah, and I attended the New England Fiber Festival which is held the first weekend of November each year at the Mallory Complex on the grounds of the Big E in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

We love seeing the alpacas munching on hay as people mill around to get a good glimpse of the critters with the unbelievably soft fleece.

They are the cutest critters too with a docile personality.

Don't you just want to pinch those chubby cheeks?!?!

We made a few purchases, some of us made more than others but I can confidently say they were wise purchases. From the far left, Dorah picked out some gorgeous yarns to make the Maple Point Shawl and the Joyful Shawl. Those 3 gradient cakes we each bought will be part of our personal KAL to knit the Zuzu's Petals Cowl. Barbara and I each found hand made soaps with heavenly scents. And that turquoise mound in the center is my new alpaca "Dr. Zhivago Hat". About 5 or 6 years ago Dorah and I attended this same festival where I tried on a bright red hat of the same style and I talked myself out of buying it which Dorah said I would regret. Sure enough, I've been looking for that hat a every festival since and haven't found one...until last Saturday! And it's my favorite color! Dorah and Barbara were not going to let me pass this one by.

Today's topic of conversation was the overwhelming experience of shopping at our local Farmer's India Market. They carry a plethora of foods from various cuisines around the world but unless you know how to cook them, you don't know where to start shopping. After my first visit I came home to watch YouTube videos to learn recipes so I could take advantage of the wonderful offerings that are available.

Jan finished a hat and her Galaxy Lemonade Shawl and is thinking about the Diamond Hat next which is a freebie on Ravelry. You'll see her actual project a little further down.

Barbara B. is in the home stretch on the baby sweater she's making for a cousin's baby.

I had plans to make the Hepsi's Neck Warmer with this worsted weight Classic Wool from Patons but I got distracted by a YouTube video for a child's cowl and adapted it for adult size.

So this is the Pleated Scarf Jan is currently knitting using a nice gradient yarn.

Maureen is keeping warm with the blanket she's making for her husband draped across her lap. Notice Fozzie in the background waiting patiently for someone to get up to use the bathroom so they will feel sorry for him and give him a treat. It works every time!

Cinzia's Reversible Stripes Scarf is growing rapidly. We all marvel at the way the stripes are so different on either side! The pattern requires either DP's or a circular needle because the knitting slides to the other end of the needle on every other row to create the vertical stripes on one side and horizontal on the other.

Dorah took our advice and turned a negative into a positive by making the design a deliberate element in her Bewind Hat. Sometimes you just have to make the executive decision to cut your losses and in this case it turned into a new design!

I finished a reversible, double thick man's hat using two patterns blended together. The first pattern was the Musselburgh by Ysolda Teague but I used the Fibonacci sequence for the stripes from another pattern which is not available online.

The hat is made using DK weight yarns and the opposite side is the solid gray. It is suggested to use either fingering weight or DK weight as anything heavier would make the hat too bulky to wear.

Our joint Annual Yarn Bombing with the Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels is quickly approaching so I must knit faster! I'd like to get at least two more items completed before November 17 to add to the inventory. So I gotta go! Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!