A glorious start to summer, well technically it's tomorrow but...

The warm, sunny afternoon was a pleasant compliment to our conversations about children, grandchildren, what's for dinner, what everyone is reading, and knitting. Maureen now has five little ones for whom she can knit so she is looking for cute hat patterns. 

Barbara K. was hunting through her WIPs and found a Cabin Fever Buttons Cardigan which needed its finishing touches.

Since our current project is for homeless women veterans, Barbara generously donated her sweater to my other group, The Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels. Her choice of buttons are a lovely compliment to the sky blue sweater.

Dorah didn't have much time during the week to knit so she took advantage of our afternoon together to add inches to her Changing Staircases Shawl.

Maureen started another basic beanie hat and...

added another Helix Hat to our inventory. Those colors are fabulous!

Barbara B. knocked those beautiful cables out of the ballpark! 

The staghorn cables are the highlight of...

the Stacked Stag-horn Baby Sweater, a free pattern on Ravelry. There is also a free version for the worsted weight size.

There are very few rows left to finish on my Sophie Scarf. I'm enjoying this so much I just might have to cast on immediately for another. It's a perfect project for mindless social knitting, as long as you can count to 8 (which, just between you and me, can be a challenge for me sometimes 😉)

If today is any example of what the summer weather will be, it should be a great season for outdoor knitting. So have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

She's baaaaaack!

There was a full house this afternoon for the Chicks who were very busy catching up with...

our snowbird Liz! She's back for the summer. Now if only summer would arrive!

Liz was very busy knitting over the winter break and brought back some lovely ensembles for our inventory.

All those darling little hats to keep sweet baby heads warm had us all squealing with delight.

She even made a cotton bib that slips over the head.

Debbie picked up a long time UFO and put the finishing touches on it so she could add it to the inventory too.

She did a great job on this sweet, cream colored set.

Janna was bitten by the critter knitting bug. She made 3 more teddy bears and added their facial features to complete their personalities.

Barbara K. finished the pretty turquoise hat and....

a Noro yarn hat.

She also found a UFO of the Cabin Fever Buttons sweater. It needs sleeves but she can't remember what size she was knitting. That's the problem with putting a project in time out. Unless you put a note with it, it can be a nuisance trying to get the needle size or pattern size correct.

Cinzia finished her 100% mercerized cotton stroller/carseat blanket and now has to decide how to block it so it doesn't lose it's stitch definition.

I made a pair of thumb-less baby mittens with a sleeve cord so they don't get lost if they slip off.

And there was so much yarn left that I had enough to make a hat. There are just a few more inches and it will be completed.

Barbara B. started a baby bootie tonight. I'll bet they'll be done by next week.

Carole is still plugging away on her diagonal blanket. The colors are adorable!

Maureen's hat is nearing the decreasing portion.

And Margaret opted to frog last week's white acrylic sweater in favor of Plymouth Encore denim colored blend for the trapeze style cardigan.

We'll be offline for the next two Tuesdays but hope to have plenty to show you on the 28th.

In the meantime, keep those needles clicking.

Wrapping up our donations

The afternoon ladies and I worked on labeling our current items to donate to Community Maternity Services in Albany, New York. Actually, Cinzia knitted on a communal project started by our night time Chick Maureen. Her friend's daughter recently received a cancer diagnosis so we are all knitting some inches on a lovely, warm, cuddly prayer shawl to send to her so she knows we're all praying for her recovery.

Our inventory contained toys, sweaters, booties, vests, a bib, and some mittens....

blankets, hats, scarves, and cowls for a grand total of 80 items. We decided to include some gifts for the moms too to let them know we think about them too.

Our evening meeting started with Carole knitting her share on the shawl while Maureen thought about the Yarmouth Fair Isle Watch Cap which she started.

Her knitted ribbing for the beginning of her hat is so nice and uniform.

Margaret started a beanie hat with a provisional cast on which she will rip out later to reveal live stitches for knitting the edge. I like the colors together.

Carole started a Birthday Cowl not knowing that...

I did too! I like the way her stitches are nice and firm and uniform. My stitches are kind of wonky. I think it's because she used Cascade 220 which is a heavier worsted weight than what I'm using. I think I'll frog it and start over with a smaller needle.

I'm still working on my Reversible Rivulets scarf too. I have knitted more than half of the second ball of yarn so I can't be too far from finishing. Maybe by next week I'll be able to show you a finished scarf.

Cinzia's daughter, Sofia, finished her sweet Cabin Fever jacket and asked Cinzia to bring it to include in our inventory. She did such a beautiful job for the first sweater she ever made that I convinced Cinzia to keep it because it is so special. I still have the first sweater I ever made and it's not nearly as professional looking as this! I think she should keep it as a remembrance of our lessons together.

She can always knit another to donate later.

Relaxing before the holidays

Barbara arrived in her most festive Christmas finery and got straight to work on her top down cardigan. She has about 20 something more rows to knit on the body and then she can knit the sleeves in the round so there will be no finish sewing except for the buttons.

Cinzia brought us a finished baby hat and the scarf I showed you last week. It's nice and wide to protect against the winter chill.

My husband joined us for a bit and Debbie had to give her injured hand a rest but she joined us without her knitting.

Last week I told you about the baby hood I had trouble getting started. Well, as you can see, I am on a roll! I just can't stop myself. It's such a quick knit that if I do nothing else, I can knit one in a day. But since I have to eat and sleep, it takes me two days. Don't hate me! ;) These are all machine washable and dryable too!

I found one of my daughter's baby dolls to try the hat for size and it's adorable! I wish I had a real little one to model it for me.

Last night I cast on for my sixth one with another machine washable yarn I found in the stash.

Carole showed us her lovely headband she is making for her daughter. She is using Cascade 220 and is getting beautiful stitch definition.

Maureen's ball of yarn is getting smaller and the blanket is getting bigger.

And Carole made it to the bottom of the raglan lines. The stitches for the sleeves are on the holders so she can proceed with the body of the sweater.

Beth's Barley Hat is further along this week.

And she showed us the scarf she is knitting for a niece using the colors of the Green Bay Packers, of whom she is a fan.

I don't have any Christmas knitting to catch up on so I can relax and glide into the holidays without the stress of worrying if I'll make the deadline. But if any of you out there are knitting gifts I hope you get to finish in time. Wishing you all a warm and wonderful holiday season!

Busy hands

We had a stretch of holiday rest so it was back to some serious knitting today for my Chicks.

We start Show and Tell with Debbie's hoodie sweater. She is using one of those huge skeins of self striping yarn she bought when our local Lion Brand store went out of business. It's a washable yarn, perfect for baby clothes.

 Cinzia is also using a self patterning yarn which looks like it should knit up into a dotted pattern but oddly enough it is working up into a really nice tweedy stripe.

 Barbara's Cabin Fever Buttons cardigan has shoulders and should have sleeves soon. She is holding it by the collar and shoulders so you can see that it is a top down one piece sweater.

 Maureen's baby blanket is longer this week. I think she's getting bored with it. Next time a quick hat pattern Maureen!

 Margaret's top down 5 hour sweater is going on about three weeks now. It's hard to find time to squeeze in a few stitches when you have a full time job and a family.

 Beth is making a baby Flax sweater. You can see the garter stitch feature on the shoulder and sleeve.

 And Dorah's baby sweater has reached the portion where she will insert the chevron pattern with a variegated yarn. You can see the first few rows peeking out at the needle edge.

 Carole is disappointed that it took her two hours to get this far on her Sunnyside sweater but she has all those markers perfectly in place so she can now breeze on through the knitting. It's important to get the markers correctly placed so the sleeves and design elements line up.

 My Baby Sophisticate is at the very beginning so it doesn't look much like a cardigan yet.

 And now for the gallery of FO's. I found a quick bootie pattern last night for some scraps of worsted weight yarn that was too much to just throw away. They were done in about three hours. And I'm a slow knitter!

 My second Dexter vest is for a little girl. I ran out of pink yarn and had to use a sage green to sew up one of the side seams but luckily it doesn't show.

 I had a bit of left over blue yarn so a quick 2X2 ribbed hat used it up.

 Beth was busy while she was away before the holiday. Her cables are beautifully knitted on this cute little hat.

 The buttons Carole put on her little sweater are just the right touch of color for such a cute little pullover.

 Beth's baby socks are cheerfully bright!

 And her cute little tie booties are sure to stay on.

 Another baby hat....

 and two more from Margaret's needles.

 Carole added a sweet little cap with a twisty top knot.

 And these last few are personal items that first up, Beth knitted. A pretty pair of socks called Hermione's Everyday Sock. She said the pattern was very easy for her first pair of two at a time cuff down socks.

 Dorah showed us her Baby Cocktails Shiraz sweater she made for her daughter. We are very proud of her work! She just has to knit the neck band and it will be finished.

Lastly, Beth had put this beautiful shawl into hibernation for a while but finally took it out to finish. The color choices are gorgeous! If you'd like to purchase the pattern on Ravelry, it's called Drachenfels by Melanie Berg.

Well, I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and have recovered from your turkey hangover. It's time for me to get back to my knitting. Keep those needles clicking!