Great minds think alike

Dorah and I must have been on the same wavelength today since we both chose tie-dyed shirts and are using our matching project bags that I made. Great minds...

Dorah added the new color to her color blocked hat and a short time later...

She added color number three. This was the project she wanted to make to learn how to knit

 jogless stripes. Looking good!

Janna was telling the Chicks about the technique she had to learn for her Yara Shawl.

Some of the striped areas are knitted flat on a circular needle so she could slide the work to the opposite end and knit the same row with another color from the reversed direction to make a "broken" effect in the stitch pattern. It sounds more complicated than it is and creates a lovely pattern.

This is the free sock pattern Barbara B. is using for a pair of baby socks to go with the hat and cardigan she is making for her daughter's friend.

It's such a sweet set and she's doing a fine job making it.

Barbara K.'s Ex's and O's Hat is coming along nicely. We are all so proud of Barbara for her very first try at following a knitting chart to create the x and o pattern.

Another patterned knit is Janna's Arona Cowl, knitted in mosaic technique. This pattern is written out as opposed to following a graph chart.

Cinzia started this t-shirt last week on circular needles but switched over to her long straight needles so she could knit more comfortably. She holds the needle under one arm to stabilize it and then she can knit faster. This was the way my grandmother taught me to knit when I was in grade school. Over time I decided to learn continental style to take the strain off my neck and shoulders. I guess I wasn't a relaxed knitter since Cinzia doesn't seem to have any problem with this method.

Carole's Easy Scarf is slowly nearing the end. The change in the colors midstream make a lovely definition to the directional change in the knitting.

Maureen is using an app on her i-Pad called Knit Companion. It gives the knitter the ability to highlight the row of knitting without having to use sticky notes on a paper pattern.

Her Step Zeppelin Cowl is coming along nicely.

Everyone made progress this week except me! This is the result of two hours of knitting. One-hundred-fifteen stitches and five rows in, my stitch count was wrong and it was a pattern I couldn't fudge. We all agreed the yarn didn't want to be the cowl I had chosen to knit.

But all was not lost. I finished this cowl, "Just Keep Swimming", last night and steam blocked it just before the Chicks arrived today.

Carole attended a sewing retreat last weekend to make this gorgeous project bag. The fabric has the names of some of the places she's visited over the years but because of the layout she couldn't fit "Paris" on the outside. So it became a pocket inside! My Chicks are such multi-talented people!

Well, I'm going on a hunt for a different pattern and maybe even a different yarn to start a new project. Wish me luck and keep those needles clicking!

 

Just 3 of us

Cinzia and Dorah joined me this afternoon for a quiet session of knitting. Well, not too quiet because we like to laugh but it was a relaxing time spent together.

Cinzia tested out which size needle to use for the Ripples shawlette, a sweet little scarf with a gentle ruffled edge. The yarn label said it was a DK weight yarn and suggested using a size 9 needle which we all agreed sounded like too much needle for such a light weight yarn. But after trying a size 7 needle, the fabric seemed too rigid. I think she might have gone with a size 8 for her choice.

Dorah is a good sport for continuing to knit with yarn she is not exactly in love with. Ok, let's face it, she hates it! LOL! I have to admit that after trying to frog it for her, I wouldn't choose it for a project EVER! But she is a dedicated Chick who will finish it. I did tell her not to swear while knitting because we don't want to infuse that kind of energy into our knitting. ROFL! 

Cinzia added a basketweave pattern hat to the inventory which just by chance happens to match the color of...

The Jariq scarf I'm knitting. I just reached the halfway mark and have started the downhill race to the finish. It gets easier now that I'm on the decreasing end of the scarf. It's an exact match to the blue in the hat so we're going to package them together.

It's that time of the year when I get startitis so I'm happy to be almost finished with this project so I can search for something new to make. I think I'll go stash diving to see what inspires me. In the meantime, keep those needles clicking!

Do I have yarn?

Barbara B. asked if I had yarn to share with her to save her a trip to the store. Have I got yarn?

😆😆😆

Does the bear poop in the woods?

I brought only two bags of worsted weight and DK weight so the ladies could sift through and pick what inspired them.

Some of the yarns were hand dyed by my daughter when she was inspired to use KoolAid to make some lovely tonal yarns. Margaret has one of her peachy colors in her hand. On the table where you see three balls of green are more of her handiwork. She did a beautiful job with colors but her job takes up too much of her time now so she no longer dyes yarn or knits. I am the lucky recipient of her yarns which I am happy to share with my Chicks.

Maureen is finishing up a baby gift, the Sunnyside Cardigan, a free pattern on Ravelry. She's making the cabled version here but there is also a lace edge version included in the same pattern.

For donation, Maureen is making a Helix hat with three colors that look so nice together.

She finished her cowl which you saw in previous posts.

Margaret learned the Latvian Braid to use in the hat she's knitting. It makes a fascinating horizontal braid right in the field of stockinette stitches.

Barbara K.'s hat is growing nicely. Or maybe it's a cowl...I can't remember. Sometimes we all get to talking at once so I miss snippets of conversation. I'll check with her next week.

Janna's Easy scarf shows where she turned her work and is knitting short rows to continue the stripes  perpendicular to the beginning of the work. The stripes are a different width which adds to the beauty of the work.

Barbara K. finished her Mistake Stitch Scarf which matches the hat she added to the inventory a few weeks ago.

And Margaret was delighted to turn over into our inventory the scarf and hat which she had been knitting for a long time. The color is actually a deep purple that looks almost black. It's a good neutral color to go with anything.

 I went for my daily walk this morning so as the clouds currently cover the sun, I'm happy to hunker down and continue knitting on my project. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

It's a hot one today!

It was a day to put up the drapes to keep the sun off us while we knitted.

And we had a full house today too!

Bless Carole for being a good sport and model the hat she made for our inventory. It's the Mistake Stitch Hat which makes a warm, thermal fabric for keeping warm.

She made The Shift Cowl for herself. 

The hardest part is choosing compatible yarns and she was very successful with her choices. Beautiful!

Dorah and Carole contributed to the inventory with hats and cowls. Lovely work ladies!

Liz added a baby hat and a Mistake Stitch Scarf as well.

She's made good progress on her cowl and made the executive decision to continue to knit until she runs out of yarn. Then this can be pulled over the head for a hat too!

Barbara K. started the eyelash yarn portion of her golf club cover.

She'll be the talk of the golf course with her unique, cute covers!

Jan A. looked for a missing stitch and found it but then found an extra one as well. She decided to wait until she gets home to do a recount.

Carole found a pretty green yarn in her stash to make the Close to You shawl. A few of us have made this pattern and it's unanimously voted a favorite.

Janna started That Easy Guernsey Hat with a pretty purple yarn.

And Margaret chuckled because she seems no further along on her scarf. But she has a valid excuse...there's a wedding for her to plan and another upcoming one to attend so she has her hands full.

Dorah chose three pretty yarns to start a Helix Hat. She finished the green one which I showed earlier in this post.

Maureen had started the Easy Scarf with another yarn that wasn't to her liking so she went stash diving and found a perfect one for this pattern. Look at those vivid colors! 

Cinzia worked on her Basket Weave cowl using a variegated sock weight yarn which shows off the woven effect nicely.

And I'm making the same cowl with a bulky weight yarn and a more ombre colorway.

It's 90 degrees right now so I'm going to sit in front of the AC vent and try to remain cool. Until next week, keep those needles clicking.

 

Some FO's for the inventory

We'll start off this week with some FO's (finished objects). Maureen brought in her Bankhead Hat for which she used a Malabrigo DK weight yarn. 

I found an unidentified yarn in the stash to make some small mittens. I'll do a burn test later to see if it's wool or acrylic. If you here the fire sirens, you'll know it didn't end well. LOL!

Cinzia made a zig zag scarf with an acrylic bulky weight yarn that self stripes.

Maureen started a new project using sock weight yarn to make the Easy Shawl. This is the pattern that lets you knit increasing to the halfway point of your supply of yarn and then you decrease and pick up stitches to to end of the supply of yarn, making the stripes perpendicular to the beginning stitches.

I'm making the same exact pattern but with a slower color changing yarn so it shows stripes instead of texture. It's funny how you can knit the exact same pattern with two different yarns and have two different looking FO's.

That's what I love about knitting. You can be so creative and not feel like you're copying someone else's work. 

Well, I have to end here as I'm trying a new to me recipe for dinner and need time to improvise. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!