Scenes by the river

The Henry Hudson Park was hopping today! I was finally able to get a shot of the bald eagle that flies out from its nesting site each week. Yeah, that's him...or her. Too far away to tell (not that I could tell the difference).

And a fisherman was at one end of the park but I couldn't tell if he caught anything.

But even if he didn't, a bad day of fishing beats a good day of working!

There were plenty of boats too but if I stopped to take a picture of every one that went by, I would never get any knitting done.

At least two flocks of Canada geese swam by too. They were very quiet going upstream but they made their presence known on the way down again.

Janna's and Annika's father came to sit by the water to read and watch the wildlife.

There was quite a group today too.

Cinzia surprised us by bringing along one of her children, Sophia. She'll be heading back to college soon so it was so nice to see her. I haven't seen her since she left for her freshman year!

Sophia hasn't knitted since then either so she was practicing her stitching.

Cinzia put the finishing border on her crocheted baby blanket, perfectly sized for a car seat.

The beige blanket that Barbara B. was working on for the last few weeks turned out to be the wrong color for the new baby girl that was born. So Plan B was to make this pretty one instead.

Debbie was making cables on the hat she started but they gave her some trouble so she had to start over. Her ribbing is so nice and even.

And Maureen joined us today! She's been on babysitting duty for her 8 month old granddaughter since the early spring so it was so nice to see her again. She's putting a sleeve on her Sunnyside sweater.

Janna started the mosaic portion of her Emiliana scarf. But when she realized she didn't have the correct stitch count, she had to tink back to fix it. That's ok, many times I've spent more time frogging that knitting but it all works out in the end.

And here is Annika's shawl all finished except for the crocheted edging which is coming along nicely.

My Racimo Cowl is getting longer but the ball of yarn doesn't seem to be getting smaller. That's what happens when you use a center pull ball of yarn. It seems to stay the same size for so much of the project and then BAM! You're almost finished and you're racing against the clock to finish knitting before you run out of yarn.

Why? Don't you knit faster to finish before you run out of yarn? LOL!

I hope you enjoyed the scenes by the river this week. It's always so peaceful there and these days I need all the peace I can find. Have a good week and keep those needles clicking!

Hats, hats, and more hats

The Chicks worked on many hats this week. Cinzia's child size hat was a bit quirky. Normally, stockinette stitch curls if you don't start with ribbing or garter stitch. This one is curiously flat. We can't figure out why it's not rolling! I guess it doesn't matter since it looks nice anyway. Love the red!

 Elaine finished her 2X2 ribbed hat this week and added it to the inventory.

 She decided she needed an easy project this week so she started one of our standby diagonal baby blankets. We couldn't believe the size of the skein of yarn! Check it out....

 It looks like she's got a pet sitting at her feet! We all had a good laugh! Then I was reminded of a Youtube video of a woman holding her angora rabbit on her lap as she spun his fur right off his coat. He just sat there bouncing up and down as her feet work the spinning wheel. It seemed as though he was enjoying the ride. And it doesn't hurt him because it's the layer of coat that he is shedding so it comes right off.

 Debbie made progress on her cabled mitts that she started last week. She learned the magic loop technique to make these and is flying through them. Great job Debbie!

 Liz's Mistake Stitch scarf is much longer than it was last week. At one point she had to rip back a few stitches because... wait for it... she made a mistake! LOL!

 I am working on modular squares, worked from the outside in with 25 stitches on each needle. Each corner has and ssk and a k2tog to decrease to the center, every other row. When I have enough squares to fit around the neck I think I will work along the long sides in black yarn and turn it into a cowl. Or a hat... or a cowl... we'll see how I feel when I get to that part.

 Dorah finished her Emiliana scarf and it's beautiful! She used Periwinkle Sheep yarns in Hot Mama (pink) and I think the black is Witch's Cauldron. It's beautiful!

 Especially the mosaic section.

 She worked on her 2X2 ribbed hat until...

 it was finished. This will go into inventory too.

 Remember the hat Carole started last week? Here it is with the seed stitch chevron band. I like the ribbing with the Ktbl twist (knit through the back loop of stitch). 

It makes the ribbing stand out nicely.

 This is another hat she finished that was added to inventory tonight too.

 Maureen put the finishing touches on her blanket.

 Margaret started a hat too. 

 This is the one she worked on last week and is now in the inventory too. Wow! We had a lot of hats this week!

 And I finished the cowl I started last week. This is one of those really simple patterns which requires one to count to 3. Sounds so easy, right?

I ripped it back an inch or so only once! I guess I'm getting better at counting to 3!

See you next week. In the meantime, keep those needles clicking!

Happy Valentine's Day

I am in a much better mood this week! Last week I was mourning the debacle that was my silver Emiliana shawl ruined from bleeding dyes. This week I have a beautifully restored shawl which was rescued by the inimitable, incomparable, unrivaled Karin MT of Periwinkle Sheep! She over dyed the whole shawl with this beautiful pink to cover the stains that were left from the black dye not staying where it was supposed to be. I think I like this version even more than the original colors. Thank you Karin! You're a lifesaver!

 I finally finished the Miss Winkle scarf/shawlette I started last October. This was one of those projects I schlepped everywhere when I had to wait for appointments or long car rides. So it probably took longer than it should have to knit. But it's done now and will go into my personal inventory in case I need a gift someday. The color is Rhinebeck 2016 from Periwinkle Sheep.

 And just for good measure I quickly knitted up a 2X2 ribbed cap. I had this yarn laying around with a half torn label which I think was a superwash merino wool.

 Elaine brought us some finished hats too. Her little flower adornments are darling.

 And the Berroco yarn is so soft. It feels like a cloud blended with marshmallows!

Cinzia worked on her scarf while Debbie learned how to perform the Mattress Stitch to sew up her fingerless mitts.

The mitts look great as does...

Cinzia's scarf! It's a larger version of the Zick Zack scarf, free pattern on Ravelry.

Elaine casted on (cast on?) for a new hat using a soft minty green worsted weight yarn. She was thinking spring today. Hmmm...funny thing is I still see 2 feet of snow outside. 

Wishful thinking can't hurt anything!

Dorah tried on her never ending scarf and was delighted when we all proclaimed it long enough already! She has enough yarn left over to throw together a pair of fingerless mitts to match.

Carole finished her Mistake Stitch Cowl tonight.

And Margaret finished that hat we saw last week.

She immediately casted on for another hat.

I dove into the stash and found this pretty turquoise cotton/bamboo blend from Universal Yarns called Bamboo Pop to make the Workday Scarf. The yarn has a graceful drape and the pattern is stupid easy! It's a great TV or conversation knitting project which is straight knitting for 7 rows and 1 row of a few yarnovers. You can't get any easier than that!

I'm so happy the sun finally came out today so I could see my afternoon ladies. Winter last year was so mild with so little snow that I had forgotten what normal winters are like in the great Northeast. The last two Tuesdays were icy and snowy during the day but today was glorious and sunny. Just the way I like my winters. Cold but bright! Just right for knitting!