I love video calls!

There was almost a full house this week. Carole was visiting her grands and Dorah was waiting for the plumber, so they were not here...but...

I made a quick video call to Dorah so we could see her WIP and FO and she could say hello to everyone. Her Helix Hat is almost finished.

                             

And her LOSY Hat is done. 

Barbara B finished the Legato Hat. It has an interesting method of construction which involves knitting the ribbing inside out with the edge curled and picking up stitches for the crown. Barbara tried explaining it to me but my head wasn't in the right place to get it.

She also completed a child size 1898 hat and...

she started another one using fingering weight yarn and a smaller needle to get a baby size hat.

I completed that hat I was making last week. I held two strands of sock yarn together, one solid and one variegated and every ten rounds I dropped one of them and added a new one. I had planned on making this in the same method as Equinox and Musselburgh which has two hats knitted end to end and tucked inside for double thickness. But after knitting six inches of stockinette, I was getting bored and decided to make a single thick beanie.

I used a size 5 needle so the fabric is dense and will be warm just the same.

Nancy liked the idea so much she searched through her stash for some sock weight yarns and started one of her own. Those colors are perfect together too!

I watched a Turkish YouTube tutorial for this zigzag stitch which was knitted flat in the demonstration. After a little brain work, I converted the pattern to be knitted in the round and now have an almost finished cowl. It's funny that when I started it I didn't like the results but I pushed on and reminded myself that sometimes it takes a good 3 inches before you can see the pattern emerge. 

I'm happy I did because now I love it!

Jan is working a tubular scarf that has ribbing on both ends. 

She had a skein of self striping yarn which she cut up and rearranged so the stripes would be in ascending and descending order throughout the scarf.

Tina finished the Hoodola from last week. This can be worn with the ribbed portion scrunched up around the neck or turned inside to become a face mask to ward off cold winds.

Her newest project is the Artemis baby hat which she started knitting flat and then decided to knit in the round on magic loop. Rather than frog the portion already knitted, I talked her into just continuing by joining in the round and sew up the inch of the cuff that was knitted flat, later.

Margaret "invented" a new stitch. She said that's what happens when you don't pay close enough attention to the pattern. She misread the instructions that said to slip a stitch purlwise with the yarn in back. After a few rounds of slipping with the yarn in front, she wondered why it looked different from the photo.

After rereading the instructions, she got her answer. I like her version too! But if you want to make the Wavelet Beanie her way, just leave the yarn in front when you slip the stitch.

Maureen's hat is coming along nicely.

She is also making the Olive You Baby cardigan for a friend's grandchild. It has an asymmetrical front adorned with a lovely cable pattern.

We talked short rows last week so Nancy wore her Papillon/Butterfly shawl that is comprised of many, many short rows. It requires a main color in a solid and a slow, long color changing yarn for the contrasting color. She did a beautiful job! 

Cinzia is just starting a sweet little bonnet using a peachy acrylic yarn. She wasn't sure of the fiber content so I put a match to it and it melted and smelled like burnt plastic so we are sure it's acrylic. She started the hat in the round and then realized the instructions have you knit it flat and sew the seam which she wouldn't have wanted to do. So knitting in the round was the way to go.

Our Barbara B treats today were sourdough oatmeal raisin cookies. I decided not to feel guilty about eating them because sourdough is supposed to be good for you. ;) They were delicious and I look forward to having another with a nice cup of hot tea later tonight.

As soon as Fozzie heard the door close after the last Chick left, he was front and center and begging for food (so what else is new?). It's close enough to his feeding schedule so before he gets into mischief, I'll say goodbye and....

Keep those needles clicking!

There's a new Chick in our flock!

We had to bid our farewells to Janna since she retired from the group but it didn't take long to fill the seat. Tina is a friend whom I have known for about a year from my other knitting group, The Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels, . She came to the library group knowing how to crochet but with a desire to learn how to knit and BOY! has she taken off! She already knits TAAT magic loop socks (two at a time) and loves making socks. I mentioned to her that we have a trial period so if a newbie doesn't feel like it's the right fit, they can bow out gracefully. Just about the nicest thing Tina could say was you know when it's the right place to be. She is a positive addition to our flock.

Barbara B baked Sourdough Banana-spinach Chocolate Chip muffins for today's treat. Now before you rush to judgement about the spinach, let me tell you they were delicious and did not taste like spinach. As a matter of fact, I didn't tell my husband until after he ate one and remarked how much he liked it because you know guys. If I told him there was spinach in them, he would have balked.

We have a few FO's. First up is Dorah's own shawl, The Reverb, which she made using mini skeins in her favorite collection of colors.

Nancy made a cute little bunny hat for her granddaughter in time for Easter. 

The Baby Bunny hat is a free pattern.

And Carole finished the confetti colored hat she has been working on these past few weeks. 

Dorah graciously offered to model it for us.

Dorah fell in love with a 500+ skein of DK weight yarn from Miss Babs called Yowza. She needed some advice about what to make with it. Her first choice was the Jariq Shawl but I think the yarn colors have too much movement and will overpower the lace of the pattern so you won't be able to see it. The next step will be to find inspiration by checking out the yarn on Ravelry to see what other knitters have made.

When we have a full house, we're going to have to use ALL the chairs! I love this! Dorah and Jan are anxiously awaiting the opening of their farm shares for the summer months. We talked about the veggies they buy in their weekly boxes and how you don't get a choice unless it's something you really don't like. It's a good way to sample foods you might not have grown up eating. And it forces you to find new recipes to spark up your repertoire.

Dorah's Helix Hat is well into the stripes this week. Those colors look great together.

Jan is much happier with her shawl since she started the Easy Goes It Shawl. Her first choice of patterns did not please her but she is very happy with this new pattern.

Carole's Bias Scarf grows steadily each week but that ball of yarn doesn't look much smaller! LOL!

Barbara B is knitting a Sampler Afghan from Plymouth Yarns. One of the sections of patterns has eyelets which might catch little fingers so she is considering replacing it with a different pattern, perhaps a seed stitch. This will be a baby gift for her friend who will be a first time grandma.

Tina has this gigantic ball of yarn to make the Hoodola. The fuzzy texture looks so luscious! Something tells me she will be able to get more than one project from this one skein of yarn. 😉

Like me, Nancy finds it much easier to be inspired to knit girlie items and has to be very intentional about knitting boys' and men's items. So she is making a basic beanie for this project.

 

Margaret is trying her hand at a two color brioche hat. Somewhere along the line she went off the rails a bit. I helped her tink it back to the last row that had the correct sequence of stitches so she's back on track. But if it gives her any more trouble, it might be time to chuck it. 

You know my motto...if it's not fun, don't do it!

I lost my knitting mojo last week while I was trying to knit a silk/bamboo blend yarn that wouldn't cooperate with me. My personal rule is to give a yarn and pattern 3 tries. If after the 3 tries it still gives me trouble then I know it doesn't want to be that project. I've given this yarn 13 chances, changing needles and patterns, to become something, well beyond my limits, and it has drained my enthusiasm. So the yarn is in time out and I'm using Berroco Comfort in worsted weight to make the Empower People cowl. I might decide to throw in a little lace at the border but there is time to decide.

The weather app says it 52 degrees and no wind, unlike the past few days where I felt like I could take off if I spread my arms. So I think a quick walk around the block before I have to cook dinner is in order. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Knitting for the Falcons

We continue to make a variety of items for the Falcon Boutique at the Albany High School which provides students with whatever they need, free of charge.

Last week I showed you Jan's Reverb Shawl which she said wasn't turning out the way she expected. So she frogged it and is now knitting the Easy Goes It Shawl which is making her so much happier. It's what I always say, if it's not fun, don't do it!

I decided to take on a mindless project as my level of tranquility has been tested too much lately. I am knitting the Soldiers' Hat, a simple 2x2 ribbed beanie that involves no thinking at all. I am making an effort to knit men's items which is a stretch for me. 

Knitting women's and children's clothing just seems easier. It isn't necessarily but maybe the patterns are more interesting to me.

I finished my own design headband which is sort of non-specific gender-wise. If the knot is worn in front it has a more feminine look as opposed to keeping the knot at the back of the head.

Maureen finished a Helix Hat and a Royal Icing Headband and has started another in blue. This pattern is an easy introduction into learning the Brioche Stitch.

Dorah added more rounds to her LOSY Hat. I just love the colors! She blended a solid blue sock weight yarn with the pastel variegated yarn and they are beautiful together!

Barbara B started another Hoodola in a smaller size. This weekend Laura Nelkin, the designer of Hoodola, released an update to the pattern to include sizes from baby adult so it fits a much wider range of sizes.

Nancy finished her KAL Royal Icing Headband in a vibrant teal blue. 

Her stitch tension is nice and even.

Her next project is the Decision Tree Toque.

Carole and I admired her choice of color (it's a favorite of both of ours). The solid yarn perfectly shows the beauty of the stitch design.

Carole is working on her 2x2 hat and decided to make it a slouchy.

And don't let me forget to show you Barbara B's contribution to our calorie count this week! These sourdough brownies were out of this world!!! 

It's that time of the year that even when the sun is shining a bit, there is a dampness in the air that chills me to the bone. And as much as I love a cold, crisp, sunny winter day in the 20's, these days when the snow starts to melt and the ground is soggy make me want to climb under a blanket. So I'm going to brew myself a hot cup of tea and get back to work. 

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

 

An almost full house

Even though three of my Chicks were absent, we still had a pretty full coop today! We were all happy to be inside protected from the blustery cold outdoors.

The treat du jour was Barbara B's sourdough raspberry shortbread bars, so good! I wonder if she ever makes a dud. Maybe she just doesn't tell us about those. LOL!

 

Barbara also knits in her spare time 😂. The top of this hat is striped as in a Helix Hat so she is working out how to best arrange the three yarns to make it easy on herself.

The Cold Brew Hat pattern is for sale on Ravelry. 

It has lots of design features to keep the knitting interesting.

I started the Ottlie Scarf and everything was going smoothly, as long as I was knitting alone in my room. This afternoon was a different story. I always stop knitting a repeating pattern at the last row of the repeat so there is no question about where I left off. But this time, it didn't look right. This was the picture I took last night before everything went south. Now I have to frog it back to the beginning and start all over since I haven't been able to figure out what row was my last. UGH!

Luckily, I had a brioche ear warmer started. This is Royal Icing Headband which is offered on Ravelry for sale or free with a code. If you read the description, it tells you how to get it for free. The Chicks have requested we do a KAL of this pattern so look for it in the coming weeks.

Nancy started the Dotty Cowl, a pattern she has enjoyed knitting in the past.

You can see the start of the checkerboard design emerging.

Dorah is finishing up a pair of socks for her daughter before winter is over. She had a recommendation for everyone that gave us all a chuckle. After recently flying out of state to visit one of her kids, she remarked how pleasant it was "flying while gray". She said she never had so many people be so helpful in getting her luggage into the overhead compartment. See! There are some advantages to being a senior citizen. Personally, I always ask if there's a senior discount. 😉

Margaret jumped on the Helix Hat bandwagon and picked a pretty combo of colors.

And Barbara K's Helix Hat is almost finished. What a pretty pastel combo!

Maureen continues to work on her Helix Hat and started a hat for which I forgot to get the pattern name. It looks like bulky weight or Aran weight yarn so it shouldn't take too long to knit.

Carole finished a pretty powder blue cabled hat using bulky weight yarn and 8 and 10.5 needles.

The Easy Cabled Hat is a freebie on Ravelry.

And she's pretty close to finishing up her colorufl 2X2 ribbed beanie.

A couple of weeks ago I was working on the Hoodola by Laura Nelkin. I thought I wouldn't have enough yellow yarn to make the casing for the opening and still have more for the I-cord so I found two sock weight yarns that had just enough yellow to hold the theme and made the casing with them held together. Then there was plenty of yarn for the I-cord!

The Helix Hat that was in progress last week is now in the inventory. I made this with superwash merino yarn so it can be machine washed and dried, gentle cycle.

And I slipped a little something in between donation projects for myself. It's the Easy Goes It Scarf, not to be confused with the Easy Does It. I bought the merino/bamboo fingering weight yarn at a Whole Knit n' Caboodle studio sale last summer in a one of a kind colorway. I love the way it turned out! Teri said she was experimenting with dying a cake ombre' and I love it!

Well, I guess I better get crackin' on that mistake in the Ottlilie scarf. It will have to be an isolation project that I knit all by myself without interruptions! So have a great week and check back next time. Maybe I'll get back on track by next Tuesday. In the meantime, keep those needles clicking!!!