A delightfully cool 70 degree day

It was the perfect day for deck knitting today. A cool breeze complimented the gurgling of the waterfall as a backdrop to our activity.

Dorah completed her Helix Hat using sock weight yarns. She consulted one of our other knitting friends who recommended 112 stitch cast on which turned out to be a bit too small for our current inventory so she graciously offered it to my Friday group, Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels, whose current project is for babies and toddlers. Dorah's choice of colors made a beautiful hat!

She also showed us her Changing Staircases Shawl that she made for herself. We all fell in love with the colors. And when Carole arrived...

we made her model it since it looked so nice with her sweater.

Carole is working on the same shawl pattern with a slightly softer blend of colors in her sock weight yarn. Dorah and Carole both recommend this pattern for its simplicity and easy to memorize repeats.

Carole brought along her Raven Beanie which she saves for "waiting room" knitting. The pattern makes a thick fabric to protect against winter winds.

Barbara B. started a new project, with a pretty coral colored yarn, today called...

The Silver Cardigan. It's a free pattern on Ravelry sized for a baby.

Dorah's Easy Shawl is coming along nicely. We discussed possible variations of yarn color selection so Dorah might try using a variegated yarn for the first half of the scarf and then using a solid or tonal in a complimentary color scheme.

I'm still working on the Lexis Hat. There is one more complete eight row repeat to finish, then row 1-6, and then I can begin the decreasing section of the crown. So I'm beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Margaret is using up the last of the Kool Aid hand dyed yarn from my daughter's stash to make a Helix Hat too. Someone said these hats are like Lay's Potato Chips, you can't make just one!

The smoke from the Canadian wildfires has finally subsided so I'll be able to resume my daily walks. It was a real hardship for me to stay inside and knit all day! Now, I have this bridge I'm looking to sell...

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Inside knitting today (cough,cough)

There are wildfires 4+ hours north of us in Quebec so when you step outside you can smell smoke and the sky is very hazy and yellow. I hope our neighbors to the north will be alright. As a safety precaution, I thought it would be a good idea to stay indoors today. It wouldn't be nice to donate items that smelled like a bonfire. Not to mention what the smokey air would do to us!

Carole finished her Close to You Shawl in what seems like record time. Her yarn is more of a rich emerald green but the camera turned it into a teal blue. Either way it's gorgeous.

Barbara B. completed the Ex's and O's Hat. How I wish you could see the rich red color in person. 

It is stunningly red!

I worked on the Lexis Hat over the weekend because it's too fiddly for social knitting. After I tried this pattern multiple times with a deeper teal yarn and decided the yarn didn't want to be a hat, I decided to try it in the light teal yarn and NOW the yarn is happy! And so am I! To neaten up the stitchwork I knitted all my knit stitches through the back loop. I wasn't happy with the loopy-droopy look of the stitches when knitted the traditional way.

Barbara B. is making a lovely shrug for herself called the Wrap Me Up Sweater Scarf and here you can see all her stitch markers to help her shape the sleeve. The yarn is a soft Suri alpaca and merino blend that is as soft as a cloud.

Barbara K. wanted to know how much longer she should knit her striped Mistake Stitch Scarf. A good rule of them is to make it as long as outstretched arms from fingertip to fingertip, unless you want it to wrap multiple times around the neck. Then you can knit as long as you desire.

Margaret made up this hat pattern as she went along and actually finished it as she was leaving so I didn't get the end product picture. But it's ready for the inventory.

Janna worked the last border stitches of the Arona Cowl and won a close game of yarn chicken!

That's the game where you hope to finish the project before you run out of yarn (and naturally can't get any more of it because it's discontinued or the company closed or some such dilemma). As you can see on the upper right corner of the picture, there isn't much white yarn left, just enough to weave in the end. That was a real WHEW! moment!

Cinzia is finishing up the back of the lacy T-shirt shell called Panopeia in that buttery soft yellow yarn that we received as a gift from a generous soul who was sifting through her stash. This was the perfect pattern for it too!

And Maureen worked with an equally buttery yellow yarn for her Bewind Hat.

Janna brought her personal project she's making for herself to show us her progress.

 It's the Yara Shawl that requires four colors of yarn and follows the mosaic technique for the pattern.

It's going to be stunning!

Carole cast on stitches to start the Changing Staircases Shawl using a yarn she found in her stash that's been hiding for a few years.

   By the time she was ready to go home she had already knitting a few inches. 

I'm working on the Sophie Scarf using a pretty celadon green yarn just like the one Barbara B. is using, the Suri alpaca and merino blend. The pattern is pretty adaptable to any weight yarn as long as you use the corresponding needle size for the weight yarn you choose. It has a built in I-cord edging from start to finish.

                                           

Well, if you live in the Northeast, stay inside if you can. The air is pretty thick and there is a yellowish haze. Stay safe and keep those needles clicking.

Someone had fun at WEBS

Barbara K. (far right) went to the annual blowout sale at WEBS in Northampton, Massachusetts and bought lots of great yarn for next to nothing! The black and pink Cascade Superwash that she's holding in her left hand will become an Ex's and O's hat for her granddaughter.

She found some great bargains on Plymouth Encore too. That's our all time favorite yarn for kids' clothes that require durability and machine laundering.

Barbara B. gave us a peek at the Wee Penny Dress she knitted for our other charitable knitters' group, Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels. The Friday group is making baby clothes so this is a perfect addition.

For the Chicks she is making an Ex's and O's Hat with a twisted rib cuff.

Back to Barbara K., who found some self striping yarn in her stash which she is magically turning into a Mistake Stitch Scarf.

It was great to see Jan P. again after a long absence. She picked a pretty mohair yarn to make a mobius ring cowl.

And Jan A. chose the Picots and More Cowl for her project.

It's coming along nicely and for added insurance, Jan has added a lifeline, the yellow stripe. Knitters who have learned the hard way always run a smooth yarn through the stitches of their work so if a mistake is made, the work can be frogged back to that point where it was last worked correctly instead of having to rip out the whole thing.

Dorah found a lovely variegated yarn in her stash to make the Changing Staircases Shawl.She highly recommends this design for it's easy to remember pattern and simplicity to work it. 

A great social knitting project!

This yarn has been very disagreeable with me! After starting the Lexis Hat three times and the Zoe Hat two times, I took the hint that it didn't want to be a hat at all and I am now happily zipping through the Olivia Cowl. This starts out with a provisional cast on and is knitted on the bias for your desired length and then the two short ends are grafted together.

Barbara K. added a basic beanie to the inventory and...

Dorah added a nicely striped beanie which gave her the opportunity to learn how to knit jogless stripes.

It's still a pleasant, sunny afternoon so I'm going to squeeze in a quick walk before I hunker down into my knitting again. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

 

The first "deck day" of the year

We were planning on sitting out front again but with 10 mph winds, pollen, and allergies, we opted to retreat to the comfort of the screened porch. Besides, we had the gentle gurgling of the fountain keeping it peaceful while we discussed interstate vs intrastate highways and their numbering and how did we ever find our way before there was GPS on our phones! 

Maureen completed her Step Zeppelin cowl. When she asked when is it time to consider it long enough my response was, "When you ask if it's long enough yet." Sometimes, as much as we like a project, it can get tedious and you just know it's big enough.

                                        

I was planning on making a Lexis Hat, a pattern I've made a few times before so I'm familiar with it. But as you can see, the needle has been removed and the next step will be frogging! I just wasn't enjoying it this time so I'm blaming the yarn for not wanting to be this hat. My decision was reinforced when I had finished a cable row and had three stitches too many left over at the end of the round. My next step will be to dive down the rabbit hole for a different pattern.

Barbara K is making a basic beanie in a vivid purple. 

Maybe I should stick with something like this for now.

Janna made more progress on her Arona Cowl. Her color choices highlight the mosaic pattern throughout the cowl.

Maureen's next project is a hat with a gradient colored yarn.

And Carole continues to slowly add length to her Brioche Cowl. It's a slow going pattern because you have to take you time to be sure you are using the correct color per round. She's doing a great job.

Jan A picked a free pattern on Ravelry to make a hat that starts with 2X2 ribbing for the folded brim.

The Cable and Rib Knit Hat is shown being worn by a man but it is generic enough for any gender.

Ok, so I'm going to go through my library of patterns now to see if something jumps out at me. Wish me luck and as always, keep those needles clicking!

For a needy family

 This family didn’t ask for much so we’re throwing in a couple of extras.

Keep those needles clicking!