A gorgeous day on the deck

A sunny 78 degree day required that I put up the drapes so we wouldn't roast on the southwest facing deck. Thankfully, there was a most welcome breeze keeping us comfortable and ringing the outdoor chimes every now and then.

Barbara B. graced us with sourdough scones this week, cranberry/orange and blueberry/lemon. They were delicious and so moist! She was glad to have one of those segmented baking pans because the dough was more like a batter and would not have been easy to cut. When asked how she finds so many ways to use sourdough starter and discard, her response was Pinterest! She said you could spend hours going down the rabbit hole trying to choose a recipe from the hundreds that are available. We are so grateful for her generosity and great baking skills each week!

Cinzia played a game of yarn chicken and had to revise the original plan for a long sleeved sweater. It looks like this might be the Knit Baby Jacket Set pattern with a short sleeve adaptation.

Barbara B. finished The Gift cardigan with its beautiful yoke and fancy ribbing. She added the Avery's Happy Cap which compliments it perfectly.

On her needles now is the Top Down Raglan Baby Sweater which is knitted in one piece so there is no sewing required, except for the buttons.

It's hard to tell by the picture but she is knitting both sleeves TAAT (two at a time) on magic loop to make sure they are identical.

Maureen finished the adorable Baby Sophisticate cardigan but has not picked out buttons yet. The is another top down knit which requires picking up stitches along the front edges and neckline to make the shawl collar.

She has just begun the Bert Baby Blanket. She found all this baby weight yarn in her stash and can't remember why she bought it so she is thinking of using a few different colors in this blanket so she can use it up. Who of us hasn't purchased yarn thinking "Oh, I'll make that when I finish this."? And then you come across it in the stash a few years later and wonder why the heck did we buy it! LOL!

Barbara K. is using the same Plymouth Encore yarn that she used for the ribbed hat from last time to make a matching Mistake Stitch Scarf. This will make a lovely ensemble for a mom of the babies for whom we are knitting.

Jan has made progress on her Malt Blanket which has an asymmetrical square design for interest.

Dorah needed some comfort knitting so she decided to make a pair of socks. Her favorite go-to pattern is from Knitting Pure and Simple. This is an easy, very basic pattern for a woman's or man's sock in sock weight yarn.

Cinzia is just starting a little girl's dress which will have a tank top bodice so it can be worn as a dress or layered over a shirt as a tunic.

I'm working on the Knit Baby Jacket Set using Plymouth Encore DK in a denim color. The sleeve stitches are on holders while I knit the body then I'll go back and pick them up to knit TAAT on magic loop just as Barbara B. is doing on her sweater.

Jan's yarn became yarn barf so Dorah and Barbara K. jumped in to help. As they were performing their magic, it brought back memories of many years ago when Barbara, and some of the original Chicks spent two hours playing Twister to untangle hundreds of yards of yarn that was donated in a wad. We managed to wind it into a usable ball and turned it into a warm item that was donated. Luckily, this tangle didn't take that long to straighten out.

I think I'll be serving dinner on the deck tonight if it continues to be this nice. I might even stay out there and knit the evening away.

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

 

When will it be warm enough for deck knitting?

We were inside again today where there was lively discussion about grandchildren, comparing how we parented our kids to how our children now parent their kids. When babysitting the grands, rules are enforced with a calm voice and a stern look and laughed about the reaction from them when they thought we weren't listening. I love the direct quote from one of the granddaughters who told her grandmother, "Sometimes I like Poppop better than you but today I like you." LOL!!! It's a good thing we've learned to let those comments roll off!

Our treats today were Barbara B's sourdough apple cinnamon muffins with oatmeal crumbles on top. They were moist and not sickeningly sweet and just light enough to hit the spot for a mid afternoon snack.

Jan finished her Top Down Raglan Child's Sweater. 

We are so proud of her first completed sweater, as is she!

Now she has moved on to the Malt Blanket, a pattern from Tincanknits which is free on Ravelry.

It reminds me of the Flax sweater, designed by the same person.

I've got my two sleeves on one long circular needle to knit magic loop style. It's the Newborn Top-Down Cardigan, a very easy pattern with a very easy to knit cable down the button bands.

Barbara B. is ready to add the sleeves to her bottom up seamless cardigan called Isle Royale, a free pattern from WEBS, also available on Ravelry.

The instructions said to use three needles but she is using one long circular needle which works more easily in our opinion. Here the sleeves have just been incorporated into the body of the sweater and the raglan decreases start at this point up to the neckline for shoulder shaping.

Barbara K. is finishing up her 2X2 ribbed hat. She picked up some Plymouth Encore at the annual blowout sale at WEBS which happens to be not far from her son's place in Connecticut. Her car just automatically veers in that direction all on its own! LOL! I know, my car does the same thing!

Nancy picked out a soft pastel for her baby cardigan that she's knitting for her granddaughter who will be arriving in late June. Like Dorah, she is making the Knit Baby Jacket Set.

Maureen finished the body of the Baby Sophisticate and has started one of the sleeves. When they are completed, she will pick up stitches up the fronts and around the neckline to make the shawl collar.

Annika's Eyelet Stripe Baby Blanket is still growing. This is great social knitting when you want to participate in a conversation and can't pay too much attention to your knitting.

Dorah chose DP's to knit the sleeves on her Knit Baby Jacket set. She forgot that when you want garter stitch in the round you have to knit a round and purl a round so she had a bit of frogging to do. Join the club Dorah! Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt! 

Margaret is on the third iteration of her Flax pullover. She is determined to knit this sweater and I give her credit for her persistence. I give a yarn and project three chances. After that I decide the yarn wants to be something else so I move on to a different pattern.

My "supervisor" decided that watching my neighbor mow the lawn was more exciting than watching me type but I know any second now, he will be begging for food.

Come to think of it, I am feeling a little peckish myself so I'll end here and wish you a great week and keep those needles clicking!