A beautiful breezy day on the deck

It was a perfect afternoon of sunshine and breezes! We caught up on grandchildren and what books everyone is reading.

All accompanied by Barbara B's sourdough pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies. She always makes enough for us to take extras so I will be enjoying another cookie tonight with a tall glass of cold milk!

We had a few FO's this week. I finished the Phazelia Mitered Baby Jacket. It's the fourth time I've knitted this pattern, as I have mentioned before but I don't think the yarn wanted to be this sweater considering all the times my stitch count was off by 2 or 3. But I showed it a thing or two and plugged on to finish it. It will be a looooong time before I knit this one again. 😡

Jan did a beautiful job making the Fair Isle Johnny Hat. She was concerned that the section where the colorwork appears is a little snug so she wants to practice catching floats and loosening the stitches.

Carole knitted a baby hat for her soon to be born grandchild.

We all want to know if there's a pattern to make these adorable babies!!! LOL! 

The pattern is called 1-2-3 baby beanie and is a freebie on Ravelry.

Barbara finished her On the Spice Market Shawl in three weeks time! That's really remarkable when you consider there are other things to do like eat, sleep, clean up, etc.

Maureen made progress on her Simple Baby Pullover using a self striping, machine washable yarn.

Jan's Beach Colors Baby Blanket has a few new colors appearing with the ever-changing stitch patterns. This is a freebie on Ravelry too.

Carole worked on a five hour baby cardigan to go with the sweet little hat.

And she also added the ribbed bottom to her version of the Simple Baby Pullover just like the one Maureen is knitting.

Dorah is nearing the end of her Prime Numbers Shawl using the Texas Bluebonnet yarn.

Nancy added to her basic baby hat too.

Barbara B tackled the heavily cabled Diagon Hat. The instructions have you moving the beginning of round marker a number of times because of where the cables fall in the sequence. She admitted it wasn't the best choice for social knitting but she was smart to put in a lifeline.

I started a Beloved bonnet but got only as far as the section of increases because, unlike Barbara B, I can't talk and count at the same time so I opted to work on a simpler project, a hat for my grandson in his school colors. It's going to be a surprise so I won't be showing it.

Tina started the Little Fisherman's Beanie.

She chose a variegated yarn in yummy autumn colors. The pattern is free in one size only.

It is still so peaceful out here on the deck that even Fozzie decided to join me. He's having fun observing the blue jays and bunnies romp around the yard.

Enjoy the rest of the week and keep those needles clicking!

How many more deck days?

The Chicks and I had a relaxing afternoon on the deck. It was almost 80 degrees and we were all wondering when the autumn weather would arrive. I, for one, love being able to wear my flip flops but would appreciate it if Mother Nature turned the temp down a bit.

 Barbara B made a brown butter pumpkin spice sourdough coffee cake that hit the spot today. 

  

I was visiting my grandson at college this weekend and missed the garage sale of yarns. But Barbara B and Dorah went and picked out some yarns for my stash. These gold and burgundy yarns will become a hat for my Ursinus College Bear grandson so he can proudly wear his school colors around campus.

And Barbara couldn't resist picking out these two for me. Does she know me or what?!?!

Dorah bought a bag filled with yarns for the Chicks to share for all kinds of projects but mostly some colors that would be appropriate for men's hats. 

Margaret found a bag of three nice Valley Yarns in her favorite, bulky weight.

Barbara B showed us what she bought for her personal stash and we all swooned over the beautiful colors and good quality yarns.

Dorah finished her Helix Hat for our inventory.

Then she dove into her WIPs and found the Prime Number Shawl which has ever increasing spaces between the pink bands in, wait for it, prime number order.

She also found this adorable baby sweater but couldn't figure out where she left off in the pattern.

After counting the number of stitches on the needle, between the two of us, we were able to have her pick up where she left off. The Toybox Candy Cardigan from Plymouth Yarn is the pattern and she might even have enough yarn left to make a matching hat.

I had to put the Phazelia Mitered Baby Jacket in time out because I was making too many stupid mistakes. I must have been tired because I've knitted this sweater three times before so I know it's not the pattern's fault. I picked up a simple scarf which I wrote from a YouTube video. Can you believe it?!?! I had to frog back 7 rows on this too! I think I need a nap. I'm back on track now.

Over the weekend when I was having so many issues with the baby sweater, I told Barbara B I probably should have my knitting license revoked. She asked where she could get her license so I made one for her! LOL! Her On the Spice Market Shawl is coming along quickly. This is the shawl kit she bought at the Whole Knit n' Caboodle studio sale two weeks ago.

Tina was intrigued by the brioche stitch so she's trying her hand at a brioche hat knitted in the round.

Margaret picked out the Golden Pear hat pattern for her current project. It's a freebie on Ravelry.

She had this much when we started at 1pm...

And by 3pm she was this far along. It is a Fair Isle pattern and real sweet.

Nancy had planned on knitting this hat but realized she wasn't going to have enough yarn so...

It's going to be a Helix Hat! They are always fun to knit!

Maureen was away all week filling in for daycare with her grandchildren so she didn't have much opportunity to knit. She was pulling into her driveway just as I was putting up the sign for the Chicks. She hurriedly put down her stuff and ran across the street to join us (Maureen lives right across from me). This is the Teddy Bear hat she started last week.

It looks like the nice weather will continue throughout the week so I'll be taking walks in between my knitting sessions. The cold weather will be here soon enough so I better take advantage while I can. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

It feels like summer

We can't even call it Indian Summer yet because we haven't had the first frost but it is HOT today! I'm so grateful to have AC so I can breathe in comfort. Imagine what it would be like knitting winter clothes with wool if there wasn't central air!

Carole's twin grandsons started preschool. One of them is very unhappy that he has to go everyday but luckily he has a loving brother who is there to console him. One of Jan's grandsons said he's starting preschool too and when asked what is preschool, his answer was "Professional School". 

I love kids and their quick thinking!

Dorah finished and blocked the Prime Numbers Shawl which makes a nice medium size triangle. 

 

The sections are knitted in rows of prime numbers which are separated by a garter ridge of contrasting color surrounding an eyelet row. It's good TV knitting and works up quickly.

Carole finished her Hot Springs Willow Hat which has those great cables running up the hat. She said it's not hard unless you're trying to watch the US Open while knitting. 😉

Barbara B. added a basic striped beanie that used a self striping yarn so there are no ends to weave in when you're done.

Last week she invited me to watch her dye yarn for the first time using Wilton Icing Dyes. That yummy yellow at the top is the result of submerging the hank of yarn in a pot of dye. She had the variegated yarn in her stash so she decided to use the yellow to make the heels and cuffs to compliment the patterned yarn.

This is the end result of the other yarns she dyed using a different technique. This yarn was dyed using a low immersion, I think that's what it's called, where the prepared wet yarn is placed in a shallow pan and the dyes are applied in certain spots to get a more variegated effect. It looked like she was having so much fun that I bought some icing dye and will give it a try myself.

But for now I'm working on my own version of the Musselburgh Hat. I am using a slightly different increase method than the original pattern and decided to have fun with three different sock yarns to make it a Helix Hat. The first hat is knitted from the top down and all the way through to the decreasing portion of the second hat, finished off, and then one hat is pushed up inside the other to form a double thick hat. It can have a slouchy look without a brim or fold up the cuff to make a fitted hat. It's totally reversible and you can have fun using solid yarn on one side and variegated on the other. 

I'm almost at the halfway mark.

I picked out three totally random yarns and they are playing so nicely together!

Dorah is making a cozy triangular shawl using a gradient yarn of a steely blue/gray color.

This is Carole's Musselburgh variation at the very start of the top of the crown which is the increasing section. She is going to knit about two inches of increasing stitches to give herself enough fabric to get past the fiddly part of the magic loop.

This is the yarn with long color changes. Soon she will add two other yarns and

 incorporate the Helix technique.

Jan's Sleeping with the Zucchini Shawl is slowly growing. It's going to be so pretty! The final band of knitting will be a pretty lace edging.

That's all for now. I hope you are staying cool this week. And as always, keep those needles clicking!