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!

Janna is back!!!

There she is! Janna is the first on the left and we're so glad to have her back in the flock! She had knee replacement surgery in July and has been faithfully performing her physical therapy rehab. She said she had a little setback but is on track again and in less pain as every day goes by. And she can drive now, even though she has to use the new knee to operate the pedals. Keep up the good work Janna!

Barbara K. finished the Ex's and O's Hat for her granddaughter and has enough yarn to make another in the opposite color selection. You can tell she loves that little girl...she knitted with black yarn! LOL! 

A strong sign of true love!

I finished a basic slouchy beanie with some variegated-self striping yarn. It's good TV knitting with simple 2X2 ribbing and stockinette all the way to the top.

Margaret finished her Helix Hat using only two colors of yarn. There's a 2/1 striping sequence and thanks to the helix method of knitting, there is no jog at the end of each round knitted.

Jan finished a lovely gradient beanie which she said was a very easy pattern but not an easy yarn to use. It has a halo, that fuzzy stuff like mohair has, which made it difficult if she had to rip out stitches and work her way back in case of a mistake. The pattern was two rows of knit and a row of knit 2, purl 2, which were offset every repeat so the little blips in the fabric alternated position. It turned out to be a beautiful hat in spite of the fussy yarn.

Barbara K. is just approaching the decrease section on her Helix Hat so it should be finished soon.

And Janna is almost finished with her baby hat called...

First Winter. The free pattern is on Ravelry and includes 

a pattern to make matching mittens for a wee one.

Carole has markers set along the round of knitting to separate the pattern repeats 

of the hat she's making.

It's called Hot Springs Willow Hat which can be purchased through Ravelry.

Margaret just started another striped hat using these two yarns. When I asked her what pattern she was using she said she's making it up as she goes along. You know Margaret? That makes you a designer!

Speaking of making it up as you go along, here is a hat to go along with the In Threes Cowl I designed a few weeks ago. I wrote the pattern up with all good intentions to offer it for free on Ravelry but it took me two hours to navigate the computer nonsense to try to upload the pattern so I finally gave up. I posted the pattern on my Ravelry projects notes if you'd like to make one of your own.

Jan is using these two lovely yarns to make her Sleeping with the Zucchini Shawl.

It's going to be a beauty! She has discovered that she is enjoying knitting with the finer weight yarns, much to her surprise. 

They do make a lovely fabric when made with a slightly larger than suggested needle size.

My buddy is keeping me company while I write and as soon as he hears me move from the chair he'll be begging for food. 

So until next week, keep those needles clicking!

 

My cheeks hurt from laughing so much

Our topics of conversation today turned hilarious but unfortunately cannot be repeated delicately enough to tell you about them. Let's just say some of the conveniences that benefit our children would have made our lives so much easier if only they had been invented 40 years ago! Barbara B. really got us rolling with laughter when she said she couldn't wait to read the blog today to see how I was going to word it. I promise not to throw anyone under the bus but my face still hurts from laughing! Ahhh! It's nice to have friends to share a hearty laugh!

This week's episode starts with some FO's. Margaret did not run out of yarn on the hat she was knitting last week. She was down to a very small ball of yarn and wondered if it would make it to the end. Even if it didn't, there's always Plan B where you bind off early and leave a hole for the pony tail to fit through.

Dorah went stash diving and found this lovely hand dyed yarn that is so soft! It didn't have a label so we don't have the fiber content but it's like a silky cloud!

Barbara K. is hooked! We told her she would enjoy Helix Hat knitting and she agreed with the first of her Helix knitting using Cascade 220 leftovers. A few pictures down you'll see the second one she has already started.

Dorah blocked her Changing Staircases Shawl and it's ready for the inventory. It's a lovely shawl and she said an easy pattern to knit while watching TV or having a conversation.

I finished the Carol's Clever Little Shawl for myself in time to get some wear out of it over my summer sundresses. It took me about 8 days to complete and I love the tencel/wool fiber content for the way it drapes gracefully over my shoulders.

Currently, I'm working on two projects simultaneously. This is the 1898 Hat which I dropped the needle size down to a 6 to make it a bit smaller. The stitches become denser as a result so it will be totally windproof!

 

The second project is called Waldkind which translates to Kid of the Forest. It was a paid pattern on Ravelry and starts out in a very unconventional way. The pattern instructions have you pull off a length of yarn to completely knit the leaf from a provisional cast on and then the stitches are picked up to continue knitting the I-cord and scarf or shawl if you prefer. It ends with another I-cord and leaf at the opposite point. I estimated how much yarn to start with and ran out about 3/4 of the way through the leaf. Luckily, the yarn is alpaca and I could spit splice the other ball of yarn to finish the leaf.

Barbara B. is working on the Elis cowl which is a free pattern on Ravelry. The lace stitch is called Indian Cross stitch and will need to be blocked to reveal the beauty of the pattern. The yarn is such a pretty color and very soft to the touch.

Maureen added some length to her Close To You Shawl but needed to work on...

the baby gift she's making for a friend. 

She has one sleeve done, one to go on the Olive You Baby Sweater.

Margaret started another Helix Hat as well. It's a great pattern for stash busting those small balls of leftover yarns that are too much to just toss away.

And as promised, here is Barbara K's next Helix in the works already. 

Dorah couldn't find the name of the pattern for this shawl she started but it is knitted straight along one edge and increased on the other until you reach half of the ball of yarn used up and then the side is decreased down to the other point. She is using a Poems yarn that has a gradient effect.

The name of the pattern Jan is knitting made me LOL! It's called Sleeping with the Zucchini! It is an asymmetrical triangle with a lace border so it's easy but will hold the interest of the knitter making it.

My husband came home from serving his duties as a Chamber of Commerce Ambassador for the Capital District and bought dinner from the ribbon cutting celebration. The restaurant serves authentic Lebanese food and I can't wait to dig in. I'll let you know how it is next week but just the aromas tell me I'm going to love it.

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!