The rain didn't touch us...

Although we could feel a breeze and a bit of a drizzle when the wind blew in the right direction. It was a welcome relief from the heat today. We spent the first half hour catching up with Dorah who just returned from a hiking tour of the Canadian Rockies around Banff. It sounded like a magical vacation with beautiful scenery everywhere she looked.

Barbara K. added quite a few inches to her Mistake Rib Hat and she gave me a completed Beloved Hat which you'll see a bit later.

Dorah added length to her Close to You Shawl. This will be quite large since she had a sizable skein of yarn from which she is knitting.

She brought her Bella Shawl to show us her progress. The little bit of lace at every sawtooth edge is a nice touch!

Barbara B. is well into the darker blue of her baby blanket. It makes a nice transition from one color to the next.

Carole was bored with her project and felt inspired to make two at a time mittens from the TinCanKnits pattern for easy mittens.

I thought my Easy Shawl would have been finished by now but I forgot how slow-going it is. Each row gets longer than the last and I still have over a dozen stitches to pick up in short rows to complete it.

Jan A. worked a cable pattern without a cable needle to make this hat.

It's called the Sweetie Pie Hat and it's free on Ravelry.

Maureen's cowl looks so warm and cozy. The yarn makes for a quick knit, if you have the time, "If you have the time" being the operative words. ;)

Jan A. turned in the Easy Scarf for inventory. Her choice of yarn was perfect for this pattern.

And here is Barbara K.'s Beloved Hat I mentioned earlier. The crown decreases lined up beautifully to make a four point top.

The seed stitch was a challenge to some of us when it came to the decreasing portion but Barbara knitted it beautifully.

 I am determined to finish my Easy Scarf so I'll end here and wish you a great week and remind you to Keep those needles clicking!

We had a visitor this week

My sister visited this week from Connecticut. We've been sitting on the deck (when it isn't 89 degrees and 100% humidity), making yummy recipes, and taking in the local sights. She even remembered to bring her afghan that she's knitting so she could join the Chicks. She met the evening Chicks today but my afternoon group had conflicts so she'll meet them some other time.

We have some lovely hats to add to the inventory this week starting with Dorah's baby cable hat. The heather green yarn shows the stitch definition nicely and look at those cute little cables!

Margaret also finished a hat to add to the inventory. She said she made a mistake but we were all able to convince her it was just a "design element" so she wouldn't have to rip out the whole thing. It looks great! I don't see a problem!

Maureen wove in the ends on her Zoe hat and....

it is also ready for inventory. Nice work Maureen!

Carole asked for my forgiveness because she found an orphan skein of yarn at her home and used it instead of one of the hundreds of skeins I have here in our Chicks' stash. LOL! As long as she doesn't make a habit of it! The pretty pastels will make a sweet baby hat.

Dorah was inspired by Maureen's Zoe hat and cast on stitches tonight to make one in a pretty pastel pink. We watched a video on knitting right twist and left twist stitches so she doesn't have to use a cable needle for a 2 stitch cable. It saves so much time and cuts down on fiddling with that extra needle.

Beth's hat has a deep ribbed cuff and the pattern will show up soon. The oatmeal colored yarn makes a nice neutral item to wear with anything.

I started a plain vanilla ribbed hat to give my brain a rest. Over the weekend I worked on a couple of projects which required my full attention.

This little bag was a bugger to start off. I decided to use Magic Loop but the pattern calls for a provisional cast on. Talk about fiddly! Next time I'll just use DP's for the beginning and switch to magic loop when I get to the pouch. Once I got past the folded eyelet section the rest was a breeze. The four corners have a row of beading. I think it's pretty cute.

That's all for now. Keep those needles clicking and I'll see you next week.

Storms won't stop the Chicks

There was a full house this afternoon as the Chicks got right to work. I had planned on knitting outside but right before the Chicks arrived we had a torrential downpour and the temperature dropped dramatically, so we opted to stay inside.

Cinzia's Mitered Baby Jacket is almost finished. She knitted on the applied I-cord.

At the neck edge she made a little loop for a buttonhole. I can't wait to see what she chooses for a button.

Debbie put her baby sack aside to make the sleeves for a baby sweater. She was having a tough time trying to embroider the eyes on the sack so it went into time out for a break.

Elaine is down to the wire on her blanket and she STILL has enough yarn for at least two more blankets!

Liz knitted a few more inches of hat and then switched out for a scarf. I'm glad to see I'm not the only "polygamous knitter". I never knit just one project at a time from start to finish.

Sofia joined us again and showed us her progress on the second sleeve of her baby sweater.

The evening group had a full house too.

I borrowed the slipped stitch portion of the Copenhagen Calling Cowl to make a hat with some yarn scraps. I love this pattern and it's so easy to knit.

Carole finished her slouchy hat called High Woods. It has a highly textured section which adds interest without difficulty.

Beth brought us her finished Berruti hat, another highly textured design.

Beth finished a smaller hat which will fit a young child. We talked about how much we enjoy making clothes to donate because we don't have to worry about size. Our motto is, "It's going to fit somebody!"

Maureen made a lot of progress on her Zoe hat. The design is showing up nicely.

Carole just passed the midpoint on her Chinook scarf. It's knitted from end to end and the edging is worked along with the scarf. It's great when you don't have to pick up stitches!

Beth had enough yarn left from the hat to make another only with opposite stripe colors.

Dorah's Sweetie Pie hat is almost to the decreasing crown section. Those baby cables are so cute.

And Margaret's Barley Hat has great stitch definition. She brought it to work to knit in her free time and then couldn't find it when she got home. It turns out it was left on her desk at the office. Whew!

This past weekend hubby and I went to Pennsylvania to watch our daughter perform in her local theater production of "Beauty and the Beast". She is the blonde (not naturally) on the far right and she designed and made these three costumes for "The Silly Girls" who swoon over Gaston.

The show was so much fun and the people are so talented. We had a great time and enjoyed it all the more knowing it was our daughter on the stage!