Sort and Label Day

We are finally wrapping up this donation cycle of baby and Mommy clothes to be donated to the Alpha Pregnancy Center in Albany, NY.

Margaret and Carole took care of sorting the blankets.

Cinzia gathered all the two piece sets.

And we all attached the labels and laundering instructions. Most everything is knitted with machine washable fibers but there were a few hats and scarves that were hand wash only but they were for the Moms not the babies who tend to spit on everything! LOL!

I thought I had printed plenty of labels but we ran out so Barbara K pitched in to punch holes and distribute. It's a good thing when we run out of labels! Our inventory included 140 items, 50 baby hats, 5 blankets, 12 sweaters, 1 pair of mittens, 2 pairs of booties, 9 shawls and cowls, 1 dress, 1 vest, 1 adult hat and scarf set, 11 baby sweaters and hats sets, 15 adult hats, 1 blanket and hat set, and a big box of Pampers diapers.

After all that work we renewed our strength with some of Barbara B's Sourdough Linzer cookies with raspberry filling. Need I say Yummmm?!?!?!

Carole started a baby hat for our next cycle which will be for an organization in Schenectady, NY called Things of My Very Own. They provide crisis intervention services for children of all ages.

Carole used a yarn from Adriafil which is dyed to make a pattern as it's knitted. It saves a lot of time and effort and creates a nice fabric.

A popular pattern that is currently being sold on Ravelry is the Emotional Support Chicken. It is cleverly designed to make an almost life size chicken but I started thinking about how can I make a small version that would not require all the short rows and color changes that the larger chicken uses. TAA! DAA! Here is my modular square chicken in both knitted and crocheted version! It's just the right size for wee little hands too.

Barbara B is working on a baby blanket that starts at the center with a pin hole cast on, the same cast on I used for my chickens. 

This beautiful blanket is called Gluckskind and is free on Ravelry. It is comprised of a variety of stitches to make a lovely sampler.

Margaret cast on to make the Look Out Winter Hat. This is her second try as her first one was giving her issues with the ear flaps.

This is an easier version of the adult size 1898 Hat.

Nancy loved her first Reverb Shawl so much she has already started another one. Those soft colors blending into another are beautiful!

We are taking next week off to attend the 200th anniversary of Marquis de Lafayette's triumphant return to the US. We will return the following week so keep those needles clicking!

Delivery Accomplished

A few weeks back I told you about a family who suffered a tragic loss. A young mother was lost during the birth of her premature baby girl and a friend asked if I knew any knitters who would like to make something for them. Well, my knitters are a great bunch of people who rise to any occasion so between my Chicks and my other group, The Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels of the Albany Public Library, we went to work and put together a lovely collection of wearables for now and the near future when this sweet wee babe grows.

We made dresses, hats, mittens, blankets, sweaters, and a sleep sack for the sweet baby.

And for her Daddy we made hats, a scarf, and a warm pair of gloves.

At the very last minute another hat was added to the collection. 

So now this sweet baby will be cozy and warm.

Thank you to the following Chicks and Stitch Angels for dropping everything and stepping up to the plate to fulfill a need.

Carole Ju

Cinzia Cera

Maureen Cagino

Barbara Bradford

Dorah Rosenzweig

Janna Pfluger-Boucher

Jan Picard

Margaret Dietz-Doyle

Laura Ross

Tomasa Rodrigues

Gail Robinson

Terri Bartosik

Rena Buehler

Amy Hunziker

I am proud to know you all and call you my friends.

Keep those needles clicking!

 

So hot even the cat was sluggish!

It was a hot one today! Even Joules was stretched out trying to stay cool. 

 Barbara finished her cowl for which she used Noro Silk Garden yarn. The colors are vibrant with a smooth transition. Her ponytail hat was made using our friend Karin's yarn in the colorway Shields of Garnet. It's a very soft merino that will keep someone very warm.

 Another view on the model.

 Cinzia made good progress on her vest which also uses Noro yarn.

 Liz's scarf is a simple seed stitch pattern which gives it a more complicated looking stitch.

 Barbara started a shawl/scarf with this brightly colored yarn. It's a design I wrote down years ago called Country Rows.

 Debbie is back after a short sabbatical. She's making a scarf with a color changing yarn from Caron called Cakes.

 Dorah put the finishing touches on her Squarshy hat...

 As did Beth, who added a pompom to hers. This yarn is from Karin too in a bulky weight. Love those colors!

 Carole finished her 1898 hat...

 and immediately cast on for another. It's really a fun pattern to knit.

 Maureen's Squarshy hat is nearing the decreasing portion.

 Beth's socks are just past the heels and sailing through the instep.

 Margaret hit a glitch with her 1898 hat. As she was ready to graft the ends together she discovered there were 37 stitches on one side and 24 on the other. Ummm...there were supposed to be 27. So she had to frog it out and start over. To her credit, she started all over again.

My scarf looks the same as it did last week so there's no sense in boring you with pictures of it again. Maybe next week it will be closer to being finished. That's the dilemma with scarves knitted in fingering weight yarn...they take forever! But they're so pretty in the end and they drape nicely too.

So it's back to my knitting so I can finish and get on to a new project. Have a good week and keep those needles clicking!

Just us 3

Barbara and Elaine joined me this afternoon for a full two hours of knitting bliss. Elaine worked on her striped Mistake Stitch Scarf and Barbara started one with a DK weight lovely variegated brown yarn from Periwinkle Sheep. We chatted about the lack of snow and what to do with our "good china" now that we don't entertain like we used to. LOL!

My Mistake Stitch Cowl grew in depth by a couple of inches. The yarn is alpaca and there is plenty of it so I will have to make a choice on how long I want to knit this cowl. I have a feeling I'm going to have some yarn left over for another project.

 I finished blocking a Minty Bricks scarf. It is a simple pattern with just enough going on to keep me from getting bored.

 And I feel honored that the pattern designer asked if he could use my photo on his pattern page to show off a finished scarf.

The evening group has the night off. Well, they had conflicts with tonight's knit-in but we'll be back next week. Have a knitty filled week and I'll see you next Tuesday.

Another knitting day with the Chicks

I think last week I showed you Beth's team scarf in the final stages. Well, yesterday morning she showed us the finished project. It looks great. It can be worn as a single wrap around the neck or doubled up to keep out the winter cold. The randomness of the stripes lends a wonderful pattern.

My ribbed watch cap took just a couple of days worth of knitting to finish. By evening's end...

 it was ready to go!

 Liz is almost done with the never ending Mistake Stitch scarf. Sometimes those things seem to take forever!

 Cinzia finished her ZickZack scarf and it's nice and long for warmth. 

 Her daughter, Elena, added a pair of fingerless mitts to our inventory too.

Carole's hat has reached the decrease portion of the pattern. You can see where it's beginning to taper in for the crown. Next week we'll probably see the finished hat. 

That's all there is this week but check back next week for more wooly goodness.

Delivery Day

This week's post is about last week too. Last Tuesday, after my 1 o'clock Chicks went home, I started feeling under the weather and didn't get to post the pictures of our labeling assembly line. But we did get to label and inventory all the items that went out for delivery today.

Our donation recipients were the residents of St. Anne Institute in Albany, NY where we were warmly greeted and thanked by Pat Leonard, Director of Volunteer Services. With this donation today, the Chicks have passed the 2,000 mark of items donated since we started in 2005!

Cinzia finished her cowl just in time to include it with...

her cabled mittens and off they went together today to warm a lovely young lady.

For this week, Barbara's feather and fan baby blanket is chugging along for our upcoming charity work.

And we haven't seen Kathleen in a few weeks since the weather turned so frigid. It was good to catch up with her today and see all the knitting she accomplished while being snowed in the last few weeks.

The pink hat is a Periwinkle Sheep yarn that is machine washable, great for baby knits.

Here is Kathleen's favorite Cabin Fever jacket pattern. It is a top down, seamless pattern that works up in a jiffy. And she had enough yarn for ...

a matching cap. Can't you picture a chubby cheeked cherub smiling under that lacy brim?

Another pair of mittens will be set aside for a future donation when we will need larger size items again.

Kathleen's keyhole scarf will stay put when it's worn on a windy day.

And her two cushy cowls will definitely keep someone cozy and warm.

We thought the last of this yarn had been used up but Kathleen found just enough to make another pair of mittens.

It was so nice to have a full house this afternoon. Busy little bees!

Elaine is working on this seed stitch border sweater in a pretty...

sweet pea green.

Hubby came home from work early and tempted us with chocolate treats from the Berkshire Mountain Bakery in Housatonic, Massachusetts. If you ever find yourself in their neck of the woods it's worth the extra few miles off the main road to check out their goodies. For Christmas breakfast this year I made their Pannetone into a baked French toast with a layer of their Pecan/Cherry bread. Wow! It was good! And you have to try a little chocolate treat they make called a boucheron. It's a mouthful of chocolate heaven!

Tonight Dorah and I knitted together while everyone else had conflicts with the schedule. Dorah started this darling hoodie. I think we were both attracted to the pattern more because of the cute baby cheeks than the pattern itself.

I started a pair of baby socks the other day and feel like it's taking forever to reach the 3 inch cuff length. They aren't that big! Why is it taking so long?

Probably because I've also been working on my son's sock blanket. Size 3 needles and fingering weight yarn takes a lot of patience to say the least. But I love the way it's coming along. The finished size will fit the top of a queen size bed so I'm only about 1/3 of the way through. Considering I started it June 14, 2014, I have made quite a bit of progress.

Let me say thank you to my team of dedicated knitters for again making a successful delivery day! You ladies are the best!!!