Holidays and knitting

Christmas time is for making memories and my grandson and I made a good one. I showed him a Youtube video of a woman shaping loaves of Challah bread and after watching it once he made perfect braids of bread. Can you tell he's proud of himself?

 His younger brother was thrilled that he received new clothes for Christmas.
Whew! I'm glad that was a success! 

 And I received some beautiful baby alpaca yarns straight from Peru, thanks to the generosity of my son and his partner from their recent vacation to Machu Picchu. Now what shall I knit? I need to pat it and cuddle it for a while to know what it wants to be.

 Two Saturdays before Christmas Eve I visited Karin's studio and fell head over heels for this gorgeous deep red silk/merino blend yarn and knew immediately that it HAD to become 

Childhood Memories. I wanted to wear it to a Christmas Eve party so that meant I had to knit it and block it in two weeks time. I started it on Sunday, December 11 and worked like a crazy lady every day. I kept saying to myself, "I'll never get this done." But by the morning of the 24th I had bound off my last stitch and dunked it for a bath. With the fireplace going, two fans blowing, and 212 T-pins, I did get it done and was able to wear it to the party! I love it and I'm so happy I made it.

 The afternoon Chicks had conflicts today so it was the evening group only. Beth showed us her Hitchhiker scarf she made with Periwinkle Sheep yarn. It's hard to tell here but it's a tonal blend of browns and beige which make it a warm and cozy wrap.

 And that's all that was left of the yarn when she finished!

 Beth's next project is a pair of these socks.

 And more Periwinkle Sheep yarn. That's a gorgeous blue!

 Maureen started this shawl tonight and felt she needed a cheery color to pick her spirits up on this gloomy weather day we've been experiencing.

 I'd say this is cheery!

 Carole finished her hat and cowl, all blocked and ready to wear.

Now she's ready to cast on for this pretty cabled hat.

This yarn is very soft and will show nice stitch definition too.

One more row and then the bind off row and I'll will finish the Birthday Cowl. 

I'm using Paton's Classic Wool Tweed yarn.

While we were on a break for Christmas I finished a pair of fingerless mitts and...

a Handbrake cowl. The mitts were made with DK weight yarn and the cowl was worsted weight.

I love these smaller projects. They work up quickly and they are satisfying to make. I think I'll go  stash diving for some more worsted weight yarns to make some more quick cowls. 

The Yarn Fairy paid a visit

Liz and Barbara were the first Chicks to arrive this afternoon and they dove right into the stash. Ideas 

were swimming through our heads as we checked out the yarns.

 When Elaine arrived a few minutes later she was impressed with the selection. We all let it sink in so we can plan what we're going to use and how.

 Then we got down to work on finishing our current projects.

Barbara worked on her Cushy Cowl and started her bind off row...

with just enough yarn to finish the last stitches. Now that's a good game of yarn chicken!

Then she picked up her Mistake Stitch Scarf. This is Plymouth Encore yarn in a beautiful shade of red, so rich and creamy.

Liz bound off her Present Cowl and worked on weaving in the ends.

Then she picked up her Last Minute Cowl which is nearly finished too.

Another of Liz's finished hats just needs the ends woven in.

I blocked Miss Winkle this morning so she sits on the family room floor drying now. Periwinkle Sheep Memories of Summer colorway.

When Beth, Maureen, and Carole arrived tonight they had the same reaction as the afternoon ladies. Where will they start? What will they take?

Show and Tell started with Beth's finished Baa-ble hat.

Carole graciously offered to model it for us. Beth enjoyed knitting it so much she started another right away.

Carole said she has a ton of this yarn, a very soft blend of fibers. I suspect we'll be seeing many items in the next few weeks which look similar.

And Maureen started a hat with this gorgeous purple yarn. I didn't catch the name. Sorry!

And lastly, my Friend of the Forest hood is done and ready for the inventory.

We have only a few more weeks before we distribute our items throughout downtown Albany. If you have items you've knitted and would like to add them to the yarn bombing, keep watching this blog for the details of when we'll be placing them around town.
And thank you Laura for the beautiful yarns you donated to our group!

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt!

One would think that after all my years of knitting I would have learned to trust my gut instincts and listen to my yarn. I had a lovely slow-changing variegated yarn that was filled with lovely autumn colors of browns, golds, oranges, and beige. I wanted to knit the ZickZack scarf but needed another slow changing yarn to pair with the autumn yarn. I found a yarn that included beige and brown and green but also had orchids, pinks, and yellows. Red Flag #1, orchids and pinks! But I chose to ignore the nudges I was feeling and went ahead and bought it. Then I cast on for the ZickZack scarf and noticed right away I was making glaring stupid mistakes that were testing my patience. 

Red Flag #2, dumb mistakes! So I changed the pattern to a different chevron pattern and made nice neat I-cord edging as I knitted along. About 12 inches into the scarf I realized I no longer had the same number of stitches on the last chevron as were on the first chevron. Red Flag #3, SOMETHING IS GOING HORRIBLY WRONG!!! But still! I soldiered on after frogging back to the original mistake and worked to fix everything. I guess you could call me stubborn but I wasn't going to let this yarn beat me! You knitters understand, right? Right?!? Well, I finally realized after another round of mistakes that the knitting goddesses were trying to tell me to stop using the autumn yarn! Duh! After diving into my stash I found this lovely teal single ply fingering weight that pairs beautifully with the orchids and pinks and VOILA! I am finally on the right path and have even discovered a renewed energy in my knitting which had been lacking for the last few weeks. Do you think I've learned my lesson? I doubt it! LOL! But I love how this scarf is coming along. It's the Noro Stripe Scarf free pattern on Ravelry.

 Beth finished her little football hat which also taught her how to crochet and embroider the stitches to mimic the seam on the football. Isn't it darling?! She used Plymouth Encore to make it machine washable.

 Maureen picked up the sleeve stitches for her baby sweater so it won't be long before she's finished.

 Carole knitted the finishing rows on her cowl. She admitted that she was totally bored with the garter stitch edging but the design section she found entertaining. Looks great!

Well, I should get back to my knitting. Let's see if I listen to the whispers of guidance.

Probably not! 

Deck time!

 Cinzia and I enjoyed a quiet afternoon on the deck today. I worked on a cowl and she worked on finishing up her vest.

 She performed a 3 needle bindoff and didn't like the appearance of it from the right side so I think she wound up grafting the shoulders using the kitchener stitch. Now it needs to be edged with border stitches. It looks really nice and will be even nicer after it's blocked.

 We broke our own rules and talked politics tonight. Luckily, we don't get into heated arguments. We are adults after all! 

 Dorah showed us her new pattern for a shawl she claims she'll never wear. She wants to keep them so when she's gone her kids will scratch their heads and wonder why she made so many shawls and scarves that she never wore! LOL!

 Beth showed us the progress she made on her scarf. And...

 went on to add length to her cowl.

 I started a Noro Striped Scarf with yarn that I frogged four times. The knitting goddesses were trying to tell me it didn't want to be a chevron scarf and I finally listened to them and started this one instead.

I'm thinking I might have to frog this too since I'm not sure it's wide enough. The Chicks all thought it was too narrow too. Ok! I'll cast on again!

Too hot to sit outside!

Cinzia and Barbara started the afternoon off with show and tell. Cinzia has the skill to look at a finished knit and she can figure out how to make it without a pattern. So she was examining Barbara's cowl and working out the pattern in her head. She'll probably make one, one of these days.

 Barb finished a warm ribbed hat that stretches to fit any size head... a good item when you don't know someone's exact size!

 She also finished her "Present Cowl" that I showed you last week and...

 the cowl that Cinzia was admiring.

 Up next is another Present with a beautiful deep teal yarn from Berroco Vintage.

 Dorah's knitting sported a cute set of sheep stitch markers. I would show you more but she dropped some stitches and had to start all over again. I hate when that happens to me!

 Beth finished an infinity scarf which will go into her personal inventory. 

 Then she showed us her latest personal knit using Periwinkle Sheep yarn. This is going to be a beauty when it's blocked.

 You can buy this pattern on Ravelry.

 Maureen's baby sweater is showing progress as she put the sleeve stitches on holders already.

 I finished the "O Sailor" Cardigan and had yarn left. I hate to waste yarn so I had to do something with it and  I started a top down hat to match. It needs a ribbed edge and it will be good to go. Oh! And I need buttons for the sweater. I see a shopping trip in my future.

I finished the Tubularity scarf/cowl. It took me a year and a month because I kept putting it in time out. I'm still not sure I like it. But then I don't have to wear it.

It can be a cowl or...

 a hood or....

 a shawl or scarf. I still have to sew buttons on it so the point can be buttoned in place. It was an excellent pattern for using up small amounts of sock yarn but if I ever make it again I won't make it as long as the pattern suggests.

I'm going to have to enclose photos to show how to wear it or no one will know what to do with it! LOL!