Let's shake things up a bit!

The afternoon Chicks are usually featured first in the blog each week so this week I'm changing it up a bit.

Our evening session started with Beth showing us her finished "Flirtatious" shawl (the pattern can be purchased on Ravelry.com) that she knitted using "Wink" yarn from Karin's etsy shop. The color is a beautiful lilac or lavender, not sure what it's really called. Nice job, Beth.

Then we have a new member of the Chicks, Carole. She's a friend of mine from another group which meets at our local Panera to knit once a month. She is working on a pair of mittens. Welcome Carole! I'm so glad you could join us!

Maureen is showing progress on her Baby Sophisticate sweater.

And Karin is making a shawl called "198 Yards of Heaven" a free pattern on Ravelry.com.

Now for the afternoon ladies. Barbara made this colorful hat using Noro yarn. Her pattern came from this book.

She is currently making a pair of fingerless mitts to go with it. Liz is making another pair of socks after the success of her first pair.

Kathleen made a lovely stole for her granddaughter-in-law using a cozy, warm brown yarn.

The edging is crocheted on after the stole has been knitted.

It's a pretty simple pattern stitch which makes a lovely design.

Kathleen made another one to go into our inventory for the homeless female veterans.

I've been working on a bunch of projects all at once, trying to get Christmas gifts knitted in between donation projects. I can't really show you any yet because I don't want to spoil the surprise. But I will when the gifts are opened during the holidays.

Are you doing any holiday knitting?

A Day on the Deck

Barbara finished the cardigan and had to switch to DP's for the end of the sleeves. Remember a couple of weeks ago she was knitting both sleeves at the same time using a magic loop technique. But as the sleeves grew in length, the yarn tangled furiously so she had to move to DP's to preserve sanity.

The sweater turned out great and will be appropriate for either a boy or a girl.

Now she's working on a cable hat. Kathleen admired the texture of the fabric.

Every four rows there are cables all around the hat. It's really cute.

Liz finished off her sweater with I-cord ties.

A perfect alternative for buttons.

Deeva is working on a lady's hat.

Karin is almost finished with a cardigan for a boy. Tonight she was taking a vote on what neckline to make. There was an overwhelming vote for the crew neck.

Maureen's joint project with her daughter Cate is almost finished. Sailboats and rope, so cute.

Beth is in the home stretch of her Daybreak Shawl and almost out of yarn. I think she will just squeak by to the end.

She finished this cute striped hat and already made a mitten tonight.

The twins are a result of my friend Dorah's and my knitting.

But can you tell me why buttons come only 2 to a card when you need 3 and 4 to a card when you need 5?

Knitting for Warm Hats Not Hot Heads

Ellen and Alison have a great idea to bring civility back into our lives, starting with the leaders of our country.

http://twinset.us/?page_id=3736

http://spindyeknit.com/2011/01/warm-hats-not-hot-heads/

These are the two hats I knitted to send to my Senators Schumer and Gillibrand from New York. Well, I'm going to send them a letter and a photo of my hats since I'm sure they don't really need hats.

The hats will be donated to a charity so a needy head can be warmed. Won't you check it out and maybe make a hat or two which you can send to make a statement?

A very "Inventive" Chick!

I have to admit I'm pretty lucky to have this group of talented knitters in "The Chicks" and to prove how talented and inventive they are Liz showed us her handmade DP's. She lost one of her size 10.5 DP's and decided to take her needle gauge to Lowe's Lumber Yard to see what she could find. After trying a few dowel rods in the needle gauge, she chose the one that fit her needs and even picked out a couple of other sizes as well, took them home, cut them down to the length she needed and then ran the ends through an old fashioned pencil sharpener with the hand crank. When the points were to her liking, Liz used sandpaper to smooth everything so the needles wouldn't catch the yarn and then polished them all with Butcher's wax. These turned out every bit as good as the ones you buy at a yarn shop. So ladies, our next yarn crawl just might include a stop at Lowe's!

Liz also showed us her finished cape for the St. Margaret's donation. She used Plymouth Encore Purple and Colorspun. So sweet!
Here is Liz again, hunting through a bag of recently donated yarn for inspiration for her next project.
Elaine and I posed for the final shot of her pink poncho because we made it a joint project. She was running out of yarn to finish the rolled neckline and asked if I would crochet an edge which would not require as much yarn as the original collar. I gave it a backwards SC which made a sweet little picot edge and there was even a few yards of yarn left over.

Judy was back from her beach house and searching her I-phone trying to find the photo of the cute little hat her daughter knitted.

And you can tell by the cheerful expression on Maureen's face that she is finally finished with the interminably long stockinette poncho!

Good job, Maureen! It turned out great! Thanks!