The autumn temps are keeping us indoors

I have another favorite tree in my neighborhood! As I was walking I stopped to take this picture and a neighbor who was walking her dog stopped to tell me this is her favorite tree too. You can see why. Wouldn't these colors look great as a gradient or variegated yarn?!?!

Eight of us gathered around my kitchen table (where we get the best light) and chatted all things current. Maureen spent some time with her out of state grandchildren so we got to hear all about their antics. Barbara K attended her granddaughter's cross country meet last Tuesday and proudly showed us her pics. And Margaret delivered...

the sheep sweater she knitted for her grandson. It fits just right and the sleeves will allow him to wear it a little bit longer as he grows. So cute! The sweater ain't bad either😉

Jan almost wouldn't let me photograph her Skinny Scarf because she feels like it's taking forever. Well, scarves DO take forever. People should know that so they can appreciate the time and effort that goes into a handmade gift they receive.

I couldn't find the pattern on Ravelry but maybe this will help you hunt it down if you want a copy. Ooops! I spoke too soon. I accidentally came across the Skinny Scarf while looking for a different pattern!

I started the Cityscape Cowl using a merino/silk blend held together with a lace weight baby mohair. It will need blocking to bring out the cables but I'm loving the project. The fuzzy mohair is slowing me down because it catches on everything but it will be worth it in the end.

Dorah is knitting the One Row Handspun Scarf for a friend. 

The jewel toned variegated colors are so pretty!

Maureen's Diagonal Baby Blanket is slowly growing. She was so busy taking care of the grands that she didn't have any time to knit.

Margaret is knitting the Blue Wave hat for her sister who loves the ocean. No messages will be included in this one.

Barbara B has started the Dart and Dash Beanie from Benjamin Matthews. I think she is at the portion of the hat where the dashes stop and the ribbing resumes.

She finished her Easy Vivi Wrap and is weaving in the ends to finish it off. She did a very light blocking to keep the shape but not *smush the dimensional effects of the basket weave stitch. (*smush is a technical term meaning to flatten😉😆)

Tina's Glennis Cowl looks stunning with those changing colors against the black background!

She finished a pair of socks too and told me the pattern name...I should have written it down right away!

Barbara K completed her Helix Hat and is saving it to donate this winter.

I would like to finish a couple of more projects before I attend this year's New England Fiber Festival in Massachusetts at the Big E on November 7. I promised myself I would use up some stash before being tempted to buy new stash. Yeah! We'll see how that goes😏 In the meantime, have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

It feels like fall

As long as the sun was not hidden behind the clouds, it was a really peaceful afternoon on the deck. That is, it was until the weekly lawn mower teams arrived!!! They seem to ALWAYS time their mowing of our next door neighbors' yard at PRECISELY 1PM TUESDAY EVERY.SINGLE.WEEK!!! Can you tell I'm a little disturbed by this? 😖 I should be grateful that our neighbors are so very nice and that is all I have to be concerned about. When the mowers were finished, we had our peace and quiet back and could catch up on the weekly events. Jan came back from a vacation with a head cold but she had a good time. Carole's youngest daughter visited with her husband and 11 month old son so Carole was in her glory! She played with him and introduced him to some new foods for the whole visit. Barbara B didn't want to talk about her weekend away to watch a Rutgers football game. Sorry Barb! My husband and I watched our grandson play his college football game. We couldn't make the trip down to PA this time but we were able to stream the game online, so it was nice to be able to still see him play.

Barbara B is about 3/4 done with her Easy Vivi Wrap. The yarn is from Cece's Wool and More shop in Guilderland, NY. It is a light worsted and a lovely variegated colorway.

My Wavy Ribbed Scarf is on the decreasing portion of the pattern. I didn't bother weighing the yarn because I had two skeins and like to fly by the seat of my pants. But having said that, I am feeling a little anxiety as I watch that ball of yarn shrink.😉

Nancy, our Queen of the Short Rows, started a new wrap for herself. I couldn't find Windripple on Ravelry so I'm not sure where she found it but she said it is a little difficult to follow. Some of the instructions are explained at the beginning and never repeated within the pattern itself so you have to remember some of the steps to knit. Having said that...

She picked two lovely yarns to combine for this wrap!

I can't wait to see it finished!

Margaret is working on the pullover for her son which was sitting in time out for years. She admits there are a few mistakes here and there but it looks warm and cozy to me and that's what counts.

Barbara K started a hat and she's thinking it might be a Helix design. She's so creative that I know it will be perfect whatever she picks to knit.

Carole is trying her hand at that Wavy Ribbed Scarf too. I wrote up the pattern having watched the video and since it grows every fourth row, I found it a little confusing to figure out how to write in words what is happening on the needles. 

But she is following perfectly! It looks just like it's supposed to!

She put that aside to work on her Trellis Hat in one of her favorite colors, purple! She said she is finally getting around to making something for herself in her favorite color.

Jan started the Winter Cables Scarf and had to frog it and start over because she didn't like the way it was started without an anchoring border. She said the pattern has you dive right into the cables on the first row which made it look wonky.

She decided to knit a couple of rows just to give it something from which to grow. 

I finished my Feather and Fan Cowl using the mohair/silk blend yarn that my son brought back from Norway for me. When I first saw it my heart skipped a beat, it was so pretty! Then I thought, MOHAIR LACE! 😟But you know, it was very easy to knit! I made sure to pick a pattern that had a pretty design but would be easy to knit and easy to memorize. The hardest technique in the whole pattern was k2tog (knit two stitches together) and it turns out it was not at all difficult to knit! I am very pleased with it and it is so soft and warm. The fluff keeps a layer of warmth against your skin but it has no weight to speak of so it's very comfortable. Thanks Andrew and Robbie! I love it!!! Now I have to decide what to knit with the other yarns they bought me.

Well, I have to start dinner. We're having a potato crust quiche which has spinach, bacon, onions, garlic and Gruyere Cheese. I found the recipe on YouTube and thought I'd give it a try. I actually made it a couple of weeks ago and I'm reheating the frozen leftovers tonight. It was easier for me because I've never had luck making the crust.

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Finally! A deck day!

Even though it was 80 degrees, I put up the drapes to keep out the bright sunlight and hopefully tamp down some of the heat so we could sit outside. It's been weeks since we enjoyed the deck what with rain and heat and humidity. I had two fans blowing on us so it was bearable. 

But there are signs showing up in the neighborhood that we are nearing the change of seasons! My favorite tree across the way in the neighbors' yard is the first one to show a red leaf. Can cold weather be far behind? I can't wait!!!😁

We have some FOs to add to the inventory.

Maureen finished her Celtic Feathers Hat from NichKnits designer Shelby Nichols. Really nice cables and stitch definiton Maureen!

And Carole finished the Loop Hat. It is a soft sage green but the outside lighting affects the color in a photo. If you want to see the true color, check last week's blog post.

Cinzia wasn't expected today as she had knee repair done on Friday. But she was so bored staying home and she was told she needs to walk so today was her first venture out into the world. She brought her Jariq which is knitted with a silvery sparkle yarn.

Jan finished her ZickZack Scarf. She used two strands of yarn held together and it is so soft and squishy! It's sure to keep someone warm and happy!

Dorah finished her Helix Hat and it turned out beautifully! She questioned whether the colors would compliment each other and I'd say they're perfect!

She's already started another Helix Hat with these three colors 

which in my humble opinion, will look fabulous!

Remember when I said I was going to knit a long infinity scarf? Umm...yeah, no! I'm already feeling like I poked a sharp stick in the eye😂 I don't know why I get bored so easily with a long term project! Anyway, this will be a closer to the neck style cowl and the short edges will be grafted with a kitchener stitch. I do love the yarn and stripe pattern though! Pattern is adapted from the ZickZack Scarf.

Barbara K started the Dart and Dash Beanie from Benjamin Matthews.

You can see the beginning of the dart and dash pattern showing up already.

Tina started the Wavy Ribbed Scarf from a YouTube video from Susen Mehralieva. I watched the video and wrote up a pattern and Tina is test knitting it for me. 

She already found a typo! Thanks for catching it Tina!

Carole is knitting a baby hat. It is for the first grandson of a friend of hers 

so she chose a cheery, colorful yarn for it.

Margaret is knitting the Leaded Light Cowl, just like Nancy's last week. Margaret has chosen a contrasting yarn that changes color so the lights in the window will change color as the knitting progresses.

I didn't catch the name of Jan's pattern but the yarn is gorgeous! It's going to be a narrow scarf.

Maureen made a sawtooth edged little scarf accessory but she can't remember the pattern. The yarn is very soft and has a halo so I'm thinking it might have some baby alpaca in it.

Currently on her needles is Maureen's next project, the start of a Helix Hat. 

Nancy started another one of Benjamin Matthews' patterns. Such a pretty color too!

This was recently released as a free pattern for a limited time and we were lucky enough to get in on the initial offering. The Laguna Drift Beanie is next on my list of projects too.

Fozzie watched the Chicks leave at 3 o'clock and that's his signal that he should start begging for food. Well, actually, just about anything is a signal to him for food!😉 I've learned to ignore most of them, much to his dismay. I mean, look at that cat! He doesn't look like he's starving! I know it's a bad camera angle but he's not suffering.

And on that note I will wish you a great week ahead and remind you to keep those needles clicking!

Is it going to rain EVERY TUESDAY?!?!

Someone asked who watched the World Cup Finals and Dorah started a whole conversation just by saying it was boring! Then I chimed in that it couldn't be any more boring than football. So if my grandson's ears were burning today, I'll know why. 😄 And as what usually happens, the topic changed to food and somehow we were wondering who was the first person to look at an oyster, lobsters, and alligators and think, "Gee! That looks like something I could eat." It's a good thing Barbara B makes delicious sourdough treats for us!

 We had strawberry-chocolate chip-sourdough muffins today. Mine hit the spot just right.

There were a few FOs to add to the inventory. My 100 Colors Cowl on which I knitted last week is finished. I used a Wonderland Yarn for the solid gray and Lang Super Soxx for the variegated. It is a little subdued for my taste but not everyone has the same taste so I try to knit outside my comfort zone now and then.

Dorah's Workday Scarf is ready for the inventory and it is beautiful! 

The colors are like a summer sunset.

Maureen finished her Through the Forest Hat using a yarn that was gifted to her. It is a merino and polyamide blend so it's machine washable.

Barbara B finished the Trellis Hat which looks like a gender neutral pattern. I couldn't find the pattern on Ravelry so maybe Barbara B can leave a link in the comments section.

Her String of Lights socks are finished too. They look beautiful and her stitch definition is perfection!

Tina finished her hat from last week. The pattern was from a book. Did I get the name? NO!😖

But I got the name of the hat and a picture from the book. Gotta give me a little credit. When I asked for the name of the hat pattern, Maureen said it's the "Don't talk to me while I'm knitting" hat! Yeah, I have a bunch of patterns like that. 😉

I followed this video to knit this designer's variation on a Sophie Scarf. Susen Mehralieva has a collection of scarf patterns that follow the same basic shape of the Sophie Scarf but she adds her own little bit of spice with cables, lace, and various other patterns to change up a plain garter stitch scarf. Check her out on YouTube. I'm using Plymouth Royal Bamboo Yarn, a fabulous fiber which unfortunately has been discontinued. It has an amazing drape and weight and the luster is lovely.

Dorah took the leftover yarn from a previous project and added a solid navy blue to make her favorite Helix Hat.

And Barbara K is starting the 5" of ribbing for her hat.

Margaret closed the cuff of her 1898 Hat and is on to knitting the crown.

Maureen started a Shelby Nichols pattern called Celtic Feather. 

Her patterns are well written and easy to follow.

Tina started another hat, the pattern she found on YouTube. It begins with a moebius band which is bound off and stitches are then picked up to knit the crown. It is knitted with two strands of yarn and has twisted braids in the design of the crown.

Jan's hat is showing some of the cable work which will follow up the crown to the close at the top.

Barbara B is knitting another Shelby Nichols pattern called Hot Springs Willow Hat. It has a faux cable design up the crown.

Someone is bugging me for food so it's time for me to go.

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!