Post yarn bombing, take a breath

Do you remember this from last week's yarn bombing? The Chicks and I wrapped various locations throughout downtown Albany with warm clothing for anyone who needed them to take something. This was how Lewis Swyer looked at 1PM on Tuesday afternoon last week.

 This was how he looked at 11:30 the next morning. Ten minutes after I arrived home after our distribution, my phone rang. It was a reporter from our local Time Warner television station who had heard about our project and she wanted to interview me about our work. You can see her wonderful report here: http://www.twcnews.com/nys/capital-region/news/2015/11/24/chicks-with-sticks--yarn-bomb--albany-to-help-the-homeless-for-winter.html

Wednesday morning my email was filled with notes from three more stations and a radio station out of Utica who also wanted to do stories on the Chicks. 

Here: http://news10.com/2015/11/25/local-group-yarn-bombs-albany-to-help-the-needy/

And here: http://wnyt.com/article/stories/s3973320.shtml

And here too: http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/features/top-story/stories/local-knitting-group-helps-those-cold-30883.shtml

I was honored to have so much attention showered on my Chicks and hope the press coverage will inspire others to give of their time and talents.

 

 Now I can slow down and get back to my normal routine. Cinzia and Elaine joined me this afternoon. Cinzia saw a demonstration of this stitch on the Create Channel show 

Knit and Crochet Now. She was inspired to make this lovely scarf.

 Next week she is going to hunt through the stash to find more yarn to start another. The stitch is called The Indian Cross Stitch or Cross 6.

 Elaine started the decreasing portion of her hat and then...

 worked on a slipper sock for her granddaughter. She is using two strands of yarn, a great stash busting project when you need bulky weight yarn but don't have any.

 Yes, I'm still working on this scarf. It's getting longer but there is still yarn in the skein to use up.

 Dorah has a sweater she's making for her daughter but reached a point where the instructions didn't make any sense. So together we figured it out and now...

 It's a sweater body with sleeves! This pattern is knitted in the round from the bottom up (as opposed to top down) so the construction is a little different. The sleeves have to be knitted up to the beginning of the armhole and then the live stitches from the sleeves are added to the needle with the live stitches of the body. Top down sweaters incorporate the sleeves along with the body. Both techniques are fascinating.

 Last week Beth told us about an audiobook she was listening to and so this week she read an excerpt from it. We all had a good laugh! 

 Carole's Honeycomb cowl is larger than last week. Maybe it will be done by next week. I love the colors!

 And this week Beth's hat does look like the photo on the pattern. Some patterns need a few inches knitted before they look like something. A thorough blocking will enhance the stitches.

 Maureen's hat is almost done too. Everyone is nearing the end of their projects.

Time to pick out new patterns!

I'm ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille

We Chicks have lots of close up photos to show this week.

I finished a shawl called the Lazy Day Lace Shawl, a free pattern offered on Ravelry.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lazy-day-lace-shawl

I used Karin's Periwinkle Sheep Sock Yarn in the Terra Cotta colorway.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/franknit

This is to be given to a colleague of my husband, who is mourning the death of her newborn. Each and every stitch is connected to a prayer for her and her family.

I started a baby sweater called Phazelia's Mitered Baby Jacket, also from Ravelry.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/phazelias-mitered-baby-jacket

It doesn't look like much now but with a little more knitting and some magic folding it really becomes a sweater.

Maureen is in the home stretch with her pink and white baby sweater.

And Barbara is almost finished with an E. Zimmermann "Pelerine".

Liz started a Pelerine also. Her choice of yarn makes it suitable for either a man or woman.

Speaking of being in the home stretch, Shelia is almost done with her checkerboard patterned scarf. YAY! Good work, Sheila!

Kathleen's daughter, Pat, visited from downstate this week. She brought along two little pumpkin hats she knitted for her twin great niece and nephew.

Kathleen donated a Pelerine that she knitted using Lion Brand Homespun yarn. It too is unisex and very soft and cozy.
And here's another Gansey sweater for the inventory. Can you tell it's Kathleen's favorite pattern?

One of our new members, Beth, donated a sweet little cardigan called "Baby Sophisticate". This is a free pattern from Ravelry also.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-sophisticate

So we are well on our way to filling up the inventory for our two upcoming donations. Now it's back to the knitting needles for me.