We finally had a good weather day and were able to knit outside this week.
Some of us were feeling like knitting small and some of us like to punish ourselves. LOL! We are currently working on two different projects. Baby items up to 18 months size will be donated to our local maternity center. That's the small end. The punishment side is making lap robes and shoulder warmers for our local nursing home. We all jump into these projects feeling so positive, but about halfway through rows and rows and rows of either plain garter stitch or stockinette stitch, it sometimes feels like a poke in the eye with one of our needles would be a lot more fun. But then we remember why we're knitting these items and it gets us back on track.
Liz was feeling feisty this week and showed off her baby blanket that she's making for our current baby project. The simple yet pretty block pattern holds one's attention to keep from being boring, while not requiring it completely.
Kathleen finished the navy blue shoulder shawl, an Elizabeth Zimmermann Pelerine, first in the row on the table. We were trying to decide on closures for the neckline. I made the black, yellow, and green one in the back and the mauve and purple one in the middle. The black one will have a button and loop closure. I'm thinking the same for the mauve and purple one too.
In this close up you can see the cute little baby bonnet Kathleen contributed also.
Elaine and Barb caught up on the week's events...
And Kathleen and Liz caught up on their mutual grandchildren's activities, while they worked on the Gansey sweater and baby blanket, respectively.
I've started the Elizabeth Zimmermann Rib Warmer with a navy tweed acrylic blend. There's not much to see yet. Maybe next week it will be large enough to show up.
Maureen is almost finished with her Pelerine. The colors don't show up very well here but it is the prettiest combination of a soft sage green with autumn stripes.
Then Karin stopped by to present me with my prayer shawl which was knitted by many of my knitting friends as a healing gift to me after losing my precious granddaughter, Eliana. I love it!!! Karin handdyed the yarn and named it Eliana. It's the prettiest pinky-mauve! And I love the size of it.
It's big enough for three! And these same lovely ladies made a matching shawl for my daughter, Amanda, to show her how much she is loved. Thank you to all my friends who knitted these wonderful gifts. Amanda and I will treasure them forever and think of you all every time we use them.
Last week I spent with my Moose in Pennsylvania. We had a great time all week and topped it off with a visit to the farmer's market and some cool "lemolade", as Moose calls it.
And a big milestone in Moose's life, he started preschool this week. He was so anxious to attend that he made his mommy leave the house too early and the school wasn't open yet.
He couldn't wait to use his new Toy Story 3 backpack and lunchbox. And reports from Mom are all positive. He has made new friends and tired himself out sufficiently to get to bed on time.
I can't believe my baby is already attending preschool. Have fun Moose! DeeDee loves you!
Kathleen is in the homestretch of yet another Gansey sweater. It's her favorite pattern, as you can tell by how quickly she whips through one a week or so.
Liz finished her block pattern baby blanket which will be added to the inventory also.
And Maureen finished the Pelerine, a shoulder shawl pattern by the great Elizabeth Zimmermann. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Zimmermann 
Another item for the nursing home is also another Elizabeth Zimmermann design called the Ribwarmer. This is what you saw on my needles last week and it took me just a week to finish it. Since it is all garter stitch and some short row knitting it was a very fast project to complete, to say the least. My only stumble was trying to figure out how to lay it out and what edges to seam together.
I "raveled" a knitter in Ireland who made the same ribwarmer and through the magic of email, she was able to walk me through the steps and VOILA! It was finished! Thank you so much for your help, Lindy!
I decided it needed a little help keeping closed so I knitted a little frog closure which I found here:
