Our Annual Field Trip to WEBS

Last Saturday Carole, Elaine, and I made the trip to Northampton, Massachusetts to our motherland, WEBS (America's Yarn Store is what they call themselves). We had a lovely 1 hour and 15 minute drive on a beautifully sunny day.

 The front showroom was filled with beautiful yarns and tools and sample knits. And then we made our way back to....

 THE WAREHOUSE! It's row after row of shelves filled with heavenly fibers! We were overcome by the fumes of yarn everywhere! And if you buy $60 worth you get another certain percentage off so how could you not take advantage?!?!

 I came home with these lovelies that are an alpaca and merino blend. My plan is to knit a chevron stitch scarf alternating two rows of each color. By the time I get to it I will probably change my mind a dozen times.

 My other purchase was this 100% Baby Alpaca that must have been spun by the angels themselves! Talk about soft! They will become this shawl called Everyday Shawl. I just have to finish the skillion and one other projects on needles first.

 I did manage to finish this little bonnet called Bonnet Camponesa. There is a video showing the technique of knitting it, however, it's all spoken in Portuguese! I followed along watching with the sound off. 

 It was a very entertaining knit but I'll warn you there are mistakes in the written English version of the pattern. But if you watch the video you will be able to figure out the corrections yourself. I've written to the designer but haven't heard back from her yet.

 Another FO I made over the last week was the Cushy Cowl using my friend Karin's DK yarn of merino and silk in the color Ominous. It's really a deep teal but it didn't photograph very well.

 Barbara finished the hat she was knitting last week....

 and the scarf too. Now there's a nice set!

 Elaine added many inches to the baby blanket. She explained that she intended to make a sweater but it turned out so wide she decided to make it a blanket instead. When I asked her if she "got gauge" we all laughed hysterically!!!

 We started off the evening group with cheesecake. The afternoon ladies got some too. I can't have that stuff sitting around the house or I'll eat it all so it was nice to have someone to share it with. And look who's back to the land of the living! It's Maureen! (Third in from the left) 

Tax season must be over!

 Dorah switched back to making this a scarf instead of a cowl so she has a few more weeks of knitting to go.

 Beth put the finishing stitches on a pair of man's mittens.

 Then we all tried to figure out why the pattern designer made such pointy tops. Actually, once they are worn they look more normal.

 Maureen is almost finished with the hat she started before her hiatus.

 And Carole is working on her never-ending Minty Bricks. It's a lovely, easily memorized pattern but it feels like it will take forever!

Well, my projects are not going to knit themselves so I better get it in gear and knit. 

See you next week.

One more week of knitting and then the labeling begins

As we wrap up this quarter's donations, Barbara's lovely set is complete. This Cascade 220 yarn is called Pea Pod. The original pattern was for the mitts and she ran with the ball and converted it to make the hat and scarf. 

Now she is using a Malabrigo yarn to make a triangular scarf/shawl. There were two balls of yarn that were so close in color but not close enough to use together, as in knit one ball until it's finished and then use the second ball. Soooo....she is knitting two rows from one skein and then two rows from the other. There won't be a defined difference in colorways since they will blend all the way through the project and will become a lovely, homogenized fabric. See? You can't tell, can you?

 Kathleen used up the last of the pretty blue heather to make a hat and now she is finishing up a matching scarf. Knowing Kathleen, it will be done by next week.

 Elaine's lovely cabled hat is ready to go. The patterns repeat around the crown to make a warm Fisherman's knit.

 From her personal knitting stash, Elaine asked about blocking this cowl which will be a gift for a friend. Cowls can be tricky as you don't want a crease down the sides if you block it laying flat. Some suggestions that were made were to stuff it with a pillow wrapped in plastic wrap or ball up a towel and place it in the cowl. A bowl of large enough proportions would also work.

 Elaine's neighbor's little girl is too young to collect candy for Halloween so she is knitting her a pumpkin hat.

 Cinzia finished her cabled hat using a Malabrigo yarn. I wish you could touch the screen and feel how soft this yarn is!

 Now she is trying to feel energetic about her reversible stripes scarf. Both she and Kathleen are working on the same pattern and they have both hit a stalemate with it. Scarves can get especially boring because they have to be so long. Let's hope they find new inspiration so they can finish these soon.

Cinzia finished up the crochet infinity scarf her daughter Elena started. Elena started the new school year and just didn't have the time to complete the scarf what with all her school work and activities, so Cinzia graciously offered to finish it for her.

 Speaking of finishing, this is all the yarn Beth had left after she finished her....

 basic cable mittens. They turned out beautiful!

 Dorah worked all night on her hat...

 until the circumference became too small to fit around her circular needles. Now it's onto the DP's (double pointed needles)!

 Carol almost finished a hat using a Takhi bulky yarn. That name cracks me up! Who wants to knit with tacky yarn?! LOL!

Carole did finish her Berroco Jasper cowl and it blocked beautifully. 

 Beth started another hat. I think this one has cables.

 And Maureen is still plugging away on her cowl.

 Beth had a little show and tell last night. She is knitting Christmas gifts for the men in the family, a whole batch of hats in their favorite team colors.

 This set is for the Dad, Big Brother, and Little One on the way. So cute!

I received an email from Liz because I didn't hear the doorbell and she didn't want me to miss her drop off. She finished her scarf and wanted to be sure I added it to the inventory so she tucked inside the door knocker at my back door. It's a good thing I found it quickly. I wouldn't want the neighbors to try to figure out what kind of door decoration I was displaying. LOL!

 I am four patterns past the halfway mark in the tubular cowl using Berroco Vintage yarn. I'm liking how this is turning out.

I'll let you know if I still like it after I have to Kitchener the ends together.

Feeling fall-ish

Fall has arrived in the Capital District of New York. The view out my family room window fills me with awe every time I see the crimson leaves on this tree. My knitting chair sits right in line with these spectacular colors.

Last Saturday was the first fiber festival of the season held at the Washington County Fairgrounds. The scenery on Route 40 on the ride up was breathtaking. The Adirondacks Mountains were clearly visible in the distance.

The farm markets were overflowing with their fall bounty.

 The colors beckoned me to photograph them.

 I almost forgot to shop for some produce because of all the distractions. I did, however, find the sweetest corn on the cob for dinner!

 The residence where my father lives has a feature called "Resident of the Month" and he was chosen for October which coincided with...

 a visit from our Congressman Paul Tonko. He attended a ceremony to recognize the veterans who live at Ingersoll Place and to give special recognition to my father for his service during the Battle of the Bulge and securing the Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen, Germany.

 My Dad, humble as he is, kept asking me why all the fuss. Through tear filled eyes I hugged him and told him because we are so proud of him!

 I'm so happy we got to honor my Dad! He is a very special man and now he knows how special!

 On to our knitting! Last week I neglected to show you some of our FO's. Maureen finished binding off the stitches of her Last Minute Cowl and I forgot to post her picture. Here she is in all her glory.

 Carole's Sanibel Cowl drapes beautifully on the neck. It's a good pattern for tonal dyed yarns, especially hand dyed, since it has a minimal lace pattern. Sometimes a busy lace and multi-colored yarn conflict with each other. I learned that the hard way. From now on I stick with a solid or tonal yarn for intricate lace work to properly show off both and save those crazy printed yarns for stockinette!

 Another Carole FO is her Saroyan Scarf. She used a yarn that has a touch cashmere and angora fibers so it floats like a cloud and feels so soft to the skin.

 I finished my Dream Stripes Shawl after 19 months in hibernation!

 You know how sometimes you just get bored with a project? Well, that's what happened with this one. I was tired of knitting stripes and put it down for a minute to pick up something more challenging and BAM! Over a year went by before I felt ambitious enough to pick it back up again. I feel relief knowing it's done now and can be donated.

Another FO of mine is the Noro Striped Scarf by Jared Flood. I started out using these yarns for a Staci Perry Barber Pole Cowl but found the yarns to be too close in color and kept making mistakes. It was time for plan B and this worked out much better.

 Elaine asked our opinions on how wide to knit her Gaptastic Cowl and was relieved to know we all thought it was wide enough to bind off. Those are a lot of seed stitches to knit!

 Kathleen finished her Amsterdam Lace Shawl. Since she had only enough DK weight yarn for a small scarflette I guess we shouldn't call it a shawl. But that's the great thing about this pattern. You can knit it any size for any need.

 And Kathleen added another warm hat to the inventory. We can never have too many hats!

 Liz finished another Cushy Cowl, a very quick and easy cowl pattern by our friend, Karin Maag-Tanchak. It does not require much yarn and can be knit in a variety of yarn weights, as long as you use the appropriate needle. A word of warning, when you knit this pattern, it looks a bit wonky during the first inch or two. You must knit at least two or three pattern repeats before you start to see the diamond shapes. Then everything falls beautifully into place.

 We took advantage of the warmth and sunshine and sat outside yesterday since there probably won't be many more opportunities for outside knitting this year.

 Cinzia brought some library books for us to browse through for new knitting patterns.

 Kathleen plugged away at her Reversible Stripes Scarf. The greens look great together.

 Carole worked on her Totally Biased Cowl. Does the yarn look familiar? Maybe not, but it's the Jasper yarn from Berroco that Beth used last year. We thought it was all gone but alas! There is more. LOL!

 Speaking of Beth, she finished her Mistake Stitch Scarf. The pattern stitch makes a nice thermal fabric that is sure to keep the chill away.

 Dorah's Sanibel Cowl is almost finished. Just a few more rows and she'll be binding off those stitches.

 And Maureen is back to work full time so she doesn't have as much free time to finish her lovely cowl. But I'm sure it will be beautiful.

 Beth started a pair of mittens last night. They are always a quick knit. Unfortunately, I can't link you to the pattern since I don't know which one she's using. I'll check for next week's post.

We're finally getting a bit of much needed rain around here. So now it really feels like fall. I guess I'll have to hang up the flip flops until next year!