Our Snowbird is back!

If you look at the second person in from the right you'll see Liz is back from her winter residence. She had a productive winter of knitting which I'll show you later in the post.

I'm on a roll with this basket weave pattern and will be finishing up this cowl in another day or so. This is yarn from my daughter who gave me her whole stash because she doesn't have time to knit and didn't want the beautiful yarns to go to waste. This is the last bit of this pretty pastel green.

Margaret is back from walking in the annual Freihofer's Run for Women which she walked with her 80 year old mother. She is back on track with the scarf she was knitting a while back.

                                           

Janna made some progress on her hat. You can see where she placed ring markers to bookmark the spots where she will be decreasing stitches to close the top of the hat.

Dorah's hat is almost to the same place where she'll be decreasing soon.

Carole started the Waffle Hat with a pretty blue yarn. This is the worsted weight yarn version but there is a pattern to make it with DK weight yarn too.

I think this is Liz's favorite pattern, The Mistake Stitch Scarf. It's a pattern which is easy to memorize and makes a thick, warm fabric.

Jan A. has come a long way on her Exordium Shawl. The neutral pallette is very calming.

As I promised earlier, this is what Liz completed over the winter while she soaked up the Florida sun. There's a cowl on the left, another Mistake Stitch Scarf at the bottom, a long triangular denim colored shawl, and some sweet baby items.

Last night I finished the second Heddle Shawl using more yarn from my daughter's gift of yarn. I am going to keep this one since I have a winter sweater which I think will go perfectly with it. I have plenty of yarn to make another when I feel inspired.

I had to make a trip to the Ocean State Job Lots store in Westgate Shopping Center in Albany and while there I saw they had those spongy, interlocking, floor mats which are perfect for blocking and pinning knits. So if you're in the market for blocking mats these were only $12.00 for a package. I forgot to see how many were in the package but I think it was at least 4 mats.

 A hummingbird visited the front bushes last week so it's time to get the feeders out of winter storage and put them out. I'm hoping my kitty will appreciate watching them from the kitchen window. I'm off to fill the feeders so until next week...keep those needles clicking!

Front lawn knitting

Cinzia, Dorah, Maureen, Jan A. and Janna joined me on the front lawn for a breezy afternoon of knitting.

We always start out with show and tell during which time Dorah showed us her beautiful Anuket Shawl. It's made using three harmonious yarns that at times overlap each other by knitting two rows with one yarn and the next two rows with another until all are incorporated into the design. There is a little bit of lace knitting to add interest to the edging. Beautiful work!

Dorah was inspired by Barbara B's Exordium Shawl so she started one for herself. Janna also liked the pattern...

so she's making one too. It's funny how the choice of yarn colors can make the same pattern look so different from each other.

Janna's donation piece is a hat made from self striping yarn. Such pretty colors.

Cinzia also used a self striping yarn to make a scarf with a sawtooth edge.

Maureen made progress on her Bankhead hat.

And Jan A. started the Basket Weave cowl from a pattern I wrote up and shared with the Chicks.

The Beloved Bonnet from TinCanKnits is a favorite pattern of mine. I'm holding my breath and playing yarn chicken because I might not have enough yarn to finish. Oh well, I can always rip it out and make it smaller.

Dorah was afraid her hat was too small but there are kids out there who will fit it perfectly.

I was going to take a walk but I think I'll just sit and knit until the feeling passes. LOL! So until next week, keep those needles clicking.
 

It was a scorcher of a day

Thank goodness I have a two huge maple trees in my front yard. In spite of the temp reaching 89 degrees, the breezes through the leaves kept us comfortable. I'm not a big fan of summer so coming from me that's quite a statement! If I had my way, I'd live inside the Arctic Circle! LOL! I must have been a polar bear in a previous lifetime.

Jan A. like Barbara B's Exordium shawl so much, she hunted through her stash for two perfect yarns to combine for this shawl. Her stitch work is beautiful and tension so nice and even.

Cinzia arrived armed with FO's galore! She's modeling the scarf she knitted on size 15 needles using railroad or ladder yarn...that's the yarn made by connecting two fine strands of fiber with small ribbonlike pieces of fiber to make a novelty yarn that is very open and airy. It's not her favorite yarn to use but she couldn't let it go to waste.

She also completed this adorable baby dress with lace insets. And when it gets too short for a sweet cherub she can use it as a tunic over pants.

And lastly, Cinzia designed her own cowl pattern with a lovely diagonal lace motif.

Maureen continued to work on her Bankhead Hat. The tension in her knitting is just beautiful.

Barbara K. kept plugging along on her Hepsi's Neck Warmer with that pretty turquoise yarn. I think she plans to keep knitting until she uses up all the yarn. Getting close to the end of the ball of yarn, Barbara!

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post and in that time I've been trying to use up some superwash yarn that my daughter donated to the group. All of the next four projects are from the same dye lot of yarn but because of the different locations in which they were photographed, they look like completely different colors. This basket weave cowl is a pattern I designed when I was inspired by another pattern for a shawl.

Every baby needs a teddy bear hat, right?

And this Hannah Hals Neck Warmer is from a pattern for a child's size but I sized it up for an adult.

And finally, the Pixie Throwback Hood was for Maureen's new grandson who is only 3 weeks old. The mittens are thumbless and connected with a cord to go through the jacket sleeves.

It's supposed to rain here tomorrow so the temps will come back to a bearable state for the next few days...just in time for me to do some painting of deck railings. I put the first coat on this afternoon so now I'm going to veg out in the AC with my knitting. Until next week...keep those needles clicking!

 

A Perfect Afternoon

It was 76 degrees and the sunshine peeked through the maple leaves just enough to keep us happy as the breezes kept the bugs away. 

It was just a perfect way for Janna, Margaret, and me to spend the afternoon.

Janna had purchased this pretty yarn with the idea of making the Cheri Chevron Shawl but as often happens to me, the yarn decided it didn't want to be that shawl. So Janna put Plan B into action and is now working on the Exordium Shawl for herself.

For donation she's working on a hat with the prettiest variegated yarn. The green portion of it was just enough to make one complete round at the beginning of the ribbed section.

Margaret was discussing with us how she lost her knitting mojo for a while so is easing back into projects with a basic warm garter stitch scarf. We've all been there at some point and as I said to her, there's nothing wrong with simple. It keeps you just as warm as a patterned scarf.

I'm approaching the end of the Hannah Hals neck warmer and will be binding off the stitches in another row or so. You know what that means?!?! I get to start a new project and there's a skein of pretty periwinkle blue that has been screaming at me from the stash for the last week!

 Well, it's still lovely outside so I'm going to go for a stroll before I have to make dinner. It's just too nice to sit inside, even if I am knitting! Enjoy the spring while you can. And keep those needles clicking!

Outside again!

The Chicks and I had a lovely afternoon knit on my front lawn. I always loved seeing the dandelions sprouting from the grass. It's a sure sign of better things to come.

We started out sitting on the sunny side of the lawn. But soon had to move to a slightly shadier spot.

Barbara B. had a show and tell to proudly display. Her 11 year old granddaughter wanted to learn how to sew so Barbara showed her the basics, her parents bought her a sewing machine, and she watched YouTube videos to learn how to make her Nana a project bag!

She even completely lined the bag! That kid's got talent!!! Watch out world! There's another seamstress on the horizon!

Barbara B. worked on a shawl using LolaBean yarn. This yarn is heaven to work with and the color choices are beautiful.

The pattern is called Exordium and was free on Ravelry for a short time. Now you have to pay for the pattern. She and I were lucky enough to have seen it when is was available free of charge.

Jan A. worked on a baby blanket. It's working up quickly because she is holding two strands of yarn together to make a bulky weight, using Caron yarn for its machine wash-ability.

Maureen worked on a hat and...

Barbara K. worked on a Hepsi's cowl. The yarn came from our donated stash. Such a pretty color.

I added some length to a Hannah Hals cowl for a child. It starts out with two triangles which are sewn together along the long edge, leaving the center stitches live for picking up to knit a turtleneck collar.

Carole arrived a bit late so we let her have her coffee and decompress before she picked up her knitting.

She finished her Easy scarf. It's a paid pattern from Martina Behm.

The way the colors change direction is a real mind bender but Carole said it's easy to make.

Now she's picked up the Bankhead Hat using Manos del Uraguay yarn which is as soft as a cloud!

I'm hoping that spring is here to stay so we can continue to meet outdoors. Gotta keep those needles clicking, you know!