Small but mighty group!

Everyone looks so serious as we discussed the aftermath of storms in the south and another Hurricane Milton bearing down soon. A local nursery business, Seven Zocks, is pairing up with a nearby restaurant, Romo's Pizza, to collect items to fill a rented truck 

and drive it down to the survivors of Hurricane Helene. 

We each will be shopping for necessities to donate along with our prayers for those affected.

Nancy completed a lovely scarf with matching beanie called A Cabling We Will Go.

                                          

She also completed this the Grace Gardens Cap which is a purchased pattern on Ravelry.

Dorah finished a hat using a brightly colored variegated yarn that makes the cap look like a Helix Hat.

Her current project is a Helix Hat which before she went home...

she completed the knitting and wove in all the ends.

She immediately cast on for another cap using two complimentary skeins of yarn to bust through her stash more quickly. She learned a trick for making sure the stitches don't get twisted when knitting that first round of a circular project. Just knit the first row flat and join on the second round, using the tail end of the yarn to sew up the little space that's created when switching from flat knitting to in-the-round.

My needles are working with the Willow Oak Toque, another purchased pattern on Ravelry. I was fortunate to have found this pattern on opening day when it was offered for free for a limited time. The pattern offers three different options for knitting the cuff, extra long and folded, single brim, or provisional cast on with stitches knitted together with the live stitches to mimic the Italian tubular cast on. I chose the tubular which was fiddly but it makes a nice warm fabric for over the ears.

Barbara K completed one Upward Bound Beanie and has started a second one. 

The fuschia yarn is a stunning color! The stitch definition on Barbara's knitting is perfect for highlighting the design of the hat.

Jan started the Reverb Shawl after admiring the one Nancy made for herself. This is a good social knitting and TV knitting project which allows the knitter to participate in conversation without making mistakes.

This is Nancy's River Rush Slouch, another freebie on Ravelry. The denim color makes this a good gender neutral hat.

Maureen is making slow but steady progress on her Sunnyside Cardigan, a gift for a friend. The free pattern offers two options for the details on the buttonbands and along the raglan shoulder line.

Well, I need to put dinner in the oven soon and the prep takes time so

 I'll wish you a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Deck Knitting Kind of Day

With 70 degrees and light breezes I couldn't pass up the opportunity to sit outside. Thankfully, I have drapes I made for when the sun is too overpowering for those who sit on the south side of the deck. But we weren't complaining! 

This is what was left of the delicious cinnamon sourdough coffee cake from the magic kitchen of Barbara B.

Carole made a sweet mini Soldiers Hat for a family member and is keeping her fingers crossed that it's a boy. But since the color is almost turquoise, I think it can be appropriate for a girl too.

She also completed the self-striping yarn hat from last week. I can picture the cherubic face of a newborn peeking out from under the brim.

Her current project is a simple cowl using the bulky weight yarn Dorah donated to her last week. She is keeping it simple for TV and conversational knitting so it started with a ribbed border, stockinette body, and she will finish it off with another ribbed border.

Janna's 1898 Hat is nearing completion. She adjusted the size to fit a child.

Margaret started the decreasing portion of her Easy Ombre Slouch Hat and learned a different way to make a double decrease.

Maureen started another Sunnyside with the lace option for her friend's grandbaby.

Barbara B is almost half finished with her Stair Climber Hat in a soft cocoa brown.

And Barbara K just started the Upward Bound Beanie in a nice neutral gray. You can almost see the start of the traveling cables near the needle.

This hat is the Willow Oak Toque which starts with a provisional cast on to make a folded brim. After I knit 4 inches of 2X2 ribbing, I will fold the cast on round inward and knit each stitch together with a live stitch on the needle, creating the look of the Italian tubular cast on without all the fiddly parts.

There's a hungry kitty bumping my elbow so I guess it's time to remind you to have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Back to work

We had a small gathering today and while the sun was shining brightly, it was just a little too chilly and windy for deck knitting.

Barbara B. finished two Yet Another Pumpkin Hat. Together we learned a lesson in gauge on this pattern. It called for worsted weight yarn which is what the label on the variegated yarn stated. However, there is worsted weight and then there is light worsted, which is what this yarn actually is. The smaller hat was supposed to be child size but it turned out much smaller so to make the second hat, Barbara followed the numbers for the adult size and it looks more like a child size. Not to worry though! It will fit someone!!!

Dorah knocked out a bunch of FO's. A basic beanie and helix hat joined the inventory along with...

a Mistake Stitch Scarf and matching hat.

She also completed for herself, Leftie, using lovely yarns by Whole Knit n' Caboodle. Our friend Terri is a very talented yarn dyer and she put a kit together for this pattern to take away the hassle of finding the best color combination in the right amounts of yardage. It saves time and takes away the stress of trying to decide what colors to choose.

Dorah spent the afternoon weaving the ends in on her cute self patterning socks.

I'm halfway through another chicken amigurumi. I finished the second square after this photo was taken and am now attaching the squares to each other. Next up I'll embroider eyes and crochet a beak and comb to its head.

    Barbara K just started the Upward Bound Beanie, a nice gender neutral hat designed by Benjamin                                                           Matthews, my newest favorite hat designer.

Barbara B's current project is the Pop Top Hat. I forgot to ask her what the contrasting color will be at the crown.

Carole is about halfway through another cheerfully striped basic beanie.

And don't let me forget to show you Barbara B's sourdough Black and Whites. These were my husband's favorite cookies from his local Brooklyn bakery when he was a kid and he still loves them! I saved a couple for you Ron!

Last weekend The Adirondak Wool and Arts Festival was held at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Greenwich, NY. Barbara, Dorah, and I arrived just after the gates were opened. Dorah and I found some fiber which inspired us but Barbara's only purchase was a freshly picked squash at the local farm stand. And although I did not take photographic proof, we did stop just outside the gate at the Ice Cream Man for some "small" ice cream treats, the quantities of which could have fed a small village! Next time we vow to order the Kiddie size. LOL!

I needed more yarn like I need a hole in the head but this was in the sale bin and it begged to be taken home and knitted into the Gryer Shawl. I just wish I could knit in my sleep!

Enjoy this beautiful fall weather and keep those needles clicking!

Sort and Label Day

We are finally wrapping up this donation cycle of baby and Mommy clothes to be donated to the Alpha Pregnancy Center in Albany, NY.

Margaret and Carole took care of sorting the blankets.

Cinzia gathered all the two piece sets.

And we all attached the labels and laundering instructions. Most everything is knitted with machine washable fibers but there were a few hats and scarves that were hand wash only but they were for the Moms not the babies who tend to spit on everything! LOL!

I thought I had printed plenty of labels but we ran out so Barbara K pitched in to punch holes and distribute. It's a good thing when we run out of labels! Our inventory included 140 items, 50 baby hats, 5 blankets, 12 sweaters, 1 pair of mittens, 2 pairs of booties, 9 shawls and cowls, 1 dress, 1 vest, 1 adult hat and scarf set, 11 baby sweaters and hats sets, 15 adult hats, 1 blanket and hat set, and a big box of Pampers diapers.

After all that work we renewed our strength with some of Barbara B's Sourdough Linzer cookies with raspberry filling. Need I say Yummmm?!?!?!

Carole started a baby hat for our next cycle which will be for an organization in Schenectady, NY called Things of My Very Own. They provide crisis intervention services for children of all ages.

Carole used a yarn from Adriafil which is dyed to make a pattern as it's knitted. It saves a lot of time and effort and creates a nice fabric.

A popular pattern that is currently being sold on Ravelry is the Emotional Support Chicken. It is cleverly designed to make an almost life size chicken but I started thinking about how can I make a small version that would not require all the short rows and color changes that the larger chicken uses. TAA! DAA! Here is my modular square chicken in both knitted and crocheted version! It's just the right size for wee little hands too.

Barbara B is working on a baby blanket that starts at the center with a pin hole cast on, the same cast on I used for my chickens. 

This beautiful blanket is called Gluckskind and is free on Ravelry. It is comprised of a variety of stitches to make a lovely sampler.

Margaret cast on to make the Look Out Winter Hat. This is her second try as her first one was giving her issues with the ear flaps.

This is an easier version of the adult size 1898 Hat.

Nancy loved her first Reverb Shawl so much she has already started another one. Those soft colors blending into another are beautiful!

We are taking next week off to attend the 200th anniversary of Marquis de Lafayette's triumphant return to the US. We will return the following week so keep those needles clicking!

A small gathering

There were five of us today to enjoy the lovely breezes on the deck. 

And to enjoy Barbara B's delicious sourdough blueberry breakfast cake, a delightfully moist and fluffy treat. Thank you again Barbara!

Barbara B knitted the Patriotic Hat, a freebie on Ravelry, added a catchy pin and gifted it to...

Dorah who will wear it proudly!

Dorah went stash diving and found two skeins of a super bulky yarn. She arrived with an open mind to suggestions as to what she should knit.

The consensus was the Mistake Stitch Scarf which shows off the changing colors to the best advantage while making quick work of the project with size 13 needles.

    

Barbara K didn't want to show the same scarf she's been knitting for weeks because it doesn't show much progress. It's a lovely alpaca scarf in fingering weight yarn on teeny tiny needles so it's taking a long time to grow. But Barbara B is working on the One Chevron Scrap Cowl and her color selections are lovely. This cowl starts with a provisional cast on so the finishing end can be grafted to the beginning to make an infinity scarf.

Nancy is working on a little pumpkin hat for her infant granddaughter. She is improvising on an existing pattern to make it her own.

I'm working on a cowl using a stitch that I found on a YouTube video from Turkey. I just turn off the sound and watch what the knitter is doing and write it down before I can forget. It's a 4 row repeat, 3 of which are plain knit. The fourth round is where the magic happens. I have just one skein of yarn so it's a guessing game as to how deep the finished cowl will be.

The trees behind my house are beginning to show their true colors so you know what that means!

It will soon be my favorite two seasons of the year! And I'll get to wear all my warm woolies again!

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!