The last fiber festival of the year and April Fool! Or should I say November Fool?

Dorah, Barbara B, and I attended the Fiber Festival of New England two days ago. This is our favorite since it is held indoors at the Mallory Complex of the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, MA so we don't have to deal with bad weather or the huge crowds of the NY Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck. My favorite expression is from Yogi Berra who said, "It's so crowded that no one goes anymore." I know what he meant and I agree. The attendance at the New England festival is a decent size which allows you to get close to the fun without getting stepped on.

And while we were there we had to thank our fiber friends for their contribution to our obsession I mean, our hobby. I just love those cute alpaca faces!

Barbara B's homemade treat this week was this delicious Nutella Sourdough Star Bread. The bread is a brioche recipe with a hint of sweetness and a light, fluffy texture. You can find the technique for folding it on YouTube here.

The reason I said November Fool! was because last week I honestly thought we wouldn't be having deck knitting anymore this year. And yet, here we are with a 70 degree sunny day and lovely breezes.

It was so nice even Fozzie decided to come out and get a breath of fresh air. At least that's what I've decided. It could have been that he heard the word "food" and thought we had something for him.

I've reached the decreasing portion on the Look Out! Winter Hat so it won't be 

long now to the finish line.

I sent the Chicks the link to a free pattern I saw over the weekend and Nancy jumped right on it and started the Foliage hat. It was free for a limited time but now it's a paid pattern. She didn't have the appropriate yarn for it in her stash and HAD to buy some. She couldn't decide between two colors so she got both! That's what I would do! 😉

This is the yarn Barbara B bought at the festival on Sunday which was accompanied by the pattern for the Sunset Bridge Shawl.

 The pretty yarn colors are reminiscent of the desert of the American Southwest.

Dorah made progress on her Mistake Stitch Scarf and has more yarn to make another.

Maureen's Totally Biased Infinity Scarf will be knitted to twice this length so it can be wrapped twice around the neck.

 If I recall, the pattern explains how to knit this in any weight yarn and your desired width.

Jan started the Reverb Shawl with a pretty variegated yarn. It begins with a garter tab cast on to create a neat continuous garter edging along the neckline.

Dorah completed the tweed hat she has been knitting these past few weeks. The white yarn has a slightly tan variation to it that creates depth to the fabric colors.

I'm going to spend a little more time on the deck now before the sun goes down and it gets too chilly. Enjoy the week and keep those needles clicking!

Looks like indoor knitting for the rest of the season

The ten of us have been named laugh buddies by Dorah. She remembered a book she read in the past by a nun, Sister Smollin, who recommended the importance of  having friends with whom you could share laughter to keep a healthy outlook on life. It seems every Tuesday afternoon at some point dissolves into gales of laughter and heaven knows we sure could use some light in our days.

And chocolate! There's always a need for chocolate! Today's treat ala Barbara B was sourdough chocolate chunk pumpkin bread. It was moist and light and that chocolate hit all the right notes!

Barbara K declared this to be the Scarf That Never Ends aka Mistake Stitch Scarf. Oh great! Now I have that kids song stuck in my head. LOL! 

Barbara B is halfway through the crown of another Hat of a Cat hat. I think she said she's making a bunch for Christmas gifts.

Dorah brought us her Gryer Shawl which she's making for herself. These two yarns look so pretty together and there will be a third yarn which is a white base with the purple and green "tweeded" (is that a word?) throughout.

Her donation project is made of two different sock weights held together to create a whole new look.

Jan made nice progress on her Simply Riveting Scarf which has a unique shape that drapes comfortably over the shoulders.

Margaret was admiring the Sunnyside Sweater Maureen made for a baby gift. We were very impressed because...

Maureen was able to make both sleeves match exactly where the color changes. She found the perfect little green buttons for it too.

I started the cuff of the Look Out! Winter Hat which is a variation of the 1898 hat which....

Margaret is knitting. The 1898 hat a double thick ear flap while the Look Out hat has a single layer.

Nancy is just casting on the Freya Baby Hat for her granddaughter. The pattern calls for it to be knitted flat with a sewn seam but we put our heads together so she could knit it in the round and save some time at the end.

Cinzia is back after a long vacation to Italy and Indonesia. She had a wonderful time but is still recovering from jet lag. She's working on a baby hat.

 

Maureen had a kerfuffle with her knitting. She was sailing along nicely when the yarn decided to break mid-stitch! She had to tink back a couple of rows to get to a spot where she could make a repair and continue. I'm sure it's happened to everyone at least once and it's just as bad as when the manufacturer decides to place a knot in the center of a skein. It's even worse when the yarn is variegated and they don't match the sequence of colors!

Carole worked on her bulky weight cowl using the pretty purple bulky weight yarn from our stash.

No sooner did I walk the Chicks to the door at the end of our gathering did I turn around to find Fozzie in one of his favorite spots. During the week I keep newspapers on the velvet chairs so he won't get his fur all over the seats. I just wasn't quick enough to cover them. LOL! 

But who could be angry with that face?

Well, my husband just brought home bbq ribs for dinner so I have to figure out what to serve with them. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Who knew!?!?

Who knew we would be knitting on the deck on October 22? The sun was driving the temp up to 78 degrees and it felt like it! I keep saying I'm going to put the summer clothes away but then we get a day like today and I'm searching for the lightweight short sleeve T's. No one was complaining though. Well, maybe I did, a little. I really love the cold winter weather but I do love the sunshine!

Barbara B's treat for the day was sourdough cinnamon snickerdoodles cupcakes. See what you missed Dorah! Not to rub it in but they were gooood! We had a discussion about cinnamon and how to tell if you are buying the real thing or a common substitute. After some googling, we found out that the most common product sold in grocery stores is cassia cinnamon which isn't really cinnamon at all. It comes from a completely different tree and in great enough amounts can cause some major health problems. The real deal is called Ceylon Cinnamon and should you buy it in bark form, would be fragile enough to break

 with little effort.

 

I finished a great stash buster project called the One Chevron Scrap Cowl. It starts with a provisional cast on so the short ends can be grafted together for an invisible seam.

I searched for six different sock weight leftovers and arranged them so the colors would blend...

from one color theme into another. Depending on which side faces front, it can look like a whole different cowl.

Barbara B finished the Avena Hat, a paid pattern on Ravelry. The bobbles along the cuff add a nice touch of texture to an otherwise plain design.

Maureen grew weary of knitting the baby sweater and decided to spice things up with a quick Helix Hat or what I refer to as another potato chip project...you can't make just one!

I also finished the Climber Crest Hat, a pattern with loads of texture. It's a very easy pattern that took no time to memorize.

In fact, I started another one right away. I was planning on making the Soldier's Cap but the thought of 9.5 inches of 2X2 ribbing made me want to give up. Since there were already 96 stitches on the needle, and the Climber Crest starts with 96 stitches and 2 inches of 2X2 ribbing, I made the executive decision to change patterns.

 

Barbara B started the Hat of Cat which starts with a provisional cast on. This pattern is a freebie on Ravelry.

Barbara K wanted to sit in the direct sunlight so she could see the stitches more easily while she knitted her Mistake Stitch Scarf. 

Carole enjoys working with bulky weight yarns and from the stash she picked out recently, she has already finished a stockinette cowl and...

is well on her way to finishing the garter stitch version of the same cowl. If you want a project to knit up quickly, bulky weight is the way to go.

Nancy started the textured section of the Twig Beanie. After searching the Ravelry site, I found out it is no longer available online in digital form but Ravelry hasn't removed it from the site. I'm glad I saved it in my library before it was discontinued! The pattern says to use a cable needle to make a two stitch right cable but here's a video that shows how to do it without all the fuss.

Jan started the Simply Riveting Scarf which has three points of increases making it sit nicely on the shoulders.

Here is the Sunnyside Sweater that Maureen took a short break from knitting to make the helix hat. She is working on the sleeves so it won't be long now until she's finished.

A couple of weeks ago my oldest grandson invited his grandfather and me to join him and his family as he and his fellow senior teammates were recognized before a big game. We were truly honored to be included in the festivities and my daughter and I had to bite our lip to keep from crying. Our "little baby" is graduating this year!!!😢 And yes, it's official! I am the shortest one in the family now (I was wearing heels so I look taller but I cheated LOL!).

Time flies by too quickly! Hug your loved ones and as always... keep those needles clicking!

Look who's visiting!

If you look closely to the left side of the table you will see, sitting between Dorah and Maureen, Beth! She traveled up from North Carolina to visit and squeezed in some time to stop and knit with us. Beth was one of my Chicks when we still had two groups, one in the afternoon for the retirees and one in the evening for those who envied the rest of us in our retirement. LOL! No, really, there were knitters who were still among the working outside the home world and so it was appropriate to split the time between them. I must admit though, it's nice that we can all meet at the same time now.

We had a lot of news to catch up so it was nice to have a relaxing afternoon visit.

Beth did not come empty handed. She was showing Dorah her current sock project, Mermaid Tail Socks, which had a pretty textured stitch.

The pattern can be purchased on Ravelry.

And she made a pair of socks to donate to our inventory called Basic B Socks. The self striping yarn adds some pizazz to a basic shortie sock. I couldn't find a link for you but there are many patterns available on Ravelry. Thanks for the donation!

She is also working on a Flax Sweater for one of her grandsons.This is a freebie on Ravelry and comes in a range of sizes from infant to adult.

Nancy finished her River Rush Slouch Hat and...

has already started a second one. 

She said it's a pretty easy pattern to follow since she can knit while we talk.

I have reached the portion of the Climber Crest Cap where I start decreasing to close the crown of the hat. This pattern is a very simple 4 round repeat, again, good social knitting work. I must warn you though. I found a typographical error in the written version which I addressed in an email to the designer. But she has not issued any updates to correct the problem. The error is Rnd 1 in the main section. In the repeat section between the *, the repeat ends with a K1 but it should read P1. The chart however is correct.

Dorah's basic beanie is coming along nicely. She combined two solid yarns to create a great tweed look.

Margaret started the 1898 Hat but the yarn is not cooperating and might require tossing. She said she found it in a donation stash so she doesn't know how old it is. But every now and then some of the plies are broken which needs to be cut away and reattached and it must have a high percentage of cotton fiber because it has no elasticity AT ALL. I reminded her that if it isn't fun, don't do it! She might be frogging this and throwing the yarn in the trash. 

Maureen's Sunnyside Sweater has grown and is showing off those beautiful colors! 

What a pretty gradient!!!

Jan made progress on her Reverb Shawl. I love the color palette she has chosen. The contrast between the colors will show off the pattern nicely.

And Fozzie had to put in an appearance. He was checking out Dorah's knitting bag because he could probably detect the scent of her kitty, Lorna Doone. He usually hangs around Dorah because she knows where I keep the "cookies" he likes. She is Fozzie's best friend on Tuesday afternoons. But then he's very fickle. If you have food for him, you'll be his best friend until you run out. LOL!

The past few days felt like fall with rain and wind but today the sun is out and the temps are supposed to get a bit warmer again. I'm not too concerned as long as I can get out for a walk. Speaking of, I'm going to go for a quick round before it's time to prepare dinner. 

So until next week, keep those needles clicking!