A quick getaway

Last week DH and I took a trip to Daytona Beach for some sunshine and warm temps. We spent three days on the beach enjoying the wildlife. I had never seen so many pelicans in one place!

I am always amazed to watch them fly. They look like pterodactyls to me!

The first two days the beach was littered with jellyfish. You couldn't walk more than a foot without having to detour around one. They ranged in size from very small to very large. This one was about twelve to fifteen inches in diameter. Monday night there was a fierce rain storm and by the next day there wasn't a jellyfish to be found anywhere!

 The egrets kept their distance from the sea gulls and the sandpipers. At least I think they were sandpipers. They scrambled across the sand, stopping every few inches to jam their beaks into the sand for a snack. When the waves rushed in they all ran for the hills! It was such a funny sight!

On our way inland to visit family in central Florida we stopped at an orchid farm and were greeted by an emu and donkey. They seemed to just tolerate each other.

 We flew back home by way of Pennsylvania so we could spend some time with the grands. Leo is getting so big that he no longer needs help on the playground.

 And Moose is a real daredevil! 

 Sunday night Poppop and the boys "vegged out" together while I knitted. A day filled with activities wore them out.

Now on to our knitting. Let me introduce you to a new Chick. This is Geri Gill. We met her indirectly through Liz's daughter-in-law. She crochets but we promised we wouldn't hold that against her, LOL! 

 On her very first day she showed up with three pairs of mittens! She's going to fit right in!!!

 Geri has already begun a scarf for our next donation.

 Kathleen wanted to try out the Brioche stitch and decided to make a length of fabric and whenever she tires of knitting she'll decide if it will be a scarf or cowl. I think the cowl is winning. The yarn is Plymouth Encore, a wool and acrylic blend that is machine washable.

Barbara bound off ? Binded off? Well, however you say it, she finished her stash buster scarf.

 Elaine started another hat because she added...

 three to our inventory today.

 Cinzia blocked her slipped stitch scarf and her daughter's crocheted scarf and added them to the inventory as well.

 I worked on a Hitchhiker Scarf while on vacation. As it grows wider, each row gets longer and takes longer to knit too. I like the subtle color changes of the Jojoland yarn.

 Carole wore her Crackerjack scarf to show us how nice it looks. Unfortunately, it is scratchy so she'll have to wear it over a turtleneck. I love the placement of the stripes that look so planned. It was perfectly random.

 Now she is knitting the Honeycomb cowl with pretty purples. This is an easy pattern that uses slipped stitches in the pattern.

 Maureen finished her blue hat with the nice cabling and now....

 she's on to another hat.

 Beth was showing Carole her Wickerwork hat, a free pattern on Ravelry.

 We were having a bit of trouble envisioning the pattern but maybe because she hasn't knitted too far into the design yet.

 I'm sure once it's blocked it will be fine.

 Beth brought in a sock she and her daughter are knitting together for a family member. Beth knits the red yarn and her daughter knits the beer steins using the Intarsia method.

 Dorah's Mistake Stitch scarf is steadily growing. Scarves seem to take forever and then BAM! They're finished.

Well, if I keep dilly dallying I'll never finish my scarf so I better say good night.

A generous gift

An email found its way to me last week in which we Chicks were offered a bunch of hats that were hand knitted by a lady who lives in town and wanted to donate them to someone in need. There were more than 20 hats in the bag! And each one was colorful or original with cute pompoms and stripes and patterns. Thank you Barbara Pascalides for your most generous gift. We will see to their distribution where they are most needed.

Cinzia finished her original design scarf where she finished off the edges with a crochet stitch. All it needs is a thorough blocking. Since the yarn is a nylon and acrylic blend it will have to be covered with a cloth and steamed to within an inch of its life!

 Elaine finished the hat for her granddaughter and now her daughter-in-law and granddaughter can match!

 The flower is knitted very easily and the colors look darling!

 Beth finished the hat she frogged last week and now it will fit a little one.

 Her September Circle cowl is finished and just needs a blocking. Beth deliberated over whether to knit one more row but...

 she made the decision to bind off knowing this much yarn would never stretch to finish another row.

 Tonight she cast on for a hat with Patons Classic Wool in a cheerful red.

 Maureen's cabled hat is growing...

 as it Dorah's scarf. She couldn't work on it much during the week because she was just too stressed out while watching her beloved Mets!

 My ZickZack scarf grew a little over the week. I have so many projects on needles that each one grows just a little at a time.

 Carole finished her cowl and matching hat and they look great.  Notice the leftover Halloween candy beside them. I was surprised at how few Trick or Treaters we had this year. So we have to eat it! Yeah, we HAVE to! LOL!

 Carole's Cushy Cowl is growing nicely. It is a quick pattern to knit and as I said before the pattern doesn't really show up until you've knitted a few inches of fabric.

Well, I guess I had better get to a few of those multiple projects I have in progress. It would be nice if I had at least one finished one to show you next time!

The Superheroes to the rescue!

This weekend was the annual costume party at our club and my grandsons brought their mom up to celebrate. Or should I say Deadpool and Captain Jack Sparrow brought the Black Widow?

 Captain Jack was a bit overwhelmed by the haunted house but he soon recovered when he spotted the candy cauldron.

 Deadpool was pretty spooky with that shrunken head.

 After dinner was the "Let's see how much sugar you can pile on a shortbread ghost", otherwise known as cookie decorating time.

 It must have been delicious...

 there were only a few crumbs left.

 It looked as though Captain Jack was going to offer me a bite of his Peanut Butter cup but...

 no such luck. It disappeared quicker than you could say, "Pretty please!"

 This afternoon the Chicks showed off some of their FO's. Elaine made a hat for her granddaughter which turned out to be too big so she will make a smaller one and then have one for her daughter-in-law to match.

 Kathleen gave her daughter her knitted hat so she started a new one for herself. A straight forward 1X1 ribbing will fold up onto a stockinette cap.

 Cinzia picked up a crocheted scarf where her daughter, Elena left off. Now that school has started her girls don't have as much time to knit and crochet anymore.

 Barbara created a little stash busting pattern to make a scarf which will look great with denim jeans.

 Maureen was overjoyed to turn in her finished Mistake Stitch Scarf and added a cowl to the inventory too.

 I thought Dorah's Mistake Stitch Scarf looked a lot like her favorite team colors.

 She had to leave early tonight so she wouldn't miss a minute of the World Series.

 Carole made a scarf for a friend using Martina Behm's pattern called Easy. She used a self-striping yarn from Zauberball. The colors are gorgeous.

 Here is Carole's current project called Cushy Cowl, a pattern by our friend Karin.

Another lovely yarn by Zauberball is the one Beth is using for her September Circle cowl.

 Last week Beth was concerned that the hat she was knitting was using up yarn more quickly than expected. Rather than run out and not having more of a matching dye lot she frogged it in favor of...

 starting over in a smaller size.

 Maureen's hat has pretty cables and she will soon be decreasing for the crown.

 Last week I started the ZickZack scarf using a silk/cotton/acrylic blend yarn. The colors are blending nicely together.

Have a good Halloween and don't eat too much candy!