Not another one?!?!

You are probably getting sick and tired of seeing my 1898 Hat but I can't help it. When I wake up in the morning the stitches are already on my needle and ready to be knitted! It's a miracle!

You know that old saying? When life hands you lemons, make lemonade! I ran out of yarn with this one so with only 6 inches of yarn left I bound off and turned this hat into a ponytail hat so someone with long hair can accommodate the ponytail without discomfort.

And just as soon as it was bound off...POOF! another took its place! I started it on Sunday. By last night I had the earflaps finished and picked up the 84 stitches for the crown.

After tonight's two hour session it was done. It really is addictive knitting!

Elaine's hat is showing off its cables nicely. In between cables is another pattern going on. When it's finished I'll be better able to show you.

Barbara cast on stitches for a Spiral hat using some left over Noro Silk Garden from her stash. It's going to be pretty with all those lovely colors.

Margaret added a nice little cowl to the inventory tonight and went on to start...

a hat with stripes.

It's going to look like this.

Dorah's cowl in seed stitch is almost done. Another inch or two and she'll sew the narrow ends together with the mattress stitch.

Carole promised us her Wolkig cowl will be finished by next week. Now that she's retired she is busier than ever! She wondered how she managed to accomplish everything she did before when she worked full time! Isn't that always what happens when you retire?

Maureen is back too! She's working on a baby blanket now but will start a hat soon.

With two more Chicks looking into retiring in another year or two we joked about how they will be able to join the afternoon group. It's going to get crowded! I might have to add another afternoon! LOL!

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Warm heads and necks

The 1898 Hat is a self-knitting hat. This is my third so far and it's a pleasure to make. The pattern calls for 180 yards of yarn so Cascade 220, which is 220 yards, or Plymouth Encore, which is 200 yards, are perfect for this project. The earflap section is knitted flat and then folded, the edge from which stitches are then picked up and knitted in the round to the decreasing portion of the crown. Seriously, if I didn't do anything but knit I could make it in a day and a half. Unfortunately, I do have to get up and move every once in a while if I want to stay healthy. Man! I hate when life gets in the way of my hobbies! 😉

 Elaine is working on a double cuffed hat too. The 1x1 ribbing will be folded up after she works the cable design. This hat uses worsted weight yarn too.

 Barbara is making a 2x2 ribbed hat with the Shields of Garnet yarn from Periwinkle Sheep. All three of us were lamenting the fact that we might run out of yarn before we reach the end of our hats so we brainstormed a solution. Make it a ponytail hat! You know, those hats with the hole in the top so you can pull your ponytail through?

 Margaret finished her lovely Fair Isle hat for which she designed the pattern herself. Her original written pattern was a freebie but after starting it three times and finding an error in the chart of the design, she decided to make up her own Fair Isle pattern. It turned out lovely!

 Carole added a few things to the inventory tonight. She loves the Birthday Cowl, a simple repeating pattern which is good for mindless knitting.

 A friend of hers made this pretty cowl and decided to donate to our cause. Thank you Carole's friend!!!

 Carole's Wolkig is growing and soon may be finished. We compared it to my completed cowl and she has a few more inches to go or until she's bored.

 Beth worked on her Fair Isle cowl which is knitted in the round. That yellow yarn at the edge is for the provisional cast on so she can graft the two ends together and you'll never know where it starts or ends.

 She also added to our inventory with a pair of cozy, thick, bed socks. They were her first attempt at toe up socks, proving to Beth that she prefers cuff down. That's ok, you never know until you try.

We're still waiting for spring to arrive here in the Capital District of NY. Someone said we even had snow flurries this morning. Even I am getting annoyed at Mother Nature and I LOVE winter! Come June we'll probably all be complaining of the heat and humidity. So I guess I better enjoy the cool air while I can. 

Look who's back!

Elaine came to visit today. She and Barbara are both working on hats for the homeless women veterans of Saratoga County.

 This one, the 1898 hat, practically made itself. It's so easy that it took two days to complete.

 I immediately cast on for another with some Lamb's Pride Worsted Wool. I started it last night around 9PM.

 By 9PM tonight I finished the cuff/ear band and I'm ready to pick up stitches for the crown.

But that will have to wait until tomorrow. If I didn't have to do silly things like eat and sleep, it would have been finished by now! ;)

Since I forgot to take pictures of the evening knitting progress, you'll have to wait until next week to see what my Chicks have been up to. By then they will have made a bit more progress to show you. For now, keep those needles clicking!

Warm hats and cozy cowls

My afternoon Chicks are back! Well, some of them are anyway. Debbie is back from her winter break to warmer weather and she returned with a lovely rose colored hat. 

 The stitching gives a lovely texture which will make it warmer for the wearer.

 Barbara finished her Cushy Cowl using Shields of Garnet color of Periwinkle Sheep yarn. The texture of this cowl is also very insulating against the cold.

 Beth is back from her winter sabbatical too. She added this Noro yarn cowl. Lovely colors!

 And also this Fair Isle knitted tube which is grafted together so it's one continuous double thick cowl.

 

 She immediately cast on for another using the same yarns in the opposite stitching.

Beth's daughter visited tonight. That's her on the right. Gretchen knitted a lovely persimmon colored sweater for herself.

 Carole added a few more inches to her Wolkig cowl. With each row it's getting to look less and less like an octopus and more like a cowl.

 Dorah finished her Copy Cat Beanie and had enough yarn left to start a headband.

I finished the 1898 hat last week. It was a two day project which was an interesting knit.

I enjoyed making it so much I started another one today. I have to graft the ends together and pick up stitches for the crown and then I'll have another to add to the inventory.

At this rate I could knit a couple of hats a week in between my other projects. Oh wait... I have to eat and sleep too. Never mind! ;)

Starting over

Margaret's hat pattern seemed to have an error in stitch count so she frogged it back from last week's progress and decided to make up her own pattern. So far, so good!

 Carole's Wolkig cowl looks like an octopus right now but soon it will look like...

 the one I finally finished this week. The placement of decreasing stitches and increasing stitches makes it look like it's smocked. This merino/silk blend yarn is lightweight but warm.

 Dorah made 3 attempts to knit the Wolkig also but her yarn wasn't cooperating. We give a project 3 chances and if it is still giving us a hard time, it's time to move one. So she did! Now she's knitting the Copy Cat Hat in a lovely purple Patons yarn.

 This is what it will look like. I've seen this hat all around town this winter and we have 2 in our inventory so it will be nice to add another one!

Today was supposed to be the first day of spring but with temps in the low 30's and some snow still on the ground, it doesn't quite feel it. Maybe by next week Mother Nature will be in a better mood and start sending warmer days and some green sprouts to cheer us up. Keep your fingers crossed and your knitting needles clicking!

A quiet evening with my Chicks

Even though Cinzia has not been able to join us on Tuesdays for this semester, she has been busy knitting and finished two lovely items for the inventory. First up is this cute little pullover for the next time we donate to babies. The patterned section is magically knitted by the use of slipped stitches so you never use more than one color per row.

 This Mixed Wave cowl was filled with short rows to create the undulating effect between colors. The I-cord edges make a nice neat finish too.

 I watched a few Youtube video tutorials and learned the figure 8 cast on for two-at-a-time, toe up socks and the afterthought heel. These were a gift for a new baby in the family. I enjoyed making these and will probably use this as my go-to method of sock knitting. 

 Carole found a beautiful Madelinetosh fingering superwash yarn in the stash so she can start...

the Wolkig cowl. After casting on 200 stitches she is finally on her way through the first row.

The colors in this yarn are gorgeous!

Joules is still visiting but she didn't hang around long. She had to catch up on her napping in her favorite spot.

Margaret found a mistake and had to frog her hat from last week but she is back on track now.

I'm hoping to have my Wolkig cowl finished by next week so I can cast on something new. I wonder what I should knit next...

I think Rumplestiltskin is real!

Margaret started off the evening with her completed cowl, The Cool Side of Warm. It has a little slit at the neck opening so it can fit over your shoulder. The Cascade 220 yarn makes it a warm fabric just right to keep out the cold winter air.

 Then Margaret had to wind two new colors to start a stranded hat pattern.

 Her choice of cream and chartreuse will look very nice.

 This is what it will look like when it's finished.

 Barbara is almost finished with her Cushy Cowl. That tonal red yarn is beautiful!

 Carole added some length to her Birthday Cowl. It will be completed soon too.

 Dorah had an oops evening. The Wolkig cowl she was making had an accident and needed to be frogged so I got a picture of the darling stitch markers she is using to keep her place.

 And lastly is my Wolkig cowl which seems to be taking me forever to knit. I think there are yarn gremlins who sneak out at night to add to my ball of yarn so it never runs out.

Hey Gremlins! Go back to Rumplestiltskin where you belong!