I love video calls!

There was almost a full house this week. Carole was visiting her grands and Dorah was waiting for the plumber, so they were not here...but...

I made a quick video call to Dorah so we could see her WIP and FO and she could say hello to everyone. Her Helix Hat is almost finished.

                             

And her LOSY Hat is done. 

Barbara B finished the Legato Hat. It has an interesting method of construction which involves knitting the ribbing inside out with the edge curled and picking up stitches for the crown. Barbara tried explaining it to me but my head wasn't in the right place to get it.

She also completed a child size 1898 hat and...

she started another one using fingering weight yarn and a smaller needle to get a baby size hat.

I completed that hat I was making last week. I held two strands of sock yarn together, one solid and one variegated and every ten rounds I dropped one of them and added a new one. I had planned on making this in the same method as Equinox and Musselburgh which has two hats knitted end to end and tucked inside for double thickness. But after knitting six inches of stockinette, I was getting bored and decided to make a single thick beanie.

I used a size 5 needle so the fabric is dense and will be warm just the same.

Nancy liked the idea so much she searched through her stash for some sock weight yarns and started one of her own. Those colors are perfect together too!

I watched a Turkish YouTube tutorial for this zigzag stitch which was knitted flat in the demonstration. After a little brain work, I converted the pattern to be knitted in the round and now have an almost finished cowl. It's funny that when I started it I didn't like the results but I pushed on and reminded myself that sometimes it takes a good 3 inches before you can see the pattern emerge. 

I'm happy I did because now I love it!

Jan is working a tubular scarf that has ribbing on both ends. 

She had a skein of self striping yarn which she cut up and rearranged so the stripes would be in ascending and descending order throughout the scarf.

Tina finished the Hoodola from last week. This can be worn with the ribbed portion scrunched up around the neck or turned inside to become a face mask to ward off cold winds.

Her newest project is the Artemis baby hat which she started knitting flat and then decided to knit in the round on magic loop. Rather than frog the portion already knitted, I talked her into just continuing by joining in the round and sew up the inch of the cuff that was knitted flat, later.

Margaret "invented" a new stitch. She said that's what happens when you don't pay close enough attention to the pattern. She misread the instructions that said to slip a stitch purlwise with the yarn in back. After a few rounds of slipping with the yarn in front, she wondered why it looked different from the photo.

After rereading the instructions, she got her answer. I like her version too! But if you want to make the Wavelet Beanie her way, just leave the yarn in front when you slip the stitch.

Maureen's hat is coming along nicely.

She is also making the Olive You Baby cardigan for a friend's grandchild. It has an asymmetrical front adorned with a lovely cable pattern.

We talked short rows last week so Nancy wore her Papillon/Butterfly shawl that is comprised of many, many short rows. It requires a main color in a solid and a slow, long color changing yarn for the contrasting color. She did a beautiful job! 

Cinzia is just starting a sweet little bonnet using a peachy acrylic yarn. She wasn't sure of the fiber content so I put a match to it and it melted and smelled like burnt plastic so we are sure it's acrylic. She started the hat in the round and then realized the instructions have you knit it flat and sew the seam which she wouldn't have wanted to do. So knitting in the round was the way to go.

Our Barbara B treats today were sourdough oatmeal raisin cookies. I decided not to feel guilty about eating them because sourdough is supposed to be good for you. ;) They were delicious and I look forward to having another with a nice cup of hot tea later tonight.

As soon as Fozzie heard the door close after the last Chick left, he was front and center and begging for food (so what else is new?). It's close enough to his feeding schedule so before he gets into mischief, I'll say goodbye and....

Keep those needles clicking!

Exercise to earn knitting time

Today's conversation centered around our preferences for staying fit. Barbara B, Maureen, and Jan play pickleball. Barbara K takes pilates and yoga classes both in person and online. I work out to a YouTube video called "Yes to Next", produced by a mother (80 years old) and her daughter with surprise appearances by their kitty Mochi. We are lucky to have so many options available to us. And the more I exercise, the less guilty I feel about sitting to knit. Yeah, I'm not kidding anyone! I never feel guilty about sitting to knit! LOL!

Our sourdough treats today were lemon poppy seed scones with a "schmear" of butter. Not being a big fan of lemon flavored treats, I must admit, these were quite nice!

 I think I've finally ridden the wave of ennui and I'm back on track feeling inspired by a combination of the Musselburgh hat and Equinox hat. I searched through my bag of sock yarn remnants to combine two strands, a solid and a variegated, changing one of the colors every ten rounds to create a colorful new blend of yarn. I'm deliberating whether to make this double thick, two hats, one inside the other. The longer I work on it, the more I'm leaning to a single hat with a double thick cuff.

Jan's Easy Goes It Scarf is much better suited for this yarn she chose. Her original choice did not please her so she frogged it for this shawl instead.

Maureen started a basic beanie using the magic loop method of knitting in the round.

Barbara K is working on a brioche stitch scarf. When I first looked at it I thought it was the Mistake stitch but it was lacking that in between bar of stitches. She's doing an excellent job with tension.

Barbara B is almost finished with a baby cardigan. It is knitted in one piece from the top down with raglan shaping for the shoulders.

Nancy is working on the Boyfriend Scarf which uses an easy to remember pattern. It takes about 400 yards of worsted weight yarn and has only two rows to memorize.

As soon as Fozzie heard the ladies leave he showed up in the kitchen looking for a snack. Unfortunately for him, he'll have to wait for dinner time.

We continue to knit for the Falcon Boutique at Albany High School. We are going to knit right through the summer so we can collect a sizable inventory to donate. I have some ideas floating around my brain of designs I'd like to incorporate into a hat or cowl but I need to finish this hat first. 

So until next week, keep those needles clicking!

There's a new Chick in our flock!

We had to bid our farewells to Janna since she retired from the group but it didn't take long to fill the seat. Tina is a friend whom I have known for about a year from my other knitting group, The Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels, . She came to the library group knowing how to crochet but with a desire to learn how to knit and BOY! has she taken off! She already knits TAAT magic loop socks (two at a time) and loves making socks. I mentioned to her that we have a trial period so if a newbie doesn't feel like it's the right fit, they can bow out gracefully. Just about the nicest thing Tina could say was you know when it's the right place to be. She is a positive addition to our flock.

Barbara B baked Sourdough Banana-spinach Chocolate Chip muffins for today's treat. Now before you rush to judgement about the spinach, let me tell you they were delicious and did not taste like spinach. As a matter of fact, I didn't tell my husband until after he ate one and remarked how much he liked it because you know guys. If I told him there was spinach in them, he would have balked.

We have a few FO's. First up is Dorah's own shawl, The Reverb, which she made using mini skeins in her favorite collection of colors.

Nancy made a cute little bunny hat for her granddaughter in time for Easter. 

The Baby Bunny hat is a free pattern.

And Carole finished the confetti colored hat she has been working on these past few weeks. 

Dorah graciously offered to model it for us.

Dorah fell in love with a 500+ skein of DK weight yarn from Miss Babs called Yowza. She needed some advice about what to make with it. Her first choice was the Jariq Shawl but I think the yarn colors have too much movement and will overpower the lace of the pattern so you won't be able to see it. The next step will be to find inspiration by checking out the yarn on Ravelry to see what other knitters have made.

When we have a full house, we're going to have to use ALL the chairs! I love this! Dorah and Jan are anxiously awaiting the opening of their farm shares for the summer months. We talked about the veggies they buy in their weekly boxes and how you don't get a choice unless it's something you really don't like. It's a good way to sample foods you might not have grown up eating. And it forces you to find new recipes to spark up your repertoire.

Dorah's Helix Hat is well into the stripes this week. Those colors look great together.

Jan is much happier with her shawl since she started the Easy Goes It Shawl. Her first choice of patterns did not please her but she is very happy with this new pattern.

Carole's Bias Scarf grows steadily each week but that ball of yarn doesn't look much smaller! LOL!

Barbara B is knitting a Sampler Afghan from Plymouth Yarns. One of the sections of patterns has eyelets which might catch little fingers so she is considering replacing it with a different pattern, perhaps a seed stitch. This will be a baby gift for her friend who will be a first time grandma.

Tina has this gigantic ball of yarn to make the Hoodola. The fuzzy texture looks so luscious! Something tells me she will be able to get more than one project from this one skein of yarn. 😉

Like me, Nancy finds it much easier to be inspired to knit girlie items and has to be very intentional about knitting boys' and men's items. So she is making a basic beanie for this project.

 

Margaret is trying her hand at a two color brioche hat. Somewhere along the line she went off the rails a bit. I helped her tink it back to the last row that had the correct sequence of stitches so she's back on track. But if it gives her any more trouble, it might be time to chuck it. 

You know my motto...if it's not fun, don't do it!

I lost my knitting mojo last week while I was trying to knit a silk/bamboo blend yarn that wouldn't cooperate with me. My personal rule is to give a yarn and pattern 3 tries. If after the 3 tries it still gives me trouble then I know it doesn't want to be that project. I've given this yarn 13 chances, changing needles and patterns, to become something, well beyond my limits, and it has drained my enthusiasm. So the yarn is in time out and I'm using Berroco Comfort in worsted weight to make the Empower People cowl. I might decide to throw in a little lace at the border but there is time to decide.

The weather app says it 52 degrees and no wind, unlike the past few days where I felt like I could take off if I spread my arms. So I think a quick walk around the block before I have to cook dinner is in order. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

The weather is lovely today

It was so nice in fact, that we were talking about farm shares and visits to the farmers' markets for fresh veggies. The subject of how our own gardens would produce enough zucchini to supply a small village for a year led to Barbara B telling the story about never leaving your car unlocked at the office lot for fear someone would load unwanted zucchini into the back seat. She actually left some in a friend's car only to find out it wasn't actually the friend's car, it only looked similar! LOL!

Speaking of Barbara B, her baked treat this week was Honey Spiced Sourdough Bread with pecans. Yummy! That was another reason we were on the subject of zucchini and how it was the only way some of us were able to get vegetables into our children when they were little ones...until they discovered green stuff in their "cake". ;)

With all the talk about food, Fozzie thought he was getting some too. 

Sorry Fozz! Kitties can't have cake.

Dorah completed the LOSY Hat she has been working on these past few weeks. 

The colors are perfect together!

Barbara B finished a Look Out Winter! Hat with a nice self striping yarn to add interest.

She also completed a Cable All the Way Hat by Lisa Overby, with a lovely cable accent down one side.

I'm having a slump with my knitting so a simple 2x2 ribbed hat is all I can handle right now.

 Startitis will hit when the weather gets warmer.

Carole started a bias scarf but didn't like the narrow width so she frogged it and started over with a few more stitches for extra width.

The yarn is one of those that reproduces when no one is looking. But it's pretty so she doesn't mind.

Dorah is starting a Helix Hat with these three colors. We discussed her next project to use up some of the scraps of sock yarn she has so she might be making a Musselburgh Hat or Equinox Hat next.

Barbara B started a Mountain Snowcap Hat, a free pattern on Ravelry.

I think I'll go search through my stash to see if I get inspired to make something other than 2x2 ribbing. Or maybe I just need a nap. LOL! Anyway, have a great week and keep those needles clicking!