Our first outdoor knitting day!

We had a breezy 82 degree afternoon for a very pleasant knitting session. The sun kept moving until we no longer had a large enough patch of shade for those of us who didn't want full sun but a little sun on my GLOW-IN-THE-DARK pale legs can't hurt. 😉

 Barbara K finished two hats that have been in progress the last few weeks. This helix hat and...

this striped hat used up some of the leftovers from her stash. Both hats are a great example of what to do with small amounts of yarn.

Barbara B finished a helix hat too. The colors of this remind me of a fuzzy bumble bee.

This is her Beacon Hat: Worsted which was last week's WIP.

Dorah made good progress on her baby alpaca hat she started last week. 

The fiber is soooo soft and hypoallergenic too!

Barbara K worked a few more inches of her striped scarf with the lovely color changing yarn.

Jan was having issues with a red scarf she was trying to knit. But we think the yarn didn't want to be that scarf. So she pulled out her Simple Sideways Triangle Scarf to restore her tranquility. She and I were trying to make sense of the red scarf pattern which was a poorly written pattern but finally decided it wasn't worth the aggravation. I know not all pattern designers are professional but it would be nice to have a friend knit the item from the written instructions before releasing the pattern to be sure it makes sense!

Nancy continued on with her Dupont Street Hat with the slipped stitch motif.

Tina is determined to knit down her stash and found a sparkly fingering weight yarn which was too fine a gauge for the hat she wanted to knit.

So she searched on YouTube and found out how to do a Navajo Ply which turns a single strand into three and makes it a heavier gauge, in this case more of a DK weight yarn.

Barbara B found a pretty variegated purple yarn in her stash to create the Zomboni Scarf. That's zOmboni, not like the vehicle that cleans the ice hockey rink.😉

I had some natural colored superwash wool left after finishing the All Wound Up Beanie... 

so I used a knit into the stitch below technique to make a thermal ear warmer. Just a few more inches and I can sew up the short ends.

Her treat today was a box of homemade sourdough oatmeal raisin cookies. Yummy!!!

As soon as the ladies left, I came inside to see this! His stare was kind of creepy. 

Like the twins from that Nicholson movie.😟

Well, the stare worked! He got his afternoon snack and now he's napping somewhere, only to reappear when he hears a wrapper crinkling or at the next mealtime, whichever comes first. 

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Almost a full house!

Cinzia is still on sabbatical and boy do we miss her! Can't wait to hear all about her escapades. But we have the full complement of the Chicks that are still stateside. And yes, Maureen is back from her southern break with a lovely tan and energy to get back to knitting. There was much discussion about book recommendations and grandchildren today.

Barbara B's treat today was a hit! She made sourdough pretzel bites which we dipped into either mustard or port wine cheddar cheese. I can't decide which I liked better.

But everyone enjoyed them!

You can tell by the almost empty dish! I guess no one wanted to be the "old maid" 😄

Dorah finished the 2x2 ribbed hat that was started last week. She has more of this yarn left over which we think is baby alpaca because of the soft feel and halo features of the yarn. And that's her Sophie Scarf which she finished last week. It's one of those easy, tv knitting projects that can be knitted to any length or width.

 

Barbara B finished her 1898 Hat.

Maureen started a blue 1898 and finished her purple hat which was 

started before she became a snowbird.

On my needles is the All Wound Up Beanie from Benjamin Matthews. I wasn't sure I liked this one when I first started it but the more I knitted the more I liked it. I have to keep reminding myself to be patient and wait for the design to develop.

Dorah jumped right into another 2x2 ribbed hat with more of that baby alpaca yarn.

Barbara K started another scrap happy hat with left overs so they won't go to waste.

Jan's Simple Sideways Triangle Scarf is a bit longer this week. She's been experimenting with knitting different edge stitches to find a finish she likes. She decided on slipping the last two stitches purlwise with the yarn held in front and then knitting those two stitches on the next row. It makes a narrow I-cord for a smooth border.

Barbara B is working the cuff of her Beacon Hat: Worsted. This pattern is a good choice for a gender neutral hat. I always feel drawn to feminine designs and find it difficult to feel inspired to knit men's items. This will make it easier to feel inspired.

Carole makes good use of her magnifying light while she knits her cowl of her own design.

Tina didn't want me to take a picture of her hat because she hadn't made much progress. But I feel it's important to emphasize that what we do doesn't magically happen overnight! My Chicks devote a good portion of their time to helping others through their knitting skills.

Nancy started the Dupont Street Hat that is comprised of a slipped stitch/mosaic design element which presents a brick pattern.

Margaret finished the portion of her 1898 Hat that covers the ears. 

She'll be picking up stitches to finish the crown next.

As soon as the ladies went home I ran to grab the covers for the velvet chair seats but "someone" was too quick for me. What is the fascination with sitting on these chairs? I think he likes to hide under the tablecloth. He's less of a cat that likes heights and more of a mole who likes to hide under ground.

I get it though. There are days when all I want to do is hide under the covers too. 

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

It feels like spring!

Aw! I just noticed that we didn't get Jan in the group picture today! She had an appointment and arrived late but we did enjoy her company today. We caught up on news about the grandchildren, future trips, and who we saw at the No Kings Rally on Saturday. Those of us who were able to attend wore our red Melt the Ice Hats. It was a very well attended and uplifting gathering where we saw many of our friends.

 Barbara B's treat today was a seasonally appropriate Hot Cross Buns...

Sourdough of course! The apricot glaze and orange zest played nicely with the raisins.

Carole worked on her cowl with the vintage yarn from her stash. I asked for the pattern name but she is making it up as she goes.

Her second project is the Squarshy Hat with the vertical focal points running up the crown.

Barbara B worked on the 1898 Hat with a Valley Yarns heather green yarn.

Margaret worked on the same hat pattern but she isn't as far along as Barbara.

Jan started the Dotty Cashmere Cowl. The dots are made by knitting a purl stitch in the field of knit stockinette. It's a very subtle design element.

Nancy's project is the Copycat Cowl. 

It is a freebie on Ravelry and I believe there are hat patterns to match.

Barbara K's scrap happy hat has grown many inches since last week. This is another basic beanie made up on the fly.

I was in the home stretch of the French Twist scarf and...

finished it just in time to snap a picture. I used Universal Yarns Bamboo Pop, a bamboo and cotton blend yarn.

I made a Grid Gambit cowl for a dear Pennsylvanian friend and it will be delivered to her in a week. But she'll get to see it tonight when we FaceTime. She picked out the yarns when I visited Terri's studio and connected through FaceTime. It's a great way to shop. That's how my husband bought me an Irish knit Coat Sweater and Poncho when he visited Ireland on a golf trip a few years ago. I still remember how kind Geraldine, the sales lady, was and how helpful it all turned out because both items fit perfectly!

I was so inspired by how quickly it knit up, 7 days start to finish, that I immediately cast one on for myself and just yesterday knitted 60 rows already! And I'm not a fast knitter by any stretch of the imagination!

Lastly, I finished a cowl which started out as a lace shawl but 13 rows in I was already having issues with stitch count and splitty yarn. I made the mistake of falling in love with the lovely gradient hues and not the fiber itself so I made a simple cowl which showcases the colors. I still have a lot of this yarn left over but will give myself a break before I struggle with it again.

Life's too short to fret over yarn and as I always say, if it's not fun, don't do it! 

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

A small gathering

It was a small gathering today but no less productive. We knitted to the accompaniment of Strauss waltzes playing in the background. 

 Even Fozzie decided to join in for a few minutes. He sniffed a couple of tote bags to check out the yarn and moved along when he discovered there were no treats for him.

Tina tried her hand at the new-to-us tubular cast on and made a couple of Melt the Ice Hats for Saturday's No Kings Rally. The little hat will be worn as a lapel pin.

She used the same cast on technique for a hat she's knitting for a friend. The Call of the Wild Hat might be listed under "Rated R" but it still requires good knitting skills. Her friend said he wanted a hat with deer on it, he just didn't specify what they would be doing.😉😂

Margaret started the 1898 Hat which begins with a sideways knitted cuff. The part that goes over the ears is double thickness so it's nice and warm.

Jan is working on the Simple Sideways Triangle Scarf which luckily we saved and printed because it is no longer available on Ravelry. You might be able to find it elsewhere online.

I'm working the French Twist which I first admired when Jan was knitting it. I had some Bamboo Pop cotton and bamboo blend yarn which is working perfectly. I decided to throw in a couple of extra repeats to make it just a tad longer.

Carole was further along on her Squarshy Hat last week but she had a nagging feeling it was too small so she frogged it and added more stitches to the cast on to start over.

My Pennsylvania friend, Connie, was admiring my Grid Gambit Cowl last weekend when we were visiting for my grandson's 19th birthday. So I had a private shopping day at Whole Knit n' Caboodle to choose some combination colors and she picked a lovely light gray and a variegated called Bourbon Street in a superwash merino DK weight.

And darn it all if four more skeins of yarn didn't just jump into my purse!!! These lovelies are going to be the Murano Squares Boomerang Shawl. If you like slipped stitch knitting patterns then this and the next will be entertaining for you to knit. The Grid Gambit is also slipped stitch/mosaic knitting.

I couldn't resist the warmth of these two colors together so they will become 

the Murano Squares Bandana cowl. 

I keep saying I'm not going to buy more yarn but I think I need an intervention! I certainly need more hours in a day! And maybe people shouldn't be tempting me with such beautiful colors! LOL!

Well, all this yarn isn't going to knit itself so I better get a move on and get those needles clicking! Won't you join me?