HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Today is my birthday, as if you couldn't guess! Barbara B equipped me with the appropriate adornments so it couldn't be missed. 😉 And Tina brought some stunning flowers to brighten the occasion.

Barbara B's treat for the celebration was an all chocolate cake with a creamy frosting which we all thoroughly enjoyed! And yes, I blew out all the candles on the first try. 

   

  I already got my wish for the best friends a girl could ask for!

I mentioned that Cinzia knitted two pairs of Norwegian style mittens while she was away. Today she brought them to explain how she made them. These first mittens were knitted from the cuff to the top and if you look closely, both sides have a pattern. These were made with a thumb gusset while simultaneously knitting the palm.

This pair was knitted top down which Cinzia said she found a bit easier since it starts with fewer stitches on the needle. But the thumb was made using a similar technique as when you knit an afterthought heel on a sock. She claims both were very easy to knit. I'll take her word for it. 

She completed the Agnes (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/s34-10-agnes-sweater) child's sweater and the details are beautiful! Since she has a boat load of this yellow yarn, she also completed...

The Through the Forest Hat. It was a freebie when first published but is now a purchase only pattern.

Her Cassidy Rose Scarf is ready for the inventory as is...

a scarf she knitted with a rayon ribbon yarn. It is very soft and has a lovely drape. This was a project that was created as she knitted without a pattern. I hope she wrote it down! It's like those recipes I create that my family loves and asks for a repeat but since I made it up on the fly, I can't duplicate it unless I write it down.😟

Dorah finished a cozy cowl that was still in progress last week. It flares gently at the bottom for a perfect fit! And she has enough yarn left over which can be used in a Helix Hat if she adds a couple of solid colors to the mix.

This week she started the Workday Scarf using a Knit Picks gradient yarn. If you look closely, you can see a bit of pink yarn peeking through the needles. I can't wait to see all the color changes!

Barbara B has started the Cozy Autumn Sock with an intricate pattern to the cuff and...

she is almost finished with her Workday Scarf. The yarn is a 400 yard skein of Lolabean so she had to weigh it and find the middle to determine when to start the decreases for the scarf.

Barbara B completed her Very Close Talking Hat. That red is even more stunning in person!

Carole was further along on her Barrel Rib Reversible Hat but during the week she put it down for a break and when she picked it back up, she accidentally started knitting it in the opposite direction! Like that hasn't happened to me (she says sarcastically). So she frogged back and now she had a little white bow to call her attention to the right side of the work so that doesn't happen again!

Jan's Avenue Scarf is almost finished. This is the souvenir yarn she bought in Newfoundland which reminds her of the colors of those adorable puffin birds.

Since Cinzia has more yellow yarn, she casted on for another Cassidy Rose Scarf. You can see the beginning of a cable at the very edge.

And I was right when I thought Tina frogged her scarf last week. She didn't like the way it was coming along and now she's happy with the results. It's cool how the cables run diagonally up the scarf!

I searched through my stash for some inspiration and found a yarn from White Birch Fiber Arts, a merino and nylon blend self-striping sock yarn and decided to try my hand at the Zick Zack Scarf. This was a very popular pattern when it was first published way back in 2014. It was also when I found out I can't count to 5! I must have started this scarf a dozen times because I was determined to make what looked like such an easy project. After so many failed attempts with my chevrons looking like they had a bit too much to drink, I decided the yarn didn't want to be that scarf! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. 😜 But this time I think I've got the hang of it! By the way, that yellow yarn is a provisional cast on so I can graft the live stitches together at the end and make this an infinity scarf.

My husband is taking me to dinner to celebrate another spin around the sun so I need to get my stuff in gear. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Mother Nature, could you make the whole summer like today?

 It is 71 degrees and sunny, perfect for deck knitting today. The curtains went up to make sure it stayed pleasant all afternoon. We caught up with family news and heard about Jan's recent trip to Ireland where she brought back some goodies...

She bought this gorgeous sweater which we all agreed none of us has the fortitude to knit for ourselves. It is just a glorious collection of cables to boggle the mind.

She also found, after much hunting, some yarn to make a hat. I had heard that Ireland has many shops with ready made knits but not so much of a collection of yarns to knit your own projects. Rumor has it, the fiber produced by local sheep gets shipped out to be processed and knitted into garments which are then sold in the shops to tourists.

Jan will get to the hat knitting after she finishes her Zick Zack Scarf which is coming along beautifully!

Barbara B made sourdough white chocolate chip cookies and as always, there were enough for take home boxes for those of us who want a midnight snack. 😉

I had a worsted merino superwash and a silk mohair left over from a scarf I made for myself so I cast on to make a bandana cowl. Dorah asked me if I made up the pattern and the answer was complicated. I knew I wanted to make the pointed bandana style and I kinda-sorta knew how to make it but a few inches into it I looked up the Tubularity Cowl by Martina Behm and found out I was basically knitting that pattern with a few tweaks of my own. I'm on the bind off row now so it will soon be finished.

Barbara B started the free pattern Very Close Talking Hat.

She is almost finished with the folded cuff. Love that RED!!!

Speaking of red, Maureen finished her Bankhead. And she said she's determined to finish the reversible stripes scarf. Why do scarves seem to take forever to knit?!?! 

Last week I showed you the beginnings of Tina's project and said I couldn't remember what it was. Well, this week I found out! She completed a mobius cowl based on a Cat Bordhi pattern. It's long enough to wear doubled around the neck or long and drapey.

This week she started a bias cable scarf from a book in her personal library.

You can't tell by the picture that the cables are knitted on the bias and there's a dropped stitch on either side of the cables to create a lace panel. The yarn chosen for the sample is a perfect example of why you don't use a busy yarn with a heavily detailed pattern. (my computer is being weird again😡)

I noticed that before we were finished for the day, Tina frogged what she had knitted so far because she had a feeling something wasn't right. She'll have it all figured out by next week. No, wait, by tonight probably. 😉

Dorah is working on a cowl also using a nice neat 2X2 ribbing. It will be large enough in circumference to wear when it's not too cold but can be strategically pinned for those colder days.

Carole knitted a sweet baby hat for a friend who is celebrating her first grandchild.

And she finished her "Car Scarf" as she calls it. She takes long rides to visit her children and grandchildren and always brings along a project that she can knit as a passenger on those long trips.

Her current project is the Barrel Rib Reversible Hat, a freebie on Ravelry.

Well, I need to finish that bind off on the cowl. So have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Summer feels like it has arrived

It was 84 degrees this afternoon so it's a good thing I had both fans going and the curtains up or we wouldn't have been able to sit outside. I guess it was too hot for the local bears to be out and about today too. That was a topic of conversation today since just a couple of days ago there was a black bear spotted a block away and the wrought iron bird feeder pole was bent down to the ground with the feeders scattered. It's been about 5 years now (since a new set of townhouses were built) that we have a "visitor" at least once each spring. One of the big boys was walking down my driveway last year like he paid the mortgage!!! They are magnificent animals but I'd rather see them on tv, not while I'm taking a walk! 😟

 Barbara B made a beautiful hat called "Through the Forest" with American Ewe yarn. That red is stunning! It has a good amount of stretch so it will fit a wide range of head sizes.

I ran out of yarn before I could finish 7 repeats of the cable motif on the Benjamin Matthews hat called Rock Ridge Beanie. Even cutting it short by 3 repeats it will fit an adult with a small to medium sized head.

The whole weekend was a washout as far as my knitting goes. I tried to use a very soft baby alpaca yarn that was gifted to me but after frogging 5 different patterns, I decided to put the yarn away and try something else. Last night my DH had to tell me to step away from the knitting and go play a video game because I was still having issues. But today I took a kid silk mohair and a merino and held them together to knit a simple triangle and so far it's working. I'm thinking I'll knit it wide enough to fit over my head and around my neck and turn it into a cowl.

Barbara B's Workday Scarf is nearing completion. It's such a pretty yarn!

Maureen made tons of progress on her Bankhead hat. Another stunning red yarn but this is a Malabrigo yarn. Both the Workday Scarf and Bankhead patterns are freebies too!

Check out the beautiful detail on Cinzia's Cassidy Rose Scarf!

It's a paid pattern on Ravelry. It's one of those patterns that you knit from tip to tip and it's reversible. It's a good idea to weigh your yarn so you know when to start decreasing for the opposite side so you don't run out of yarn before finishing.

Tina told me what she was making but I neglected to write it down. I'll have to ask her next week.

  

But her French Twist Scarf is finished with its sweet little scalloped edge.

Nancy's Workday Scarf, like Barbara B's is almost finished too! I'm going to have to hunt through my stash to find a yarn and make one of these. I really like the simplicity of it but the lace edge has enough going on to keep it entertaining.

I found the picture I took, from a good distance, of Yogi, who wandered down my driveway last year. He's (or she's) a big boy/girl! If you don't bother them, they won't bother you. We just make sure there's no food around the house. 

I would love to see Fozzie's reaction to it but he's always asleep somewhere and misses the visits. 

That's all I have for you this week. Check back next Tuesday to see what we've finished...and maybe see another bear!!! Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

I just realized I forgot to show you our sourdough treat from Barbara B for this week! Sorry Barb! We had delicious Fudge Brownie cookies! How could I forget?!?!

Cinzia is back!

There she is on the bottom right of the picture. She accompanied her husband on his almost year long sabbatical to Spain and Sweden and returned just two weeks ago. She entertained us with stories of her escapades through Seville, and surrounds, to Morocco, a month in Italy visiting family, and getting to experience the weird contrast of day and night in Sweden. She tried delicious local foods, walked many more than 20,000 steps some days, and experienced the local culture and people for a memorable time away from her Albany home. We're glad to have her back and I can breathe a sigh of relief that her orchids survived their stay with me and one even bloomed! Welcome back, Cinzia!

She brought some cannoli to serve with Barbara B's yummy sourdough donut holes. I was a bit of a glutton and tried all three!

 

Dorah finished her One Row Handspun Scarf and was so excited it's done!

Barbara B is using Lolabean yarn for her Workday Scarf which is the same pattern that...

Nancy is knitting with her variegated yarn. To look quickly you would think they're two different scarves. It just goes to show how much influence a yarn has on the finished project.

Cinzia is working on a child's short sleeved T-shirt with a pretty lace accent.

And Maureen is working on the Bankhead Beanie with the twisted ribbing cuff.

Margaret was busy during the week so she apologized for not having made much progress on her Bewind Hat. That's ok, we have time.

My needles are busily clicking away at a Benjamin Matthews design called Rock Ridge Beanie. I'm holding my breath though because the yarn didn't have a label and I was sure it was a skein of Cascade 220 Superwash which has 200 yards which is what the pattern requires...except, I'm running out of yarn quickly! I might be frogging this for a single cuff instead of a 5 inch folded cuff.

My "supervisor" is sending me thought waves that it's almost snack time.

Somehow it feels like it is always snack time with this fuzzball! But how can you resist that smile?!?! Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!