The sun is bright but the temps are cold

Carole, Margaret, Dorah, and I stayed inside where it was warm and cozy.

Barbara B. couldn't join us today but she sent a picture of her finished 1898 hat which she fancied up with a Latvian Braid embellishment. We were all duly impressed!

                                          

Carole dropped off two finished hats for the inventory. This one is called Beloved.

And this one is called Squarshy. The yarn is from donated stash which grows when no one is looking. It's a Berroco yarn called Jasper and when Beth Mashmann was still in our group we thought she had used up every inch of it. Lo and behold! Didn't I find some more hidden in the bottom of the bin. LOL!

Margaret finished the set she's been knitting. The hat is Orchid Mantis and she used the design feature to make a pair of matching fingerless mitts.

Carole has yet another skein of Jasper to make this Rafa's Hat.

Margaret was showing us her Ann Budd pattern book which gives directions for multiple patterns in various weights of yarn and in various sizes so you can adapt a pattern to the yarn you  

have in your stash.

This is a great book to add to your home library.

As you can see, it easily displays all the information you need for the size and yarn you'll be using.

She chose a tam style hat which she said she hasn't ever made before. When it's time to block the hat, you need to put a flat dish inside the hat to keep it flat as it dries.

I had some mint green Plymouth Encore left from a previous project so I decided to make a child's size hat using the tubular cast on method.

I followed a YouTube video which casts on stitches without having to use waste yarn. I am pretty pleased with the neat edge it creates.

Part way through the afternoon Carole got tired of knitting the Jasper hat and pulled out these lovely skeins of Jamieson's Shetland yarn to make a Helix Hat. 

Carole and I are two of a kind. We have to have more than one project on needles for when we get bored with one, we can move to another. Personally, I think it's more like 10 for me!

But hey! It keeps my needles clicking!

Just 3 of us

Cinzia and Dorah joined me this afternoon for a quiet session of knitting. Well, not too quiet because we like to laugh but it was a relaxing time spent together.

Cinzia tested out which size needle to use for the Ripples shawlette, a sweet little scarf with a gentle ruffled edge. The yarn label said it was a DK weight yarn and suggested using a size 9 needle which we all agreed sounded like too much needle for such a light weight yarn. But after trying a size 7 needle, the fabric seemed too rigid. I think she might have gone with a size 8 for her choice.

Dorah is a good sport for continuing to knit with yarn she is not exactly in love with. Ok, let's face it, she hates it! LOL! I have to admit that after trying to frog it for her, I wouldn't choose it for a project EVER! But she is a dedicated Chick who will finish it. I did tell her not to swear while knitting because we don't want to infuse that kind of energy into our knitting. ROFL! 

Cinzia added a basketweave pattern hat to the inventory which just by chance happens to match the color of...

The Jariq scarf I'm knitting. I just reached the halfway mark and have started the downhill race to the finish. It gets easier now that I'm on the decreasing end of the scarf. It's an exact match to the blue in the hat so we're going to package them together.

It's that time of the year when I get startitis so I'm happy to be almost finished with this project so I can search for something new to make. I think I'll go stash diving to see what inspires me. In the meantime, keep those needles clicking!

Raw and rainy outside, warm and friendly inside

With news of a new more virulent variant virus (say that 3 times) circulating in the area, we thought it wouldn't hurt to wear masks again. It doesn't interfere with our knitting so where's the harm?!

Barbara B. started the Quynn hat, a darling ear flap hat for a child. The little peak at the top makes your cherub look like a cuddly elf.

Barbara K. found another adorable child size hat pattern in one of the series the One Skein Wonders book.

Her yarn choice will make a delightfully cheerful hat.

Janna chose to start a Helix Hat using these lovely purple and pink yarns. It reminds me of a flower garden. Can't wait to see it finished!

Margaret has the second of a pair of fingerless mitts to match the Orchid Mantis hat she made last week.

Dorah's Easy Scarf is back on track after a rocky start. The pattern has you change directions of knitting at the halfway point and everyone I know, including me, has flubbed it at the turn. Unfortunately, this yarn being fuzzy, was a bear to frog but it's going in the correct direction now. 

It should be a lovely, soft scarf soon.

I'm working on a Jariq shawl with two skeins of sock weight yarn. I will soon be approaching the halfway mark when the increased stitches turn to decreased stitches to complete the other half of the triangle.

Way back in June of 2022 I started the Study Hall Shawl with yarn I bought at a trunk show for LolaBean Yarn. I dragged my feet on completing this because, if you didn't know before, I HATE CHARTS! And the mosaic portion of this shawl is charted only to make those little checkered squares. But once I got into the knitting it was a very entertaining project. It had just enough repetition to keep it easy enough to watch tv and follow the chart at the same time. This one is a keeper for me.

But I would gladly make another to donate if I find two yarns in my stash that look nice together. Oy! Just what I needed! Another to-do to add to the long list of patterns waiting to be knitted! LOL!

Well, I had better move my butt and finish what's waiting on the needles. 

Enjoy your week and keep those needles clicking!

 

We had a visitor today

Cinzia's daughter Elena spent some of her holiday break from college with us and brought her crochet along. That's Elena, third in from the left. 

She received a crochet pattern book for Christmas from her Dad and is trying out 

one of the patterns for a cowl. The book offers patterns written out and as graphs.

The stitches look great! 

Janna is making another That Easy Guernsey Hat using up what she hopes is the last of the pink superwash merino yarn. There were whole skeins donated to the group which someone must have planned to use for a larger garment so she has been able to make quite a few items with it.

I just started a hooded head covering which was listed as a helmet liner but it's really useful in any cold weather situation.

Dorah is more than halfway through her Close to You Shawl. She was working on something else but hit a snag along the way so it's in time out for now.

Carole lost her favorite winter hat so she made herself a new one.

It's called the Rhinelander Hat and she finished it in time to model it for us.

Margaret finished the Orchid Mantis Hat and used the chart for the Fair Isle portion to make matching fingerless mitts. One down...

One to go!

Cinzia started a Morton Cowl with a gradient fingering weight yarn paired with a bulky weight.

Here is Carole's finished Morton Cowl along with a hat she added to our inventory today.

And Dorah added a Helix Hat as well.

Our family celebrated Christmas this past weekend when everyone was available. I thought the table looked pretty with the red cloth and planned to leave it out for a bit. Unfortunately, SOMEONE had ideas of his own. He is usually really good about not getting on tables or counters but he loves a good tablecloth bed. 😸 It's a good thing I was planning on throwing it in the laundry anyway!

Time for me to get back to my projects. Have a good week and keep those needles clicking!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 Janna and Barbara K. joined me today to start the new year off knitting.  My project is the Ribbed Watchman Cap, a favorite easy pattern of mine, which calls for worsted weight yarn. I was feeling lazy and didn't feel like winding a hank of worsted weight so I grabbed a ball of sock weight yarn and held it doubled to make the same pattern. I think I might have cast on a few extra stitches to make sure the circumference of the hat would fit an adult. I am almost at the 9.5 inch mark when I can begin decreasing for the crown.

Barbara's project is the Mistake Stitch Hat.

She is a quick knitter because...

by 3PM she had finished it and added it to the inventory.

Janna made a hat and scarf ensemble using the same Mistake Stitch pattern. The yarn is superwash wool so it will be machine washable and dryable.

The thick fabric created with this pattern makes a warm, thermal layer to keep the wearer 

warm and cozy.

She had so much of this pink yarn that she is now making some stuffies, also known as amigurumi or stuffed toys, for our other knitting group. These two tubes will become teddy bears for children.

It's a cold, raw, rainy day here so I see a cup of hot tea in my future. 

Stay warm and keep those needles clicking!