Last week we were outside, this week not so much

The cool, drizzly weather drove us inside this week. But I had a nice hot pot of homemade chai masala for anyone who needed a warming up. I watched a video or 400 of how to make your own spice blend, bought myself a marble mortar and pestle, visited the local ethnic food store for spices, and have been making it almost every morning for breakfast.

Cinzia, standing on the right, wound some yarn so she could start her project. You'll see the beginning a little further down.

Barbara K. jumped right into this hat pattern with a purple and charcoal combo. You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.

Her cast on shows where she placed markers to divide the stitches so she can keep

 her place while knitting.

Barbara B. is making a baby gift for her daughter's friend using a machine wash and dry acrylic which she found at Michael's. It was surprisingly soft and looks to be knitting up quite nicely.

This is the pattern and it's free on Ravelry. I think this is the second one she's made, so far!

Janna's cowl is made with slipped stitches to create a geometric pattern. It's coming along beautifully!

The Arona Cowl is available for purchase on Ravelry but I was lucky to have caught it on the original day that it was offered for free so I could share it with the Chicks.

Dorah picked out three lovely rosy pink yarns to make a basic beanie hat with wide stripes.

Here she is after a few rows of the brim and will be changing to the light pink very soon. She is using this hat as an opportunity to learn how to make jogless stripes in circular knitting.

Margaret has finished the brim of her 1898 hat and is picking up stitches to knit the crown. Because so much of the bottom edge has been knitted by making the brim in this manner, the hat seems to fly off the needles by the time you get to knitting the crown.

Maureen's Step Zeppelin Cowl is made by slipping stitches, much like the way Janna is making her cowl. The pattern is easy to memorize and therefore makes good conversational knitting in a group. Some patterns are strictly TV knitting because they require too much attention to talk and knit simultaneously.

And here is the beginnings of Cinzia's project. It's called Panopeia and is free on Ravelry. It's a pretty lacy top t-shirt which looks like a great summer blouse for warmer weather. Cinzia needed yarn in the appropriate weight to make this and it just so happens I was going through the stash and came across this lovely merino/silk blend, which happens to be the kind of yarn used in the original sweater. Unfortunately, it is a lighter weight yarn but luckily there is enough for her to use two strands held together to get gauge.

I'm working on Just Keep Swimming Cowl using some Berroco Comfort in baby pastel colors. Because this is made with an acrylic/nylon blend yarn, I'm going to have to do some fancy blocking when it's finished to bring out the beauty of the design. There is also a Just Keep Swimming Hat to match and both patterns are free on Ravelry.

Dorah finished her Helix Hat on the left and Margaret finished her hat on the right which used up the last of the Kool Aid dyed yarn from my daughter's donation of yarn.

And if you'll indulge me for just a moment, I have to be a proud grandma and show you my grandsons whom we visited out of state this past weekend. I'm so proud of these kind, smart, and generous young men. It's difficult for me to believe how grown up they seem now. 

And yes, I'm the shortest one in the family! LOL!

That's all for now. I'll get back to my knitting so I have something new to show you next week. 

In the meantime, keep those needles clicking!