After Thanksgiving festivities

We survived the post Thanksgiving turkey stupor and were grateful to have a peaceful afternoon of knitting with friends. On Thanksgiving day some of us herded grandchildren and celebrated birthdays while others tried avoiding sensitive topics of conversation with relatives. All in all we enjoyed ourselves. Todays' topics discussed were the heavy responsibility of babysitting houseplants while the owners are away. The conversation really picked up when the subject of being careful what you google came up. I'm still chuckling about trying to find the website for the major sports equipment store and coming up with something TOTALLY different!😅

Maureen started the cutest hat in the adult size. It is reminiscent of a Peruvian Chullo hat.

     

The Yarnimals Owl Hat is a free pattern on Ravelry which includes sizes from baby to adult. Since she's making this for an adult, she will of course leave off the owl face. There is also a free version of a monkey hat.

Dorah combined two sock yarns on a size 6 needle to make the LOSY Hat. LOSY stands for left over sock yarns and makes a colorful 3X2 ribbed cap using any combination of sock yarns left in your stash.

Jan made the decision last week to turn her pleated scarf into a cowl since knitting a whole scarf would just take the wind from her sails. All she has to do is knit this long enough to fit comfortably around the neck and seam the short ends together and VOILA! She'll have a cowl!

Annika finished her Woodnote cowl...

And is already working on a second one! She did a great job and I found out it is the first time she ever knitted cables! This pattern gave her tons of practice too.

Janna brought two projects (because, let's be honest, no one has only one project going at a time. Ok, well maybe almost no one. I'm looking at you Beth😊). The top one is a Helix Hat which is a great stash busting project to use up those bits of yarn that are too small in quantity to make anything but too much to throw away. Besides, who would throw away yarn?!?! The project at the bottom is...

Easy Slip Stitch Mitts and is another freebie on Ravelry. You can make fingerless mitts or full mittens and it is another good stash busting project.

Barbara B. is making a hat for her grandson using Rutgers colors since he's a fan of the university his grandfather attended. Someone said she must really love this kid because she's knitting with black yarn.

Last week I worked on the Elizabeth Zimmermann Rib Warmer. Since I've made a bunch in the past, I relied on my memory to assemble the pieces...never a good idea! I had to rip out the shoulder seam on the second piece because whatever I did to it prevented it from lining up to the back seam.

For my second one I decided to knit both pieces at once so they would be exactly the same and I could lay them out before sewing them together.

                             

Well, right on schedule as predicted, the snow flurries are beginning to fall. I might have to cuddle up with Fozzie to keep warm. Stay well and keep those needles clicking!

Thanksgiving week is quiet

For the first time this year it felt like a wintry day so we decided it was a good idea to hang out by the fire to knit.

Fozzie thought so too!

Jan, Barbara K and Barbara B joined me for a quiet afternoon as we discussed Thanksgiving plans and knitting. 

When it got too warm, Fozzie decided to hide under the table but still close enough to see the fire.

Those pesky little ring stitch markers have a nasty habit of jumping off the needles and landing who knows where. Jan wanted to be sure Fozzie didn't think it was a treat and try to eat it. She did finally find it and switched it out for a much brighter colored one for better visibility.

On my needles is the Elizabeth Zimmerman Rib Warmer made with a chunky weight yarn and size 10 needles. It's knitting up a little larger than the original pattern but it will fit someone! This is the first half of the vest and another identical piece will be knitted and seamed down the back. I'm beginning to think I should have knitted both pieces at the same time so I don't experience SSS (second sock syndrome)

Barbara B. worked on Freckles Mittens using a soft tweed yarn that knit up tightly to keep the winter cold away from little fingers. Because the hand is so small, she used a sock darning egg to give a hard surface for sewing up the top of the mitten.

Jan mentioned how bored she is with her pleated scarf pattern so I suggested she knit it to a length of 20 inches or so and seam the short ends into a cowl. She jumped right on that band wagon! It's going to be lovely!

Barbara K. is working on a Mistake Stitch Scarf to go with the hat you see in the background. The fabric this stitch creates is so warm and cozy because of the thick ridges that trap warm air.

The featured FO's this week start with Barbara B's Hot Springs Willow Hat. 

Look at Barb's beautiful cables! She started with a provisional cast on for the ribbed portion of the cuff. Instead of casting the stitches on waste yarn, she put them directly on to a spare cord so all she had to do was attach a needle and knit it directly off the cord.

And here is Barb K's hat to match the Mistake Stitch Scarf. The fabric in this hat has a great squish factor and will be cozy warm.

Barbara B inspired me to try the Jesse's Christmas Hat after I saw how lovely hers turned out. This is a free pattern on Ravelry and knitted up in two days!

This Sava Springs Hat is designed by the same person who designed the Hot Springs Willow Hat. If you were lucky enough to catch it on opening day you could have snagged a copy for free. But now there's a small charge for it.

Our Thanksgiving dinner will be fully cooked and delivered tomorrow so I can reheat and actually enjoy family time. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and can carve out some time to...

Keep those needles clicking!

 

It was a great day for a yarn bombing!

The Chicks joined the Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels for the distribution of months of knitting.

Come over to the Stitch Angels blog to see pictures of all the activity.

https://stitchangels.wixsite.com/home/post/it-was-a-great-day-for-a-yarn-bombing

And don't forget to keep those needles clicking!

 

Getting prepared for this Friday's Yarn Bombing

The Chicks are collaborating with The Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels on the annual yarn bombing which is held on Delaware Avenue in front of the Albany Public Library. We need to attach labels to all our donations so anyone passing by will know that they can take whatever items they need to keep warm this winter.

Our group collected and labeled 2 hat and cowl sets, 4 cowls, 7 scarves, 26 hats, and 6 pairs of mittens. 

Cinzia finished her Reversible Stripes Scarf and will save it for Friday's labeling.

Now that we have completed yarn bombing knitting we can concentrate on our next cycle of knitting which will be donated to Knit the Rainbow in NYC. Janna's first project on the needles will be a Helix Hat with these cheerful colors.

Annika has chosen a cabled cowl pattern for which she will use this softly dappled gradient yarn. The Woodnote Cowl uses approximately 200 yards of a worsted weight yarn.

Barbara B. is dropping stripes whenever the mood strikes her to make a lovely 22.5 Degrees Shawl. The bind off of this wide, shallow triangular shawl creates a pretty scalloped edge.

Dorah's Bewind Hat was finished before we broke for the day. 

The label has been attached and it's ready for Friday.

I happened to see this Sava Springs Cap pattern being offered for free on a Facebook page the day of release and was lucky enough to get it. I'm using a Patons Classic Wool in worsted weight. It's a pretty heather blue-green color which refuses to show up in the photo.

As soon as Dorah finished her Bewind Hat, she cast on for the Splendid Squares Hat.

It's going to be a stunner in her Malabrigo yarn.

As you can see I'm being summoned for yet another food run for the King Fozzie. So before he starts biting the wires of my computer, I'll leave you with my weekly words....

Keep those needles clicking!

The last fiber festival of the season

Last Saturday Barbara K., Dorah, and I attended the New England Fiber Festival which is held the first weekend of November each year at the Mallory Complex on the grounds of the Big E in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

We love seeing the alpacas munching on hay as people mill around to get a good glimpse of the critters with the unbelievably soft fleece.

They are the cutest critters too with a docile personality.

Don't you just want to pinch those chubby cheeks?!?!

We made a few purchases, some of us made more than others but I can confidently say they were wise purchases. From the far left, Dorah picked out some gorgeous yarns to make the Maple Point Shawl and the Joyful Shawl. Those 3 gradient cakes we each bought will be part of our personal KAL to knit the Zuzu's Petals Cowl. Barbara and I each found hand made soaps with heavenly scents. And that turquoise mound in the center is my new alpaca "Dr. Zhivago Hat". About 5 or 6 years ago Dorah and I attended this same festival where I tried on a bright red hat of the same style and I talked myself out of buying it which Dorah said I would regret. Sure enough, I've been looking for that hat a every festival since and haven't found one...until last Saturday! And it's my favorite color! Dorah and Barbara were not going to let me pass this one by.

Today's topic of conversation was the overwhelming experience of shopping at our local Farmer's India Market. They carry a plethora of foods from various cuisines around the world but unless you know how to cook them, you don't know where to start shopping. After my first visit I came home to watch YouTube videos to learn recipes so I could take advantage of the wonderful offerings that are available.

Jan finished a hat and her Galaxy Lemonade Shawl and is thinking about the Diamond Hat next which is a freebie on Ravelry. You'll see her actual project a little further down.

Barbara B. is in the home stretch on the baby sweater she's making for a cousin's baby.

I had plans to make the Hepsi's Neck Warmer with this worsted weight Classic Wool from Patons but I got distracted by a YouTube video for a child's cowl and adapted it for adult size.

So this is the Pleated Scarf Jan is currently knitting using a nice gradient yarn.

Maureen is keeping warm with the blanket she's making for her husband draped across her lap. Notice Fozzie in the background waiting patiently for someone to get up to use the bathroom so they will feel sorry for him and give him a treat. It works every time!

Cinzia's Reversible Stripes Scarf is growing rapidly. We all marvel at the way the stripes are so different on either side! The pattern requires either DP's or a circular needle because the knitting slides to the other end of the needle on every other row to create the vertical stripes on one side and horizontal on the other.

Dorah took our advice and turned a negative into a positive by making the design a deliberate element in her Bewind Hat. Sometimes you just have to make the executive decision to cut your losses and in this case it turned into a new design!

I finished a reversible, double thick man's hat using two patterns blended together. The first pattern was the Musselburgh by Ysolda Teague but I used the Fibonacci sequence for the stripes from another pattern which is not available online.

The hat is made using DK weight yarns and the opposite side is the solid gray. It is suggested to use either fingering weight or DK weight as anything heavier would make the hat too bulky to wear.

Our joint Annual Yarn Bombing with the Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels is quickly approaching so I must knit faster! I'd like to get at least two more items completed before November 17 to add to the inventory. So I gotta go! Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!