Is it going to rain EVERY TUESDAY?!?!

Someone asked who watched the World Cup Finals and Dorah started a whole conversation just by saying it was boring! Then I chimed in that it couldn't be any more boring than football. So if my grandson's ears were burning today, I'll know why. 😄 And as what usually happens, the topic changed to food and somehow we were wondering who was the first person to look at an oyster, lobsters, and alligators and think, "Gee! That looks like something I could eat." It's a good thing Barbara B makes delicious sourdough treats for us!

 We had strawberry-chocolate chip-sourdough muffins today. Mine hit the spot just right.

There were a few FOs to add to the inventory. My 100 Colors Cowl on which I knitted last week is finished. I used a Wonderland Yarn for the solid gray and Lang Super Soxx for the variegated. It is a little subdued for my taste but not everyone has the same taste so I try to knit outside my comfort zone now and then.

Dorah's Workday Scarf is ready for the inventory and it is beautiful! 

The colors are like a summer sunset.

Maureen finished her Through the Forest Hat using a yarn that was gifted to her. It is a merino and polyamide blend so it's machine washable.

Barbara B finished the Trellis Hat which looks like a gender neutral pattern. I couldn't find the pattern on Ravelry so maybe Barbara B can leave a link in the comments section.

Her String of Lights socks are finished too. They look beautiful and her stitch definition is perfection!

Tina finished her hat from last week. The pattern was from a book. Did I get the name? NO!😖

But I got the name of the hat and a picture from the book. Gotta give me a little credit. When I asked for the name of the hat pattern, Maureen said it's the "Don't talk to me while I'm knitting" hat! Yeah, I have a bunch of patterns like that. 😉

I followed this video to knit this designer's variation on a Sophie Scarf. Susen Mehralieva has a collection of scarf patterns that follow the same basic shape of the Sophie Scarf but she adds her own little bit of spice with cables, lace, and various other patterns to change up a plain garter stitch scarf. Check her out on YouTube. I'm using Plymouth Royal Bamboo Yarn, a fabulous fiber which unfortunately has been discontinued. It has an amazing drape and weight and the luster is lovely.

Dorah took the leftover yarn from a previous project and added a solid navy blue to make her favorite Helix Hat.

And Barbara K is starting the 5" of ribbing for her hat.

Margaret closed the cuff of her 1898 Hat and is on to knitting the crown.

Maureen started a Shelby Nichols pattern called Celtic Feather. 

Her patterns are well written and easy to follow.

Tina started another hat, the pattern she found on YouTube. It begins with a moebius band which is bound off and stitches are then picked up to knit the crown. It is knitted with two strands of yarn and has twisted braids in the design of the crown.

Jan's hat is showing some of the cable work which will follow up the crown to the close at the top.

Barbara B is knitting another Shelby Nichols pattern called Hot Springs Willow Hat. It has a faux cable design up the crown.

Someone is bugging me for food so it's time for me to go.

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Last week it was the rain. This week it's Canadian wildfire smoke and heat. We're inside again.

Fozzie thought he could sneak up on a chair before the Chicks arrived but as soon as people started coming through the door, he hightailed it outta here! 

I guess it was the enthusiastic conversation that sent him on his way. We were quite an animated group this afternoon! Dorah just returned from a Dewey Beach vacation with her kids and in spite of some cloudy days, she had a wonderful and relaxing time. Carole brought us up to date on her youngest grandson, who is adorable with all his rolls of baby love on his arms and legs. And there was the usual comparison of notes about our current projects. 

It's just like show and tell when we were little kids! I love it!!!

Barbara B brought sourdough brownies from her magic kitchen. I am embarrassed to admit I haven't had one...yet😉 I was so busy knitting I forgot to try one. But as soon as I'm done posting, I'm going to pour myself a large glass of ice cold milk and have a moment with the chocolate.

Nancy finished her hat with the Noro yarn Dorah gave her. We all loved the final result. She said in spite of a few splinters, she enjoyed the project.

Tina finished her lacy diagonal cables scarf. 

It blocked beautifully so you can see the movement of those cables.

This will be her next project from the same pattern book. Using the same yarn as the scarf...

she made an easy Italian Tubular cast on which starts with a figure 8 cast-on on a magic loop needle.

I went stashdiving and found these two yarns which I thought would make a nice subtle color changing cowl. The pattern is 100 Colors Cowl, a paid pattern on Ravelry. I thought that not everyone loves loud colors the way I do, so a quiet color combination would be nice for someone who prefers this.

Dorah admitted to not knitting even one stitch while on vacation 

so she has a little bit left to finish her Workday Scarf.

Barbara K started a Benjamin Matthews hat called Dart and Dash Beanie. He's our all time favorite pattern designer because his patterns have easy to follow directions but interesting designs to keep you entertained while you knit.

Jan has started a hat using her souvenir yarn from Ireland. She was disappointed with the uneveness of the stitches but that's the beauty of hand knit items using a rustic yarn.

Carole's Sophie Scarf has grown in length since we last saw it. This is a great pattern for social or tv knitting as long as you keep count of the rows.

Maureen's Through the Forest Hat is gorgeous with those perfectly knitted cables. The yarn has great stitch definition which enhances their depth and contours.

Barbara B is almost finished with her String of Lights Socks. Just a bit more on the toe and then on to the kitchener stitch to close it off.

Margaret's 1898 Hat is almost ready to close the ear and cuff portion. Then she will fold it in half so the I-cord edge becomes the edge of the cuff and will pick up stitches to knit the crown.

Nancy just reached the color work section on her Leaded Light Cowl. The pattern includes instructions for a matching hat and it's all free on Ravelry. This might have to go into my queue for a project soon.

Ok, now I'm going to have that brownie! Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Rain, rain, rain

It was POURING DOWN RAIN all afternoon until the ladies were about to leave. It has settled down to a light drizzle now. But all that rain did not deter these ladies from their knitting. 

We had sourdough peach coffee cake today and as you can see...

the peaches were plentiful. Barbara B said the peaches were ripe and ready for the baking.

Poor Margaret was fighting with her knitting this week. First she couldn't find her size 8 knitting needle and then when she found it, there was a mistake in her 1898 Hat so she had to rip it back and start over. We commiserated over the fact that in spite of having knitted this pattern multiple times so that we could knit it in our sleep, apparently we can't because we still make mistakes. I'm reminded of the time I put my knitting down for the night and the next morning could not figure out why I had two ear flaps directly next to each other instead of on either side of the head. 😞

Tina put her knitting aside for a moment to cleanse her palate with a crocheted scarf. The yarn is a gradient using a pretty shell stitch. 

Jan was inspired by Barbara B and Dorah knitting the Workday Scarf so...

she started one also. Love those colors!!!

I had yarn left over from a project I made for myself and decided to knit the Corrugated Cowl for the Falcon Boutique. One more repeat of the white vertical bars and then a couple of rows of ribbing and the bind off and it will be ready for the inventory.

Barbara B started the second sock of her pair of String of Lights Socks.

I praised her for her fortitude to knit her socks separately. I, unfortunately, suffer from SSS...second sock syndrome which is when the first sock is knitted you lose desire to knit the second. Thank goodness for magic loop two at a time knitting!!!

Over the week I finished the cowl I was knitting using a White Birch yarn called Thawed. I had planned to use the full skein to make a long cowl which could be wrapped twice around the head.

However, after finishing the first full skein, it didn't look like there would be enough length to wrap twice so I grafted the ends together to make it double duty, cowl or headband. And I'm so proud of myself for gauging when to stop the yarn in order for the bands of color to be the exact same width. You'll never find where it's grafted together! 😉 The pattern is ZickZack Scarf but I modified it by starting it on a provisional cast on edge so I could kitchener the ends together.

"Someone" was very restless today. He wandered between our knitting bags and even took a nibble at a strand of yarn that was hanging out of Margaret's project bag. He never does that so he must have been anxious about the storm. And he kept begging for food. Even the ladies commented about it. 

Now that the rain has stopped, he has finally settled down and is sitting in the garden window, watching the wildlife in the neighborhood. This will give me enough time to say have a great week and keep those needles clicking!