Deck knitting day!

We had a small group of knitters today. But the weather was perfect for sitting on the deck, having a lively discussion about current events, good places for hiking with family, and all things knitting.

Barbara B made delicious sourdough chocolate chip cookies. She uses the best tasting chips in her recipes too!

 

Maureen finished her Close to You Shawl with the pretty little picot bind off. It's a simple touch that adds so much to the overall design.

She decided to make a reversible striped scarf called Magic Stripe Hot Pad or Scarf. It's one of those patterns that boggles the mind because the stripes are vertical on one side and horizontal on the other. It is achieved by knitting one row twice, first with one color and then the other, slipping stitches and sliding the work to the end of the needle before you turn the work. It sounds complicated but really isn't. Just make sure you aren't distracted while knitting.

Barbara is working on the diagonal baby blanket for her former neighbor's grandbaby. 

The colors are so cheerful!

I am working on the Frost Ridge Beanie by Benjamin Matthews. I am supposed to knit 42 rounds before I begin decreasing to close the crown but I'm at 31 rounds now and it looks like if I knit to 42 the hat would fit the jolly green giant. As it turns out, I am using a size 7 needle and the pattern called for a size 6. Oops! No biggy! I'll just start the decrease section now and it will be fine. Next time I'll double check the pattern a few times before I start.

Tina just started the Dexter Vest, a cute V-neck pullover vest that starts at the lower front hem and is knitted up and over the shoulders to the bottom back hem. Then it's folded at what would be the shoulder seams and the sides are hand sewn. It's a quick and easy project with nice results.

Next Tuesday we Chicks will be celebrating 20 years sharing our passion for knitting and serving  our community. I am in awe of these ladies  and their dedication to helping others. I'm so proud that we have been able to keep my dream going for all this time. Check back next week to see all the good food we'll be sharing. And keep those needles clicking!

Another hot and humid day

I was forced to get a new computer when my trusty Asus would no longer update and crapped out on me. Everyone I mentioned it to said I would love the new Surface. It's not that much larger or heavier than my I-pad but I'm still learning the ropes so bear with me. 

Oh, and if you hear screaming, it's probably me. LOL!

The six of us enjoyed a quiet afternoon in the cool air from the AC. 

Even Fozzie joined us for a little visit. He's been getting braver about hanging around when the Chicks are here. And his favorite person is Dorah because she knows where we keep the "cookies" and he knows she'll sneak a few to him on her way through the kitchen.

 Barbara B made sourdough peanut butter banana chocolate chip muffins so she is the humans' favorite person. ;)

Barbara B finished the Watering the Trees hat, a freebie on Ravelry. The stitch definition highlights the cables beautifully.

I started the Frost Ridge Beanie using Plymouth Encore, a machine washable wool and acrylic blend.

By the end of the two hour meeting I had this much knitted. It has a 5" cuff for folding so I should be almost there soon.

Dorah designed a pair of fingerless mitts using colors from the Helix Hat she finished last week. She used a free pattern from Ravelry that is my go-to mitten pattern. The hand is complete and now she will knit a contrasting ribbing on the thumb.

Maureen is almost finished with her Close to You Shawl, a very easy pattern, also free on Ravelry.

Another freebie is the sweater that Carole just started.

The Oh Baby! Cardigan will be adorable and she has yarn left for a hat too.

Barbara B told me the name of this hat pattern and I thought I wrote it down but darned if I can find it! I'll let you know next week. Edited: the hat is called Back Seat Driver!

The Country Rows Shawl that Barbara K started today is a pattern I wrote many moons ago.

She bought the yarn on one of our yarn festival trips and it spoke to her for this pattern.

Well, I managed to write this whole thing without screaming, although I did not use the photo storage method my son suggested. It was just too complicated and the computer kept telling me I ran out of storage! I hate those "in the cloud" storage things! Just let me do it my way and everyone can go home happy. LOL! Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Raindrops and Blueberry Lemon Bars

The raindrops and muggy air kept us inside with the AC today. No one seemed to mind though.

Barbara B made sourdough blueberry lemon bars for us. Soooo gooood!!! She used whole fresh blueberries so the taste was fresh and bright.

 We had a few FOs today too. Nancy finished the Helix Hat that was knitted with a gradient yarn and solid white yarn. We both love the results. And the pompom for the finishing touch is perfect.

I finally remembered to get a picture of the shawl that Jan completed. This was one my daughter designed and started and then life got in her way and she never got back to it. She gave me a bag filled with WIPs and this was the one Jan chose to complete. I am so proud of her too! She was able to examine the pattern and read the stitches so she could continue the design and finish it. This will go into our inventory for a future donation.

Barbara B knitted a Raglan Cowl using Plymouth Encore Worsted. Such a pretty teal color! It starts at the top of the neckline and grows through the raglan increases.

Maureen worked on her Close to You Shawl and...

an 1898 Hat. She had a lightweight variegated yarn left from another project which blended perfectly with the solid blue yarn. What a great way to make this hat unique!

This is Jan's Leftie scarf by Martina Behm. It uses mini skeins of multi colors to create these cute little leaves at the long edge of the scarf. Jan is knitting it for a friend and wondered if it was long enough. We all agreed, if you have to ask, it probably is so, you can stop knitting. She appreciated that answer!

Tina wasn't here when we all started the Welter Hat so she got a private lesson on the short row portion. As I said before, the pattern can be a little tricky so it's important to use stitch markers to denote every finished short row and another of a distinct color to signify the right side of the work. Maureen had a great suggestion to make all the short row indicators on the right side one color and all those on the wrong side a contrasting color to make them easier to count.

Barbara B bought this adorable yarn at WEBS called Plymouth Dream Baby DK Paintpot and it's perfect for her Top Down Raglan Child's Sweater. It's a self patterning yarn and now I feel like I need to get some too. LOL!

Carole used her fancy neck lamp magnifier while she worked on her Welter Hat. 

And while I planned to knit on my Welter Hat, I found I was too easily distracted from the pattern by good conversation so I put it aside to work on it later.

I knitted the Bandana Cowl instead that started out as another shawl my daughter was going to knit but I couldn't bring myself to knit yards and yards of this pretty yarn for what seemed like an eternity. Plan B was put into effect and a cowl it is. I think a few more inches of stockinette and then I'll give it a garter edge border and bind off.

Nancy received a free pattern called The Bright Side when she purchased a skein of "Dark Side of the Moon" by Alexandra-The Art of Yarn. The yarn is dyed in sections so that the shawl is knitted in stockinette stitch until you reach a burst of color. The pattern is available for free on Ravelry.

 Then you knit that colored section in the opposite stitch that shows up to create this raised section that shows up randomly across the fabric knitted. It's a very clever method which Nancy says is good for social knitting but also has enough going on to keep boredom away. 

Nancy was inspired by one of the knitters in my other group who was knitting the same shawl with a black background and multi colored bars.

It's still raining but I won't complain. Next week the first heat wave of the summer is supposed to strike and I'm not looking forward to it. Between allergies and humidity, I'm already looking forward to winter. But I am grateful to have air conditioning so I can hunker down in my comfy chair and knit the day away. Until next week, keep those needles clicking!

Guess what! We're back outside!

After what seems like decades of rainy days, we had a delightfully balmy day for deck knitting. The cool breezes wafted the 75 degrees all around us, keeping us cool while we discussed our children and grandchildren, knitting projects, and food. There's always talk about food.

Speaking of food, today's Barbara B treat was sourdough chocolate chip cookies. She didn't have many leftovers to bring home ;). They were sprinkled lightly with a little sea salt, making the perfect flavor pizzazz!

                                          

Carole went stash diving and found some FOs that she forgot she had. The Man Hat is one which goes into our inventory.

This is another she found which she remembered a friend of hers made and gave to her for our group. However, when she called the friend to inquire about the name of the pattern, she didn't recall knitting it, let alone the name of it. Carole and I did a quick search on Ravelry but there were 50 pages of patterns! Between the two of us, we figured out there are short rows involved so I think I might be able to duplicate it and write my own directions. But hey! If you recognize this pattern, would you please save me the trouble and tell me what it is?!?!

Carole remembered that it's a man's hat but I tried it on and it makes a cute woman's slouchy hat too!

She found a UFO using this self patterning yarn from Hayfield called Baby Blossom.

She started the Oh Baby! Cardi and forgot it in a project bag so she decided to pick it back up again and finish it. The yarn is dyed so it will automatically knit the flower design as long as you knit it in roughly the same gauge as is on the label.

I felt like some mindless knitting so I started a 2x2 ribbed Soldier's Hat. It's one of those patterns you could practically knit in your sleep!

Nancy is back from her vacation to Greece where she and her husband stayed on the island on which his mother was born. The pictures of the ocean view from her Air B&B were breathtaking, as was the photo of the narrow road with switchback turns overlooking a beach with turquoise waters her husband drove, but breathtaking for a different reason! Her current project is a Helix Hat.

These two yarns will make a subtle stripe, sure to be loved and warm.

Margaret is working the brim/ear flap of her 1898 Hat using two colors held together.

Cinzia brought some yarn and needles and waited for it to speak to her.

She has a pretty lace pattern going on here but still doesn't know what it will become.

Barbara B is almost finished with her 1898 hat. 

Once the ear flaps are knitted, the crown finishes up lickety split!

Maureen's Close to You Shawl/Scarf has grown quickly since last we saw it. The self striping yarn knits up to look like she's using two different balls of yarn but it's really only one.

Dorah's Helix Hat is coming along great. At first she was a bit unsure if the colors would coordinate well with each other but I think it looks great!

Jan worked on her Reverb Shawl. I'll bet she's glad she doesn't have to knit with black yarn anymore!

A few weeks ago I think I showed you this scarf my daughter started but doesn't have time to finish. Jan stepped up to "read" the stitches and figure out how to finish it. And here it is! She did a beautiful job! There will be a few more of my daughter's WIPs being completed in the future as I am working on two right now.

I'm going to go back outside for dinner on the deck tonight since we don't know how long this nice weather is going to last. Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!