You could poach an egg out there!

It's 93 degrees, feels like 97! and humid! UGH! I don't know which is worse, the heat or the fact that I can't breathe underwater. But thank goodness for air conditioning! I always say if I don't have goosebumps on my arms, it's not cool enough. I guess that's what happens when you were a polar bear in another lifetime. 😉

Barbara B made sourdough pretzel bites which we dipped in Dijon Mustard while we...

chatted about grandkids, kids, vacations, and food. 

Barbara's pretzels are a big hit among the Chicks! And as Barbara said, the recipe says it makes 6 large knotted pretzels so if she makes them into little nuggets, we really aren't eating all that much. 

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!😉

Barbara K has made progress on the pink hat she is making to match the scarf from a few weeks back. The bulky weight yarn makes it a quick knit!

Margaret was funny! She "confessed" that she really didn't have time to knit at home so we made her recite 3 Hail Marys! LOL! Her Helix Hat is coming along.

Dorah's baby alpaca scarf is a little longer. Sometimes the Chicks don't want me to take a picture of their projects since they think it's taking too long to complete. But that's the whole point! We aren't little elves that wave our magic wands and have a 60 inch scarf knitted overnight! 

Wouldn't it be great if we could though?!?!

Barbara B's Mill City Shawl is a pretty combination of stitch patterns.

A close up shows the diagonal pattern.

Carole's Sophie Scarf is getting longer. 

 

And so is her One Row Handspun Scarf. She frogged the progress she had made because she didn't like the way the edges were looking. On the remake she decided to slip the first stitch purlwise with yarn in front and knit the last stitch. With this method, you have to add two extra stitches to your cast on for the edge stitches.

I had these two balls of yarn left over from my Grid Gambit Cowl and decided to design something with it. I'm calling it Corrugated Cowl and when I get the pattern written up and test knitted, I'll post it for free on Ravelry. 

And here's a quick lesson on how to pick colors for a colorwork project when you want a sharp contrast. Take a photograph of the yarns you want to use and edit it to look like a black and white photo. If the grays are too close in color to see a defined delineation between the patterns, then you know they won't work in this project. You need a sharp contrast as you see here. (forgive the underlining. My computer decided this is the way things will be from now on😡)

Fozzie is bugging me, nipping my elbows as I type and trying to bite the wires to my computer so I guess I'm finished for the day! Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

Back inside this week

I knew it was too good to be true that spring is here! Last week it was 80 degrees and we sat outside. This week it's cold enough to wear the cowl I just finished (pics to follow).

Barbara B made sourdough animal crackers for today's treat.

She has specialized cookie cutters to make perfect little animals! And they're great with a glass of ice cold milk! Ask me how I know. 😉

     

We talked about houseplants today. I have a golden pothos that my daughter received as a gift on her 6th birthday (about 39 years ago) which has spawned so many clippings that it's still going strong, well, cuttings from the original plant are still growing. Dorah has one of the offspring plants. This is a Chinese Evergreen, I think, that was about 6 years old when it started looking sad. So I hacked off a few of the stems of the healthiest looking shoots and just shoved them in some fresh potting soil and now it looks like a brand new plant! 

The colors of my new Grid Gambit are similar to the plant. I used Terri Bartosik's Whole Knit n' Caboodle Woo-Sport for the pretty pink variegated and Malabrigo Arroyo for the deep green contrasting yarn. This is my third one, two for me and one for my good friend in Pennsylvania. There might be more in my future. You never know!

I finished the Twisted Headband/Earwarmer that was started last week. It ate up yarn like crazy and I finished with only inches of yarn left. It was a tense game of yarn chicken!

And Barbara K finished her vibrantly striped scarf and because it's still cold here, she was able to wear it before next winter.

She started a hat with some bulky yarn and has enough yarn at home to make a matching scarf.

Jan called me over the weekend for a "private consultation" on a pattern that was confusing her. The Frid (Serenity) Scarf directions were a bit confusing in the way it worded the increasing stitches. But...

she is smart and left lifelines every so often so if she has to frog it, she will know what row she's knitting.

Dorah's 2x2 hat is growing longer. I recently read an article by a professional knitter who says she often gets requests from friends for her hand knitted items as though she can whip one off the needles overnight. Non-knitters don't have any idea the amount of time it takes to knit a garment.

Maureen spent the last week visiting her grands so she really didn't have the time or energy to add much to her 1898 Hat. But it's getting there.

Nancy's Dupont Street Hat is a little longer but she's been knitting something special at the same time.

This is her Tintype Cowl. The pattern says it can be worn as a cowl or shawl. Nancy is our Queen of Short Rows and there are plenty to satisfy her in this pattern!

Tina's hat is nearing the decrease portion. Even though she is using a Navajo Plying technique, it doesn't seem that the ball of yarn is getting any smaller!

Barbara B made great progress on her Zomboni Scarf/Shawl. It has a nice decorative purled edge that give it a little ruffled look.

I'm working on a Braided Headband which is from a YouTube video I came across. The yarn is a soft baby alpaca, perfect for keeping ears warm.

Margaret started the Roxana Reversible Beanie in a pretty persimmon color yarn.

And guess who jumped on the chair as soon as the Chicks left for the day! He times his appearance perfectly, just as they open the door to leave.

Now he's sitting beside me, staring holes into my brain, hoping I'll feed him. It's a good thing he can't speak English. Although, he might as well. I can read his body language as if he was speaking! LOL! Well, gotta start cooking dinner. See you next week and keep those needles clicking!

It feels like spring!

Aw! I just noticed that we didn't get Jan in the group picture today! She had an appointment and arrived late but we did enjoy her company today. We caught up on news about the grandchildren, future trips, and who we saw at the No Kings Rally on Saturday. Those of us who were able to attend wore our red Melt the Ice Hats. It was a very well attended and uplifting gathering where we saw many of our friends.

 Barbara B's treat today was a seasonally appropriate Hot Cross Buns...

Sourdough of course! The apricot glaze and orange zest played nicely with the raisins.

Carole worked on her cowl with the vintage yarn from her stash. I asked for the pattern name but she is making it up as she goes.

Her second project is the Squarshy Hat with the vertical focal points running up the crown.

Barbara B worked on the 1898 Hat with a Valley Yarns heather green yarn.

Margaret worked on the same hat pattern but she isn't as far along as Barbara.

Jan started the Dotty Cashmere Cowl. The dots are made by knitting a purl stitch in the field of knit stockinette. It's a very subtle design element.

Nancy's project is the Copycat Cowl. 

It is a freebie on Ravelry and I believe there are hat patterns to match.

Barbara K's scrap happy hat has grown many inches since last week. This is another basic beanie made up on the fly.

I was in the home stretch of the French Twist scarf and...

finished it just in time to snap a picture. I used Universal Yarns Bamboo Pop, a bamboo and cotton blend yarn.

I made a Grid Gambit cowl for a dear Pennsylvanian friend and it will be delivered to her in a week. But she'll get to see it tonight when we FaceTime. She picked out the yarns when I visited Terri's studio and connected through FaceTime. It's a great way to shop. That's how my husband bought me an Irish knit Coat Sweater and Poncho when he visited Ireland on a golf trip a few years ago. I still remember how kind Geraldine, the sales lady, was and how helpful it all turned out because both items fit perfectly!

I was so inspired by how quickly it knit up, 7 days start to finish, that I immediately cast one on for myself and just yesterday knitted 60 rows already! And I'm not a fast knitter by any stretch of the imagination!

Lastly, I finished a cowl which started out as a lace shawl but 13 rows in I was already having issues with stitch count and splitty yarn. I made the mistake of falling in love with the lovely gradient hues and not the fiber itself so I made a simple cowl which showcases the colors. I still have a lot of this yarn left over but will give myself a break before I struggle with it again.

Life's too short to fret over yarn and as I always say, if it's not fun, don't do it! 

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

A small gathering

It was a small gathering today but no less productive. We knitted to the accompaniment of Strauss waltzes playing in the background. 

 Even Fozzie decided to join in for a few minutes. He sniffed a couple of tote bags to check out the yarn and moved along when he discovered there were no treats for him.

Tina tried her hand at the new-to-us tubular cast on and made a couple of Melt the Ice Hats for Saturday's No Kings Rally. The little hat will be worn as a lapel pin.

She used the same cast on technique for a hat she's knitting for a friend. The Call of the Wild Hat might be listed under "Rated R" but it still requires good knitting skills. Her friend said he wanted a hat with deer on it, he just didn't specify what they would be doing.😉😂

Margaret started the 1898 Hat which begins with a sideways knitted cuff. The part that goes over the ears is double thickness so it's nice and warm.

Jan is working on the Simple Sideways Triangle Scarf which luckily we saved and printed because it is no longer available on Ravelry. You might be able to find it elsewhere online.

I'm working the French Twist which I first admired when Jan was knitting it. I had some Bamboo Pop cotton and bamboo blend yarn which is working perfectly. I decided to throw in a couple of extra repeats to make it just a tad longer.

Carole was further along on her Squarshy Hat last week but she had a nagging feeling it was too small so she frogged it and added more stitches to the cast on to start over.

My Pennsylvania friend, Connie, was admiring my Grid Gambit Cowl last weekend when we were visiting for my grandson's 19th birthday. So I had a private shopping day at Whole Knit n' Caboodle to choose some combination colors and she picked a lovely light gray and a variegated called Bourbon Street in a superwash merino DK weight.

And darn it all if four more skeins of yarn didn't just jump into my purse!!! These lovelies are going to be the Murano Squares Boomerang Shawl. If you like slipped stitch knitting patterns then this and the next will be entertaining for you to knit. The Grid Gambit is also slipped stitch/mosaic knitting.

I couldn't resist the warmth of these two colors together so they will become 

the Murano Squares Bandana cowl. 

I keep saying I'm not going to buy more yarn but I think I need an intervention! I certainly need more hours in a day! And maybe people shouldn't be tempting me with such beautiful colors! LOL!

Well, all this yarn isn't going to knit itself so I better get a move on and get those needles clicking! Won't you join me?