It's not raining today...

But the humidity and heat on the deck was just too much for a normal human being to tolerate so we stayed inside where it was cool. Fozzie made the rounds to check everyone's bag for contraband. Or maybe it was cookies. Yeah, most likely cookies.

And there were cookies just not the kind kitties can eat. Barbara B's treat today was sourdough strawberry cookies. I'm saving mine for an after dinner treat but I'm sure they were delicious by the sounds of satisfaction from Carole as she sampled one.

We have some FOs this week. Nancy completed her Leaded Lights Cowl which uses slipped stitches to achieve this lovely pattern.

Barbara B finished her Hot Springs Willow Hat with the wide faux cables. Like our favorite Benjamin Matthews hat patterns, Shelby Nichols designs interesting hats patterns that are well written and easy to follow.

She also took the yarn that Margaret gave her last week and finished another hat called Barley Hat from Tin Can Knits. 

Jan finished her cabled hat and had a skein and a half of this Irish yarn left which also went to Barbara B. So I suspect we'll see another of her hats next week. 

I completed the scarf from Susen Mehralieva's YouTube video. I used Plymouth Yarns Royal Bamboo yarn, one of the loveliest bamboo yarns. Unfortunately, it has been discontinued. The Chicks wanted to know how to knit this so I wrote a pattern for those who like to read what they're knitting as opposed to following the process on video. We talked about doing a KAL to test knit my write-up so keep an eye to the future for possibly more of these scarves.

I started another one this weekend for myself using Crystal Palace Mini Mochi yarn, my all time favorite for gradient colors. Sadly, it too has been discontinued.😢

Jan started the Loop Hat using a great denim blue colored yarn.

And as it turns out, Carole has the same pattern on her needles. She's a little further along and will probably be finished soon.

For my Falcon Boutique at Albany High School project, I started another ZickZack Scarf with an orphan skein of sock yarn. This is going to be a cowl with a provisional cast on (yellow yarn) so I can graft the live edges together into a big infinity scarf. I made one already with this yarn but it is smaller, more of a headband for keeping ears warm.

Margaret, who is always trying to convince us she's not an experienced or skilled knitter, has just designed another hat to use up small scraps of yarn! We laughed when she said, "It was easy, just do this and this" because that's what I always say and I get looks of doubt every single time. LOL!

Barbara B has just started an 1898 Hat. If you've never knitted one, it's fun because it has an out of the ordinary process. You knit the ear flaps and cuff first, fold it in half, pick up stitches from the edge, and knit the crown. Because 5" of the cuff is knitted by the time you start the crown, it makes it feel like the hat is flying off your needles and you're finished in no time!

Benjamin Matthews offered a brand new pattern for free for a limited time so we all grabbed a copy and Nancy is the first to start the Laguna Drift Beanie. The ribbing has a neat pronounced appearance because the knits stitches are knitted through the back loop giving it a twist.

That about wraps it up for this week. 

Hope you have a great week ahead and keep those needles clicking!

If it's Tuesday, it must be raining

Fozzie was the first one in attendance for knitting today. For some unknown reason, he loves to sit on the velvet chairs so I keep them covered until the Chicks arrive. As soon as I lift the covers off, he's on one of those chairs. I have leather covered chairs too but does he choose those? Of course not!😒

So a quick brush before these lovely ladies arrived made the chair clean of any stray fur. Cinzia arrived a little late so she didn't get in the group picture but her FOs did!

She saw this hat someone else made and duplicated it without a pattern. I had a grandmother who could do that. Such a talent!

And this is her Cassidy Rose Scarf completed in a cheery yellow yarn.

Barbara B brought some yummy brownies today but they weren't sourdough.

I am knitting on the downside of this rippled scarf which means I'm on the decreasing portion to work my way to the opposite point. It shouldn't take me much longer to finish. This is the pattern I found on a YouTube video.

Maureen's Celtic Feathers Beanie is now showing its beautiful cables.

Nancy's Leaded Light Cowl has grown in length since last time we saw it. It requires the mosaic technique of knitting which is easier than Fair Isle knitting since it uses only one color yarn per round.

Jan's ZickZack Scarf hit a snag when she found she was missing one stitch in the sequence. She had to frog back a couple of rows but she's back on track now.

Jan also brought her cabled hat. She popped in some blue lifelines for insurance if she makes a mistake and has to frog back.

Cinzia is knitting a Celtic cable hat. She's brave trying to work such a complicated design while everyone is talking! This would require me to sit alone in a locked room!

She got the pattern from this library book. 

Umm, thanks I'll knit like a drunken sailor on shore leave, thank you.😉

Carole is quite far through her Loop Hat and those cables are looking nice!

The pattern is not on Ravelry though. 

Barbara B has some faux cables working here. It's the Hot Springs Willow Hat from NichKnit Designs on Ravelry. This designer offers matching fingerless mitts and a cowl patterns too.

Margaret is going to add more color to a hat she's making up as she knits. She's good at that!!!

It's still raining and Fozzie is sitting in the window making sure the dogs next door don't get wet.

My husband just came in off the deck and said it's actually feeling colder outside. Thank goodness! I can't wait for winter! In the meantime I'll be enjoying the AC. 

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!

 

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!

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!