I love video calls!

There was almost a full house this week. Carole was visiting her grands and Dorah was waiting for the plumber, so they were not here...but...

I made a quick video call to Dorah so we could see her WIP and FO and she could say hello to everyone. Her Helix Hat is almost finished.

                             

And her LOSY Hat is done. 

Barbara B finished the Legato Hat. It has an interesting method of construction which involves knitting the ribbing inside out with the edge curled and picking up stitches for the crown. Barbara tried explaining it to me but my head wasn't in the right place to get it.

She also completed a child size 1898 hat and...

she started another one using fingering weight yarn and a smaller needle to get a baby size hat.

I completed that hat I was making last week. I held two strands of sock yarn together, one solid and one variegated and every ten rounds I dropped one of them and added a new one. I had planned on making this in the same method as Equinox and Musselburgh which has two hats knitted end to end and tucked inside for double thickness. But after knitting six inches of stockinette, I was getting bored and decided to make a single thick beanie.

I used a size 5 needle so the fabric is dense and will be warm just the same.

Nancy liked the idea so much she searched through her stash for some sock weight yarns and started one of her own. Those colors are perfect together too!

I watched a Turkish YouTube tutorial for this zigzag stitch which was knitted flat in the demonstration. After a little brain work, I converted the pattern to be knitted in the round and now have an almost finished cowl. It's funny that when I started it I didn't like the results but I pushed on and reminded myself that sometimes it takes a good 3 inches before you can see the pattern emerge. 

I'm happy I did because now I love it!

Jan is working a tubular scarf that has ribbing on both ends. 

She had a skein of self striping yarn which she cut up and rearranged so the stripes would be in ascending and descending order throughout the scarf.

Tina finished the Hoodola from last week. This can be worn with the ribbed portion scrunched up around the neck or turned inside to become a face mask to ward off cold winds.

Her newest project is the Artemis baby hat which she started knitting flat and then decided to knit in the round on magic loop. Rather than frog the portion already knitted, I talked her into just continuing by joining in the round and sew up the inch of the cuff that was knitted flat, later.

Margaret "invented" a new stitch. She said that's what happens when you don't pay close enough attention to the pattern. She misread the instructions that said to slip a stitch purlwise with the yarn in back. After a few rounds of slipping with the yarn in front, she wondered why it looked different from the photo.

After rereading the instructions, she got her answer. I like her version too! But if you want to make the Wavelet Beanie her way, just leave the yarn in front when you slip the stitch.

Maureen's hat is coming along nicely.

She is also making the Olive You Baby cardigan for a friend's grandchild. It has an asymmetrical front adorned with a lovely cable pattern.

We talked short rows last week so Nancy wore her Papillon/Butterfly shawl that is comprised of many, many short rows. It requires a main color in a solid and a slow, long color changing yarn for the contrasting color. She did a beautiful job! 

Cinzia is just starting a sweet little bonnet using a peachy acrylic yarn. She wasn't sure of the fiber content so I put a match to it and it melted and smelled like burnt plastic so we are sure it's acrylic. She started the hat in the round and then realized the instructions have you knit it flat and sew the seam which she wouldn't have wanted to do. So knitting in the round was the way to go.

Our Barbara B treats today were sourdough oatmeal raisin cookies. I decided not to feel guilty about eating them because sourdough is supposed to be good for you. ;) They were delicious and I look forward to having another with a nice cup of hot tea later tonight.

As soon as Fozzie heard the door close after the last Chick left, he was front and center and begging for food (so what else is new?). It's close enough to his feeding schedule so before he gets into mischief, I'll say goodbye and....

Keep those needles clicking!

Packing up and starting a KAL

The Chicks and I wrapped up our current project today.

Knit the Rainbow is an organization based in New York City which supports homeless LGBTQ youth.

We knitted a total of 56 items to send downstate.

There were 28 hats, 9 scarves, 5 cowls, 12 pairs of socks and 1 pair of mittens, and a vest. We managed to fit everything in 2 large boxes. There is a drop off location in Albany where we will bring them.

Dorah proudly showed us her scarf which uses a pack of mini skeins. 

This is one she will keep for herself.

And Nancy wore her Papillon. It's the second one she's made. She gifted the first one to me!💗 Lucky me! Nancy likes knitting short rows and this pattern certainly has many opportunities for short rows.

Now she's making a cloud soft cowl for herself.

She was drawn in by the sample she saw at Cece's Wool  in Guilderland and just had to have that gorgeous mohair yarn.

Some of us decided to do a KAL (knit-a-long) of the Zuzu's Petals Cowl by Carina Spencer. This is one of four that I made way back in 2012. I used a DK weight yarn and size 6 needle.

So Barbara K, Dorah, Carole, Nancy, and I cast on stitches to begin today.

Barbara B was going to make one also but after seeing us struggle with the revised pattern, she is having doubts.

The designer updated her information to include weights of yarn other than the original DK weight and reformatted the pattern from the way she wrote it years ago. Unfortunately, we think she should have left well enough alone. Mine started out like this and ended...

like this! Not too much progress for almost two hours of work! I think I'm going to have to see if I saved a paper copy of the original pattern and will follow that since I don't like her updated version. I thought I still had it in my Ravelry library but apparently when it updated, the original disappeared.😞

Nancy chose a fingering weight yarn and size 6 needle and hers is beautiful! BTW, that yarn she is using is the skein I dyed using Wilton Icing Dyes. I love how it's knitting up!

Barbara K is using the yarn she bought on our trip to the New England Fiber Festival in November. Looking good!

Dorah bought her yarn at the same festival and like me, she has started it a few times and is giving it a time out.

Carole's is knitting up nicely. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I see changes in my future as far as needles and gauge are concerned.

After all the complaining Dorah and I were whining about, Barbara B decided she would work on a pair of baby mitts. LOL!

 Well, I need to go look for the original paper copy of that cowl. Wish me luck! In the meantime, keep those needles clicking!