A lesson in patience

When I tell you I've been waiting almost 15 years for a plant to bloom you will probably think I'm off my rocker! But my oncidium, for which I have faithfully cared and repotted biannually, has finally blossomed! I bought it shortly after I received my first orchid as a thank you gift from a friend. It was blooming at the store and looked so pretty that I decided I had to add it to my collection of houseplants. It continued to grace my garden window for a few more weeks and then the blossoms dried and dropped, as spent blossoms should. I watered it regularly and followed the guidelines for it's care. And I watched...and watched...and waited...and waited. FOR 15 YEARS! It grew new pseudobulbs and roots and outgrew it pot every couple of years. It had me well trained too. It got a new repotting whenever it needed. But no flowers. Until this year. I think it was well worth the wait.

My dendrobium, another slow grower, keeping company with the oncidium.

I finished some shawls this week and they are blocked. This purple multi is from my imagination, just yarnovers and K2tog wherever I felt the urge. The yarn was donated to the Chicks by my friend Elise Hiller. Thanks Elise!

When I last visited my daughter a lady stopped me and wanted my shawl I was wearing. She was a tough cookie to convince she couldn't have mine LOL! but I was able to make one just for her. I like it so much I'm not so sure I want to give it away! Well, I still have mine.

This soft baby alpaca shawl is a pretty lilac and also a pattern I just winged my way through. It's amazing what you can do with a few yarnovers and k2tog.

Kathleen finished another Leaf and Lace hat and sweater. She always has such great buttons for her sweaters too. And under the sweater is a baby blanket she made with a very soft fluffy yarn.

Elaine wanted to show us a finger puppet she made for her granddaughter and I caught her having some fun!

Sheila shows it with it's turkey feather tail. A little stuffing and some eyes and it will make a little girl laugh with delight.
Kathleen is working on another shawl for our new project. We're making shawls for mothers and clothes for babies for Esme's Comfort (http://esmescomfort.com/).
And Sheila is making progress on her Pelerine http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pelerine-so40

I was concentrating so hard on my knitting Tuesday night that it completely slipped my mind to take photos of the evening group at work. Sorry Chicks! I'll make sure I remember next time.

We are taking next Tuesday off for the holiday preparations and family visits.

My wish for all of you is that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy your turkey dinner.

A Treat for a Dreary Day

It was so rainy and gloomy here in the Northeast this morning, I thought I would start today's entry with a glimpse of some pretty blossoms. My dendrobium orchid is in full bloom in my family room.

The colors are so vivid is almost seems to glow from the center out. But now on to some knitting...
Maureen finished the pink and white baby sweater. The edges are all finished with a delicate picot stitch. It looks so cute!
Kathleen got a new knitting pattern book and has already finished one of the sweaters from it. She's making a matching bonnet to go with it this week.

Barb is hard at work on her Pelerine. Getting close to finishing! And Sheila is putting the last few bind off stitches on her scarf.

There! All done! And it looks great!

If you are anywhere near Landsdowne, Pennsylvania this Saturday, Oct. 23 make some time between 9AM and 1PM to stop by the Farmer's Market next door to the PNC Bank. My daughter will be selling her original designs of hand knitted items and some sweet little sewn ballerina tutus that she makes. While you're there you can stop for some homemade hot soup and cider. It promises to be a fun day!

I'm ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille

We Chicks have lots of close up photos to show this week.

I finished a shawl called the Lazy Day Lace Shawl, a free pattern offered on Ravelry.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lazy-day-lace-shawl

I used Karin's Periwinkle Sheep Sock Yarn in the Terra Cotta colorway.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/franknit

This is to be given to a colleague of my husband, who is mourning the death of her newborn. Each and every stitch is connected to a prayer for her and her family.

I started a baby sweater called Phazelia's Mitered Baby Jacket, also from Ravelry.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/phazelias-mitered-baby-jacket

It doesn't look like much now but with a little more knitting and some magic folding it really becomes a sweater.

Maureen is in the home stretch with her pink and white baby sweater.

And Barbara is almost finished with an E. Zimmermann "Pelerine".

Liz started a Pelerine also. Her choice of yarn makes it suitable for either a man or woman.

Speaking of being in the home stretch, Shelia is almost done with her checkerboard patterned scarf. YAY! Good work, Sheila!

Kathleen's daughter, Pat, visited from downstate this week. She brought along two little pumpkin hats she knitted for her twin great niece and nephew.

Kathleen donated a Pelerine that she knitted using Lion Brand Homespun yarn. It too is unisex and very soft and cozy.
And here's another Gansey sweater for the inventory. Can you tell it's Kathleen's favorite pattern?

One of our new members, Beth, donated a sweet little cardigan called "Baby Sophisticate". This is a free pattern from Ravelry also.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-sophisticate

So we are well on our way to filling up the inventory for our two upcoming donations. Now it's back to the knitting needles for me.

Many FO's this week

We've been having fun with baby projects and Elaine added to our inventory with this soft diagonal baby blanket and a cute pink cap.

Kathleen is in the homestretch of yet another Gansey sweater. It's her favorite pattern, as you can tell by how quickly she whips through one a week or so.
Liz finished her block pattern baby blanket which will be added to the inventory also.

And Maureen finished the Pelerine, a shoulder shawl pattern by the great Elizabeth Zimmermann. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Zimmermann

This will be added to the inventory for our local nursing home.

Another item for the nursing home is also another Elizabeth Zimmermann design called the Ribwarmer. This is what you saw on my needles last week and it took me just a week to finish it. Since it is all garter stitch and some short row knitting it was a very fast project to complete, to say the least. My only stumble was trying to figure out how to lay it out and what edges to seam together.

I "raveled" a knitter in Ireland who made the same ribwarmer and through the magic of email, she was able to walk me through the steps and VOILA! It was finished! Thank you so much for your help, Lindy!

I decided it needed a little help keeping closed so I knitted a little frog closure which I found here:

http://www.knittingdaily.com/blogs/daily/archive/2008/10/24/handmade-closures-chinese-knot.aspx

This was so much fun to knit I may have to go through my stash and find another 400 yards of yarn to make some more. Hmmm...I think I have some raspberry Encore just waiting to be used somewhere......

Finally! We sat outside on the deck! And Moose's first day of preschool

We finally had a good weather day and were able to knit outside this week.

Some of us were feeling like knitting small and some of us like to punish ourselves. LOL! We are currently working on two different projects. Baby items up to 18 months size will be donated to our local maternity center. That's the small end. The punishment side is making lap robes and shoulder warmers for our local nursing home. We all jump into these projects feeling so positive, but about halfway through rows and rows and rows of either plain garter stitch or stockinette stitch, it sometimes feels like a poke in the eye with one of our needles would be a lot more fun. But then we remember why we're knitting these items and it gets us back on track.

Liz was feeling feisty this week and showed off her baby blanket that she's making for our current baby project. The simple yet pretty block pattern holds one's attention to keep from being boring, while not requiring it completely.

Kathleen finished the navy blue shoulder shawl, an Elizabeth Zimmermann Pelerine, first in the row on the table. We were trying to decide on closures for the neckline. I made the black, yellow, and green one in the back and the mauve and purple one in the middle. The black one will have a button and loop closure. I'm thinking the same for the mauve and purple one too.
In this close up you can see the cute little baby bonnet Kathleen contributed also.
Elaine and Barb caught up on the week's events...

And Kathleen and Liz caught up on their mutual grandchildren's activities, while they worked on the Gansey sweater and baby blanket, respectively.

I've started the Elizabeth Zimmermann Rib Warmer with a navy tweed acrylic blend. There's not much to see yet. Maybe next week it will be large enough to show up.

Maureen is almost finished with her Pelerine. The colors don't show up very well here but it is the prettiest combination of a soft sage green with autumn stripes.

Then Karin stopped by to present me with my prayer shawl which was knitted by many of my knitting friends as a healing gift to me after losing my precious granddaughter, Eliana. I love it!!! Karin handdyed the yarn and named it Eliana. It's the prettiest pinky-mauve! And I love the size of it.

It's big enough for three! And these same lovely ladies made a matching shawl for my daughter, Amanda, to show her how much she is loved. Thank you to all my friends who knitted these wonderful gifts. Amanda and I will treasure them forever and think of you all every time we use them.

Last week I spent with my Moose in Pennsylvania. We had a great time all week and topped it off with a visit to the farmer's market and some cool "lemolade", as Moose calls it.

And a big milestone in Moose's life, he started preschool this week. He was so anxious to attend that he made his mommy leave the house too early and the school wasn't open yet.

He couldn't wait to use his new Toy Story 3 backpack and lunchbox. And reports from Mom are all positive. He has made new friends and tired himself out sufficiently to get to bed on time.

I can't believe my baby is already attending preschool. Have fun Moose! DeeDee loves you!