It must be spring!

Today was our first day of outdoor knitting! 

You can tell by the happy smiles on everyone's face that we all loved being out in the fresh air and catching up with each other's current events. Dorah is back from her quick trip to opening day Mets game in Miami, Cinzia has returned from Japan where she visited her son, and Maureen, Jan A. and Barbara K. all enjoyed some time in Florida to escape the mud season up here.

And it was very comfortable until the sun hid behind some clouds and the wind picked up. By that time we were ready to pack up and head home.

Cinzia has a beautiful yarn, from Bad Sheep Yarn Co., to use for the Reyna Shawl she is making.

Janna picked nicely contrasting colors for her Step Zeppelin Cowl. This pattern has charts and written instructions for making the slipped stitch motif.

Jan A.'s Close to You Shawl is coming along beautifully! 

The pretty tonal purple yarn highlights the lace perfectly.

Maureen is making progress on her TAAT (Two at a time) socks. She is using the magic loop toe up technique so the socks will be exactly the same size and she won't have to be concerned with trying to remember what she did for the first sock to replicate it on the second because she will be making them simultaneously.

Dorah's Helix Hat is almost finished. A few more rows of decreasing and it will be ready for inventory.

 Jan P. joined us after a long hiatus. She is using a lovely pink to gray variegated yarn that looks to be a mohair to make a mobius cowl.

Barbara K.'s mobius cowl has grown since we last saw it. This is such a versatile garment which can be worn around the neck, pulled over the shoulders like a shrug, or over the head as a hood.

Carole's Easy Scarf has reached the halfway mark and then some. You can see the divide right there in the middle where the color changes abruptly. Now she will be knitting in the opposite direction and picking up stitches from the live edge. It's a bit tricky but makes sense when you see it being knitted.

I finished the Czapka or Polish Cap, a pattern I wrote down after watching a foreign video on YouTube. I decided to make a matching cowl which will be completed soon.

Jan A. was busy making hats and brought three completed for our inventory. The first is a slouchy hat with a bold gray stripe.

The next two are both Helix Hats.

These are great stash busters to use up scraps of yarn left from other projects.

Jan P. completed some hats too. This one is the Ex's and O's hat from a KAL (Knit-a-long project) from the Lonely Hearts Club on Ravelry.These were made with Berroco Vintage yarn in DK weight.

 

She made a Helix hat too. I think we all have been obsessed with this pattern at one time or another.

And last but not least is the Turn a Square Hat with the decrease method that creates a square at the top of a round hat. Those clever little designers!

As we were knitting in the yard someone stopped by to say hello and it turns out she lives in Michigan and follows this blog. She is visiting her daughter and family who live around the corner in my neighborhood. After speaking with her a few minutes some of us realized we knew her years ago when she lived in town. She is a fellow knitter and goes by the name knitinthemitt on Instagram. 

Kathy remember, next time bring your knitting.

And as always, keep those needles clicking.

Surprise! We're back in action!

Two adorable bunnies came to welcome the Chicks back to our regular Tuesday meetings. Barbara B. made the one on the left for her granddaughter's first communion and the one on the right for her niece's new baby. Now she's working on...

more clothes for them. Here in front of the bunny is part of the little white communion dress she made for dress-up. The veil will be included too.

We all had to take a close look at those adorable little cuddly bunnies.

Carole showed us the hats she made while we waited to return to in person meetings.

Dorah made the Reyna shawl with a lovely sock yarn from an online shop called Purple Lamb. She used a fingering weight yarn which made a scarf sized shawl. She said if she makes it again she'll use a worsted weight yarn and larger needles to make it more shawl sized.

You can tell by the smiles we all enjoyed being able to get together again.

And there was much to discuss since it's been so long away from each other.

Here are the hats Carole made (in center) and some WIPs.

Dorah started this Declan's Hat...

using a soft green yarn which will really show off the fancy stitch work of the pattern.

Carole is using a slow color changing yarn to knit...

A Martina Behm pattern for a shawl that changes direction as it's knitted. This will be spectacular!

Cinzia is running out of yarn for this sweet little dress so Plan B is to turn it into a skirt with the lace edging highlighting the hem.

Janna chose lovely neutral colors for her Morton Cowl which alternates a bulky yarn with a sock yarn.

Barbara K. is just starting a hat in 2x2 ribbing with a cheerful pastel variegated yarn.

Last up is my Throwback Pixie hood using a machine washable yarn for ease of laundering. I've made a ton of these and still enjoy the journey!

 It felt really good to have some of the flock together again. There are still a couple of snowbirds who have either not returned yet or are keeping away until sure of their health status. But it helped to bring some normalcy back to our lives. Stay happy, stay well, and keep those needles clicking!