HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 Janna and Barbara K. joined me today to start the new year off knitting.  My project is the Ribbed Watchman Cap, a favorite easy pattern of mine, which calls for worsted weight yarn. I was feeling lazy and didn't feel like winding a hank of worsted weight so I grabbed a ball of sock weight yarn and held it doubled to make the same pattern. I think I might have cast on a few extra stitches to make sure the circumference of the hat would fit an adult. I am almost at the 9.5 inch mark when I can begin decreasing for the crown.

Barbara's project is the Mistake Stitch Hat.

She is a quick knitter because...

by 3PM she had finished it and added it to the inventory.

Janna made a hat and scarf ensemble using the same Mistake Stitch pattern. The yarn is superwash wool so it will be machine washable and dryable.

The thick fabric created with this pattern makes a warm, thermal layer to keep the wearer 

warm and cozy.

She had so much of this pink yarn that she is now making some stuffies, also known as amigurumi or stuffed toys, for our other knitting group. These two tubes will become teddy bears for children.

It's a cold, raw, rainy day here so I see a cup of hot tea in my future. 

Stay warm and keep those needles clicking!

The Chicks had a supervisor today

If you look closely at the red circle you can see my kitty, Fozzie, watching from the family room, or the mezzanine as we jokingly call it. He has gradually become more accustomed to the Chicks visiting every Tuesday. Sometimes he walks around the table to make sure everyone is on their toes. But he never touches our yarns. He's such a gentleman.

I brought all my donated yarn stash down to the dining room so the Chicks could go "shopping". Every now and then they need to see it. Otherwise out of sight, out of mind. And I have way more SABLE (stash acquisition beyond life expectancy) than any one person should have.😏

Barbara B. worked on a new project this week. This is her Letters from Russia, a pretty, lacy shawl in an asymmetrical triangle. She's using yarn from Kool Kolors dyed by my daughter.

Cinzia worked on her Glacier Cowl which is a freebie on Ravelry.

I didn't catch the name of this baby sweater that Maureen is making but it's adorable. It starts at the back bottom edge and is worked up and over the shoulders. Then the button bands are added to the front.

Jan continued working on her Squarshy Hat, the funny pattern with the naughty words.

Dorah picked out some yarn from the "shopping spree" to start a Helix Hat, using some Knitpicks Wool of the Andes yarn.

Barbara K. started another Mistake Stitch Scarf which is a great stash buster pattern.

Janna started the same scarf pattern which blends nicely with her finished Watchman's Cap.

Margaret is halfway through her 1898 hat and decided to make the crown in the helix technique. It doesn't show here but next week I'm sure she'll be far enough along to show it.

And I'm making the same hat only with a solid crown.

Last week I showed you Barbara B's Zomboni scarf in progress. During the week she blocked it and...

She brought it in to show us how lovely it is. The long edge looks like little picot loops but it's a design feature just from changing from garter stitch to stockinette stitch.

From top to bottom: Margaret finished her own design hat, Dorah finished the colorful hat, and there's Janna's finished cap again.

Jan P. completed her Reversible Stripes Scarf and the Turn a Square Hat to pair with it.

 We are well on our way to a good collection of items to donate to Grassroots Givers soon. 

Keep those needles clicking!

Starting a new cycle

While not every one of my Chicks was in attendance today, we still had a full house. We talked a little about the yarn bombing last Friday and then moved on to our next rotation of donations.

Our next recipients will be the clients who are served by Grassroots Givers. They requested dish cloths but we can do so much more and we've got a good start. Barbara K. started us off with a warm hat made with Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn so it's soft and machine washable.

Maureen finished her Helix Hat and it's also a machine washable hat made with Berroco Vintage.

My contribution this week is a superwash merino cowl. I watched a video on YouTube which was in a foreign language but I slowed the video so I could write the pattern as it was being knitted. I've seen some great stitches in video format so I'll be translating a few more in the next few weeks. After I write them up, I share them with my Chicks. If you'd like a copy, private message me and I'll email one.

This set that I'm making is almost finished. The cowl is the Glacier and the hat is my go-to Soldier's Watchcap. This is actually for my other charity knitting group which has been asked to knit a bunch to be donated to Street Soldiers of Albany. It's "fun" juggling two charity groups at once...notice the quotation marks.😉

Dorah has chosen her next project to be a Helix Hat and her color choices are yummy!

Maureen's hat is another machine washable fiber, also Berroco Vintage. The texture of this pattern is beginning to show nicely.

Barbara K. found a nice variegated fingering weight yarn to make a cowl.

It will become the Present Cowl, a freebie on Ravelry.

Jan was gifted her sister's stash of yarn and she has already started using it. The Squarshy Hat is an easy hat with a line of stitching to keep it interesting. If you choose this pattern, be forewarned...it has spicy language in the directions which make it kind of funny to read.

Margaret made up this hat pattern while riding in the car. It's a basic stockinette stitch in the round but every 5th stitch is a purl stitch to give it that spiral all the way up. Good job!

Janna is making the Ribbed Watchcap too. She's just about to the point where she can start decreasing for the crown.

Barbara B. is using this lovely sport weight yarn for a Fresco Simply Slouchy hat.

And last but not least, Dorah wore her beautiful Bella Shawl with yarn she bought online. If I could remember the name I'd tell you but for some reason, I have a mental block and can never remember it!

I've unearthed some pretty yarns from my stash that are calling my name so I better say good-bye and get back to the projects so I can start something new. Until next time, keep those needles clicking!

Autumn in New York means time to distribute

On Sunday my husband and I took a ride up to the John Boyd Thacher State Park to get a bird's eye view of the changes that come with autumn. John Boyd Thacher was a former New York State Senator and Mayor of Albany way back in the 1880's. In 1914, his widow Emma gave 350 acres of land on the Helderberg Escarpment, where the couple had a summer home, to New York State. The scenes looking into the valley are breathtaking and there are areas for camping and picnicking. We always make time to catch a glimpse of the changing season.

But I don't have to go that far to see beautiful fall colors. Right in my own neighborhood are some gorgeous maples that always put on a great show every October.

And with the temperatures dropping, we Chicks have to get our items ready for the yarn bombing this Friday. The assembly line is ready for labeling all the warm woolies.

We collected and labeled 88 items of clothing, 105 if you count sets and pairs individually. These items will be added to those that are collected from my other knitting group, The Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels (https://stitchangels.wixsite.com/home). On Friday they will be delivered to The South End Children's Cafe in Albany and a few more items will be hung on the fence surrounding the community garden a block away for those folks in the neighborhood who might need some warmth in their lives.

We Chicks have already begun knitting the next rotation of items for Grassroots Givers, an organization that connects needs in the community to those who can share resources. They like to pair hand made cotton dish cloths with a bottle of dish detergent so Maureen is working on her second dish cloth. The burgundy one on the table is an easy free pattern on Ravelry. There are many variations on the theme available for those who would like to make unique designs too.

Margaret is trying her hand at a top down baby sweater called "Sunnyside". She just started it today and is working her first buttonhole.

The free pattern has two styles available, one lacy and one cabled.

Carole is making this cabled hat using...

this cozy, oatmeal colored yarn. She just started casting on so I suspect by next week you'll be seeing the hat or most of it.

Barbara B. Is using a very colorful yarn to make this adorable hat    https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bewind-hat  which is another free pattern on Ravelry.

Jan P. is back after too long a hiatus. She's making one of my all time favorites, The Reversible Stripes scarf which uses two different gradient yarns. I haven't made one of these in a long time because I spend more time turning it over to try to figure out why the stripes are horizontal on one side but vertical on the other. LOL! I'm feeling inspired though. I'll have to go stash diving to see if I have some gradients that will work for one of these lovely scarves.

My project is the Glacier Cowl for which I'm using a superwash merino. I'm hoping there is enough yarn left over when I'm finished so I can make a matching hat using the good old standby Ribbed Watchman's Hat. 

And from the corner of my eye, I can see someone is ready for a snack. I can feel his eyes penetrating my brain to send a message. Ok Fozzie, I hear you.

 I hope wherever you live you get to enjoy the weather and if there are fall colors, enjoy them too. I'll be back at the end of the week with pictures from the yarn bombing. 

Until then, keep those needles clicking.

The oppresive heat and humidity are gone

The last week around here has been like a sauna! So glad we had a few thunderstorms to break the heat wave. And now we can meet on the deck again.

Maureen finished her Easy Scarf. How nicely those colors blend into each other. And it really is easy!

Janna completed her Morton Cowl and a hat that makes me think of wine grapes.

Jan added a colorful hat to our inventory. It's a quick knit made with 1x1 ribbing.

Carole also added a hat to the inventory. Using bulky weight yarn makes it a quick knit too.

Dorah completed two Helix hats and a denim blue cap made with a thick, warm wool.

I had tons of bulky variegated yarn so Liz took some to make a cowl. This is another project that will be finished in the blink of an eye.

Dorah is working on her Close to You shawl. She loved the colors of the yarn when it was in the skein but now she's not too sure. I'm sure someone will love it to go with a neutral coat.

Maureen started the Beach Pebbles Cowl using a bulky yarn with lots of color.

Jan is adding length to her Easy Scarf/Shawl. Soon she will change direction of the knitting and make short rows to knit perpendicular to these stitches.

Janna added to her Easy Guernsey Hat but was confused by the directions. Many time designers will write "knit rows 1-4, repeat four times" which can be confusing to some knitters. I always have to read ahead to find out if the designer wants a total of 16 rows or 20 rows. But we put our collective brains together and figured it out.

Barbara B. picked up this pattern and yarn at the garage sale a couple of years ago and decided 

to make it.

She said the yarn is kind of splitty but I'm sure it will make a nice blanket.

I finished a couple of cowls and decided to make a mindless 2x2 ribbed hat to give my brain a rest.

The first cowl is Hepsi's Neck Warmer using a tonal worsted weight wool. I modified the pattern a bit to make a garter stitch edge instead of a 2x2 ribbing.

And this cowl is the Basket Weave Cowl I designed after being inspired by the stitch. Both cowls were knitted with yarn donated to the Chicks by my daughter.

Well, my kitty is tugging at my pants leg hinting that he should be fed, YET AGAIN! It's hard to ignore his pleading and I'm NOT the one in the family who feels sorry for him and gives in. LOL! But it's close enough to his feeding time so I'll say so long and keep those needles clicking!