Bring on the AC

Somebody is lying because my weather app says it's 88 degrees out but with a dew point of 76, it feels more like a humid surface of the sun! That's why all these smiling faces are inside today. 

We're also smiling because Barbara B brought sourdough double chocolate quick bread with large chocolate morsels that melted in the mouth! YUM!

Barbara K finished her Helix Hat with the pretty pastel colors.

 It kind of reminds me of Neopolitan Ice Cream.

Tina finished her Welter Hat. The yarn has a halo that makes it look cozy fuzzy.

I finished my Welter Hat too. I used Plymouth Encore worsted weight for this one. It's a machine wash and dry blended fiber of 75% acrylic and 25% wool for warmth.

Tina's current WIP is the Ruckle Hat made with strategically placed folds to create a crinkled look.

Jan is working the last knit row on her Reverb Shawl and will be binding off any second now.

Cinzia finished sewing the pieces of her cute little pullover so now she needs buttons for the shoulders.

Barbara B is working on a diagonal blanket to match the sweet sweater and hat set that she is making for a neighbor's new grandbaby.

Margaret is doing a beautiful job on her Fair Isle Knit Hat. If you like charts, this one is for you.

Dorah's Helix Hat is ready for the decreasing portion to close the crown.

And I'm binding off the last round on my bandana cowl. I had to knit a garter stitch border to keep it from rolling so I'm using the Icelandic bind off to match the look of the garter stitches.

Nancy is knitting the Slip Stitch Cowl, a freebie on Ravelry.

She has chosen a solid yarn and a variegated yarn with long, slow color changes that magically fit the rounds perfectly. It's such a pretty color combination too.

Well, it just started to thunder and Fozzie freaks out so I need to cuddle and console my kitty.

 Happy Independence Day and keep those needles clicking!

Starting our KAL

If you look closely, right in the center, we had a visitor today. Elena Fasullo is Cinzia's daughter and she stopped by to say hello before she prepares to go off to law school. 

She has been stopping by to say hi since she was a little girl and even made it into a story that aired on WNYT when we Chicks celebrated our 10th anniversary. She spent the afternoon crocheting soap pouches with cotton yarn. The bar of soap is inserted into the pouch and then it serves as a washcloth. I can't believe she is off to law school soon! Best of luck Elena!

                                             

This is the KAL we are starting together. It's the Welter Hat which was inspired by...

 the hat that Carole brought to show us last week. She couldn't remember where she got the pattern or what the name was so I had to put on my Sherlock Holmes hat and do some investigating. At first I thought I would examine the hat and try to figure out how to knit the short rows and write up the pattern myself. But that soon turned out to be an exercise in futility. So for the third time, I searched Ravelry and narrowed down the parameters of the search further and lo and behold! The pattern showed up! I was so excited but it was short lived because it came from a book which was out of print.

I remembered that I could search sites for books out of print and HOORAY! I found a copy which arrived in the mail yesterday! I stayed up late last night figuring out the short rows on the ribbing portion so I could help everyone who wanted to participate in the KAL. 

I always say, I make all the mistakes first so you don't have to. 

It was a little fiddly and I decided to put locking stitch markers at every station where there was a wrap and turn. Nancy, Jan, and Margaret surrounded me so we could follow, step by step, each row.

Margaret worked on the twisted ribbing for the required 1 inch and then the "fun" began.

The instructions were a little muddy, written by someone who knows what she's talking about but maybe isn't the best at writing a clearly planned out pattern. There seemed to be a lot of looking back and forth across the page for clarity. 

Nancy's hat is almost the same color as Margaret's. 

Barbara B called me last night to get some help so she was a little further along but then we discovered that, because of that lack of clarity, she had knitted too many short rows and had to tink back. She's on the right track now.

Jan started it last night too but needed to go down in needle size so she started again this afternoon and was able to reach the short rows where she needed some hand holding to get going.

 That's what I'm here for!

Cinzia worked on the back portion of a sweet little dress she is knitting for our other group, The Delaware Avenue Stitch Angels.

Carole worked on the self patterning yarn baby sweater. She opted to work on something a little less stressful while looking on as we worked out the short rows situation.

We earned our break for some Sourdough Rhubarb Quick bread from the magic oven of Barbara B.

Barbara B thought the name of the designer of the Welter Hat sounded familiar so she searched her FOs on Ravelry and sure enough! She knitted the Ruckle Hat by Jennifer Dassau, the exact same designer!

Tina had a previous engagement today but she sent me a picture of her completed 1898 Hat

 and Totally Biased Cowl.  Both these patterns are free on Ravelry.

Well, I have to get back to my Welter Hat. I need to keep one step ahead of everyone else so if they have another question, I'll have an answer...I hope. 😉

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!