It's feeling like November

Today was the first day that felt like winter is coming. The sky is gray and the air is raw. But it was warm and busy in my kitchen as the Chicks knitted.

Barbara B. brought a couple of hats to add to our inventory. This one is "Ripples make Waves" which she has been working on for a few weeks.

And this is a slouchy hat for which she used a self striping yarn and added a jaunty pompom.

Barbara K. was making a Mistake Stitch Scarf but ran out of yarn to make it long enough to wrap around a neck so being the wise woman she is, she picked out a few stitches and made a 3 needle bind off to join the short ends and now she has a cowl!

She also added the Present Cowl which was made with a variegated yarn. The way it folds around the neck will make it a cozy accessory.

Jan A. completed two hats, this ribbed fuschia and ....

This adorable owl hat. If you know how to make cables, this will be a fun knit for you.

This is Barbara K. picking up those live stitches to complete the cowl shown above.

Jan A. used a self striping yarn to make this easy, two row repeat cowl.

She said it's a great car-knitting pattern because it's so easy. And it's free!

 I finished another Hepsi's Neckwarmer cowl using two strands of fingering weight yarn held together to make it meet the gauge requirements.

Now I have a tubular headband on my needles which is knitted in the round to make it thicker and warmer. When it reaches the length to fit around a head, the short ends will be twisted and sewn together to give it some flare.

Barbara B. decided to try her hand at TAAT magic loop socks. Today she learned how to cast on the figure 8 Judy's Magic Cast on to start the toe up socks. This method works if you are unsure that you have enough yarn to make a long cuff sock. You can knit both socks simultaneously until you run out.

Janna added more length to her Mistake Stitch Scarf. It's such a pretty purple!

I'm feeling inspired to make some socks but I need to finish some WIPs before I go stash diving for yarn. Until next week, (yes we'll be meeting Thanksgiving week) keep those needles clicking!

Mother Nature isn't cooperating

Thank goodness for air conditioning! I was all set to have the Chicks on the deck today but it started to rain when I went out for my morning walk and it turned on the steam heat! So we stayed inside where it was cool. Barbara K. wound some pretty green sport weight yarn to start another hat and matching scarf.

 She is making a hat based on the Palindrome scarf and will have enough yarn to make the scarf to match.

 Janna's TAAT socks on magic loop are coming along beautifully! She has a few more inches to knit before she starts the Shadow Wrap heel.

 Barbara B. is working on her 1898 hat but the yarn is tripping her up since she found a few knots. It's an acrylic yarn so she can't spit splice it. Instead, she used the braided join.

 Elaine is working on her Aran Watch Cap, using a lovely cream colored, worsted weight yarn.

 I needed an easy project so I could talk and knit at the same time because my other project requires that I alternate counting 5 and then 4 stitches and well...you know... I can't chew gum and walk at the same time. This is the Ribbed Watchman's Hat in a soothing shade of grey Plymouth Encore.

 Carole finished two Helix hats and...

 her green socks. These are sized to fit a large youth or small woman. The stitching is so uniform it almost looks machine knitted.

 Margaret practiced her kitchener stitch on the second sock since she didn't like the finished stitching on her first one. I think she's got the hang of it now.

 Maureen's socks are growing in length. Soon she will be picking up those pink waste yarn stitches to knit the afterthought heel.

 And Dorah is at about the same spot on her socks as Maureen.

 Carole's 1898 hat has grown and is now in the decreasing stages. A few more rows and she will be done.

Next Tuesday we Chicks will be commemorating 14 years...count them 14 YEARS of knitting together! Be sure to check back then to see how we celebrate. 

The Chicks have a new hatchling!

We have a new Chick! Barbara Bradford has been a Capital District resident for two years and we're so glad she has joined forces with us. Here she is casting on for a baby hat. We look forward to seeing her put her skills to good use with us. She is an afternoon knitter but might be visiting the evening group on occasion. Welcome to the flock Barbara! 

 Liz is working with a lovely spring green to make a basket weave patterned scarf. It even matches her shirt.

 Debbie hit a snag last week but between the two of us, she got back on track with her festive colored socks. I always say it's ok to make mistakes. That's how you learn and besides, there are no knitting police!

 Cinzia's baby sweatshirt is almost finished. Just a few more rows and ribbing and it will be ready for the inventory.

 Margaret picked up the stitches for her afterthought heel and is well on her way to finishing her first pair of TAAT magic loop socks. I'm so proud of my Chicks to be willing to learn new techniques.

 Carole's lime green socks are sized for a narrow youth foot. The heel stitches are on hold on the other side. She should be picking up stitches for the heels soon.

 This comes under the category of "It's ok to make mistakes". I apparently didn't make myself clear when I described to Dorah how to do the heels on her afterthought heel socks. She began knitting a beautiful heel flap. Unfortunately, this technique does not require one. But it took about 5 minutes to frog back to the contrasting colored yarn and knit in the round again. The funny thing is that we all sat around the table watching her without realizing what was happening. No big deal! It was an easy fix.

 Maureen's socks look nice with the pink yarn holding the heel stitches. Too bad it has to go. I love the colors in this yarn!

 I'm working on the heels of my men's socks. I have a few more stitches to decrease and then it will be time to kitchener the heels closed.

 Every night before I go to sleep I check out Youtube to see if there's anything interesting to watch. Last week I came across a video tutorial for what is called a Shadow Wrap Short Row Heel. I think it makes an even nicer heel than the afterthought heel. There are NO GAPS where the angle of the heel turns like on a traditionally knitted heel flap heel. The sock on the right shows the cuff unfolded and the heel flattened. The cuff folds down so the baby can't kick his socks off. And notice how the heel and the toe, when flat, look the same.

 My munchkins are visiting this week. They had arts and crafts night on the deck while we Chicks knitted inside. 

Oh! And my 12 year old grandson is now officially taller than me! He's so proud! Although since I'm only 5'3" ish, it isn't all that hard to beat me at this young age, but don't tell him. ;) Our family joke is if you're taller than your grandmother by the time you're 12, then you're officially Italian. LOL! And yes, my grandmother said I could eat spaghetti off the top of her head when I was 12 so it's only fair for the next generation. Get my bowl ready to balance on my head.

I'm going to go enjoy my daughter and grands while I can. Knitting can wait until next week.

In the meantime, you keep your needles clicking!

We're back inside!

At 92 degrees with 57% humidity, we Chicks decided to stay in the coolest room of the house with a large pitcher of cold peach iced tea. Janna finished her single toe up magic loop sock last week so this week she is trying TAAT. I'm sure she'll do fine.

 Debbie worked on her festive TAAT socks too. She had a little blip when she accidentally pulled the wrong cord and slipped a bunch of stitches off the needle. But who of us hasn't done that at least twice?!?! She was back on track, or should I say needles, before she headed home.

 Cinzia worked on the sleeves of a cute little pullover that has a kangaroo pocket on the front.

 My men's socks are finally past the waste yarn of the afterthought heel. I toyed with the idea of knitting the whole tube of the sock and then CUTTING THE YARN (YIKES) to pick up the stitches for the heel. But then I decided it's just as easy to knit in the waste yarn and quicker to pick up the stitches when it's time to knit the heels.

 Liz actually finished her Mistake Stitch Scarf right after I took this picture. This a a good standby warm scarf which makes a thick, warm fabric.

 And Barb's Palindrome scarf, also a nice warm fabric, is showing off its beautiful cables.

The evening Chicks had conflicts tonight so you won't get to see their progress until next week. 

Until then, keep those needles clicking!

Deck weather is back!

It's been 3 weeks since we were able to sit outside. I was away 2 of those weeks but we've been having a heat wave which would have prevented us from enjoying outdoor knitting. Today we had a lovely, humid-free afternoon.

 Cinzia is back from her whirlwind vacation through Italy and France with her family. She brought us her finished Helix hat. That black yarn really makes the color pop!

 Debbie finished her first pair of toe up socks. She feels confident enough now to attempt two at a time next. This cheerful yarn is perfect for the child size socks.

 Barbara was inspired by the Palindrome scarf to make this lovely cabled hat. She used a worsted weight heathered yarn which shows off the cables perfectly.

 And Janna's toe up socks have perfect stitch tension. She did a really good job of picking up stitches from the waste yarn too.

 In the 2 hours of knitting she finished both socks and they are ready for inventory. She too will try her hand at two at a time now that she feels confident that she has the concept of sock knitting.

 Liz finished her boot socks using the good old DP, 5 needles technique. We all loved the contrasting heels and toes.

 Carole worked her Cascade sport weight socks past the waste yarn for the heels. You can't see the waste yarn because it's on the other side of the sock but it's there.

 Maureen's child size socks are coming along nicely. I love the colors of her yarn.

 And Margaret has wrapped her head around the two at a time now. She was having trouble initially but we figured out it was because her circular needle had a very stiff cable which had her wrestling it constantly. It's so important to have good supplies with which to work. It really makes a difference in the enjoyment and also the quality of your work. If you're going to invest this much time and effort into a hobby, it's worth spending a little bit more for the tools. And if you take good care of them, they'll last a good long time (unless your dear husband decides to vacuum your knitting room and catches the needles in the hose).

 My Knit Picks Wool of the Andes socks seem to be taking forever but that's because I'm knitting a Christmas gift also which is very time consuming.

It feels good to be back on our regular schedule again and to be able to sit outside is so refreshing! 

Check back next week to see our progress. In the meantime, keep those needles clicking!