Field Trip!

This past Saturday Debbie, Dorah, and I went on a field trip to our favorite place, WEBS in Northampton, Massachusetts. We arrived in time for lunch so we could have the whole afternoon to shop without interruption.

 The Chicks have plenty of natural fiber yarn in the inventory but we were lacking in a good machine wash and dry yarn for the baby clothes which we are currently knitting. So we stocked up on Plymouth Encore, a 75% acrylic/25% wool blend which is a pleasure to knit and blocks nicely too. Keeping watch is Rachel Raccoon whom you'll get to see up close later on the page.

 The afternoon Chicks worked busily on our projects so we could dive into the lovely Encore yarn soon.

 Debbie hasn't too much more to knit on her baby sweater for which she used Lion Brand Ice Cream.

 And Elaine worked on her baby blanket until she discovered four stitches which were purled instead of knitted. Luckily, she could drop those stitches down and correct them with a crochet hook so she didn't have to rip out a whole whack of stitches!

 Last week Barbara K. wasn't sure she liked the yarn she chose for a hat but now that she's further into the knitting she is content with her choice.

 Cinzia worked on a cotton blanket with a big block stitch. This will be a perfect blankie for some cutie pie to cuddle up.

 Dorah took one of those new skeins of Encore and started a baby hat.

 Carole's Cuddle Bug Baby blanket is settling nicely into stripes.

 And here is Rachel Raccoon up close and personal. I used the Pretty Izzy Dolls pattern for the shoes, hair, and dress. The directions said to make curly hair, wrap yarn around a skinny bamboo needle, soak it with hot water, and then bake for 30 minutes at 200 degrees while still on the needle. I found a size 1 metal DP and instead of putting it in the oven I used my flat iron a few times up and down the length of the wrapped yarn and left it to dry overnight. The curls were perfect in the morning!

 This afternoon I finished the Dexter vest for which I used Berroco Comfort yarn. There was just a bit of yarn left out of the 210 yard skein when I was done.

 Barbara B. made a set of preemie hat and booties with a soft baby acrylic.

 And had enough yarn left to make a darling cardigan with bright green buttons.

It's been a productive week and I look forward to seeing what else the Chicks come up with. Until then, keep those needles clicking.

Filling up our inventory

Remember that pretty afghan Barbara was making last week? Well, she finished it and it's a beauty. Who knew stash yarn could make such a pretty finished product? Good job Barb!

We had a visitor this week. Kathleen's daughter, Pat, was in town for a visit. We always enjoy seeing what her knitting basket holds.
And she didn't disappoint us. This is the sweater she was making during her last visit a few months ago. She bought the yarn at WEBS when we all went for a field trip last spring. It turned out beautifully.

Kathleen started the hoodie sweater from the yarn she picked last week. I can't wait to see it with it's buttons.
I finished a shawl of my own design which I named "Flirtacious". Karin modeled it for me and until I saw it from a distance on someone else I couldn't fully appreciate the ruffled edge. I'm going to try to write up the pattern. Uh-oh! That means a trip through the cobwebs of my brain. Scary!!!
Since next week is Christmas week we Chicks are not sure if we'll be knitting together. So let me take this opportunity to wish you all a warm and wonderful holiday and a healthy and prosperous new year.

LADIES....START YOUR ENGINES!

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful spring day to take our annual field trip to WEBS in Northampton, Mass. for the BIG spring sale.

Everyone arrived at my house promptly at 8:45AM and we carpooled from there.
We were delayed at the toll booths not 20 minutes away from the store. Come on people! Don't you know we're on a mission?!

Ahhhh! The mecca of the fiber world! We finally arrived at WEBS around 10:30.

Does it look like we're in a hurry? Can't wait to get our hands on that yarn!!!

Some "corn" yarns caught Elaine's eye at the front of the store. Such wonderful colors.

Barbara headed straight back to the warehouse where you could see nothing but yarns for miles and miles and miles....

Kathleen checked out the superwashed wools for a favorite afghan pattern that she makes for newlyweds.

Pat, Kathleen's daughter, came all the way up from Pawling just to join us. This was her very first trip to WEBS and we warned her it was overwhelming! I don't think she quite imagined how overwhelming it would be!

Karin found some gorgeous blue yarn to make a sweater for herself.

This was Sheila's first trip to WEBS too, but she stuck to her shopping list which helped to ease the anxiety of having so much from which to choose.

What did you pick? Oh I love that color? What are you going to make with that one?

Wouldn't these three together make a nice fall colored afghan?

The two hours we spent yarn shopping flew by in the wink of an eye. We made many wise and beautiful yarn purchases.

We were so hungry by this time that we headed over to Hadley a few miles away to have lunch at Whole Foods. There was a whole bounty of wonderful foods on the buffet to fill our plates.

When we got back to the parking lot this car was next to ours, covered in game boards with magnetic playing pieces, figurines on the dashboard, a doll arm sticking out of the roof, and sayings written on almost every square inch.

Karin noticed a plastic box glued to the trunk that was filled with sidewalk chalk with an invitation to "Leave Your Mark". So we did! The Chicks with Sticks are now a part of that car! LOL!

Our last stop of the day was at Trader Joe's in Hadley to stock up on all kinds of goodies. Of course we had to bring back some yummy chocolate to sustain us for the ride home.

All in all I would have to say it was a very successful day for the Chicks. Now we'll have to think about where our next field trip should be.