We have hats!

Liz finished the Lamb's Pride Mohair and Wool hat and scarf set I showed you last week. We all love this raspberry purple color. And the yarn has a lovely halo of softness to it.

This lovely set will be a welcome addition to someone's wardrobe when the winter winds blow.

Margaret finished her oatmeal hat with the navy Fair Isle stitching at the border.

And Carole added her striped hat to the inventory too.

I needed to knit something quick since my other projects are time consuming scarves. This 1898 hat took only a couple of days to finish. The band portion around the ears is double thickness. No wind will be able to blow through that fabric!

Margaret started the Quick Ombre Hat with this pretty purple and...

this soft pastel tonal. Both yarns are Cascade 220 worsted weight.

Carole was inspired by my Helix hat to start one of her own. The technique is very clever. You never see the change in yarn colors, no jog where it changes, and single stripes that seamlessly run into each other. The yarns get a little tangled when you knit but you can always stop every so often and straighten them out.

Last May when I went to Arizona my friend, Connie, and I picked out the variegated yarn for a souvenir and I promised to knit whatever she wanted with it. The pattern she chose required two complimentary yarns which I picked out from Periwinkle Sheep.

I spent yesterday afternoon hand sewing the grosgrain ribbon on the button band and attaching the buttons with a little help from Joules.

And now Connie's Rickroll Wrap is completed.

I hope she likes it! It can be buttoned in different ways to be worn as a cowl or cape or poncho.

I'll be making one for myself too but not for a while yet. I already have too many WIP's on needles!

Have a great week. I hear the temps are supposed to cool down around here. I'm looking forward to that! I have some warm woolies to bring out of hibernation!

Hats, hats, and more hats

The Chicks worked on many hats this week. Cinzia's child size hat was a bit quirky. Normally, stockinette stitch curls if you don't start with ribbing or garter stitch. This one is curiously flat. We can't figure out why it's not rolling! I guess it doesn't matter since it looks nice anyway. Love the red!

 Elaine finished her 2X2 ribbed hat this week and added it to the inventory.

 She decided she needed an easy project this week so she started one of our standby diagonal baby blankets. We couldn't believe the size of the skein of yarn! Check it out....

 It looks like she's got a pet sitting at her feet! We all had a good laugh! Then I was reminded of a Youtube video of a woman holding her angora rabbit on her lap as she spun his fur right off his coat. He just sat there bouncing up and down as her feet work the spinning wheel. It seemed as though he was enjoying the ride. And it doesn't hurt him because it's the layer of coat that he is shedding so it comes right off.

 Debbie made progress on her cabled mitts that she started last week. She learned the magic loop technique to make these and is flying through them. Great job Debbie!

 Liz's Mistake Stitch scarf is much longer than it was last week. At one point she had to rip back a few stitches because... wait for it... she made a mistake! LOL!

 I am working on modular squares, worked from the outside in with 25 stitches on each needle. Each corner has and ssk and a k2tog to decrease to the center, every other row. When I have enough squares to fit around the neck I think I will work along the long sides in black yarn and turn it into a cowl. Or a hat... or a cowl... we'll see how I feel when I get to that part.

 Dorah finished her Emiliana scarf and it's beautiful! She used Periwinkle Sheep yarns in Hot Mama (pink) and I think the black is Witch's Cauldron. It's beautiful!

 Especially the mosaic section.

 She worked on her 2X2 ribbed hat until...

 it was finished. This will go into inventory too.

 Remember the hat Carole started last week? Here it is with the seed stitch chevron band. I like the ribbing with the Ktbl twist (knit through the back loop of stitch). 

It makes the ribbing stand out nicely.

 This is another hat she finished that was added to inventory tonight too.

 Maureen put the finishing touches on her blanket.

 Margaret started a hat too. 

 This is the one she worked on last week and is now in the inventory too. Wow! We had a lot of hats this week!

 And I finished the cowl I started last week. This is one of those really simple patterns which requires one to count to 3. Sounds so easy, right?

I ripped it back an inch or so only once! I guess I'm getting better at counting to 3!

See you next week. In the meantime, keep those needles clicking!

Labeling Day!

Today was the day we all say, "Wow! I forgot I made that!" or "Who made that one? Oh! I did!"

We take a trip down Memory Lane as we sort through all the FO's and label them for delivery to the Romero Oncology Office.

Barbara put the finishing touches on her Present Cowl so it could go into the inventory for this round of delivery. She finished just in time to label and count it. She used a yarn from Spud and Chloe.

Elaine admired the hat Debbie made. You know, the one I showed you last week which was just at the beginning? It's a nice soft cotton blend yarn.

Cinzia started the cute baby sweater last week and is already at the bottom edge. She was consulting with us all about how many more stripes she should knit. My rule of thumb is, if you're thinking about how many more to knit, it's probably enough. 

I finished another pair of  Align Mitts using a vibrant sock yarn from a mystery yarn with no label.

So this afternoon everything was labeled and sorted. There were 32 hats.

18 scarves,

19 cowls,

and 4 pairs of fingerless mitts.

With 3 last minute additions our grand total was 82 items. I used to count pairs of mittens or socks as one item but I've decided you still have to knit TWO items so I count them individually now.

My evening Chicks were a little disappointed that they didn't get to participate in the labeling so next time I'll save that duty for them.

Carole showed us a hat she is making for herself called Rectangly. She feels the cold and this hat is double knitted so it's a good pattern for warmth. The inside and outside are mirror images of the pattern with two layers being knitted at the same time. It's going to take a while for me to wrap my brain around that one but someday I might try one.

Her Chicks project is a hat called Rambled. The pattern contains multiple sizes and it's free!

Margaret worked on a headband and was deep into it when she realized we were talking so much she forgot to increase to make a taper in the width. We all think it's fine the way it is. We'll find out next week if she agreed.

We must have been chatting on a bit because Dorah too "redesigned" a 3X2 ribbed hat before she realized it. So now it's a 2X2 ribbed hat! Hey! I always say, it's not a mistake, it's a design element!

A hat pattern called Czapka showed up on my Youtube feed which looked interesting. Unfortunately, the whole video and written pattern were in Polish! I must have watched the video a dozen times so I could count the stitches as the instructor cast on and knitted and purled her way to this lovely pattern. I'm using Berroco Ultra Alpaca which is an alpaca and Peruvian wool blend yarn. It's a bit scratchy for alpaca but it's on a head full of hair so I don't think it will matter much.

Last week when Joules was visiting I surreptitiously caught a picture of her joining us for the afternoon. I looked all through my camera and phone knowing I had taken it but couldn't for the life of me find it. The next morning I was texting my son and there it was. I had taken it to show him in a text and forgotten where it was. 

Well, that's all. I just wanted to show you how sweet the kitty is. She's a real "people person" and loves to hang out with the crowd. Enjoy your week and keep those needles clicking!