Warm hats and cozy cowls

My afternoon Chicks are back! Well, some of them are anyway. Debbie is back from her winter break to warmer weather and she returned with a lovely rose colored hat. 

 The stitching gives a lovely texture which will make it warmer for the wearer.

 Barbara finished her Cushy Cowl using Shields of Garnet color of Periwinkle Sheep yarn. The texture of this cowl is also very insulating against the cold.

 Beth is back from her winter sabbatical too. She added this Noro yarn cowl. Lovely colors!

 And also this Fair Isle knitted tube which is grafted together so it's one continuous double thick cowl.

 

 She immediately cast on for another using the same yarns in the opposite stitching.

Beth's daughter visited tonight. That's her on the right. Gretchen knitted a lovely persimmon colored sweater for herself.

 Carole added a few more inches to her Wolkig cowl. With each row it's getting to look less and less like an octopus and more like a cowl.

 Dorah finished her Copy Cat Beanie and had enough yarn left to start a headband.

I finished the 1898 hat last week. It was a two day project which was an interesting knit.

I enjoyed making it so much I started another one today. I have to graft the ends together and pick up stitches for the crown and then I'll have another to add to the inventory.

At this rate I could knit a couple of hats a week in between my other projects. Oh wait... I have to eat and sleep too. Never mind! ;)

Starting over

Margaret's hat pattern seemed to have an error in stitch count so she frogged it back from last week's progress and decided to make up her own pattern. So far, so good!

 Carole's Wolkig cowl looks like an octopus right now but soon it will look like...

 the one I finally finished this week. The placement of decreasing stitches and increasing stitches makes it look like it's smocked. This merino/silk blend yarn is lightweight but warm.

 Dorah made 3 attempts to knit the Wolkig also but her yarn wasn't cooperating. We give a project 3 chances and if it is still giving us a hard time, it's time to move one. So she did! Now she's knitting the Copy Cat Hat in a lovely purple Patons yarn.

 This is what it will look like. I've seen this hat all around town this winter and we have 2 in our inventory so it will be nice to add another one!

Today was supposed to be the first day of spring but with temps in the low 30's and some snow still on the ground, it doesn't quite feel it. Maybe by next week Mother Nature will be in a better mood and start sending warmer days and some green sprouts to cheer us up. Keep your fingers crossed and your knitting needles clicking!

A quiet evening with my Chicks

Even though Cinzia has not been able to join us on Tuesdays for this semester, she has been busy knitting and finished two lovely items for the inventory. First up is this cute little pullover for the next time we donate to babies. The patterned section is magically knitted by the use of slipped stitches so you never use more than one color per row.

 This Mixed Wave cowl was filled with short rows to create the undulating effect between colors. The I-cord edges make a nice neat finish too.

 I watched a few Youtube video tutorials and learned the figure 8 cast on for two-at-a-time, toe up socks and the afterthought heel. These were a gift for a new baby in the family. I enjoyed making these and will probably use this as my go-to method of sock knitting. 

 Carole found a beautiful Madelinetosh fingering superwash yarn in the stash so she can start...

the Wolkig cowl. After casting on 200 stitches she is finally on her way through the first row.

The colors in this yarn are gorgeous!

Joules is still visiting but she didn't hang around long. She had to catch up on her napping in her favorite spot.

Margaret found a mistake and had to frog her hat from last week but she is back on track now.

I'm hoping to have my Wolkig cowl finished by next week so I can cast on something new. I wonder what I should knit next...

I think Rumplestiltskin is real!

Margaret started off the evening with her completed cowl, The Cool Side of Warm. It has a little slit at the neck opening so it can fit over your shoulder. The Cascade 220 yarn makes it a warm fabric just right to keep out the cold winter air.

 Then Margaret had to wind two new colors to start a stranded hat pattern.

 Her choice of cream and chartreuse will look very nice.

 This is what it will look like when it's finished.

 Barbara is almost finished with her Cushy Cowl. That tonal red yarn is beautiful!

 Carole added some length to her Birthday Cowl. It will be completed soon too.

 Dorah had an oops evening. The Wolkig cowl she was making had an accident and needed to be frogged so I got a picture of the darling stitch markers she is using to keep her place.

 And lastly is my Wolkig cowl which seems to be taking me forever to knit. I think there are yarn gremlins who sneak out at night to add to my ball of yarn so it never runs out.

Hey Gremlins! Go back to Rumplestiltskin where you belong!

Cowls, cowls, and more cowls

             We had an audience with "The Queen" this week while her home is undergoing some renovation changes. You'll be seeing Joules in the coming weeks, I'm sure.

                          

Carole started off the evening of show and tell with her Childhood Memories scarf she made for herself using Periwinkle Sheep yarn. She couldn't remember the name of the color but let me tell you, it was stunning! The photo doesn't do justice to the deep, luscious, teal blue and her beautiful work. Great job Carole!

She was away but it didn't stop her from catching up on her knitting. She brought a hat and three cowls. Barbara brought us her pretty teal and sky blue striped Present Cowl on the bottom right.

Margaret made good progress on her cowl, The Cooler Side of Warm. 

Barbara started the Cushy Cowl using Periwinkle Sheep worsted weight superwash merino in Shields of Garnet. For some reason the free pattern is no longer available but I had a copy so here goes...

Pattern as follows:

104 yds Chunky yarn 

Size 10.5 circular needle, 16” long 

Cast on 68 sts (76). Place marker for beginning of round and join without twisting. 

Rnds 1-2: K1,P1repeat between * to end of round 

Rnds 3-4: P1, K3 rpt between * to end of round 

Rnds 5-6: K1,P1 rpt between * to end of round 

Rnds 7-8: K2, P1, K1 rpt between * to end of round

Work pattern 5X (40 rounds)

Bind off loosely.

Carole started another cowl tonight too.

Dorah started her Wolkig cowl tonight with more Periwinkle Sheep yarn called Wink. It has a bit of sparkle to it.

I had knitted a scarf many moons ago which curled into a tiny roll and looked like a waste of yarn so I frogged it and decided to make a bandana style cowl. I'm binding off the ruffle edge and holding my breath that I'll have enough yarn to finish.

My version of the Wolkig is half done. When it's finished it will look like it's smocked.

And the Lindan cowl was added to our inventory tonight.

The Ella Rae superwash merino will make it an easy to care for item.

I just heard Joules doing something she probably shouldn't be doing so I'm off! See you next week!

WHAT? I use my exercise bike!

This beautiful gradient yarn was hand dyed by my friend Karin of Periwinkle Sheep fame. It came as a blank on which she painted the dye colors for a long and gradual color change. Since the undyed blank is actually a length of knitted fabric, it is kinky curly when unraveled to use as yarn to be knitted. This kinky-ness can alter the gauge of a finished knitted item so I soaked the unraveled yarn in a cool bath and now it is hanging to dry on my recumbent bike. When I have finished knitting my project I'll show you the gorgeous colors as they change in my shawl I have planned in my head.

 I have a second skein taking its bath as we speak. This one has a family of pinks and blush colors. I think I will make a Wolkig with it.

 Last week I finished my Lady Lindan cowl using the softest baby alpaca yarn from Cascade called Eco Alpaca. When I tell you it's soft, believe me! It's soooooft!

 I saw Maureen over the weekend and she had time between her tax season duties to finish the Yarmouth Fair Isle Watch Cap. If you remember, I started this hat in November 2015 and slogged through the charts only to put it in hibernation for many months. Then at the end of last year I read a post from a yarn store owner and knitter who said she reviews her UFO's at the end of the year and frogs the projects which no longer interest her. So I frogged my hat and Maureen decided she would like to try it. She has more stamina than I! Now we have a beautiful Fair Isle hat to donate to the women veterans, our next recipents.

I hope those skeins of yarn dry soon. I'm itching to get at them with my patterns. Maybe I'll point a fan at them. Maybe I should finish one of the other 9 projects I currently have in progress. LOL!

Knitting til the Cowls come home

Remember those buttons that took me 8 hours to felt? Well, here they are in place on the cowl. I'm happy that they turned out the way I pictured them. I would hate for all that time to be wasted, not to mention the amount of yarn it took to make them.

 And Margaret shared the pattern for the hat she deconstructed and wrote up so we could all make it. It took two days from start to finish for me to knit and I do love the stitch definition I got with this Debbie Bliss Rialto yarn. It's a superwashed merino and about as soft as a cloud.

 Barbara finished her Spiral Hat using Berroco Vintage, a great washable blend with some wool in it.

 Carole found an interesting slow color changing yarn in the stash and started the Totally Biased Cowl. It starts with a provisional cast on and is grafted together at the finish so you won't even see a seam. The pastels colors are really pretty too.

 She also started a project for herself using some Periwinkle Sheep Watercolors II sock yarn in the color Elderberry. It's the Hitchhiker scarf which for some reason I want to call Windbreaker. 

 Margaret and I started a cowl called The Cooler Side of Warm. She was making the Birthday Cowl but her yarn wasn't cooperating so she switched to this pattern and it's much happier.

I had a bit of a head start so I'm further along. I'm using more of the Debbie Bliss Rialto. I like the warm chocolate color.

                            

Barbara started the Present Cowl with a pretty teal yarn. And you can see part of her cowl which was inspired by Copenhagen Calling Cowl. She did a lovely job with her constrasting colors.

We're expecting anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of snow tomorrow so I'll have lots of time to knit. And heaven knows, I have plenty of projects to work on!