Last day on the deck

               This was our last week for knitting outside. As you can see I had to bring all my plants indoors because the nights have already been down to 55 degrees. And I had to make hot tea for everyone to sip to stay warm on this chilly, cloudy afternoon. We all sported sweaters to ward off the chill. Pretty soon I'll have the fireplace going!         

                          

We start today's show and tell with Cinzia's scarf called ZickZack Scarf. The original pattern calls for fingering weight yarn but as long as you adjust the size of the needle appropriate for the weight of the yarn you can make the change. Cinzia needed to try 3 different needle sizes until she found one that would give her a drapey fabric with her worsted weight yarn. Too small a needle will make the fabric stiff and dense and for a scarf you need the fabric to wrap comfortably around the neck. This size seems just right.

Liz asked Cinzia if she would like to crochet an edge on a baby sweater she knitted last year. Try as she might, Liz didn't like the end result of picking up stitches for the button band and having a smooth edge. I have the same problem sometimes so when I see a pattern that says to pick up stitches for a band I usually try to slip the first stitch of the row so the edge has a chain stitch look. Then I can pick up a stitch for every corresponding stitch and the end result is usually smoother.

Liz finished another cowl and put the finishing touches on it this afternoon.

Barbara started a hat and has lots of brown yarn so she'll be adding a scarf or mittens to make it a set.

Beth finished an Argyle Christmas stocking. It's a gift for someone special. I was baffled at the construction because she said she knitted it flat and seamed it at the end. I thought argyle had to be knitted in the round but when Beth explained that she knitted it in the Intarsia style then it started to make sense. It turned out beautifully! She has one more to make for her other someone special which she said she'll knit in opposite coloring on the heel and toe.

Maureen is still working on the never ending Mistake Stitch scarf. Hang in there Maureen!

Beth brought us all a recipe to use up our fall apples and Carole was adding some last minute notes to her copy here. I missed taking a picture of her current project. Next week we'll probably see the finished product.

A couple of days ago I started the Totally Biased cowl. It's one of my favorite quick knits using a bulky weight yarn. This time however, I used two yarns twisted together which equaled a bulky weight.

By the end of the evening it was finished. The cowl starts with a provisional cast on and then the live stitches from both ends are grafted together.

It is truly an infinity scarf. You can't find where it was grafted together.