We might run out of room!

We had a whopping 20 attendees today and a couple of visitors who couldn't stay for the whole two hours! What started out as a neat rectangular setup of tables quickly turned into a crazy quilt of chairs and people!

It's a great testament to the members who belong to the Stitch Angels that our group has grown in popularity. Everyone is welcoming and kind which shows up in our attendance.

Our show and tell this week begins with the Celtic purse that Gerry is crocheting. The first picture shows how the pieces are made and joined and the center picture shows Gerry's progress so far. She said it's a bit fiddly but she's doing a great job. The last photo shows our newest member of Stitch Angels, Kathy. Her hobby is bead stringing. Glad to have you on board Kathy!

Sitting beside Kathy is Gail with her second Morton Cowl. The fabric is made by combining a bulky weight yarn and a fingering weight yarn in alternating rows to create the grid design.

Her first one is completed and is waiting to be blocked. It's a quick and fun way to combine two such different weights of yarn.

Ceil continues to add length to her Good Vibes shawl made with her favorite colors.

Keiko continues to impress me with her ever improving skills both as a knitter and as a student of the English language. She and I both refer to Google Translate when the conversation gets complicated but she does much better at English than I could ever do at Japanese! She just started her Sophie Scarf last Friday and is already showing much progress.

Yvonne has a 2X2 ribbed hat on her needles and as you can see in the previous photo, a boot cast on her foot! She tore a tendon in her ankle when she picked up her newspaper. Isn't it always something simple that does so much damage?!? It's like having your back go out when you sneeze. Hope you heal quickly, Yvonne!

I think this is Janna's 2X2 ribbed hat. It's a great pattern when you need to whip up something warm in a hurry.

She is also working on a pair of fingerless mitts that have a pretty slipped stitch design on the cuff.

Tomasa has chosen the Viera Hat to knit using...

two lovely shades of green with a great contrast to highlight the stitch design.

Barbara is working on the cuff of a Helix Hat and will incorporate the gold and cream colors into the brown for the crown with single row stripes. This method of helix knitting prevents the rounds from creating a jog where the colors change.

It's the same method I used to knit the crazy stripes on my reversible hat. I used three different self striping sock yarns which spiral up the crown in a continuous round with no breaks. The hat can be worn with the stripes fully out, the purple side out, or either side with the contrasting cuff folded up.

Debra has been cranking out mittens like a machine!

And she has another bagful at her feet!

Mike is working on a shawl that uses slow changing colors. Unfortunately, my photographer skills failed me on this shot. But trust me, it is going to be a beauty.

Athena, Missy, and Jim worked on their projects while improving their skills.

And our "Queen of the Loom Knitting" aka Terry, has another scarf in progress.

Bob sat quietly, taking in all the conversation around him while he added rows to his vibrant blanket.

Pam found a pretty pattern called Double Eyelet Rib Scarf .

It's not quite finished yet and will need a blocking to open up the lace but it's a pretty one!

Like many of the knitters in the group, Pam always has another project in her bag of tricks. This will become fingerless mitts using a self striping yarn that does all the work for you.

Karen is working on a couple of hats.

And so is Rena. Here is another example of self striping yarn. They are fun to knit because you can't wait to see what the next color will be.

Gail showed us the sweater she is knitting for her sister. It's the Turtle Dove Sweater with sweeping raglan sleeves for a boxy, casual look. Her yarn is from Malabrigo Rios called Paris Night. The yarn is beautiful and very soft.

Cathy stopped by to drop off some hats for the yarn bombing. These are the LOSY hats which stands for "left over sock yarns" so it's a great pattern for using up small scraps of yarn leftovers. Thank you Cathy for your lovely hats!

On Wednesday Barbara and I played with dyes. I used alum and cream of tartar to pre-treat bare naked yarn so it could accept color permanently and then we used Wilton Cake Icing Dyes and vinegar to dye sock weight yarns. I didn't exactly know what I was doing but I like the end result.

Now I have a bag of alum, a jar of cream of tartar, and twelve vials of dye to use up. I better order more yarn and get busy!

Have a great week and keep those needles clicking!