When the knitting needles fell it was like Jenga.

I have to say, I just love what I do. I enjoy teaching and helping my group with their projects amidst the friendship, the banter, and the exchange of ideas (knitting & otherwise). There is such a fulfilling energy of enthusiasm, humor, and support.
Robin greeted my by telling me I would have my hands full with her and Diane alone. Robin's issue was a quickie, she just dropped a stitch in her ruffle and needed to start the i-cord for her Flap Happy Hat.

Diane's afghan is really giving her trouble. We both thought it was set last week, however, she had to take out 7 more rows over the weekend and between that and her sock endeavor, she was not a happy camper. I smoothed out her stitches on her blanket. As far as the sock is concerned, she has given it a real college try and the village voted that if she wasn't loving knitting the sock (and clearly she was not having fun), that she could rip it out and make a hat or neckwarmer or fingerless gloves. That perked her right up and she tore it out and put it in the parking lot for later.
Michelle was in no knit land because she had several gauges that needed checking before she could begin knitting. She swatched for the "Learn it Here - Neckwarmer" class next week. She's knitting with Lima - MY LOVE IT YARN.
She also swatched with Buffalo Gold for the Vogue Holiday Cabled Neckwarmer. Beautiful!

We worked through Judy Becker's Magic Cast on for a new pair of socks she's knitting on the magic loop.
Margarite got both fingerless gloves completed right up to the thumb. I taught her how to pick up the stitches and knit the thumb. She was totally delighted with the results. And, she has a shot at being a hand model. Although she knew how to knit, this was her first finished project. The Blue Sky Alpacas Sportweight yarn is lovely.

Lois started her Soft & Drapey Shrug knit with Lima and Ritratto. Beautiful combination. Michelle got her back on track while I was sorting through other projects.
She's also ready to stop carrying around her unfelted bag, and take the plunge and felt it. We pinned the straps. I prefer sewing the straps and then felting it, I think it makes the straps more reinforced. We discussed how to felt it and will wait with baited breath for it's debut next week.

Mary, Mary, Mary, she is an enigma. She is taking my crocheted hat class and during the class, finished the bulk of the hat up to where the shell st would begin. The Alpaca Grande looks magnificent and I love how the purple swished around the hat.
When Mary came in today, she was wearing the finished hat. On her own, she did the shell stitch, crocheted the flower and sewed/weaved all ends. Outstanding.
Then she brought out a new find: cocoon yarn with a free pattern that had two options: crochet or knit. I left the table for a few minutes to take a phone call (my turn at phone tag) and when I came back, Mary was "crocheting" with knitting needles and wondering why she was having so much trouble. She felt the pattern was "booby trapped".
In her defense, the way the pattern was laid out with 2 columns, one knit pattern along side one crochet pattern, it was confusing. She liked the look of the knit pattern better and off she went. She totally loves it... Robin and Michelle on the other hand, not so much. I think that the "cocoons" look like colorful styrofoam packing pellets.
Linda is proudly displaying the first sleeve of Wallaby #4. I love the red/white/blue stripes.