The Castoffs met on a crisp fall day at Marsha’s house. Marylane brought two big boxes of veggies and fruit from her garden. Tomatoes, cucumbers, plums – yummy. We were an exuberant group, talking and catching up from our last meeting. Eli whipped up a baked dip with spinach and artichoke hearts, mozzarella and Parmesan. It was delicious. I sliced some peppers, cucumbers, and carrots to dip. It was quite a spread.
Wrong spread.
I said “What a spread” and two unidentified Castoffs immediately mooned me – my bad for mentioning it. At least they didn’t take down their pants.
What a spread!
We all settled in with our knitting and started sharing our projects. With winter – and Christmas – coming on, we all have gifty projects in mind.
Ah, Castoffs in their natural habitat - surrounded by friends and food.
Seems like there are a lot of hats being knitted. Linda is still working on her newsboy hat and Marylane realized that she was knitting the same pattern for her daughter, Kendra. Where Linda is nearing the finish, Marylane is just beginning.
Newsboy hat - with a hard bill.
Marylane - just starting her newsboy hat.
Carol is making a hat as well – it’s a 4×4 ribbed hat that I’ve made. An easy pattern with a turned up roll at the bottom. She’s using a very chunky yarn and it looks great.
Hat, hat - everyone has to make a hat.
And then there’s Mary. Not a hat but a sock. Her sock is coming right along despite the expression on her face. We are beginning to make out a turned heel – you go, Mary!
Go on, I dare you to knock this...sock...off my shoulder!
Michele is working on her blue sweater – I love this pattern. It’s a cropped swing jacket – or at least that’s my interpretation. Can’t wait to see it completed.
Pretty blue sweater.
Francy brought her sister-in-law, Jane to visit our rowdy group. We always like to have visitors and relatives come along. Sometimes it’s nice to show off our projects to someone who isn’t used to us. Francy is working on her green/yellow shawl and Leslie was just finishing up her maroonish second shawl. Because they used the same pattern, we were curious to compare them.
Welcome, Jane!
Leslie's finished shawl - love the assymetrical shape!
Francy's shawl on top of Leslie's.
Francy has made a few alterations to the pattern, so her shawl is probably going to be larger than Leslie’s, but with the same general shape.
Leslie demonstrated various different ways to wear the shawl – this is only one of them. She wore it tied in front, tied on her shoulder, worn as a scarf, turned around and tied behind. Whew. It’s a very versatile shawl. Leslie loves it and so do we.
"And you can turn it around and wear it like this..."
Julie, Julie, Julie was a little late, but we were glad to see her. The baby blanket she is knitting is so soft and the color – a mauve – is beautiful. Julie must work with a lot of younger women – she seems to make a lot of baby blankets or baby gifts. Those are some very lucky babies and mommies.
Baby gifts R Jules.
We had a wonderful time this week. Lots of talk, laughter, eating and drinking. And thanks to Marylane, we all left with loads of fresh veggies – even those who have gardens at home. Next week we’ll meet at Marylane’s – no doubt we’ll eat more fresh veggies – so have a good week and keep those needles blazing, Castoffs!
