Once upon a time, there was a princess named Julie who only wanted to knit a ‘thick and thin’ scarf.  That’s a very simple want.  She bought some absolutely beautiful, soft, pink, angora-ish yarn as her ‘thick’ yarn, and some kickass metallic pink yarn for her ‘thin’ yarn.  Poor Julie.  Little did she know that the kickass metallic pink yarn had a curse on it.  A tangle curse.  A really, really, really strong tangle curse.  No sooner had she knitted a few inches of her wonderful ‘thick and thin’ scarf, than the curse kicked in with a vengeance.

Ah, the innocent scarf - before the wicked curse set in.

Soon, quicker than she could say “Size 15 needles?  Are you sure I can’t use 13s?”  the kickass metallic yarn leapt from its little ball of neatness and became a beyond-belief, where-are-the-scissors MESS.

“I know!” exclaimed Julie, “I’ll take it to my knitting godmothers and see if they can straighten it out.”  And so she did.

Right away, knitting godmother Leslie grabbed the kickass metallic yarn and slapped it on her head to lessen the curse.

Good god, mother Leslie.

Uh-oh!  The kickass metallic yarn resisted the goodness emanating from knitting godmother Leslie’s head and remained tangled.

Next, knitting godmother Michele tried.  She grabbed the tangled kickass metallic yarn and began to massage the knots, murmuring the good words under her breath.  “I love putting things like this in order.  I can’t stop trying to put this in order.”  This went on for quite a while but had little effect except to induce hot spells in knitting godmother Leslie.  And not good hot spells, either, I should add.

Many spells were cast...off.

Soon, knitting godmother Mary joined in and the triad of good godmothers cast their hands to the heavens and offered promises to the knitting goddess to help them untangle the infernal kickass metallic yarn.

Help us, O goddess of knitting! Or give us more wine!

Finally, after much struggling and cursing…ahem, gentle curses to reverse the horrible BIG curse, knitting godmother Leslie was forced to use her most powerful weapon against the forces of evil.  Her most astounding and little known weapon of magic.  Behold.

The all-powerful TOE OF MAGIC. (we are not worthy to witness it)

Well, needless to say, the unspeakable TOE made quick work of the kickass metallic tangle of yarn.  Soon, it was a docile ball of pinkness resting quietly and innocently upon a purple throne.

Ah, quiet little ball. You have been tamed at last.

It would be blasphemous to utter any more of this oh-so-secret rite of untanglement.  Suffice it to say that the knitting godmothers waved their hands over the hapless Princess Julie and saved her ‘thick and thin’ scarf…maybe.  The last I heard from the little princess was the awful phrase, “Now that I know how it’s done, I think I’m going to unravel the whole thing and start over again.”  Careful, Princess Julie.  We only meet once a week.

All is quiet now in the cottage of the knitting godmothers.

A few castoffs (those who were in town and could come at the last moment) came to Marsha’s house on a cloudy day.  Carol came because she had a day off from student-teaching little kindergardners.  She brought a great tote that she is going to felt next week.  We can do “before” and “after” photos like we did with Mary’s purse a few weeks ago.  It will shrink before our very eyes!

I love the confetti yarn around the top!

Leslie had a day off also and brought her ‘mystery’ project which is a hoot.  Can you guess what it is?  A hat for a pinhead?  A boobie coverlet for winter in Montana?  A chicken?  Stay tuned for more of “it” next time.

What the hell??

Julie came after work – directly from work – because that is where I called her to see if she was free.  Sooo, Julie didn’t bring any knitting, she just came to drink.  Cheers!

Whatever floats your boat, eh Jules?

Well, we were few but we were merry.  I had my Zen coat that I’m still working on.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I’ve finished both sides of the front and the back.  Now I’m joining the fronts together at the top to make a shoulder yoke.  It’s getting exciting now, let me tell you!

Amorphous Zen coat taking finally taking shape!

We will meet (officially) at Marsha’s house next time with many more Castoffs.  Until then, keep the needles moving!

We met at Leslie’s house again.  Thank you, Leslie!  Marsha got there first before the snacks and wine arrived and had a moment of panic that she was supposed to bring something.  Whew.  She was only having a senior moment.  Michelle arrived with wonderful chocolate cake and lemon sauce and Mary and Deb arrived with the wine.  Hurray.  She brought Townshend Riesling which is my new favorite white.  Yum.  Thanks, Michelle and Mary.  Michelle’s socks are coming right along.  She’s using the ‘magic loop’ method instead of four double pointed needles.  “Do you like it better?” I asked.  “Eaannaw, not really,”  she said.  I can’t approximate the sound that she made, but it was an unenthusiastic sound so use your imagination.  I think I know what she means, though, because I don’t mind using double pointed needles either.

Michelle's sock and yarn accompanied by cake and lemon sauce.

Michelle brought her completed child’s poncho and modeled it even though it wasn’t a perfect fit.  I know it will fit her little niece better, but it is darling and we all thought she should make a bigger one for herself.  I love the fuzzy yarn in the hood.

Not quite a fit, but darling nonetheless, Michelle!

I brought my half-finished Zen coat and played 20 questions with everyone to see if they could recognize what part was what.   It is a puzzling construction, but I get it, thankfully, since I’m knitting it!

Is this a sleeve or a front? Looks too long, doesn't it? Stay tuned!

Carol brought her finished fingerless gloves and they are adorable.  I want to make some!  She also brought her finished seed-stitch scarf with the pretty sparkles.  Carol has really become a dedicated, accomplished knitter and we can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.

The cables really stand out. Beautiful job, Carol!

I wish the sparkles showed up better. This yarn is very pretty.

Leslie finished one pair of pink legwarmers for her granddaughter Grace and is working on a second pair to take to her at Halloween.  The legwarmers are so cute and Leslie is very creative with her designs, from dolls to legwarmers to stuffed sheep and pillows.  She is the high-flyer of designs.  I am a plodder here on the ground.  But we both enjoy what we do and have fun doing it.  Thank goodness for DIVERSITY!

Little pink legwarmers with one of the striped ones on top.

Deb came and brought her scarf that she is finishing up.  She started it last spring and has had a lot of interruptions, including tendonitis, but by joining the Castoffs again, I know that she will finish in no time.  Welcome back, Deb!  Great scarf!

Oooh, slinky boa!

Julie is working on her top-down cardigan with seed stitch borders.  I wish you could see the color in person. It is a soft lavender that looks too blue in this photo.  Bad camera!  But I love the pattern.

Julie's top down cardie.

Mary is still working on her mittens that she will felt.  She is thrilled that she comes out with the right number of stitches on each round.  Mary, Mary, Mary!  You have become a wonderful knitter!  We all talked about our aches and pains at this meeting but we are still in pretty darn good shape for, ahem, mature women.  And darn good knitters, too!

"I've still got thirteen stitches on this needle! Yay!"

I’m going out of town next week, so Leslie has promised to take lots of photos for the blog.  No one else wants to write it, though, so I’ll just guess what the backstories are for the photos.  That is…unless copious notes are taken, knitters.  I guess that depends on the quantity of wine consumed, eh?  Oh, well, it might be more fun to make something up.  Hmmm.  Yeah, that would be fun.  Have a great time next week, Castoffs, and think of me!  I’m taking my knitting with me to Utah.  Road trip!