Monthly Archives: June 2010

Worldwide Knit in Public Day – Kalispell, 2010

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We all met on a wonderful, sunny, very pleasant day for WWKip Day.  A lot of knitters came to the different venues.

Colter’s Coffee on Main Street:

In front of Colter's Coffee - Main Street Kalispell

Main Street, Colter's Coffee

Colter's Coffee, Kalispell

Corner of Center and Main, Kalispell:

Sunny day at Center and Main, Kalispell

Center and Main

Bonelli’s Bistro:

Before lunch at Bonelli's Bistro

At Bonelli's Bistro

Bunny the spinner joined us at Bonelli's Bistro

Marylane Pannell at Bonell's Bistro

Conrad Mansion:

In the lovely shade at Conrad Mansion

Robin, Roxie and Ann at the Conrad Mansion

Conrad Mansion

Knitters at the Conrad Mansion

North Bay Grill:

End of a great day at the North Bay Grill

North Bay Grill

Paulette, our fearless leader! Thank you!

Ann and Jodie at North Bay Grill

Happy knitting!

Marylane, our other fearless leader! Thanks!

Worldwide Knit in Public Day, 2010.

Julie’s house – June 10, 2010

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We met at Julie’s house.  It was pouring rain when I walked up to her porch, huddling under my umbrella.  When I left, there was no rain at all, so I left my umbrella, of course.  It gave me a good excuse to return on Sunday morning when Julie and her husband Brian entertained my son Eli and me with talk and great coffee.

But I digress.  At the Castoffs meeting, we were delighted to see Marylane’s sister, Joan, back with us for the summer.  She came in with an ENORMOUS bag of wool scraps from the Pendleton factory – strips of wool fabric cut from the edges of the very large rolls of material.  Joan had the idea to knit a  pillow.  Well, she had enough material to knit a mattress…king.

Joan...dreaming of turning chaos into order

Uh-oh, it's growing

Joan and Marylane immediately began rolling the strips into a ball…actually, several balls.  Several BIG balls.  What a team they make!

Marylane is being taken over by giant balls!! Hmm?

Now you have to know this about Joan.  She knits.  She doesn’t purl, she doesn’t YO, she doesn’ sk2p.  She knits.  Only.  According to Joan, “With purling comes a lot of responsiblity.”  A creed to live by.  Good luck with the wool strips, Joan.  We can’t wait to see what happens next.

Leslie had finished the seven bridesmaids’ scarves.  Yay!  Yippee!  Oh, wait.  Leslie’s daughter came to her and said the words that the mother of the bride dreads hearing: “Mom, I have something to tell you.”  Uh-oh.  Well, it wasn’t too bad.  Sienna just wondered if her mother would knit ONE MORE SCARF for the photographer.  Of course, said Leslie.

Of course I'll knit another one of these G-D scarves, my darling daughter. 🙂

What a mom.  You’re the best, Leslie.  We draped Leslie with ALL the ‘thick and thin’ scarves that she’s been working on since January.  She looked like a great big exotic bird.  Amazing.  We are all in awe.

Wow. All finished! Almost...

Some of the rest of the Castoffs brought works-in-progress.  Carol is almost finished with her baby blanket – only a few inches to go!  It’s going to be a great grandma gift.

A beautiful blankie for a beautiful baby

Michele is working on her bathroom curtain – the second half of her bathroom curtain.  It’s not easy working with hemp – no give in the yarn.  I tried it one time and it takes some getting used to .  But this is a wonderful airy, open pattern and it will look great with the other colors of the curtain.

And what's behind curtain #2, Michele?

Francy was working on a baby hat (or a dishcloth, I can’t remember), and Mary was deciding what to knit for the baby of a co-worker.  Babies, babies.  We’re surrounded by baby knitters.

Francy! What is it?

Julie wasn’t thinking about baby stuff.  As a matter of fact, I don’t think she was thinking about much of anything.  But isn’t she cute?

Hm. What are these women doing here?

To be fair, Julie had just finished a ball-band dishcloth that really turned out great.  I like to take a time-out after a project, too.

I love this pattern!

Julie’s cat, Bombay, visited all of us as we knitted.  Bombay usually doesn’t like people, but recently, she became deaf and maybe that made us all a lot more appealing.  We are a noisy bunch, after all.

We are a little loud. Bombay accepts us in silence.

On Saturday some of us went to the Worldwide Knit in Public event in Kalispell.  A lot of knitters attended as we migrated from venue to venue all day.   I’ll post all of the photos that I took in a separate posting.’

Next week, the Castoffs will be on a road trip to Francy’s house out on the lake.  I’ll be taking my own road trip to Colorado, so I’ll miss the party.  Wahhh!  But I know everyone will have a great time and I’ll miss them all.  Have fun, Castoffs, and keep those needles flying!

Deb’s house – June 3, 2010

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The Castoffs met at Deb’s house on a blustery, cloudy day that miraculously did not include rain.  We are tired of rain.  Anyway, Deb met us with munchies and a great light wine that was new to me.  It is called NEW AGE and is a tasty summer wine, especially with a slice of lime.  Thanks Deb!

Mary brought to our attention that this was National Doughnut Day (who knew?) and she shared a pattern with us.

Knit a doughnut day!

When we looked at the pattern and discovered that the doughnut in question was knitted with size 00 needles, we decided to skip the calories.  But thanks for thinking of us, Mary!  Mary was still busy knitting a dishcloth – she had even knitted some between meetings.  Good knitter.

Dishcloth queen

When I looked across the room, she and Michele were deep in thought looking at a pattern and I think the question was about the poor neglected polar bear scarf.  Poor bear – put away until cooler weather.

Do you think I should put him out of my misery?

Michele had sad news about her bathroom curtain.  When she placed it beside the existing curtain (that this color will be added to) she discovered that the needle size was wrong and that she had to start over again.  ARRGH!  Sometimes knitting is frustrating.  Anyway, she has come a long way since the great ripping so we all have high hopes for the curtain.

And now...it will match!

Francy is knitting mittens!  Mittens?  Yes, mittens!  I think this must be an interim project between baby things, don’t you think?  They are pretty and are made with a pattern that Julie gave her.

Mitten! A quick, small project

Linda was knitting a dishcloth too – the famous ball band pattern that we all love.  She had finished Carol’s scarf and it looks great on Carol.

Linda's finished dishcloth...and her future one.

We love it, she loves it! Great scarf, Linda!

Carol told us that her son, Duncan, got a great job offer in Alaska, so he, his wife and unborn son are moving up to the Great North.  We are sad for Carol because she won’t be there when the baby is born, but we are happy for Duncan.  Carol will just be planning trips to Alaska!  The little family will be home in the fall for Grandma Carol to see the baby.

Blanket for a Great Northern baby

I am making progress on the afghan that I’m knitting for my sis-in-law Marty.  Everyone likes the color much better now that they can see it in a pattern.  I like it better myself.

Florida afghan growing

Marylane is only a few bracelets away from completion for her reunion.  Here is one that she made from yarn leftover from Michele’s block afghan project.  We all liked the way it came out.  Sorry for the out-of-focus shot.  Just call it artsy.

Ginormous blurry bracelet. Not really - operator error.

Deb was working on her daughter’s scarf.  Mary said that earlier in the day, Deb came into Mary’s office and casually asked where knitting would be today…”Uh, YOUR house, Deb.”  Mary said that the look on Deb’s face was priceless.  Here is the serene hostess.

Didja have to leave work early, Deb, to get ready for us?

We all had fun playing with Izzy, Deb’s Yorkie, who examined and sniffed us and our projects.  We loved having her little nose in our business.

Izzy!

Next Saturday is Knit in Public Day!  Hard to believe that a year ago is when I started this blog.  Marylane sent me the information for our day of knitting in Kalispell, so I’ll pass it on to you.

Join us at World Wide Knit in Public Day!

WORLD WIDE KNIT IN PUBLIC DAY

June 12, 2010 in Kalispell

Join us as we knit with thousands of other knitters

around the world on the same day!

This event will take place between 8 am and 6 pm in several locations around Kalispell.

Come to any or all scheduled locations.

Times Locations

8-10      Colter Coffeehouse, 424 S. Main.

Buy a latte and pastry to start your knitting day.

10-12 Corner of Main & Center Streets at Kalispell

Center Mall. If rain – inside the Mall.

Shop or pick up local produce at the Farmer’s Market.

12-2      Bonelli’s Bistro, 38 First Ave. E.

Bonelli’s entree or your own sack lunch.

2-4 Conrad Mansion, 300 block Woodland Ave.

Described as the most authentic pre-1900 Mansion in the Pacific Northwest, open 10-4, Tuesday–Sunday. This historic home features antique furniture, original clothes, and personal items belonging to one of the founding families of Kalispell.

4-6 North Bay Grill, 139 1st Ave. W.

Finish the day with a cool drink.

Bring:  lawn chair

For additional information call:  Paulette 257-9514 or Marylane 257-5793

World Wide Knit in Public Day was created by Danielle Landes in 2005.

To find out more about WWKiP Day visit wwkipday.com.

We will meet next week at Julie’s house and talk about Knit in Public Day.  See you all at Julie’s!  In the meantime, keep on knittin’!