HO HO HO!!  The Castoffs met at Marylane’s house for our annual Christmas potluck and gift exchange and it was a lot of fun.  Of course, we always have a lot of fun whenever we meet, but adding food and gifts to the mix ramps up the fun level.

I brought my world famous Gorgonzola cheese ball and we nibbled on it and opened presents while the rest of the dinner heated up.

Ooh, Gorgonzola - cranberry - pecan cheese ball.

We had a little show-and-tell before we got down to the serious business of opening gifts.  Carol finished her cowl for her sister and it was stunning.  I want that pattern!  I loved the buttons, too.  Great job, Carol!

Beautiful cowl!

Marylane didn’t forget her little birdy friends for the winter.  She bought this great bird, uh, thingy and filled it with scraps of yarn from her wrap that the Castoffs knitted her this year.  Now the birds can use warm wool yarn to build their little nests to keep warm.  Awww!  I’m getting a little misty-eyed just thinking about it.

Bird thingy for yarn.

Marylane also finished her second newsboy cap for her daughter’s boyfiend’s sister…got that?  She put a spin on the normal pattern by felting the cap and using an unfelted strip of knitting for the strap above the brim.  It looks great and Kendra’s boyfriend, Luke, has a very lucky sister.

Marylane models the felted newsboy cap.

Francy finished her granddaughter Grace’s Christmas stocking and it turned out so cute.  This will be an heirloom that Grace will treasure forever.  I love the stripes.  Looks great, Francy!

Grace's stocking from Bebe.

Here are some more fingerless beaded mitts.  Now please correct me – I can’t remember who was knitting these.  Poor Marsha.  I should have a notebook and pen surgically attached to my arm to write down these things, especially after a glass or two of wine.  Anyway, they are beautiful and many of the Castoffs have made this pattern.

Somebody's pretty mitties.

We sat and talked and ate cheese ball with crackers and anticipated our gift exchange and Leslie’s World Famous Roni-boo that we could smell cooking in the oven.  Christmas is such fun.

Somebody help Francy out of that bag! She's peeking!

We finally chose numbers and started opening the gifts.  Some of the gifts were seriously gorgeous and some were just…well, funky.  But fun funk!  Michele chose a beautiful tote that contained a kit for fingerless mittens.  This was quickly stolen away from her.  It is, after all, the Chinese variety of gift exchange where two steals are legal.

Gorgeous tote! Gone very fast!

Michele’s second choice was another fingerless mitt kit – already started, but with NO NEEDLES.  I guess it’s a case of BYON – bring your own needles – to finish them.

Where's the needles?

Linda’s gift was a beautiful knitting themed greeting card with jeweled stitch markers.  Very pretty!  She can wear the stitch markers or use them if she’s out somewhere without her little bag of supplies.

Beauty and the beast.

Leslie opened a gift of yes and no.  Yes, you can get in shape by using this Pilates tape.  And no, you can’t stay in shape by eating the bag of Doritos in between sets of exercises.  I think we have some new moves to learn when we meet at Leslie’s house in the future.

Eat and be strong!

I chose one of the funky gifts – binoculars! that don’t work, Christmas tape! that doesn’t work, plate! that’s cloudy, and the perennial favorite of Red Heart RED yarn – a pound of it.  If anyone needs yarn for next year’s ornaments, just let me know.

Lucky me!

Mary opened a Kitchen Witch.  Of course there was a lot of ribbing about Mary being a word that rhymes with witch in the kitchen.  Let’s just say that Frank should stay out of her way while she’s baking this year.  After all, last year, her stove exploded – no, really, it caught on fire!  Better luck this year, you little Kitchy Witchy.

Magical Kitchen Bitch...uh...Witch.

Marylane opened some lovely jewelry – and it’s functional too!  Stitch markers for the ears and a row counter for the arm.  Ooh, lucky Marylane.  Functional fashion.

Let's all wear our stitch markers in our ears! Yay!

Francy snagged Marylane’s first gift – yarn and a pattern and needles – that came with a disclaimer that promised nothing!  Check your gauge, Francy, cause there are no guarantees with this kit!

This is the one that Francy snagged and sat on so no one else would get it.

Julie, after having the beautiful tote taken away from her again, chose the perfect gift – socks and book of sock patterns.  We all kinda wanted it, but everyone had already had their turn, so tough needles!

"No, it's MINE!"

Finally. WE ATE!  There were a lot of delicious dishes – Leslie’s Roni-Boo, Julie’s veggie salad, Mary’s bread, Carol’s ham, Linda’s salad and we were so grateful for Marylane’s hospitality.  If I’ve forgotten who brought some of the dishes, forgive me because I was too busy enjoying it all.

Yum.

More yum.

To top it off, Michele baked a chocolate and peppermint torte that was excellent.  Such flavor!  Such chocolate!  We felt great and full at the end of the evening.

Mmmmmm, chocolate torte!

We decided to institute a tradition by having someone else (a husband or husbands – thanks, Harry and Dick!) take a group Castoffs photo.  We’ll do it again in the summer – as Leslie elegantly put it – to see how much we’ve aged.  Well put, Les.  Here we all are with our new Castoffs buttons that I had a lot of fun making – well, ordering.

Happy group of knitters.

Sisters one and all.

We really missed Deb and send her all our love for Glenn’s rapid and complete recovery from bypass surgery.  We love you, Deb!  Merry Christmas to our other absent Castoffs, Joan and Roxanne.  We send you warm wishes for a wonderful holiday and a joyous 2012!

We meet at Linda’s house between Christmas and New Year.  I can’t wait to catch up on all the Christmas ‘doin’s’ that we enjoyed and the projects that we are planning for the new year.  Until then, Castoffs, keep the spirit of unity and love in your hearts, and keep those needles blazing!

The Castoffs met at Carol’s house on a cold, cloudy afternoon.  I was late because I dropped in on a baby shower at the other end of town.  I had knitted some booties for the honoree and this was a first for me…the booties, I mean.  They were cute and a challenge to make with double-pointed needles.  Completing them made me more confident about knitting socks, a prospect that looms largely on my horizon.  Not sure why, just one more thing that I haven’t done and that I’d like to conquer.

Baby booties!

When I got to Carol’s house, there were six Castoffs busily knitting, perhaps with the realization that Christmas is only three weeks away.  Gulp, three weeks?  Can that be right?  Yup.  Better get that tree up.

Julie was knitting her mother’s shawl with a cat on her lap.  She, and the cat, looked so content.  Ahh.  Makes me wish I wasn’t allergic.  I wanted to take that little kitty home with me.

"Knitting woman with cat"

Francy was working on her granddaughter’s sweater and stretched it out to show me.  Julie was in the way, but she peeked over anyway.  I don’t think the cat was amused.

Glad the sleeves weren't any longer...

Mary was the third little Castoff on the couch and she is at the bill of the newsboy cap.  Linda, the newsboy expert, helped her with the tricky part of attaching the bill.

Oh, my. Doesn't she look angelic?

When Linda is working on a small project, she brings it in her little satin knitting bag.  I think she looks very Jane Austen with her pretty little bag and her double pointed needles.  She’s knitting beaded fingerless mitts.  I wonder if she has a big satin bag for big projects?

Jane would approve of that bag, Linda.

Carol has finished the cowl for her sister’s Christmas gift and is almost ready to attach the buttons.  She showed them to us and will sew on three of the four that are in the photo.  I love this cowl.  Hmmm, one more project to put on the list?  Maybe.  That list is getting longer than Santa’s.

Beautiful pastel cowl.

Michele is almost finished with her daughter’s scarf and it is gorgeous.  Just after I snapped the photo of the scarf, I noticed that she was wearing her directional triangle scarf that she was working on a few weeks ago.  I love this Annie Hall look!

Pretty scarf for Erica.

Great scarf...uh, tie...uh, scarf, Michele!

I brought my half-finished sweater vest – well, it’s about 75% finished really.  The pattern is very challenging and I’ll be glad to start on something that doesn’t require my undivided attention at Castoffs meetings.  It’s hard to knit and talk at the same time!

The end is in sight!

Deb came in late with good news about her husband.  His heart appears to be fine, but he’ll have one more test next week.  We’re thinking about you, Glen!  Deb is still working on his sweater and Michele helped her some with picking up stitches.  It’s looking good.

Deb's top-down sweater for her husband.

We missed Marylane and Leslie this week and look forward to seeing them next week.

I’ll leave you this week with a candid shot of us all working and talking and eating and knitting.  Next week, we have our Christmas party potluck and white elephant exchange at Marylane’s house.  I’m really looking forward to it!  Good friends, good food, good fun.  Until then, keep those needles blazing and maybe they’ll keep you warm!

And to all, a good night!

The days are getting shorter and darker.  We met on a late afternoon  at Julie’s house and couldn’t believe it was already December.  Francy brought treats – delicious cranberry bread.  Wine and tea. Yum.  Thanks, Francy.

The cat watched on as we ate and drank and knit.

A lot of us are making Christmas gifts, like Julie, who is knitting a shawl for her mother.  It’s an interesting basketweave pattern made with Paton’s classic wool.  Very pretty.

A shawl for mom from Julie.

Michele is knitting a scarf for her daughter, Erica.  I liked the heathery color although it looks more purple than it really is in the photo.  Michele was also wearing a fuzzy shawl that she knitted a while back.

Pretty scarf, pretty shawl.

Carol is working on a gorgeous cowl for her sister.  She commented how she was looking forward to picking out some big buttons for it.  You can catch a glimpse of the pattern at her elbow.  We can’t wait until next week to see which buttons she chose.

This color is delushous looking, isn't it?

I finally finished my mohair shawl using the yarn that I bought in Scotland and I love the way it turned out.  So warm and comfy.  I made it extra long so I could wrap myself completely.

My Scottish shawl. LOVE IT!

Francy is knitting another sweater for her granddaughter, Grace, who will be here for Christmas.  She knitted a similar sweater when Grace was tiny, but she’s already outgrown that one.  Good thing her Bebe is a quick knitter!

Bebe Francy.

Marylane is knitting another newsboy cap.  Her daughter Kendra loved the one that Marylane gave to her at Thanksgiving.  Not sure who this cap is for, but whoever they are, they’re lucky, lucky, lucky.

Getcher newsboy caps here!

Leslie is knitting another pair of twisted mittens without beads, this time.  Leslie, the famous hand model, was glad to oblige with a pose.  Thanks, famous Leslie.

December bonus! Two famous hands for the price of one.

Linda is also knitting fingerless mittens, but hers aren’t quite as finished as Leslie’s are.  Speaking of Linda, she will be a different woman next week.  She’s resuming her maiden name and giving herself a middle name (that she lacked before).  Welcome to the world, new Linda!

Little tiny beginnings of mitts.

I noticed that Julie was wearing a fetching new necklace, so I got a close-up. Why, it’s a stitch counter!  Our Julie is the consummate knitter – always elegantly accessorized.

Ah, one, ah, two, ah...

Deb had a hard day at work.  Sorry, Deb.  She is almost finished with the body of her husband’s top-down sweater.  This started a conversation about how much further she had to go, so Julie went and brought out HER husband’s top-down sweater that she finished.  She says that Brian loves it and wears it a lot.  Here are the two sweaters in before and after phases.

Deb's sweater, sans sleeves.

Julie's sweater, avec sleeves.

We all got together and agreed to have Leslie’s husband Jim paint a view of Snyder Lake as a happy memory of Marylane’s hike last year with her son, Walker.  I was too weepy (as were we all) to get a photo of the presentation, but that’s probably for the best.  We all love Marylane and Dick so much, and share deeply their happy and sad times.  That goes for all of the Castoffs.  We are so like sisters, now, that I want to share what everyone goes through in life, happy or sad.  Thank you, Castoffs, for being my sisters.  I know you’re there for me and I for you.

Here are a couple of shots of Castoffs at rest, unposed and natural.  We meet at Carol’s house next week.  Tick, tick, Christmas is getting closer!  The following week we have our second annual Christmas potluck and White Elephant gift exchange at Marylane’s house.  Until then, keep those needles blazing and let’s all hope for a BIG snowfall to make it seem more like winter.

Carol and Linda - knittin' and gabbin'.

Michele, Deb and Julie doing what they like to do.