A small group of Castoffs carpooled out to Mary’s house on the lake. We were met there by Michele and Anne who had been kayaking near Mary’s bay. Mary’s grandson Moses, and daughter-in-law Rebecca were visiting at Mary’s house, so we all got to see Moses – a little cutie with fat cheeks.

Grandma and Moses!

Mary served us some yummy huckleberry cake – her husband Frank has picked gallons of huckleberries this season – and veggies with hummus. Thanks Mary. We also had her favorite New Age white with slices of lime. Very refreshing.

Yum.

We sat on the deck with the most wonderful view of the lake and the mountains beyond. Mary’s bird feeders were being bombarded by Evening Grosbeaks, mobs of them. It was fun to watch them fight over the seed.

Grosbeaks at the feeder.

Nothing’s prettier than the Flathead in summer.

I brought my triangular scarf/shawl that I’ve been working on. I got tangled up with a swarm of hornets who stung me in the face.  I was still a little puffy. One friend said it was like a botox treatment – smoothing out the lines with hornet serum.

Puffy me with my triangular shawl.

Michele had bought some suede soles for her felted slippers. We had a little discussion about which was the toe and which was the heel, but finally Michele just did what she wanted. Why did she ask us? I don’t know. Just being polite, I guess.

Michele sewing on her sole.

Anne brought her seed-stitch scarf to work on. We ‘re so glad to see her back with us. I hope she’ll be able to come a lot this fall and become a regular Castoff.

Anne’s scarf.

Joan, Carol and Linda came along but didn’t get a lot of knitting done – still on summer Slackoff time, I guess. They had fun sitting on the deck and talking and, hey, it’s more fun to knit in the winter. No deck time in January.

Michele, Joan, Linda and Anne enjoying the decktime.

Mary is nearly finished with granddaughter Aurora’s witch’s hat for Halloween. She’s planning to knit a pumpkin hat for Moses. Moses stood in for his cousin, though, and modeled the witch hat. It’s darling. Mary just has to put duplicate stitches around the crown to make a black buckle.

Witchy hat.

Next time the teachers will be back at school. We who are retired are trying not to smile smugly. We’ll meet at Deb’s house at our regular winter time of 4:00. Enjoy your last week of August, Castoffs, and keep those needles blazing!

The Castoffs gathered at Michele’s house and most of us were there for the first time in a long time. Only Julie was gone and we missed her. I got an email later asking what was going on that she had missed. Julie, Julie, Julie. Come back and find out what you’ve missed! We had the extra delight of welcoming Laura, Linda’s daughter. Laura and Linda had been in Colorado for Linda’s son’s wedding. We all saw the photos and it was a beautiful wedding in a stunning Vail location. Good to finally meet you, Laura. At one time or the other, everyone’s daughter has been to one of our meetings…except for mine. Oh, that’s right. I don’t have a daughter. I enjoy the other Castoffs’ daughters vicariously.

Linda and Laura.

Michele made her delicious chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. Yummmmm. It is so good. Her daughter Erica made it for us once – good then, good now.

I hurried in to get a photo before it was cut.

Anne joined us too. Anne was actually one of the founding mothers of the group – before it was the Castoffs. Now that her boys are both in high school and busy with other things, Anne is thinking about joining us!  Yay!  She dug out an old knitting project that she started a few years ago – thinking that we would all be busily knitting. HaHa. She didn’t know what Slackoffs we are in the summer. She’ll learn.

Anne and Mary inspecting the seed stitch scarf that Anne brought.

I have been knitting during the Olympics and I finished my entre-lac scarf. I like the way it turned out using two different colors of NORO yarn.

Can’t wait for winter!

Michele and Leslie are in a frenzy of crocheting slippers. They keep trying to talk me out of knitting the same pattern because I would have to SEW the pieces together. Imagine. I guess I’m not as reluctant to sew things together as they are, so I’m considering buying the pattern to make felted slippers for Christmas gifts. I’ll have to borrow Castoff feet to felt those slippers that have to be mailed out of town. Leslie was just beginning one slipper.

Nice gray wool.

The felted Crocheted slipper pattern – love the button accent.

Marylane and Joan were there but had to rush off. Seems like Marylane has been doing a lot of rushing this summer – rushing to reunions, rushing to hikes, rushing to take Dick to the doctor for his bum shoulder. Hopefully, once summer is over, she’ll be able to be with us more often. We’ve missed her!

Not sure who the mustachioed Castoff is.

We’ll be going to Mary’s house next week. We’ll carpool down to the Lake and we’ll get to take turns holding Moses, the beautiful grandson! See you then, Castoffs, and in the meantime, keep those needles blazing!

I bicycled over to Joan’s house to join a relatively small group of Castoffs. It was a beautiful day – kind of hot – but hey! It’s August! Joan had a table of pretzels and cherries and later brought out the big guns – apricot pie with maple ice cream. Glad I had to bike back home to work off some of the delicious pie. We all enjoyed frosty glasses of margaritas, too. Yum.

Grace had her eye on the pretzels.

Almost forgot to snap the pie and ice cream. Well, I snapped it UP…

Betsy and Grace came with Francy and it’s a good thing because Betsy was the only one of us who had made anything. Granted, she crocheted her items but the rest of us were pretty lazy about knitting. The exception was Michele, who also crocheted some slippers and brought them to felt. I took some ‘before and after’ photos of several crocheted items.

Michele’s pre-felted slippers.

Michele’s slippers! They fit! I love the embroidery.

Betsy had crocheted a pair of slippers for her mom and herself and they re-felted them at Joan’s house. Unfortunately, Francy’s slippers felted down too much and they were too small for her. She decided to send them to a friend in Japan. I guess Betsy will just have to crochet another pair. Betsy’s slippers fit just right, though.

Betsy’s and Francy’s slippers.

To give some traction on the slippers’ soles, Betsy squeezed on some Puffy Paint. It’s a great idea for any slippers that need a little grip.

Puffy Paint.

Betsy had also crocheted a little bag to felt. After felting, she’s going to sew a zipper in it. Betsy ALSO crocheted a kitty for Grace.  Very cute. I’m not sure where she found the time in one week to do all of this, but she did. Betsy thinks crochet is faster than knitting. She may be right, but I’m not in the market for learning another craft. I can look and enjoy though.

Crocheted bag before felting.

And after felting.

And the darling kitty!

Okay, Castoffs, once Betsy goes back home, we’ll need to step up and actually bring our knitting to knitting. Otherwise, we’ll have to call ourselves the Slackoffs instead of the Castoffs. This is what we’ve done at our meetings this summer:

Eat and talk…

Lounge and drink…

I have really loved the summer, however, so I can’t be too tough on the Slackoffs, er, Castoffs. It’s been fun. I must say that we’ve loved having Betsy and Grace for a few weeks. Thanks and have a great winter, Betsy. We can’t wait to see how much Grace will have changed for your visit next summer!

Francy and Grace.

Next time we’ll meet at Michele’s house where, hopefully, we’ll at least BRING out knitting…Mary. Not that there’s anything wrong with not knitting, but we seem to have made a habit of it. Enjoy the week, Castoffs, and keep cool even if your needles are blazing hot!

I got to Carol’s house wayyy too early so I watched her vacuum the carpet and I talked to Shannon, Carol’s daughter, about the tumble she took on her bike. She broke her wrist and separated her shoulder – yikes. In four weeks, she starts a new teaching job in Japan so some Japanese doctor will take the cast off. I asked Shannon if seeing a doctor in another country bothered her and she said, “No, I’ve had surgery in Japan before. They have a good medical reputation.”  Ah, youth. I guess I won’t worry about her. Carol is helping her type her syllabai and curriculum notes.

Gotta watch those downhill trails when you’re on your bike, Shannon!

Carol laid out a variety of yummy snacks – Flathead cherries, chips, Kettle Korn (we devoured it) and almonds. She brewed some tea – Earl Grey with a licorice herb tea added – it was deliciously refreshing. Thank you, Carol! Carol is thinking about HER classes for the fall – she’ll teach the little ballerinas again.  They are so cute.

Yum. Food.

Betsy and Grace are still here visiting Francy and we are enjoying them SO MUCH at knitting. Betsy had made some very cool necklaces out of chunky yarn that she wrapped, in a couple of places, with contrasting yarn.  They are simple but very striking – Betsy thought they’d look good beaded. I agree.

Three generations of wonderful females.

Francy was beginning a cardigan for Grace so I got a photo of its start.  The pattern is adorable and I like the color.

At first I thought this was a picture of Grace!

Michele had seen some felted slippers that Betsy made and showed us at the last meeting, but somehow I missed them. Betsy crocheted them, then embroidered the toes and felted them down to size. They sounded so cute, and Michele obviously agreed because she is crocheting some. Can’t wait to see them at our next meeting.

Not just for knitting.

There wasn’t a whole lot of knitting going on – it seems like we’ve taken a vacation from serious knitting for the summer. That’s okay – summers are short around here and there’s too much to do outside.

Not a lot of knitting, Castoffs!

When Julie pulled out some knitting, Mary couldn’t believe it! Actual knitting in the summer! Julie’s knitting some slippers that look very hot.  I mean – too hot to wear for a few months – but it could take her that long to finish them, so no worries.

You’re doing WHAT?

Just to prove that some knitting DOES go on in the summer, I brought out my entre-lac scarf that I’ve been working on while watching the Olympics.  I love the Olympics and it’s soothing for me to knit while the competitors sweat. Better than me sweating, right?

I’m enjoying this pattern.

Linda shared a piece of local pottery with us that she purchased for her son and almost-daughter-in-law (the wedding is Aug. 11). It is a beautiful piece of artwork and is inscribed with lovely words: “You shall go out with joy and be led forth in peace.” I know it will hold a special place in their home.

Beautiful pottery bowl.

We meet next time at Joan’s house and she said that we could come at 3:00. Until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing – or at least, don’t forget where you put them for the summer. Enjoy the beautiful weather!