We Castoffs met at Carol’s house on a damp, cloudy day to begin work, in earnest, on the chair that we’re yarnbombing for the Library fundraiser that will take place in the spring. We brought our swatches, finished and un, to pin onto the chair so we could get an idea of what we wanted to do. Should it resemble a flower? With a poppy seat and greenery climbing up the sides? Should a lake be at the bottom, nurturing our little flower? Should we have a bright and beautiful sun orbiting across the back of the chair?

Who knows?  But we did make a start and bandy around a lot of good ideas and opinions. Here are some of the photos of the process, not necessarily in order.

Leslie recapping the discussion from a few weeks ago.

Closeup of the beautiful spiral seat that Michele is working on.

Slowly beginning to dress the limbs.

Different placement for existing swatches.

This project is going to be a lot of FUN. We all bring such different ideas to the meetings as well as a lot of enthusiasm. Some of us got homework assignments that we’ll try out for next time. Can’t wait to see how it ends up!

Other knitting was happening…

Carol finished her little knitted dog and of course, as irreverent as we are, we had to stage a photo op for the little fella.

Hold on there, little guy, this is a no-pee zone!

Hey, it’s all just grist for our ever-turning mills.  Carol was working on his little collar. She wants to attach a little name tag to it and give it to her son and his family who just lost their doggie. Aaww. How sweet. She’s knitting another one for her other son.

A collar for Fido.

Thanks to Carol for hosting and to Mary for bringing the treats. Cheese and crackers, veggies and dip and sinfully delicious blueberries dipped in dark chocolate.  Yum. It was tasty.

Treats! Thanks, Mary and Carol.

Linda had finished the colorful hats for her friend’s little boys and was back to knitting her prayer shawl. Such a pretty color, Linda. I like it.

Linda and her prayer shawl.

Marylane was working on her swatch for the chair using an interesting stitch pattern. I’ll be eager to see what it looks like next week.

Marylane in deep concentration.

Julie is knitting a swatch for the chair from one of my favorite dishcloth patterns. And not just dishcloths! Leslie used this pattern to knit a rug for her guest bathroom. Very striking. It’ll look great on the chair.

Great pattern, great colors.

Leslie was knitting a pair of fingerless mitts, propelled by the cold temperature in the writing lab at the middle school. We asked if she was really going to keep them for herself.

“Well, if I bond with them, I’ll keep them. If not, they’ll be a Christmas gift.”

We get it, Leslie. We’ve all made such ‘personalized’ Christmas gifts ourselves.

Very cool random box pattern.

Next week we’ll meet at Deb’s house. We haven’t seen Deb in a couple of weeks, so it’ll be great to see her. Don’t forget to bring your chair swatches or homework assignment. Mine is going more slowly than I thought it would, but maybe that’s a good thing. If nobody loves it, I can rip out less yarn. Yeah, let’s look on the bright side.

Until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and stay dry. It’s rainy out there. Keep a good thought in your hearts for our countrymen and women being pounded by Hurricane Sandy.

We Castoffs had a Babypalooza at our meeting at Michele’s house. When I got there, Lisa and her sister Lynn (visiting from Alaska) were there with Lisa’s granddaughter Greta. I hardly recognized Gretta – she has grown so much! She’s nine months old now and crawling and squealing. She’s adorable.

Greta Grace! My, how you’ve grown!

It was great to see Lynn again. She came down to see Mom who’s been under the weather. I love when sisters get together – maybe because I don’t have one. Envious!

Sisters – Lynn and Lisa.

It was good to see Erica, Michele’s daughter, looking so well. She’s living here while she goes to school locally. She was off to cadaver class! Yup. That’s what I said. Erica paused to say bye to Marylane on her way out. Erica and Michele had hiked in the snow to Mt. Aeneas earlier. Soon it’ll be too snowy to find the trail. Winter is coming.

Marylane had hike-envy.

Leslie and her daughter Sienna came in with the incredible giggling granddaughter, Mira. This was Mira’s first appearance at a Castoff’s meeting and she is adorable. She was wearing the sweater that Leslie had knit for her recently and it was very cute. We all gathered around her and she started laughing and giggling and delighted us all – especially her grandma whose BIRTHDAY WAS TODAY!  Happy Birthday, Leslie! I didn’t even get a photo of you and your delicious cake that Michele baked…too many babies to pay attention, even to the birthday girl.

Such a delightful little girl! Mira!

Of course the baby girls were fascinated with each other. Why is it that babies are so interested in other babies? Size? Curiosity? Just can’t believe that there’s another little person in a world of giants? Whatever the reason, it’s always fun to see the look on their little faces when they recognize one of their own generation.

Well, they don’t pay attention to each other ALL the time. Short attention spans, I guess.

Oddly enough, some of us did bring knitting to the meeting. Huh, imagine that. We didn’t know that it was baby day. Francy was knitting a cardigan for her granddaughter, Grace, who she is going to visit later in the week. There are a lot of granddaughters in this group, aren’t there? Grace is a toddler now – a big girl.  We all can’t wait to see how much she’s changed when she comes back for a visit.

Francy holding Grace’s cardie.

Julie was knitting a sweater for a friend’s baby. She dug around in her knitting bag and came up with yet ANOTHER baby sweater that she gave to Greta.

“Who did you knit that for?” -Lisa

“Uh, I forgot, but it looks like it would fit Greta.” – Julie

And it did – perfectly!

Greta got a new sweater! She’s happy!

Julie’s other gift sweater for a baby. Is she getting prepared for a grandchild?

Linda is making good headway (no pun intended) on the hat for her friend’s son. She already made a similar one for the brother. I really like this pattern. Linda just saw an episode of Knitting Daily on PBS that showed how to carry yarn in a multi-color pattern. She’s trying to use it for this hat. Sometimes the carried yarn is too tight on the wrong side – I know because I’ve made that mistake – so any advice is useful if you’re knitting a Fair Isle-like pattern.

Colorful hat, Linda!

I started a sweater that’s knit from cuff to midpoint – on both sides – then joined with a three needle bind-off. I SHOULD be finishing my sister-in-law’s slippers, or that blue vest that I started last spring, or my brother’s alligator…hmm. Almost forgot about the alligator.  Anyway, I’d rather knit than finish stuff. Maybe this week I’ll change my ways.  Hah.

My sweater – well, the cuff of one sleeve.

Next week we’ll meet at Carol’s house. The leaves are falling and the weatherman is predicting that snow will be falling this week, too! Gulp. Not sure I’m ready for snow, but it’s coming anyway. Castoffs, have a great week and keep those needles blazing. Stay warm!

We met on a beautiful Indian summer day at Julie’s house. The leaves were falling and the little birdies were eating their fill for a long winter. I know this because I parked under a tree in Julie’s driveway and needed a car wash after I left.  Julie served us yummy homemade artichoke/spinach dip with crackers and a delicious raspberry-shortbread dessert. Thanks, Jules!

Glad Julie had the day off to make us these delicious snacks.

Julie had finished the afghan that she started…oh, a while ago…for her in-laws. She knit it out of a bulky Malabrigo yarn that was very soft, and she knit it in a modified box pattern. Very pretty.

Beautiful pattern, Julie.

Closeup of the pattern.

It must be nearly winter – almost everyone brought a project to knit. Well, Mary and Deb didn’t, but they left early along with Marylane to march in a demonstration for education and union against that snake, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. He was in town to stump for local Republicans. I’m so proud of our local teachers for taking a stand. Thank you, Educators!

Marylane was working on a familiar project. She had started a sweater vest last spring and ripped it out – in frustration? Not sure. Anyway, she is re-knitting it using leftover yarn from her stash. I still think it’s very pretty.

Very pretty, Marylane! And isn’t Carol intent?

Speaking of Carol, she is knitting animals now.  No, really, she’s knitting little dogs that are adorable. I snapped a photo of the doggie pieces and the pattern picture, just in case you don’t believe me. These are tiny doggies, but cute.

Wow! Small legs.

I’ve knitted all the pieces for my sister-in-law’s slippers, now I just have to sew them together. I can just see Leslie and Michele shaking their heads. They didn’t knit these slippers because they didn’t want to sew them together. Well – here goes. I texted my Sis and asked her to trace her feet so I can have a guide when I felt the slippers. Knitting the pieces was the easy part, but I didn’t want to learn to crochet, Leslie and Michele!

Looks funny now, but just you wait!

Julie is working on a top-down sweater for the baby of a co-worker at the library. This is a great pattern that a lot of us have used in several sizes – women’s, men’s, children and babies.  It’s attractive and pretty much a no-brainer.

Great color for the modern baby. Mary is stoking up for the march.

Linda finished her winter hat while we were all together. She braided the ties and it looks very colorful. They won’t lose that little boy in the snow! Before she left, she cast on the next hat for the brother. Busy, busy. Looks great, Linda.

Viola! a hat!

That did it for another fun Castoffs meeting. Next time we’ll meet at Michele’s house. Rain is predicted, so bundle up, Castoffs and don’t catch a cold. Wait until the snow flies so you can sniffle while you look outside at the gorgeous weather.  But, I’m getting ahead of myself. I still have lots of leaves to rake first. Oh, boy…Keep those needles blazing and have a great week.

On a sunny, blustery fall day we all met at Leslie’s house. Because it was Linda’s birthday, I brought cute little cupcakes for the celebration.

Cupcakes!

Leslie was afraid we’d set the ribbons on fire, but we managed to light them without tragedy. However, when Linda blew out the candles, she gave such a mighty blow that some of the candles were leaning in the wind. Bet you got your wish though, dintcha Linda?

One, two, BLOW!

Linda had started a new project – a wonderfully intricate winter hat for a friend’s grandson knit from colorful, bulky yarn. This is a pattern that some of us have made before, but I really like the bulkiness of the yarn. Very impressive, Linda.

Winter must be coming!

Francy brought a little knitted bird on its nest and when she lifted the bird from the nest, there were blue eggs underneath. Francy knit this for her granddaughter Grace who watched the birds outside Francy’s house this summer while their eggs were being hatched. A wonderful time that Grace can remember whenever she looks at her knitted mama bird.

Little bird on her nest…

EGGS!

Francy has the pattern if you’re interested.

The eggs and the bottom of the bird were made with roving yarn. The bird was knit in one piece with wings and tail picked up and knit, then the bird and nest were felted. Francy added a real bird’s feather to the nest for authenticity. This is such a clever idea. Thanks for sharing it, Francy. I know that Carol is knitting little stuffed dogs, but she forgot to bring them. I can’t wait until next week to see more animals at knitting.

Francy is working on a skirt for Betsy and is using the same pattern that Michele used for Erica’s skirt. Francy’s is a deep wine color and is coming along nicely. She started at the bottom with a lace pattern. We probably won’t see the finished product since Francy is leaving for a visit with Betsy and Grace, bird in hand.

Betsy’s skirt…well, the bottom of Betsy’s skirt.

Mary came up the stairs with Larissa and Aurora – darling baby!  Larissa, Aurora and Jason are here for a visit and gramma Mary is so happy! Aurora is a chunky little bundle of love – she was very serious – probably couldn’t stop looking at all the loud, crazy ladies waving pointy sticks.  I always wonder what we look like from a baby’s perspective. Like Foer’s book, we probably seem ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.’

Mary, Larissa and Aurora. Three generations of strong women.

Mary brought Aurora’s witch hat to model. I was amazed at how well she did – I would have screamed my head, and hat, off. We didn’t hear a peep from her.

She likes her witchy hat. She likes Carol, too. Recognizes another grandma’s touch.

Mary and granddaughter Aurora.

Leslie and I brought the pieces that we’re knitting for the yarnbomb chair. Marylane wasn’t here today and she had custody of the chair, so we’ll bring our little bits and bobs to Julie’s house next week and see what needs doing. I think that once we have a clear vision, it’ll go fast. In the meantime, we’re trying out ideas and patterns. Mine is a chevron pattern from Noro…

Chevron swatch for the chair.

Leslie is knitting a 3D loop pattern for the chair, also out of Noro. This is so striking! I love how it stands up and shouts “Look at me! I’m outrageous!”

Fluffy and puffy.

I finally finished my neckerchief scarf made from a soft, pretty Rowan yarn that I found in Florida a couple of years ago. It’s been languishing in my stash ever since and I resurrected it for this scarf. A neutral color but an interesting pattern.

It was fun to knit and could use a blocking on the edges.

Michele was knitting her soft, light hot-flash sweater.  Leslie couldn’t get over how small the yarn and needles were. “Look at this, look how small it is compared to regular yarn! It’s gonna take forever!” Michele just smiled and kept knitting. She knows how jealous we’ll be when it’s finished.

Well, Leslie does have a point. It’s small compared to the orange worsted weight.

Michele calmly knitting her sweater – the eye of the storm.

Next week we meet at Julie’s house. She’s taking the day off, so she says that if you want to come over earlier than our regular time, feel free to do so.  Oh, don’t get her out of BED or anything, but within reason. Until then, Castoffs, enjoy the autumn weather, rake leaves, clear out your flower beds and keep those needles blazing! See you next time.

The Castoffs met at Joan’s house for the last time this year! Boo-hoo! Joan and Jeff will be leaving next week to return to Arizona for the winter. Well… the weather dips down into the high 30’s and she’s out of here! Imagine that.

Joan made us some yummy brownies and served crackers with cream cheese covered in some kind of yummy jelly sauce – forgive me, Joan for forgetting the name but I will never forget the delicious taste. She topped it off with margaritas and/or wine and we had a wonderful feast. Thanks, Joan! We’ll miss you.

Yummy…and pretty, too.

Very much like the rest of the summer, we were all lazy knitters – Slackoffs!  Some of us more than others…you know who you are!

I wonder if they called ahead to find out what everyone was wearing?

Linda was busily knitting her prayer shawl – good girl. It’s a pretty mixed yarn – from Lion Brand, I think. Guess who has a birthday coming up???

Linda’s knitting and Mary’s dreaming of her granddaughter who arrives later today.

Marylane and I are at least thinking about the chair yarnbomb project. I have yarn (Noro) and a pattern in mind and Marylane is going to test-run the spiral pattern for the seat. She brought a swatch for one of the rods on the chair.

We really are thinking about the yarnbomb project.

Leslie knit a darling little sweater for Mira. It has a spiral, cobwebby design on the front – I KNEW I’d forget what the embroidery design is called. I said it over and over, but the margaritas made me forget. I’ll blame it on Joan.

Leslie admiring her work – as well she should! It’s beautiful.

A closeup of Mira’s sweater. Cute, cute, cute.

Well, Castoffs, that’s all I’ve got for this week. I’m still easing into being back from vacation, I guess. More next time at Leslie’s house. Enjoy the tail-end of summer because it’s supposed to start raining this week. Winter is coming and the leaves are starting to fall.  Let’s all hold a thought for Julie whose daughter is getting married next week (Best wishes, Terra!) and for Mary whose daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter are coming for a visit (maybe we’ll see Aurora next week), and Joan starting on her journey home to Arizona.

See you at Leslie’s house and remember, keep those needles blazing!