We all gathered at Carol’s house this week because Linda was in the throes of painting! I can’t wait to see her new decor. We’ll do just that for our Christmas extravaganza on Dec. 6. But at Carol’s we enjoyed treats that Mary brought. Thanks, Mary!

I apologize in advance for the fuzziness of the photos. I’ve been trying to finish a novel this month for National Novel Writing Month and my brain is fuzzy from so much concentrating. Poor old thing just isn’t used to all that thinking, I guess. Anyway, when you look at the blog photos, squint a little. Honest to God, they’re really fuzzy.

Francy brought her top-down sweater with sparkly gold threads running through it. It’s a Christmas sweater for granddaughter Grace and it’s very fancy, Francy. Love it.

Sparkle, sparkle. Can’t you just see little Grace in this?

It’s hat season! Mary is knitting a couple of hats – I think, for her grandchildren Aurora and Moses. I knew I should have done the blog right after our meeting, but what with the writing and Thanksgiving and all – I didn’t. You’d think I could retain more after a week, but NOPE. The hats look cute anyway, Mary. And the TREATS!

Yummy treats and the beginning of a hat – courtesy of Mary.

Julie is knitting her hat for Cayla – son Nate’s girlfriend – and I’m afraid that Mary had an editorial comment about the Montana State Bobcats. Being a Griz fan has prejudiced her just a tad. With the virtue of hindsight (because I waited a week to post this blog) I can tell you that the Bobcats whupped the Griz in the big rivalry game. Sorry, Mary.

I think we’re equally split among fanship for the Griz and Bobcats.

The chair made an appearance and we were dutifully dressing it. Carol made it some lingerie…

Ooh, la, la. Lacy!

I made it a sunny headscarf…

For the back of the chair.

And it looks like Linda is making it some pasties…

Not really pasties…

Actually, what Linda is knitting for the chair are circles that will be joined together in a row. It’s going to look very cool and unusual. Here are the green tones that she’s pondering.

Pretty greens.

Here are some other ideas for dressing the chair. Linda knit the green leaf – not sure where it’s going, but we all loved the idea of leaves and circles. Mary knit the lacy piece on the right side.

Chair, chair – lots of ideas for the chair.

After Thanksgiving, some of us (Marylane, Leslie, Marsha and Julie) had the opportunity to look at some other chairs that the library released for the Fundraiser in March. We took a peek to see if we could find a chair with a better finish and voila! We found a fabulous chair with curved arms, more rungs under the seat and cool metal accents. We all agreed that it was a prettier chair and, although some of our pieces that have already been knitted may have to be changed a little, it will be well worth it. I can’t wait to see how everyone likes this new chair. We loved it. We’ll see it on Thursday at Julie’s house. None of us got a photo of it! It’ll be a wonderful surprise.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying our intermittent sunshine. We’ll be at Julie’s house this week, so until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and get ready – Christmas is coming!

Snow finally is supposed to be coming – not that I’m rushing it. We only had a light dusting as we headed to Marylane’s house. The worst thing about this time of year is that it gets dark so early. By the time we left at 5:30 night had come. We all talked about getting into our jammies right after supper and hunkering down for the night.

But I’m ahead of myself. Marylane had already hosted her book club this afternoon, so she had baked muffins and cake. Yum. She also baked us a savory dish of apples, onions and cheese on pie crust. It made a nice contrast to the sweets. Thanks, Marylane! I was so busy talking about the election results – YAY for our winning DEMOCRATS – that I didn’t get a photo of the food. I did have a glass of wine, however.

We are starting to plan more for the chair. Leslie brought the seat that Michele had finished and it is really beautiful. We’re thinking that the whole effect will be one of a flowering plant – earth and water at the bottom, vines and greenery going up to the poppy seat, then more colors reaching up to a yellow sun and blue sky. Of course, everything is negotiable, so we bandy around different ideas and dig through the stash to find just the right color and texture. Here are some of the ‘in progress’ shots – laying it out on the floor was easier than pinning and unpinning all the pieces on the chair.

The beautiful poppy seat under the sunny sky. A beginning.

“Would it look better here? Or over here?”

The stash is just above the knit pieces. A lot to choose from!

Carol was learning a lace pattern for a piece to put on the chair that would show the wood through the lace. I think it’s going to be pretty! Not sure where her piece will go, but we have time to decide.

“Look! I can stick my finger through the lace!”

Mary had crocheted some slippers to felt for her daughter-in-law, but something went strangely, horribly wrong. One slipper was about two inches longer than the other slipper. Mary isn’t sure what happened – wrong size needles? No. Different instructions? No. Oh, I know! She was so nervous about the outcome of the election, she knit one slipper much tighter than the other. TOO MUCH TENSION! I know, Mary, we were all biting our nails for a while. I think she’s going to felt them together and take out one before the other so they end up the same length. Not sure how it’s going to work, but she’ll let us know next week.

Are ya sure these aren’t for two different people?

Marylane finished a linen-stitch scarf that she started quite a while ago. I just love this stitch. I’ve used the linen stitch and the half-linen stitch and like the firmness of the completed project. Nice scarf, Marylane!

Marylane and her linen stitch scarf.

Julie’s son’s girlfriend, Cayla, just graduated from nursing school at Montana State (hope I got that right, Jules) so Julie is knitting her an MSU hat from the kits that Camas Creek Yarn Shop sells. Of course she took a lot of razzing from the Montana Grizzly fans in the room (yeah, I’m talking to you, Mary), but Marylane rushed to Julie’s defense. I’m sure Joan would have too, if she’d been here. Anyway, Julie is carrying colors on the wrong side and has to be careful not to pull the carried yarn too tight. It looks difficult. Great job, Julie.

Very cool MSU hat. Camas Creek has UM hat kits too.

Next time we meet at Linda’s house IF her painter is finished. If we don’t meet at Linda’s house, Plan B is to meet at Carol’s house with Francy bringing treats. Linda will let me know and I will let you all know. Sooo, the only thing I know for sure is that we WILL meet…somewhere.  Stay warm – it’s going to be a cold week until we meet again, then back to the balmy forties. Whoo-hoo! Keep those needles blazing, Castoffs and go buy your turkey.

It’s that time of autumn when the skies are mostly gloomy but the snow hasn’t fallen yet. I hope it doesn’t before Lucky and Eli get the leaves raked. The Castoffs met at Deb’s house, greeted at the door by Izzy, Deb’s Yorkie. She is so cute.

Izzy keeping her eye on all of us.

Deb served us a Kahlua Creme Pie – yummy – that we had at her house this summer. We have our favorites for knitting – this pie, the chocolate-peanut butter cake at Michele’s, the cranberry-cream cheese dip at Christmas. Are we creatures of habit? You betcha. As long as it’s tasty.

PIE!

Mary had been a busy bee. She knitted a pumpkin hat for Aurora – “Well, she can’t just have a witch’s hat from Gramma, can she? She can wear the pumpkin hat all fall!”  Yeah, yeah, any old excuse will do, eh Mary? She also found an interesting lace pattern that she did a test swatch on. We all liked it so much that we asked her to make a swatch in blue for the chair.  So, Castoffs! Bring any stash yarn that you have in a pretty, bright blue so Mary can knit  her swatch.

Mary’s work for the week.

Other than that, Mary wanted us to see her pedicure, so I obliged her and joined her with my old one. Looks like it’s time for me to get a new color! How about green?

Mary’s red and Marsha’s blue.

Linda made a couple of cowls in super chunky yarn. She said that they work up quickly and are an easy pattern. I bet they’re warm too.

Linda’s getting ready for winter. I like this pattern.

Francy started knitting a top-down sweater for granddaughter Grace using a cream colored yarn with gold thread running through it. Grace will sparkle like a little angel this Christmas. By the way, Francy says that the little bird in its nest was a big hit!

Sparkly!

Francy is also continuing knitting the skirt for Betsy. This photo makes it look much more purple than it really is, but the pattern shows up pretty well.

Betsy’s skirt.

Julie is knitting a shopping bag. She knit one a while ago that was too stretchy. When she started filling it, it got longer and longer. So, on this one, she is using smaller needles in hopes that it won’t stretch so much. Good luck, Jules.

Bag lady.

We worked quite a lot on making decisions for the Chair. Leslie pinned on the swatches – finished and un – and asked us our opinions which were varied and ranged from the logical to the whimsical. Some of us got our assignments for next week. I am beginning to see the possibilities in the vision. We’ll keep trying new ideas until we’re happy.

A look at the chair coming together.

Marylane, Leslie and Carol discuss options for the chair.

Sorry about the fuzziness – starting to come together though.

Marylane and Leslie examining the stash.

Next week we meet at Marylane’s house. Don’t forget to bring some blue wool for the chair from your stash. Enjoy our fall weather, Castoffs, and keep those needles blazing!