I rushed in, late from another meeting and found my Castoffs in a ring around Linda’s coffee table in the living room. The day was cold and snowy, but the atmosphere in Linda’s house was convivial and warm. I grabbed a chair and joined the circle. Everyone was knitting intently, so I took out my camera and my knitting.

Knitting, knitting, knitting…and looking at Mary’s phone. Maybe looking at knitting photos?

Leslie was knitting with Marmot yarn. Wait…I didn’t know you could strip the little critters and use their hair! Leslie got a kick out of the notion. The yarn is fuzzy and quite soft and NO marmots were harmed in the making of this yarn.

“Oh, Marsha. You’re so weird.”

Weird old Marsha was knitting some fingerless mitts for my great-niece Graison. I’m hoping that they fit but I’m considering ripping them out and using smaller needles. Hmmm.

The yarn will match the purse I felted for her at Christmas.

The laugh of the day came when Linda moaned that she was seven stitches short of finishing her scarf and she WAS OUT OF YARN. She was binding off and this is what she was left with:

See that two inch piece of yarn? That’s all, folks!

We all counseled ripping out a row or two and binding off again. Linda was very resistant. She looked in the trash for a bit of the same yarn that she had discarded. Alas! It was only about three inches, too. Not long enough for seven stitches. She asked if anyone had a similar yarn to finish the row with. Nada. She said she’d think about it and she moved on to another project – and entre-lac scarf.

Oh, Linda. We weren’t laughing AT you, we were…well, yeah, we WERE laughing at you. Sorry.

Mary was so happy! She finished Larissa’s skirt. Now she’s obsessing about whether or not it’ll fit. Oh, Mary. If it doesn’t fit, you can rip it out and start over. Right?

Finally! It’s a skirt!

Francy is knitting the cutest sweater for her grandson. The body is a pale green and the sleeves are a variegated yarn containing the same green. It’s adorable.

Really cute sweater.

Francy had a pattern that she shared with us that is made with leftover sock yarn, but I think you could use any weight as long as the gauge was correct.

My, my. Julie and Deb are busy bees.

That was our time together. Knitting with my friends is the bright spot in my week. I hear now that a blizzard is coming. Keep those needles blazing, Castoffs, and stay warm! Next time we’ll meet at Julie’s.

Today we did something absolutely different. Marylane and Carol, a former Spanish teacher in our school district, came up with a plan for the fundraiser, Loud at the Library, which takes place in March. Carol had seen these scarves when she went on a vacation.They are made from lengths of regular and novelty yarns tied together. It sounds odd, but the scarves are really quite fun. They can be wound around your neck, or worn singly.

Linda, Michele, Mary and I joined Marylane and Carol in making them and it turned out to be a lot of fun and something unusual for us to do at knitting. When I arrived, I saw a HUGE number of different yarns on Marylane’s dining table — thick, thin, fuzzy, skinny – name it and there it was. And ribbon! We loved adding ribbon even though it was slippery to knot with the yarn.

All kinds of yarn!

Carol explained what to do – cut 8 foot lengths of yarn and decide which ones would look good together. Knot the strands of yarn in the middle and on both ends. Easy.

Carol showing us how it’s done.

Of course, nothing is as easy as it looks. We had to cut the lengths to a uniform length. Thankfully, we had a second chance to even and trim up the lengths once the scarf was finished. Sometimes we found the perfect yarn, but there wasn’t enough of it. Or, we’d find the yarns and when they were together, the scarf was too skinny, so we had to search for more yarn to add to it. These were all simple problems to solve. The fun was in putting them all together.

Hmmm. Now where was that eyelash yarn in purple?

Linda and Marylane were having fun.

Some of us were more creative than others (not me – I tended toward the monochrome). Once we had a lot of scarves, we decided to display them. Mary, the arm model, complied.

Lots of scarves.

Here’s Mary with one of the last scarves that Carol made.

Looks like Easter! Just wind it around your neck, Mary.

Marylane and I tried to devise some way to store them and get them to the Library without tangling too badly.

It certainly looks like serious work, doesn’t it?

We had a lot of scarves at the end of the day. The Library will decide how to use them at the event. Last year, the Castoffs yarn-bombed a chair. This sure was easier. Of course, there could be something else for us to do before March because it’s such a good cause.

I’d like to wish our Castoffs Carol a happy birthday! She sent me a photo of the legwarmers that she finished for her daughter, Shannon. They turned out so cute.

Hearts climbing Shannon’s legs.

That’s it for now, Castoffs. We meet at Linda’s house next time. Keep those needles blazing and hunker down for our next bit snowstorm. It’s coming!

On a slippery, slide-y sort of day, we met at Michele’s house. There was the promise of a thaw in the air, but none of us were holding our breaths. I was late, so I joined conversations – and knitting projects – already in progress.

The first thing I saw was Carol’s beautiful purple scarf that she had finished. Wow! Such a vibrant color.

Lovely scarf!

On her lap was a legwarmer, one of a pair that she’s knitting for her daughter, Shannon. It’s a Valentine’s present, embellished with hearts.

Hearts aren’t too clear, sorry!

Carol has also bought yarn and pattern for a sweater – her ‘first garment’ as she put it. Hard to believe that she hasn’t knit a sweater, but that’s what she said.

Very pretty yarn. I like the pattern too.

Anne joined us – yay! – and was wearing a skirt that she knit. This pattern was originally brought to our group by Michele, who has knit several of them. Mary is knitting one like it for her daughter, Larissa, in gray. A very popular pattern.

Anne’s skirt.

…and one like it that Mary’s knitting. Deb in the background working on her sweater.

Anne was working on a hat while she was there. It’s a pattern that we all realized that we have in our books – it has the option for ear-flaps and a tie under the chin that  Anne is going to add.

Such a cutie.

Francy finished her ‘stop’ and ‘go’ mittens for granddaughter Grace. Now she’s planning to knit ‘left’ and ‘right’ mittens. Adorable.

Grace will love these.

Just to prove that I really come to meetings, other than to take photos, here I am wearing a skinny cabled scarf that I knit several years ago.

Ta-da! The blogster!

I brought the neck warmer that I started last week. Not sure what I’ll do with it. I might make another and save them for Christmas presents for my nephew’s sons. It was a quick and easy cable pattern.

Neck warmer, or head warmer.

Michele was starting a simple, one-row repeat scarf using beautiful variegated yarn from her stash. I forgot to ask her if she was wearing the vest that she was working on last week. Bet she was. It’s very pretty and the pattern seems fairly easy.

Michele in her orange vest.

Leslie has arrived at the edging of her sweater. She picked up hundreds of stitches around the neck and front and is doing a knit 1, purl 1 ribbing. Then she’ll pick up around the sleeves and be near the end. Yay! It’s hasn’t taken her very long at all.

Haha, easy for me to say it hasn’t taken long to finish. I only see it once a week!

Linda is re-knitting the scarf that she ripped out a week or so ago:

Much happier with this attempt.

Marylane was knitting mittens and I took a very bad photo and decided not to publish it. You’re welcome, Marylane!  Mary sent me a photo of mittens that she knit for Moses. They match his owl hat. Very cute.

Mittens to match the owl hat.

Julie finished the baby sweater that she was working on last week. She couldn’t be with us but I thought this was so adorable:

Julie’s baby gift for a co-worker.

That’s all, folks! We’ll be at Marylane’s house next time. The snow and ice are starting to melt (at least temporarily) and giving us a glimmer of hope for spring. Keep those needles blazing and enjoy the Olympics!

We all gathered at Leslie’s house just before the Arctic Blast of frigid weather was due to hit our little corner of the world. Never fear! We have a lot of knitwear to keep us warm.

Carol’s dropped stitch scarf is stunning. The colors are vibrant and the design is beautiful.

Beautiful scarf – beautiful knitter.

This design is one that Linda is knitting. She decided to rip out the old scarf because she was running out of yarn (she wanted a longer scarf than the yarn would allow). She started again with fewer cast-on stitches and is quite happy with a narrower scarf.

I like the skinnier scarf, too.

Marylane finished knitting and felting her slippers using the ‘Duffer’ pattern. I like these. They are less bulky than the clog pattern that we’ve all done. Love the two colors.

I’ll have to give this pattern a try.

Michele is knitting a vest with a cantaloupe-colored heather yarn. Several of us covet the pattern, so she said we could email it to ourselves when we meet at her house next week. Yay! I feel a vest in my future. She was wearing a mobius shawl that she knit from leftover yarns in her stash. Michele, you’re one clever knitter.

I love the sweater vest AND the mobius shawl.

While we were all together, Michele came to the end of one skein of wool, and took the opportunity to demonstrate a ‘spit splice,’ a method of connecting one end of yarn to another. It must be WOOL – any other fiber won’t work with this method. She wet both the old end and the new end of yarn, separated the plys of fiber, then mushed them together (a technical term) and started rubbing them between her palms. In essence, she was felting the ends by wetting, then applying agitation. After a few minutes, she opened her hands and we had a complete, continuous piece of yarn, ready to be knit. There was no hint that two pieces of yarn had been joined. It was seamless. Thanks, Michele.

Rubbing the ‘spit splice’. Remember, ONLY wool and you don’t have to use spit.

Leslie’s sweater is coming along and it is gorgeous. I wish this photo did justice to the beautiful sheen and true color of the yarn. It looks plain brown here, but in reality it is a golden, yummy brown. The stitches are stunning.

Luscious brown.

Okay, I couldn’t stand having only one project going, so I started another with a skein from my stash. I found several one-skein wonders on Ravelry. This one is a cabled neck-warmer knit on 10 1/2 needles. I must say that it’s a nice change to use big needles and heavier yarn than I have in my lace scarf. Easier on the old eyeballs, but this wool/acrylic blend really dries out my skin. It’s very quick, though.

Easy cable pattern. Now I need to find someone to give it to.

Larissa’s skirt is getting longer by the week. Mary brought her arm-knitted Seahawks scarf just to dig it in that they won the Super Bowl. We all agreed, however, that it was an awful game, especially for my poor Broncos.

Larissa’s skirt and the Seahawks scarf to the left on the table.

Julie is knitting another baby sweater from, I believe, the same pattern that she used last time. She has this baby sweater pattern down pat. When she got up to leave, she pulled a neck-warmer over her head – one that she was knitting several weeks ago. I liked that pattern, too.

Baby pattern extraordinaire.

Chiquita bandita.

I didn’t get a photo of Marylane’s sweater vest, but I will next time. And we missed Francy and Deb! Hope to see you next time at Michele’s house. In the meantime, Castoffs, bundle up and keep those needles blazing!

I was late for our Castoffs meeting because I had another meeting directly before it, so I walked into discussions in full swing. I admit to feeling slightly out of sync, so I walked around the group and snapped some photos to catch up on everyone’s project.

I had missed Mary’s demonstration of ‘arm knitting’ – I would’ve tried to capture it on a video to go where no blogger (at least this blogger) had gone before. She knitted a gigantic scarf in Seahawks colors (BOO! HISS!) to wear during the Super Bowl.

“What are you going to do with it after the game?” I asked.

“Rip it out.” She said.

HA – especially if they lose, thought the Broncos fan. Well, I might have said that last part out loud.

She actually likes the Seahawks to win the Big Game. And so does Deb!

Those three sitting on the couch – Deb, Mary, Julie – reminded me of the Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil monkeys so I had to take a photo. Perfect casting.

Hear … See … Speak!

They were all working on continuing projects: Deb on her sweater, Mary on Larissa’s skirt, and Julie on a vest. I took a close-up of the cables on the front of Deb’s sweater. Beautiful!

Really nice pattern, Deb.

Little Kitty tried everyone’s lap during the afternoon, but she seemed to like Julie’s the best. Julie loves kitties and I think a cat knows who to go to for some lovin’.

Ho Hum. Cat on my lap and phone in my hand.

Leslie’s top-down sweater is beginning to look more and more intriguing every time we see it. The variety of stitches is beautiful. Once Leslie got over the initial panic of horrible instructions, she started to sail right along. She even posted some helpful tips about the pattern on Ravelry. Someone saw her suggestions online and thanked her!

Pretty sweater.

Leslie has been a knitting machine. She brought along some socks and a pair of un-felted slippers that I love. They’re on Ravelry and called “Un-felted slippers”. Duh. I went to the site immediately and saw that they were already in my ‘favorites’ file, just waiting for me.

Leslie’s un-felted slippers and socks. And Mary’s scarf photo-bombing the shot.

On the other side of the room, it appeared to be scarf day. Michele was modeling her recently completed long cowl. It turned out beautifully! And it felt so soft. Love that yarn. She’s knitting another one in different colors.

I seem to have captured a ‘look’ – missed the conversation between Michele and Francy.

Francy was working on a scarf for Betsy with an interesting braided pattern on both ends. Another knitted braid was supposed to go right in the middle, but Francy thought it would be uncomfortable on the back of Betsy’s neck. I agreed.

Braided knit pattern – very interesting, Francy!

Linda is almost finished with her larger dropped stitch scarf, but she’s very near the end of her skein of yarn. She wondered if it would be too short … nah, we all said. It’ll be more like a neck-warmer.

A shortish scarf, but lovely – once you take out that darn needle.

Carol liked Linda’s pattern so much that she decided to knit a dropped stitch scarf of her own. LOVE this color!

Vibrant purple.

Marylane liked Michele’s vest from two weeks ago so she got the pattern and is knitting one like it. She’s using super bulky yarn that her son, Walker, gave her a few years ago. I want one, too! I have a vest that I never wear, so I’m toying with the idea of ripping it out and knitting a vest from this pattern that I like better. Recycling at it’s most logical. Well, logical to a knitter, that is.

Can’t wait to see how it turns out.

I think I knit ONE row on my scarf from last week, and I messed up on it!  I was too busy talking and looking around at everyone else’s knitting. I can’t believe that I only have one project going. This is a record for me – to go this long without starting another. Maybe I DO need to rip out that old vest.

Thanks to Carol for hosting! We’ll be at Leslie’s house next time, Castoffs. Keep those needles blazing and enjoy the Super Bowl. GO BRONCOS!!!