The Castoffs met at my house and when I opened the door, I was surprised that my Pasque flowers had bloomed. They had pushed up through the grass that I hadn’t pulled up, but spring has a way of bursting out whether you’re ready for it or not.

Pasque flowers, weeds and all.

For the most part, we were knitting our works-in-progress. Mary’s hooded blanket was growing bigger. She’s off to Denver soon to visit her grandson Moses, then later in the summer she’ll visit Moses’ new sister or brother.

Wow, she’s rounded the corner.

Carol’s sweater is growing, too. She came in worried about a mistake that she made and by the time everyone had put in their two cents’ worth, Carol was ripping out about two inches of the back. She’ll be happier though. Sometimes, even a small mistake will gnaw at a knitter and she’ll blurt it out to perfect strangers. What’s invisible to the stranger’s eye is a GLARING error to it’s creator.

X marks the scene of the crime – or in this case a pink stitch marker.

A casual passerby declares – “Gawd, what a dreadful mistake! What was that knitter thinking?”

Now Carol’s sweater will be perfection.

Yes, I’m still working on my neckwarmer!! I’ve had a full plate this month, so I’ve dawdled over this project. It is a pretty pattern, though.

You can see the pattern better.

Julie’s throw for her brother is growing, too. I’m more and more convinced to knit a sweater or poncho using this yarn. So soft!

It’s a lap full.

Michele’s table cover/centerpiece/thingy is growing too. I took a peek into her knitting bag to see the colors that are next up.

Table circle.

I think I need one of these bags.

Francy has started something new! Yay! It’s a very complicated-looking scarf using scraps of sock yarn. The pattern has an intarsia look knit in the round and joined at the ends so that the scarf is a tube. Sounds confusing? It is. But the design is beautiful.

The very beginning of Francy’s scarf. This one could take a while.

Linda loved Leslie’s tutu so much that she’s knitting one for her great-niece. She had a few questions, so Leslie whipped out her iPhone and got online to find the answers. I think they spent the whole meeting looking at Ravelry.com

Start of a darling tutu. I wish you could see the sparkles in the yarn!

Ain’t technology great?

That was it for the day. We meet at Julie’s next time and hopefully the weather will have settled down. We’ve had everything – rain, sun, snow, wind – you name it. I’m ready for some warm weather and sunshine. In the meantime, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and pray for summer.

On a brilliantly sunny day – rare lately – we met at Deb’s house to knit and talk. I was a little late, so the first thing that greeted me was Leslie’s latest creation. A horse! Actually the head of a stick horse for Mira. She made the head from a felted wool sock and added expressive eyes, a rope halter and fringe for his mane.

I love his button eyes.

His ears are great, too.

Leslie is our critter knitter.

Over in the sunny corner of the room, Izzy was enjoying the sunshine. Who could blame her. We don’t usually see so much sun as we have this winter. Does that make up for the endless days of cold? Hmmm. I’ll get back to you on that.

Ahhh!

Michele was sitting in the sunny corner, too. She brought her circular table cover which is bigger and bigger. The next color she’ll use is a variegated yarn that will tie in the colors in the center to the edge.

Next yarn to be added.

A larger view.

Linda was between projects so he had her lace scarf to fall back on. It’s always tricky to knit a lace pattern at our meetings. The error factor goes way up, as we’ve all learned. This is a pretty pattern and it was good to see it growing larger.

You can see the pattern pretty well.

Behind Linda, Julie was knitting a throw with a similar color to Linda’s scarf. This is a chenille-like acrylic yarn that is easy to knit and very soft. I can imagine knitting a sweater with this yarn.

Her brother’s throw.

Mary’s hooded towel/blanket for her new granddaughter (due date is June) is coming right along. Looks good, Mary. She will have a lot of traveling to do this summer to see all three grandchildren. Just think, a few years ago, Mary was moaning because she was afraid she’d never have ANY grandchildren. Ha!

That’s a sunny color.

I dipped into my yarn stash to knit another neckwarmer. This one has a 14 row repeat pattern that is quite interesting. I like the yarn, too. I’ll probably put this one in the Christmas pile with the other two for gifts.

Cute pattern – a bit challenging for our meeting.

Anne was working on a pair of felted mittens in bold colors. She can practically do these in her sleep – I know she’s done several pairs. Maybe she’s working on Christmas gifts too?

Hard to think about Christmas already.

That’s it, Castoffs. Next time we’ll be at my house, so keep those needles blazing and have a great week!

I got to Michele’s house first for our meeting. And I really mean first. I beat Michele home from work. I didn’t have to wait long – didn’t even have to pull out my knitting! Most of the rest of the Castoffs arrived shortly afterwards.

Michele won the ‘intensive knitter’ award for the week (I just made that up). She finished her Swirl Hat which is a free pattern on Ravelry.com. After the meeting I looked up ‘Swirl Hat’ and found a couple of pages of them, but the first one looked the most like Michele’s pattern, so I downloaded it, bought some yarn and will give it a go. It’s cute and it fits closely but lightly.

Swirl Hat – sockweight yarn or fingering yarn and size 3 needles.

Michele is still working on a table centerpiece using pieces of wool from her stash. She’ll make it big and felt it down. Here is her progress so far.

Colorful and an interesting pattern.

Finally, Michele was knitting fingerless gloves to use on camping trips. We all know that even in the summer, mornings can be nippy in Montana. Good idea, Michele.

Fingerless mitt for those chilly mornings in the woods.

Julie chose a new project! Yay! It’s a throw/afghan for her brother (or brother-in-law, sorry but I forgot which, Jules). The yarn is a very soft acrylic that feels wonderful.

Feels like chenille.

Julie also finished her newsboy cap and modeled it for us. Very cute. The bill is smaller than I thought it would be. I like it like that. So does Julie so she’s keeping it for herself.

Newsboy cap.

I didn’t get a very good picture because the sun was pouring in through the window. It’s a novelty that I’m not used to yet this spring. Sunlight!

Mary is knitting a hooded bath towel for her soon-to-be-born granddaughter. She knit the same pattern for her two other grandchildren. She and Julie had wound great big balls of yarn. It was a ball-a-thon. I’m not sure who won.

We Castoffs have great big balls…of yarn.

Hooded towel for baby #3

Deb was home from her Mexican vacation with her daughter, Chelsea, and was back to work on her sweater sleeve. It’s gonna be great.

Sleeve #2. Nice suntan, Deb.

Anne joined us but forgot her knitting, so I included my Palm Fronds scarf in her photo. Good to see you, Anne!

Fun day with our knitting friends.

We missed the Castoffs who are still traveling (Marylane and Francy) and we hope Leslie feels better by next week when we  meet at Deb’s house. Linda and Carol were absent, too. Hope to see all of you soon. Until then, keep those needles blazing and have a great week.

Only three Castoffs met at Linda’s house. Boo-hoo. Everyone else was out of town enjoying vacation or spring break. Carol and her husband went to look at a camper (anticipating future summer road trips). We hardy three – Linda, Julie and me – had fun, however, and talked about all the others. Not really.

Linda has been a busy bee, knitting baby garments for her nieces’ children and for HER COMING GRANDCHILD!!! I missed this news last week and am delighted to know that she’ll be knitting baby things for a long, long time. Congratulations to Linda, and of course to her son and daughter-in-law. The baby is due in the fall.

In the meantime, she finished the cute top-down tee for her great-niece. Adorable.

The variegated yarn looks psychedelic. It’s not.

She’s also knitting hat and booties for her niece’s baby that will be born in a couple of months. I think she’s planning to use these patterns for her own grandbaby, too.

The buttons will go on the crossover booties.

Julie’s still working on the newsboy cap. Linda has knit one, so Julie was asking her information about what she used for the bill of the cap to make it stiff. Should be finished soon!

It’s more slouchy in the back than the pattern picture shows.

I finished my great-niece’s fingerless mitts. They fit me and I sure hope they fit her! If not, she’ll be growing into them.

This was a very easy pattern. I should make another pair.

Now, I’ve returned to my Palm Fronds scarf using itsy-bitsy yarn. It’s pretty, but time-consuming.

Lace yarn – love it or hate it?

That’s all for this week! Next time, our friends will be back from their various travels (most of them, anyway) and we’ll meet at Michele’s house.

Until then, keep those needles blazing and have fun in the sun!