A small group of the Castoffs met at Julie’s house. Some had relatives for Christmas, some were out of town for Christmas. Those of us who could show up, did. That’s the way it’ll be next week at Marylane’s house, whoever can come are welcome.

Julie has been a busy knitter. She made slippers for her kids and their spouses/sig – others. Leslie, as always, was our visual manager and arranged the slippers in a circle in front  of the tree.

A ring o’slippers.

Colorful!

Julie was knitting a pair of mittens with a flip-off finger cover. I can’t remember what these are really called, so I made up this description. You’ll see by the photo.

Mitt flips.

I had finished one pair of fingerless mittens that matched my new coat – hot pink – and have started a new pair using yarn from my stash. My stash grows without plausible explanation. Magic.

Shoulda put my coat in the picture.

Noro leftover skein.

The second mitten won’t be exactly like the first one. That’s what happens when you use a variegated yarn like Noro. Interesting but not the yarn to use if you’re extremely anal. I’m not, thank goodness.

Michele finished the sweater for Erica and it is amazingly soft and beautiful. We all held it and commented on its texture and on the feel of the yarn. It’s an Eco blend by Cascade. Wonderful.

The photo doesn’t do it justice, of course.

Now Michele is starting a long knitted tunic. I got a photo of the yarn (Paton’s Classic Wool) and the pattern. She was struggling with the twisted rib stitch on the bottom. Leslie, knitter extraordinaire, helped her.

This will look great with leggings.

Speaking of Leslie, I must apologize for assuming that her granddog is a dachshund. Daisy is a Boston Bulldog. Sorry, Daisy! Leslie had finished her doggie sweater and it looks very cute.

Get it? Daisy!

Leslie has now started on her grandson’s throw. Mary and I were confused when she started describing it. Gradually, we realized that she had changed the pattern that she’s using. Duh! It will be stripes now instead of the Log Cabin pattern. Here are some of the colors for it.

Grays with pops of color.

That’s it, Castoffs. Next time, we’ll be at Marylane’s house – at least those of us available. Until then, enjoy the snow and stay warm. Another cold snap is on the way, so keep those needles blazing!

The Castoffs met at Michele’s, bringing gifts and food to share. We had a blast! Michele’s tree was ENORMOUS. She and Joel were waiting for their kids to get home to put the final touches on it, but we all thought it was beautiful as is. The food we brought was wonderful – dips, chili, roll-ups and candy, cookies and fudge. We certainly ate well.

Yummy dishes for our celebration.

The presents we brought are under the tree.

Everyone liked what they drew for the gift exchange, so nobody stole ANYTHING from anyone else — well, except for me. Julie opened a desk organizer and some very cool yarn – twine, really – and liked it until I came along and stole it. From then on, I was the Grinch! Here’s Julie happy with her first present.

“Gee, this is pretty cool!”

When it was my turn, I swooped in and stole it. Here is my Grinch face.

Marsha the Grinch.

Never fear, Julie chose another gift that she liked – perhaps even better! It was a ball of Cascade 220 and a pattern for a cabled cowl. And it came with a Christmas tree headband. Fab.

She liked the headband so much, she wore it for our group photo.

Michele got a conical Santa – felted and roved.

Cute Santa – it’s a wonder that he didn’t get stolen.

Mary got a snowman ornament that her granddaughter can put on the tree.

Cute little snowman.

Francy got a pair of gloves AND a very beautiful pair of fingerless mittens. She hid them so nobody could steal.

Puppet fingers!

Leslie got two Christmas mugs and some coffee to go in them.

Marylane was interested, but she didn’t steal.

Carol got a box made out of folded paper that made an interesting design. I think it was from our International free trade store downtown.

I liked this, but not enough to steal.

Deb got a set of battery-powered candles. Someone suggested that she put them with her wooden Nativity scene.

Carol got a kick out of something. Maybe the candles?

Linda got a felted and beaded bracelet. She was so excited about showing it off, that she nearly punched Michele in the face.

Look out! Woman with a new accessory!

Marylane got a bear ornament with a hand knit scarf – very cute. Marylane immediately took the scarf off. Bet she was like that with her dolls when she was a little girl.

Let’s put the clothes back on the ornament, OK?

Michele’s husband, Joel, came in and took our photo. You can tell that we were happy knitters. Not that the wine had anything to do with it…

The Castoffs, Christmas 2014.

After we had our picture taken, Mary and I decided to compare Christmas socks. And then Francy helped me up off the floor. Thanks, pal.

‘Tis the season!

To our surprise, Leslie brought her knitting project. Amazing. And Michele might have actually knit a few rows before we dug in to the food and gifts. Here is a doggie sweater for Leslie’s granddog – a dachshund. And, that’s Leslie’s finger where a doggie leg will be.

Looong sweater.

Carol sent me a photo of her granddaughters’ finished hats. She packed them up right after she took this. Darling hats, Carol.

Cute little Christmas presents on their way to Arizona.

I hope everyone out there in blog land has a wonderful Christmas. We have some old snow on the ground, and perhaps we’ll have some new snow by next week. I’m hoping to bring out my snowshoes, so come on! Snow!

For everyone who is in town next week, we’ll meet at Julie’s house. Until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and get your last minute shopping done!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Deb had a beautiful Nativity scene set up in her living room and the fireplace snapped its warmth on us. Well, on some of us. Carol and Marylane shared a down throw on the couch.

Mary brought her finished hat with ear flaps. I love this pattern but I’ve never been tempted to make it — yet.

Warm and pretty, Mary!

Julie wore her newsboy cap that she knit a couple of years ago. Seems like when one of us finds a great pattern, several other Castoffs just HAVE to make it. Nothin’ wrong with that. We love to learn new things. I remember that Mary knit one of these caps for her daughter, Larissa.

Looks cute on her, doesn’t it?

Julie is knitting not-felted slippers for her son-in-law in Dallas Cowboys colors (Ptui, ptui. I spit on the Dallas Cowboys). Nevertheless, that’s what he wants. There’s no accounting for taste, I guess. And the slippers are great. No sewing together pieces at the end — no felting to the correct size. I’m definitely trying this pattern.

Not felted slippers.

And, no. He doesn’t have three feet. Julie is knitting two pairs and hasn’t finished the fourth slipper. They really are cute. Leslie knit some of these — in Seahawks colors. What is wrong with these people? Where are the Bronco’s Orange and Blue?

Carol is knitting hats (like the one Mary knitted) for her two granddaughters. Adorable. That’s all I can say. The girls will love them.

She’s such a proud grandma.

A close-up.

Michele is getting closer to finishing Erica’s sweater. The body is nearly finished, and then Michele has to pick up and knit the sleeves. Lovely stitch and soft yarn.

Great unstructured sweater.

A picture of contented knitters. Michele and Francy.

A Christmas or two ago, during our gift exchange, Linda and I clashed over one. It’s that game where you get a chance to steal a gift from someone else. Well…Linda won the stealing war. This week, she brought the gossamer yarn and pattern that I would have won if I hadn’t run out of steals. It’s a beautiful scarf pattern using a wine-colored mohair — very filmy and light. I still love the yarn.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda, Linda.

We had a wonderful afternoon today — we missed Leslie though — and we contentedly knitted and talked and planned our future meetings. Next time is our annual Christmas party. We’ll bring presents for our gift exchange and dishes of yummy food to share in a potluck supper. I don’t think there’ll be much knitting done, but I can guarantee that we’ll talk about knitting. And a lot of other things, too. The party’s at Michele’s house so I’ll see you there, Castoffs. In the meantime, keep those needles blazing and enjoy a couple of candid shots of knitters in action.

Happy Castoffs.

More happy Castoffs!

Snow, snow, snow. We all descended on Michele just as she got home from work. Surprise! Everyone except Linda was there (I believe). She’s in Denver playing with her first grandchild. I’m sure she bring back lots of photos for us to ooh and ahh over.

Marylane finished her vest, except for those pesky yarn-ends that have to be sewn in. But, it looks fabulous. She had a difficult time with this project. There was a lot of ripping out, knitting upside down and ripping out again. But finally, it’s done and it’s beautiful.

I like it!

When Marylane arrived, she was wearing another wonderful scarf/shawl/capelet –obviously I don’t know what the pattern was called — with  a braided front. It’s very striking.

Beautiful braided shawl.

Leslie wore  a scarf/shawl that she knit a couple of years ago. It’s knit from sock yarn and is the pattern that Julie is using right now. I still want to knit one like this. It’s shaped with short rows and turns out asymmetrical. Leslie says that she wears it many different ways.

Short rows!

Leslie finished the triangular scarf that she was working on last week. The half-linen stitch looks woven, especially after blocking. It feels wonderful.

Love the color palette in this scarf.

Here’s a shot of Julie knitting the same pattern as the first scarf that Leslie was modeling. She’s also wearing a hat that she knit.All of us knit what we want to wear. Good thing — it gets cold up here in the great Northwest.

She matches!

Mary is ready to attach the ear flaps to HER hat. I falsely assumed that she was knitting it to give away, but she’s keeping this one for herself. Good on ya, Mary!

Ear flaps and tassels will be right at home in the snow.

I’m still plugging away on my poncho. I’m afraid that I’m wishing I was knitting something a little more interesting than KNIT-PURL, but it’s an easy project to do in a crowd. No screw-ups — so far, anyway.

Someday — a poncho.

Carol is finishing up her entre-lac scarf. She looks very cute in her sparkly cap, doesn’t she?

Cutie-pie.

I’ll end with a shot of knitters in action — talking and knitting — and Michele’s great display of string instruments on the wall behind Marylane, Mary and Michele. This is fairly typical of the Castoffs. We talk, we agree, we disagree and sometimes we make funny faces. Sorry, Mary.

I think Mary was voicing her difference of opinion.

Next time, we meet at Deb’s house. It’s getting closer to Christmas! So keep those needles blazing and stay warm, Castoffs.