The weather has warmed up and the snow is melting and crunchy on top. Now that the weather report is out of the way, I can get on to the really important stuff – the Castoffs meeting!

First of all, I have a teeny correction to make about Marylane’s project. It was pointed out to me rather strongly – thank you, Leslie – that Marylane is NOT knitting a hat to be felted. She’s knitting a Christmas stocking. How, you ask, can I get a hat and a stocking mixed up? I don’t know – ask Dr. Seuss.

Well, I guess it DOESN’T look like a hat after all.

She’s knitting it for her daughter and it WILL be felted, so I got two out of three. Sorta.

Carol is LOVING her Squishy Blanket. She says yes, it’s all knit, knit, knit, but the fun is in changing the colors. It’s knitted holding two strands throughout, but the combination of colors in a row is the fun part. And, it feels wonderful.

Squishy Blankie!

Leslie is at the point in her fox jumper where it really looks like a little fox. Mira is going to love it! Leslie placed the nose and ears to give me a better image of a fox. I think she should name it.

Adorable! It really does look like a fox.

Deb continues on her sweater for Glen. He’s back from Cambodia and they’re planning to move into a condo until they make a decision on a new place to live – to build or to buy? What’ll it be, Deb?

Happy knitter. For good reason.

I’m nearly finished with my little Swirl hat, so I decided to plop it on my head. Geez – what a pin head! After our meeting, I made a boo-boo and tried to go back to correct it. BIG mistake. This pattern is not easy to fix!. I think I made a bigger mess than if I’d just left a hole in it. Oh, well. I’ll push on and hope no one looks too closely.

The little needles sticking out of my head are a nice touch.

Michele continues to knit her amazing cabled jumper. She finished one side (front, I think) and is knitting the back now.

An action shot!

Julie is knitting a pair of socks for her son’s girlfriend. She’s using Patton’s Kroy sock yarn. Super yarn. The variegations in the colors works out in perfect stripes. She isn’t sure the mate will have the exact striping, but it’ll look cool even if it isn’t an exact match.

Kroy sock yarn by Pattons.

One completed sock.

Francy is knitting a scarf or cowl – she thinks she’ll join the ends for a cowl – and I like the blue yarn that she chose.

Francy models her scarf while Julie and Linda look on.

Until next time when we meet at Carol’s house, have fun in the crunchy snow, Castoffs, and keep those needle blazing.

On a beautiful Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a small contingent of the Castoffs met at Deb’s house – for the final time. Oh, I don’t mean that we’re disbanding – Heavens NO! – I just mean that Deb has sold her house. Yay! So, she and Glen will be homeless (well, in a condo) while they get their new house built or bought. Congratulations on your new venture, Deb!

We were all knitting WIPs – Works in Progress – that we had started earlier. Marylane is making a boldly striped hat that she’ll felt when the knitting is finished. I love these colors together. She used yarn from her stash, so she knit and felted a swatch to make sure the yarn was all wool. Hey, you’re learning, ML!

She even felted a swatch!

Deb is continuing to work on Glen’s top-down sweater in Paton’s Classic Wool. Glen is in Cambodia right now, so he’ll need something warm when he hits the cold air of Montana.

Hard at work.

Michele’s jumper is growing. She’s gonna look great in this long and lean sweater dress. I love the cabling.

Izzy’s helping Michele knit.

Now, Leslie’s helping.

Leslie is knitting a jumper, too, for granddaughter Mira. It will have a fox face on the bodice. Adorable! But not on you, Leslie. Sorry.

Not sure that’s gonna fit you, Leslie.

I’m about halfway through my Swirl hat. This is a mesmerizing pattern that goes around and around. I put markers between every repeat so I wouldn’t get confused. I’m easily confused, ya know.

Sock yarn with #3 needles and lots of markers.

When it was time for us to leave, I glanced around for my coat and saw that Izzy had found a warm place to make a nest. She looked so comfy, I hated to move her, but I had to go out in the cold.

Ahh, Izzy! Sorry to move you!

Hope to see you all next week at Marylane’s house. No holiday then, so our group will be larger. Until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and have a wonderful week.

All of the Castoffs except Marylane met on a snowy day at Linda’s. The white stuff was piled deeply on the edges of the streets and we gingerly made our way to Linda’s door. What a relief to be inside, warm and cozy with our knitters.

Linda had finished her mohair shawl – whisper light and fluffy. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, the only photos I got were fuzzy. Bad Marsha. Take my word for it, it was a lovely shawl. Instead, I got a candid shot of Leslie, Deb and Linda talking and knitting.

Linda’s scarf is on the back of Deb’s chair. Pretty, deep red.

Deb wore her finished skirt that she labored over for weeks. It turned out great! Love this, Deb.

She looks happy to be wearing it, doesn’t she?

Carol was so inspired by Leslie’s squishy blanket that she decided to knit one for each of her kids. Leslie brought hers to show those Castoffs who weren’t at knitting last week. We all loved the way it feels.

Big, beautiful Squishy Blanket!

Baby Squishy Blanket!

They chose similar neutral background colors, but have different pops of bright colors. The green is one of Carol’s accent yarns

Francy grumbles about the asymmetrical scarf that she’s knitting, but I really like its striking design. I think it’s too much knit, knit, knit to suit her. Hang in there, Francy, you’ll love it when it’s finished.

No, that’s not a studio portrait of Carol on the wall, it’s a mirror.

I understand what she means, though. I’d like to knit one of these, but after my knit, knit, knit poncho, I’ll be ready for a more challenging project.

Speaking of challenging, Michele has started her jumper and it looks very intricate. Lots of cables and twisted ribs. She’ll look great in it.

There’s Michele, peeking over the top of the bottom.

Julie was knitting a Montana hat with earflaps – only she hadn’t got to the earflaps, yet. She used a super chunky yarn of two different colors. This is another pattern that has made the rounds of the Castoffs. Marylane was working  on one recently.

 Almost ready for the flaps.

That was it, Castoffs. I’m having some issues between my camera and my new laptop. Hmmmm. Perhaps a new camera is called for, ya think?

Until we meet at Deb’s next week, keep those needles blazing and go snowshoeing! It’s a great workout.

On this first meeting of 2015, three brave Castoffs trudged (well, Leslie was already there), so TWO brave Castoffs – Linda and Marsha – trudged through the storm to knitting. And, it turned out to be a major event. We ended up with nearly two feet of snow on the ground. School was cancelled for two days and we all shoveled way too much.

But it was fun to drive on the nearly deserted streets, slipping and sliding around the corners…. Remind me of this in February when I’m thoroughly sick of the white stuff.

Leslie has been a busy bee – she finished her grandson’s blanket and it looks and feels wonderful. The pattern is a Squishy Garter Stitch and it really does feel soft and – well, squishy. But in a good way. It turned out beautifully.

Wonderful squishy blanket.

Here’s a close-up:

The yarns blended seamlessly.

The blanket was a blend of heathers and solids in Paton Classic Wool and Cascade 220, with two strands of yarn held together throughout.

Now, Leslie is starting a dress for her granddaughter, Mira. I took a shot of the pattern and the cast on edge. This color will look great on that little red head.

Cute little dress for Mira.

I’m plugging away on my poncho. It’s a 50″ by 22″ rectangle that I’ll block and join diagonally. Then I’ll add a cowl neck and voila! Poncho! At least that’s what the pattern says. I’m still on about the 39th inch of boring, tedious stockinette stitch. Wish me luck. When I’m at this point, my mind starts to fantasize about new projects. I stare into my yarn stash and page through my notebook of patterns yet to knit. Sigh. I have to remember to keep chugging along on the one in front of me.

Getting longer!

Linda is still knitting her fluffy red scarf – I found out that it’s triangular. Such a beautiful color. She said “Don’t take another picture of this scarf. You already have a few.”

Hey, there were only three of us here. I needed something for the blog! So here it is:

Can’t wait to see it around Linda’s shoulder!

I just glanced out the window over my computer desk and it’s snowing again! How much more can we take, Castoffs? I guess however much we get, eh?

Keep those needles blazing and put your snowshoes in your car. I’ll see you next time at Linda’s house.

Our final Castoffs meeting of 2014 was a low-key time with four of us and Marylane’s daughter, Kendra. It was fun to see Kendra and talk to her about her adventures with Venture Capitalism. She and partners are in the middle of a company startup involving alternate energy methods. I confess that a lot of her explanations were over my head, but I wish her great success and happiness with her career. We’re all proud of you, Kendra!

Congrats to Dr. Kendra!

As for the rest of us – we talked a lot more than we knit. I think we all brought our knitting, but only Linda actually knit a stitch. She was working on her spider web scarf with some beautiful fluffy mohair yarn. Lovely!

Beautiful color and yarn.

Deb has started a sweater for her husband, Glen, using a classic wool yarn and a stress free pattern from Knitting Pure and Simple. I love their top-down designs. Deb was hoping for a more challenging pattern, but this is what Glen wanted.

Classic design, classic yarn.

Not sure that Deb knit anything, because this is what we all looked like – relaxed and chatty – but it was a good afternoon. Thanks, Marylane!

Ah, chillin’ on a snowy afternoon.

Marylane and I have been knitting fingerless mittens using the same pattern. Hers is the mitt on the left (blue) and mine are the pair on the right. I know they look mismatched, but I’m using Noro yarn that has a lot of different colors in a skein. Same yarn for each, but the colors didn’t unwind in the same way. I like it, though.

I still need to add thumbs to mine.

That was it, Castoffs. I wish a Happy 2015 to you all! Until next week at Leslie’s house, stay warm and keep those needles blazing!