The end of February is looking a lot like the end of March – warm and sunny. Very odd to think that winter might be over. There – I’ve jinxed it.

For some reason, I didn’t take a lot of photos – too busy talking, probably. Julie has started a baby kimono that a couple of us have done before. I love the big buttons on the pattern. Pretty yarn, Jules.

Kimono for a friend’s baby.

Leslie is knitting slippers – these are not to be felted. Everyone who walked into the house asked the same question, “Are these for you?” We all received the same answer, “I don’t know.” So, we don’t know. Maybe she’s building up her Christmas gift stash.

I like ’em!

Marylane knit an earflap hat for “Loud at the Library”. I just bought my tickets from Francy. I’m looking forward to the fundraiser onMarch 19. It’s always a lot of fun. Good raffle, good friends and good food and drinks.

Nice hat, ML.

The only other photo I took was an action shot of Michele (keying in Castoffs’ knitting dates on her phone), Deb (talking and drinking a latte) and Francy (gesturing emphatically). This is typically Castoffs. I love them all.

And, sometimes we knit.

Mary is off being Granny Nanny in Denver for her grandchildren (two of them, at least) but she sent me a photo of the finished scarf that she knit for her daughter, Larissa. It looks so velvety and soft. Love it, Mary! We miss you!

Beautiful color.

Carol is spending a month in Arizona near her kids and grandkids. She sent a photo of one of her Squishy Blankets that she finished. It turned out great!

Little kitty likes it, too.

She started her second Squishy Blanket and the first color she cast on is black – the yarn is doubled throughout. It’s going to be beautiful.

Colors for Carol’s second Squishy Blanket.

Because the yarn is black — and doubled — Carol had a hard time casting on and knitting the first row. She tried and tried, and just couldn’t see those darn stitches. AHA! She had a Eureka moment and fetched her headlamp (we all have one of these, don’t we? I have two). Looked funny, but it worked like a charm. And the photo is priceless.

Mining for yarn.

Kudos to Carol for giving me my laugh of the week. Have a great time and come home to us. We miss you!

Next time, we meet at Leslie’s house. Keep those needles blazing, Castoffs. I’ll be darned if I didn’t wake up to snow this morning. Curses!

I’ve been having some trouble with my website. Grrrr. I skipped one post, so I decided to combine the last two meetings into one. We’ve had holidays and travel interfering with our attendance, so here are photos from the meetings at Michele’s house and my house. Hope you enjoy them!

Michele’s driveway was SO icy that we felt like we skated from our cars to the house. Nobody fell – whew! – and we had a fun time. Hopefully the warm weather will melt out all of our streets and driveways.

Marylane started a new project – a garter stitch afghan – that has a contrasting, multicolor border. I like it and so would Joan – it’s all knit, knit, knit.

Very pretty against the snowy background, Marylane.

Francy found a great deal on knitting markers at JoAnn Fabrics and brought them to share. She doubts that she’ll need 500 markers anytime soon. The way I lose them, I think it wouldn’t take very long. Every time I move my recliner to vacuum, I find colorful markers everywhere.

I had suggested that Francy use a marker for every repeat on the swirl hat (because it’s complicated), and it worked better for her. And, we all got new markers.

Francy’s great deal on markers and her Swirl Hat.

Markers look kind of jaunty.

Michele is still knitting her cabled jumper and is nearing the end. I can’t wait to see it!

Such concentration!

Here’s a close up of the jumper. I hope you can see the beautiful horizontal cabling at the top on the left.

Cabling, vertical and horizontal.

I have 39 inches on my poncho right now. I need to get to 54 inches and am hoping that I don’t run out of yarn. Fingers crossed! The knit shop where I bought the original yarn has changed hands so I’m not sure they carry this weight and brand anymore. If I run out, I would just leave off a cowl neck that I wanted to add.

Knit, knit, knit.

Deb joined us, but she was practically asleep in her chair. She’s been packing to move out of her recently sold house and into a condo until her new house is built. I remember how tiring that is – although it’s been 20 years since I moved. It’ll be fun to meet in a new place. More fun for Deb when she’s all moved in!

Pooped, but still knitting.

And now, on to Marsha’s house for the next meeting!

We were a small group because it was President’s Day and some of us were out of town or just out and about.

Francy finished her hat and it looks great. She knitted it on smaller needles than the pattern called for – 2’s instead of 3’s – so it is a little tight for her head. She’ll pass it on to one of the grandsons.

I love the way the colors came together in diamond shapes.

Now Francy’s working on a cowl. It has two slipped stitches at the beginning and end of each row that creates an appealing edge. She could join the ends when she’s finished or add buttons.

Easy-peasy cowl. I like the color.

Linda knitted her grandson a red hat for Valentine’s Day. She had already mailed it, but sent me a photo. Very cute.

Love the cables.

Now Linda’s knitting pieces of a bunny to put together for the little guy. We had some fun with the puzzle.

There’s a bunny in here someplace.

Oh, there he is!

Linda’s going to stuff him, assemble him and knit a little blue coat for him.

That’s all for now. We seem to be experiencing an early spring – sunshine and temps in the 40s. Woohoo! I’ll take it. Next week, we meet at Julie’s house. Until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and take advantage of the nice weather while you can.

The Castoffs – nearly all of us – met at Carol’s house on a cloudy, mild afternoon. Leslie was excited to show us her Fox jumper for her granddaughter, Mira. It is adorable – just like a fox!

Leslie is ALSO excited to announce that Mira will have a little brother, Jett, by late spring! Yay! Little boy stuff for Leslie to knit! Of course, she has already started on Jett’s wardrobe. She used the leftover wool from Mira’s dress to make him a hat. Very cute.

She’s using the same hat pattern to knit one for a friend’s baby girl. Leslie changed the colors some and this one looks like the Grizz colors.

I finished my swirl hat – should have modeled it with my coat that it matches, but oh well. Here it is anyway. I really like it.

Carol noticed a boo-boo with her Squishy blanket. Oops, she dropped a stitch WAAAAY down in the knitting and she didn’t catch it until just recently. That one can be sewn with extra yarn and it’ll cause no more problems. The second boo-boo she found was nearer the top. She’s using two strands of yarn held together throughout, and she noticed that she hadn’t caught one strand in a stitch, so there’s a loop. It wasn’t too far from the top, so Carol and Leslie moved to the floor for corrections. They ripped out the stitch until they reached the mistake, then used a crochet hook to ‘fix’ it all the way up to the top. Unfortunately, it stretched the stitch too much for Carol’s liking, so she decided to rip down all the stitches to the site of the boo-boo. Whew! Is that clear?

On a happier note, Deb was just knitting away, relaxing in the recliner and working on Glen’s sweater. Knit, knit, knit. She’ll be moving into a temporary condo soon until she can start building a new house.

Michele and Marylane sat near the fireplace knitting. Little Kitty was curious. Michele is working on her cabled jumper and Marylane is working on a Christmas stocking that she’ll felt for her daughter.

Happy knitters. Curious kitty.

It’s supposed to be in the forties for a while, so probably no more snowshoeing – until the second part of winter hits us. Bah, Humbug. Until then, Castoffs, enjoy the mild weather and keep those needles blazing. We’ll be at Michele’s house next time.