We all gathered at Carol’s house this week because Linda was in the throes of painting! I can’t wait to see her new decor. We’ll do just that for our Christmas extravaganza on Dec. 6. But at Carol’s we enjoyed treats that Mary brought. Thanks, Mary!

I apologize in advance for the fuzziness of the photos. I’ve been trying to finish a novel this month for National Novel Writing Month and my brain is fuzzy from so much concentrating. Poor old thing just isn’t used to all that thinking, I guess. Anyway, when you look at the blog photos, squint a little. Honest to God, they’re really fuzzy.

Francy brought her top-down sweater with sparkly gold threads running through it. It’s a Christmas sweater for granddaughter Grace and it’s very fancy, Francy. Love it.

Sparkle, sparkle. Can’t you just see little Grace in this?

It’s hat season! Mary is knitting a couple of hats – I think, for her grandchildren Aurora and Moses. I knew I should have done the blog right after our meeting, but what with the writing and Thanksgiving and all – I didn’t. You’d think I could retain more after a week, but NOPE. The hats look cute anyway, Mary. And the TREATS!

Yummy treats and the beginning of a hat – courtesy of Mary.

Julie is knitting her hat for Cayla – son Nate’s girlfriend – and I’m afraid that Mary had an editorial comment about the Montana State Bobcats. Being a Griz fan has prejudiced her just a tad. With the virtue of hindsight (because I waited a week to post this blog) I can tell you that the Bobcats whupped the Griz in the big rivalry game. Sorry, Mary.

I think we’re equally split among fanship for the Griz and Bobcats.

The chair made an appearance and we were dutifully dressing it. Carol made it some lingerie…

Ooh, la, la. Lacy!

I made it a sunny headscarf…

For the back of the chair.

And it looks like Linda is making it some pasties…

Not really pasties…

Actually, what Linda is knitting for the chair are circles that will be joined together in a row. It’s going to look very cool and unusual. Here are the green tones that she’s pondering.

Pretty greens.

Here are some other ideas for dressing the chair. Linda knit the green leaf – not sure where it’s going, but we all loved the idea of leaves and circles. Mary knit the lacy piece on the right side.

Chair, chair – lots of ideas for the chair.

After Thanksgiving, some of us (Marylane, Leslie, Marsha and Julie) had the opportunity to look at some other chairs that the library released for the Fundraiser in March. We took a peek to see if we could find a chair with a better finish and voila! We found a fabulous chair with curved arms, more rungs under the seat and cool metal accents. We all agreed that it was a prettier chair and, although some of our pieces that have already been knitted may have to be changed a little, it will be well worth it. I can’t wait to see how everyone likes this new chair. We loved it. We’ll see it on Thursday at Julie’s house. None of us got a photo of it! It’ll be a wonderful surprise.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying our intermittent sunshine. We’ll be at Julie’s house this week, so until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and get ready – Christmas is coming!

Snow finally is supposed to be coming – not that I’m rushing it. We only had a light dusting as we headed to Marylane’s house. The worst thing about this time of year is that it gets dark so early. By the time we left at 5:30 night had come. We all talked about getting into our jammies right after supper and hunkering down for the night.

But I’m ahead of myself. Marylane had already hosted her book club this afternoon, so she had baked muffins and cake. Yum. She also baked us a savory dish of apples, onions and cheese on pie crust. It made a nice contrast to the sweets. Thanks, Marylane! I was so busy talking about the election results – YAY for our winning DEMOCRATS – that I didn’t get a photo of the food. I did have a glass of wine, however.

We are starting to plan more for the chair. Leslie brought the seat that Michele had finished and it is really beautiful. We’re thinking that the whole effect will be one of a flowering plant – earth and water at the bottom, vines and greenery going up to the poppy seat, then more colors reaching up to a yellow sun and blue sky. Of course, everything is negotiable, so we bandy around different ideas and dig through the stash to find just the right color and texture. Here are some of the ‘in progress’ shots – laying it out on the floor was easier than pinning and unpinning all the pieces on the chair.

The beautiful poppy seat under the sunny sky. A beginning.

“Would it look better here? Or over here?”

The stash is just above the knit pieces. A lot to choose from!

Carol was learning a lace pattern for a piece to put on the chair that would show the wood through the lace. I think it’s going to be pretty! Not sure where her piece will go, but we have time to decide.

“Look! I can stick my finger through the lace!”

Mary had crocheted some slippers to felt for her daughter-in-law, but something went strangely, horribly wrong. One slipper was about two inches longer than the other slipper. Mary isn’t sure what happened – wrong size needles? No. Different instructions? No. Oh, I know! She was so nervous about the outcome of the election, she knit one slipper much tighter than the other. TOO MUCH TENSION! I know, Mary, we were all biting our nails for a while. I think she’s going to felt them together and take out one before the other so they end up the same length. Not sure how it’s going to work, but she’ll let us know next week.

Are ya sure these aren’t for two different people?

Marylane finished a linen-stitch scarf that she started quite a while ago. I just love this stitch. I’ve used the linen stitch and the half-linen stitch and like the firmness of the completed project. Nice scarf, Marylane!

Marylane and her linen stitch scarf.

Julie’s son’s girlfriend, Cayla, just graduated from nursing school at Montana State (hope I got that right, Jules) so Julie is knitting her an MSU hat from the kits that Camas Creek Yarn Shop sells. Of course she took a lot of razzing from the Montana Grizzly fans in the room (yeah, I’m talking to you, Mary), but Marylane rushed to Julie’s defense. I’m sure Joan would have too, if she’d been here. Anyway, Julie is carrying colors on the wrong side and has to be careful not to pull the carried yarn too tight. It looks difficult. Great job, Julie.

Very cool MSU hat. Camas Creek has UM hat kits too.

Next time we meet at Linda’s house IF her painter is finished. If we don’t meet at Linda’s house, Plan B is to meet at Carol’s house with Francy bringing treats. Linda will let me know and I will let you all know. Sooo, the only thing I know for sure is that we WILL meet…somewhere.  Stay warm – it’s going to be a cold week until we meet again, then back to the balmy forties. Whoo-hoo! Keep those needles blazing, Castoffs and go buy your turkey.

It’s that time of autumn when the skies are mostly gloomy but the snow hasn’t fallen yet. I hope it doesn’t before Lucky and Eli get the leaves raked. The Castoffs met at Deb’s house, greeted at the door by Izzy, Deb’s Yorkie. She is so cute.

Izzy keeping her eye on all of us.

Deb served us a Kahlua Creme Pie – yummy – that we had at her house this summer. We have our favorites for knitting – this pie, the chocolate-peanut butter cake at Michele’s, the cranberry-cream cheese dip at Christmas. Are we creatures of habit? You betcha. As long as it’s tasty.

PIE!

Mary had been a busy bee. She knitted a pumpkin hat for Aurora – “Well, she can’t just have a witch’s hat from Gramma, can she? She can wear the pumpkin hat all fall!”  Yeah, yeah, any old excuse will do, eh Mary? She also found an interesting lace pattern that she did a test swatch on. We all liked it so much that we asked her to make a swatch in blue for the chair.  So, Castoffs! Bring any stash yarn that you have in a pretty, bright blue so Mary can knit  her swatch.

Mary’s work for the week.

Other than that, Mary wanted us to see her pedicure, so I obliged her and joined her with my old one. Looks like it’s time for me to get a new color! How about green?

Mary’s red and Marsha’s blue.

Linda made a couple of cowls in super chunky yarn. She said that they work up quickly and are an easy pattern. I bet they’re warm too.

Linda’s getting ready for winter. I like this pattern.

Francy started knitting a top-down sweater for granddaughter Grace using a cream colored yarn with gold thread running through it. Grace will sparkle like a little angel this Christmas. By the way, Francy says that the little bird in its nest was a big hit!

Sparkly!

Francy is also continuing knitting the skirt for Betsy. This photo makes it look much more purple than it really is, but the pattern shows up pretty well.

Betsy’s skirt.

Julie is knitting a shopping bag. She knit one a while ago that was too stretchy. When she started filling it, it got longer and longer. So, on this one, she is using smaller needles in hopes that it won’t stretch so much. Good luck, Jules.

Bag lady.

We worked quite a lot on making decisions for the Chair. Leslie pinned on the swatches – finished and un – and asked us our opinions which were varied and ranged from the logical to the whimsical. Some of us got our assignments for next week. I am beginning to see the possibilities in the vision. We’ll keep trying new ideas until we’re happy.

A look at the chair coming together.

Marylane, Leslie and Carol discuss options for the chair.

Sorry about the fuzziness – starting to come together though.

Marylane and Leslie examining the stash.

Next week we meet at Marylane’s house. Don’t forget to bring some blue wool for the chair from your stash. Enjoy our fall weather, Castoffs, and keep those needles blazing!

We Castoffs met at Carol’s house on a damp, cloudy day to begin work, in earnest, on the chair that we’re yarnbombing for the Library fundraiser that will take place in the spring. We brought our swatches, finished and un, to pin onto the chair so we could get an idea of what we wanted to do. Should it resemble a flower? With a poppy seat and greenery climbing up the sides? Should a lake be at the bottom, nurturing our little flower? Should we have a bright and beautiful sun orbiting across the back of the chair?

Who knows?  But we did make a start and bandy around a lot of good ideas and opinions. Here are some of the photos of the process, not necessarily in order.

Leslie recapping the discussion from a few weeks ago.

Closeup of the beautiful spiral seat that Michele is working on.

Slowly beginning to dress the limbs.

Different placement for existing swatches.

This project is going to be a lot of FUN. We all bring such different ideas to the meetings as well as a lot of enthusiasm. Some of us got homework assignments that we’ll try out for next time. Can’t wait to see how it ends up!

Other knitting was happening…

Carol finished her little knitted dog and of course, as irreverent as we are, we had to stage a photo op for the little fella.

Hold on there, little guy, this is a no-pee zone!

Hey, it’s all just grist for our ever-turning mills.  Carol was working on his little collar. She wants to attach a little name tag to it and give it to her son and his family who just lost their doggie. Aaww. How sweet. She’s knitting another one for her other son.

A collar for Fido.

Thanks to Carol for hosting and to Mary for bringing the treats. Cheese and crackers, veggies and dip and sinfully delicious blueberries dipped in dark chocolate.  Yum. It was tasty.

Treats! Thanks, Mary and Carol.

Linda had finished the colorful hats for her friend’s little boys and was back to knitting her prayer shawl. Such a pretty color, Linda. I like it.

Linda and her prayer shawl.

Marylane was working on her swatch for the chair using an interesting stitch pattern. I’ll be eager to see what it looks like next week.

Marylane in deep concentration.

Julie is knitting a swatch for the chair from one of my favorite dishcloth patterns. And not just dishcloths! Leslie used this pattern to knit a rug for her guest bathroom. Very striking. It’ll look great on the chair.

Great pattern, great colors.

Leslie was knitting a pair of fingerless mitts, propelled by the cold temperature in the writing lab at the middle school. We asked if she was really going to keep them for herself.

“Well, if I bond with them, I’ll keep them. If not, they’ll be a Christmas gift.”

We get it, Leslie. We’ve all made such ‘personalized’ Christmas gifts ourselves.

Very cool random box pattern.

Next week we’ll meet at Deb’s house. We haven’t seen Deb in a couple of weeks, so it’ll be great to see her. Don’t forget to bring your chair swatches or homework assignment. Mine is going more slowly than I thought it would, but maybe that’s a good thing. If nobody loves it, I can rip out less yarn. Yeah, let’s look on the bright side.

Until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and stay dry. It’s rainy out there. Keep a good thought in your hearts for our countrymen and women being pounded by Hurricane Sandy.

We Castoffs had a Babypalooza at our meeting at Michele’s house. When I got there, Lisa and her sister Lynn (visiting from Alaska) were there with Lisa’s granddaughter Greta. I hardly recognized Gretta – she has grown so much! She’s nine months old now and crawling and squealing. She’s adorable.

Greta Grace! My, how you’ve grown!

It was great to see Lynn again. She came down to see Mom who’s been under the weather. I love when sisters get together – maybe because I don’t have one. Envious!

Sisters – Lynn and Lisa.

It was good to see Erica, Michele’s daughter, looking so well. She’s living here while she goes to school locally. She was off to cadaver class! Yup. That’s what I said. Erica paused to say bye to Marylane on her way out. Erica and Michele had hiked in the snow to Mt. Aeneas earlier. Soon it’ll be too snowy to find the trail. Winter is coming.

Marylane had hike-envy.

Leslie and her daughter Sienna came in with the incredible giggling granddaughter, Mira. This was Mira’s first appearance at a Castoff’s meeting and she is adorable. She was wearing the sweater that Leslie had knit for her recently and it was very cute. We all gathered around her and she started laughing and giggling and delighted us all – especially her grandma whose BIRTHDAY WAS TODAY!  Happy Birthday, Leslie! I didn’t even get a photo of you and your delicious cake that Michele baked…too many babies to pay attention, even to the birthday girl.

Such a delightful little girl! Mira!

Of course the baby girls were fascinated with each other. Why is it that babies are so interested in other babies? Size? Curiosity? Just can’t believe that there’s another little person in a world of giants? Whatever the reason, it’s always fun to see the look on their little faces when they recognize one of their own generation.

Well, they don’t pay attention to each other ALL the time. Short attention spans, I guess.

Oddly enough, some of us did bring knitting to the meeting. Huh, imagine that. We didn’t know that it was baby day. Francy was knitting a cardigan for her granddaughter, Grace, who she is going to visit later in the week. There are a lot of granddaughters in this group, aren’t there? Grace is a toddler now – a big girl.  We all can’t wait to see how much she’s changed when she comes back for a visit.

Francy holding Grace’s cardie.

Julie was knitting a sweater for a friend’s baby. She dug around in her knitting bag and came up with yet ANOTHER baby sweater that she gave to Greta.

“Who did you knit that for?” -Lisa

“Uh, I forgot, but it looks like it would fit Greta.” – Julie

And it did – perfectly!

Greta got a new sweater! She’s happy!

Julie’s other gift sweater for a baby. Is she getting prepared for a grandchild?

Linda is making good headway (no pun intended) on the hat for her friend’s son. She already made a similar one for the brother. I really like this pattern. Linda just saw an episode of Knitting Daily on PBS that showed how to carry yarn in a multi-color pattern. She’s trying to use it for this hat. Sometimes the carried yarn is too tight on the wrong side – I know because I’ve made that mistake – so any advice is useful if you’re knitting a Fair Isle-like pattern.

Colorful hat, Linda!

I started a sweater that’s knit from cuff to midpoint – on both sides – then joined with a three needle bind-off. I SHOULD be finishing my sister-in-law’s slippers, or that blue vest that I started last spring, or my brother’s alligator…hmm. Almost forgot about the alligator.  Anyway, I’d rather knit than finish stuff. Maybe this week I’ll change my ways.  Hah.

My sweater – well, the cuff of one sleeve.

Next week we’ll meet at Carol’s house. The leaves are falling and the weatherman is predicting that snow will be falling this week, too! Gulp. Not sure I’m ready for snow, but it’s coming anyway. Castoffs, have a great week and keep those needles blazing. Stay warm!

We met on a beautiful Indian summer day at Julie’s house. The leaves were falling and the little birdies were eating their fill for a long winter. I know this because I parked under a tree in Julie’s driveway and needed a car wash after I left.  Julie served us yummy homemade artichoke/spinach dip with crackers and a delicious raspberry-shortbread dessert. Thanks, Jules!

Glad Julie had the day off to make us these delicious snacks.

Julie had finished the afghan that she started…oh, a while ago…for her in-laws. She knit it out of a bulky Malabrigo yarn that was very soft, and she knit it in a modified box pattern. Very pretty.

Beautiful pattern, Julie.

Closeup of the pattern.

It must be nearly winter – almost everyone brought a project to knit. Well, Mary and Deb didn’t, but they left early along with Marylane to march in a demonstration for education and union against that snake, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. He was in town to stump for local Republicans. I’m so proud of our local teachers for taking a stand. Thank you, Educators!

Marylane was working on a familiar project. She had started a sweater vest last spring and ripped it out – in frustration? Not sure. Anyway, she is re-knitting it using leftover yarn from her stash. I still think it’s very pretty.

Very pretty, Marylane! And isn’t Carol intent?

Speaking of Carol, she is knitting animals now.  No, really, she’s knitting little dogs that are adorable. I snapped a photo of the doggie pieces and the pattern picture, just in case you don’t believe me. These are tiny doggies, but cute.

Wow! Small legs.

I’ve knitted all the pieces for my sister-in-law’s slippers, now I just have to sew them together. I can just see Leslie and Michele shaking their heads. They didn’t knit these slippers because they didn’t want to sew them together. Well – here goes. I texted my Sis and asked her to trace her feet so I can have a guide when I felt the slippers. Knitting the pieces was the easy part, but I didn’t want to learn to crochet, Leslie and Michele!

Looks funny now, but just you wait!

Julie is working on a top-down sweater for the baby of a co-worker at the library. This is a great pattern that a lot of us have used in several sizes – women’s, men’s, children and babies.  It’s attractive and pretty much a no-brainer.

Great color for the modern baby. Mary is stoking up for the march.

Linda finished her winter hat while we were all together. She braided the ties and it looks very colorful. They won’t lose that little boy in the snow! Before she left, she cast on the next hat for the brother. Busy, busy. Looks great, Linda.

Viola! a hat!

That did it for another fun Castoffs meeting. Next time we’ll meet at Michele’s house. Rain is predicted, so bundle up, Castoffs and don’t catch a cold. Wait until the snow flies so you can sniffle while you look outside at the gorgeous weather.  But, I’m getting ahead of myself. I still have lots of leaves to rake first. Oh, boy…Keep those needles blazing and have a great week.

On a sunny, blustery fall day we all met at Leslie’s house. Because it was Linda’s birthday, I brought cute little cupcakes for the celebration.

Cupcakes!

Leslie was afraid we’d set the ribbons on fire, but we managed to light them without tragedy. However, when Linda blew out the candles, she gave such a mighty blow that some of the candles were leaning in the wind. Bet you got your wish though, dintcha Linda?

One, two, BLOW!

Linda had started a new project – a wonderfully intricate winter hat for a friend’s grandson knit from colorful, bulky yarn. This is a pattern that some of us have made before, but I really like the bulkiness of the yarn. Very impressive, Linda.

Winter must be coming!

Francy brought a little knitted bird on its nest and when she lifted the bird from the nest, there were blue eggs underneath. Francy knit this for her granddaughter Grace who watched the birds outside Francy’s house this summer while their eggs were being hatched. A wonderful time that Grace can remember whenever she looks at her knitted mama bird.

Little bird on her nest…

EGGS!

Francy has the pattern if you’re interested.

The eggs and the bottom of the bird were made with roving yarn. The bird was knit in one piece with wings and tail picked up and knit, then the bird and nest were felted. Francy added a real bird’s feather to the nest for authenticity. This is such a clever idea. Thanks for sharing it, Francy. I know that Carol is knitting little stuffed dogs, but she forgot to bring them. I can’t wait until next week to see more animals at knitting.

Francy is working on a skirt for Betsy and is using the same pattern that Michele used for Erica’s skirt. Francy’s is a deep wine color and is coming along nicely. She started at the bottom with a lace pattern. We probably won’t see the finished product since Francy is leaving for a visit with Betsy and Grace, bird in hand.

Betsy’s skirt…well, the bottom of Betsy’s skirt.

Mary came up the stairs with Larissa and Aurora – darling baby!  Larissa, Aurora and Jason are here for a visit and gramma Mary is so happy! Aurora is a chunky little bundle of love – she was very serious – probably couldn’t stop looking at all the loud, crazy ladies waving pointy sticks.  I always wonder what we look like from a baby’s perspective. Like Foer’s book, we probably seem ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.’

Mary, Larissa and Aurora. Three generations of strong women.

Mary brought Aurora’s witch hat to model. I was amazed at how well she did – I would have screamed my head, and hat, off. We didn’t hear a peep from her.

She likes her witchy hat. She likes Carol, too. Recognizes another grandma’s touch.

Mary and granddaughter Aurora.

Leslie and I brought the pieces that we’re knitting for the yarnbomb chair. Marylane wasn’t here today and she had custody of the chair, so we’ll bring our little bits and bobs to Julie’s house next week and see what needs doing. I think that once we have a clear vision, it’ll go fast. In the meantime, we’re trying out ideas and patterns. Mine is a chevron pattern from Noro…

Chevron swatch for the chair.

Leslie is knitting a 3D loop pattern for the chair, also out of Noro. This is so striking! I love how it stands up and shouts “Look at me! I’m outrageous!”

Fluffy and puffy.

I finally finished my neckerchief scarf made from a soft, pretty Rowan yarn that I found in Florida a couple of years ago. It’s been languishing in my stash ever since and I resurrected it for this scarf. A neutral color but an interesting pattern.

It was fun to knit and could use a blocking on the edges.

Michele was knitting her soft, light hot-flash sweater.  Leslie couldn’t get over how small the yarn and needles were. “Look at this, look how small it is compared to regular yarn! It’s gonna take forever!” Michele just smiled and kept knitting. She knows how jealous we’ll be when it’s finished.

Well, Leslie does have a point. It’s small compared to the orange worsted weight.

Michele calmly knitting her sweater – the eye of the storm.

Next week we meet at Julie’s house. She’s taking the day off, so she says that if you want to come over earlier than our regular time, feel free to do so.  Oh, don’t get her out of BED or anything, but within reason. Until then, Castoffs, enjoy the autumn weather, rake leaves, clear out your flower beds and keep those needles blazing! See you next time.

The Castoffs met at Joan’s house for the last time this year! Boo-hoo! Joan and Jeff will be leaving next week to return to Arizona for the winter. Well… the weather dips down into the high 30’s and she’s out of here! Imagine that.

Joan made us some yummy brownies and served crackers with cream cheese covered in some kind of yummy jelly sauce – forgive me, Joan for forgetting the name but I will never forget the delicious taste. She topped it off with margaritas and/or wine and we had a wonderful feast. Thanks, Joan! We’ll miss you.

Yummy…and pretty, too.

Very much like the rest of the summer, we were all lazy knitters – Slackoffs!  Some of us more than others…you know who you are!

I wonder if they called ahead to find out what everyone was wearing?

Linda was busily knitting her prayer shawl – good girl. It’s a pretty mixed yarn – from Lion Brand, I think. Guess who has a birthday coming up???

Linda’s knitting and Mary’s dreaming of her granddaughter who arrives later today.

Marylane and I are at least thinking about the chair yarnbomb project. I have yarn (Noro) and a pattern in mind and Marylane is going to test-run the spiral pattern for the seat. She brought a swatch for one of the rods on the chair.

We really are thinking about the yarnbomb project.

Leslie knit a darling little sweater for Mira. It has a spiral, cobwebby design on the front – I KNEW I’d forget what the embroidery design is called. I said it over and over, but the margaritas made me forget. I’ll blame it on Joan.

Leslie admiring her work – as well she should! It’s beautiful.

A closeup of Mira’s sweater. Cute, cute, cute.

Well, Castoffs, that’s all I’ve got for this week. I’m still easing into being back from vacation, I guess. More next time at Leslie’s house. Enjoy the tail-end of summer because it’s supposed to start raining this week. Winter is coming and the leaves are starting to fall.  Let’s all hold a thought for Julie whose daughter is getting married next week (Best wishes, Terra!) and for Mary whose daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter are coming for a visit (maybe we’ll see Aurora next week), and Joan starting on her journey home to Arizona.

See you at Leslie’s house and remember, keep those needles blazing!

A very small group of Castoffs met in Marsha’s backyard on a beautiful Indian Summer day. It’s starting to look like fall especially when I noticed the leaves that had fallen off my big cottonwood tree. But the day was pleasant and the company was even better when Linda, Mary and Michele arrived.

Fall is in the air! And on the ground.

I had picked up the Chair – you know – the Chair to be yarnbombed for the Friends of the Library fundraiser in the spring, but there weren’t enough of us present to make a decision so we just ate and drank and postponed decision-making until next week.  Ah, procrastination, thy name is knitter.

Mary had received some bad news.  Her witch’s hat for her granddaughter Aurora hadn’t arrived when it should have and Mary was faced with knitting another one. During the meeting, however, Larissa called to say that all was well and the hat package was just placed in the wrong postbox. Whew. Not that it would have been a hardship for Mary. She loves to knit for her babies. Here is Moses’ pumpkin hat and onesie. Very cute.

This will be so cute on Moses.

Closeup of the leaves and stem.

Michele had brought a strip of knitting for the Chair, but decided to knit her sweater instead. She calls it her ‘hot flash’ sweater because the merino wool is light and soft and won’t induce additional sweating when those pesky hot flashes – or power surges – hit. I love the pattern and the yarn.

Ya know, most of us in this group could use a ‘hot flash’ sweater.

Linda is knitting a prayer shawl using Homespun yarn – soft and fluffy and washable. She is part of a group of women from her church who knit these shawls for women who are in need of both prayers and shawls. A good cause. Linda says that some of the women in the shawl-knitting group really whip them out fast. I’m not so sure that’s for our group – we’re the long thinkers – and wine drinkers (some of us). Doesn’t do to go so fast on a project, especially at our knitting group because we end up ripping out a lot of mistakes. Glad to see that Linda is bridging the gap.

Prayer shawl – pretty color.

I’d like to give a big thank you to Leslie who took great photos of the two meetings that I missed while I was on vacation. She emailed me the photos and it looks like I missed so much fun! I really miss my knitting friends when I’m gone and I miss doing the blog. The trip was a lot of fun and I got my beach fix in Oregon. Yay!

Next week we meet at Joan’s house. Joan and Jeff will be leaving soon to return to Arizona for the winter. We’ll miss you, Joan, so we’re especially happy to be seeing you one more time at your place. Until then, Castoffs, enjoy this gorgeous end-of-summer weather and keep those needles blazing!

What a beautiful summer day! The sun was shining, the temperature was a balmy 78 and the Castoffs were all back from their summer fun and ready to knit. Well, some of us were anyway. Many of us were happy to sit on Deb’s deck, eat Kahlua Creme pie, drink a glass of wine and catch up.

Great to be back among knitting friends, isn’t it?

Aah, kahlua creme pie and a nice cabernet.

When I pulled up to Deb’s, I saw Marylane, Joan and Leslie hauling the chair and boxes of yarn up the driveway.  Oh! the yarnbombing project! Summer drove everything from our minds, but now it’s time to hunker down for the winter and knit, knit, knit. Leslie and I tried to remember where our discussion left off and we came up with a bunch of neutral hanks of wool to use for the seat.  Then we’ll add pops of color. I think we got reinvigorated just looking at all the yarn.

Different neutrals and textures.

Izzy was interested in the boxes and bags of yarn. If she was a cat, she’d be in that box!

Marylane must have decided that lugging all that yarn wasn’t going to be for nothing, so she and Joan picked out some yarn that popped and started casting on. They’re going to knit a section and see how it looks on the chair when we have more sections knitted. Good thing Joan doesn’t have to do anything except knit on her section – no purling! We all insisted that Joan’s work be represented. We’ll take lots of pictures for you, Joan, since you’ll be heading back to Arizona soon. Boohoo, we’ll miss you!

That’s Joan – hands and heart. Didn’t get her head in the frame, though.

Marylane jumped right in and started our yarnbombing project.

Michele is working on her two-toned sweater. She has another project that she would like to finish, but it’s too complicated to bring to knitting. We just don’t do well with complicated knitting when we’re talking and laughing.

Michele is soaking up as much sunshine as she can before it disappears for the winter.

Leslie had brought her crocheted slipper and was sewing an inserted innersole into each foot. After she does that and sews  a button band on the toe, she’ll felt them and viola! Slippers!  Oh, and she’ll add a decorative button to each slipper. Whew, almost forgot.  Leslie, please take a photo!

Making the sole thicker.

Deb was wearing her stunning vest that she finished this summer. It fits her beautifully and looks great! I love the color.

Absolutely STUNNING, Deb!

Next time we’ll meet at Marylane’s house. I’ll be on vacation in Oregon, so I’ll really, really, really miss the Castoffs. But I’ll be at the beach, so that will help ease my pain of separation anxiety. I’m taking my knitting so my needles will be blazing, Castoffs. Hope yours will be, too! Until we meet again – enjoy the rest of the summer.

Girls just want to have fun, right Izzy?