We trekked out to Mary’s house on the lake in three separate cars. Julie and I walked into Mary’s beautiful house with its stunning view of the lake. Too bad the day was so windy or we could have sat out on the deck and watched the birds and boats.  It was a lot of fun from the inside, though.

Beautiful day but windy!

The BIG NEWS of the day came from Carol who just got back from Ireland with her sweetie Mark. Mark proposed in a very romantic spot on the Irish coast and CAROL SAID YES! They’re getting married next week.  Well, why wait when you’re in love? We all screamed so much when she showed us her gorgeous ring that I was hoarse for the rest of the day. We wish you fun, happiness and eternal love, Carol.

An Irish proposal! How romantic!

We’ve had lots of grandbabies in the Castoffs circle, but this is our first bride (that isn’t a daughter!). Carol told us all about the trip and the Irish lace wedding dress that she is borrowing from her Irish friend. We are so happy for her.

Well. There’s no topping that news. Mary is waiting for her granddaughter to be born in July. In the meantime she is headed for Denver to see her little grandson Moses. When the call comes from Larissa, she’s out of there like a shot on the way to Phoenix. She ran out of pale yellow yarn for the hooded blanket, but had some brighter yellow, so she used that for the head. We love it and think it looks better than all pale. It’ll probably look cuter on the baby, but Mary modelled it for us.

Quack, quack.

Mary served us yummy rollups, brownies and crackers and dip. And Cupcake merlot (or was it Cabernet?). Good whatever it was. Thanks, Mary!

We Castoffs eat and drink well.

Leslie was stringing very cute ribbon into the tops of Grace’s fruit cozies. These would be great for little treasure bags for a girl, too!

She decided not to make a banana cozy…

Linda has a wedding coming up. Her son Ian is getting married this summer in Colorado. Linda told us about her mother-of-the-groom dress that she bought in Spokane. It sounds beautiful – silver, lacy and shimmery. We need to see a photo, Linda! Or you can show it to us when we meet next at your house.

Linda’s looking pretty happy to be gettng a daughter-in-law!

Julie brought the socks that she’s knitting – looks like she’s almost done. It seems like everyone has smaller projects for summer.

Socks!

Michele showed me a cowl pattern and pretty yarn but in the confusion of Carol’s great news and our scheduling hubbub, I forgot to find out if Michele or Leslie are knitting the cowl. Guess I’ll find out next time. Pretty yarn though.

Yarn for a cowl.

Speaking of, I’m nearly finished with my cowl. I was toying with the idea of using another skein of yarn and making it twice as wide, but my knitter buddies gave me the pros and cons and I decided to stop with 100 grams.

I can wrap it around my neck three times. It’s so soft!

We had a big to-do about redoing our schedules for the summer. It took us a lot of time and discussion and we all whipped out our personal calendars to make the changes. Michele is taking an online class that happens to be available at the exact time of our meeting. What nerve! We had to get everything down in case she won’t be here to tell us where to go. Well, SOMEBODY has to tell us where to go…at least once in a while just to keep us in order.  Leslie got a kick out of those of us who were busily noting the dates. Glad she was amused. I was just trying to key everything into my phone.

Michele is the keeper of the calendar. It’s a full time job.

I just wanted to get it all into my phone.

Mary was just a blur – she whipped out her calendar so fast.

I got a peek over Francy’s and Linda’s shoulders as they knitted their respective projects – Linda is still working on her green lace scarf and Francy is working on her sweater. The yarns are such a similar color, aren’t they? This photo shows the food, the knitting, the sunshine outside – it’s a perfect picture of what we do every week.

Knitting, food and talk. That’s the Castoffs!

Next week we’ll be here at Marsha’s house. I’m hoping that the weather will be nice enough to sit outside in the yard. Fingers crossed! In the meantime, keep those needles blazing and mind the thunderstorms.

We caught a break in the incessant rain and were able to sit on Michele’s lovely, flower-filled deck in the rare sunshine. Michele is out of school for the summer and she put together a delicious selection of snacks.  YUM. She had a beautiful veggie platter with dip, yogurt covered pretzels, a refreshing summer drink and curried toast (topped with cheeses and red pepper slices) that was wonderful. I think Michele is celebrating summer by feeding her friends. Well, her friends appreciate it. Thanks, Michele!

Almost too pretty to eat!

We didn’t let ‘too pretty’ stop us here. This is the second platter!

I don’t think Julie brought anything to knit. She had just come from Kalispell Medical with a new – uh – pleasuring stick. That’s not as dirty as it sounds. This is a rod with knobs on it that you use to massage your pressure points. Hey, maybe it IS as dirty as it sounds. Anyway, Julie demonstrated how it works and it looked quite wonderful.

Maybe we all should get one…

Lisa listened intently to the explanation.

Lisa was there and she brought her incredibly beautiful granddaughter for a visit. Now that summer is here, Lisa will be babysitting little Greta Grace every Thursday and we hope that they will be regulars.  There are a lot of grandmas in the group who are gaga over babies.  It’s just that time of life for a lot of us.

Beautiful Greta!

Marylane was able to join us. We hadn’t seen her in a couple of weeks and we’ve missed her! She ripped out her beautiful striped vest – there’s a lot of that going around – and decided to use one strand of yarn instead of two. It was too thick. Joan jumped right on a SOCKOLOGY pattern from the book she saw last time, bought some socks and had the pattern pieces pinned on for cutting. She’s going to make a stuffed bear out of brown patterned socks. Looks adorable and NO KNITTING! Or purling.

Joan and Marylane sittin’ in the sun.

Joan cutting out her sock bear pieces.

Francy had ripped out her sweater and showed us how far she’d gotten on the newest project. It’s going to be a coat sweater for herself. Glad to see that she’s knitting something for Francy.

Francy – more intent on conversation than knitting. Aren’t we all?

I finally finished the scarf for my friend Michelle and it’s a beauty. I have to wait for a couple of weeks to give it to her so I’ll show her this photo for now.  You’re gonna love it, Michelle!

Marsha modeling Michelle’s scarf.

Mary and Deb were busily knitting, knitting, knitting. Mary is close to being finished with her sock. I didn’t get an update on the hooded towel, but I’m thinking  it was very nearly done as well.

One of these days, they’ll be on her feet. Maybe.

Wow – busy knitters.

I did a double take when I looked over at Deb.  Like a lot of us, eyesight is problematic. Add bright sunlight and it’s even worse. Deb took care of that but it looked kinda funny…

I have the same problem at 3D movies.

Whatever glasses arrangement she has, her vest is turning out beautifully. Deb at first made the attached I-cord edges around the sleeves, but didn’t like them so she ripped them out and went back to a stockinette rolled edge. We all liked it better that way too. She is going to add the I-cord edging to the bottom of the vest though.

I bet she’ll wear it next time we see her.

I’m knitting a cowl with merino superwash sock yarn and inadvertantly twisted the first row.  It’s going to be a mobious cowl, but the more I think about it, the more I’m okay with that.  No ripping out for this gal.  At least not on this project.

Mobius cowl. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Next week we’re taking a mini-road trip to Mary’s house on the lake. Fingers crossed that it’s not raining and that we can sit out on her lovely deck overlooking Flathead Lake.  I would love to see a clear sky and mountains. We’ll see.

I’ll leave you all with the quintessential photo of a Castoffs meeting. Food, drink, flowers on the deck and knitting piled on the floor. We have so much fun. Keep those needles blazing until next time, Castoffs. You’ll need the heat to keep you warm in this cold June weather.

We enjoyed pretending that summer was here – for an hour or two.

The Castoffs met on a rainy day, the final day in May.  Hard to believe that the end of school is only three week days away!  Can’t come soon enough for the teachers in our group who are beaming with relief and joy.  Thanks for hosting, Deb!  We know it’s frazzle time at school.

Francy told us that she had ripped out BOTH of the sweater projects that she was knitting.  Just not happy with the look of them, I guess.  She has started a coat-jacket for herself though, although in true Francy style, she is changing the pattern some.  Instead of stockinette stitch, she is going to do all garter stitch.  Why?  She is taking a page from Joan’s book, I guess, and dispensing with purling.  You go, Francy!  Joan is making converts left and right.  Well, left anyway.

Look at her! She is so happy to be only knitting!

Speaking of Joan…she came alone – Marylane was at a library meeting – and showed us her very long scarf.  “What are you going to do with it?  It’s getting pretty long.”  We all wondered if this scarf would ever have an end.  Joan just says she’ll keep going until she runs out of yarn.  Knit, knit, knit.  She was busy looking at a book that Michele brought.  It was called SOCKOLOGY and didn’t involve any knitting whatsoever – that pleased and interested Joan.  It was a book that required you to BUY socks and then make them into cute little animals for babies and kiddies.  Someone suggested that Joan could knit the socks first and THEN use them to make little toys, but that didn’t fly with our Joanie.

Hey, sock toys that you don’t have to knit. OKAY!

Mary is flying along with her hooded towel for Larissa’s baby.  She only has until the first of July, so she wants it to be finished when she hurries down to see that new grandchild.  Knit, knit, knit, Mary!

Madly working on the towel!

Michele is knitting a sweater for Leslie’s granddaughter-to-be-born-in-the-summer Mira.  She’s using a top down sweater pattern and hand-dyed multicolored yarn.  So cute.  I took a photo at the beginning of the meeting and by the end, she had a recognizable sweater.  Super fast pattern AND super fast knitter.

The start of Mira’s sweater.

And in the blink of an eye – a sweater! Or… half a sweater.

Leslie continues to knit fruit cozies for her granddaughter Grace.  Joan was a little puzzled about the whole concept of putting fruit in a knitted garment.  Me, too Joan.  But Grace can use them for her little treasures long after the fruit has been eaten.

One for an apple and one for an orange.

Deb is nearing the end of her vest and had a question for us.  The pattern calls for picking up and knitting an I-cord for the bottom edge and sleeve edges and Deb wanted to know what we thought of knitting a stockinette stitch edging.  We went back and forth and finally Deb decided to stick with the pattern.  I had never heard of attaching an I-cord as an edging and I’m curious to see how it turns out.

Do ya like purple, Deb?

We missed those Castoffs who were absent – and we send good wishes to Carol in Ireland.  Wow.  Wish we could all go on that road trip!    Next week we meet at Michele’s house and since school is out she told us to come on over at 3:00 instead of 4:00.  I think Julie is the only one working in the summer this year.  We’re so sorry, Jules.  C’mon over when you can.  We’ll still be there knitting and talking and enjoying the (hopefully) sunshine.

In the meantime, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and enjoy the first days of June!

We met at Carol’s house on a rainy day.  Of course, rain is forecast for the entire Memorial Day weekend.  As usual.  Nevertheless, the Castoffs took it in stride and shared our knitting projects and plans.  Carol’s kitty was desperate for cuddles and tried to climb on everyone’s lap regardless of the yarn.  Needless to say, no one was very receptive until Francy finally took pity on LK – Little Kitty.

Aww, Little Kitty found a home on Francy’s skirt that she’s knitting for Betsy.

The skirt is pretty cool – it’s a pattern that Michele has used a couple of times and it’ll look great on Betsy.  Love the color.  Love the striped socks and toes, too.

Little skirt – it’ll get bigger.

Francy was concerned that she had goofed on the lacy bottom part, but our resident expert, Michele, wasn’t here.  She had a meeting.  Funny how work can interfere with the important things in life – like knitting.

A closer look at the bottom that wants to curl up. Blocking should take care of that, right?

Carol was still working on her baby towel and protested against any more photos. “I’ve only knit about an INCH since last week.  Don’t take another picture!”  Of course, I did.  Can’t resist taking a photo of Carol who is leaving for Ireland in a week!  Woohoo!  She’s planning to finish the towel on the trip.

Faith and begorrah. She’s leaving for the old country.

Mary’s picking up steam on HER towel for Larissa’s baby.  This one is going to have a chicken head instead of a duck head.  Yep.  We’re surrounding the next generation with farm animals.

Here’s another one almost like the other one. Cluck, cluck.

Now here is Leslie’s farm animal, the soft and cuddly lamb.  He is very adorable and is wearing the sweater she knit him.

Happy grammy.

Francy diverged a little with the bear that she bought in Germany.  She knit a sweater for it using a baby pattern that Leslie had used for her granddaughter, Mira.  So cute!  Grace, Francy’s granddaughter, will love to put all her treasures in it.

This sweater is adorable, Francy!

Leslie has a granddaughter named Grace also, and is knitting – wait for it – fruit cozies.  Yeah, I’d never heard of them either, but she has patterns and everything.  Grace will be taking her lunch to school soon and she can stash her apples and such in cute little cozies.  To keep the fruit warm?  Cool?  Private?  I don’t know.

Pattern and beginning of the Apple Cozy.

By the end of our meeting, Leslie had a partial cozy made.  Carol found an artificial apple to model and ‘voila!’ we had a fruit cozy.  Go figure.  I looked up the spelling of cozy online and found out that in Britain it’s spelled ‘cosy’ but in America it’s spelled ‘cozy.’  We are definitely in America, so cozy it is!  It’s amazing what you find out at the Castoffs meetings.

By golly, it’s an apple cozy!

Linda has started her search for a mother-of-the-groom dress for her son’s wedding this summer.  So far, the search has turned up nada – zilch – zero.  But she brought us a brochure from one of the stores that she shopped in and we all got a good laugh out of the photos.  Holy catfish, preacher!  What will you do when you see this coming down the aisle?

Good god, it’s a Mother-of-the-hooker Dress. Yeah, Linda. Go Baby, GO!

Linda will continue her search, I hope.

Julie and Deb were sitting by the fireplace with their toes sticking out.  The calendar says it’s nearly June, but the weather outside feels more like March.  But hey, we’re gonna wear our sandals anyway!  Or go barefoot.

Frostbite, anyone?

Julie was starting a cotton rug for the bathroom in a pretty blue.  That sounds like a great idea.  I should do that.  Oh yeah.  This was supposed to be the month of finishing projects, wasn’t it?

Hey, I need a new rug, Jules!

Instead of finishing a project or two, I started a linen-stitch cowl using merino sock yarn.  It called to me and I couldn’t say no.  And anyway, the month isn’t over yet. I’ve got three days, haven’t I?

My cowl. Mindless knitting and when I’m finished, I don’t have to assemble anything!

I don’t know where Joan and Marylane were, but we sure missed them.  I hope to see them next week at Deb’s house.  Bon Voyage, Carol!  Have fun in Ireland and drink a Guiness for each of us…but not all at the same time.  Until next time, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and take this opportunity in the rainy season to learn the backstroke.

The Castoffs met at Joan’s house.  Yay!  Joan’s back for the summer!  Mary was doubly glad because she wasn’t around the last two times we met at Joan’s.  Joan made cute little cupcakes with lemon icing and gave us pretzels with a wonderful cream cheese dip.  Yummy!

Great snacks, Joan! Thanks.

It was good to see the sisters back together again.  They look more and more alike…or maybe it’s just because whenever they find a good deal in shirts, they buy a second one for the other sis.  Anyway, they are pretty darn cute.

Sisters…or twins?

I have to apologize for the late posting of the blog.  I’ve been busier than a one-armed paperhanger.  Banquets and movie dates and visits from relatives and book group.  Whew.  We have so much fun at Castoffs meetings that I have good intentions to rush back home and blog, blog, blog.  Sadly, life gets in the way but here I am now!

Leslie finished and stuffed her monkey.  Stuff, stuff, stuff. Stuff, stuff, stuff.  Stuff your monkey!  Stuff your MONkey!  Doesn’t that sound like a seventies disco song?  Does to me.  I digress.  The monkey turned out so cute.  He has a little red tongue protruding from his cute little monkey-face.  Leslie had him lovingly cupped in her hands.  Awwww.

Soft monkey for Mira.

Leslie was beginning a new project – a very mysterious one that I can’t remember – so I got a fuzzy photo of the yarn and needle.  Maybe next time I’ll be able to tell what it is.  Leslie and I decided that this wasn’t the ideal venue for casting on.  It’s hard to count while everyone is talking over and around you.  “Thirteen, fourteen, fifty-one, fifty-two…Damn!”

It’s a popsicle stick and a sticky bun! No, it’s Leslie’s new project. Don’t know what it is, but it’s golden.

I was busily starting a new project even though I vowed to make May my ‘Finish all my ongoing projects month’.  Liar, liar, pants on fire.  I had this yarn, see, calling my name from the stash, see, and I just had to answer.  No one took a photo of it because it looked a lot like Leslie’s – formless and unnameable.  Next week, I promise.  What it is – it’s a linen stitch cowl in superwash merino sock yarn.  Pretty.

Julie and Mary were both working on socks.  I got a twofer picture – Mary’s sock and Julie’s face.

Whose sock?

Mary told us all about Baby Moses’ birth and cuteness and I remembered that I promised to publish his favorite toy.

A darling baby and his darling whale.

Julie and Linda were busily knitting and eating and drinking and generally being Castoffs.  Linda is still knitting her fern-pattern scarf that is so pretty.  Julie’s knitting a sock.  What else can I say?  Cute sock?

Knit, purl, yo, k2, etc. Castoffs at work!

Deb was nearly finished with her lilac vest.  You can really see that it’s a vest now with a v-neck, cables and a top and bottom.  I think this is the most exciting part of a project – when the garment becomes recognizable.

A real live vest!

Carol is knitting the baby hoodie towel for her granddaughter.  Carol is a little behind, but she’s planning to take it with her on her upcoming trip to Ireland!  She’ll have plenty of time to knit on the way over and back.  Let’s hope she does better than I did on my trip to Scotland last year.  I carried a small project over there and drove it around Scotland and didn’t knit a stitch.  The yarn appreciated the trip, however, and wants to go back.  I wouldn’t mind either.

Dreaming of Ireland and of being a grandma again.

We meet at Carol’s house – THE house – this week.  For a while I worried that I wouldn’t get the blog posted before it was time for our next meeting, but I guess I pulled it off once again.  Until we meet in a couple of days, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and enjoy the rain.  Just think how good it is for your skin!  Yeah, right.

The Castoffs were met by Leslie giving all of us a disclaimer:  “I HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO WHOOPING COUGH.  APPROACH AT YOUR OWN RISK!”

Well, a little infectious disease doesn’t stop women who knit.  We armed ourselves with needles and went on in.  Besides, Leslie baked cheesecake.  Of course, in true Leslie fashion, there was a disclaimer for the cheesecake: “I AM SO DISAPPOINTED IN MY CHEESECAKE.  IT CAVED IN THE MIDDLE AND USUALLY LOOKS BETTER THAN THIS.”  This is our reaction to the disclaimer:

We didn’t come to look, we came to eat.

Pertussis has made its presence known in the valley.  Michele was exposed too and has a cold on top of that, so she stayed home.  Leslie told her she could come and sit on the deck beside a window and yell through it to us, but she declined.  That would have been fun, Michele.  Carol piped up “I’ve been exposed too!  Sooooo, should I be sitting here exposed to someone who has been exposed when I’ve been exposed?”

Huh?

Both of them were supposed to go to Missoula for Mother’s Day to visit their children, but Leslie decided not to expose her pregnant daughter – secondhand – and Carol wasn’t sure if she should go and expose her grandson Waylon.  This was too much for me, so I just got a glass of wine and knitted.  Whoop!  Whoop!

Carol is still working on the baby hoodie-towel for grandson Waylon’s brother who will be born in the summer.

Carol got her pertussis booster anyway.

Leslie knit a little lamb for Mira – her granddaughter who will be born this summer but she didn’t have stuffing for it.  I did, however, and promised to bring it over.  Darling little lamb.

Flat and in pieces, but not for long!

Francy is back from her trip to Germany!  Welcome home, Francy.  She bought a little bear backpack in a secondhand store in Munich for Grace, her granddaughter.  The idea was to cut off the old sweater and knit a new one.  Just so happened that Leslie’s sweater that she knit for Mira fit the bear perfectly.  Wow.  Francy is going to use that pattern and add different Pooh-inspired buttons.

Old sweater.

New sweater – or at least the idea for the new sweater.

Leslie also knit one of the cutest baby sweaters that I had seen in a while.  It was knit with sock yarn in a sideways pattern – going from one sleeve edge to the other – a pattern that Michele had used for a baby gift a few years ago.  I love this pattern and I want to knit one for myself.  The idea of knitting a garment from side to side really intrigues me.

Sideways baby sweater.

Joan is back for the summer from Arizona!  It’s so good to see her and to see the sisters together again.  She and Marylane already had a busy day – book group, buying flowers for their yards, knitting group – Joan even volunteered to host knitting next week.  Jeeze, how did we get along without you for so long, Joan?

Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters…

We asked Joan to show us what she knitted over the winter so she blew the dust off the old MSU scarf and held it out.  Hmmm.  Joan.  It doesn’t look a whole lot longer than it did in September…We’re glad to see you anyway.  Maybe this is the year you learn to purl???

It really isn’t cold enough to knit in Arizona anyway.

Marylane is working on her multi-colored vest.  I think it’s going to be great.  She thought about putting it all on one needle, but couldn’t figure out the logistics.  Another great theory though.

Keeping it straight.

My scarf that I’m knitting for my friend Michelle is getting near the end…I think.  It’s about my height now but I want it to be between six and seven feet long.  I’ll check with Michelle to be sure but I think that’s what we agreed on.  I’ve enjoyed knitting it, but I just bought some NORO to make a slip-stitch cowl and I want to start.

Getting longer, Michelle!

Linda was working on her lace scarf so diligently that I had to get her photo.  She looks like the perfect, content knitter, doesn’t she?  And her scarf matches the upholstery.

All she needs is a cup of tea, a cat and a fireplace. And a basket of yarn and a cottage. And another pattern to start on when she finishes this project. And…

The warm weather really seems to be here – for a while – so get out and enjoy it, Castoffs.  I got a new bike for my birthday and I’ve been riding.  Marylane and I will have to take both our new bikes out.  Maybe other Castoffs will join us?

Next time we meet at Joan’s house.  Hope it’s nice enough to sit on her deck!  Until then, keep those needles blazing, Castoffs and have a sunny week!

The Castoffs assembled at my house on a rainy, overcast day – chilly, too!  We were glad to be together though.  Mary got the call and rushed down to Denver to see her brand-new grandson, Moses.  She sent a couple of very cute pictures, one with the beaming grandma.  Congratulations, Mary!  You get to do it all over again in July when Larissa has her daughter!

I served some yummy cheese and crackers, strawberries and – the best yet – frosted animal cookies.  You know the ones with the little colored dots of candy.  YUM!  And of course, wine.

Brie and animal cookies. Yum.

Francy is still on her German adventure, but the rest of us trickled in.  Joan will be back with us next week.  Yay!  It will be so good to see her again.  Welcome home to Montana, Joan!    We can’t wait to see what you knitted over the winter! No pressure.

I must apologize ahead of time for the very few photos that I took.  I guess the excitement of hosting drove everything out of my head.  I didn’t even start to knit until the meeting was nearly over.  Just can’t do that many things at one time.

Michele is nearly finished with her vest and it is beautiful.  She only has a few inches to go and then will sew the two pieces together.   I think her next project will be baby-related.

Michele – almost ready to seam the two pieces.

Leslie finished her kickbag.  I like saying that – kickbag, kickbag, kickbag.  There, I got it out of my system.  Her granddaughter Mira will love kicking freely.

Imagine a darling baby kicking in this bag.

Marylane is knitting an awesome vest with all of her leftover wool.  It’s turning out beautifully.  She’s knitting all three pieces simultaneously so that the striping will turn out the same – coming and going.  I love it.

Such beautiful colors, Marylane!

I finished my red afghan that I knitted for Jonathan, grandson of my sis-in-law Sue.  I’ll mail it off this week.  I dragged out my basket of unfinished projects to show Leslie.  My green vest, the Alligator, my blue vest and my friend Michelle’s scarf.  Yikes.  It’s a catalog of my life.  I move through the days leaving a trail of unfinished stuff behind me.  Well, it won’t last forever.  I’ll finish these things before I’ll let myself start a new project.  I have a LOT of new ideas to knit, so May is going to be the official Finishing Month.  I’ll keep you posted.

Carol was working on her baby hoodie and telling us all about her root canal and the insurance woes that she is facing.  We hear ya, Carol.  We all added a few of our own.  Julie had advice about insurance and then rushed out to go get a massage.  Julie is leaving to visit her mom this week and needed a massage to help her get through the plane ride.   Carol, the hoodie is adorable.  The other stuff – well, we can’t help you but we can listen and nod in sympathy.

Carol – tooth and all.

Linda was working on her green lace scarf and Deb was looking at her vest.  Can’t remember if she actually knitted anything.  We were all so focused on talking and eating that the time slipped away quickly.  Or maybe it was all that wine I drank…

Nevertheless, it was a fun time.  Next week we’ll be at Leslie’s house where, I hear, there will be CHEESECAKE!  No pressure, Les.  Until then, enjoy the summertime weather that is FINALLY here and keep those needles blazing.  It’s the lovely month of May, Castoffs.

The Castoffs met at Linda’s house on a rainy day.  There went our lesson in Nordic walking!  Linda did, however, give us a quick lesson inside and showed us her cool poles with the little boot cushion on the business end of the sticks.

They aren't this shiny in real life. See! Shaped like a little hiking boot!

Vibram soles. Cool.

This walking style is definitely for exercise.  It moves your whole body.  I compared it to how I use my poles when I hike and I don’t put as much upper arm movement into it.  I’m afraid I’d throw myself off the trail. Could be dangerous on Dawson-Pitamaken.

Linda in action. This is about as attentive as the Castoffs get.

Speaking about throwing yourself off a trail – Marylane showed us her wounds of walking.  I’d like to make up a good story about how she was valiantly trying to save a puppy from a cliff when she tumbled off, but actually, she stumbled over a hump in the sidewalk in front of her financial advisor’s office.  Sorry, ML.  Looks very dramatic, though.

OUCH! And it wasn't even a bicycling injury!

Marylane is using a lot of her leftover yarn from various projects to knit a cool vest.  I can’t wait to see how all the yarn comes together.  I got a photo of the pattern and all the yarn.  I have stuff in my stash that would work for this!

Pattern for vest.

Lots of different yarns coming together as one.

Linda served us some wonderful snacks – two artichokes with dip, strawberries, pretzel thins with dip and beverages of our choice.  Most of us chose wine, of course.

Before the beautiful strawberries came to the table.

Somehow I had lived 60 years without eating fresh artichokes, so I was encouraged to try some.  It wasn’t the easiest treat to eat…

Scrape, scrape, scrape...

It was good though.  Thanks to Leslie for taking such a flattering photo.  I think this is what you call paybacks.

I have nearly finished the afghan for my sister-in-law’s grandson.  It’s RED, but that’s what Jonathan likes, so that’s what he’ll get.  I only have the rest of the skein to go before I send it on to Oregon.

Just right for a five-year-old boy.

The rest of us were knitting works-in-progress and doing well on all of them.  Leslie was doing some garter stitch riffs on her granddaughter’s kickbag.

Leslie always adds something unique to every pattern.

Deb is making progress on her lilac sleeveless vest.

This is going to be finished in a flash, Deb.

Michele’s sleeveless tank is very pretty – she already has finished one side and is working on the other.  Fast knitter! Or perhaps just more dedicated than some of us.

Front? or back? Either way - beautiful.

Carol’s bath towel hoodie is so soft.  I love the way this yarn feels and so will her new grand baby.

Carol's hoodie.

Mary’s other sock is getting longer.  I think she could actually finish a pair!  She insists that it doesn’t matter if they fit or not – she’s only going to frame them and look at them triumphantly.  A finished pair of socks!  Woohoo!

To be framed as a pair of a kind.

I didn’t get a photo of Julie knitting, but I did get one of her in action.  She was giving Mary an earful – not sure about what…but maybe I don’t want to know…

"*&@#$*$!"

Linda started a lacy scarf using a pattern that is remarkably like the one I’m knitting for the red afghan.  It’s funny how different yarns can make the same pattern unique.  I love this fern pattern and have used variations of it for everything from scarves to shawls to afghans.

Very versatile pattern.

As I sit here writing the blog, I see that the rain is falling.  The yard and flowers are drinking it up but I’d like to go ride my bike.  Oh, well, maybe tomorrow.  Instead I think I’ll knit.  Keep those needles blazing, Castoffs, and I’ll see you here at my house next time.  Happy April showers!

We met at Marylane’s house on a sunny, spring (finally) day.  When I got there everyone was gathered in the kitchen enjoying the treats that Mary had brought – an amazing poppyseed cake, a veggie platter and sweet/salty crunchies.  Wow.  Thanks, Mary.  You know what we like!  I was so busy eating that I forgot to take a photo of the table.

Kendra was visiting her mom (Marylane) and it was fun to catch up with her.  She had brought her golf clubs and got a HOLE IN ONE at the local golf course earlier in the week!  Congratulations Kendra!  Well done you!  Got your name in the paper and everything!  I can hardly hit the ball.  Maybe we should have a Castoffs golf tournament.  If so, Kendra’s coming and she’s on my team.

Oh, yeah, knitting.  We are knitting some great projects.  The grandmas among us are REALLY getting some wonderful things knitted.  Carol is knitting a hoodie/snuggly/ after bath thingy using some soft, thick synthetic yarn.  It felt amazing and gave Carol the award for Angel Grandma.

So far, only a halo...soon, a hoodie.

Mary sent me a photo of her completed sock monkey and it turned out so cute – in spite of our disparaging remarks about its resemblance to B-52s and penis covers.  Her daughter loves it – it’s already at its new home in Arizona awaiting the birth of Larissa’s baby in July.

Mary! It's a MONKEY!

In a springtime miracle, Mary brought her other sock to finish.  Yes, she is going to make a PAIR of socks.  Many of us stop at one sock (ahem, that would be me), but Mary unearthed the needles and yarn and is forging ahead to complete the pair.  She doesn’t think they will be a perfect match because she made a boo-boo on the first one that she can’t exactly replicate, but she’ll give it a try.  Good on ya, Mary!

Taking a break from baby stuff - it's a sock!

Leslie was knitting a very interesting baby item – a kickbag.  Sounds like something I used to do in the gym at the martial arts studio.  But no.  A kickbag is a loose, ah, bag that you stick the baby in – up to her little armpits – and let her kick, kick, kick.  Perhaps it’s a privacy issue.  Kick in private?  Or a game for the parents.  Hide the baby?  Whatever the rationale behind the kickbag theory, Leslie is using some pretty cool yarn and stitches.  The ribbed edge is a twisted rib pattern that I tried to get a closeup of, but it is difficult to see with the multi-colored yarn.

"And here's where the baby's head sticks out..."

Kickbag - a closeup.

Another springtime miracle happened while we were sitting there – Linda FINISHED HER SHAWL!  We egged her on a bit, but she bound it off and can move on to another project.  Not that we were tired of looking at it or anything…

Yay! Finished!

Linda was telling us that she had been to a class on Nordic walking – walking with poles to get a better workout.  Anyway, we were all pretty interested in this, so we are going to have a lesson next week at Linda’s house.  We’ll be knitting and walking.  Not simultaneously, of course, but it should be fun.  Bring your poles, Castoffs, and we’ll learn how to walk.

I brought the scarf that I’m knitting for my friend Michelle.  I’m surprised to see how quickly it’s coming.  The pattern is easy and although the ribbon yarn is not the easiest to work with, it’s not so bad.  Pretty, too!

Kendra is helping me display the ribbon scarf.

Ribbon scarf - closeup.

I think Michele was having issues with her sleeveless sweater.  I heard a lot of counting aloud and groans of displeasure.  She is knitting a lace pattern and I know that they can be difficult when a lot of commotion is going on around you while you’re trying to concentrate.

Uh-oh, that's not a happy face, Michele.

Deb has had an issue or two on her sleeveless sweater also.  The two of them, Deb and Michele, talked about the contortions they would have to go through while trying to hide the mistakes after the two sweaters are finished and on their bodies.  Deb did a silly walk that reminded me of John Cleese in ‘Monty Python’.  Sure hope they don’t have to walk THAT way.  If they do, I hope Leslie gets a photo.  It would be hysterical.

Oh, Deb! Walk THAT way!

Marylane is almost finished with her crossover shawl.  We love this one!  Good job, Marylane.

Beautiful shawl, Marylane.

Someone brought up the ‘Loud at the Library’ fundraiser, and we started talking about the chair that we are going to yarnbomb for the event next year.  As it happened, Marylane has the chair and the photo that we will use as a guideline for our artwork.  It’s going to be so cool!

The yarnbomb suggestion...

The object of our yarnbombing!

We’ll start working on the chair this summer when we can take it outside.  Very cool.  Then we’ll auction it off next spring.

Here’s a picture of three serious knitters.  I just thought I’d show you what we are usually like at knitting – haha.

Linda, Julie and Michele - doing what we come here to do.

Julie was also knitting a sock.  It must be ‘small, portable knitting projects’ season.  That’s two socks in the room.  She paused to stretch her back and reminded me of an otter.  Except for the needles sticking up out of her crotch.

Well, that's rather suggestive for an otter.

I’ll leave you with a photo of two of our very prim, proper and serious grandmas.  Don’t forget to bring your walking poles to Linda’s house next time.  We’ll all be walking around in a line in Linda’s neighborhood learning to Nordic walk.  And maybe raising Linda’s HOA fees – if the neighbors don’t appreciate our lesson.

Until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Oh, Granny! What fun you're having!

The Castoffs met at Julie’s house on a sunny spring day.  Of course, this year you can’t trust any weather forecast.  One day might be bright and sunny but the next day could be cold and snowy.  Springtime in Montana is unique.  Julie’s cat rushed in and took its place on the sofa – where it refused to move until Julie physically picked it up, growling – the cat, not Julie.

Soft kitty, stubborn kitty.

Julie served us crunchies with wine, but when everyone got there, she brought out the big guns – fresh brownies with ice cream!  Oh, Jules, you’re spoiling us!  But we love it.  Thank you, Julie.  Carol burst in with news!  She has to have a root canal!  Well, I didn’t say it was good news, did I?  Anyway, she goes to a local dentist, Dr. Hammer.  Yes, I did say Dr. Hammer.  After we all picked our laughing selves off the floor we watched Carol point to her dead tooth and eat her ice cream in peace.

Dr. Hammer will take care of THAT tooth, Carol.

Leslie had returned from her daughter’s house where Leslie and Jim had decorated Mira’s room.  Mira is the granddaughter that will be born this summer.  (I hope I spelled it correctly, Leslie)  One of the walls in the baby’s room is a book shelf that displays the colorful books.  It is so clever that I have to show you.

So colorful!

Closeup of book wall.

Thanks for sharing these photos with us, Leslie.  Also in the works is a darling knitted dress for Mira that Leslie plans to embroider with flowers.  Here is a photo of the pattern and flowers.  Leslie was practicing with the flower.  Very cute.

We'll get a better view of the dress in days to come. Lucky little girl!

Mary was knitting for her granddaughter too.  She’s making a monkey.  Although it resembles the fuselage of a B-52 right now, we’ve been assured that it truly is a monkey.  She has knitted the body with legs, the ears and one arm.  She only has an arm and a tail to go!  Woohoo!  It’s Monkey time.

Funny-looking monkey, Mary.

I’m afraid we all made rude comments about the monkey – especially Mary.  Frankly, I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s finished.  Hopefully, less like a B-52 or a mutant penis.

Yeah, right. Monkey.

I neglected to publish a photo of the finished whale that Mary knitted for her son’s baby, so here it is.  It turned out really well – her son and daughter-in-law loved it.

Whale sighting!

Michele has come a long way on her orange sleeveless sweater that she’s knitting from the leftover yarn from Erica’s sweater.  The pattern is lacy and pretty.  She decided to do the yarnovers her way.  Go for it, Michele!

Bottom of the lacy sweater. All hands on deck.

Julie had a great trip to Seattle to visit her daughter Terra.  She took along socks – always a great portable project for riding in the car.  I read a knitting blog the other day where the author talked about having so much sock yarn in her stash that she was going to knit socks until it was used up.  I’m not sure I could knit that many socks.  My stash would produce a whole lotta socks!

Socks! Er, sock.

Linda brought out her – you know what – pink shawl.  I asked her when she would ever be finished with it and she said “When this yarn is gone, it’s finished.”  We’ll take you at your word, Linda.

Marylane has her eye on you - and her finger, too.

Deb was working on her lilac sweater, but the photos I took of her were SO BAD that I knew I’d lose a friend if I published them.  For those of you who know that I’m fairly lax about editing photos, they were really, really terrible.  I deleted them, Deb.   You’re welcome.

Here are a couple of shots of what the Castoffs do best – eat, knit and talk – not necessarily in that order.

Mary, Leslie and Michele.

Carol, Marylane and Linda(barely).

Julie, Deb and I were the invisible three for this meeting.  I did take a photo of my almost-finished cabled vest – and the kitty.  I just need to pick up stitches around the neck and sew up the side seams and I’ll be finished.

Kitty tolerating my vest on her sofa.

Next time we meet at Marylane’s house.  I think Marylane’s daughter Kendra will join us.  Yippee!   We always like to have daughters present.  Until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and don’t put away your winter clothes yet!