Sunshine! Flowers blooming! Travellers home! The Castoffs are beginning to dream about meeting in Woodland Park again – but maybe we’ll wait until June to see what our wacky Montana weather has in store.

In the meantime, we were glad to have Marylane back from Arizona. We missed you, ML! And Carol is home from California and a long visit with her mom and dad. We loved having you back with us, Carol.

Carol didn’t have the opportunity (or probably the space in her luggage) to work on her squishy, wavy blanket. She says she’s excited about it all over again, though. It’s beautiful.

Squishy and wavy.

She was counting, trying to find a dropped stitch. Oops.

Leslie and Michele were groaning over their challenging, complicated colorwork slippers. The slippers are reversible and a double thickness, so once the women have knit what looks like a complete foot, they still have another attached foot to add. So, the way I heard it — it’s like knitting four feet. Huh? It made sense when Leslie explained it.

Leslie’s slipper and colorful charts.

Michele’s slipper and lovely toes.

Marylane holding Leslie’s slipper and looking at Michele’s slipper.

Marylane is knitting another vibrant Christmas stocking. She knit one for her daughter and her boyfriend, but I think she wants them each to have their own. More room for ‘stuff’.

Great to see your smiling face again, Marylane!

I am nearly finished with the garter-stitch yoke on my top-down sweater. As soon as I have about seven inches of yoke, I change to stockinette stitch for the body and the bottom of the sleeves. Of course, I found another similar sweater pattern that I like, so I will probably make another one. Can’t have too many elbow length pullovers, eh?

Looks more like a cowl than a sweater at this point.

Deb joined us, but only to talk, I think. “My knitting’s in the car,” she said as she sipped a latte. That’s okay, we’re always happy to chat. She sat beside Julie who was working on a purple heather scarf. Knitting or talking – or both –  is acceptable to us all.

Knit and talk. Talk and knit.

Linda was knitting the little lambikin for her grandson, but not with great enthusiasm. I printed off a pattern for a short-row scarf that she seemed more excited about. We’ll see how it’s going next time.

Here’s a final shot of MIchele and Marylane talkin’ and knittin’. Have a wonderful Mother’s Day, Castoffs! Keep those needles blazing and I’ll see you next time at Michele’s house.

Michele and Marylane.

A small group of Castoffs met at Linda’s house, but we were excited about our current (and finished) projects.

Julie brought her completed baby kimono and matching hat that are adorable. I love the buttons up the side. Very cute. The yarn is Cascade – a DK weight, I believe. At first I thought it was sock yarn, but Julie said no.

I love this yarn.

Now Julie is knitting an asymmetrical scarf. She tried the scarf that Leslie made  – with short rows – but it wasn’t her cup of tea. She’s making good progress on this one.

Narrow at the ends.

While I’m waiting for my last skein of yarn to come in – for my never-ending poncho – I decided to knit a sweater for myself out of some yarn that I bought from a friend’s estate. She – Leslie Meyers – and I liked to knit together and when she passed away, I bought some of her yarn stash. I tried to knit a sweater using this yarn a couple of years ago, but I didn’t like the way it was knitting up, so I ripped it out to start again. Here is the pattern that I found. It has a garter stitch yoke and a stockinette body and sleeves. I think I’ll be happier with it than I was with the last one. I hope.

Top-down yoked pullover.

Deb joined us and is working on Glen’s top-down sweater. Hopefully, she’ll finish before hiking season gets underway. I know there’s not much desire to sit and knit when the mountains beckon.

Deb and Julie sittin’ and knittin’.

Thanks to Linda for hosting our little gang. I’m not sure what she was knitting. Hmm. Maybe I’ll catch up with her next time before she goes on her trip to NYC. Sounds like she has bigger things on her mind.

Have fun in the sun, Castoffs. The weather is certainly beautiful – but the dryness is troubling. I hope we have a wet May. Keep those needles blazing and have a great May Day!

We meet at Marsha’s house next time!

Spring could be here. We have flowers coming up, trees budding out and the high schoolers are wearing their shorts, no matter what the temperature is. That’s a sure sign of spring, blue knees and all.

The Castoffs met at Leslie’s house and did more talking than knitting. We heard about Linda’s latest trip to Chicago to visit her brother. I think she pulled out her knitting, but I can’t swear to it.

I finished something! No, not my neverending poncho. I finished a half-linen-stitch cowl. Hey, it’s a finished product, right? I like the stitch and color.

Cowl to wear next winter or give away.

Michele’s sister, Carol, joined us. She and Michele have had a great visit and Carol’s had perfect weather while she’s been in Montana. She brought a knitting project that she started about 12 years ago! We all have one of these. It’s a to-be-felted bag. Not sure how much she knitted because we were pelting her with questions. We talked a lot about the Amish – Carol lives close to Amish country.

 Michele’s sister, Carol.

Michele has been planning, planning, planning about her next projects. She and Carol must’ve done a lot of shopping because she showed us two patterns with yarn – one for herself and one for Carol.

Cardigan for Carol?

I believe the cardigan above is for Carol. Love the yarn!

This looks like a Michele sweater.

This definitely looks like a Michele sweater. I like the detail on the front and sleeves.

Francy is still working on the Monster pants. She was fretting about doing the duplicate stitches on the bottom, but we advised (ahem, we shouted at her) to finish the other leg before she started worrying about the finishing stitches. I didn’t take another photo and I’ll wait until she’s actually finished. So there!

Francy decided to play with Lucy instead of knit.

The sun streamed into the room and we laughed and had fun. Spring beckons – can knitting in the park be far behind?

Until then, keep those needles blazing, Castoffs. We meet at Linda’s house next time. See you then!

The Castoffs met at Deb’s condo that she’ll be living in until her new house is ready in the fall. We saw houseplans of the new place and it looks fabulous – BIG –  but really great. We all like the condo – it’s very roomy, great hardwood floors and a master closet that you could get lost in!

It was fun to meet in a new place. Several of us decided that we could easily live in this condo development. No mowing, no fuss and a putting green!

I didn’t do a blog from our last meeting, but I wanted to show you the metallic silver cowl that Linda finished. It turned out so pretty – and she only had to rip it out three or four times before she got it right! Just kidding, Linda. It was worth the aggravation, right?

Just before the final castoff.

Now she’s starting a little lamb for her grandson, Michael. It’s adorable. Here is the pattern photo.

Cute lambie!!

Leslie and Michelle are knitting the same slipper pattern – and boy, is it intricate! I’m not sure I’d do it, but it is a wonderful pattern. I took a photo of all the paper associated with the pattern – charts, explanations – wow.

That’s a lot of instruction.

Here is a shot of Leslie’s heel and foot.

Ya put your right foot in, and shake it all about.

Here’s Michele’s slipper – different colors, but the same idea. They’re reversible. You knit and then fold over to make a double thickness.

Yellows.

Francy is still working on the Monster pants. BIG mouth on the butt! Here they are next to Deb’s beautiful coleus that she got for her birthday.

Small pants or big coleus?

Julie is knitting a baby kimono for a friend. This is knit side-to-side, I believe. Is that right, Jules? Whichever way it’s knit, I like it a lot.

I want one of these for myself – larger, of course.

I took a couple of candid shots of happy knitters. We always have a lot of fun – and sometimes we even learn something. Go figure.

Deb and Julie.

Leslie and Michele.

It was so bright on the other side of the room, that I didn’t get a photo of Francy, Carol or Linda. But trust me – they were there.

Next time, we meet at Julie’s house. Spring is blowing in with gusto, Castoffs, so keep those needles blazing and your feet on the ground.

Spring must be here – Michele’s yard is ice-free! We didn’t have any problem walking to her door without clinging to the other parked cars. It was never really that bad, but dry land is much better.

Carol is back from her month in Arizona. We were all glad to see her and to see her latest wavy squishy blanket. This pattern is harder than the other one she made – the one with straight stripes. No yarn overs on that one. This blanket is stunning, however, and I love the waves and the contrasting black stripe.

Squishy, wavy blanket.

Michele had finished her scarf that we saw two weeks ago and has started another one that is knit on the bias. Very interesting pattern. I think it’s for Erica. The other one turned out beautifully – in an assymetrical line.

An assymetrical scarf could be calling my name.

Bias scarf.

Francy is knitting monster pants! Grrrrr! These cute pants have a monster’s gaping mouth and eyes on the butt area. Very funny looking, but adorable.

Here’s the pattern.

The eyes and teeth are made with duplicate stitches, so that’s the last part of the process.

This is as far as Francy has gotten.

I am about halfway through a half-linen stitch cowl. I needed a break from the neverending poncho. This pattern isn’t difficult, but interesting enough to make me forget (for a while) the endless poncho of knit, knit, knit.

Alpaca cowl.

Leslie finished a darling sweater for her grandson, Jett. He’ll be born in May and will need to grow into this. She also knit a matching hat. Seems like she used sock yarn on this sweater.

A sweater for Jett.

Marylane needed to see Michele’s vest to compare to the one she’s knitting. This is the second go-round for this vest, so she wants to be SURE she gets it right this time.

Michele’s blue vest next to Marylane’s gray yarn.

That was it for our meeting, Castoffs. Next time we’ll be at Carol’s house. Guess she got back in the nick of time, didn’t she? In the meantime, enjoy our spring weather and keep those needles blazing!

We met on a sunny, warm day. Woohoo! Spring might actually be here! Several of our members were out of town or otherwise engaged. Our condolences go to Julie on the death of her mom. She was a lovely lady and we always enjoyed seeing what Jules was knitting for her over the years. Condolences also for Julie’s mother-in-law who passed away just as Julie was heading to her own mom’s funeral. We are all so sorry for your loss, Julie and Bryan.

Marylane felted her Christmas stocking and although SHE thinks it’s too big, the rest of us didn’t. We would love to have that stocking full of – whatever – on Christmas morning.

A really big stocking!

Leslie suggested that Marylane turn over the top to make a cuff and add some jinglebells. Good idea!

Leslie, pointing out potential embellishments.

Marylane had knit a vest from a pattern that she got from Michele, but sadly, it turned out  – well, awful, according to Marylane. She got rid of it – don’t ask where. But, hope springs eternal and Marylane has started a new vest with different yarn. We all hope this time everything goes better.

Big yarn, same pattern.

I am – groan – still knitting the never-ending poncho and I didn’t want to put another photo of it on the blog. But, here is the pattern to remind you, and myself, just what it may someday look like. The crocodile pouch is a vintage handbag that I found at the Conrad Mansion gift shop. I’m using it for my knitting paraphanalia.

Pattern, yarn and very cool bag.

Leslie finished her slippers – she isn’t sure what she’ll do with them. A lot of us have a shopping bag full of prospective gifts that we periodically add to  when we finish a project. I love to knit but I never need nearly all that I finish, so I have a stash of gifties for Christmas or birthdays or fundraisers. Leslie tried these slippers on and decided that the garter stitch ridges were not very comfortable to walk on. Maybe a leather sole is in order?

Slippers.

Michele sat in the sunshine and worked on an assymetrical scarf. The sun was so bright that is was hard to get a good image of its color. Next time we meet, I’ll have another chance. It’s at my house and the sun will be behind the trees at the time of  our meeting.

Now what color is that?

Ah, goldish-green. Or greenish- gold.

That’s all for this week, Castoffs. See you next time at my house but in the meantime, keep those needles blazing and have a wonderful, wet week.

The last time we met at Leslie’s house, we were in the middle of a blizzard that dumped two feet of snow on Kalispell. This time, the snow was falling again, but fortunately, we only received an inch or two. It was pretty, though.

The view onto Leslie’s deck.

Inside, we were cozy. Marylane finished knitting the Christmas STOCKING — not hat — that she will felt and give to her daughter. Pre-felting, this was a pretty hefty stocking. So hefty, in fact, that Marylane could’ve been a Christmas morning surprise. After felting, it’ll be smaller (I hope) but still large enough for a lot of treats – and  maybe a small dog.

That’s one ginormous stocking.

Michele had sent her completed jumper to show us. She is planning to offer it to A) Her daughter, Erica or B) Deb. One way or the other, she is giving it away. Boohoo! I’m glad she let us see the completed project, though. Wonderful, Michele!

Love the cables!

Closeup of the bodice.

Speaking of Deb, she joined us and is still knitting Glen’s top-down sweater. Because of their move, she told us that she hadn’t knit a stitch since last week. That’s okay, Deb. Neither did some of us.

She’s so adorable.

I’m still working on the same old poncho – seems like forever – but I wore a scarf that I made a couple of years ago, so Leslie took a photo of it to put in the blog. I love this pattern and am thinking about making another one in lighter shades.

Very artsy, Leslie.

Leslie is knitting the other slipper in a pair that I showed you last week. The pattern is from an Interweave Knits Accessories magazine. Love that Interweave Knits.

Holiday Gifts by Interweave Knits.

Linda started all over on a scarf that uses metallic yarn. She got the repeat wrong somehow on the first go-round, so she ripped it out. This time, it seems to be right.

Love this sparkly yarn.

Next week, the forecast is for 60 degrees! Will we be wearing our shorts! Maybe not, but we’ll feel like doing it. In the meantime, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and I’ll see you at Marylane’s house.

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.