Linda had crackers and dip for us and yummy wine – Cupcake red and a Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling. Michele was scheduled to bring a peach/rhubarb cobbler.
When Michele got there, she had her cobbler wrapped in a garbage bag. Not a good omen, but it had tipped a little in the car and she was afraid of leakage, thus the garbage bag. It was so good, however, that we gobbled it up in spite of its less than perfect appearance. When I finished my plateful and had the presence of mind to think of a photo, this is all that was left.
Everyone clambered for the recipe, so Michele sent it to me and I’m passing it along:
Michele suggests using a 9X13 inch pan.
Marylane has started on a Linen Stitch scarf that is beautiful. It is knit long-ways and the yarn is a Mochi blend.
I’ve noticed that some other Castoffs have used this kind of yarn in their projects. It is so soft and pretty!
Leslie brought her scarf that she’s working on and so many people wanted the pattern that she sent it to all of us later that day. It’s a very modern, abstract look and it’s going to be stunning.
I pulled my top-down Henley over my t-shirt and modeled it. I still have to add the button placket and band and then it will be finished! yay!
Michele is still working on her daughter’s sweater. It has a beautiful pattern. I believe that this is the back of the cardigan.
“What yarn is that, Michele?” I asked.
“Pima cotton and beechwood,” she replied.
“Beach wood? You mean driftwood?” I was a little confused and it was only my first glass of wine.
“B-E-E-C-H, not B-E-A-C-H.”
Oh, I guess she won’t have to shake the sand out, then. Well, regardless of what kind of wood, it’s still a little strange, isn’t it? Anyway, love the feel of it.
Julie is knitting a shawl out of a basic dishcloth pattern – it’s very airy and holey – perfect for summertime. I like the color of the yarn.
We decided on our first ever Castoffs road trip to East Glacier where we’ll sit and knit on the lawn (if the weather cooperates) of the historic hotel, then go to Serrano’s Mexican restaurant (YUM!) and drink Margaritas with our meal. At least, Linda and I will. Don’t know about the rest of ya. We haven’t designated a driver yet.
Next week we delay a day and meet at Mary’s house on the lake. Mary is a retired woman now. And she is very happy about it already! So are we, Mary. We’ll meet at Julie’s house and carpool down to the lake. I’m excited to sit on her deck (weather permitting) and drink in the gorgeous scenery. Thanks, Mary.
I’ll leave you with a couple of candid shots of us eating the cobbler and knitting our separate projects. Joan and Linda were working on scarf and elephant, respectively.
Until next time, keep those needles blazing and have a wonderful summer week.
If I have to make a ball by hand, I just use my, uh, hand. This looks pretty cool.
Linda is knitting a baby sacque for a charity auction. It is the same pattern that Michele used earlier in the year. Linda is trying to decide what accent color to use for the edging. Pink? Brown? Bright blue? I can’t wait to see what color she uses.
Mary brought her hat that she knitted for her little friend JoJo. Somehow she forgot how to crochet an edging on it, even though she showed ME how to do that a few weeks ago. Her memory could have been affected by blowing up her oven over Christmas. Zzzzap! She just got another one, though, so her memory might miraculously reappear with her ability to bake again.
Michele is knitting a squirrel using a Fiber Trends pattern that is adorable. It’s for her husband, Joel, for Valentine’s Day. Awww!
Right now the squirrel isn’t really a squirrel, but it will be!
Marylane was there with her variegated yarn that she’s using to make a scarf like the one that Michele showed us last week. She told me that when she gets tired of knitting the scarf, she is knitting tiny little mittens to give away for ornaments next Christmas. I’ll get a photo of them next week.
I am still working on my gray vest. I’m almost to the V-neck separation on the front. I should be able to work on it a lot this weekend during the NFL playoffs – my favorite television program to knit to – Go Packers! Boo Patriots!
I forgot to find out what Deb was knitting for her next project! Sorry, Deb, I’ll find out next week at Marylane’s house.
Julie had used some odds and ends of Noro yarn to knit a multi-colored, very cool, fez-shaped hat with little I-cords on the top. We all loved how the colors blended into each other.
I don’t know about you all, but I’m getting very tired of the rainy, unseasonably warm weather. Hopefully, by the time we go to Marylane’s house next time, we’ll have less rain and (gee, I hate to say this, but…) some more snow. At least the snowshoeing will be better.
In the meantime, keep those needles blazing and have fun knitting. I’ll see you soon!
I never imagined that my Gorgonzola-Cranberry cheese ball would be such a hit, but it was delicious. I’ve already sent everyone the recipe, but I’ll put it on the blog, too. Leslie wants whoever has next year’s party to promise to make this cheese ball. So, here it is, Castoffs, but no pressure…
GORGONZOLA & CRANBERRY CHEESE BALL
1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 c. (4 oz.) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1 c. dried cranberries
2 tbsp. each finely chopped onion, celery, green pepper and sweet red pepper
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce (I forgot to put this in and it tasted fine)
2/4 c. chopped pecans
Assorted crackers
Directions:
In a small bowl, combine cheeses. Stir in cranberries, vegetables and pepper sauce. Shape into a ball; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Roll cheese ball in pecans. Serve with crackers. Yield: 2 cups.
My son Eli made some truffles that were yummy and Marylane brought some iced sugar cookies decorated with my favorite cinnamon red-hots. I can safely say that I fell off my diet with a gigantic CRASH. Loved every calorie, though.
Leslie brought her finished felted slippers that we all love and want to make now. They are such bright colors and feel soft and comfy on bare feet. I know because I tried them out!
Several of us had been busy since the last get-together. Michele finished her rat scarf for her daughter. This is a fun pattern. We decided that Michele should make one for herself out of bright colors – a color per rat.
Keeping with the animal theme, I started (finally) stuffing my alligator. Because it isn’t a Christmas gift, I’ve been dragging my feet. But it’s going to be so cute!
I also finished my blue boucle sweater. Last week, Mary showed me how to crochet a finished edge around the neck. I really like it a lot and it’s warm and cozy.
Marylane finished her sweater!! Yay!! We are so impressed with her tenacity and the sweater is gorgeous. Great job, Marylane!
Francy brought some mittens that she made out of an already knitted wool sweater (or perhaps two sweaters). She felted the sweaters, then cut out mitten shapes and sewed them together with a blanket stitch. What a wonderful use of discarded sweaters. I’ve inadvertently felted some wool garments in my time (much to my husband’s chagrin since they were his Pendleton shirts – oops) but I never thought to repurpose them into another garment. Wow. Great idea, Francy. And they look great.
Francy also brought a scarf that she knitted lengthwise for her daughter’s mother-in-law. The yarn was made up of different kinds and colors of yarn tied together in one long skein. So the scarf is a multitude of different textures and colors that form an interesting and colorful pattern. I might try this with leftover pieces of yarn in my stash. It would be a delightful way to remember what you’ve knitted through the year.
Julie finished Robert the Bear and he is adorable. She knitted him a little red vest and her husband, Brian, crafted him some eyeglasses. So cute. He was made from an old sweater that Julie’s mother started for her husband Robert years ago. Julie took the sweater apart and made little Robert the bear to give back to her mom. Sweet.
Marylane made us all sister bracelets with beads. Now we are truly sisters. Thanks, Marylane!
We finally got down to the White Elephant exchange and had a ball! And a cheese ball! We all opened presents and then snatched them away from one another in turn. It was so much fun. Linda and I had a battle royale over two cobweb shawl kits. She ended up with them, but I gave it a good fight.
Carol opened a set of knitting needles – not your ordinary knitting needles, but some with a flexible cable capped with a wooden ball. Hmmm. As Carol put it, “Interesting but annoying,” as she bounced the little balls.
Leslie opened a package that had, er, ball holders. Do I sense a theme here? Are we all ball-crazy? Hmm. These ball-holders doubled as a mask for Cat-woman.
Mary got an appropriately named ornament that we had to let her keep. Why? Well, you know…
Marylane got something that we all laughed at, at first, then wanted. But we had to let Marylane keep it because we all want to see what she repurposes it into. It’s another felted sweater that started it’s second life as a purse, but looked strangely like a tank-top. A wool tank-top. A MONTANA TANK-TOP!
I don’t know, we kinda like it as a tank-top, Marylane…
Deb got an adorable Santa jar. Can’t remember if somebody snatched it from her or not. Probably. There was a lot of stealin’ and snatchin’ going on.
I stopped making so many photos, guess I was having too much fun watching everyone open their dubious gifts that then got taken from them. It was a fun, fun, fun party. I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas. We won’t meet during Christmas week, but the week after Christmas we’ll be at Leslie’s house. In the meantime, here are some candids of us having a great time.
Ho, ho, ho, Castoffs! See you on the 30th! Merry Christmas!
]]>Everyone loved the cake and clambered for the recipe, so Linda sent it to me.
Francy brought her friend, Roxanne, who was knitting her first project. It’s a long scarf – pretty! We were glad to see Roxanne and hope to see her finished project soon.
Everyone was finishing works-in-progress. Leslie was deciding how to put together her rug blocks.
Linda was still working on her shawl with tassels. I love this color. It will look great on her.
Marylane was knitting the first sleeve of her sweater. Having done the back and sides, she was wondering about matching the sleeves. Should she try? Or should she just take it as the yarn comes? Not sure anything was settled, but it surely is going to be a beautiful sweater.
Francy is working on the henley topdown sweater for her son-in-law.
Francy is the crochet Queen of the Castoffs. She showed Leslie how to do a triple crochet to join her rug blocks (although I think Leslie decided to stick with a double crochet) and she showed me how to do a single crochet around Lucky’s (my husband’s) earflap hat that I just knitted.
If you think it looks goofy on me, just wait. Lucky reluctantly modeled for me when I got home.
Mary sewed the horsey button onto her green hat for her friend’s baby, Slade. Isn’t that a great name? Slade. Makes me think of lanky cowboys who roll their own ciggarillos. The hat doesn’t make me think of that, though. It’s adorable.
We missed Julie, who had an upset tummy that she didn’t want to share. Thank you, Jules for being so considerate, but we did miss you. We missed Carol, whose kitty had to be put down today. So sorry, Carol. We were all thinking of you. We don’t know where Deb was but we missed her too. and Michele was doing a teacher conference thing. Anyway, we hope to see everyone next week at Leslie’s house.
I’ll leave you with a photo of the Castoffs in their natural habitat. Beside the wine!
Until we meet at Leslie’s house, have fun and keep those needles blazing!
]]>After the tour, we trooped back through the rain and wet leaves (ah, autumn!) and enjoyed a hot cup of tea and some very delicious cake that Michele made. This is a recipe that Michele got from Leslie and we never get tired of it. I asked Leslie to send me a copy of the recipe, so she did – the quick way. The name of the cake is:
PINEAPPLE CAKE WITH GINGER CREAM-CHEESE FROSTING
If you can’t read it, DON’T CALL ME, CALL LESLIE. Aren’t camera phones wonderful?
Michele also had pretzels and corn candy for us to munch on. I reached for a pretzel and everyone shouted at me. “NO. Eat a pretzel and corn candy TOGETHER. It’s a complete taste treat requirement!” Okay. So I did and it was.
Just in case you’d forgotten, we were here to knit. Oh yeah. And, boy, were we knitting! Everyone brought projects, old and new. I had finished my hat for my son, Eli, and brought it to show and tell. I took a photo of him modeling it before I got to the meeting. I like it.
I used Vero yarn, double strand, and size 13 needles, so it was a very quick knit. The ribbing is forgiving of all head sizes. I think Eli liked it too.
I also finished (finally) my green chevron scarf. I had a hard time grafting the ends together due to all the yarnovers on the final row, so I ended up doing a three-needle bindoff to join the scarf in the middle. It turned out nicely – an easy pattern even though it looks harder. Only two pattern rows.
Francy returned from Minnesota and her new granddaughter, Grace. She must have liked knitting a top-down sweater for her son, because now she is knitting a top-down Henley for her son-in-law. She is using a Knitting Pure & Simple pattern and soft wool yarn by Paton.
Julie brought her finished afghan for her brother and sister-in-law and asked us to PLEASE intervene if she ever thinks about knitting an afghan again. Julie, it’s like having a baby – you forget how painful it is every time, so stupidly, you want to make another one. But…we’ll try to intervene next time. The afghan is beautiful, however.
Julie is also becoming a sock-creating hurricane. She had finished a pair last week and now is working on the second of a pair this week. Must be a relief from the afghan, eh Jules? She is using Paton’s Kroy sock yarn.
Deb finished her hat made with Mocha Plus and modeled it for us. Mary has some great Peruvian Tweed yarn and decided to use Deb’s pattern to make a hat for her son-in-law and daughter. Busy, busy.
Marylane is working on her sweater. She ordered two skeins of yarn that she ran out of – they came quickly this week. She must have communicated that it was an emergency! The yarn seller understood.
Michele is knitting a boxy baby jacket using an Ann Norling pattern. Very cute. It’s knitted in one piece, then seamed up. She is knitting neck and button plackets with contrasting colored yarn. It’s going to be sooo cute!
The little green hat is the one that Mary knitted for the same baby. A designer ensemble.
Leslie is knitting the last block of her rug. She is trying to decide how to put them all together. However she does it, though, this is a fabulous, bright rug for a small space.
Linda is working on her shawl, but when I took a photo, my camera told me that its battery was exhausted. Poor camera. By the time I revitalized it, I forgot to retake the photo. Next time, Linda!
Speaking of next time, we’ll meet at Linda’s house. I’ll leave you with a quote from Stepanie Pearl-McPhee’s AT KNIT’S END:
“When I run the world, test-knitting a pattern before selling it will be law. I’m not sure what the punishment for breaking this law will be, but it will take at least 57 hours.”
Until next week, keep those needles blazing and enjoy Halloween! BOO!
]]>– Smoked salmon cream cheese
– Kalamata olives, chopped
– Pine nuts, chopped
– Feta cheese
Combine to your taste and rollup in tortillas, chill, slice into 1-inch segments. Enjoy!
Marylane brought the completed back of her sweater – we ALL love this pattern and this yarn and can’t wait to see the complete package.
It was a sweater kind of day, I guess. I brought a blue boucle sweater that I had put down last spring and picked up a week ago to finish. Just part of the second sleeve and I’ll be finished.
Francy is at about the same point in her top-down sweater that she’s knitting for her son. It looks great!
Michele is working on her fluffy, pretty sweater. Another blue garment. I think I see a theme here.
Mary brought some new, strange yarn for show ‘n’ tell. It’s made of banana plant fibers and feels…well…scratchy. You’d definitely want to wear a t-neck underneath a sweater made of banana fibers. Mary has to look online to find out more about it, like how to wash it. Maybe you can just hose it down, Mary.
Mary is still working on her cute little green baby hat. Bright green! Wow. Behind her in the photo, Leslie is working on her bright orange rug. They were the bright colorful members of the group. Mary was quick to agree that she and Les were the brightest ones there.
Speaking of Leslie, her husband Jim is having a showing next week of his wilderness-inspired art. We are looking forward to going over to the local art museum after knitting to see his work. One of the pieces that will be offered as a limited linoleum print is indicative of his time in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. I can’t wait to see the rest of his paintings and prints.
Julie has been knitting more lately. She showed us a mitten that she is knitting, made from Mocha Plus yarn which is very soft and muted. Deb is using the same yarn for her baby hat.
Julie is also knitting an afghan for her brother and sister in law. It’s a great pattern with fat cables in a sheen-inspired blue yarn. There was a lot of blue around today – blue sweaters, blue afghan, blue hats.
Someone asked what our next projects were planning to be and a chorus rang out, “Hat! Vest! Mittens! Sweater!” We are a knitting bunch, all driven by our love of creating. It’s fun to share ideas and watch the inventive materialization of those ideas that appear by our group members.
Francy brought a book of soft toy patterns that she bought at the Friends of the Library used book sale. I was inspired to borrow it and copy an alligator pattern that I want for my brother’s Christmas present. No, he isn’t a kid (well, sometimes) but he lives in Florida now and really likes alligators, especially if he can see them out his back window. Go figure.
We had so much fun this week. Thanks, you all for being so great! Here are a couple of candids to leave you with. Next week, we meet at Marylane’s house. Don’t forget to join us afterwards at the Hockaday for Jim’s show.
]]>We were glad to see Kerrie, out crocheting librarian friend. Sounds like she’s enjoying her summer, but only three weeks to go until the teachers have to be back at school. Boo!
It was ‘bring your own chair’ day, so we did! Joan’s fridge was a cooler full of beer, cider and other goodies and we ate some delicious cupcakes that I have the recipe for:
Self Filled Cupcakes
1 chocolate cake mix
1 8oz. pkg of softened cream cheese
1/3 cup of sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg
1 6oz. pkg of chocolate chips (one cup)
Mix cake according to pkg. directions. Fill cup cake paper 2/3 full. Cream the cheese with sugar. Beat in the egg and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop a rounded teaspoon into each cup cake and bake as directed on the cake pkg.
Joan says these are very easy and they were very good, too!
Leslie was back from her daughter’s wedding with great photos and stories about the storm that visited the ceremony. She told us all about it.
We all feel like we’ve been on this wonderful journey with Leslie. Thanks for sharing this day with us, Les!
Francy was sharing issues of another sort with us. She is making a great three color sweater for her son but has found that the carryover yarn in back is too tight. This is a fairly common problem and Michele was happy to help. What she had to do was rip out part of the design, unfortunately, but not all. Now Francy has to loop her working yarn more often around the carryover yarn to give the sweater more…well, GIVE. Got it?
Hopefully, this will help Francy in her multicolor knitting. She sent me a couple of photos of her daughter-in-law modeling the hoodie sweater that we watched her knit a few months ago. It turned out great!
Linda joined us, getting away from organizing her new condo. “I’ve got too much stuff!” We hear ya, sista. We’ve all got a lot of stuff. She brought a star pattern dishcloth that she finished. I love this pattern.
Apparently Linda got a great bargain on cotton yarn. She’s gonna have to make a LOT of dishcloths to use up two big skeins of yarn. Here’s the other color.
We need to have a contest to suggest other things that Linda can knit with cotton. Hmmm, let’s see…baby blankets, socks…what else? Let me hear from you, Castoffs.
Julie was with us and we were glad to see her and her current dishcloth…where’s that table runner, Jules?
Marylane is still waiting for the rest of her Tahki yarn to arrive to begin her cardigan. We can’t wait for her to start, and I’m sure she can’t either. In the meantime, her needlepoint project grows and grows.
I’m still working on my scarf/shawl. I finally finished one skein and have started on another. It’s a soothing pattern and I like it.
We had a lot of fun. Thank you Joan! Can’t wait to see the house again after construction.
Next time we’ll be at my house and I’m hoping the weather will cooperate. We’ve had craziness with thunderstorms lately, haven’t we? Until that time, keep those needles blazin’, Castoffs. Have fun in the sun while it lasts! Hey, Mary, we need some of those cherry daquaris!
]]>After the edge had been taken off our hunger, we actually started knitting. Leslie had a boo-boo on the edge of her final scarf that displeased her, so, to our amazement and horror, she started ripping it out! Such violence!
Leslie spent a great deal of her time on the floor working on the ripping, but she was satisfied with the result. Maybe next week we’ll see all seven scarves together?
Francy was out of town, but she sent me a photo of the completed hoodie sweater for her daughter-in-law. It turned out wonderfully and I wanted to share it with you all.
Linda completed unravelling the fringe on Carol’s scarf and it looks great. All that anxiety that we felt about her (gasp) cutting the yarn was for nothing. Wow.
We were all mightily impressed with this pattern and Linda’s work on it. Here is a closeup of the fringe.
Marylane is almost finished with her knitted (some of them felted) bracelets for the female members of her family who will be here for a reunion in July. The bracelets are so colorful with their beads. Lucky women!
Deb and I mostly talked about hikes that we had done and hikes that we want to go on this summer. I think I knitted one row of my afghan – too busy talking, but at least I remembered the pattern this week. Deb is working on a scarf for her daughter who lives and goes to school in North Carolina.
Mary, Mary. I looked over and Mary had emptied out her entire knitting bag onto her lap. Geez, Mary, perhaps some organization is in order?
One little stich counter was the lost item. When we razzed Mary about getting organized, Linda showed us a nifty needle holder – looks like a pasta holder, doesn’t it?
Once we finished with the product marketing portion of the meeting, we talked some more about summer plans. Several of us work in the school district and are REALLY looking forward to school being out in two weeks. I mean, REAALLLY, looking forward to it. Right? When school is out, Michele will finish knitting her bathroom curtain and Leslie will get her little girl married off. Marylane will have her reunion and Deb will vacation with her family in the Carolinas. Mary will enjoy a visit from her daughter who lives in Italy and Linda will continue to try to sell her house. I will look forward to documenting all the fun and changes that we will all go through.
Marylane sent me the recipe for the delicious rhubarb pie that we had last week at her house and I promised to post it. Here it it:
RHUBARB CUSTARD PIE
2 cups rhubarb
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 eggs
Cut rhubarb into small pieces. Beat eggs, add sugar and flour. Combine with rhubarb. Put into uncooked pie shell. Spread crumb topping evenly on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
CRUMB TOPPING
1/2 c. flour
6 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 c. butter
We will meet at Deb’s house next week. Sure hope the rain has stopped by then! In the meantime, organize your stuff and keep on knitting!
]]>