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!

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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?

A small group of Castoffs carpooled out to Mary’s house on the lake. We were met there by Michele and Anne who had been kayaking near Mary’s bay. Mary’s grandson Moses, and daughter-in-law Rebecca were visiting at Mary’s house, so we all got to see Moses – a little cutie with fat cheeks.

Grandma and Moses!

Mary served us some yummy huckleberry cake – her husband Frank has picked gallons of huckleberries this season – and veggies with hummus. Thanks Mary. We also had her favorite New Age white with slices of lime. Very refreshing.

Yum.

We sat on the deck with the most wonderful view of the lake and the mountains beyond. Mary’s bird feeders were being bombarded by Evening Grosbeaks, mobs of them. It was fun to watch them fight over the seed.

Grosbeaks at the feeder.

Nothing’s prettier than the Flathead in summer.

I brought my triangular scarf/shawl that I’ve been working on. I got tangled up with a swarm of hornets who stung me in the face.  I was still a little puffy. One friend said it was like a botox treatment – smoothing out the lines with hornet serum.

Puffy me with my triangular shawl.

Michele had bought some suede soles for her felted slippers. We had a little discussion about which was the toe and which was the heel, but finally Michele just did what she wanted. Why did she ask us? I don’t know. Just being polite, I guess.

Michele sewing on her sole.

Anne brought her seed-stitch scarf to work on. We ‘re so glad to see her back with us. I hope she’ll be able to come a lot this fall and become a regular Castoff.

Anne’s scarf.

Joan, Carol and Linda came along but didn’t get a lot of knitting done – still on summer Slackoff time, I guess. They had fun sitting on the deck and talking and, hey, it’s more fun to knit in the winter. No deck time in January.

Michele, Joan, Linda and Anne enjoying the decktime.

Mary is nearly finished with granddaughter Aurora’s witch’s hat for Halloween. She’s planning to knit a pumpkin hat for Moses. Moses stood in for his cousin, though, and modeled the witch hat. It’s darling. Mary just has to put duplicate stitches around the crown to make a black buckle.

Witchy hat.

Next time the teachers will be back at school. We who are retired are trying not to smile smugly. We’ll meet at Deb’s house at our regular winter time of 4:00. Enjoy your last week of August, Castoffs, and keep those needles blazing!

The Castoffs gathered at Michele’s house and most of us were there for the first time in a long time. Only Julie was gone and we missed her. I got an email later asking what was going on that she had missed. Julie, Julie, Julie. Come back and find out what you’ve missed! We had the extra delight of welcoming Laura, Linda’s daughter. Laura and Linda had been in Colorado for Linda’s son’s wedding. We all saw the photos and it was a beautiful wedding in a stunning Vail location. Good to finally meet you, Laura. At one time or the other, everyone’s daughter has been to one of our meetings…except for mine. Oh, that’s right. I don’t have a daughter. I enjoy the other Castoffs’ daughters vicariously.

Linda and Laura.

Michele made her delicious chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. Yummmmm. It is so good. Her daughter Erica made it for us once – good then, good now.

I hurried in to get a photo before it was cut.

Anne joined us too. Anne was actually one of the founding mothers of the group – before it was the Castoffs. Now that her boys are both in high school and busy with other things, Anne is thinking about joining us!  Yay!  She dug out an old knitting project that she started a few years ago – thinking that we would all be busily knitting. HaHa. She didn’t know what Slackoffs we are in the summer. She’ll learn.

Anne and Mary inspecting the seed stitch scarf that Anne brought.

I have been knitting during the Olympics and I finished my entre-lac scarf. I like the way it turned out using two different colors of NORO yarn.

Can’t wait for winter!

Michele and Leslie are in a frenzy of crocheting slippers. They keep trying to talk me out of knitting the same pattern because I would have to SEW the pieces together. Imagine. I guess I’m not as reluctant to sew things together as they are, so I’m considering buying the pattern to make felted slippers for Christmas gifts. I’ll have to borrow Castoff feet to felt those slippers that have to be mailed out of town. Leslie was just beginning one slipper.

Nice gray wool.

The felted Crocheted slipper pattern – love the button accent.

Marylane and Joan were there but had to rush off. Seems like Marylane has been doing a lot of rushing this summer – rushing to reunions, rushing to hikes, rushing to take Dick to the doctor for his bum shoulder. Hopefully, once summer is over, she’ll be able to be with us more often. We’ve missed her!

Not sure who the mustachioed Castoff is.

We’ll be going to Mary’s house next week. We’ll carpool down to the Lake and we’ll get to take turns holding Moses, the beautiful grandson! See you then, Castoffs, and in the meantime, keep those needles blazing!

I bicycled over to Joan’s house to join a relatively small group of Castoffs. It was a beautiful day – kind of hot – but hey! It’s August! Joan had a table of pretzels and cherries and later brought out the big guns – apricot pie with maple ice cream. Glad I had to bike back home to work off some of the delicious pie. We all enjoyed frosty glasses of margaritas, too. Yum.

Grace had her eye on the pretzels.

Almost forgot to snap the pie and ice cream. Well, I snapped it UP…

Betsy and Grace came with Francy and it’s a good thing because Betsy was the only one of us who had made anything. Granted, she crocheted her items but the rest of us were pretty lazy about knitting. The exception was Michele, who also crocheted some slippers and brought them to felt. I took some ‘before and after’ photos of several crocheted items.

Michele’s pre-felted slippers.

Michele’s slippers! They fit! I love the embroidery.

Betsy had crocheted a pair of slippers for her mom and herself and they re-felted them at Joan’s house. Unfortunately, Francy’s slippers felted down too much and they were too small for her. She decided to send them to a friend in Japan. I guess Betsy will just have to crochet another pair. Betsy’s slippers fit just right, though.

Betsy’s and Francy’s slippers.

To give some traction on the slippers’ soles, Betsy squeezed on some Puffy Paint. It’s a great idea for any slippers that need a little grip.

Puffy Paint.

Betsy had also crocheted a little bag to felt. After felting, she’s going to sew a zipper in it. Betsy ALSO crocheted a kitty for Grace.  Very cute. I’m not sure where she found the time in one week to do all of this, but she did. Betsy thinks crochet is faster than knitting. She may be right, but I’m not in the market for learning another craft. I can look and enjoy though.

Crocheted bag before felting.

And after felting.

And the darling kitty!

Okay, Castoffs, once Betsy goes back home, we’ll need to step up and actually bring our knitting to knitting. Otherwise, we’ll have to call ourselves the Slackoffs instead of the Castoffs. This is what we’ve done at our meetings this summer:

Eat and talk…

Lounge and drink…

I have really loved the summer, however, so I can’t be too tough on the Slackoffs, er, Castoffs. It’s been fun. I must say that we’ve loved having Betsy and Grace for a few weeks. Thanks and have a great winter, Betsy. We can’t wait to see how much Grace will have changed for your visit next summer!

Francy and Grace.

Next time we’ll meet at Michele’s house where, hopefully, we’ll at least BRING out knitting…Mary. Not that there’s anything wrong with not knitting, but we seem to have made a habit of it. Enjoy the week, Castoffs, and keep cool even if your needles are blazing hot!

I got to Carol’s house wayyy too early so I watched her vacuum the carpet and I talked to Shannon, Carol’s daughter, about the tumble she took on her bike. She broke her wrist and separated her shoulder – yikes. In four weeks, she starts a new teaching job in Japan so some Japanese doctor will take the cast off. I asked Shannon if seeing a doctor in another country bothered her and she said, “No, I’ve had surgery in Japan before. They have a good medical reputation.”  Ah, youth. I guess I won’t worry about her. Carol is helping her type her syllabai and curriculum notes.

Gotta watch those downhill trails when you’re on your bike, Shannon!

Carol laid out a variety of yummy snacks – Flathead cherries, chips, Kettle Korn (we devoured it) and almonds. She brewed some tea – Earl Grey with a licorice herb tea added – it was deliciously refreshing. Thank you, Carol! Carol is thinking about HER classes for the fall – she’ll teach the little ballerinas again.  They are so cute.

Yum. Food.

Betsy and Grace are still here visiting Francy and we are enjoying them SO MUCH at knitting. Betsy had made some very cool necklaces out of chunky yarn that she wrapped, in a couple of places, with contrasting yarn.  They are simple but very striking – Betsy thought they’d look good beaded. I agree.

Three generations of wonderful females.

Francy was beginning a cardigan for Grace so I got a photo of its start.  The pattern is adorable and I like the color.

At first I thought this was a picture of Grace!

Michele had seen some felted slippers that Betsy made and showed us at the last meeting, but somehow I missed them. Betsy crocheted them, then embroidered the toes and felted them down to size. They sounded so cute, and Michele obviously agreed because she is crocheting some. Can’t wait to see them at our next meeting.

Not just for knitting.

There wasn’t a whole lot of knitting going on – it seems like we’ve taken a vacation from serious knitting for the summer. That’s okay – summers are short around here and there’s too much to do outside.

Not a lot of knitting, Castoffs!

When Julie pulled out some knitting, Mary couldn’t believe it! Actual knitting in the summer! Julie’s knitting some slippers that look very hot.  I mean – too hot to wear for a few months – but it could take her that long to finish them, so no worries.

You’re doing WHAT?

Just to prove that some knitting DOES go on in the summer, I brought out my entre-lac scarf that I’ve been working on while watching the Olympics.  I love the Olympics and it’s soothing for me to knit while the competitors sweat. Better than me sweating, right?

I’m enjoying this pattern.

Linda shared a piece of local pottery with us that she purchased for her son and almost-daughter-in-law (the wedding is Aug. 11). It is a beautiful piece of artwork and is inscribed with lovely words: “You shall go out with joy and be led forth in peace.” I know it will hold a special place in their home.

Beautiful pottery bowl.

We meet next time at Joan’s house and she said that we could come at 3:00. Until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing – or at least, don’t forget where you put them for the summer. Enjoy the beautiful weather!

We met on another hot day at Leslie’s house. Inside was full of conversation crossing and recrossing, but it was cool because Leslie served us several great flavors of sherbert all together in bowls. The flavors blended wonderfully and were very refreshing. Add tea or wine and fig newtons and you couldn’t have a better treat.

Our lovely hostess.

Yum, tasty and colorful!

Francy’s daughter Betsy and granddaughter Grace joined us. We were all so surprised to see how much Grace had changed in just one year. Great to see you both, Betsy! We’re looking forward to your jewelry show next week.

Grace is enjoying her sherbert!

Lisa dropped by with her granddaughter Greta who is growing so fast! It’s hard to believe just how quickly the little ones grow. Grace had fun playing with Greta. Next year the playing will be a little more even.

Babyland. Adorable.

Marylane and Joan joined us for a little while but have been inundated with company lately so they had to rush away. Marylane did have time for a cuddle with Greta, though. No surprise, is it? She loves Greta and so do we.

Joan, Marylane with Greta, Francy and Grace.

With all the baby commotion, I was surprised to see that Julie and Linda had actually taken out their knitting. I took my scarf out too, just as a pretense that I might really knit.  We all decided that it’s just too damn hot! No fun touching wool in 80+ weather, is it? No, it isn’t. That doesn’t mean that I can’t take a few photos though, just to make you think it’s still a knitting group.

I have knit a few more inches on my entre-lac scarf – mostly during the British Open.

I’ll probably knit more while the Olympics are on. Seems like knitting makes the time pass more quickly and pleasantly. Also keeps me from snacking so much! (Diet tip!)

Julie showed me the socks that she’s been slowly working on. One is finished and one is nearly finished. Perhaps one day she’ll be wearing them. What do you think, Jules?

One sock, two sock, both are blue sock.

Linda is still working on her fern patterned scarf but discovered a boo-boo. It’s hardly noticeable though, so she’s going to keep on going instead of ripping out six inches of intricate pattern.  Don’t blame her one bit!

Linda’s pointing out the mistake. Hardly noticeable.

Mary found a darling pattern for a baby sweater and bought yarn for two – one for her grandson Moses and one for her granddaughter Aurora. Little bear ears make this sweater really cute.

Blue for Moses – Pink for Aurora.

We’ve narrowed our road trip down to two dates, so I’ll be polling everyone via email for the best time for us to trek up to Eureka. EUREKA! Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Next time we meet at Carol’s house – ahem, that’s Mrs. Sullivan now. Until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing but try not to catch your yarn on fire.