The Castoffs came to Joan’s house in the cloudiness and showers of our usual June weather. And, boy, are we getting sick of June! Really sick…Anyway, inside Joan’s house we were delighted and amazed to see how much Joan and Jeff have done to their house in so short a time. Redone the kitchen and bath, made a flying trip to the nearest Ikea (in Canada). It’s truly an international decor. Joan served us yummy margaritas (I had more than I shoulda), crackers and a jalapeno-cream-cheese spread, and rhubarb muffins. Oh, Joan! You’re spoiling us!
Ikea tables loaded with goodies.
Here’s a view of some more great Ikea stuff that Joan and Jeff brought from the next nation over.
I really like the chairs and footstools.
We had thought that our group would be pretty small today, but more and more people came in the door. Carol was there – she’s leaving for Alaska tomorrow to visit her son and his family, especially little Mabel. Carol was very excited to see Mabel since it’s been 6 months. That’s a long time in baby months — for a grandma it’s FOREVER! Carol has been learning a new craft to embellish her knitting. It’s a form of needle felting called roving in which you embed an unspun wool into a knitting project with a hook. Sounds hard, but Carol says it’s fun and easier than it looks. The result was stunning on the fingerless mittens that she knitted for her mother and sister.
Wow! Carol! Teach us how to do this!
Coincidentally, when I was down at Camas Creek Yarn Shop recently I saw basketball sized balls of different colored rough wool on a counter and asked what it was. “Oh, roving wool,” said Annabelle. Well that rang a bell, thanks to Carol. They had beautiful colors to choose from .
Carol has also been busy knitting her man Mark some golf club covers. She has been a Knitter with a capital K. She can do the remaining cover on the plane to Alaska.
Drivers or irons? Drivers.
Julie had an announcement to make. Ahem. She found a set of easy instructions on PURLING for Joan. Oh, Joan, it looks like we are going to drag you kicking and screaming into Purl-land this summer.
THE PURL STITCH could be in Joan's future.
While we were having a laugh at Joan’s expense, she was unraveling the part of the scarf that she did last week.
“Well, made a mistake and it’s easier just to start over,” Joan said. We accused her of unraveling her knitting after each meeting just so she doesn’t have to finish her scarf, thus leaving herself open to starting something else that involves purling. We’ve got YOUR number, Joanie.
Michele knitting, Joan unraveling.
Linda is almost finished knitting her great-niece’s sweater. It is adorable! Has little sparkles in the yarn.
Too cute!
I finished one sleeve and started another on my top-down Henley. Looks pretty good, so far. Maybe I’ll finish it all soon. I’ve bought yarn for my next project already…knitting is truly an addiction.
One sleeve down, one to go!
Once more, our Leslie came without a project. Hmmm. However, she has one in mind and is going to look at yarn tomorrow. Yay! I can’t wait to see Leslie in action on a shawl. The pattern looks quite abstract, can’t wait to see it.
Is that a look of deep thought, or is she just pissed off at me for asking where her knitting is? I get it...
Julie sent me some photos of the last meeting that included some top-secret shots of ‘the wrap that must not be revealed until the time is right.’ I’ll put those photos in a retrospective of our work on the wrap at a later date.
We meet at Michele’s house next time. All the teachers are jumping for joy that school is out. SUMMERTIME! We love it, especially if it stops raining. In the meantime, stay dry and keep those needles blazing, Castoffs!
