We all met at Deb’s house on a brilliant fall afternoon, and the colors in Deb’s neighborhood were magnificent. The sun streamed in onto all of the Castoffs except our Arizona Joan. We miss you, Joan! It was the perfect day to sit and catch up, sip a little wine or tea and think about what we wanted to knit for the winter.
Carol and Marylane enjoying the sunny afternoon.
Julie looked like she was enjoying the snacks and wine after a long day of slogging books around in the library. Thanks to Deb for the crackers and cheese, wine and tea.
Yummy.
Leslie had alerted us to a beading workshop about how to string beads on the working strand of yarn for a mitten (or any other knitted item that you want to decorate with beads) but she had a hard time gathering us together to begin the demo. Finally, we all grabbed our wine, tea, snacks, etc., and paid her our utmost attention. Ahem!
She had our...undivided and fascinated...attention.
We did really listen, eventually, and learned. Thanks, Leslie. The mittens that she beaded are beautiful and we all got it…until we start to knit our own mittens, in which case we’ll probably need a remedial lesson or two.
Beaded mitten plus one.
Francy started a beaded mitten also, but lost count somehow and was trying to decide what to do about it. It’s still pretty, but just has a more random pattern of beading.
Francy's beaded mitten.
I got emails from Leslie and Michele after the meeting to show us what they had been up to over the weekend. They found an Ann Norling directional scarf that they LOVED so they rushed out and bought yarn and made scarves…at least Leslie did.
Ann Norling multi-directional scarf.
Love the topknot, Leslie!
That crazed look in her eye must be from non-stop knitting all day. I do love the yarn and pattern and can’t wait to see it modeled at our next meeting.
Until allergy season calms down, I decided to put down my very fluffy Shawl yarn and go back to knitting my blue vest. The pattern for the front is very complicated, so I just held it instead of knitting. Michele suggested that I enlarge the chart for easier knitting. Great idea, Michele!
Tiny chart needs to be enlarged.
The back of my sweater vest.
Leslie seems to think that I knit a lot of blue garments, so I will report to her just what color I seem to prefer. Hmmm. She could be right.
Mary’s newsboy cap is coming right along. Poor Mary, now that she’s retired, she understands that there is no mythical ‘time’ to do all those things you put off until retirement. Marylane, Francy, Linda and I found that out. She did find time to knit a few more inches.
Newsboy cap.
On the newsboy front, Marylane has knitted some on hers. It’s starting to look like a hat!
Newsboy hat redux.
When Marylane found out that Linda is knitting a buttonhole for her newsboy cap, she mused about the buttonholes that she knitted into the band of her striped sweater.
“I know I knitted five buttonholes on that sweater, but I haven’t seen them since.”
If anyone finds Marylane’s buttonholes, please return them ASAP. Thanks.
Michele’s sweater for her daughter is nearly finished. She has the back and front and is working on sleeves. This is a rather complicated pattern that she doesn’t work on at our meetings – a good thing to remember when your attention is scattered among all the conversations – so I was glad to see it again.
Voila! Fronts of sweater.
Back of sweater.
Julie and Deb were in a sunny corner knitting their ongoing projects and talking. I snapped a photo of this blissful scene, then had to do a double-take on the slippers that Deb was wearing. I get it. On with the comfy shoes after a hard day’s work.
Ah, sunshine.
Ah, comfort!
Linda is working on a beautiful, mohair cowl that looked so pretty in the sunshine. It will be both for around the neck and over the head. She got yarn and pattern on her trip to Chicago.
Looks warm and soft.
Deb’s Yorkie Izzy was enjoying the sunshine, but she wondered why nobody was paying attention to the DOG! Just too busy with our own toys, Izzy.
But, but...what about the Canine Goddess?
Next time we’ll meet at Leslie’s house and look forward to seeing the Ann Norling scarf in person. I doubt that I’ll take a better photo than the one that Michele took, though. Until then, have a Happy Holloween and try to stay upright in the blustery weather. Keep those needles blazing, Castoffs!
