We met at Leslie’s house again.  Thank you, Leslie!  Marsha got there first before the snacks and wine arrived and had a moment of panic that she was supposed to bring something.  Whew.  She was only having a senior moment.  Michelle arrived with wonderful chocolate cake and lemon sauce and Mary and Deb arrived with the wine.  Hurray.  She brought Townshend Riesling which is my new favorite white.  Yum.  Thanks, Michelle and Mary.  Michelle’s socks are coming right along.  She’s using the ‘magic loop’ method instead of four double pointed needles.  “Do you like it better?” I asked.  “Eaannaw, not really,”  she said.  I can’t approximate the sound that she made, but it was an unenthusiastic sound so use your imagination.  I think I know what she means, though, because I don’t mind using double pointed needles either.

Michelle's sock and yarn accompanied by cake and lemon sauce.

Michelle brought her completed child’s poncho and modeled it even though it wasn’t a perfect fit.  I know it will fit her little niece better, but it is darling and we all thought she should make a bigger one for herself.  I love the fuzzy yarn in the hood.

Not quite a fit, but darling nonetheless, Michelle!

I brought my half-finished Zen coat and played 20 questions with everyone to see if they could recognize what part was what.   It is a puzzling construction, but I get it, thankfully, since I’m knitting it!

Is this a sleeve or a front? Looks too long, doesn't it? Stay tuned!

Carol brought her finished fingerless gloves and they are adorable.  I want to make some!  She also brought her finished seed-stitch scarf with the pretty sparkles.  Carol has really become a dedicated, accomplished knitter and we can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.

The cables really stand out. Beautiful job, Carol!

I wish the sparkles showed up better. This yarn is very pretty.

Leslie finished one pair of pink legwarmers for her granddaughter Grace and is working on a second pair to take to her at Halloween.  The legwarmers are so cute and Leslie is very creative with her designs, from dolls to legwarmers to stuffed sheep and pillows.  She is the high-flyer of designs.  I am a plodder here on the ground.  But we both enjoy what we do and have fun doing it.  Thank goodness for DIVERSITY!

Little pink legwarmers with one of the striped ones on top.

Deb came and brought her scarf that she is finishing up.  She started it last spring and has had a lot of interruptions, including tendonitis, but by joining the Castoffs again, I know that she will finish in no time.  Welcome back, Deb!  Great scarf!

Oooh, slinky boa!

Julie is working on her top-down cardigan with seed stitch borders.  I wish you could see the color in person. It is a soft lavender that looks too blue in this photo.  Bad camera!  But I love the pattern.

Julie's top down cardie.

Mary is still working on her mittens that she will felt.  She is thrilled that she comes out with the right number of stitches on each round.  Mary, Mary, Mary!  You have become a wonderful knitter!  We all talked about our aches and pains at this meeting but we are still in pretty darn good shape for, ahem, mature women.  And darn good knitters, too!

"I've still got thirteen stitches on this needle! Yay!"

I’m going out of town next week, so Leslie has promised to take lots of photos for the blog.  No one else wants to write it, though, so I’ll just guess what the backstories are for the photos.  That is…unless copious notes are taken, knitters.  I guess that depends on the quantity of wine consumed, eh?  Oh, well, it might be more fun to make something up.  Hmmm.  Yeah, that would be fun.  Have a great time next week, Castoffs, and think of me!  I’m taking my knitting with me to Utah.  Road trip!

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