The Castoffs met at Marsha’s house for their Christmas bash and white elephant exchange and it was the most fun party of the season, in my humble opinion. There were eleven of us and we drank a lot of wine, ate a lot of cookies, truffles and the best cheese ball ever.
Lots of Christmas goodies -- and the FAMOUS cheese ball!
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!
I'm always amazed when things are felted to a normal size!
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.
Love the tail-end!
Look at those beady little eyes!
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!
Stuffed from the tail to the front legs. Flat in the head - poor gator.
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.
Certainly cold enough to wear this sweater now
Marylane finished her sweater!! Yay!! We are so impressed with her tenacity and the sweater is gorgeous. Great job, Marylane!
What a wonderful sweater!
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.
Great mittens soaking up the warmth of the stove.
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.
Wow. Interesting textures, great scarf.
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.
Robert the Bear
Here's looking at you, Robert.
Marylane made us all sister bracelets with beads. Now we are truly sisters. Thanks, Marylane!
Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters...
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.
Hard to believe that a shawl could be in this little package.
MINE! NO, MINE!
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.
Doing, doing, doing.
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.
Peekaboo!
Mary got an appropriately named ornament that we had to let her keep. Why? Well, you know…
Uh, knit-what?
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!
Future mittens? Or 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.
Knittin' Santa.
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.
Won't you have a truffle? Why, soitainly!
I think the photographer was getting slightly out of focus...
Yakking it up at Christmas.
"What the hell?"
Ho, ho, ho, Castoffs! See you on the 30th! Merry Christmas!
