The weather has warmed up and the snow is melting and crunchy on top. Now that the weather report is out of the way, I can get on to the really important stuff – the Castoffs meeting!

First of all, I have a teeny correction to make about Marylane’s project. It was pointed out to me rather strongly – thank you, Leslie – that Marylane is NOT knitting a hat to be felted. She’s knitting a Christmas stocking. How, you ask, can I get a hat and a stocking mixed up? I don’t know – ask Dr. Seuss.

Well, I guess it DOESN’T look like a hat after all.

She’s knitting it for her daughter and it WILL be felted, so I got two out of three. Sorta.

Carol is LOVING her Squishy Blanket. She says yes, it’s all knit, knit, knit, but the fun is in changing the colors. It’s knitted holding two strands throughout, but the combination of colors in a row is the fun part. And, it feels wonderful.

Squishy Blankie!

Leslie is at the point in her fox jumper where it really looks like a little fox. Mira is going to love it! Leslie placed the nose and ears to give me a better image of a fox. I think she should name it.

Adorable! It really does look like a fox.

Deb continues on her sweater for Glen. He’s back from Cambodia and they’re planning to move into a condo until they make a decision on a new place to live – to build or to buy? What’ll it be, Deb?

Happy knitter. For good reason.

I’m nearly finished with my little Swirl hat, so I decided to plop it on my head. Geez – what a pin head! After our meeting, I made a boo-boo and tried to go back to correct it. BIG mistake. This pattern is not easy to fix!. I think I made a bigger mess than if I’d just left a hole in it. Oh, well. I’ll push on and hope no one looks too closely.

The little needles sticking out of my head are a nice touch.

Michele continues to knit her amazing cabled jumper. She finished one side (front, I think) and is knitting the back now.

An action shot!

Julie is knitting a pair of socks for her son’s girlfriend. She’s using Patton’s Kroy sock yarn. Super yarn. The variegations in the colors works out in perfect stripes. She isn’t sure the mate will have the exact striping, but it’ll look cool even if it isn’t an exact match.

Kroy sock yarn by Pattons.

One completed sock.

Francy is knitting a scarf or cowl – she thinks she’ll join the ends for a cowl – and I like the blue yarn that she chose.

Francy models her scarf while Julie and Linda look on.

Until next time when we meet at Carol’s house, have fun in the crunchy snow, Castoffs, and keep those needle blazing.

On a beautiful Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a small contingent of the Castoffs met at Deb’s house – for the final time. Oh, I don’t mean that we’re disbanding – Heavens NO! – I just mean that Deb has sold her house. Yay! So, she and Glen will be homeless (well, in a condo) while they get their new house built or bought. Congratulations on your new venture, Deb!

We were all knitting WIPs – Works in Progress – that we had started earlier. Marylane is making a boldly striped hat that she’ll felt when the knitting is finished. I love these colors together. She used yarn from her stash, so she knit and felted a swatch to make sure the yarn was all wool. Hey, you’re learning, ML!

She even felted a swatch!

Deb is continuing to work on Glen’s top-down sweater in Paton’s Classic Wool. Glen is in Cambodia right now, so he’ll need something warm when he hits the cold air of Montana.

Hard at work.

Michele’s jumper is growing. She’s gonna look great in this long and lean sweater dress. I love the cabling.

Izzy’s helping Michele knit.

Now, Leslie’s helping.

Leslie is knitting a jumper, too, for granddaughter Mira. It will have a fox face on the bodice. Adorable! But not on you, Leslie. Sorry.

Not sure that’s gonna fit you, Leslie.

I’m about halfway through my Swirl hat. This is a mesmerizing pattern that goes around and around. I put markers between every repeat so I wouldn’t get confused. I’m easily confused, ya know.

Sock yarn with #3 needles and lots of markers.

When it was time for us to leave, I glanced around for my coat and saw that Izzy had found a warm place to make a nest. She looked so comfy, I hated to move her, but I had to go out in the cold.

Ahh, Izzy! Sorry to move you!

Hope to see you all next week at Marylane’s house. No holiday then, so our group will be larger. Until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and have a wonderful week.

All of the Castoffs except Marylane met on a snowy day at Linda’s. The white stuff was piled deeply on the edges of the streets and we gingerly made our way to Linda’s door. What a relief to be inside, warm and cozy with our knitters.

Linda had finished her mohair shawl – whisper light and fluffy. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, the only photos I got were fuzzy. Bad Marsha. Take my word for it, it was a lovely shawl. Instead, I got a candid shot of Leslie, Deb and Linda talking and knitting.

Linda’s scarf is on the back of Deb’s chair. Pretty, deep red.

Deb wore her finished skirt that she labored over for weeks. It turned out great! Love this, Deb.

She looks happy to be wearing it, doesn’t she?

Carol was so inspired by Leslie’s squishy blanket that she decided to knit one for each of her kids. Leslie brought hers to show those Castoffs who weren’t at knitting last week. We all loved the way it feels.

Big, beautiful Squishy Blanket!

Baby Squishy Blanket!

They chose similar neutral background colors, but have different pops of bright colors. The green is one of Carol’s accent yarns

Francy grumbles about the asymmetrical scarf that she’s knitting, but I really like its striking design. I think it’s too much knit, knit, knit to suit her. Hang in there, Francy, you’ll love it when it’s finished.

No, that’s not a studio portrait of Carol on the wall, it’s a mirror.

I understand what she means, though. I’d like to knit one of these, but after my knit, knit, knit poncho, I’ll be ready for a more challenging project.

Speaking of challenging, Michele has started her jumper and it looks very intricate. Lots of cables and twisted ribs. She’ll look great in it.

There’s Michele, peeking over the top of the bottom.

Julie was knitting a Montana hat with earflaps – only she hadn’t got to the earflaps, yet. She used a super chunky yarn of two different colors. This is another pattern that has made the rounds of the Castoffs. Marylane was working  on one recently.

 Almost ready for the flaps.

That was it, Castoffs. I’m having some issues between my camera and my new laptop. Hmmmm. Perhaps a new camera is called for, ya think?

Until we meet at Deb’s next week, keep those needles blazing and go snowshoeing! It’s a great workout.

On this first meeting of 2015, three brave Castoffs trudged (well, Leslie was already there), so TWO brave Castoffs – Linda and Marsha – trudged through the storm to knitting. And, it turned out to be a major event. We ended up with nearly two feet of snow on the ground. School was cancelled for two days and we all shoveled way too much.

But it was fun to drive on the nearly deserted streets, slipping and sliding around the corners…. Remind me of this in February when I’m thoroughly sick of the white stuff.

Leslie has been a busy bee – she finished her grandson’s blanket and it looks and feels wonderful. The pattern is a Squishy Garter Stitch and it really does feel soft and – well, squishy. But in a good way. It turned out beautifully.

Wonderful squishy blanket.

Here’s a close-up:

The yarns blended seamlessly.

The blanket was a blend of heathers and solids in Paton Classic Wool and Cascade 220, with two strands of yarn held together throughout.

Now, Leslie is starting a dress for her granddaughter, Mira. I took a shot of the pattern and the cast on edge. This color will look great on that little red head.

Cute little dress for Mira.

I’m plugging away on my poncho. It’s a 50″ by 22″ rectangle that I’ll block and join diagonally. Then I’ll add a cowl neck and voila! Poncho! At least that’s what the pattern says. I’m still on about the 39th inch of boring, tedious stockinette stitch. Wish me luck. When I’m at this point, my mind starts to fantasize about new projects. I stare into my yarn stash and page through my notebook of patterns yet to knit. Sigh. I have to remember to keep chugging along on the one in front of me.

Getting longer!

Linda is still knitting her fluffy red scarf – I found out that it’s triangular. Such a beautiful color. She said “Don’t take another picture of this scarf. You already have a few.”

Hey, there were only three of us here. I needed something for the blog! So here it is:

Can’t wait to see it around Linda’s shoulder!

I just glanced out the window over my computer desk and it’s snowing again! How much more can we take, Castoffs? I guess however much we get, eh?

Keep those needles blazing and put your snowshoes in your car. I’ll see you next time at Linda’s house.

Our final Castoffs meeting of 2014 was a low-key time with four of us and Marylane’s daughter, Kendra. It was fun to see Kendra and talk to her about her adventures with Venture Capitalism. She and partners are in the middle of a company startup involving alternate energy methods. I confess that a lot of her explanations were over my head, but I wish her great success and happiness with her career. We’re all proud of you, Kendra!

Congrats to Dr. Kendra!

As for the rest of us – we talked a lot more than we knit. I think we all brought our knitting, but only Linda actually knit a stitch. She was working on her spider web scarf with some beautiful fluffy mohair yarn. Lovely!

Beautiful color and yarn.

Deb has started a sweater for her husband, Glen, using a classic wool yarn and a stress free pattern from Knitting Pure and Simple. I love their top-down designs. Deb was hoping for a more challenging pattern, but this is what Glen wanted.

Classic design, classic yarn.

Not sure that Deb knit anything, because this is what we all looked like – relaxed and chatty – but it was a good afternoon. Thanks, Marylane!

Ah, chillin’ on a snowy afternoon.

Marylane and I have been knitting fingerless mittens using the same pattern. Hers is the mitt on the left (blue) and mine are the pair on the right. I know they look mismatched, but I’m using Noro yarn that has a lot of different colors in a skein. Same yarn for each, but the colors didn’t unwind in the same way. I like it, though.

I still need to add thumbs to mine.

That was it, Castoffs. I wish a Happy 2015 to you all! Until next week at Leslie’s house, stay warm and keep those needles blazing!

A small group of the Castoffs met at Julie’s house. Some had relatives for Christmas, some were out of town for Christmas. Those of us who could show up, did. That’s the way it’ll be next week at Marylane’s house, whoever can come are welcome.

Julie has been a busy knitter. She made slippers for her kids and their spouses/sig – others. Leslie, as always, was our visual manager and arranged the slippers in a circle in front  of the tree.

A ring o’slippers.

Colorful!

Julie was knitting a pair of mittens with a flip-off finger cover. I can’t remember what these are really called, so I made up this description. You’ll see by the photo.

Mitt flips.

I had finished one pair of fingerless mittens that matched my new coat – hot pink – and have started a new pair using yarn from my stash. My stash grows without plausible explanation. Magic.

Shoulda put my coat in the picture.

Noro leftover skein.

The second mitten won’t be exactly like the first one. That’s what happens when you use a variegated yarn like Noro. Interesting but not the yarn to use if you’re extremely anal. I’m not, thank goodness.

Michele finished the sweater for Erica and it is amazingly soft and beautiful. We all held it and commented on its texture and on the feel of the yarn. It’s an Eco blend by Cascade. Wonderful.

The photo doesn’t do it justice, of course.

Now Michele is starting a long knitted tunic. I got a photo of the yarn (Paton’s Classic Wool) and the pattern. She was struggling with the twisted rib stitch on the bottom. Leslie, knitter extraordinaire, helped her.

This will look great with leggings.

Speaking of Leslie, I must apologize for assuming that her granddog is a dachshund. Daisy is a Boston Bulldog. Sorry, Daisy! Leslie had finished her doggie sweater and it looks very cute.

Get it? Daisy!

Leslie has now started on her grandson’s throw. Mary and I were confused when she started describing it. Gradually, we realized that she had changed the pattern that she’s using. Duh! It will be stripes now instead of the Log Cabin pattern. Here are some of the colors for it.

Grays with pops of color.

That’s it, Castoffs. Next time, we’ll be at Marylane’s house – at least those of us available. Until then, enjoy the snow and stay warm. Another cold snap is on the way, so keep those needles blazing!

The Castoffs met at Michele’s, bringing gifts and food to share. We had a blast! Michele’s tree was ENORMOUS. She and Joel were waiting for their kids to get home to put the final touches on it, but we all thought it was beautiful as is. The food we brought was wonderful – dips, chili, roll-ups and candy, cookies and fudge. We certainly ate well.

Yummy dishes for our celebration.

The presents we brought are under the tree.

Everyone liked what they drew for the gift exchange, so nobody stole ANYTHING from anyone else — well, except for me. Julie opened a desk organizer and some very cool yarn – twine, really – and liked it until I came along and stole it. From then on, I was the Grinch! Here’s Julie happy with her first present.

“Gee, this is pretty cool!”

When it was my turn, I swooped in and stole it. Here is my Grinch face.

Marsha the Grinch.

Never fear, Julie chose another gift that she liked – perhaps even better! It was a ball of Cascade 220 and a pattern for a cabled cowl. And it came with a Christmas tree headband. Fab.

She liked the headband so much, she wore it for our group photo.

Michele got a conical Santa – felted and roved.

Cute Santa – it’s a wonder that he didn’t get stolen.

Mary got a snowman ornament that her granddaughter can put on the tree.

Cute little snowman.

Francy got a pair of gloves AND a very beautiful pair of fingerless mittens. She hid them so nobody could steal.

Puppet fingers!

Leslie got two Christmas mugs and some coffee to go in them.

Marylane was interested, but she didn’t steal.

Carol got a box made out of folded paper that made an interesting design. I think it was from our International free trade store downtown.

I liked this, but not enough to steal.

Deb got a set of battery-powered candles. Someone suggested that she put them with her wooden Nativity scene.

Carol got a kick out of something. Maybe the candles?

Linda got a felted and beaded bracelet. She was so excited about showing it off, that she nearly punched Michele in the face.

Look out! Woman with a new accessory!

Marylane got a bear ornament with a hand knit scarf – very cute. Marylane immediately took the scarf off. Bet she was like that with her dolls when she was a little girl.

Let’s put the clothes back on the ornament, OK?

Michele’s husband, Joel, came in and took our photo. You can tell that we were happy knitters. Not that the wine had anything to do with it…

The Castoffs, Christmas 2014.

After we had our picture taken, Mary and I decided to compare Christmas socks. And then Francy helped me up off the floor. Thanks, pal.

‘Tis the season!

To our surprise, Leslie brought her knitting project. Amazing. And Michele might have actually knit a few rows before we dug in to the food and gifts. Here is a doggie sweater for Leslie’s granddog – a dachshund. And, that’s Leslie’s finger where a doggie leg will be.

Looong sweater.

Carol sent me a photo of her granddaughters’ finished hats. She packed them up right after she took this. Darling hats, Carol.

Cute little Christmas presents on their way to Arizona.

I hope everyone out there in blog land has a wonderful Christmas. We have some old snow on the ground, and perhaps we’ll have some new snow by next week. I’m hoping to bring out my snowshoes, so come on! Snow!

For everyone who is in town next week, we’ll meet at Julie’s house. Until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and get your last minute shopping done!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Deb had a beautiful Nativity scene set up in her living room and the fireplace snapped its warmth on us. Well, on some of us. Carol and Marylane shared a down throw on the couch.

Mary brought her finished hat with ear flaps. I love this pattern but I’ve never been tempted to make it — yet.

Warm and pretty, Mary!

Julie wore her newsboy cap that she knit a couple of years ago. Seems like when one of us finds a great pattern, several other Castoffs just HAVE to make it. Nothin’ wrong with that. We love to learn new things. I remember that Mary knit one of these caps for her daughter, Larissa.

Looks cute on her, doesn’t it?

Julie is knitting not-felted slippers for her son-in-law in Dallas Cowboys colors (Ptui, ptui. I spit on the Dallas Cowboys). Nevertheless, that’s what he wants. There’s no accounting for taste, I guess. And the slippers are great. No sewing together pieces at the end — no felting to the correct size. I’m definitely trying this pattern.

Not felted slippers.

And, no. He doesn’t have three feet. Julie is knitting two pairs and hasn’t finished the fourth slipper. They really are cute. Leslie knit some of these — in Seahawks colors. What is wrong with these people? Where are the Bronco’s Orange and Blue?

Carol is knitting hats (like the one Mary knitted) for her two granddaughters. Adorable. That’s all I can say. The girls will love them.

She’s such a proud grandma.

A close-up.

Michele is getting closer to finishing Erica’s sweater. The body is nearly finished, and then Michele has to pick up and knit the sleeves. Lovely stitch and soft yarn.

Great unstructured sweater.

A picture of contented knitters. Michele and Francy.

A Christmas or two ago, during our gift exchange, Linda and I clashed over one. It’s that game where you get a chance to steal a gift from someone else. Well…Linda won the stealing war. This week, she brought the gossamer yarn and pattern that I would have won if I hadn’t run out of steals. It’s a beautiful scarf pattern using a wine-colored mohair — very filmy and light. I still love the yarn.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda, Linda.

We had a wonderful afternoon today — we missed Leslie though — and we contentedly knitted and talked and planned our future meetings. Next time is our annual Christmas party. We’ll bring presents for our gift exchange and dishes of yummy food to share in a potluck supper. I don’t think there’ll be much knitting done, but I can guarantee that we’ll talk about knitting. And a lot of other things, too. The party’s at Michele’s house so I’ll see you there, Castoffs. In the meantime, keep those needles blazing and enjoy a couple of candid shots of knitters in action.

Happy Castoffs.

More happy Castoffs!

Snow, snow, snow. We all descended on Michele just as she got home from work. Surprise! Everyone except Linda was there (I believe). She’s in Denver playing with her first grandchild. I’m sure she bring back lots of photos for us to ooh and ahh over.

Marylane finished her vest, except for those pesky yarn-ends that have to be sewn in. But, it looks fabulous. She had a difficult time with this project. There was a lot of ripping out, knitting upside down and ripping out again. But finally, it’s done and it’s beautiful.

I like it!

When Marylane arrived, she was wearing another wonderful scarf/shawl/capelet –obviously I don’t know what the pattern was called — with  a braided front. It’s very striking.

Beautiful braided shawl.

Leslie wore  a scarf/shawl that she knit a couple of years ago. It’s knit from sock yarn and is the pattern that Julie is using right now. I still want to knit one like this. It’s shaped with short rows and turns out asymmetrical. Leslie says that she wears it many different ways.

Short rows!

Leslie finished the triangular scarf that she was working on last week. The half-linen stitch looks woven, especially after blocking. It feels wonderful.

Love the color palette in this scarf.

Here’s a shot of Julie knitting the same pattern as the first scarf that Leslie was modeling. She’s also wearing a hat that she knit.All of us knit what we want to wear. Good thing — it gets cold up here in the great Northwest.

She matches!

Mary is ready to attach the ear flaps to HER hat. I falsely assumed that she was knitting it to give away, but she’s keeping this one for herself. Good on ya, Mary!

Ear flaps and tassels will be right at home in the snow.

I’m still plugging away on my poncho. I’m afraid that I’m wishing I was knitting something a little more interesting than KNIT-PURL, but it’s an easy project to do in a crowd. No screw-ups — so far, anyway.

Someday — a poncho.

Carol is finishing up her entre-lac scarf. She looks very cute in her sparkly cap, doesn’t she?

Cutie-pie.

I’ll end with a shot of knitters in action — talking and knitting — and Michele’s great display of string instruments on the wall behind Marylane, Mary and Michele. This is fairly typical of the Castoffs. We talk, we agree, we disagree and sometimes we make funny faces. Sorry, Mary.

I think Mary was voicing her difference of opinion.

Next time, we meet at Deb’s house. It’s getting closer to Christmas! So keep those needles blazing and stay warm, Castoffs.

I can’t believe that Christmas is coming closer — like a runaway freight train. It’s charging toward us whether we’re ready or not, and there’s no way to stop it. Does that sound like I don’t like Christmas?  Hmmm. Haven’t had time to think about it.

What I do like is joining my Castoff knitters on a cold afternoon — or any afternoon. We met at Julie’s house and, of course, there was a lot of knitting going on. I’m going to apologize right now for the first couple of photos. I couldn’t understand why they looked so awful — then I realized that I didn’t have my flash turned on. Grrr. Maybe Santa needs to bring me a camera that fixes itself. I’m very unreliable.

Carol is nearly finished with her entre-lac scarf. She still can’t decide whether or not to block it. Whatever you do, Carol, the scarf is beautiful. Leslie was in the photo making a point about Carol having no more yarn — ZERO yarn left. We get it, Leslie.

Done! Zero to go!

We love to start our projects, but we love even MORE to finish them. Leslie is knitting a couple of things. One is a triangular shawl using strips of contrasting multicolored yarn. She was trying to decide what to use for the edgings. Solid or heather? I voted for the lighter, heather yarn.

Bad camera. Pretty shawl.

Ah, which edging?

Leslie’s other project is an afghan for her grandson. He was feeling left out when he saw the cool gifts that she’d knitted for his brothers and sister, so he wanted a blanket. Leslie said, ‘Uh, not a blanket. How about a throw?” All good.

She’s using a log cabin pattern from Mason Dixon Knitting. The rectangles are picked up and knitted out from the middle block, so once you’re finished, there’s no sewing together. Fabulous. This would be a good stash buster.

Quilt knitting pattern from Mason Dixon.

Mary finished the bunny hat for Adela. These floppy ears will look adorable on that sweet little granddaughter.

A bunny wabbit hat.

Mary has begun another hat with ear covers and tassels. I forget who it’s for, Mary. My bad. Did you say it’s for Larissa? The pattern is one that several of us have knit – a perennial favorite for Montana winters.

I like the yarn. Great pattern.

Julie is knitting a short-row triangular scarf like one that Leslie knitted a couple of years ago. So far, it’s only large enough to qualify for half a bikini top. Julie was kind enough to model — over her clothes, of course.

Sock yarn and smallish needles will take a while.

Ooh, la la.

Mary asked if Julie had ever finished the popcorn scarf that she started after her trip to Key West.

“Why, yes, I did.” She brought it out to model. Love this yarn.

And it matched what she was wearing!

I brought my faithful, easy poncho. My mind was fried from writing non-stop for National Novel Writing Month (NanaWrimo), so I needed something mindless to work on.

Knit a row, purl a row, repeat.

That’s it for November meetings of the Castoffs. We’ll meet at Michele’s next time on December 1. Wow, this old year is just about worn out. It’s very cold, Castoffs, so keep those needles blazing.