The day was perfect for knitting outdoors. We all gathered at Woodland Park and the meeting became a Baby-palooza! Mary’s daughter, Larissa, was there with Aurora. Francy’s daughter, Betsy, was there with daughter, Grace and son, Owen. Then Leslie came with her daughter Sienna and granddaughter Mira. Wow. That’s a lot of kiddies.

Knitters and babies and toddlers, oh my!

Baby Owen and Aurora played with Grace’s dolls, while Grace looked on.

They played together very well.

Owen was the happiest baby I think I’d ever seen. He loved everybody and visited all of us with a big smile on his face.

Mira was interested in Owen.

Michele finally got her hands on Owen.

Linda had to get in some practice. He’ll have a grandson to hold very soon!

We couldn’t believe how big Grace had grown! She’ll soon be four years old!

Such a big girl!

We hadn’t seen Mira in nearly a year, so we all fell in love with her red curls. So cute!

Miss Mira.

Aurora was keeping her eye on Deb and Julie, who actually brought something to knit! Imagine that. They don’t have grandchildren…yet.

Hey! Why aren’t you two playing with a baby?

Sheesh, what do you think this is? A knitting meeting?

Owen crawled all over and was a big hit. When you’re the only boy in the crowd, it’s important to be the center of attention, right?

Go, Owen, go!

Not a lot of knitting was done, but we all got our kid fix. It was fun to watch the girls run around and the lone male crawl. Darling children. Next week, we’ll be heading out to Francy’s rather than meet in the park. Strictly speaking, it’s not a Castoff’s meeting, although many of us will be there. Betsy is setting up her jewelry road show and Francy is feeding us. What could be better?

See you next time. Keep those needles blazing and enjoy August!

It was a wet, rainy day so we met at my house to keep us out of the damp in Woodland Park. Leslie’s daughter, Tammy, was in town and came to knitting with two of the grandchildren, Grace and Alex. I’m not sure how thrilled Alex was to be with us. He was a good sport, though, to put up with a roomful of laughing old women!

Alex amused himself playing with his phone. Tammy and Julie join in the party.

Now, Grace fit right in. She brought her knitting and made some progress on a scarf. Good job, Grace! After the meeting, she told her grandmother that we didn’t seem ‘that’ old. Ha!

A new knitter! Yay!

Linda was just starting a baby blanket for her grandson (to be born in the fall). She knit several blocks together and then will join them and face the back of the blanket.

For a little baby boy!

Carol is knitting crowns to go with her granddaughters’ tutus. She is beading them as she knits and they will be adorable. Here’s one now:

Princess Carol.

Purple is finished and red is coming along.

Julie brought her mohair curly scarf. I think this is beautiful. So light and airy.

It’s a great color, too!

A hiking friend of mine had dropped off a wick-away hiking hat to see if I could use it. It’s a ‘one size fits all’. Well, I’m here to tell you that one size doesn’t fit all! At all! We had quite a discussion about it and everyone tried it on. Definitely does not fit all.

It fit Tammy and looked great on her.

Was WAY big on Grace!

Alex joined in. He’s very cute.

Didn’t fit Leslie very well.

Looked pretty good on Linda!

I think that’s Julie under there.

Looked good on Mary!

Too big for my little pinhead.

Just right for Carol.

We had a lot of fun with the hat. It went back to it’s rightful owner the next day. We’ll try Woodland Park again next week, Castoffs. Until then, keep those needles blazing and wish for less-than-blazing temperatures.

Monday was hot and sunny–perfect for an afternoon in the park. We sat near the lake and the rose garden and both were beautiful.

Ah, the rose garden!

You can just see the lake over Marylane’s shoulder.

Speaking of the sisters, Joan is knitting like mad on her scarf and it’s getting longer. To only think about knitting only one stitch over and over sounds rather nice in the summer. No stress knitting.

Gonna touch the ground soon, Joan.

The rest of us, alas, pile on the stress and the intricate patterns in a sort of masochistic way, but we seem to create beautiful things. And if we don’t, they disappear quickly into the depths of our closets never to be seen again.

Carol brought her gorgeous sweater. She had just blocked it and we love it. Not only does it fit, but it’s very flattering. And the texturing on the back! Oh! Sublime.

“I feel like a knitter!” You are, Carol. You are!

The pattern on the back is subtle, but stunning.

Carol’s knitting tutus for her granddaughters. Here’s the first one:

Very cute. There seems to be an explosion of tutus in our group lately.

Carol was knitting little jeweled crowns to be worn with the tutus. This started a discussion about how to bead your knitted garments. Carol slips all the beads on her yarn before she begins and then pulls up a bead when she needs it.

The point of a tiny crown.

Michele is knitting a beaded cowl. Her method is to attach a bead using a crochet hook in mid-stitch. I’ve never done either, so I can’t give an opinion on which is the best or easiest method. Both knitters like their own ways, however, so it’s nice to know that there are options.

Michele’s beaded cowl–or the beginning of it.

Linda is knitting strips of blocks for a blanket for her grandson (who’ll be born later this year). She wanted a pattern in which she could join the blocks as she knit. Sewing together little pieces didn’t appeal to her (nobody likes to work any harder than they have to after the knitting is done). This method saves the sewing together and it helps keep the same tension and size for each block.

Strip of blanket.

Deb joined us and is knitting ‘the skirt’. So many of our knitters have made this little skirt with a lace edging, that we should name it the Castoffs Skirt. Deb is knitting this one for herself. Yay, Deb!

Should be ready by the time school starts.

And now, a sad story that concerns Marylane. She’s knitting a chunky sleeveless vest with a shawl collar and somehow–when she tried it on–she had gone the opposite way on the edging and…well, here’s a visual:

That wide part on her right hip should be at her shoulder. Argh!

She started ripping it out once she realized that her shawl collar was down at the bottom of the vest. Oh, Marylane, I’m sorry! This happens to us more often than we care to admit. I’ve ripped out many goofs.

I am at the decrease row of my vest. Now it will begin to gently curve up to my shoulders — I hope. The hot weather isn’t very motivating for knitting wool garments. I’ll have to sit under our little room air conditioner an hour a day.

Vest is growing larger.

Our friend Lisa and her granddaughter Greta stopped by. They had been at the pool on the other side of the park, swimming, and were on their way home. Greta has grown so much! She’s adorable. Good to see you both, Lisa!

Greta was shy with us.

We love knitting in the park. Peaceful, pretty and shady. We’ll meet there until the cold weather drives us inside. Until it does, Castoffs, stay cool and keep those needles blazing.

Nothing could be finer.

After a few days of rain, the sun tried to come out – weakly. We all knew that the grass at Woodland Park would be wet, and it was COLD – low 50’s. We decided to meet at my house where we could be warm and dry.

Leslie came over first with her finished shawl made from wool out of her stash. It is beautiful! Very creative and very Leslie. She was adding an I-cord border around the entire shawl. Wonderful job!

Work it, girl!

Carol is nearly finished with one sleeve of her cardigan – another magnificent sweater from a Castoffs knitter. She was a bit concerned that the underarm wasn’t tight enough, but we assured her that with a raglan sleeve, the fit was just right.

Perfect fit!

Julie showed us a ‘potato chip’ scarf that she is knitting with yarn and pattern that she bought in Key West last week. She found a little knit shop (surprising how we can find knit shops wherever we go) and bought a few things that would fit on the plane. Travel can be very limiting, so it’s a good thing that she bought a light and fluffy mohair yarn – I love the color and the airiness of the pattern.

A year-round scarf.

See-through pattern.

Michele couldn’t join us, but she sent me a photo of her finished, felted table centerpiece. It is large enough for a rug, so I’m not sure where it will end up. Wherever it is, it’s stunning. Another project using stash yarn. Wow.

And it grew, and it grew, and it grew!

Mary is in Denver visiting her newest granddaughter, Adela. She sent me a photo of sweet little Adela sleeping in the finished hoodie blanket that her grandma made her. Aaaw! Adorable!

What a cutie!

I have finally started a new project. Yay! It’s a wool vest – I got pattern and yarn from a great little yarn shop in Sand Point, Idaho. It’s a hip-length vest knit with a seed stitch pattern on the right side and purl stitches on the wrong side. Should be warm and versatile.

A peek at the pattern and the bottom of the vest.

Joan joined us! We had thought she was away with Marylane, but were glad that she dropped over with her knit scarf. Joan lives in Arizona – wool-free zone – so she comes up here in the summer and knits a scarf. When the scarf is finished, she goes home. Somebody should sneak into her house and rip out some of the scarf each week. Maybe she’d stay in Montana longer!

Looking good, Joan!

Anne came by – her class was cancelled, which was our gain. She looked through some of my knitting magazines and found a pattern for a cardigan with 3/4 length sleeves. I can’t wait to see how it progresses. The pattern was sooo Anne!

Anne and Leslie discussing important knitting stuff.

That was it for our meeting! Next week, we’re hoping to be in the park again. The forecast calls for 80 degree weather and mostly sunny! Can’t wait. Until then, keep those needles blazing, Castoffs, and turn on your fans.

We met for the first time of the summer in Woodland Park. Yay! The sun was shining, the geese were quacking (or their goosey equivalent) and the wind was blowing. Aah, summertime. We brought our chairs and our knitting and shared our projects with each other.

Carol knitted up a storm last week. She is ready to pick up and knit a sleeve. She tried on her sweater and loves the length of it. When she blocks, she won’t have to stretch it. Always a good thing. I’m feeling the pull of knitting a cardigan.

It’ll be ready for fall!

Linda is knitting a little girl sweater using a kimono pattern that she’s used before. It’s a tried and true winner.

Pretty pink kimono.

Leslie’s shawl is growing and her yarn stash is decreasing. This is a very creative, pretty garment. She’s making it up as she goes, using a drop stitch pattern here; a yo holey pattern there. Very nice, Leslie.

Gonna be big and hug-able.

Mary is finishing a couple of items for her new granddaughter, Adela. She just has to add the duck’s eyes to Adela’s hooded towel, and she made a companion dishcloth with a little ducky on it. She thought the duck looked a little like a loon, but the baby probably won’t notice.

Just needs some eyes.

Cute duck washcloth.

While we were sitting in the park, I finished my Swirl Hat – finally – and everyone wanted to try it on. It’s close-fitting but comfortable.

Don’t know if I’m going to keep it for myself or not.

Looked cute on Leslie.

Mary liked it.

I liked it on Linda, too.

Linda and I compared toes – it must be summertime if we’re getting pedicures. Mine are the darker one.

Summertime and the toeseys are free!

Michele was there, but I didn’t get a good closeup of the seed-stitch scarf that she’s working on.

Michele and Linda chillin’ by the lake.

Woodland Park will be our place to knit from now until the cold wind blows. If the weather is yucky rainy, come to my house instead. Until next week in the park, keep those needles blazing and keep your fingers crossed (but not at the same time) that the rain stays away, Castoffs.

This could be the saga of a pair of mittens. Forest green yarn, sinuous cables running up their backs, lovingly knitted by an interesting woman. Hmm. Sounds like a happy ending, doesn’t it? WRONG!

Marylane was coming to the end of the second mitten.

“Wait until I’m finished to take a picture, Marsha. I’m almost there.”

Okay. I can be patient.

Deb has finished her sweater! Yay! She had her doubts, especially on the never ending sleeves, but it’s beautiful. And it fits perfectly! That’s always my concern – that I’ll spend months knitting an intricate, large project and then it won’t fit. Or it fits the way the pattern said it should, but  I hate it anyway. Believe me, I have a drawer full of failures to prove it. We can’t say that about Deb’s sweater, however. Bravo, Deb.

BEAUTY!

Francy’s scarf is growing and growing. The pattern intrigues me – I do have a copy – but it frightens me to think of maintaining a certain amount of tension while holding the colors in back. I picked it up and it’s quite heavy – all that sock yarn. Wonder how many socks you could make out of the yarn that will go into this scarf? All in all, I’d rather make a big scarf than lots of socks.

Quite a scarf.

Mary took a time out and joined Linda in looking through some pattern books. Baby patterns, of course. Linda will have her first grandchild this summer, so she is in baby mode, looking for patterns. Mary, the experienced grandma, is advising.

Whatdya think of this one, Mary?

Carol’s sweater is getting larger. It looks to me like she’s about ready to pick up and knit the sleeves. I’m so impressed with these knitters. Makes me want to knit something BIG. Actually, if I ever finish the Swirl Hat that’s taking me much longer than it should, I have a poncho pattern waiting in the wings.

Work it, girl.

Joan came to knit a row or two on her scarf. We know she’s just being sociable but we’re very glad to see her every week in the summer. So far, she’s knit a scarf per summer. Not bad for somebody who lives in Arizona and doesn’t even need a scarf.

Look at her, she’s wearing a fleece. Thinks Montana’s cold.

Michele accompanied her Centerpiece That is Taking over the World. Good god, it’s gigantic, it’s colossal. I think I’ll name it Godzilla. I asked her what it was going to be (when it grows up), and she shrugged.

“I don’t know. I’ll have to wait and see.”

Well, if she doesn’t know, I don’t know.

This Godzilla could be taken down by a Mothra.

We’ve come full circle to Marylane, who had just finished her mittens – tied the last knot and weaved in the final thread. She slipped them onto her hands for the big photo and said, “Shit. Shit. Shit.”

Oops. She made two right hands.

Now she just needs two lefties.

After we all picked ourselves up off the floor and made a valiant attempt NOT to laugh anymore (in vain), we went home. There was no way to top Marylane.

Next week, Memorial Day, we will NOT meet. We’ll come together again on June 2 at Linda’s house. In the meantime, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and remember our country’s brave men and women who fought to give the Republicans the right to take away their benefits.

We were all aglow with post-Mother’s Day love when we met at Leslie’s house in the SUNSHINE!!! Summer hasn’t died in the cold north,after all.

JOAN is back! Yay! And she’s working on a new project <drum roll> it’s a SCARF. It looks suspiciously like the other one she knit. If I hadn’t seen the first scarf auctioned off at the library fundraiser, I’d say it had risen from the dead. She swears, however, that this is a different one. Okay, Joanie, if you say so. Like the other, it’s a ‘knit-only’ scarf.

Welcome back, Joan! You were missed.

Marylane is nearly finished with her cabled mittens. I really should make some of these for my Christmas present bag. They’d go beautifully with a neck warmer.

Matches Marylane’s Hawaiian shirt – in color only.

Mary’s hooded baby blanket is nearly large enough for her. It’s an illusion, though, she was sitting down. She’s ready to add the hood and welcome her new grandbaby.

Mary’s waiting to wrap up a new baby!

My Swirl Hat is taking shape, literally. I can see the direction of the swirls and it’s such an easy pattern once you get the hang of it. It looks too small, but Michele told me that hers appeared that way while she was knitting it.Turns out large enough, though tight-fitting.

Can’t really see it very well, but the swirls are happenin’.

Speaking of Michele, her felted table runner is turning into a mega-cloth. We all think it might end up being a wall hanging! Whatever it turns out to be, it’s very pretty. Can’t wait to see what she does with it.

The circle widens.

Leslie is working on a doll for Mira. She’s up to her armpits, so to speak. She never imagined she’d be knitting dolls, horse heads or monkeys, but being a grandmother seems to change a woman’s perspective on small critters. Or, so I’ve observed.

Talk about somebody being all legs!

Linda showed us the (nearly) finished tutu in pink. It’s so cute. She has one in blue, too. Are you going for the green, Linda?

I’d love to see a little girl model this.

Carol started a…mitten?…sock? I can’t remember what she said. Sorry, Carol. I think she was afraid of making a mistake on her sweater. I know it’s very hard, during one of our meetings, to concentrate on a crucial part of a difficult pattern so we have simpler items to work on in a crowd of talking women. This must be one of Carol’s alternatives.

We all have those little mindless knits.

Francy is knitting a baby hat for a friend. It’s so tiny that we knew it was for a newborn.

Green hat in the sunshine.

That’s it, Castoffs. Spring has sprung and summer is right around the corner. Let’s see…is there another cliche I can use? Keep those needles blazing and I’ll see you next time at Marylane’s house.

The Castoffs met on a rainy/sunny day at Carol’s house. I had been waiting for a break in the bad weather to ride my bike, but I never seemed to make it. We were a smallish group but we had fun.

Leslie is knitting a very unique doll for her granddaughter. So far, she’s only done the leg,so she brought it and the pattern for us to see. She lost one of her DB needles, so she couldn’t knit while we were gathered. Hopefully it was at home.

She’s doing the red-headed doll on the right. The leg is right beside the photo.

Francy is going great-guns on the scarf for Betsy. It’s going to be about 72 inches long, so she figures she needs to do a foot a week on it before Betsy and the grandchildren get here in the summer. After the babies arrive, Francy will have better things to do than knit!

She knit a few more inches this week.

Carol has a friend with an old handknit sweater that’s starting to ravel at the cuffs and tail. Carol said she’d try to repair it, so we all gave her our opinion, but Francy actually helped. The rest of us gave moral support, right Carol? She ended up using a modified mattress stitch that seemed to be working.

Mending.

Carol’s sweater is growing more and more complete every time we see it. Beautiful!

This is gonna be great!

Marylane brought a sweater vest that she started a few months ago. I really like this chunky yarn and the pattern too.

Are you back there, Marylane?

Oh, there she is! And Francy, too.

I finally finished my neck-warmer and it turned out pretty well. I’ll pop it into my Christmas present bag and think about it in December.

The day was cool, but not cool enough for wool neck-warmers.

I started on a ‘swirl hat’ like Michele made. It’s an easy pattern for sock yarn.

This will probably go into my Christmas bag too.

Little kitty went from lap to lap, always mewing. He liked Marylane’s lap the best. I’m allergic and had to deny attention. Poor Little Kitty.

Waiting for a lap.

That’s all, folks. We will meet at Leslie’s house next time. We’re already looking forward to knitting in the park when the weather gets more cooperative. Aah! Knitting in the park. Can’t wait! See you next time, Castoffs, so keep those needles blazing and fingers crossed for summer.

Finally, spring is coming! We met on an encouragingly sunny day at Julie’s. Marylane is back from her travels in Arizona! Yippee! It was great to see her again. We missed you, Marylane. She said that she took a knitting project with her to Patagonia (Arizona, that is) but never even looked at it. I hear ya, sista. I’ve had some extremely well-traveled knitting that never saw the light of day. I have good intentions, but the journey gets in the way.

Marylane is thinking ahead (I guess) because she is knitting mittens with bold cables on the backs. She had a finished one in the bag and this nearly complete one.

Somebody’s getting some nice mittens.

Francy is a knittin’ machine lately. Remember that tiny inch of stash/sock yarn scarf that she started last week? Well, look at it now…

Francy’s smokin’!

This is going to be a beautiful scarf for her daughter and it seems to be going quicker than we all thought. Wow. It looks so intricate. Francy has also picked up a shawl that she started a long time ago. This is a pattern that Leslie brought to the group and its asymmetrical design is appealing. Francy says it’s boring to knit – well, after the other scarf, it would seem that way, wouldn’t it?

It may be boring to knit, but it’s beautiful to look at.

Linda’s finished tutu is so adorable that she’s knitting another one in pink. Maybe she’s looking forward to her own grandchild spinning in one.

Cute tutu. You can see the pink one taking shape in Linda’s lap.

The rest of us were plugging away on our works-in-progress. Michele’s table centerpiece is almost as big as the table now. We kidded her that it might end up as a rug. I can’t wait to see how it ends.

’round and round it goes. Where it’ll stop, only Michele knows.

I am finally nearly almost done with my neckwarmer. My schedule has opened up, so I should have time now to concentrate on a new project.

Almost ready to go into my Christmas present stash.

Julie is working on her brother’s throw. She leaves for Wisconsin soon – don’t know if the throw will be ready to give to her brother then, or not. Have a fun trip, Jules!

Soft throw.

Deb is still knitting the ‘endless sleeve’ of her sweater. Hang in there, Deb. It’ll be finished by summer – I just know it.

Can’t wait to see her model it.

Carol is fussing over another small error in her sweater. It’s under the arm, so she’s wondering if she can just ignore it and move on. We’ll know next week when we meet at her house.

A sweater to be proud of.

As I mentioned, we’ll meet at Carol’s house next time. Until then, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and don’t drown in the forecast rain and thunderstorms.

The Castoffs met at my house and when I opened the door, I was surprised that my Pasque flowers had bloomed. They had pushed up through the grass that I hadn’t pulled up, but spring has a way of bursting out whether you’re ready for it or not.

Pasque flowers, weeds and all.

For the most part, we were knitting our works-in-progress. Mary’s hooded blanket was growing bigger. She’s off to Denver soon to visit her grandson Moses, then later in the summer she’ll visit Moses’ new sister or brother.

Wow, she’s rounded the corner.

Carol’s sweater is growing, too. She came in worried about a mistake that she made and by the time everyone had put in their two cents’ worth, Carol was ripping out about two inches of the back. She’ll be happier though. Sometimes, even a small mistake will gnaw at a knitter and she’ll blurt it out to perfect strangers. What’s invisible to the stranger’s eye is a GLARING error to it’s creator.

X marks the scene of the crime – or in this case a pink stitch marker.

A casual passerby declares – “Gawd, what a dreadful mistake! What was that knitter thinking?”

Now Carol’s sweater will be perfection.

Yes, I’m still working on my neckwarmer!! I’ve had a full plate this month, so I’ve dawdled over this project. It is a pretty pattern, though.

You can see the pattern better.

Julie’s throw for her brother is growing, too. I’m more and more convinced to knit a sweater or poncho using this yarn. So soft!

It’s a lap full.

Michele’s table cover/centerpiece/thingy is growing too. I took a peek into her knitting bag to see the colors that are next up.

Table circle.

I think I need one of these bags.

Francy has started something new! Yay! It’s a very complicated-looking scarf using scraps of sock yarn. The pattern has an intarsia look knit in the round and joined at the ends so that the scarf is a tube. Sounds confusing? It is. But the design is beautiful.

The very beginning of Francy’s scarf. This one could take a while.

Linda loved Leslie’s tutu so much that she’s knitting one for her great-niece. She had a few questions, so Leslie whipped out her iPhone and got online to find the answers. I think they spent the whole meeting looking at Ravelry.com

Start of a darling tutu. I wish you could see the sparkles in the yarn!

Ain’t technology great?

That was it for the day. We meet at Julie’s next time and hopefully the weather will have settled down. We’ve had everything – rain, sun, snow, wind – you name it. I’m ready for some warm weather and sunshine. In the meantime, Castoffs, keep those needles blazing and pray for summer.