Quietish

The Remus Lupins and the Whomping Willows played Oklahoma City this weekend, so obviously we had to go. Ginny and the Heartbreakers, a local band, also played. Although it threatened to rain, the outdoor concert thing was nice because there wasn’t any of that reserving-of-tickets anxiety going on.

I always love chatting with the wizard rockers, particularly because I know that we’re all fans with our own niche. So I get all mushy with the I-love-this-fandom stuff. And to be completely dorky, I will point out that Alex is still wearing the friendship bracelet I gave him in May. He says that it’s been just the right accessory for this Summer of Potter and that it will be perfect when it eventually falls off probably at the end of all the touring and HP events.

I am SO looking forward to Wrockstock!

Click for the rest of the pics

SPS… actually on Sunday!

The fam and I went to an outdoor concert this evening. Care to guess who played?
:D :D :D

The socks are finished, and so I cast a Dark Mark into the sky. Socks have been finished here. Or something.

Meet Barty Jr.

Pattern:
Meh. 2×2 rib over about a million stitches on 2mm needles.
Yarn:
Scouts Swag Death Eaters colorway, a gift from Julie.
Comments:
The combination of the simple pattern, my insane gauge, and other interesting things to work on made these the Socks that Never End. They feel great, though. I like them. They’re very thick, as the yarn is a bit thicker than probably should be knit on 2mm. needles.

I had a bit of a hard time naming these socks. I obviously felt that they should be named after a Death Eater, but I kept finding interesting aspects to other DE’s personalities that should be represented in their socks. Ultimately these were named after Crouch because he cast the first appearance of Morsemordre in the books.

A conversation over lunch today.

Cian: Dad, can you make me a hotdog?
Justin: Poof! You’re a hotdog.
Cian: You can’t use magic, you don’t have a magic wand!
Rose: Daddy has a magic wand. Didn’t you know? (to Justin) Show him.
Justin: (gets wand) Poof! You’re a hotdog!
Cian: That’s not a magic wand. That’s a knitting needle.

Here is a little something I’ve been working on for the last few weeks. I started my first Gryffindor bag in response to Norah Gaughan’s Intricate Stag Bag, which is awesome but constructed in an odd way. Once I got thinking about doing the whole thing in the round, I then began to feel like I should use my own fair isle design as well.

Then I of course felt like I should share the finished pattern with everyone else.

(Check back at this page for errata and updates.)
Edit 08.26.07: Added circular needle length.

Pattern:
(more…)

I remember thinking, when Sockapalooza started up this year, that it was SUCH a long time to wait to finish and mail the socks. I finished mine awhile back, put them aside, and went about my business. Now suddenly, the mail date has crept upon me.

Here’s what I’m mailing off this afternooon:

I saw my pal likes Harry Potter at least a little bit, and packed accordingly. Sockapalooza is always exciting!

to Mr. Harry Potter and his author, J. K. Rowling, my favorite celebrities.

Cut for slight spoilerage. Don’t click if you haven’t read.
(more…)

(Under an invisibility cloak.)

Sorry it’s been so long. I’ve needed the quiet time. I may require more, but I will at least be resuming blog posts. (Please, no book spoilers in the comments.)

Stay tuned for a new Potter-inspired knit pattern this week, at the very least.

(SPS info)

One last SPS before Deathly Hallows.

And with that, I shall now sign off and avoid the internet (minus my email that I’m checking carefully and parts of Ravelry… okay, and maybe CuteOverload) until at least a week from now.

See ya!

My whole weekend, yesterday, and today, have been full of completely random things to keep me occupied. I can detect no clear theme. I haven’t yet managed to complete the little project I was working on with Luna (heh, right) but got busy with a few other things.

First, I dug out Fortunate Traveler and pulled it out of the Q-Snaps it has been unwisely confined to for months and months. It is spending some time relaxing and I plan to make that my project for the evenings indefinitely. Here’s a pic, because it’s actually had some change since the last pic I posted.

Hopefully this means I’ll have some interesting content for my cross stitching friends, if any indeed have stuck around. I’ve been a neglectful and boring stitcher, it’s true. Well here, I’ll show you my little stitched Gryffindor crest to help make up for it.

I got the pattern from the Harry Potter Crafts yahoo group, where they are still currently holding a bit of a stitchalong.

By the way, have you noticed that it’s July? This means that we have LESS THAN 3 WEEKS ’til the release of Deathly Hallows, and even less time ’til the release of the Order of the Phoenix movie. As scary as that thought is, I’d like to point out that there is still time to do a little HP crafting. Please check out the above-mentioned yahoo group, as it is a great place for ideas, encouragement, and fun chat. Don’t forget the Leaky Crafts section for ideas, or the Crafts forum on the Leaky Lounge either. Eeeeeee, Harry!

In a spectacular show of just how short my useful but unstable ability to knit one thing at a time lasts, I managed to cast on 2 shawls. One is very simple and is out of my cone of Gourmet Yarn laceweight (no pic yet, it really is very plain and simple.) The other is for the Mystery Stole 3 knitalong.

I am still snickering every time I think about having cast on the Mystery Stole because up until Sunday I hadn’t once given it a thought. I wasn’t planning on starting anything new for awhile, you see. But then I came across someone’s progress picture on Ravelry, which led me to look at about 100 other progress pictures (side note: Mystery Stole 3 has surpassed Monkey has the top pattern there. Amazing), and before I knew what I was doing it was the wee hours of Monday morning and I was casting on the first “clue.” I’ve finished that part and now await Friday morning and the second clue. (Psst, you can sign up for that yahoo list until the 6th)

Ok, that’s enough for now. I’m off to find something to do with myself. I’m sure inspiration will randomly strike.