Quietish

I’ve gotten a fair bit of work done on Calla and I expect I’ll have her done sometime this week, especially since Justin is out of town again.

Calla is one of those projects that feel like it’s crawling even though it’s actually probably going pretty fast. With this finish being on the horizon and only having one other thing (simple sock) on the needles, I’ve spent some time wondering what I’ll work on next.

I have the yarn for Justin’s sweater, which I had decided I could put off til the end of Summer or so. I have the yarn for Eunny’s Deep V Vest but don’t particularly feel like working on something I won’t wear til October at the very earliest. I’ve also sort of been itching to start another big lace project. It’s been awhile and I love me some lace.

At the same time, I’m feeling a bit blah about starting anything major just now. It would be nice not to have a work-in-progress hanging over my head. I uploaded some of my completed cross stitch pictures (just the ones with dragons so far) to Flickr the other day to show the Leaky Crafty Witches, which has got me thinking about working on cross stitch things for awhile. Over the last month I have been putting stitches into a Gryffindor crest for the SAL Harry Potter Crafts has going, and I can’t even tell you how long it’s been since I picked up Fortunate Traveler. I’d love to make some headway on those.

I’ll get it figured out.

In the meantime, my WOMBAT score has arrived. I got an E, which is fine. I would be more interested in the scores if the quizzes required more actual knowledge than guesswork and speculation. Justin, however, got a P because he guessed at random through most of it the morning it came out while Mary and I were on our way to MuggleFest.

Staying in tonight to avoid the torrential rain. Sigh.

Like last year, the whole of Wednesday I was to be found at the Norman Library for MuggleFest.

While Kelly couldn’t make it this year (we missed you!), Mary and I got to watch hundreds of people stream through the library to celebrate the Harry Potter series. Always a very good thing. We were glad to help and hope that we contributed in causing the librarians and staff from having their heads exploded in the chaos.

Some of my favorite pics:

Finished socks! Really pretty and time consuming finished socks.

I call these Parvati.

Firstly, because Parvati’s Yule Ball robes were “shocking pink.” Secondly, and this is rather obscure I know, but I always seem to remember the moment in Goblet of Fire when McGonagall made Parvati remove an ornamental butterfly from her hair as they awaited the arrival of the other Triwizard schools. When I first saw the Gothic Spire pattern I saw butterflies within the design and my mind went from there.

Pattern:
Gothic Spire by Cookie A.
Yarn:
Ruby Socks that Rock by Blue Moon Fiber Arts. Leftover from Clapotis.
Comments:
Ditched one of the leg repeats. I’m short and my calves would be half covered by and utterly crammed into socks that long. Pretty though, no?

This morning the cover art for the deluxe edition of Deathly Hallows was debuted on NBC’s Today Show. Click here for article. While I’m excited to have seen it and thrilled with the design, it reminds me that I have intended to post about my plans for the Dealthy Hallows release and my personal spoiler policy.

We’re coming close to the release of both the last book and the new movie.

Many of you that come here are HP fandom folk, but I know that for many of you I’m like THE Harry Potter fan in your life. To be honest, on the days there are HP-related headlines, I get no less than several instant messages and a dozen emails. This of course is natural and I completely understand everyone’s excitement.

As the day of the book release in particular approaches though, I would like to respectfully ask for a little space. As completely dorky as it makes me sound, Harry Potter has been extremely special to me for some years now. I intend to spend the remaining time rereading the prior books yet again and thinking. There is so little time left before canon is done and set and whether it makes sense or not I would like to make sure I don’t miss the opportunity to finish forming my own conclusions about things.

I find myself almost totally uninterested in the theory and debate that is currently happening in the various communities. The most exciting thing about this fandom is that it has been the first one I’ve been involved in where the author in question was still active and writing. The books themselves are so deep and many-layered, but the status of “unfinished” has made the theorizing especially exciting. For now though, I have had my fill. I have felt for awhile like it is not really worth it to me to stress about what’s going to happen to who and why and how. The book is written and whatever happens, it’s going to be excellent and moving. I’d rather relax and enjoy my time with Harry as we know him til we know what happens next.

All that to say: Unless I’ve brought up XYZ HP headline, please assume that I either (a) know about it already or (b) don’t want to know. I haven’t completely decided which types of news I’m going to avoid, but from now until I meet up with Kelly in our undisclosed location to read through DH together I will be moving cautiously. I’d say that I’ll be glad to share my thoughts after the release, but judging by my general (non) response to Half-Blood Prince I can’t promise I’ll be very chatty about it.

Thank you so much in advance for your consideration, and for not laughing at me too much for how totally silly I sound. (Hm, the silliness is probably why I don’t actually talk too much about my love for Harry.)

While in Phoenix Rising, I handed out a few of these friendship bracelets. I hadn’t had time to make loads of them, but I did manage to friend a few special people anyway. I thought it’d be nice to share directions to make them.

A classic knotted friendship bracelet in colors and pattern inspired by the “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” style scarf.
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I’m home and alive and don’t even know where to begin telling how awesome it was.

But for now, here are my photos. CLICK
(Feel free to link them in your journal with the flickr code, but please ask me before loading them into a gallery other than flickr)

Edited to add: On Friday the Fangirls uploaded a ickle podcast.

Sorry about the red eye. I would totally fix that if I were at home, but you know. I’m in New Orleans.

Here’s Kelly and I before… some party. Can’t remember which. I guess we’ll call this both her and my portrait for this week.

I’ll be home tomorrow night. Then I will attempt to sleep for a few days. It won’t work, but it’s a nice thought.

I’m all packed and ready to head to New Orleans and Phoenix Rising where I will get to be with friends, be surrounded by HP goodness, and be extra nerdy. Hoorah!

I will be gone from tomorrow morning til Monday late. I’m not bringing the computer, but I might be able to sneak onto someone’s to check my email and post a bit. My SPS might be late. I’ll have my cell if I am needed.

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

a sockish homage to Fred and George Weasley

When I was presented with the challenge of making a pair of socks out of 2 different colors of sock yarn in single-sock denominations, the first thing that came to mind was stripes of course. My planning also quickly included a jogless-stripe and the switching of the main color in the second sock to make sure there was enough yarn for each sock. They’re knit from the same pattern but not quite identical, much like the Weasley twins.

This pattern was written in magic-loop method, but can easily be done with double-pointed needles if preferred.

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I don’t think I’ve posted about these at all. I’ve had these going for some weeks and didn’t even think to take progress pics. They were a casual project though, and were very pleasant when I sat down with them.

Pattern:
completely hacked up version of Retro Rib from Favorite Socks
Yarn:
Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in color 207 (with Addi Lace Needles, size 1)
Comments:
These socks came about when I happened to go into Gourmet Yarn to get some Addi Lace needles. I picked up a size 1 and since I didn’t have any yarn with me I grabbed the Cashmerino as well. Started a toe while I was there and liked the fabric so much that I kept it.
I had my usual debate about whether I should make plain socks and once again decided I needed a little something to keep me interested so I picked out the Retro Rib pattern. The balls of cashmerino are enough for a sock each but not really long socks so these are between anklet and “regular” sock length. It’s a good length and I’m happy.
Did I mention how soft and pettable these are? Very nice.

And for posterity, here’s my stack of finished ATCs for the swap with HP Crafters PR. If you’re in the swap, feel free to ignore this :)