Hoping this works

This may be the only thing that will work on me today- a big cafe au lait.

It was such a long night last night at work. Lots of hard patients. Plus I lost my friends grandmothers. It wasn't a surprise we were just waiting for her to go. I always hate when patients die, but somehow this one was a bigger bummer than most. I suppose it's because even though this is a small town I still don't know most people and I knew this one. It was a crazy night on top of that. I came home and passed out at one am, and got back up at five.

About ten minutes before it's time to leave for school my daughter informed me that her library book is due today and she can't find it. Do I know where it is? Nope, never even saw it. Needless to say the book is still MIA.

I am making a bit of progress on all my projects. I finished up a little something extra for one of my Hogwarts sock swap partners yesterday, hopefully I'll finish the something extra for my other partner today. Can't tell you what I made on the off chance that one of them might read this. Their packages keep getting closer to being ready to send off by owl.

I have a show to do on October 19 and 20. I need to get lots more bags made, again. I have three drying right now, but I still need to get another on needles fast. I'd like to have about a dozen new ones to take, along with some smaller knits like baby hats, gloves and things to take as well. Smaller things make better impulse buys. I'm not very successful so far in getting stuff done for this show, but I don't have long at all before it will be here so Hopefully that will get my fingers moving faster.

I need to be thinking about Christmas knitting too. I try to make most of my gifts or at least find something handmade on etsy. We have to support each other you know.

I missed the Loopy Ewe sneak up last night. Bummer. It's not like I'm lacking sock yarn, but I didn't even get to see any of the new stuff and lust after it.

OK- enough rambling...

What happens to things!

I wish I knew where all my stuff disappears to, and who breaks the rest of it for that matter. My little knitting needle sizer thingy that also measures swatches for gauge (yup that's the technical term) went missing for days. Magically it reappeared- broken! I had three row counters. Just the little plastic ones on a plastic loop that keep track of your rows when you turn the dials to change the numbers. Two are gone. Yes, I need them all. I probably need more since I'm always knitting half a dozen things at once! I wish I had them back. Who to blame...the kids, the nice cat- aka the Queen, or the evil kitty Mushu...

Very Bright Socks

OK, after about four days of being sick I'm finally about 2/3 of the way to feeling human again. Yay! I spent yesterday watching football, of course, and knitting. I got some Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome (yep all one word and it's new) in Java from The Loopy Ewe. I decided to design a new sock pattern for it. You can't see it because I'm not done. I'm on try number four- what ever happened to that whole third time's the charm thing? I may have been more successful if I'd been paying closer attention and not cursing football referees...

I do have one project finished! I had some Ginny Weasley yarn from MacKintosh Yarns and then Anna designed a Ginny sock pattern, so the Ginny socks were born. I didn't follow her pattern exactly, but I did take the general idea and turn it into nearly the same socks. They were for my daughter who thinks I have been neglecting her by not knitting her socks. I think they turned out well, and since they're so bright maybe she won't lose them! Here they are modeled by her and her skinny legs and big feet:

Quidditch

For HSKS3 we are playing Quiditch to earn house points- Gryffindor in my case. Part of Quidditch is answering these questions and finding pictures of the characters listed below. So here is my shot at it. Go Gryffindor!

Who is the Hogwarts teacher that Voldermort performed the Avada Kedavra curse on in Deathly Hallows?

a. Mad Eye Moody

b. Charity Burbage

c. Irma Pince

d. Quirenius Quirrell



2. Who replaces the Muggles studies teacher in Deathly Hallows?

a. Charity Burbage

b. Irma Pince

c. Alecto Carrow

d. Dilys Dirwent



3. When Harry meets Mr. Olivander for the first time, which wand law is introduced?

a. Wands cannot be shared

.b. Spells can be worked with any want.

c. The wand chooses the wizard.

d. Only one wand will work properly for a wizard.



4. According to Mr. Ollivander, what is not necessary to take true possession of another wizard's wand?

a. to kill the owner

b. one cannot take possession of another wizard's wand

c. to force the wand away from it's owner

d. to ask the owner politely



5. If you know anything about Harry Potter, you will know that Harry's Patronus is a stag. But what is his best friend Ron Weasley's Patronus?

a. Otter

b. Owl

c. Weasel

d. Jack Russell Terrier



6. Now for the third member of the trio. What form does Hermione Granger's Patronus take?

a. Otter

b. Kneazle
c. Tabby Cat

d. Beaver



7. What did Mrs. Weasley make to eat the first night that Harry arrived at Grimmauld Place?

a. Stew

b. Goulash

c. Roast beef

d. Ham and chicken pie



8. In book 5, at the start of term feast, what is Ron eating when trying to talk to Nearly Headless Nick?

a. Treacle tart

b. Pork chop

c. Roast potato

d. Cottage pie



9. A half-giant called Rubeus Hagrid takes you to Diagon Alley for the first time. To get there, you go into the courtyard of a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. There, Hagrid taps a certain brick on the courtyard wall three times with his pink umbrella, revealing the entrance to Diagon Alley. As he decides which brick to tap, he mutters instructions to himself. What instructions does he mutter?

a. Third brick from the left above the dustbin
b. ‘Three up... two across
c. Three down ... four across
d. Four up ... three across



10. The first place you go in Diagon Alley is Gringotts bank, where you can withdraw money from your vault and Hagrid can withdraw a top-secret package from Vault No. 713 on Dumbledore’s orders. On the second set of doors leading into the bank you notice a poem written. These are the first two lines:Enter, stranger, but take heed of what awaits the sin of greed,What is the next line?

a. For you’ll pay dearly in your turn

b. So if you seek beneath our floors

c. Thief, you are being warned, beware

d. ‘For those who take, but do not earn




Picture Scavenger HuntYou may either post these pictures on your blog OR simply link to them. Rolanda Hooch Firenze Argus Filch Moaning Myrtle Colin Creevey
I linked to the ones I found, on some of the pages you'll have to scroll down a bit.

Hope I got it right, I did fix some of the spelling errors from the original quiz that transfered over when I pasted the quiz to my bolg. You should all be impressed I did this at all because I'm still sick!

I sooo didn't get my wish

I don't know why, maybe the hospital gods are unhappy with me. I got called in to work last night, my night off, 30 minutes before I had to leave to get there on time. So much for my wish. The ambulance didn't behave either like I wanted them to. Another crazy night, weird stuff came in too. Tonight is my night to work again, I'm not going to hope it's better. Maybe if I want it to be worse it will get confused and get better.

Yesterday I had two sick kids. This morning I have three sick kids, a sick husband, and a sick me. I hate summer (ish) colds!

On the bright side the Loopy Ewe did a sneak up yesterday that I managed to catch as it was happening. I actually got to watch all the new yarn come up! I don't need another inch of sock yarn of course, but I broke down when I saw all the Wollmeise. I wanted to see what all the fuss is about since the sock knitting addicts out there can't seem to get enough of it. I tried to buy three different colors before I got one that hadn't sold out already. That stuff must have been flying off the shelves- well you know what I mean! So I can't wait to get it, I hope it's worth the extra $ on the credit card. That's order number three from the Loopy Ewe, so I'm on my way to being a Loopy Groupie! I think it was dangerous for me to find Sheri and her sock knitters heaven...

Very little

I'm pleased to report that it's still cold enough for hand knit socks! For both of my Hogwarts swap partners- your things are coming together nicely and I keep finding more goodies to add.
I ran my butt off at work last night, so today my eyes are burning and I'm tired.
See- very little to say! Here's to not getting called in to work tonight (I hope) the ambulances staying away if I do have to go, and maybe a little knitting time tonight!

Knit Sock Weather

OK, I suppose it feels like fall now. Football season has officially started, it's dark when I get up in the morning (if when I get up counts as morning yet), it was 50 degrees here yesterday and it poured. 50 isn't bad, right? Two days ago it was over 90. The best part of it getting cooler outside is that I can break out my knit socks again. Yesterday and today I put on pairs that hadn't even been worn yet, well except for trying them on. I can't believe I only finished two pairs since last winter! Too many UFO's hanging about my house. So, since I have nothing better to post I will show you my toasty warm feet.

I wore these yesterday. They are just plain stockinette because I was too excited to try the yarn to find the perfect pattern for it. They are knit in Hedwig from Sunshine Yarns, which can of course be found on etsy.com. Note the Harry Potter connection- Hedwig- I really do have a problem...

These lovely socks are keeping my toes warm today, although I will have to take them off to go to work. My feet would get too hot running around in them all night at the hospital, plus I wouldn't want to risk defiling them with blood or other bodily fluids I run into! I don't remember what exact pattern these are, but I know it came from Sensational Knit Socks. It looks nice but they took FOREVER to knit because I got so bored with the pattern. I used Sublime from Fearless Fibers, love the yarn. If you can't figure out where it came from you haven't been paying attention ;)

That's it. I have a pile of stuff to do today, so I'm off to try and get some of it done!

Hogwarts Homework

As you know I have both a Harry Potter problem and a sock knitting problem. So I am in two swaps at the moment involving socks and Harry Potter. Yesterdays post was for one swap today's is for another. I must answer the following questions and let a prefect know when I've done it.



What type of pet do you choose as your companion at Hogwarts?



An owl would be rather useful, but I could always use a school owl... So I think a cat because it would be better company than an owl. A very smart cat like Crookshanks of course.



While shopping in Hogsmeade you stop by Honeydukes for some sweets. What treats do you purchase for yourself?



Their best chocolate, of course! Lots of it so I don't run out before the next Hogsmeade weekend.



A potion you are preparing needs an ingredient available only at muggle shops. You don't want to stand out in your wizards robes, so you resort to traditional muggle clothing. Describe your outfit in detail.



I suppose I would wear something very much like I did before attending Hogwarts, being Muggle born and all. Faded and well worn Levi's 501's, fitted V-neck t-shirt probably black, a pair of Converse All Stars. I might bring a hooded sweatshirt along if it's cold out.



What is your favorite subject to study at Hogwarts and why?



Charms or Transfiguration- both would be fun and terribly useful. I think becoming an animagus would be a great challenge!



Likewise, what subject is your least favorite and why?



I imagine I would have a have a hard time with Divination. Mostly because pleasing Professor Trelawney would be difficult- she would know if I was making it up. Perhaps I would drop it later in my studies!



Back to the potion you were shopping for ingredients for, what type of potion are you making, what color is it, what are the ingredients, and precisely what does the potion do?




An Invisibility potion- since we can't all have cloaks. It is a different color to each person who looks at it. It's silvery for me. Some of the ingredients: chameleon blood, Rowan tree bark, light of the full moon, vanilla extract (from the Muggle shop), jewel beetle wings- I would tell you the rest but it's not perfected yet and I don't want to be responsible for any accidental poisonings. It takes precisely 27 days to make and must be stored in a cobalt blue glass bottle. It gives who ever takes it the ability to blend with their surroundings so perfectly as to become invisible, like a chameleon but better.

Gryffindor Trivia

Well, for HSKS3 the Gryffindor prefect sent us all a crossword puzzle to answer. I emailed my answers to her just like I'm supposed to. In order to complete my homework, I must post what I thought was the most difficult question. If 11 across- which had no clue- doesn't count, then my answer would have to be 5 down. I really had to think about that one, and then I couldn't believe I didn't get it right away! Can't tell what it is or that would give away the answer! The easiest, even though no one asked me, was 9 down because the answer to that question makes EVERYTHING better- LOL.
I've already done a bit of shopping for the person I get to spoil for this swap, but I'm still trying to think of other Harry-ish things to send along by owl post.