Owl Landing!

Check out all the cool stuff I got from my HSS3 partner Mafalda Bagman. Here are shots of the whole package and my new socks. I wrote more about it on my character blog.

Harry Potter Awesomeness

Check out what my HSKS4 partner Olive Bladvak sent me by Owl Post:

I'd tell you what it all is and all about the awesomeness that I received, but I did that already on my Hogwarts character blog. So go on over there and read all about it. Thanks Olive, you rock!!!

A Bunch Of Stuff

I know it's been a while since I've posted, let alone with pictures. Now I have pictures, well as many as I could take before my camera batteries died. So I've been knitting and signing myself up for more swaps. I can't help it. Plus I added a picture of the sock pattern I sold since it's available now!

Anyone who did HSKS3 should get their little wand wielding fingers over to the HSKS4 site and get signed up for this round. I just sent my information to the Headmistress this morning. Only 100 people get to join- hopefully some of my pals from last time will get in on it again! If you like knitting, swaps, and Harry Potter then this swap is loads of fun and you should join! I'm a Gryffindor again for this one. We're supposed to get house points for linking to the site with the logo/picture you see above. I, however am not cool enough to figure out precisely how one does that. So I posted the picture and links anyway, even though it probably won't count. Sorry Gryffindors!

I sort of improvised the pattern for these little Mary Jane booties for my little sisters baby. She's due in February, but her shower is Saturday. No baby with a knitting aunt can get away without wearing hand knits!

Vine lace hat for my sisters baby, to go with the little booties. Um, the baby is supposed to be a girl by the way...

I finished the blanket for my sisters baby too. It's a feather and fan pattern from a booklet for Encore baby blankets. I used Caron Simply Soft because I like it for babies. I used one strand of off white and two of soft pink held together throughout. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Plus I got it done in time for her shower this Saturday.

A close up detail of the stitch pattern on the blanket.

I started on the blanket for my other little sisters baby yesterday. This one's due in February too. So far so good. Too many babies...

Remember a while back when I said I sold a sock pattern, well here it is. They're called Library Socks and the pattern was written for Cherry Tree Hill. It's not for sale everywhere yet, but here's a link to where it is. I imagine it will be up on Cherry Tree Hills site soon. Maybe it will even be up on the Loopy Ewe since she carries Cherry Tree Hill yarns and patterns. The detail is hard to see in the picture, I think because the yarn is so dark, but it has cables and bobbles and all sorts of fun things to knit into them.

I was going to post pictures of the gift my awesome husband made me for Christmas, but that will have to wait for the camera batteries to charge. Maybe I'll have some finished socks to show you too. I have four pairs on needles, I'm even on the second sock on two pairs! I really have to get knitting on them because I have to knit my Loopy Swap partners gift too. I have the yarn narrowed down to two, but I have no idea what to knit for her. I want to do the perfect thing even though I know that's not going to happen!

Merlins Beard!

My package came yesterday from my Hogwarts Sock Swap 2 partner Vicky. Wow! She completely spoiled me- more than spoiled me. I didn't manage to get a before photo, but I have lots of pictures of what was in all the little packages she tucked into the box. Being the thoughtful person that she is she even sent along a spell she got from the Weasley twins and treats for the three underage wizards in my house so that I could open all my things in peace! Check all this out:
This is the whole lot of it. I told you I got spoiled! The box wrapped in white with the card in front of it is one of the spells for underage wizards, I managed a photo since one of them was still at school at the time. It was like Christmas for a knitting Harry Potter geek! I had a hard time getting everything into the picture and had to have my husband do it because he is much taller and could get a better view of the whole thing.

Vicky had a good time at Honeydukes. (See the bag?) Exploding BonBons, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, a packet of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and four Chocolate Frogs. I've never seen some of these things before. She must have visited a Muggle sweet shop as well, because there were two tins of Choxie chocolates- dark chocolate mints and dark chocolate espresso beans. I have never tried these before either, but can't wait- I heard they are quite good! The spell for underage wizards presented them with a very cool box of candies from the movie Ratatouille (I've probably spelled it wrong) which the little wizards snapped right up and enjoyed. They loved it! Also you will see some cool Harry Potter pens and Harry Potter post it notes, yay!

Now for the knitting stuff. A set of stitch markers in Ravenclaw colors that she made herself, a set of five Leprechaun double pointed needles in size 1 (2.25mm), a new needle sizer (she must have read that I broke mine). There is a bookmark she knit in Gryffindor colors that came in its own trunk! Two skeins of Knit Picks Essential in Shoreline Twist (I love Knit Picks!) great Ravenclaw colors. As if that wasn't enough Vicky sent me two skeins of Maizy from Crystal Palace in the Night Shades colorway. I can't wait to try it out. Maizy yarn is 82% corn fiber! Very ironic since the Muggle village I live in is in the middle of nowhere Nebraska and I am surrounded by corn. Well, not now since it's all harvested... See the label on my socks? There is the Ravenclaw crest on it next to Stacks Socks, and it says "Bookish Ravenclaw, up all night reading for class at least have warm feet" The Hufflepuff crest is on the back, since Vicky is a Hufflepuff, and next to it is "Knit industriously for Minerva Crookshanks by Vicky Bladvak"

Here's the best part- socks! They are a really nice Ravenclaw blue and are nice and soft. Not to mention that they are flawlessly knitted. They fit perfectly too. I love them- thank you Vicky!

Another view.

Vicky, thank you so much for spoiling me in this swap. Everything you did was so thoughtful and creative. Treats for the little wizards, everything Harry Potter themed and so perfect and well done. This has been a great swap.

Thank you Vicky!!!!!!!!!

Julianne Rocks!

Just so you know this is quite a long post because there are a lot of pictures!

I had an Owl Post delivery on Friday. My HSKS 3 pal Julianne completely spoiled me! It was like having Christmas come early- thanks a bunch Julianne! As excited as I was, I managed to contain myself enough to take pictures. So here are the package contents before I opened them:
Just look at the big pile of packages all carefully wrapped in Gryffindor house colors. I tried to read the note that came with it, but the note told me not to. I had to open presents first- no problem! I knew I was spoiled as soon as I opened the box, but I had no idea how much until I opened each gift.

Look at all the awesome Harry Potter and Knitting stuff she sent me! What more could a Harry Potter loving knitting freak possibly want? Nothing but Molly Weasleys knitting skills. Thank you Juli, I'm in love with it all! I know there's a lot in that picture, so I took more pictures with all that loot split up for you. First, the Harry stuff:

Yay for candy! There is a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, they really do mean every flavor. A package of Blood Pops, which are thankfully strawberry flavored not blood flavored. A chocolate frog too- I haven't eaten it yet so I still don't know which Wizard Card is inside. Maybe Dumbledore... As if the candy wasn't enough, she also sent me a pad of Harry paper, I've never even seen such a thing before. That's a small town for you. On top of all that I also am the proud owner of an awesome Harry Potter bookmark that happened to come with a rather cool poster. I told you, spoiled. A lot. That's not even the fibery knitting stuff, wait till you see it:

It's like knitters gold! A set of five 5" size 1 Rosewood Sock Stix by lantern Moon, which came in their own little bag. They're beautiful, I've always wanted to try them but never dreamed I would actually own a pair. The yarn, oh my goodness. It's a skein of All Things Heather hand dyed superwash sock yarn in Phoenix. I had my eye on just this yarn at the Loopy Ewe. How perfect is this yarn for a Gryffindor? Great name for the colorway too. I might have to make Fawkes socks out of it, using my new needles of course. Should I decide that Fawkes is not the right pattern for this yarn she gave me lots of new pattern choices:

Oh yeah, and entire new sock book. Lots of great patterns, I have the first one I want to knit narrowed down to two. Decisions, decisions. Then there are the handmade Gryffindor stitch markers. A set of five, with one special to mark the begining of a row, just the right size for sock knitting. I'm pretty sure she made them herself. Talented girl that she is. Did you notice that cute little sheep up there? I love him. He has moved into his new home with three other sheep- he's the only white one, plus a llama, and an alpaca. They all live close to my yarn. As if Juli hadn't shown enough talent and generosity, there's more:

Two shots of the perfect sock knitting bag. She made this herself too. Great Gryffindor colors and a brilliant way to carry it and keep it closed. I love it, a lot.

So once again Julianne- Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love everything! I could not have asked for a better swap pal. Thanks for making it fun for me.

The Muggle post man had a package for me too. My eagerly awaited order from the Loopy Ewe I had my very first skein of Dream in Color. It's lovely:

So on the left is the Wollmeise I ordered before in Tiefer See which translates to Deep Lake. The colors don't show up the greatest, but it's yummy. The other skein is the Dream in Color in Night Watch. Oh how I wish I could be knitting socks right now!

I do have some FOs to show:

A pair of fingerless gloves I designed myself. I used Plymouth Boku. The other glove is striped differently due to the way the yarn is dyed. I like them. Think I'll save them for that rapidly approaching October 19th show. In my last Loopy Ewe order my extra treat was a little red sock kit. I knit that up too, it turned out really cute. I forgot to take a picture so you can't see it.

Told you it was a looong post. I'm finally done now. Thanks again Julianne! I hope the person who has you is as good to you as you were to me.

HSKS 3 Questions

I got my first email from the person who has me for the swap, and have emailed back and forth with my person as well. The person who got me had a list of questions for me, and then these questions got posted on the blog. I'll just answer both!

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?



Gryffindor


2. List your favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length. Or would you prefer circulars?



Brittany, Takumi bamboo, Comfort Zone- all dpns. I generally use the 6 or 7 inch ones and knit with size 1 or 2, although I have needed to go up to 3 before.


3. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?



Sure, I'm sure there are lots I've never tried or heard of!


4. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?



Just ignore that one since I'm Gryffindor!





5. Do you have any allergies?



Not to pets or fiber, but I break out from a lot of lotions, soaps, candles, and other things that smell.



6. If you are swapping scarves - what is your desired length for the pattern? This will help your partner find the pattern that is just right for you and buy yarn accordingly.



Socks for me!


I think everyone in on the swap is really excited about it judging by the blog posts, so this should be lots of fun. Gryffindor has won the House Cup the last two "years" so all of us first year Gryffindors have a lot to live up to! I hope I'm good at Quidditch...


Other than swaps what am I up to? I have the toe to finish on the first Burrow sock, I've done the cuff and a bit of the leg on the Hermione socks and I have the first Ginny sock nearly done too. Right now I have sock knitting ADD, so many new yarns and pattern ideas. I'm going to have to finish a few pairs because I'm using all my dpns now! I really should get to working on more bags for the show I have in October. I think I got a bit burned out on them trying to get all those gallery bags done. Which reminds me I need to be sure they made it there alright!