Back to the world of yarn...

I have been neglecting my crafting sorely as of late! Between travel and meetings at A's school and reading and keeping house, the needles and hooks have been too far distant from my fingers. I didn't even finish the third Ravenclaw hat in time for the visit to Platform 9 3/4 like I had planned to, months in advance! As it was, Kristin had to borrow Misha's for this photo:

(PHOTO TAKEN BY MISHA)

KRISTIN AT PLATFORM 9 3/4

You can tell that it doesn't fit her head as it should, seeing as how I knit different sizes for Kristin and Misha. The group picture of us was supposed to have all 3 of us wearing the hats, but alas, only two had been completed. So that was the number 1 priority on my Knit List upon returning from England. I am happy to say that as of last night (since I've done next to no crafting at all since getting back before yesterday!), it is complete!

THE COMPLETED HAT TRIO!

Next up is finishing this soaker/skirty that I've been commissioned to make that stalled out with the rest of the crafting freeze...

Also, while I am going to be out again this weekend (Belgium on Saturday and down at Ramstein on Sunday!), I still have a craft fair on base to prepare for! It's less than a week and a half away, and fast approaching!

Portobello Road, Portobello Road

First off...I can't believe I forgot to put this photo in the previous post...(Oh wait, yes I can...there were so many I did put in!) This was at the Tate Modern, and yes, ladies and gentlemen that are art buffs...this is Monet's Water Lilies painting!

(PHOTO TAKEN BY MISHA)

WATER LILIES

After all the walking that we did on Friday, I'm pretty sure we all slept quite soundly! Saturday started off with heading out to King's Cross Station and meeting Misha's friend, Heather. And yes, folks, that means I got to go and see....

PLATFORM 9 3/4 AT KING'S CROSS STATION, LONDON

As you've no doubt noticed from the reflection on the wall, this was a panel with the printing of a stone wall, as it was laid over the white that was covering the actual pillar (and it was between platforms 8 and 9, not 9 and 10! FAIL!) due to some construction or restoration or something.  But that didn't stop me from having fun!!! (Note: The Striped hats worn in the following pictures were hand made by me, and for the sole purpose of having Ravenclaw hats at Platform 9 3/4! Because that's how nerdy I am. ;) )

(PHOTO TAKEN BY MISHA OAKES)

ME HAVING FUN AT KING'S CROSS, PLATFORM 9 3/4

(PHOTO TAKEN BY MISHA)

KRISTIN AT PLATFORM 9 3/4 

(PHOTO TAKEN BY MISHA)

ME GETTING CAUGHT GOING THROUGH THE BARRIER TO PLATFORM 9 3/4

 (L TO R) ME, KRISTIN AND MISHA AT PLATFORM 9 3/4

I think we spent something like an hour (at the least!) there, goofing around and taking pictures. It was actually a fairly popular spot! We'd do a couple of poses, let other people in to do their thing, take some more pictures, step back and give someone else a turn...I had a blast, and I'm sure that Misha got a lot of amusement in seeing Kristin and myself behave like little kids (and take photographic evidence of such behavior)! 

After we met up with Heather (which was delayed by about 30 minutes, since the train she usually takes to King's Cross wasn't operating, so she had to take a bus to a different train station to take a different line...you get the idea. lol), we went back on the Underground and headed over to none other than the market at Portobello Road!

 RANDOM WALL MURAL THAT CAUGHT MY EYE ON OUR WALK TO PORTOBELLO ROAD

 PORTOBELLO ROAD STREET SIGN

Misha and Kristin were both, I think, on the same mission of finding the perfect hat (they both found fascinators, each to their own liking), and I browsed the hats, but as none of them jumped out at me and screamed "I'M THE ONE YOU WANT! BUY ME!" I settled with getting this gorgeous watch on a chain to be worn around my neck. (And the length of the chain is perfect!)

MY PORTOBELLO ROAD STREET MARKET FIND

We weren't able to go the whole length of the road, as we had to turn back and get ready for Wicked, but what we did see (which was cram-packed with people!), we found no bookstores or yarn/wool shops. There were a lot of vintage, accessory and dish shops, though! Sadly, the teapots were out of my price range (which was disappointing, as I really wanted a genuine British tea set), but in one of the accessory shops, I got some ideas for my own etsy store! And then, it was time for the entire purpose of our trip.....

TO BE CONTINUED....

Just keep knitting, just keep knitting....

Wow! Last week was busy!!! We went down to Ramstein (about an hour's drive away) on Tuesday for The Instigator's martial arts class, and again on Thursday so he could pay the fees to attend a seminar (and we then had some good family time together...it was nice!), and then again on Saturday so he could attend a private lesson in preparation for said seminar and the Misha's older son's birthday party! We ended up staying overnight, too! That's a lot for someone that doesn't get to leave the house much...

Friday I finished the hooded scarf (which is going to be sent out this week):

Then while at Luc's bday party, I had to have something to keep me from fidgeting, so I started in on the trio of hats for the trip to London!

I'm making one for Misha, one for Kristin, and one for myself. :D I love this pattern, because it can be worn with the brim folded up, beanie style, or it can be worn tall, like in the picture, and look like a wizard's/witch's hat! (And the Ravenclaw colors are no coincidence...we're going to wear them when we go to Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross!)

So I've got one down and two to go! But then, Ann started a new KAL! (She's the one that designed those amazing scarves I previously made.) This is a baby pattern, and so I'm making a romper/onesie and giving it to a friend from high school that is due in July! I also went a little overboard and planned quite the gift box...LOL But for now, I have finished the first leg (pictured below) and am part way into the second leg. The next pattern release will be this weekend! :D

I am super excited that HSKS is about to start back up! (It's a Harry-Potter themed crafting swap.) I love that group. In fact, it's because of that group I was introduced to Ann's designs and it was on a meet-up in Scotland for that swap that led me to personally make her acquaintance (and later on visit her and stay at her house to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on opening weekend)! And as if that wasn't enough, that group helped me through both times my husband deployed while we were living in Italy. it gave me something to focus on and keep up with, and it helped the time fly right by! I've actually made a quite a few friends through that swap. :) I am grateful for each one of them! (A pair of them even turned me onto  the awesomeness that is Nathan Fillion...and Joss Whedon!)

Also, I made my first Etsy sale back on the 3rd! :D That was very exciting! So these earrings are no longer available:

(Why, yes, I am a bit Potter-obsessed...LOL) I'm thinking, though, of switching to Artfire...I had a friend suggest Artfire instead, but I insisted on testing the Etsy waters first...lol We'll see...


I still haven't finished that blue and green blanket, as I've been drawn to the needles as opposed to the hook lately, though I have gotten 2 rows further into the last 10-ish rows. And I still have not yet stitched the ribbon in place on the baby blanket for another high school friend...her daughter was born in November! (D'oh!) But I'd better get back to the crafting "grindstone" if I hope to get any of this done!

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Listening to: Katharine McPhee - Had It All
http://foxytunes.com/artist/katharine+mcphee/track/had+it+all

Friday Fill-In....on Sunday!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. This was supposed to be posted on Friday. Unfortunately, I was far too busy on Friday moving my LiveJournal blog to here, so I didn't get around to it...and then yesterday I spent aaaaaaaaaaaaall day down at Ramstein & hanging out with "Misha" (we got to go see Harry Potter at the theater there! WOO-HOO!), so today I spent catching up on all the dishes and vacuuming and laundry that I neglected over the past few days (and with 3 males in this house, it adds up fast!). So now....without further ado....I give you my Friday Fill-In!

1. If you were a famous movie star, what types of movies would you star in? Musicals! I LOOOOOOOOOVE musicals!!!
   
2. What is a vacation you would like to take if money were no object? A decent tour of Europe; one where I could actually take the time to see what all I wanted to see on my own timetable instead of one from a tour group that rushes you through everything
   
3. Did you have pets growing up? We had a German Shepherd/Keshond mix when I was 6, but he had to be put down about 6 years after we got him, and then my brother got a dog when I was 14 or 15, but he was only around for about 2-3 years (if I recall correctly). When I lived with my BFF, there were pets EVERYWHERE, but none were mine
   
4. What do you do for exercise? Not near as much as I should, though I do love to do Pilates! Pilates and aerobic dancing workouts are my favorite :)
   
5. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received as a MilSpouse? Hmmm...I'm not really sure...
   

Advanced Potion Making

Looking back at the kit I made for Miss Clovenhoof, my favorite item of the entire thing is, hands down, the book. In fact, that book may just be the coolest thing I've ever made. In the history of ever!

A friend asked me which tutorial I used (since she was so impressed with the final result...as was I!), and I started with using a tutorial, but ended up kind of doing my own thing. LOL I promised her I'd post it here on my blog, but I've realized I should have more pictures for it. (Well, mostly for my sake, as I'm a picture fiend...LOL) So I think I'll be tea-aging some more paper within this next week and then I can take pics as I go and share them here! :D



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Now playing: Shakira - Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) [The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Song] {feat. Freshlyground}
via FoxyTunes

YAY for the Leaky Cauldron!!!

I am so super excited!!!! I'm Leaky's featured crafter of the month!!!!!!!! I'm so honored and ridiculously giddy about the whole thing....

How insanely cool is that?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! It makes me want to drop all my current WIPs and do some more Potter crafting! Hahahahaha! (As if I don't do enough of that to begin with...) I wish I could have shown my two most recent Potter crafting endeavors, though...but I can't because they're for a current running swap, and I don't want Miss Clara to see anything yet! I guess that just means I'll have to brag about it here after she's gotten her kit. ;) In the meantime, I'll just have to do my best to keep on keepin' on with my current WIPs, swap-related and preemie items alike...I'm working on getting a whole box of preemie items for HSKS' S.P.E.W.! But right now....it's actually bed time. It's been a long past few weeks. (We took a weekend trip to Tuscany, a day trip to Verona and A just turned 5!!! I've been busy with birthday presents and the party and cleaning up the wrapping paper that's everywhere....) So I guess I should try to get some sleep!!!

Liking the Lace....

So I got to go to England to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince a week ago (I can't believe a week has already gone by!), and it was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am in love with the UK! Seriously! I could live there, happily!!! It is stunningly beautiful!!! I miss the moors something dreadful, and miss hearing English spoken around me even more, I think. But in this week of "recovering" of the fun of the weekend get-away, I have been working hard on the kit for my spoilee for the swap, and got two more scarves for Scarf Travels. The first one I got is to be done in lace weight, which I've never done before...I was super excited, had a blast picking out a pattern, and have enjoyed watching the pattern form under my fingers...I have noticed, however, that it takes an insanely longer amount of time to knit 5" of scarf in laceweight than in worsted. Definitely a lot longer than I expected. But the pattern I chose is beautiful (as is the story behind the designing of it!), and it will be well worth it in the end...I just have to get to that end...and quickly! I wanted my husband to send it out tomorrow when he goes to work, and I'm lucky if I'm halfway through it! LOL On the plus side: we got a working printer yesterday, so that means I can now print out patterns for when I take the boys to the park...I'd have taken the scarf with me to work on, but couldn't access the pattern (wireless Internet isn't all over the place, yet...LOL)...which means that about 5 hours were spent out of doors without the scarf. Le sigh. But it won't happen again! In fact, I'm getting off the computer right now to feed the kiddos dinner and then plug away at it some more! It's certainly taking me a lot longer than I thought, but at least it's going faster as I go! :)

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE my husband!!!!!!!!!!! He gave the go-ahead!!! I get to go watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in the IMAX..............IN ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!! I can't stop giggling and clapping and "squee"-ing!!!!!!!!!!!! Kristin is coming with me, and we're going to stay with Ann and Marie from the Harry Potter swap! I wonder of we'll have time to go to an LYS....hmmm...But now I have a deadline for my Hermione hat...I am so wearing it to the movie!!!!!!!! And, if I can get it done in time, I'll make one for Kristin, as well! :D YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I'm too excited to sit anywhere...I'm off to be productive with this mass of excited energy!!!!

Sneeze, sniffle, choke, cough, sputter

While those may sound like allergies (hmm, maybe it partially is...), but in reality, it's me dusting off an old project...my Hermione hat had a rough start, and then, as all other projects I have started for myself, got set aside for other projects. However, the Half-Blood Prince (in which movies this hat makes it's appearance) premiere is only weeks away...and the best part? I might get to go to England to watch it in the IMAX!!! I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally hope it works out! But, if it does, I can't go all that way for the movie and not have at least one piece of some costume! I have to show everyone else (that doesn't know I'm flying all the way from Italy just to see it) that I'm more than just a casual fan...LOL

However, two more scarves have been worked on and passed along, and I've got one more in my possession...I'm waiting on the yarn I ordered to come in first, though. Here's the section of the crochet scarf I've sent on. I couldn't get a good picture of it to show it off, but I intend to make an entire scarf with the pattern and share the pattern here. And I was so focused on trying to get a good picture of my section, I forgot to get a picture of Rebecca's scarf so far before I packed it up to go! LOL



Here is the section I did on Stacey's scarf, which is knitted:



I did a variation of the pattern I used on Jody's scarf, which I am working on making an entire scarf to share that pattern as well. And here is a picture of Stacey's scarf thus far:



I did about 6", I think, instead of five, because of how it fell with my cables. :) But now I'm off to work some more on my hat...I can't wait until it's completed!!!

Hermione, the Troublemaker...

Ok, seriously. This pattern is not that difficult! So why am I having so many problems?! Well, I guess my problems aren't really related to the written pattern itself. I'm still super bummed that I didn't have enough of my Artesano to make it. :( I may still attempt it, though. I can't not use that yarn! It's too gorgeous and soft! But in the meantime, I really just want the Hermione hat. So for now I think I'll be switching up the fiber and settling for using Red Heart's soft stuff. 100% acrylic, but at least it really is soft. Now my problem is learning a new cast on. Up until now, I've only done the most basic and simple cast on. But I've been knitting for over a year now (my 1-year "anniversary" was last month!), and I figured it was high time I learned a new one. I could just use the same old, same old, but I really don't want to, so I think I'm going to stick it out fighting with learning the alternate cable cast on. The theory of the cast on isn't difficult by any means. It's very simple, looks super easy (when done by those that know what they're doing, lol), and the video on knittinghelp.com is extremely clear and concise. I just can't seem to make my fingers do what I want them to. I couldn't last night, either, but I figured that was just because I was tired. Now I suspect it's because I'm not yet as good at knitting as I'd like to think I am. LOL But, like I said, I think I'll stick it out. My husband may be more persistent than I am, but when I want something, I want it done right, and I've got the tenacity to see it through! So!....back to the needles I go...



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Now playing: Carrie Underwood - All-American Girl
via FoxyTunes

Doggone it...

I know, I know. I've been silent for a looooooooooooooong time over here. That's because I have been so involved with the HSKS swap, and I have a special "Potter blog" for it that I've been keeping up on. :) I recently took a trip to Edinburgh that I'm currently blogging about over there, so feel free to swing by and check that out...

Of course, my silence wasn't helped at all by the amount of my time that was being consumed--no, make that devoured--by playing World of Warcraft. (Yes, I am a nerd, and yes, I realize it.) ;) However, I am now off my "WoW kick" and back to knitting and crocheting like a maniac! I finished a fourth set of cancer caps (Yay!) and realized how much I'd slacked off on them! I will be working on them more diligently in the near future. For the moment, however, I cast on a hat for me! It's not often, at least that I've noticed, for a crafter to keep any of their creations themselves. Most of the time we gift them for holidays or birthdays or baby showers or weddings or something. Well, today I decided to use the yummy yarn that I bought in Edinburgh for myself. I cast on the Hermione cable and eyelet hat. It's a beautiful hat, and the yarn I have is super soft! I want to make it so that I can have something small, Potter-wise, to wear to the premiere of Half-Blood Prince...So I started it, and the whole time am thinking "Wow, that's a tall ribbing....am I really only halfway through it?...that's just a really tall section of ribbing!...maybe I should adapt it...I don't like ribbing that tall....it doesn't look right..." While I was telling myself these things, I just kept knitting. (I have been having a Potter-a-thon, and when I'm knitting or crocheting in front of the TV, I tend to just go on autopilot...) I didn't check the gauge. I should have, but I didn't. I got 13 rows into the 16 row ribbing before I finally checked it...and wouldn't you know, I was off. Le sigh. So now...Yeah, I'm going to rip it. Gauge it. Start again. No fun. :( But, on the plus side, I'm only on the third movie...that means I have plenty of time to frog and cast on again and I should be able to still finish the hat before I run out of Potter to watch! LOL I think the general consensus on Ravelry is that if you didn't make gauge with (US) size 5 needles, try a 2 or 3....so, here I go!

I do it to myself...

...though I have yet to figure out why...I am a repeated offender of the "p" word...Procrastination. In fact, if it weren't for my amazing husband, who not only got up with the boys this morning (since I ended up staying up until 4 am reading...) and mowed the lawn and washed dishes and took out the trash and swept and mopped and cleaned the kitchen this morning, I'd still have a really messy house. LOL And now I sit here with no picture of myself for Monday (well, I have pictures of me, but I haven't taken a new one of me), am bored and stopped halfway through my friend's house hat (all it is is a knit stitch!!! BORING!!! lol) and am sitting here at the computer, staring blankly at the screen while I rip Harry Potter to my laptop, thinking of all the things I don't feel like doing. I wish I knew why I was so un-motivated. Maybe if I knew why I was so against putting dishes away or cataloging my stash or cleaning my craft room that my little poltergeists tore apart or knitting or reading or anything, then maybe I could take positive action to counter it and become motivated!!! Arg. I annoy the crap outta myself sometimes...



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Now playing: Maroon 5 - This Love
via FoxyTunes

More gushing...

I have to gush some more, but this is in a different vein. My husband is amazing! :) He set the alarm on his phone for me to get up in time for sign ups for HSKS6 this morning. Actually, he set it for 10 minutes earlier than I needed to be up so that I could get my cuddle time. Heeheehee. Than when exhaustion hit me full-on at about 10 am (I am not a morning person...quite the opposite, actually...and I stayed up until 1 am before going to bed and getting back up at 7....), he let me run away and sleep and have peace and quiet....kid-free....It was wonderful! And then (because no, it does not stop there!), when he came down to wake me up, he brought me food in bed! It wasn't really breakfast, since it was noon, but it was breakfast food and the same general idea. ;) So then I come upstairs, he's got my laptop on but won't tell me why...he thought he could be clever without me seeing it, but he didn't hide it under all the yarn nearby, so I saw the external hard drive he bought me. :D I love my husband!!! And now I'm off to knit some more! :)

Just around the corner...

It's almost time for the sock kit swap!!!!! I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited! Unfortunately, being over here in Italy, I have to be up and online at 7 am on Saturday to really try and get into Ravenclaw. I'm really hoping for that...keeping my fingers and toes crossed and everything. :)

I still haven't figured out how to post a pattern to this blog effectively, even with platformnine trying to help me. I'm just not getting what she's saying, for some reason. :( I added that Lordearon chart a couple months back, but the lines on it are all blurry and it's so small and hard to see. *sigh* Of course, I might figure it out if I were to spend more time trying to get it, too. But instead, since HSKS will be taking top priority (well, top priority in my hobbies, at any rate, certainly not over my boys....but I'm sure I can squeeze it in above housework...Heehee) in a couple of days, I'm trying to level my Paladin on WoW.

I've been grinding the heck out of that thing. I want to (ideally) be a well-geared (or at least decently-geared) level 70 with an epic flyer before the expansion comes out this fall/winter. Sadly, had I not lost the other WoW account, I would already (most likely) have had my epic flyer and be working on the gear issue. I'm not really sure who's more to blame for my loss of that toon: my husband or his friend. DH because when he "bought" the account, he didn't actually buy the account....he left it in his friend's name but took over the payments. His friend because he was the creep who decided he wasn't done with WoW and wanted the account back so that he didn't have to start over from scratch. So "lucky me" got to instead. All of the hard work I put into that level 70, just gone. With only 1200 gold and some odds and ends (like heavy netherweave bandages and a couple of pieces of fair armor that I hadn't equipped) to show for it. *sigh* So since I'm not sure whose fault it is, I'm just going to forget about placing the blame and level the heck out of my "new" toon. I'm up to level 57! Three more levels and I can finally start questing for my epic mount and head to the Outlands to level faster! Wahoo! LOL

But it looks like I need to start my day with giving my boys attention...they've really become little delinquents lately. Already! And they're only toddlers! *sigh* Off to play with the kids....maybe read a book (to share my love of being a bookworm) or color together (gotta get those creative juices flowing!). I will most likely blog on Saturday, once I know what House I got into! :)

The Closing Ceremonies...

The Ravelympics are officially over...well, they ended about 6 hours ago...lol I just now got the chance to put up the last picture:

Yes, I finished the Dark Mark Illusion Scarf! Yay! :) I decided to not put fringe on it, as it's for my brother, who is not a fringe-y person. LOL I have yet to figure out, though, why the marks aren't lined up....I followed the pattern, recounted the rows, and all things pointed to having done it correctly....Maybe one side is stitched looser than the other....*sigh* Oh well. Too late now! LOL It still looks decent. :) Now I can prepare and practice knitting for the sock kit swap! :D

HSKS6!

Wow! The Ravelympics has indirectly given me an "inside track," so to speak, on an amazing group on Ravelry! I loved the team members from Team Hogwarts so much that I requested we have our own group on the site, and lo and behold, they're already all part of one! So now I am a member of HSKS6, although sign-ups/house assignments aren't until September...which is scarily not far off....but looking into the whole group and their purpose and Hogwarts-ish-ness has got me very excited! I've already picked my own Hogwarts name ::places sticker reading "Hello, my name is Hermione Bagnold" on hand-knitted Hogwarts sweater:: and am about to start a count down to the day I get to find out what house I'm in! I'm hoping for Gryffindor, but we'll see how that goes.....oh, yay! I'm so excited!!!

Ravelympics update (Days 6-11)

Well, it seemed to me that my progress had slowed significantly, but maybe that's not the case.....I still haven't gotten my hands on the colors I need to finish the WIP Wrestling entry for the afghan, which is very frustrating because I am so close to finishing it...but as Ravelry changed the rules of entering projects, I am now able to add whatever projects I want....so I've done a few more hats and made great progress on the dark Mark Illusion Scarf. :) (I'm also writing out the pattern for it based on the charts for the people that want to make it that either have issues with charts or would just rather use the written pattern.) So here's what I've finished since my last Ravelympics post:

A's "wizard" hat:

C's "wizard" hat:

The hat that swallowed my head:

A hat that actually FITS:



A kerchief for a Green Bay Packer fan friend:

And this is how far I've gotten on the Dark Mark Illusion Scarf:

I like doing the hats....they're quick and easy. In a way, though, it's kind of "cheating" for counting all the FO's (finished objects) for the Ravelympics because of how many more hats I'll be turning out than anything. I mean, they take a couple hours to make one, whereas it can take a couple of days to make an afghan. And I've been crocheting over knitting (I think the scarf is my only knit entry) because it goes faster. Nothing like playing the system, right? ;) I really want to finish this scarf soon.....today, if I can swing it....which means no gaming....oh well. I can wait another day to make level 51. Knitting and crocheting has jumped back into the front seat. :) Off to press toward the finish line with my scarf!

Knitting Away

I have a disease. I learned how to knit, and now I’m going overboard! I’m not sure what it could be called….Knit-ersia? No, wait! I do know! It’s called “Addiction”! I am a yarn addict. I learned how to knit less than a week ago, and I’ve already got two knitting works in progress and have two small projects (three, if you count my first knitting attempt, which was nothing more than a little square) done! I did have three of the four projects going at once…oh yeah, plus the new crocheted one I started, so a maximum of four projects going simultaneously…

I started this scarf that I really love the colors to, but started it all super tight and have gradually relaxed my stitches a little bit so that it looks more natural, but now I can’t use it as a gift, because I’m anal like that. It’s not perfect. That means I have to either scrap it (which would majorly suck) or keep it to wear myself….wait a second….make something to keep?! For ME?! I’ve never done that before….

Anyhow, I got close to halfway done with it and then realized I wanted something else to work on when I got bored with that one; enter the Ravenclaw Round Ripple. And if I’m going to make something based on the colors and patterns of the scarves in Harry Potter, well then, why not make a scarf, too? (Yes, I’m a Harry Potter fan, thank you very much…lol) Those scarves were the main reason I wanted to learn how to knit, anyhow. My best friend wanted one, but I couldn’t knit, so I made my own pattern for crocheting her one, but it wasn’t good enough for me. The ones in the movies were knit. The one I made wasn’t. (Yeah, yeah, I know…obsessive compulsive…) Now, as to the reason why I chose to do Ravenclaw as opposed to one of the other houses…mainly comes down to I like those colors best! LOL I’ve done, like 50 gagillion of those online generators that tell you which house you’ll be in, and 50% of the time I’m sorted to Griffyndor, 49% of the time I’m sorted into Ravenclaw, and I’ve been sorted once into Hufflepuff. (I personally think there was just something wrong with that particular generator, though…LOL) And I’ve made so many Griffyndor-themed things, I felt it was time for a change.

Then, I started writing actual “snail mail” letters, as I don’t have Internet at home just now (which drives me bonkers, actually) and needed communication with those back home. Torie and I always send each other sticker covered letters, and as what part of what I was sending her required a large manila envelope, I had to fill the envelope as much as I could…and as we send each other completely random things, I thought I’d make her “proof” that I could knit, (like she would disbelieve me and need proof to begin with…lol) so I made the mini Italian flag. Well, now I’m nearly out of dark navy for the Ravenclaw projects, (almost out of grey too, for that matter, and I still need to get more black so I can finally finish my pink explosion project…) so I “needed” to begin yet another project, right?

The day my friend taught me how to knit, my husband said that he didn’t see what was so cool about it because all you could do was knit stripes. Ha! I tried to explain his crafting ignorance, but I don’t think he got it…so I decided to do something that I’ve been wanting desperately to try, just to show him what cool things can be done with knitting: I made the illusion Hedwig. I wanted to use black and white for the full contrast effect, but, as aforementioned, I’m out of black. So I used grey instead. (Which is part of why I’m now nearly out! LOL) But it looks so cool! I can’t wait to show it to him!

And all this has what I’ve gotten into in this past month. I really want to finish my pink and black round ripple, but need the black, and would have long ago continued on my granny square lapghan, but don’t remember what size hook I was using (and haven’t been able to check, as my Internet time has been severely limited….as in I’m actually typing this up in a Word document right now to copy and paste later…) and I’ve gone a bit more with my static stitch granny square blanket, but I’m using black to border all those, and, well, I’m out of black. But since we’re finally all moved and settled in and I’m back with my stash (it was terrible being separated from it!) I’ve also been reunited with about 50 other incomplete projects to pick back up! LOL Okay, so not really that many. Just seems that way. But now that I’ve posted this blog and have something to connect to all the bunch of new projects that’ll be popping up on Ravelry, I’m off to craft some more!