Harry Potter Socks - Fawkes

I started to obsess about Harry Potter around last Wednesday. I spent Thursday night looking at sock patterns, and I downloaded the 3 off of Socktopia as well as Horcrux. I then raided the stash for "proper" colors.

I really wanted to work on a pair when I was waiting at Barnes & Noble. So, around 6pm Friday night I cast on for Fawkes. I worked on it for about 45 minutes during the "Midnight Magic" wait. I didn't work on them again until Saturday night, after I finished the book. Surprisingly, I finished them last night.



Here is some detail....



It's a little more red and orange in person than what it looks like on my computer. I wish I had had Lorna's Laces Flame or Claudia's Poppies, but I was determined to use stash.

One down, several more to go.

Grasshopper, Squares & Hats

It's been a few busy days around here. Actually, the last 10 days have been busy than usual. Here is the knitting stuff, even though I posted a bunch of stuff on the 7th.

First, we have squares - more squares - squares, squares, squares...



These are for Warm Up America.



These are for Rebuilding Greensburg. I think I finally got the hang of how to do decreases that work for me on the navy square. It is also a heavier worsted weight than some of the other squares I have done. It came out the most "square".

Ok, so where are the hats, you ask? Here....





I like the last one - it has a seed stitch band and I tried for a flat top. I got bored with the rolled brim hats, even though they went much faster. The first two are in Debbie Bliss Merino Aran and the Red Hat is Rowan Yorkshire Tweed DK.

And, unbelievably, I finished something for me!



This is the Rockin' Sock Club Grasshopper pattern done in STR Moss Agate lightweight. Since I messed up on the original with the Walkin' on the Wild Tide skein, I felt I needed to try again and get it right. I have come to one conclusion however - I'm not that happy with lacy socks. I don't like how they fit. Good to know for the future.

I have no socks on the needles, no hats, no squares. I have two shawls, a snuggle blanket, a lap throw and an old sweater project muttering at me. At least I have finished 3 of the projects I dedicated for my Stashalong July Knitalong. I should probably pull something from that, like the socks I was going to do. Here is the yarn that I set aside to meet my July charity knitting goals.



I'm sure I'll think of something.

I've Become a Joiner....

I knew that at some point, I would join a stitchalong or a knitalong. I've never been much for joining groups - something about the commitment and participation business just didn't appeal to me. I did participate in a stitching group for a while, but we would meet on weekends, and sometimes I had to drive over an hour to get to the meeting place, and I enjoy being a quasi hermit on the weekends.

In 2004, I met three ladies that belonged to a local chapter of the Embroiderers' Guild of America found here. I became the Chapter President last summer. Once the website has been rebuilt (by me - gulp) I will link to it. We're a fun group of women, with some amazing abilities.

I've had a problem with my right hand since the beginning of the year, and unfortunately there isn't anything that can be done about it for now. Due to some persistent numbness, it is difficult for me to work with a fine needle, which is what I've worked with for years. So I knit. And last night, at our monthly meeting, I knit socks. I found out that one of our new members is a sock knitter too, even teaches sock knitting techniques. Being bi-craftual is a wonderful thing.

But this year, I've become a joiner. In January, I became part of the Lime N Violet Sock Marathon. You can see what we've been up to here. In January, I joined Socktopia, blogged here, with pictures here. In March, I joined the Nancy Bush Group. This month I joined Stashalong, and Crafting for a Cause. Eek!

So much for not being a joiner. I guess the biggest thing I joined is the blogging community. So far so good.

See you soon!