6 degrees from Draco Malfoy

For those of you who aren't Harry Potter fans and read my blog, bear with me. For the sock swap I'm in, there's a contest that I have to pick 1 of 3 different characters in the book and link them to Draco Malfoy by 6 degrees (you know, the Muggle game "Six degrees from Kevin Bacon") and then post it on my blog. Here goes:
The Dursleys
1. Petunia is the sister of Lily
2. Lily married James Potter
3. James Potter is the best friend of Sirius Black
4. Sirius Black is the cousin of Nymphodora
5. Nymphodora is the niece of Narcissa Malfoy
6. Narcissa Malfoy is the mother of Draco Malfoy

I did it!!!!

Also, Makenzie and I went to the Grand Opening of the American Girl store in Atlanta yesterday. Talk about a zoo!! We were lucky since we had reservations to the Bistro and could walk right in, but even still the wait in line to pay for your merchandise was about an hour and a half! The people who didn't have reservations had to wait in a huge, long line that stretched through the mall and out the door and around the building. I also heard some of the employees say that they were in no way prepared for the mass of people who showed up. HELLO!!! Do they not have a marketing department (which I know they do, because they send me mucho amounts of catalogs and flyers in the mail in an effort to spend all of the money we've earned or ever will earn!) to prepare them for this? It's the only freakin' AG store in the whole southeastern corner of the country! Anyway, I have to admit the food was great (we had the fresh fruit and the roasted vegetable quiche), the Bistro staff was stupendous and all the staff of the store itself were friendly and helpful even in the line of fire of the mass of humanity that surrounded them. But to AG corporate office: You could stand to do a little more research before opening your Dallas store!

Enough venting, too much makes me a bitter person! Hope ya'll have a great Sunday. Sorry no pictures, next time O.K. darlins? (can you tell I've been reading Paula Deen's new biography?)

Football, Anyone?

Why, you ask, is a picture of a vine at the beginning of this post? Well, it's the only flippin' thing outside that doesn't look dry and crunchy. (It's my Confederate Jasmine vine, and I guess being a vine, drought just can't kill it).

I'm so ready for this heat to cease and desist. I know that it's supposed to be hot in Georgia in August, but for the love of all things holy, does it have to be THIS hot? All I can say is that I'm glad I'm not 1. homeless 2. someone who has to work outdoors for a living. 3. any outdoor living creature (squirrels, bunnies, birds and the like) or 4. a roofer (I know I mentioned people who work outdoors, but to me roofers are in a category of their own, unless you count people who have to pour new asphalt roads).

I'm ready for college football-GO my beloved Tennessee Vols!, chili, fires in the fireplace or the outdoor chiminea (take your pick), and warm, cozy, hand knitted woolen sweaters and socks!! The one good thing about knitting in the summer is socks. They're not something that covers your lap and they're usually light weight. Which is good because I want to get my Hogwart's pal's socks finished. Well, I'd have to actually be finished with at least the first one to even contemplate being any where near finished, but it sounds impressive when I write it down. I had made pretty good progress, and was well down into the leg of the first one when I realized that I had made a BIG mistake in following the pattern, so it was off to frogging that I went. Pray for me, please.

Me and the dear husband are off the beach next weekend for a long weekend, so we'll see if I can make some major progress. Unless my toes in the sand and a drink in my hand prohibit me from some productive knitting (productive being the key word in that sentence).

Here's a pic of the uptown boot socks finished and on my feet( I couldn't leave them on long, cause they're a gift for a very, very special person. I really, really had intentions of making the socks for me, but since I like them so much, I want this special person to have them. I'll let you know how the recipient likes them once I can give them to her).

I really love that pattern and can't wait to try it again. I got some new Claudia's Handpainted sock yarn last week, and I may use that, or maybe not. I'm kind of ready for a plain vanilla sock, with no fancy pattern. More to come on that.

I'm off.... Steve became my personal trainer starting this past Monday, so I'd better get dinner ready before the sadistic, hateful, man comes home to torture me some more. Anyway, I felt that way about him last night and this morning when the soreness was at it's worst. Now, not so much.

Be productive knitters, or whatever you are.. crocheter, sewer, decorator, etc.

Ravelry, Socks, and School

It's been a busy week since I last posted. But a lot has happened. I finally got my Ravelry invite, I got my yarn in the mail for my Hogwarts sock swap and started on the socks, and the kids have started back to school. Oh, and I also made my stitch markers for my pal. I've also been pretty sick, but I'm feeling better this week. Plus on top of all that, Steve ended up working about 70 hours last week and I was pretty lonely. I know, I know, cry me a river.

First off, Ravelry rocks! It's so cool to be able to network with other knitters, organize your stash, among many other neat things that Ravelry can do. I haven't been able to really start using it much, but I have looked around and at least started my sign-on. I'm hoping this week will be a better one for getting up and running with it.

Warning-if your name is Lily and you're my sock pal-STOP READING!

I decided to use Lorna's Laces yarn in the color Pioneer for the HW's swap. Since my pal's in Ravenclaw, this yarn has all the colors (according to the book, the colors are blue and brown, and the movie shows it blue and silver). It's a variegated with blue, brown, bronze, and silver all together. I'm using the Waving Lace pattern from Interweave's Favorite Socks book and it's turning out really beautiful.

I absolutely love that book (Favorite Socks). The Uptown Boot socks from the book are turning out great-I wanted to have them finished last week, but with the health issues I had, it just wasn't happening. I have to say that the Artyarn's Ultramerino I'm using for them is the best sock yarn I've used so far. It is so easy to knit with and it feels so luxurious, too. The Raglan Baby Sweater is almost done as well, I just need to finish the second sleeve and sew it up. With the kids in school this week, I really hope to wrap up the sweater and the uptown socks. I want to start working on my pal's socks and nothing else so I can have them done early. The deadline is October 31st, but I don't want Lily to have to wait until the end and wonder if she's ever getting her goodies.

I absolutely can't stand to post without pictures, so here's the kids leaving for the 1st day of school this morning. Can you tell Nick's absolutely thrilled (sarcasm!)? He seemed fine none the less, when I left him and Mak. Makenzie, however, couldn't wait.

Here's a picture of the sunrise this morning. The haze is horrible and it's a code red smog alert day- I'm so glad I don't have respiratory problems!

The sun looked really pretty coming in the windows, though. I guess that's the silver lining for that smog cloud!

Better get busy, then I'm off to have me a cafe mocha, so-Ciao! Have a great knitting week!