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!

Finally making some progress

Doesn't it seem like the mail takes forever when you're waiting for something you ordered? If it's bills, they come faster than you can say "all out of money". If you're waiting on some yummy yarn, well, it feels like I'm 5 years old again and waiting for Christmas when it's still only April. I'm waiting right now on my sock yarn to come for my Hogwarts Sock Swap 2 pal (Nick keeps checking the mail, too-his LL Bean book bag should arrive any day now.No mail for Makenzie, she wanted a Vera Bradley-so we hit the Phancy Pheasant yesterday. My dear husband was not thrilled when he saw the price tag!). I can't wait to get started. My pal's a Ravenclaw and from the emails we've exchanged, I've got a GREAT pal.

In the meantime, though, I'm almost done with my Debbie Bliss raglan sweater and the second uptown boot sock. We're going to the pool in just a few so I'll start on the sleeves of the raglan sweater while I'm there. I hope I can knock those out by tonight. I had set a deadline of August 1st for the completion of my socks and the sweater and as of today I don't think it's an unreasonable deadline. We'll see as the next week comes and goes however.

We're getting ready for back to school and I have to say I'm dreading it. This has been such a great summer with the kids. We've had such a fun, lazy two months; just going to the movies, the pool, playing games (our most recent favorite is Scene-It, the Harry Potter edition), and just hanging out. I'm going to miss them dreadfully. But they're excited and hopefully it will be a great year.

By the way, the Harry Potter book was great. I'm sad it's over, but I'm one of those people who read their favorite books over and over again-I'll be fine. I finished it Monday after we had gotten our out-of-town company on the road on Sunday. It was sooo hard not to be antisocial and curl up with my book and shut out the rest of the world. Don't worry, I managed to be a good little hostess and hold off until they left. Makenzie finished Monday too. That girl can read really fast for a ten-year-old!!! She loved it too.

Here's the eye candy for the week. It's a sunrise shot I took on the way to work Saturday. I happened to have my camera with me and managed to get a shot while driving and managed to not wreck as well!

We're off to the pool-have a great rest of the week.

Harry Potter Sock Swap Two and other stuff

As I said in my last post, I'm joining the Harry Potter Sock Swap Two (notice the link and some shameless plugging I'm doing for the swap-if you're interested, visit the link. It's going to be a lot of fun for everyone! Sign ups started July 14th and it looks like they're filling up quickly, so hurry if you're interested.) Here's the questions that I have to answer in order to take part in the swap:

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?

Gryffindor (YEA! Go,Go, Gryffindor!)

2. Shoe size?

5 1/2 to 6

3. Foot Length?

9 inches

4. Foot Circumference?

8 inches, let me know if you have any questions about the other diameters

5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.
a. Lantern Moon
b. Crystal Palace
c. Brittany

*all brands in size 3 or 4. I usually use a 7 inch, but sad to say, I have some delicious Lantern Moon sox stix in a 5 inch that I have yet to use. Any wood or bamboo brand works for me!

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

Blue Sky Surina Wood Sock needles (they only come in 5 inches I think) and a size 4 would be great. Also would be interested in trying the Knit picks.

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

N/A

8. Allergies? Do you have any? Will your knitting be exposed to smoke or animals?

I don't have any allergies unless you count penicillin. No one in the house smokes and we do have a kitty.

9. Are you an international participant (outside US)? Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal?

I live in the good ol' U S of A, but I definitely would not mind having an international sock pal.

Also, my camera has been more at the ready this week compared to last. The crepe myrtles are blooming great and the front porch ferns are doing so good I had to take a picture. Oh, and Nicholas wanted some Harry Potter glasses to go with his wand. Cute, huh?

P.S. I guess being that this is a knitting blog (or relatively so) I should mention that I'm finally working on my second uptown boot sock and making good progress on the Raglan sweater. Hope to see you all at Hogwarts soon!

I'm still here!

I'm still here folks. It's been a very busy previous two weeks. Week before last, Makenzie went to Camp H2O at the Georgia Aquarium and we also had 3 birthday parties . Two of them were in Fayetteville, about a 45 minute drive from our house (Happy Birthday Tammy and Brock!) and then the other was the Steve's (Happy Birthday, honey) party at our house. What with getting ready for his party, being gone every night that week, and then some serious yard work and redecorating the house, I only managed to work on my uptown boot socks and nothing else. Then this week I agreed to fill in for my manager at the hospital (I used to be the supervisor over L&D and mother-baby). Let's just say that when I stayed until 1:00 in the morning this a.m.(after getting there at 8:00 in the a.m.yesterday) I was beat down like a dog. And the rest of the week was no better-the new computer fetal monitoring system went down, the air conditioner broke for the whole hospital, and we were way out numbered in the nurse to patient ratio. I'm probably looking at about 50 hours of work this week, and it has throw my part-time self into a major tail spin. Anyone who's ever worked anywhere near a birth unit in July knows that there are better times of the year to be a nurse. So suffice it to say that there has been absolutely NO time for knitting. I 'm trying to tell myself, "suck it up cupcake, it could be worse", as the kids will tell you is our family motto. The one blessing was that my dad and step mom were able to keep the kids for a greater part of the week so that I didn't have to worry about them not having good care-what a blessing to have such great parents in my life. Still, Steve and I missed them both horribly and I don't think that we can go more than about a day or so without having them with us. It's nice to be home tonight, our happy little family in the nest. There's nothing like good Chinese food on a Friday night with some new knitting started. The new knitting is a sweater for my nephew. The Baby Albert coat just didn't feel right for me, I don't know if it was the yarn or what, so I started the Debbie Bliss Raglan baby sweater using Lion Brand's cotton ease. I love this yarn. I know that some knitters out there hate cotton, but I love the feel of it in every way, from how it is on the needles to the finished product. Hopefully I'll have some pictures of it to post next time.

Well, I'm off to join the Hogwarts sock swap II that starts today. (Most of this was drafted on Friday night with this last paragraph started on Sat morning. I was too tired to finish) -As yet another example of how bad the week has been, I haven't even been able to see The Order of the Phoenix, and that is highly unlike me, but I digress. Hopefully today will be a good one-the kids are having a "Harry Potter Fan Club party" for a couple of their friends, I'm going to join the sock swap, and we're going to see OofTP tonight. All that and knitting too, what a lucky girl I am!!!

P.S. I never got to post my 4th of July pics-here's one I liked a lot

It's Gone!

For some reason, I haven't felt like knitting much lately. I don't know if it's the heat or what, but I'm not finishing near the amount of projects that I thought I would this summer. It's not that I haven't finished anything- the Miss Dashwood #2 is complete, as is the Operation Fuzzy Toes sock. It's just that it seems like it's taking me forever to finish my uptown boot socks (or anything else I work on). I'm not really sure why, because I love the pattern and I love the yarn. I just can't get up to my usual speed. I'll read about someone knitting, see someone knitting, or read about something having to do with knitting, and I can't wait to pick my stuff back up and start knitting away. But once I'm actually there, my mojo is gone. I guess I shouldn't be too worried that my love for knitting is gone (as shouldn't my dear husband after all the money I've spent on yarn, needles, etc)- I still love even the idea of knitting, but productivity and I don't seem to have a meeting of the minds now days. As Scarlett O'Hara said, tomorrow is another day, and maybe tomorrow will be my day.

I'm off to comfort my baby girl-the turtle just died-Dang the store at the beach-we buy the turtles, frogs, hermit crabs and the like, and they never make it more than a few weeks. Now, I have a crying girl on my hands who thinks that it's her fault the turtle died (this time she really did do a good job taking care of the turtle..we won't talk about the previous hermit crabs and frogs)- when it's really the fault of the those evil stores who sell children futility in a cage!