Are those angels' trumpets I hear?

Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, 

by Sunshine Yarns

I swear I can faintly hear the sound of angels trumpeting amidst my euphoria for my new FANTABULOUS  yarnie greatness! (... all of a sudden feel the urge to hyperventilate...) 

 XD

Quote of the Day- 2/29/08

  "Mad-Eye Moody?" said George thoughtfully, spreading marmalade on his toast, "Isn't he that nutter --"

   "Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," said Mrs. Weasley sternly.

   " Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs, doesn't he?" said Fred quietly as Mrs. Weasley left the room. "Birds of a feather..."

--Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling p. 161

Fire & Water: harnessing the elements

Here are the finished pics of my Fawkes socks. It was a tumultuous struggle, but I think I came out on top!  The pattern was easy enough; but the yardage scared me to death, all for not. I actually get to walk away with several leftover yards! How's that for irony!  I'm pleased, however, with the end result. I would have liked to have added a repeat or two of the lace pattern to each sock, rather than have the leftover yarn, but... on the other hand, I completed a pair of socks in only 4 freakin' days! hah! ;)

Isn't it pretty!

Just got my new Sweet Sheep, Sweet Sock yarn today! (squeal!) I think it's so pretty! This is destined to become "Simply Ginny Socks" if all goes well!....

Quote of the Day- 2/28/08

"It is our choices, (Harry), that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

--"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", by J.K. Rowling, p.333

Fawkes Socks and new arrivals

   I cast on some Fawkes socks yesterday and I'm about ready to start the heel on the first sock already! Woo-hoo! The colorway is a lot prettier in person; photos don't do it justice. At first I wasn't crazy about the texture, (it's no supersock merino, thats for sure), but I'm warming up to it. The stitch definition is a little better in this sock. 

   Additionally, I received 2 of my recent Ravelry yarn orders. I have 2 hanks of Lorna's Laces in the Bee Stripe colorway for making some rad Hufflepuff socks, and a hank of CTH supersock merino in the water colorway, because I just can't get enough of this amazing yarn and it was a killer-sweet deal! 

*update: I have finished all but the toe of the first Fawkes sock and am half-way done with the leg of the second. I hope to turn the heel first thing tomorrow :)

Merope's Monkeys are done!

I finished My "Merope's Monkeys" last night and plan to start my Fawkes socks, now. I'm very happy with how they turned out; the only thing that flustered me was the short row heel on the second sock, but I worked it out. The Fawkes socks are part of a HP KAL on Ravelry, and will also be posted on SSEC to be counted toward the Mama Monkey KAL for the month of February.  That KAL is for Charity in her memory. 

"Merope's Monkeys"

That's what I'm calling my current work in progress (WIP). They're the monkey sock pattern by Cookie A. and I'm working them up with CTH's supersock merino in the earth colorway. I'm about halfway done with the first sock and "pleased as punch" with how they're turning out. I named them after Voldemort's mother in the Harry Potter series because of the rich, yet morose tones. Many glorious thanks to LambyKnits for all her help showing me how to knit socks on circs, and how to do short row! She's a swell gal! ;)

**update** I have officially finished the first sock and am working on its mate :) 2/20-10:45 pm

More yarn?....bring It on!

These are 2 new colorways from Cherry Tree Hill that I have added to my stash. The first picture is a cake for Kim's 2 pairs of socks, and she "paid" me with the other cake that I plan to use for some socks for myself. The colors aren't listed on the labels, so I'm pretty sure they're Java and Blueberry Hill. Let me know if you know their "true identities" :)

mmm...yarn cake!

Hooray for cake! Here are the latest pics of my newest stash recruits! I have my freshly wound cake of CTH's Orange Marmalade in supersock dk from the Loopy Ewe, my new purchase from YarnMaiden on Ravelry: Knit Picks' Gossamer in the Leprechaun color way, as well as some "cupcakes" from Lambyknits' leftovers. 

Just playing the waiting game....

Well, I just spent a lot of money (that I shouldn't have) on yarn and notions yesterday. I found the most adorable HP stitch markers on Etsy and had to have them. Also, I needed a new pair of circs after having just frogged my latest socks *GGRRRRR!!!* so I ordered a new pair of #2s on Knit Picks. I also found some awesome new yarns, on their site! I ordered: Shimmer in Turquoise Splender, Alpaca Cloud in Iris Heather, Essential Tweed in Russet, Gossamer in Sweet Pea ( I wanted Leprechaun too but it was all gone). I also ordered a hank of Cherry Tree Hill in Orange Marmalade for my Fawkes socks from the Loopy Ewe. 

Cuddly Crocheted Critters

Here are some more examples of my crocheted stuffed animals. Each "critter took from 3-7 days each to make. Most were made using sport or worsted weight yarn.

 Sources: Lion's Brand online pattern (see post on "Russ" for link), and the book: "Simple Crochet For Cherished Babies". 

Russ

Source: Lion's Brand: Chenille Teddy Bear Pattern

Materials: TLC's Cara Mia in light Brown, 15 mm eyes, 21 mm nose

Duration: 3 days

Snowflake

Name: Snowflake

Pattern Source: "Family Circle: Easy Toys", pp. 95-99

Pattern Title: "bear necessity"

Materials: bear: No Boundaries polyamide lot:1281 brown, sweater: Lion's Brand Wool Ease "blue mist" 115, 12mm eyes, 21 mm nose.

Date Completed: 8-4-2006 Duration: 3 weeks

Works in Progress

Here's what I've been up to lately. I've kinda got myself stretched thin between 3 projects, and I don't typically work on more than one-at-a-time. I crochet the ripple afghan I'm calling "In the Corn Field" when I need a break from the more tedious work of knitting or hand-quilting. Which leads me to the other two projects. I started these socks over Christmas break and they've been an on-again-off-again project. The quilt project is a wall-hanging I've been wanting to tackle since last summer. It's a free pattern I found in the projects section of Debbie Mumm's website. It's machine pieced and will be entirely hand-quilted. I've got most of the center done, unfortunately the multiple layers means I have had to use the stab method. I look forward to the outer areas which should go a lot quicker. I even found adorable little buttons to add to the "delectable mountains" blocks with bears, trees, etc.! The one cool thing that ties all these projects together is that I get to actually keep them all! I haven't received any new orders lately, so I have been afforded the opportunity to relax and get some of my own stuff done....

Sweet Fabric Finds!

I just found some adorable fabric online! They both feature fun knitting motifs, How awesome is that to combine both knitting and quilting?! I feel a future project brewing..... The first site has skeleton knitters and the second site has wee little witches! 

Hooray, I just finished my first pair of Gryffindor socks out of my Charmed Knits book. This pattern was a little different from the one I normally use, but it was generally easy to follow. I really like the slip-knit technique to reinforce the heel. My son wants a pair now, and I think I have just enough Dale UII yarn left over to whip him up a pair. If not, the yarn is only about $7 a skein through Patternworks. I think I'll take a crack at the "animal crackers hat" next!