Moving Right Along

Well, Jer has moved out and ManCandy is looking for furniture. The 7th Harry Potter book is out and I've finished reading it, the Hogwart's Sock Swap (Year 1) is over and Year 2 has begun. I'm working on my second Pomatomus sock for Sockapalooza since August 2 is next week - I may have to take an afternoon off to knit in order to finish on time! - and the moment I cast off the Pomatomus socks I'm putting on some test knitting, which I will be doing in my very own yarn from my very own Etsy shop. Sooner or later I'll get things going; I've been pretty good about doing something for the shop every day but what I'm really looking forward to is a week off in August with nothing to do but dye and photograph yarn. And catch up on my 15 bazillion podcasts, of course.

Speaking of which, I should dash. Those pomatomus socks are whispering my name from the other room, and tomorrow is the Relay for Life so I'll be up relatively early. I'm ready for my shift; I've got Lime 'n' Violet on the iPod and a little sock bag for my knitting, now all that remains is to see if I can walk and knit at the same time. Should be interesting!

I've passed!

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire

Second Years

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? Ravenclaw

2. Shoe size? Foot length? Foot circumference? US 7.5, EU37. Foot length: 9 inches. Circumference at the ball of my foot: 9 inches.

3. List your three favorite sock yarns.

a. The Knittery 4-ply cashmere or cashmere/merino

b. Koigu KPPPM

c. Rowan 4-ply merino

4. Would you like to try a new brand of sock yarn? If so, which brand? Louet Gems, or maybe Tofutsies or Curious Creek or Panda Wool (I’ve tried the cotton), or or or… J

5. Do you prefer variegated or solid sock yarn? Either is lovely.

6. What colors would you like to add to your sock yarn stash? I don’t seem to have any browns or neutral colors, so probably those.

7. What kind of sock patterns do you gravitate toward? Lace? Ribbed? Fair Isle? I tend to like ribbed/cabled patterns and am learning to love lace. I have a super-high arch, so I tend to prefer stretchy patterns.

8. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, animals, etc.) I’m allergic to cigarette smoke, but otherwise no.

9. Will your socks be exposed to cigarette smoke or animals as you knit them? They will be exposed to my cat; try as I might I can’t keep the little alien away from my wool.

10. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal? Of course! My uncle is extremely interested in International Magical Co-operation.

All Hail the Slytherins!

Okay, but only for a minute or two, I swear. I came home yesterday to a package from the Owl Post! At first, I promised myself I wouldn't open it until I sent off my own package. But then I decided to catch up on my knitting RSS feeds and found a picture of Ravenclaw socks that made me simply drool. Her blog said she was in Massachusetts, and the return address was in - you guessed it - Massachusetts. So what was there for it? I had to open the box! And here it is:

Presents for me!

Just loooooook at all those goodies! And they turned out to be awesome. Earl Grey tea for weekend mornings (like today! Yummmm), some Blueberry Body Butter (ManCandy approves!), Burt's Bees lip balm (which I had forgotten to buy at Whole Foods earlier last evening, thankfully!), a Solitaire game to keep my wits sharp, a lovely chocolate bar, beautiful casein DPN's (no nickel!), and best of all? The socks, hand-made stitch markers and matching earrings!

They're perfect!

I absolutely love everything, thank you so much, Omly! You utterly and completely made my week. Now, I'm off to wrap my pal's gifts and hit the Owl Post Office myself. Go Hogwarts!

Edit: I can't resist putting in a picture of the stitch markers and earrings. They're just too gorgeous to be real!

Darcy says:

There are many like it, but this shelf is mine.

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy-warty Hogwarts!

I fiiiiiiinished my Hogwarts socks last night and got some goodies for my pal today, so I can send off my package on Monday when I hit the Post Office to get my passport. Pictures once my pal's owl is well on its way!

Next up: Pomotomus socks and some work on the Faina stole for my mom. w00t!

PS: Ravelry is evil. It sucks my will to finish projects before I begin new ones... damn start-itis!

The Things I Am Not Doing

1. I am not casting on for the Mystery Stole 3 even though it is Friday and Clue 2 comes out today, because I have not finished my Hogwart's Socks.

2. I am not registering for Fall '07 classes because I am waiting for my school to decide where all my transfer credits go. If I don't have to re-take Chem 101, I'm certainly not going to!

3. I am not freaking out that ManCandy has left Michigan in a car and is at this very moment hurtling toward a life with me.

4. I am not freaking out that ManCandy has left Michigan in a car and is at this very moment hurtling toward a life with me and will be here tomorrow night and there is nowhere in my room to put his clothes.

Okay, I may be freaking out a bit about the latter.

I stopped on my way home today and bought a basket that will eventually hold yarn in a pretty and convenient fashion, and a crochet hook for putting beads on Mystery Stole 3. I also printed out directions for my Sockapalooza 4 pal's socks and found a good project for Gabe's socks as well. Tomorrow is the Fair Isle knit-a-long at the LYS, which means no sleeping in for me but that I will be playing with Alpaca/Silk for 2 hours in the morning. Yippie!

Oh, and I'm in the home stretch for my Hogwart's socks. I may even finish them by tomorrow night, if Nadh and I don't get too much of a shopping bug. Perhaps Sunday would be a better bet...

Some Like It

Dear Lord Above,

Thank you for California and the beautiful beaches and bitches and hot men and endless miles of freeway with toll boths (but Lord, is it really a freeway if I have to pay to cross a bridge?). Thank you that a bunch of my family live here and for Disneyland every New Year's Eve and happy cows and the Sonoma Valley that's so much better than the Napa Valley.

Lord, I know we people down here on earth have messed up the planet pretty good by now. I know that we do things and worry about the consequences later, which is probably a fault. I just want to point out in the politest and least judgy way possible that California has - as a whole - tried quite hard to contribute to the closing of the holes in the ozone layer and to lay off the CFC's. There are other states that are much worse than we are - Michigan and Illinois for example, not to mention Tejas. And Lord, forgive me if I'm being judgy or opinionated but my momma raised me to tell the truth and the truth is it's GODDAMNED HOT HERE AND WE DON'T DESERVE IT.

So Lord, if you could find it in your heart to have pity on this state, or maybe just city, or maybe just on my one little apartment in the South Bay, I would really, really appreciate it. Because the gardeners have decided that the best time to water the plants is in the late afternoon, which uses up all the cool water and leaves me with steam coming from my taps.

With love,
Tikabelle

PS - sorry about the profanity. Have I mentioned it's hot?