Helene has finished a beautiful pair of Hermione mittens!
Ruth reports that she's finished a Gryffindor bookscarf
Signe was one of the original weasley knitters last year and has just started a blog - so now we can see the great sweater she made!
Susan is all but done with her Azkaban scarf - just the ends to weave in
And Tina wrote to me from the Netherlands to share the Harry Potter sweater she knit for her son. I love it! The initials and the colors on the sleeve are fabulous. Great job, Tina!

Alex is making a Ravenclaw scarf in Cashsoft Aran - yum (check the sidebar on her blog for a pic)
Amy is getting started on her Azkaban scarf
Andrea has weasely sleeves underway
Becky decided on midnight blue for her weasley
Beth, who has just started a new blog, has three bars already on her Azkaban scarf
Laura's working on her son's weasley, but doesn't like the initial (I think it looks great!)
MA has had to abandon her second weasley because of allergies, but will be making a Slytherin sweater for her son instead
Pixie has started her Azkaban scarf!

I'm still waiting for my weasley yarn to arrive, so until then I'm vicariously enjoying Harry Potter by watching my husband finally start The Order of the Phoenix. He finished Goblet of Fire on our trip and had to buy OoP in Germany so he could keep reading. And I was surprised to find a Harry Potter reference while reading a new book to the boys one afternoon.

from Wild about Books

"[Molly] even found waterproof books for the otter,
Who never went swimming without Harry Potter."

I wonder what the otters think of the end of Book 6. (No spoilers please, the German translation was just released today, so our German friends, like Meike, are just getting started!)

B & S at the 2005 Boston Knit-Out. The boys watched the Show and Share from above.

What can I say, the boys loooove wheels! They had no interest in the vendor tents, but the spinning wheels were a different story. B even got some roving from one of the friendly spinners. "I love purple. I love yarn." That's my boy.

Although the park was full of knitters, the boys only wanted pretzels and the nearby playground.

So I had to wait until Knitsmiths to get some knitting done.

Mmmm, that shawl is looking so yummy. And that yarn ball from the 800 yd skein is finally looking conquerable.

(My apologies to those who said hi to me while I was being pulled through the knit-out at top speed by the boys. I was a little distracted. A proper hello to you all. Drop me a note in the comments!)

The latest group across the finish line:

Amanda - no pics, though :0(
Anna has posted the pattern for her flying wings anklets
Debra's finished socks can be seen on Anna's blog
Gina
Karen (for Leslie)
Mary
Mary
Nicole- her socks can be seen on Barbara's blog
Sarah
Tacha

A few beginners too:

Carol
Freecia
Gina
Leslie's socks can be seen on Debbie's blog
Pauline

And a few notes from me:

1. Once you have received your socks, please either leave a comment here or send a note to the pal who knit for you. Some pals who haven't heard back have become nervous that the socks might have gone missing. A simple comment here would be plenty to let them know that everything arrived okay.

2. For those of you still waiting for your socks, don't feel too bad, I haven't gotten my socks yet either! I did receive this fabulously cute little sock bookmark from Helene, though. Thanks Helene, these may end up being my sockapalooza socks for this round!

If you haven't heard anything from your pal about your socks being delayed (like me!), feel free to send me an email. I can try to write to them or at least investigate whether the socks are being sent internationally and how likely they are to still be underway. If we don't hear back from your pal, I'll put you on the list for substitute socks or sock yarn. Of course, we're only three weeks past the deadline, so don't give up yet!

3. If you're still knitting or have just recently sent out your socks, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE contact your pal or me to let them know of the delay. I'm hearing from lots of disappointed and discouraged pals wondering where their socks are. I have to say that I am very surprised that almost 25% of the names on the list are not yet listed as finished. I hope to hear from many of you soon.

Thanks so much to everyone who has worked so hard to make this exchange a success! It's been wonderful to hear from all the pals who have been so pleased with their socks. And I apologize to all of you who seem to have been forgotten by your pals. I'm still wishing for happy feet for everyone!

Now the Morehouse Merino shawl gets interesting. I finished the miles of stockinette last night and then I got to do this!

I bound off all the stitches, except those between the steeks. I pulled the yarn out of those pretty little rows until there was a rather shocking gap in my knitting. Even hubby looked worried.

And then I cut 'em! Either we've got a scarf with fringe or we've got trouble. She needs a soak and a block and then we'll know for sure.

can you see the apple?

The weather has been so gorgeous that we, and apparently every other kid in the Metro Boston area (don't these kids have to go to school?), decided to go apple picking at Marino Lookout Farm. They have a train to take you through the orchard, a hay maze, and wonderful grape canopes over the walkways through the orchard. (Funny, I didn't take any pictures of the apples.)

"a little higher mommy - I can almost reach them!"

If I could pick yarn off a vine, this is what I'd pick.

This gorgeous hand-dyed yarn was sent to me by Jo (she knits such lovely things - go see!) all the way from Australia. This is going to make one beautiful scarf! And although yarn may not grow on trees around here, it looks like the scarves do!

I can't wait to add this grape scarf to the vine. Thanks, Jo!

The "Melody" shawl survived its soak and block. Here it is just the slightest bit damp still, resting on the chair in front of the desk with my knitting stuff (note ball winder!). The twisted stitch "steeks" are brilliant. They hold the stitches perfectly so there's no unravelling.

And here she is all finished. And just in time too! I plan to wear her this weekend at Shannon's wedding*. Evening outdoor wedding + a strapless dress = gonna need a shawl. And since Shannon gave me the kit, it seemed like the perfect wrap to bring with.

The boys helped out with the photography again, which means a lot of fun pictures for you. At first B took a picture of his feet. It does show the fringe pretty well actually. Then S took a nice picture of me, but not much shawl. Finally, S took the winner above and B the pretty shot below.

That's a lot of knitting in that there shawl (look at how long she is), but it really was a delight. The Morehouse laceweight is such a pleasure to knit with and is wonderfully soft and feather-light. I may have to get some more of this when I go to Rhinebeck!

* (I'll miss a few posts this holiday weekend, as we'll be busy with wedding events. But I promise adorable twin ring bearer pictures when we get back!)

Carrie finished her bookscarf
Erin has posted pics of her Hermione hat, a Ron hat (cool!), and a bookscarf on her new blog
Krystin reports that she's finished her Gryffindor scarf (no pics yet though)

Alison has started her weasley
Amanda's HiP scarf is underway
Amy's Andean Silk scarf is looking gorgeous
Beth is knitting away on an Azkaban scarf and a Hermione hat (and she found this great new pic from the forthcoming movie - these HP set/costume people sure do know their knits!)
Christy has a Gryffindor scarf and a top-down Hufflepuff sweater on the needles
Laura says she's found peace with her "J"
Michelle has dyed some yarn for a HiP scarf with, get this, black cherry Kool Aid
Nanc says she's working on some Gryffindor socks - no pics yet
Rachel will be knitting a couple of Azkaban scarves for Christmas presents and has already started the first
Stacie has her yarn all packed for a trip's worth of Harry Potter knitting

And speaking of packing for a trip, I got some of Dani's self-striping Gryffindor sock yarn just in time for our trip! (Dani sells her hand-painted yarns on etsy, if you're interested.) Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy....

wanna see a close-up?

Thanks to Dani, I had a little something potter-y to knit for the car ride, since I'm still waiting for my weasley yarn (yup, I'm still waiting, just like Kara, Erica, and Karlie, who will be teaching her fiance how to knit so he can make his own scarf!). It's gonna be a race for us all to finish in time for the movie!

ring bearers at rest

and in motion

getting dressed and clearing out the nasal passages

some last minute practice

pictures with the groom

ring bearers on duty

warming up the dance floor
(yes, they are the blurs)

And how was the shawl, you ask?

whoops, found a loose end an hour before go time

me likey

Now, I call that a success. Congrats to everyone!

We got back from the weekend wedding late last night, so I had no time to prepare a sock update for today. Wednesday will have to be knitalong day this week. This Tuesday I bring you more wedding pics and a very litte knitting.

you asked for it, you got it: Shannon pics

the men of wedding party lifting up Shannon during Hava Nagila

Monday was the bride's family vs. groom's family softball game

The bride and groom couldn't decide whose side the boys were on, so they split them up. B in yellow on the groom's team and S in red on Shannon's.

the groom needed more players, so hubby got a quick lesson in batting
(what a trooper - they don't even have softball in Germany, so he's never played)

the happy couple with their happy ring bearers

And a little knitting on the ride home.

something for the boys to wear for Halloween

Yes, I am actually knitting their costumes. How dumb was that idea?! I just couldn't stop thinking about how to make something for the boys with that Fun Fur that they always play with when we go to the crap store. More details on the costumes later...

Now paging:

ANNIE! Your sock pal needs your new address. Please send it to me.
JUNIA! Your sock pal needs another address - your socks were returned to her by the post office.
beginner VICKY! I don't have a working email address for you and need to hear if you're done with socks and/or have received your socks.

And to all the pals who have let me know that you have not received your socks, I've sent an email to the person knitting for you. Fingers crossed that we hear back soon! Feel free to keep me updated. If we don't hear back in another couple of weeks, I'll give the substitute knitters the green light.

There are some finished socks to report:

Amanda's socks can be seen on her pal Krista's blog
Amy
Amy's socks can be seen on Gwen's blog
Catherine
Darra
Janine (no pics)
Jen
Jennifer (she just got married - go congratulate her!)
Marti
Mia (for Amy - pics on her blog soon)
Rachel
Renada's socks can be seen on Brenda's blog
Sarah
Traci

From beginners too:

Debbie's socks can be seen on her pal Cynthia's blog
Gina's socks can be seen on Allena's blog
Jess (no pics)
Laura
Pauline
Rebecca

Good news: my pal, Carola, finally received her socks. She lives in Iceland (lots of beautiful pics on her blog - check it out!), which is why it took a while for the socks to make their way to her. It's so nice to hear that the socks you've knit have been happily received (especially in such a funny post like Carola's). With that in mind, I urge all of you who have recently received socks to put your thanks on your blog or here in the comments.

Lastly, many of you have asked when the next Sockapalooza will be. I have had every intention of doing another one this winter - I love this sock swap - but there are A LOT of people who have not finished and have not stayed in touch this round and that is not only disappointing, but is frankly unacceptable. I absolutely cannot imagine doing another round with hundreds of sock pals if the drop-out rate is near 20%. So, again, I really hope/need to hear from the last group of knitters soon, so we can call this exchange a success and move on to round three!

Yes, yes, the boys will be Thing One and Thing Two this year for Halloween. Remember Thing One and Thing Two from The Cat in the Hat?

The perfect costumes for the boys, since this is what they always look like at home.

Well, except for the shirts and the hair. And that's where I come in. Bright blue Fun Fur hats for thing hair...

thing one hat - check

...and red boy-sized Thing 1 and Thing 2 nothing but t-shirts.

GGH Bali comes in the PERFECT colors

I better get knitting - only 17 days left to make another hat and two shirts!

Cristina finished her HiP scarf and wore it to her local Oktoberfest
fellow knitsmith, May, recently showed up at knitting group with this amazing finished Heraldic Lion sweater for her daughter - she's going to make another one for her other daughter - May is INCREDIBLE!
Ruth made an Azkaban scarf and some very handsome looking House Mittens
Songbird has finished her daughter's Gryffindor scarf (she's going to be Hermione for Halloween - isn't that cool?)
and I finished my Harry Potter socks!

Dani's gryffindor sock yarn knit up so great (I heard she might make some more!). So as not to interrupt the perfect striping that she's put into the yarn, I cut out the yellow sections while working my standard short-row heels and toes, so they are solid red. The colors are so amazing!

Amy is almost finished with her Azkaban scarf - see the cool pics of the inside of the scarf!
Ann's making progress on her daughter's Azkaban scarf (she's going to be Ginny for Halloween!)
D is making a beatiful Ravenclaw scarf
Emily's got the right yarn for her Hogsmeade hat (can't wait to see this one!)
Kara also just got her yarn and will be starting her scarf right away
Karlie has started her scarf (no pics yet), but her fiance still has to learn how to knit his!
KnittingNurse got her yarn and has started her HiP scarf
Stacie got her Azkaban scarf yarn (no pics yet)
and, more good news, my weasley yarn finally arrived!

ginger felted tweed

S. saw me taking pics of the yarn and wanted to take one of me

Hey, a reader wrote in that she saw someone working on a Harry Potter type scarf on the Boston commuter rail going to Haverhill this Wednesday. Was it any of you weasley knitters out there? We're everywhere!

(I'm off to Rhinebeck this afternoon. I hope to see lots of you there! Hubby's not coming with, which means I won't be able to do any blog updates while I'm away - I'm useless with computers without him! So I'll tell you all about it on Monday.)

I will never remember everyone I saw. First, there were Tara, Cara, and Sarah. Tara's just started a new blog, Cara wore her new Everyday Cardigan, and Sarah her Dreamweaver cardi and her amazing new blue asymmetrical cable pullover! I ran into Carrie, who is even cuter in person, Lauren, in her fabulous wave pullover and Chappy's Mom. Then the NYC gals, Jackie with her beautiful new Cashcotton cardigan, Nipper in her Weasley, Cassie in her skull and crossbones halter, and Em too. There were also a lot of familiar faces from Massachusetts like Melanie in her gorgeous Lavold sweater, Julia in her new cardigan, Amber, Claudia with her amazing Annie Modesitt corset, and Wendy. And those from further away: Leigh, Carolyn, Nathania, who was working on her Slytherin sweater, and even Amy, Steph, and mamacate and co., who all came all the way from Canada! There were so many more too with lots of new-to-me names and blogs, like SpiderWomanKnits, there's no way I could keep them all straight. (If you saw me there, say hi in the comments!)

knit party in the hotel lobby!

Alright, on to the fair. There were yarns:

just what we were looking for!

a tree full of roving

I was so excited to see Jamie Harmon's yarns at the show. Some of her handspun yarn is in my handspun funky scarf. I picked up another skein of her fabulous yarn to make a matching hat.

again, some of the needle felting projects were the most impressive of the show

can you tell how much interest I had in this spinning demonstration?
look at those socks!

felted llama bunny slippers - too cute!

we saw the sheepdogs outside too

This sweater was on display at the Shelridge Farms booth. We declared them to be "Best in Barn" (and they shared the barn with Morehouse Merino, so that's saying a lot!). What wonderful soft yarns and in the most gorgeous colors - love, love, love them! You can see some of the yarns I bought there in the pic next to the sweater.

And non-yarns:

oh, that's just not right

KnitStix

These were the coolest things. They're knitting needles that are marked like a ruler, so you can measure as you knit. Brilliant!

Building E had free food samples - YUM -
but please no double dipping

While Johanna and I were shopping, Lisa would sometimes stand to the side and work on her Opal sock. Without fail, people would stop and ask her to explain the Magic Loop technique that she was using. She must have done at least four demos. Then, after we were done, she'd walk off with us and the spectators would be shocked to see that she wasn't working at that booth!

And finally, words of advice from a 80's era Knitters mag for those, like me, coming home to and knitting for little ones:

"An active 4-year old can't always take time to coordinate his apparel." So make 'em one of these... (look close - it's all one sweater!)

shudder!
(thanks to Stitchy McYarnpants for sharing this issue of Knitters with us!)

Oddly, this sweater sort of sums up my whole feeling about this weekend and the New York Sheep and Wool Festival: it was so funny staying with Johanna and driving with Lisa, and I couldn't stop grinning from the shopping and from meeting everyone, but still the whole thing was more than a little ridiculous with all that yarn, all that rain, and all of us from the internet together with all those farm animals. Face it, folks, we're pretty weird.

Here's the latest round of finished socks that I've found or heard of:

Ann-Marie
Elizabeth
Jackie
Jaime
Jenn
Melanie
Neysa
Nicole
Sarah
Selena
Stinkerbell
Vicki

That brings our "no socks" percentage to 14%. We're getting close to a viable number! I've heard from a handful of you that you are definitely still working (hooray!) and I'll be sending out more emails to those pals listed as not finished and who I have not heard from. So I hope to see that number go down more by next week. After that the sock saviors will be on duty!

Speaking of the sockless pals, as I still haven't heard a peep from my pal (nor has the person who knit for her), I went ahead and treated myself to some super-fantabulous sock yarn from Shelridge Farm while at Rhinebeck. This is their Soft Touch Ultra (it's superwash!) fingering weight yarn.

There was only one skein each of the beautiful variegateds, so I picked out a couple of coordinating solids for heels and toes. I'm so excited about these and I feel so good about how much my pal liked her socks that it's easy to forget that my pal dropped out. (Plus, so many of you have been so nice and supportive, I feel like that's a gift much better than any old pair of socks. Thanks!)

Two backs, knit almost entirely on my weekend trip to Rhinebeck. That leaves two fronts, four sleeves and one hat to knit in eleven days. Pressure? What pressure?

From the Canadian tech show, Call for Help (which hubby TiVo's):

>> Leo Laporte: Okay, if you're tired from surfing around on your computer for interesting news to read, if you go to, you know, a bunch of different blogs, it can get completely out of control. Wouldn't it be nice to search and research your favourite topics, very simply, one site, tell you exactly what's going on, where to go? Amber's here to show us how one of the most popular blog tracking sites has a new feature that makes it even easier to keep track of what's going on. Technerati, what is Technerati?

So some of the Top 10 searches are, podcasts, Michael Jackson, Web 2.0, KNITTING -- KNITTING ALWAYS COMES UP IN THE TOP 10, WHICH I FIND KIND OF INTERESTING -- John Stewart, Ruby on Rails, Star Wars, Trio and Ajax.

Uh, Michael Jackson? Still? But hey, we beat John Stewart and Ruby on Rails (what ever the heck that is!) We are so taking over the internet!

Halloween knitting has reached fever pitch here. Every spare moment has been devoted to knitting "Things". After neglecting my email and the laundry for over 24 hours, I have four finished sleeves.

Next up, those pesky fronts...

Speaking of things, the real "Things" had a little Christmas-in-October this morning. We were at the toy store yesterday and I spotted something on sale that Santa really wanted to get for them. They were so busy throwing tantrums and crashing from a night with too little sleep to notice, so I decided to try to buy everything real quick. Well, there was a big mess-up at the checkout counter, I had to go to the service desk, and while there was checking and rechecking, eventually one of the boys says, "heeeeeyyyyyy, can I have that?" Once they had them in their hands, they wouldn't release them. They held the boxes clutched to their chests the whole ride home. Daddy and I "talked to Santa" and all agreed that the boys could have the toys this morning. And they've been putting together Lego pieces since 7:30!

Amanda made a HiP scarf and has plans for a full-sized Azkaban scarf
Andrea has finished her weasley - love the "A"!
Diane has one gorgeous Ravenclaw scarf done and has started a Hufflepuff one
Diane has started a new blog and knit, yes, it's a Slytherin scarf (there's on in every bunch!)
Erin has finished her Ravenclaw scarf (and a few other fabby scarves you gotta see!)
and Laura finished her daughter's amazing weasley sweater

Alex has started her Ravenclaw scarf
Ann has ripped and is reknitting her daughter's Azkaban scarf to be half as wide
Beth momentarily found knitting nirvana with her Hermione mittens
Erica still has no yarn and has been reduced to ranting in ALL CAPS about it
Karen is making House mittens - check out the giant scary mitten pics! - and here's a pic of her latest, more modestly sized mitten
Lily won't show us her Hufflepuff scarf, but she does have some Ravenclaw sock yarn that looks pretty darn great
Micky's Azkaban scarf is underway
Nanc is working on some awesome Gryffindor socks (check out all the the fun sock pics!)
SeannaLee is starting a weasley using MA's pattern - she plans to knit two weasleys and a Ravenclaw scarf in two weeks (I'd say that's crazy, but as I am hoping to finish knitting twin Halloween costumes in the next 9 days, I'd best keep my mouth shut!)

And as for me, I managed to squeeze in a little weasley knitting while in Rhinebeck last week. I'm one skein in! At least one eighth of the way done.

I just love this Ginger color. I stressed so much about it, since I'd only seen it on the color card, but it is wonderful. I love that it is an interesting orange. It's almost like a rust color: sometimes appearing reddish and sometimes more brown. And, the best surprise, there are little light blue flecks! When I noticed those I knew that I'd picked the right color for my weasley.

Yesterday we made our annual trip to Davis Mega Maze, "the finest field maze in the United States." Each year they make a HUGE corn maze with a fun theme. Last year was the Wild West, this year was superheroes.

The boys wore their capes.

We got lost, shot tennis balls at bad guys, had lunch in the middle, got lost some more, and finally, after over three hours, we got to ring the bell and exit the maze (and, don't tell the boys, but mom and dad even asked the maze's "Superheroes" for a couple of hints along the way!).

So that's three hours I didn't spend knitting the Halloween costumes. Then there were the almost three hours we spent in the car driving there and back, during which I still didn't knit a thing. Yes, we all knew it would happen: I've felt a few twinges in the wrist. A day off is what my hands needed. Well, after yesterday, my hands may be well rested, but boy are my legs tired!

Halloween knitting is back on! I've started the fronts of the costumes, but to reduce strain on my wrists, I've picked out a few small projects in different gauges to knit between Thing sessions. Since I'm teaching my beginners "hat" class over the next few weeks, I decided to start with a hat. And the hat I most wanted to knit was the matching hat to my funky handspun scarf.

I used the wonderfully soft merino/angora Jamie Harmon hand spun and dyed yarn I got at Rhinebeck. In addition to selling the beautiful large hanks of variegated, striping yarns, she also sells small hank-lets of just 30 yds of one color. I got one in the peachy-pink color for the edge of the hat. I really love how all the yarns and pieces of the set go together, but aren't completely matchy-matchy. It's been so much fun creating this set that I've got some more yarn (not handspun, but commercial yarn) picked out to make another funky scarf and hat.

Sometime after Halloween of course.

Thanks a bunch to all the pals who've sent updates in the last week. Our "no-socks" percentage is down to 9.9%!! And I know that at least a quarter of those folks are still actively working on socks. I like it!

This week's better-late-than-never bunch include: Gracie, Ina, Jaime, Lori, Mary-Heather (no pics - you gotta wait for the surprise, Karen!), Shannon, and Traci Sue (see her socks on Michelle's blog), as well as beginners Lisa, whose finished socks can be seen on her pal Dena's blog, and Rebecca (Rebecca just moved to China - you've got to read some of her posts about life there, like this one!).

I've sent some final emails to double-check that none of the names still in blue belong to pals who did actually finish and send off socks (like Traci, whose socks can be seen on her pal, Cynthia's blog - scroll down to Oct. 1st). But sock savior emails have already gone out to request make-up socks for twelve pals. If you are still waiting for socks, keep me updated. Anyone who hasn't ever heard from their pal will get a substitute pal and anyone patiently waiting for pals to finish knitting, let me know if you stop hearing from them so I can put you on the make-up list.

And since I've got no more sock talk, and know that all you want to hear about is whether I'll be doing some more sock swaps, I'll leave you with pictures of the boys making S'mores. (Wink, wink.)

"we need graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows"

"the marshmallow gets big then it puffs down"

"Yum!"

... it's slow as can be,

one whole night to get this started

it's not for the faint of heart (don't look at the ends in back, don't look at the ends in back...),

oh, my OCD is so not happy right now

but it looks so freaking awesome when it's done, how can you resist?

wicked cool!

I've been neglecting all other things* to get these two things finished. Instead of completely finishing the Thing One shirt, I chose to put it aside once I was past the intarsia and start working on Thing Two.

Now that both fronts are well underway, I feel like I'm much closer to being done. The second one is actually coming out better than the first. My hands seem to have found the right rhythm and tension with this pattern and yarn. I'm not having to tug on stitches here and there to even them out quite as much. I guess being first has its disadvantages as well. I wonder if my son B (first born, Thing One, and always running ahead of the rest of us) will ever learn that.

* Like my email. Sorry if you've written me recently. I'm trying to catch-up today. To my Sockapal2zaer Sock Saviors: I have found matches for all the pals I wrote to you about and sent the info to those who will be knitting make-up socks. If you didn't hear from me, let me say "thank you, thank you, thank you!" for offering to be a sock savior. I will definitely keep you on the list for the next batch of pals who need sock saviors.

Okay, it's nothing special, but you did ask. This was my first time working with Fun Fur and so I wanted this hat to be easy, easy, easy. To me that meant no shaping, no seaming, and no buying a 16 inch circular needle in a size I didn't already have. Here's what I came up with.

finished measurements:
9 inches wide by 7 1/2 inches tall
(hat should have enough stretch to fit todder to woman's head)

gauge:
um, I'm guessing 3 to 3 1/2 st./inch or so
(how are you supposed to measure in all that fur?)

materials:
1 1/2 balls Lion Brand Fun Fur in light blue
1 pair 6.5mm needles
third needle in similar size for three-needle bind off

Cast on 60 stitches. Knit flat in stockinette stitch for 7-8 inches (depending on how big you want your "hair" to be), ending with a purl row. On next row, knit 30 stitches, and fold piece in half so that the two needles are each holding half the stitches and are parallel to each other with the knit side facing you. Using a third needle, work three-needle bind off across the row (= knit one stitch from front needle and one stitch from back needle together, *knit one stitch from front needle and one stitch from back needle together, pull first stitch on right needle over second stitch*, repeat * to * until end of row). You should now be at the side opening and have one stitch on the right needle. Continue the three-needle bind-off down the side (= *insert right needle into edge of front, then edge of back, wrap needle and pull a loop through, then pull first stitch on right needle over second stitch*, repeat * to * down the entire side). Don't worry about being too exact when picking up stitches. The Fun Fur is so furry that you can fudge it quite a bit. When all stitches have been bound off, turn hat inside out. The purl side will be worn on the outside, so weave in ends on the KNIT side.

S wanted to take a picture of me wearing the hat - this is what he got

Amy made Slytherin and Ravenclaw HiP scarves for her sons (what cuties!)
Joan finished her son's weasley and an Azkaban scarf in time for a Halloween party at school (you have got to see this picture of him all dressed up - I think this is my favorite knitalong pic of all time!)
Ina knitted a great pair of kid's Gryffindor socks and she's giving them away to a blog reader, so go leave a comment to enter the contest!
Mascarasnake finished a big B weasley for her brother
Michelle finished a HiP scarf and sewed some fun fabric on to the back side - what a great idea!

Anmiryam is working on an awesome Quidditch sweater for her daughter
Annie is almost finished with her daughter's Azkaban scarf for her Halloween costume
Becky's Hatmione is looking terrific and she's almost done with a bookscarf too (hey, she's starting a Christmas Stocking Knitalong - neat!)
Emily has made great progress on her Hogsmeade hat (I can't wait for that pattern!)
Jennifer is getting her Azkaban scarf underway (look at the sweet baby in new Trellis cardigan pics - awwww!)
Kat is knitting a pair of Opal Rainforest "Owl" socks in honor of the release of Goblet of Fire
Kathy just finished the intarsia on her son's weasley
MA has started another Gryffindor scarf for a friend for the GoF premiere (gotta wait till Sunday for her weekly pics)
Pixie has pics of progress and puppies
Stephanie is making a weasley in the round and is learning how to do intarsia in the round for the initial (check out her ugly knit entry in the You Knit What? Halloween Contest!)

And with my Halloween knitting, I haven't made any progress on my weasley sweater, but in one of my I-need-to-knit-something-else-to-save-my-hand evenings, I did manage to make this little Gryffindor hat with the leftovers from my HiP scarf.

I've got enough yarn for one more. Who thinks my boys need matching Gryffindor hats?

I think it was finishing the neck that really made the difference. I used Cashsoft DK for the neck, because the blue was just perfect! I know the original Thing shirts are all red, but since the boys will be wearing these as regular shirts after Halloween (that is to say, without the silly bright blue Fun Fur wigs), I wanted to bring a little of that crazy blue into the shirts.

just sew in the sleeves, mommy please

The boys are so excited about these shirts! While B has been enjoying trial fittings, S has been anxiously watching the progress of his Two shirt.

second verse, just like the first

He's been so patient that I decided to start sewing in the sleeves on his shirt first.

With the extra hour we got today from setting the clocks back, I should have no trouble finishing these up for tomorrow. Hooray!

Just one more sleeve to sew in and then the costumes are all done. Pics later tonight after the Things go Trick-or-Treating and to bed.....

1:30 UPDATE: Things are all done and I've already caught B trying to slip his on all by himself before it's time.

I guess they're excited!

Oh, they were excited!

B actually said "I'm Thing One. Now I can bump around the house!" Uh oh, what have I gotten myself into?!

Don't they just look like they're about to go cause some trouble?

My Cat in the Hat "costume" was a little less literal. I got the colors right though.

Trick or Treat!

The Things were a huge hit in the neighborhood. When a group of 11 year-old boys in Scream costumes spontaneously declared "those are the BEST costumes", I took that as a real compliment. A similarly-aged cowgirl passed S and said appreciatively, "nice hair!" S responded, "no, it's a wig."

This is your thing on too much candy. Any questions?

They came home with baskets filled to the brim. And crashed.