Remember when my monkey sock looked like this? Well, now it looks like this...

Turns out my embossed leaves addiction was stronger than monkey madness. The monkey sock was a little too loose so it had to be frogged and then when I started knitting again, I kept thinking, wouldn't this be gorgeous as embossed leaves? I seriously want everything I knit to have embossed leaves on it now.

Oh, the power of leaves!

A rare weekend post from me because I have got to tell you about my latest yarn store experience. Not because it was a good one. In fact, I have never before been treated so rudely in a yarn store. And as yarn store owners are notorious for their unfriendliness, that's saying something.

visit Concord, but don't get any closer than this to this store

The store in question is Needle Arts of Concord (in Concord, MA) which is closing after 30 years. I'd never been to Concord - didn't even know where it was really - but a friend who recently moved there mentioned that she got a postcard from the store announcing their closing and a 50% off sale. She said it was sort of sad that she hadn't had much opportunity to support them and encouraged others to check them out, especially as they were having the big sale. You got it! We love to make local yarn crawls. (Why in fact, just last month we visited three stores on the North Shore and none of them were even having sales!)

Bad idea. When the owner realized that we were not from Concord and had not been valued customers for the last 30 years (pardon me for not living in Concord and for having half a dozen other awesome knitting stores much closer to me), she proceeded to complain to her shop pals, within hearing distance of course, that she couldn't believe that other people were showing up and why did she bother paying all that money to send postcards to her customers. She asked me how we heard about the sale and I explained about the friend in Concord who recommended our visiting and said that we wanted to support the store. She replied 'take advantage of the sale is more like it.' What? If you're selling yarn and I want to buy it, I'm taking advantage of you?

Furthermore, there were no prices, so when it came time to total up purchases, we had no choice but to trust that she did give us the discount. And I'm not convinced. I work at a yarn store. So did my friend. We know prices. Not that we actually bought much. After she'd repeated her complaint about the outsiders showing up to the third or fourth shop insider, we started putting things back, leaving it on the shelves for the "real customers". Then, after we'd waited at the register for a significant amount of time and finally politely asked her to ring us up, she began to say sarcastic things like "oh, that's a big purchase there," and "that was worth the trip." And she finished off by insincerely wishing us luck with the Friday traffic back home. Wow.

We were so confused by her attitude (did she want us to leave or did she want us to buy more yarn?) and shocked by her outright rudeness that we really had no idea how to respond. We were never anything but perfectly friendly, even when she groused about our very good babies getting "cranky" (yes, I did have to put wee one's binky back in her mouth two or three times, so audible sounds did actually escape her lips). To be honest, although I really want to say snarky things like 'no wonder she's closing' or tell all my friends to go to the store and announce that they heard there was a big sale, I still feel so taken off guard by her inexplicable meanness that I can't work up much outrage. She was the one who was filled with outrage, spite, something bad. Maybe because she had to close, maybe because she paid too much for those customer postcards, maybe because she'd just realized that she should have said it was a "customer only" sale, or maybe because the trials of running a store had killed the joy she used to feel for doing needlework and sharing it with others. No idea, but it was definitely bigger than us. She was seriously bitter.

Don't go there.

Not wanting to let her ruin our little trip, we made our way over to the local quilting shop our friend told us was just across the street.

visit Concord, start quilting!

Quilter's Way is a great store - beautiful fabrics, very baby-friendly (and our babies were actually cranky in this store), man, I wish I was a quilter and not a knitter! Johanna picked up some fat eighths to make some baby shoes and I dreamed of someday becoming a person with the patience and skills to actually make a quilt.

We finished off our trip with wonderful eats from Concord Teacakes and walked by the needle arts store one last time on our way back to the car. There were great samples in the window, including the funny little Otto Owl that I just finished knitting. And I could only think, 'what a shame'.

Well, that was something! I really appreciate everyone's comments. It's too bad that there are so many similar stories out there. Let's see if I can switch us over to some different and more pleasant knitting stories, specifically of that strange genre, knitting fiction.

Just in time for my summer beach reading, the fourth knitting mystery from Maggie Sefton, A Killer Stitch is out! (Don't you just love these titles?)

I've read the other three (please tell me I'm not the only one out there who's indulging in these silly books!), and even though I find the heroine a bit flaky and the stories kinda thin, they've made good bedtime or playground reading. To be honest, I can't really remember who's been killed or why in any except the first book, but I'm in for number four anyway!

And I've already picked up the second knitting mystery from Mary Kruger, Knit Fast, Die Young.

I find the characters and the plot much more engaging in this series so far, but these books have been slower to come out (probably because they're better - you get what you wait for!), so I've had to snack on the Sefton series while waiting for this second one to finally arrive.

Now, who's read The Friday Night Knitting Club? I hear they're turning this one into a movie with Julia Roberts. Is it any good?

As for some of the other knit-fiction out there, I sort of missed the whole The Shop On Blossom Street series. I was waiting for someone to say I really had to read them and then that didn't really ever happen. I'm pretty sure that I'm not up for the seriously sad sounding themes in The Knitting Circle. But then again, Knitting Under the Influence sounds entirely too fluffy for me. Anyone like any of these?

And because it's almost Tuesday (time for sock watching!) I'll mention that I just got Interweave's Favorite Socks. This book is so lovely, I actually have it on my nightstand for bedtime browsing.

And visions of embossed leaves dance in my head... and killer knitting needles.

So says Slytherin!

The Slytherin PoA style beret in Mission Falls wool completes my collection of house hats. Now to send them off to Wiley for Warm Woolies.

Don't think Potter stinks? Then stay tuned tomorrow for a big HP yarn giveaway!

I just got some yarn back that I had for book projects and I'm sharing it with you! There's yarn for socks, gloves, a wizard hat, lots of different house hats (remember, the pattern is available for free on the Charmed Knits Knitalong site and you can donate your finished hat to Warm Woolies with the other knitalongers!) and even some for a wizard robe! All the yarn is as pictured (some yarn might have been used for swatching and unravelled) and in complete skeins.

Rather than do one big giveaway and gift some poor Gryffindor with Slytherin yarn, I'll post each item separately. Leave a comment to the post of any item you'd like to win by noon (eastern time) on Sunday. I'll randomly choose a name from the comments of each post and will notify the winner. If you could send me $2 by PayPal if you win to help with the shipping that'd be great.

Thanks for playing along. Good luck and happy HP knitting!

Perfect for a House Hat or two!

Leave a comment if you'd like to win this yarn. Rules are here.

Perfect for a House Hat or two!

Leave a comment if you'd like to win this yarn. Rules are here.

Perfect for a House Hat or two!

Leave a comment if you'd like to win this yarn. Rules are here.

Perfect for a House Hat or two!

Leave a comment if you'd like to win this yarn. Rules are here.

Two skeins: perfect for Wizard Hats!

Leave a comment if you'd like to win this yarn. Rules are here.

Perfect for House Mittens or a Hip House Scarf!

Leave a comment if you'd like to win this yarn. Rules are here.

Perfect for a Bookscarf or maybe Mittens!

Leave a comment if you'd like to win this yarn. Rules are here.

Perfect for House Socks and it's self-striping, so you don't even have to change yarns!

Leave a comment if you'd like to win this yarn. Rules are here.

Perfect for a Wizard Robe!

Leave a comment if you'd like to win this yarn. Rules are here.

A copy of the book signed by me and sent to you!

Leave a comment if you'd like to win this item. Rules are here.

Hubby's been away for a few days, so it's been nothing but kids -- mooooooommmm, can you play a game with me --, pizza -- moooooooommmm, can you get me some more juice --, and legos -- moooooommmm, I can't find a piece -- for me and no knitting and no computer.

Wee one was a trooper, waiting while I made the boys' dinner or kept her at the playground for hours with them. Still a little voice in my head kept hearing, mooooooommm, when are you going to make me some larger baby bell bottoms? Okay, okay, the pattern with larger sizes is now ready! And I've got more Knitpicks Shine on the way for another baby bottoms pattern. Now I just need hubby home again so I can knit it!

Finally back to work on the embossed leaves for my sock pal. Still following the pattern as published (yup, with the special cast on... did you see that the designer commented that she didn't actually use that cast on for hers? thanks for the clarification, Mona!), I've worked my way down the second leg and am ready to knit and turn the heel. Then just a few more repeats of those fabulous leaves and I'm done! And just in time, because I've found yarn and pattern for my second sock pal (for a forgotten pal from the last round).

Waving lace (the cover socks from Favorite Socks) in Louet Gems fingering weight merino coming up next!

Wee one's socks that rock booties (from fellow Knitsmith, Kris). She's making her way through all those beautiful booties my knitbuddies made for her!

And the winners are...

Encore Slytherin: "erinflynn" Erin

Encore Ravenclaw: Sharon F (email at rr.com)

Encore Hufflepuff: "baldsheep" Katherine

Patons Wool Gryffindor: "the misplaced midwesterner" Kim

Wool Ease for wizard hats: "peschiperkins" Julie

Cascade 220 Superwash Slytherin: Melissa (email at cox.net)

Jaeger Matchmaker Slytherin: "meliass" Melissa

Regia Gryffindor sock yarn: "flanthrower" Sara

Wool Ease 10 pack for wizard robe: "unknitted" Kris

Signed copy of Charmed Knits: "love of knitting" Amy and Rose (email at msn.com)

Congratulations! Send me your addresses (my email address is in the left sidebar) and $2 through PayPal if you can and I'll get your package ready.

For everyone else, I'm working on a fun little bonus HP pattern right now, so stay tuned in the next few days...

Presenting the emli bonnet: a baby bonnet with embossed leaves ("emli" for short)! As I was working on my sock pal's socks and starting my own, I kept picturing a lovely embossed leaves hat for wee one. I could not get the idea out of my head - I had to make one!

I knit the hat from the top down, just like the embossed leaves socks (from Interweave Knits Winter 2006 and Favorite Socks), so the leaf pattern has the same direction and same beautiful shape, and I chose a relatively fine-gauged yarn to maintain the delicate look of the leaves. Since it is an openwork lace pattern, I decided it should be a summer hat in cotton and widened the brim for some shade for baby's face. I also added little picots to the bind off edge to accent the leaf motif. The top ribbing is cinched in, pulling the leaf stems together bouquet-style into a tidy bundle.

I love how this bonnet came out! It makes me wish I'd picked a prettier yarn to knit it in. This Jaeger Trinity was the only sport-weight green-ish cotton I had in my stash. But the color is truly almost fluorescent yellow-green. The Trinity is nice though and I would recommend it. It's a silk tweed blend like Rowan's summer tweed, which, for the record, I dislike, but the fine gauge seems to keep it from bothering my hands as the summer tweed does. The slight tweedy texture and bright baby colors are perfectly matched to the idea of a baby bonnet, so I do feel that it was a good choice. I just wish I'd used the ball of pink I have in my stash instead of this funny green. But wee one is still a picture of loveliness, even in chartreuse.

I don't feel like I've had much knitting time recently, but I've made it to the toe of my pal's second sock! I've tried to work at least one leaf (8 rows) of the pattern each time I sit down to knit. One round of leaves doesn't take very long and after a few days, I've really made progress. Slow and steady wins the race, right? Maybe I can even have finished socks for sock watching tomorrow!

(PS - Be sure to update the database system when you finish your socks. There might be something special in store for a lucky finisher each month!)

Announcing a little incentive to help you sockapaloozas get those socks done and update the database. Each month, I'll make a list of all the folks who have entered in the database that they've finished in that month and pull one name to win a fabulous sock suprise! The winner for May is: Danielle of the Knitting Niche. And she's won a copy of Sensational Knitted Socks!

At the end of June I'll pull one name from all those who finish and update their info in the database in June and they'll win an awesome package of sock-y goodness from Simply Socks! (Thanks to Allison for the prize donation!) And there'll be a July prize too, so keep on knittin'!

Hmmmm, am I eligible for my own contest? Cause I just finished my pal's socks!

I need to see more pics, don't you?

Wanna see more finished socks? We've got 46 reported finishers so far - check 'em out on the big list!

While I was bringing the boys to school, our modem died. Hubby must have been making himself some breakfast and then decided he wanted to check email and then noticed that the internet connection was down. Then he must have pulled out all the wifi stuff to check the connection. Then he went upstairs to check the other computer and so when I came home I didn't see him at all, only the house looking a wreck with cereal boxes out and baby stuff pushed to the side to make room for the electronic equipment. It was like he'd been taken in the rapture or something!

After hassling hubby about whether we had unplugged or broken something, our provider finally came out to give us a new modem. Hooray, internet (and hubby) have been restored! Just in time for me to tell you about my sops...

Yes, I have no socks-in-progress only these sad socks-out of-progress.

Now that I've finished my sock pal's socks, do you think I'll go back and work on any of my unfinished sock projects? Will I finally finish the Gryffindor socks from Sunshine Yarns (hey, did you hear she's doing a Harry Potter sock yarn club?!)? How 'bout the awesome retro prep socks I dyed myself? Or the ice blue beauty I started from the yarn my dye buddy dyed for me? Or do you think I'll jump ahead and start my other pal's waving lace socks?

Yeah, I think so too.

I got my gift package in the mail yesteday for subscribing to the Rowan magazine! Did you get yours? I'm going to guess that you got yours about.... a year ago.

When I first subscribed like 5 years ago, I signed up in the summer, which is apparently the end of their publication year. Ever since, when it comes time for me to renew my subscription, they're out of the little gift package for that year. I've had to wait extra weeks, pick different colors because my choice was all gone, and last year they even told me that they were just going to send me the gift from the next year. You might recall that last year the gift package had two skeins of kidsilk haze in it. I was really excited when it finally came time for my renewal because I'd watched everyone else get their yummy kidsilk haze. Then when they told me they were sending some handknit dk for a purse kit, I wrote to them and said, no I really want the kidsilk haze! They were very nice (they have been very nice every year when they write to tell me that I have to wait or change my choice) and sent me the kit in a different color. And as usual, I didn't knit the kit. I never do! The all seasons cotton and the linen drape from a few years back eventually worked their way into tank tops and the rowanspun dk from even longer ago may never become a Kaffe Fasset pillow, but I'm saving it for something special. I've loved getting the yarns, but I don't seem to convert them into actual things that often.

So yesterday, after waiting some extra weeks and sending in a second choice color selection, I get this year's gift (uh, last year's gift for the rest of you!): two skeins of handknit dk to make a little cabled purse. This never happens, but I felt this intense desire to start knitting the thing right away!

I really needed a change after working on socks for so long. My hands were yearning for the feel of a different gauge and a different yarn. I don't need a knitted bag, but I couldn't stop them! Turns out the pattern is interesting without being difficult and I'm having tons of fun with it. It feels like a little knitting summer vacation!

This is one of my all-time favorite knitting abbreviations. I love how the very formal order "make" is followed by a silly little word like 'bobble'. (Can't you just imagine Captain Picard from Star Trek saying 'Number One, make bobble.') Plus, I enjoy making bobbles. Which is a good thing because this dolly bag ends with a ton of bobbles!

I also really enjoy Eeyore, um, I mean EOR as an abbreviation. And pwise is pretty funny to say too. Then again, I may enjoy knitting patterns a little too much.

I've got some new baby pants underway! These are in a super yummy buttery color of Knitpicks Shine. They're different from the bell bottoms (I spy ruffles!) and you'll be able to get the pattern at magknits this summer!

You all know me too well to have ever doubted that I'd ignore all the sops and just go ahead and start the waving lace socks (from Interweave Knits Spring 2004 and Favorite Socks).

I'm liking the pattern but am a bit conflicted about the result. The sock lover in me keeps saying that they are really lovely, but the embossed leaves lover in me keeps saying that they ain't no embossed leaves. No conflicts about the yarn though; the Gems Merino is wonderful to work with and I love the color. I hope my pal doesn't mind that they're such a simple solid color, but I thought this color was just so pretty.

So we're about half way through sockapalooza now and have 84 reported finishers. Way to go! You can see who's done on the big list. And hubby's added a new link there that will take you to the blog of a finished socker. So be sure to include the URL of your post or image of finished socks in the appropriate space in the database when you update your info, so we can all see your finished socks!

Sock on, my fellow paloozas!

Are you getting excited?! There's so much going on...

Potter Podcast! This past weekend I recorded a podcast with local knitter, podcaster, and HP fan, Guido of it's a purl man. We discussed Harry Potter with Jane from Porter Square Books. It was loads of fun - my first time doing a podcast! - and it got me thinking about all the things I want to see in the upcoming movie and in the final book. The podcast should be airing in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned to Guido's show!

Potter party at Webs!! The weekend between the movie premiere and the book release, I'll be visiting Webs in Northampton, MA for a book signing and HP party. They're opening the store on Sunday, July 15 starting at 1pm just for us Potter enthusiasts to talk and knit Harry Potter (and do a little shopping - I've already got a list!). It sounds like they've got some neat Harry Potter themed events planned for the afternoon, so come join us.

Potter Parade! Are you planning your knits to wear to the releases? It's not exactly sweater weather this time, so this group has decided to make invisibility shawls to wear at the movie premiere and the book release. Awesome idea!

I was thinking of maybe wearing a hip house scarf or another little surprise something that I'm still working on. Aaack, the clock is ticking!

Look at how adorably small this dolly bag is!

It's only about 2/3 as big as my shoe. Because it's so small, I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of this bag - maybe it could hold a wee baby knitting project -, but can't you just see a little toddling wee one playing with it in a year or two?

She can put all her teeny treasures in there. Awwww....