so many weasleys, so little room in the old archives
yes, it's more Harry Potter knits and even more weasleys...



gryffindor socks with Sunshine Yarns' self-striping Gryffindor yarn and
blue weasley in Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed (new pattern for a larger gauge to come!)

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Kinda looks like I'm making a scarf this way, doesn't it? It's just a pair of socks though.

This is Dani's superwash Gryffindor yarn, which is a little finer than the Knitpicks yarn. Now I really don't usually knit at this gauge, but for gryffindor stipes and as a gift for a generous knitpal, I figured I could manage it. And in fact, after all those little cables in Koigu on my sockapaloooza socks, I'm kinda getting used to this sort of gauge. Oh dear.

Just something that's been stuck in my head while I've been working on my latest pair of Gryffindor socks. The spell isn't working any better for me than it did for Ron. But I did finish the first sock.

And a little birdie told me that weasley knitalonger, Stephanie, finished her HP scarf! The name of that bird? Let's see was it Sirius, or Minerva, or Parvati, or maybe Nimbus?

Is it okay to say that I am getting tired of knitting these socks? I made this pair pretty long and although I'm thrilled to have finally made it to the second heel, I've lost the drive to finish the heel and knit that foot.

All together now: "Go, go, Gryffindor! Go, go Gryffindor!"

(For those who haven't seen this yarn before, it is Sunshine Yarns' hand-painted self-striping Gryffindor yarn. Check my "another weasley" archives for pics of my other socks knit in this yarn.)

The sock! I forgot to finish the Gryffindor sock! I found it this week buried under design projects and crinkle.

No idea when I'll be able to get back to this poor neglected little guy. Maybe it's time to pull out the Harry Potter DVDs to get me in the mood. Any other HP knitters out there working away on stalled projects? Know any spells for getting your knitting back on track?

In honor of my weasley sweater pattern being posted on the Leaky Cauldron's new Craft pages (isn't that a cool idea?!), I've started another weasley.

I'm fiddling around with the gauge of my original pattern and am treating myself to some fabulous Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed (in the perfect blue - just like the sweater Harry gets in the movie!). I'm really enjoying knitting this one so far. The pattern is so familiar to me now that knitting it is like visiting with an old friend again.

And in other Harry Potter news, I hear that Dani, of Sunshine Yarns and the fabulous self-striping Gryffindor sock yarn, has come up with some new Harry Potter colorways. She's done all the dragons and a Hedwig! Cool, cool, cool. I can't wait to see them when she posts them tomorrow!

A fabulous thing happened on the way to the DC yarn stores: I finished the intarsia on the weasley sweater. I LOVE it when the intarsia is over!

And thank goodness *cough* I did some knitting over the *cough* weekend, because an annoying *cough* summer cold has knocked me *cough* out since our return. *Cough* I can't be coughing on the weasley, now can I?

The little men who run around inside the computer to make it work (tip: use Babelfish to translate!) are very sorry for the downtime yesterday. They're back on the job now and everything's running smoothly. Before we close the curtain, I'll give you one peek at the backside of the weasley intarsia.

And now back through the looking glass, Alice.

One weasley with sleeve.

Man is there a lot of knitting in a drop sleeve! I had to rip this first sleeve out one time to get the decreases and shape right and it was like ripping out the whole back! Very sad. Very much reknitting. Very not excited about knitting yet another giant sleeve.

Soooo, remember that cold I had when we got back from DC (yes, that was back in August). Well, it hasn't gone away yet. In fact, except for one day this weekend, it hasn't even improved at all. My OB is unsurprised - apparently pregnancy is real good at maintaining lingering colds and stuff like that; it's also real good for not being allowed to take any medication that would actually help. When I reached the two week mark with hacking cough and sinus congestion, she let me try an antibiotic. It helped for one day. So with my throat slightly soothed, my sinuses much deflated and my nose running like a faucet, we made our annual trip to the Davis MegaMaze!

the boys were so excited!

This year's theme was movies and the maze had a big star in the middle of it, along with all sorts of fun areas to find where you can do cool movie stuff like shoot tennis balls at villians, slide through a black hole, and play with funny mirrors. There are always 10 bridges in the maze and this year each was dedicated to a different movie or type of movie. There was "Chick Flick bridge" with a big Fabio cutout, a Blazing Saddles covered wagon bridge, a Pirates of the Carribean bridge with a giant mast and sail, and my favorite, the Harry Potter bridge.

featuring Slytherin and Hufflepuff flags

and look, there were Nimbus 2006's for flying across the bridge

The boys had an awesome time. They loved it so much that they insisted on wearing their Megamaze t-shirts to school today (S actually insisted on wearing it yesterday AND today!).

As for me, well, in the end, I think it was a little too hot, I was a little too sick and a little too pregnant. I was great in the maze, but I'm back in bed now, trying to kill this virus with the only means allowed me: rest and orange juice. Occasionally, I'll feel well enough to knit. I'm trying not to get too much snot on the weasley.

And the weasley wants to be finished today.

So there's no more time for blogging. See you tomorrow with a finished sweater!

He likes it, he really likes it. It actually wasn't supposed to be for B. In fact, I was sizing it for a 10-12 year-old boy (that's a 32" chest circumference there!). But it looks so good on him all oversized, I may just change the sizing plans of this pattern entirely. What do you think? It'd be better for like a 6-8 year-old boy, wouldn't it?

And I LOVE the blue. I cannot say enough good things about this Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed: fabulous to knit with, comfortable to wear, amazing colors.... And I just happen to have some in red (S's favorite color), so the boys may be wearing weasleys again sooner than I thought. Say it with me, "aaanooother weasley?!"

Well, it's that time of year again: time to make hats for Dana Farber's Caps for Kids program! And since it's also time for beginning knitting class to start at the store (where my students make, you guessed it, hats), I'm going to try to knit a hat for each week of class. That'll be three hats to donate this year at least. And the first...

A Harry Potter hat, of course! I've got this Patons Merino in my stash and can't help but think it would look great as a stripy Gryffindor hat like I made last year. Maybe I can even get two hats out of it!

The Dana Farber Cancer Institute will be collecting caps (and scarves!) through November 30 and distributing them to kids in need in the Boston area before the holidays in December. If you're interested in participating, check out this Dana Farber newsletter (PDF file) for a pic of kids getting caps last year (awwwww!) and contact info.

Well, I'm a week behind in my goal to knit a hat a week for Caps 4 Kids during my beginning knitting class. I'm just finishing the first hat - a striped Harry Potter hat. This Patons Classic Merino fcomes in great Gryffindor colors, don't you think?

I'm tempted to knit the second hat as a long striped stocking cap with a pom-pom on top. This is too fun!

The Gryffindor striped HP hat - now a knitting staple for me. I know it's still eight months until the next movie comes out (and lord, well JK, knows how long until the next book), but I can't help but think about HP knits. I think it's the beginning of fall and starting to think about Christmas knits again. You know, S is going to need a new red Weasley to go with B's new blue one and I'll have another mini-weasley ornament to make by this time next year. But for now, Harry Potter caps for kids are my focus.

I'm hoping another kid will be more excited about the hat than S here

I've got a metric ton of the Patons Merino left over, so if I can squeeze it in before the end of November, I'm totally doing a stocking cap version for my next hat. With a pompom or a tassel. I've never made a tassel. I can't be any worse at it than I am at pompoms, right?

S may not have been so thrilled about trying on the hat, but B's gotten into the fun, making a magic wand with his playdough the other day.

And Ruth mentioned to me at Rhinebeck this weekend that she posted her pattern for House Gloves. Check 'em out - she put Slytherin colors on the middle finger!