HSKS3 Questionaire...

for my Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap 3 partner. I am posting the info here for my swap partner, although she sent her own version of a questionaire which was really good (and I borrowed the idea to use with my sock kit receiver). I am also posting it so that our House, Hufflepuff, can receive all the House Points possible! Go Hufflepuff!


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1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?

I am a Hufflepuff (according to 4 different Sorting Hat quizzes!)

2. List your favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length. Or would you prefer circulars?

For DPN my most favorite is Scacel from Germany. The stainless steel version is nice and slick and the points are really sharp. I only have one set in size 0000 and would love to get a set in 1's or 2's.These needles are the DPN version of the Addi Turbo Circulars. I also like Inox/Prym from Germany for metal DPN's. I have many sets of these. For Bamboo, I like Brittany needles and I have several sets of Clover bamboo. I have also used Web's version of Bamboo from Valley Yarns. They are nice too.
I have been planning on trying to use the circulars for socks, either the Socks Soar on Two Circulars method, or the Magic Loop method. I have books for both methods, but have yet to purchase the circulars required.

3. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?

I have been going to try the Knit Picks nickel plated DPN's. I have heard good things about them, but haven't tried them yet. The six inch in size 1's, 2's or 3's would probably be my first ones to try. Or their circulars, which I have also heard good things about. (Maybe then I will learn the "modern" method of sock production! LOL!)

4. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?

N/A

5. Do you have any allergies?

No
6. If you are swapping scarves - what is your desired length for the pattern? This will help your partner find the pattern that is just right for you and buy yarn accordingly.

N/A

Somebody stop me...

because I can't seem to be able to stop myself! I've done it again, and I blame Ravelry for it! (I really love Ravelry, I do I do I do). You see, Ravelry makes it really easy to find friends and groups and swaps of all kinds. Mix that combination with a lack of willpower to abstain, and you get me signing up for 2 new swaps! Yikes! One of them is the Ravelry Scarf Exchange, which sounds like it will be a lot of fun. The other is a Harry Potter Sock Kit Exchange (info can be found here)which ties in really well with my Harry Potter obsession. Of course,both of these exchanges will require tons of yarn shopping, etc. which is a major sacrifice on my part. NOT! I am looking forward to receiving my swap partners for both exchanges.

And speaking of shopping, we spent a couple of days on the North Shore this past weekend, and while away I managed to find 2 yarn shops from my pre-planned list. We spent Friday in Salem, MA and while there I went to Seed Stitch Fine Yarn. It is a lovely shop with some amazing knitted floral sculptures in the windows. It is open and bright with some comfy chairs for spouses to sit in while wives fondle fibers. There were some new yarns I hadn't seen, but for the life of me, I cannot recall the names.(My pace was hurried due to the sitting spouse and 2 teenagers that I had in tow, otherwise I would have spent much more time here browsing.) I did manage to make a purchase..



2 skeins of Malbrigo in "Stonechat" (a beautiful red/green combo for me that reminded me of all of the brick homes in Salem with ivy covering and green trees). It will probably become a scarf.



My 15 year old chose a Schaefer Yarns Handpainted Superwash Sock yarn called "Anne". It is a beautiful blue/purple/green combo that she wants knitted into knee socks.

The color combo was definitely her, and the fact that her middle name is also Anne helped her to make the choice too. In addition, Seed Stitch Fine Yarns is across the street from a quilt shop called Market Place Quilts. Nice shop.

The other shop found was Loom and Shuttle in Ipswich,MA. We were there on Sunday and, thankfully, the shop is open on Sundays. It is a combination quilt and yarn shop (how lucky for me with both fiber addictions in one shop). Fabric wise there were some batiks and novelty prints, some beautiful florals and juvenile fabrics. Yarn wise, there were some interesting items. There was quite a bit of Debbie Bliss and Elizabeth Lavold, some novelty fibers, baby stuff and a little bit of sock yarn. Again, I was under the gun with the entire clan waiting for me in the car, so time was of the essence. I didn't leave empty handed. I bought a fun turtle batik print to include in my DD's quilt, and 2 skeins of Regia color sock yarn in "Tansania".


It will probably become a pair of socks for me, or maybe DD, as she claimed to like it too. I also bought one skein from the clearance bin; a Handpaint Original from BrownSheep called "New England Falls".



It is a beautiful mohair/wool blend, but there is only about 88 yards, so perhaps I can make a short scarf from it. It is definitely in my colorway. That's it for now.

I'm finally a Ravelrer...

and I am Soooo excited! While attending the Yarn Harlot event in Burlington last week, I met several members of Ravelry, including Kimberly (aka Somebunnyslove.com)from Rhode Island. (Thanks Kimberly for the photo of Jess below!)




While waiting on queue for our books to be signed by Stephanie, we also met Jess,(in black and white on the right of above photo) the creator of Ravelry. She, along with her co-creator husband Casey, have developed a most amazing site! I had signed up back in June and have been waiting patiently (or not so patiently,as I kept checking my status constantly)for my invitation to join to arrive. And lo and behold, last week in my inbox, there it was!
I signed on immediately and have been obsessed with it ever since. There are so many fun and useful features to the site and it is majorly addictive! I love it! Thank you again Jess and Casey for filling the need in the knitting community!

The other new item is I finally attended a real life knitting group last night. My LYS owner Joanne had invited me to these events several times, but something always seemed to get in the way. Last night,however, I made it a priority to attend at our local Panera and it was great. It is only one Sunday a month, although in the fall she is planning a weeknight and a weekend get together on a regular basis. I will try to attend the Tuesday night event whenever possible. Yay..more fiber therapy in 3-D!

This weekend was tax free weekend here in Massachusetts. DH and I took advantage and purchased a new laptop for me! Another Yay! No more pounding on my stuck "I" key or slapping my moniter upside the head to get the picture back. No more using DH's pc to upload photos because I was using windows 98 and didn't have any usb ports or card readers on my antique pc. I have to say, typing on this keyboard is going to take some getting used to..the angle is so flat and I am making tons of typos, but I know I am going to love it! Hopefully the fact that I have my own equipment now will increase my posting regularity. We can only hope!

So what else have I been up to...

besides going to see the Yarn Harlot? Just a couple of things. I finished my three week stint at summer school a week or so ago. During that time, I managed to finish up a couple of projects.
I signed up with Charmed Knits which was created by Alison Hansel, the author of "Charmed Knits". Alison also writes The Blue Blog, one of my favorite blogs. (See my link under favorite blogs). I, like millions of others, am a major Harry Potter fan! I have really enjoyed the references to knitting throughout all of the Potter books. (JK Rowling secretly knits socks in her spare time in Scotland, is my suspicion.) Alison obviously felt the same, so she created a book full of Potter-esque knits. She also started the knit-along to create "House Hats" for Warm Woolies, a charity that collects and distributes warm knitwear to orphanages in Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and China as well as Indian reservatioins of Pine Ridge and Rosebud.

Here is one of the hats that I finished for the knit-along:


I am also working on the beret version done in the same Gryffindor House stripe pattern. I may even bring myself to make a few Slytherin versions as well. It is quite fun to be reading Harry Potter books, seeing Potter movies, and kitting Potter Knits! I am in Hogwarts Heaven! (My kids think that I am a major geek!)

Besides the "House Hats" , I have been making Toe Cast Socks for my LYS and our local hospital. They had been collecting baby hats, but found that they were overloaded at this time with them...apparently more hats than babies. They did tell the shop owner, however, that what they could use desperately was a sock to go over the top of the foot, or toes, of someone in a leg cast. Because it has to stretch quite a bit and be washable, we are doing them in washable worsted weight yarns. They work up really fast and remind me of golf club covers. It is a great way to use up bits of yarn and the orthopedic unit of our local hospital is very grateful.

Here is few of them that I have made:

I'm sort of famous...

Well, not really. But I did have another brush with fame yesterday at the Borders Bookstore in Burlington, MA. I was there to see Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka The Yarn Harlot.It was my second time seeing her; the first was a couple of months ago at Webs in Northampton, MA. At the Northampton venue there were probably 600 or so knitters in the audience and I was about 30 rows back, as seen in this photo:











And here is a photo of Stephanie from last night at Borders:
Obviously I was much closer than in Northampton; in the front row in fact. I spent the day at the Lowell Quilt Festival and the Yarn Harlot venue in Burlington was literally on my way home. Talk about a day of fiber therapy!


















Here is a photo of Stephanie taking a photo of us..(surrounded by her panties..see her blog for the explanation of those)
















And here is the view from Stephanie's camera: Thank you Stephanie!
I borrowed the photos from Stephanie's blog; this is where my claim to fame comes in..that's me in the front row in the photos, on the left of the travelling sock.


















Here we are waving and greeting the "real celebrity" with undies!


















Here is Stephanie signing her latest book, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off at the Northampton gig:

And here I am holding the travelling sock and Stephanie is holding my blue donation hat that I brought to the signing.



It was a long, hot, tiring, but wonderful day for me. I left the Border's store just as they were closing at 10 pm. facing an hour's ride home. As I was leaving, I took this shot throught the store window of Stephanie still signing books and taking photos with her crazed knitter "McPhans". (I can't say that I "Kinneared" this shot..I did look through the viewfinder!)



Stephanie is amazing! The Yarn Harlot rocks!