It's been a busy 2 weeks since I last posted. The week before Labor Day weekend I spent every spare minute sewing. I made nine knitting bags for a huge Etsy shop update. I also dyed up some more sock yarn in "almost solid" colors (inspired by a prior week's feature on Knitter's Review). There's still a ton of stuff left so hop on by and have a look.
We ended up dealing with some health drama over Labor Day weekend requiring a trip to the Emergency room. Why is it we have to have trouble that could normally be handled by a physician on a holiday weekend when none are open? Everything is getting back to normal now, thank goodness.
Our heat wave continues. It's been in the upper 80's with humidity levels suitable for growing tropical plants. The library's annual book sale was yesterday and it was the hottest one I could remember. As always, it was a fun day. My family staff's the bake sale portion and we had a huge spread this year. So many donations of delicious food! They had fewer books this year, but better quality and selection of books. The librarian did a good job of culling out the "junk". I got a bag full of books.
Managed to snag 4 of the "Cat Who" books I was missing. Renee found me 3 James Bond books! Also found a vampire book, one of James Herriot's books, a Roddy Doyle and an Agatha Christie. Not a bad score for only $14!
On the craft front, here's what I've been up to...
I finally got around to machine knitting a bag from the wool mom & dad brought me from New Zealand. This yarn was gorgeous, but pretty scratchy, so I figured it would be perfect for a felted bag.
I was right. It machine knit pretty quickly. Although the yarn had a lot of "grab" and managed to jump the needles several times. I restarted the bag 3 times (so much fun casting on 100 stitches 3 times) before I realized I'd have to run the carriage slowly to prevent the dropped stitches. But it was worth the hassles in the end. I need to stitch the lining in yet.
The bag has plenty of structure on it's own, but I decided to line it to keep the fuzzies from transferring to whatever I carry inside. As soon as the humidity drops and I can stand to have wool in my lap I'll get it stitched.
I've started a new punchneedle project.
A cute little ghost for Halloween. I started punching the background in grey variegated floss but quickly realized I'm not going to have nearly enough thread to do the whole background that way. So I've switched to a combination of variegated and solid floss combined. I'm using granny's Pretty Punch this time. It's certainly more comfortable to hold than the cheap Dimensions punch I used for the first picture. But my loops are not as consistent on the front side. I got a bunch of supplies this week...wool floss, a kit, a pattern book and some issues of Create and Decorate. I have plenty of ideas now. Now I just need more time!
The Summer V-Neck vest is coming along nicely.
I've put a lot of time into this as I'd like to have it to wear over a shirt for fall. I finished the back and have started the cabled section on the front. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love cabling! 
Such a simple process creates such a cool effect. I'm glad I changed the pattern to have left and right slanting cables rather than them both going in the same direction.
And on a final note. I'm such a lemming. Wendy has been talking about how happy she's been with the Wen cleansing conditioner. I was intrigued. I'm a hair care junky, although I have reigned it in a lot the last few years. But I still love to try new stuff in search of great hair. So I finally broke down and ordered a bottle of Wen Fig. I've been using it for a few days now and am absolutely thrilled so far. The product is a non-foaming cleanser that is supposed to replace your shampoo, conditioner, leave in conditioner, deep conditioner, detangler. Out of the bottle it looks and feels just like conditioner. The directions call for you to use a ton of the stuff. I used about 1/3 of what they call for. You apply it to your wet hair, massage it in and let it sit for several minutes before rinsing. It feels tingly on the scalp and smells fantastic. I must say, I am completely sold so far. My hair is soft and clean and manageable. I have not put a drop of anything else in my hair, no leave in conditioner, no styling gel, nothing. It's fantastic. I generally can't go a day without at least wetting my hair down to make it look presentable. Even after yesterday's full day outside in the sun and breeze, my hair looks great this morning. I brushed it out when I got up and it looks perfectly presentable. I'm thoroughly impressed. It's early days yet, so we'll see how it preforms in the long run. But so far, Wen sure looks like a keeper.
Well, it's that time of year again. Dog days of summer. A year ago this week, we had temps pushing 100. This year, it's not been quite that bad, temps sitting firmly in the upper 80s low 90s, but the humidity is so high, it feels like a sauna. But with the heat of August comes the knowledge that fall is not far off and on the heels of that...the holidays! The girls over at Stash & Burn reminded us this week, it's not too early to start thinking about Christmas knitting. Indeed. I've started giving it some thought and do have a few things in mind to make for gifts this year. Most of my family is sensitive to wool, so I have to be a little careful of my choices. Meanwhile, I've got plenty of projects to keep me going. No progress pictures of the WIPs today. The only one with noticeable progress is the 2nd footie sock. I'm getting very near the end of the yarn, so I must soon be done, I hope! I've knit some on the Montego Bay scarf, but have a long way to go. The other socks, cardigan and vest are all collecting dust at the moment.
I've been reading a lot this summer. Mostly audiobooks and mostly Lillian Jackson Braun's "The Cat Who..." books. My mom and sister have enjoyed her books for some time, I'm so late at getting on the bandwagon. They are delightful little tales of a man and his two Siamese cats. There's always a little mystery to be solved, but mostly it's lighthearted, life in a small town stories. When I found this book, I had to have it.
I love companion books. Especially for a series such as this one with tons of recurring characters. Haven't even had the chance to crack the cover on this one yet, but hopefully tomorrow night. After Doctor Who, of course! Are you tuning in for season 3? Friday nights on SciFi. New time this week...8:00!
I purchased new yarn for the Huck Lace shawl...
Absolutely gorgeous Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Iris. Imagine a fluffy soft kitten and you'll have an approximation of just how soft this yarn is. And the color is amazing. I'm so glad I went with this color. I had such a hard time deciding. I think this heathery solid will work much better for the Huck Lace than the variegated yarn did. This yarn is fine, really fine. I'm a bit nervous about knitting with it since I've only just adapted to fingering weight and this is for sure a lace weight. But I feel I've grown a lot as a knitter this last year and am a lot more adventurous to try new things.
Mrs Beeton, also newly arrived and waiting in the wings.
These are both Elann yarns. Super Kydd in Ice Blue and Peruvian Quechua (an alpaca tencel blend) in Dusky Lavender. The lavender is much more blue than purple so I'm not sure the beads I had picked out are going to work. I'm making a trip to the craft store this weekend and will see if I can't find something that matches a bit better. I did also purchase a ball of the Quechua in Parchment figuring I might do a hand dye for a 2nd pair of Mrs Beetons, if I like the first pair enough.
Reason for the craft store jaunt this weekend...
Punchneedle embroidery supplies so I can make ANYTHING from this book! Grannie's needles seem to be working pretty good in my little test last weekend. I don't have proper fabric or a proper hoop, so that's my mission this weekend. I can't wait to give this a proper go.
Oh yeah. I'll be doing that and canning more tomatoes! And look...
I found a food mill! Life is good.
OOTP was excellent. I actually saw it twice this weekend. And I enjoyed it even more the second time around. They stuck pretty close to the book. The changes that were made didn't take away from the story at all, just helped it to consolidate things and get the movie length down some. As with GOF and I'm sure as will be with movies 6 & 7, there's just no way to get all of JKR's rich detail into a 2-3 hour movie. But there was lots of great subtle stuff. Like in one scene when Umbridge has caught Harry trying to use her fire to access the floo network and you see boxes and boxes of confiscated Weasley Skiving Snackboxes lined along the wall. And when the DA meets for the very first time in the Hog's Head, we see a goat by the bar with the bartender. I'm pretty sure that wasn't in book 5, but it's definitely in book 7. Fred & George's departure was great. The ending duel was outstanding. One of the few things that didn't live up to my expectations was the house on Grimauld Place. In my head, it was always a single house, the movie had it as a row-home. The inside was much as I pictured it would be, but I just always pictured a dilapidated old house on the outside too. Can't wait for the DVD! I'm hoping they have deleted scenes for some of the stuff that was rushed through.
I finished the first footie sock I'm making with the leftover Opal Cotton yarn. 
I decided to try a short row heel again and it turned out really well. I watched the videos on Knitting Help over and over to make sure I was picking up the wraps correctly and I think that really helped. I've still got a hole at each end of the short rows, but I think I know what I did wrong and hope to correct it on the 2nd sock.
Tonight...
I'm canning tomatoes. The kitchen smells great. I've only got a small batch, but I should get 4-5 pints out of it. This batch I'll just freeze. I'm hoping to have enough to do up in jars by the weekend. And it's supposed to be good and hot the rest of the week, so it's a good possibility.
Mom and I were off to Quilt Odyssey yesterday. Another fabulous show this year. The most amazing quilt on display was a reversible quilt. The front was white the back was black. The design was machine quilted with colored thread on both sides. It won best in show. When they get pictures up on their website, I'll be sure to link it. The vendor mall was great this year. Lots of variety. I was very good, though and bought only a few things.
As I explained to mom, just like sock yarn, fat quarters don't count. Buy as many as you want. The one in the center is destined to be another project bag. I also picked up a new Jim Shore Heartwood Creak figure. One stand was full of them, but I restrained myself. Lunch was at Isaac's and then we went shopping at the Hershey Outlets. The day was lovely and warm and we got home just before a thunderstorm rolled in.
In knitting news, I frogged the Huck Lace shawl. I finished the first whole repeat of the huck lace pattern and the more I looked at it, the more I was convinced it wasn't right. So I ripped it out and rewound the yarn and decided to cast on Montego Bay. This pattern is super easy and moving along pretty quickly. I think the scarf will be lovely.
I haven't given up on the Huck Lace shawl, but think I will end up knitting it in a different yarn. The more pictures I see of shawls that other people have done, the more I like it in a solid color. I'm looking at the Alpaca Cloud from Knit Picks. Should make a soft, warm shawl and be pretty inexpensive too.
Look at what the mailman brought me today!
Back issues of Yarn Magazine, straight from Australia and the new Vogue Knitting (it's another one of theirs with 2 different covers, so don't be fooled if you see a different cover on the newsstand). Alas, I won't be able to read them today as I'm off to see OOTP.
I did very little reading while reading Deathly Hallows over the weekend. But I did manage to finish the Bamboo Socks.
They fit great. I wore them to work today. Very soft and comfy. I love the shine they have. I would definitely knit this yarn again.
Now I'm working on knitting the hem of the V-neck cardi. I'm about half way through the first of the Opal footies. The temperature has been abnormally cool and I'm getting itchy for some sweater knitting. I'm avoiding the siren song though as I know it will be hot again soon. I'm hoping the bits of hand knitting on the cardi will be enough to satisfy the itch.
My collection is now complete.
The book is read and I know how it all turns out. If you haven't read the book yet, stop now and go read the book.
As usual, JKR did a fantastic job. To read a nearly 800 page book in 2 days for me, the writing has to be good. I was a little surprised that 2 characters were killed in the first hundred pages. It wasn't a blood bath, but there were a number of deaths in this one, some expected, some not. As expected, good conquers evil. I was glad we finally found out why Dumbledore so implicitly trusted Snape. His belief that love is the strongest magic at the heart of it, of course. I wish there had been some interaction between Snape and Harry, did Harry forgive and accept Snape's role? I would also have liked more to the end of the story. The battle ends and then we skip forward 19 years, the kids of the trio are now heading off to Hogwarts. So obviously Hogwarts recovered, but how? Under who's guidance? And what finally became of the trio, besides getting married and having kids? Overall, I'm quite satisfied with the book as a whole though. I do hope the rumors that JKR will someday release a compendium type book are true. I would love to read full character descriptions and histories of the places and things in the books from her point of view.
I'm a bit sad now it's over. But I do believe this is one of the best series of books I've ever read. To mastermind such a complex story over 7 books so superbly is an astounding feat. My hat is off to JK Rowling and thank her heartily for her outstanding contribution to literature.
And now, normal activity can resume. I'm off to knit!
The pattern called for knitting a ribbed band separately and then sewing it on. And although I've come to terms with seaming my knitting, it certainly isn't my favorite activity and I avoid it whenever possible. I designed the pattern myself with the help of the Knitware software. It is knit from Lion Brand Wool Ease in Oxford Grey. I think I used 5 or 6 skeins. I'm not sure since the yarn was salvaged from another project that didn't work out. The buttons are from Jo-Ann Fabrics.
I love the purple color against the grey sweater. I may have to stitch the buttonholes closed just a bit. 3 stitch holes didn't seem quite big enough so I went with 4 stitch buttonholes which are just a hair too big. The fit is just about perfect except for the bottom.
The pattern called for decreasing a number of stitches before starting the ribbing. In hindsight, I should have left those stitches in. However, I steamed the bottom ribbing and that seemed to relax the acrylic content enough so I can at least button all the buttons and it looks pretty good. This was a super quick and easy pattern, especially since the majority was machine knit. I will probably make this pattern again.
This should go quickly. 7 stitches in garter stitch. I'm going to felt it slightly when it's done for durability.
