HP Movie Marathon

Chris was on-call for work this weekend so we were tied to the house. We usually rent movies on these weekends when one or the other of us has pager duty. This weekend we rented all 3 Harry Potter movies...so we could get ready for The Goblet of Fire due out on November 18th! Little less than a month away. I just finished the book last week and can't wait to see the Triwizard Tournament on the big screen and I'm curious how true to the book they will be at the end. I've heard rumors that the film is staying close to the story, hence the PG-13 rating, I guess. I think I may try to go see it at the IMAX over at the zoo.

Not much got knitted this weekend. I was busy doing tons of laundry and fall housecleaning. Actually cleaned out the front hall closet to get the ski jackets closer to the front and ready to go! Woosh Swoosh

I did manage to put a few rows on my top-down-v-neck-tee this weekend while watching Chamber of Secrets. I have about 6-8 inches to go on the body before the ribbing and the bind off. Then its just a little more kntting on the sleeves (its short-sleeved)and add the neck band. Shouldn't take too much longer to finish it up and its about time! I need to get working on Christmas gift projects. I think mostly socks and hats for immediate family this year. Chris' sisters are each getting a scarf, Lacy Ribbon scarf for Jane in Atlanta, a warm chenille scarf for Betsy just north of the Cities and one for Cathy in Superior.

Had a sock setback that I noticed on Thursday when I picked it up. I was knitting at the Caribou with friends Wednesday night and I must have purled my knits and knitted my purls on one row of the instep....GRRRR. So Thursday evening I fixed the knits (cuz I didn't notice the purls yet) and that was easy...well relatively easy...compared to the garter stitch part of the deal. It probably would have been way faster if I'd just frogged it back the 6 or 7 rows and re-knitted it. But I was feeling somewhat like Dobby, I guess, and just had to punish myself. I knitted across to the errors and dropped them and picked them up one at a time. Most of this I did on Friday evening. So now I'm ready to knit it to the toe tonight.

I promise to post some pictures of WIP soon.

Loopy for Magic Loop

Julie and I were the only knitters knitting at Au Bon Pain yesterday. We usually have 4 or 5 in our group. Its always an enjoyable time and a great break at mid-day!

I've been working on a sock made from Lana Grossa Meilenweit Tweed in a sort of oatmeal colorway (pictures later) and I'm doing it using the Magic Loop method. This utilizes a 40" circular needle instead of 4 or 5 dpns and its soooooo easy and portable. Another advanatge to this method is that you can try the sock on while its still on the needles...you just slide it over to the cable and put the dang thing on to see how its shaping up! I started on the heel flap on Friday night and turned the heel and did the gussets over the weekend. WAY easier than dpns. I'm using the instructions in the Sensational Knitted Socks (by Charlene Schurch) and following the "2 circulars" sections. I just think of one side as "needle 1" and the other as "needle 2" - it works quite well.

I also did a gauge swatch "in pattern" for a lacy shell I'm going to be knitting for Chris' sister for her birthday in April. The pattern calls for U.S. size 2 and 3 circulars. I tried those...but could not get the right number of stitches with them so I ripped it and tried sizes 3 and 4. These worked out perfectly! So the lesson is - no matter how much we don't want to do it - Take the Time and Knit the Gauge Swatch, it will save you heartache in the end.

Felted!  

Before Felting: I know it looks blue but its really purple! :-S  

Just Felt Like it

Last week I finally finished knitting the purple hat and put it in the washer to felt it. It only took about 7-9 minutes of intense sloshing around in the hot water to get it to the right size and texture. Then it sat on an inverted bowl for 4 days in the dining room doing its drying thing. So after that small adventure I sat down to knit a red hatband from some awesome eyelash yarn that I picked up at Amazing Threads a couple weekends ago. Finished it up and added it to the hat...I think I prefer the hat without the band. I'll save it for a different hat.

Greatest Game Ever Played gets 4 Thumbs Up

We went to the Regal this afternoon to see The Greatest Game Ever Played. I wasn't sure how well Chris would like it since he doesn't play golf. He's never even swung a club! I keep telling him if he tried it he'd be hooked. That's how it happened to me...I used to frown at golf - until I tried it. It was love at first shot. Anyway he agreed with me at the end of the movie that it was one of the best films we'd seen this year. And we see a LOT of movies.