Life is a rollercoaster!

Talk about ups and downs! The mittens that should have been mindless for some reason are a disaster, and I saw the cutest hot water bottle cover on Knitty and ran out to buy the stuff to make it and then realized that it would really only be decorative...since hot water bottles don't get that hot anyway...bummer.

Hello World!

Yes, it has been a long, long, time since I have posted on my knitting site...mainly because knitting has taken a far, far backseat to my Masters degree. So what, you may ask, is prompting me to start posting again? The answer is: I found a great new way to Kitchener and I made the perfect poached egg! First the Kitchener. I was trying to join a headband done in a cable stitch and I knew there had to be some way to weave them together. I would have been happy with "close" to the cable and associated knit and purl sections and found "Musing on Kitchener Mantras" You will want to read Suzi's post but the summary is to look at the stitch (usually the right side on the front needle and the wrong side on the back needle...just look at the stitch. Once you get past the anchoring step, you will always be touch two stitches, one comes off and one stays behind. The first stitches are anchored by: Front needle: Opposite On; Back needle: Opposite On The stitch that follow you alternate Front to back touching two stitches on each needle thus: Front needle: Same off, Opposite On Back needle: Same off, Opposite On That's it! Look at the stitch and if your directions is "Same" then knit the knit and purl the purl. If it is opposite then purl the knit or knit the purl...just like that. There is a strange 1/2 step jog that someone will figure out but I actually didn't notice it in my knitting....I just loved that it made it harder to find the woven edge...thanks to Suzi I have one gift finished! Now about poached eggs. I saw the movie Julie and Julia this weekend and just LOVED it! It made me want to rush out and buy Julia Child's "Mastering French Cooking" cookbook...particularly if I could find an old, well loved copy! But there is one scene where Julie is poaching and egg for the first time and I just wanted to cry! I remember going through the same agony and same glee the first time I made eggs benedict from scratch. They were the best things I had ever eaten. Last night I made myself a poached egg for the first time in 5 years and "Yum!" I had dreams of all the ways to use poached eggs. I got up this morning and poached another and put it on a piece of sourdough bread with a little brown mustard and fresh spinach. "Yum!" Back to work for me and hopefully I won't be gone so long this time.

Quidditch Round 3

Quidditch ~ Round Three 1. When Rita Skeeter prints a bad articles about Hagrid in the Daily Prophet, which Professor teaches Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class while he is away? c. Professor Grubbly-Plank 2. What was the article Rita Skeeter wrote about Hagrid called? c. Dumbledore's Giant Mistake 3. When the school champions were being chosen from the Goblet of Fire, whose name cam out first? b. Viktor Krum 4. What is the spell Ludo bagman says to magically magnify his voice when he commentates? a. Sonorus 5. What kind of dragon did Cedirc have to face in the first task? b. A Swedish Short-Snout 6. Who raised the trophy after winning the world cup? b. Troy and Quigley 7. How many bedrooms did Mundungus Fletcher claim to have? d. 12 8. For what did Moody mistake his birthday gif of a carriage clock? b. A basilisk egg 9. What did Mr. Ollivander produce for the end of Cedric's wand? d. Silver smoke rings 10. The dark mark is on Snape's left arm. a. Yes...eventually Picture Scavenger Hunt Karkaroff A Basilisk Mundungus Fletcher Amos Diggory Snape

School!

So I am going back to school! I'm not telling many people...I would just rather do my thing and then once I get closer to the end of my Master's studies then I can tell folks. Kind of like not announcing you're pregnant until the end of the first tri-mester! I am working towards my Masters of Astronomy...yeah, go figure! So for you HSKSers out there I will be submitting my application to Hogwarts when I am done. yeah....right.... Cheers! p.s. Oh yeah! I casted on for the Orkney Pi Shawl and am very excited about working on that when I need a brain break. I had to go create my own little reference chart to keep myself straight.

What a fantastic reminder!

Potter post: When you get a cute ecard like the one Miss Mandy Finch-Fletchley sent to remind us to post how could you NOT run and post immediately! The best part is at the end of the ecard if you mouse over the two characters you can make them sound really funny! If you dare give it a try here: Click-me! I was ahead of schedule for my HSKS project and now I am running behind...go figure. Hopefully I will get to set up the sewing machine this weekend and get caught up. On the knitting front I actually got a project done!! Wahoo!! It isn't for my swap buddy .... sorry. The hat is knitted with the old "Twining" method a traditional Scandanavian knitting technique dating back at least to the 17th century in Sweden. You can find a description of twining on Knitty.

Quiddich time

Okay, first answers: 1. a. Neville 2. a. rubber mouse 3. c. lipstick 4. a. 43 5. B. Black 6. d. Blue 7. b. Magenta 8. d. Padfoot 9. c. Uganda 10. c. single-malt whiskey Picture Hunt Goblet of Fire Madam Maxime Dragon from first challenge Viktor Krum Madam Pomfrey

Weekly update

HSKS post: Well the one thing about the HSKS is that it helps me post on a weekly basis!! Major kudos to our house prefect for reminding me to get on line and blog. I'll be sewing up my bags this weekend. I'm going to try and make several for our next charity sale! Right now I am working on the house puzzle.... (post post) I figured out the puzzle... "Then you should have died!" roared Black. "Died rather than betray your friends as we would have done for you!"