Knitter in Progress

Just finished my Chutes and Ladders sock from the Six Sox Knitalong. I made them with the KnitPicks dye-your-own sock yarn which I dyed with 5 packs of cherry kool-aid. I would have liked the color to be darker, but I kind of like the variegated effect I got with this pair--it was my first attempt at dying--live and learn, right. I used the instructions in the Knitty archives for dying. Chutes & Ladders This pair was lots of fun. I plan on doing a pair for my son with some Dreambaby DK that I have in my stash. I think I may be putting socks on the back burner for a while. I want August to be my "month of lace" and then I would like to work on a few sweaters(one for my son, one for my daughter, two for me LOL). Knowing me I'll crack and still have a pair of socks "on the sticks"--they are such a great portable project that they are hard for me to resist :) Happy knitting and happy weekend, Aloha:)

No knitting content today--hopefully a finished object will be coming in the next couple of days :) Happy knitting and reading, Aloha:) Onto this weeks "Booking Through Thursday" question: Booking Through Thursday I bought a sweatshirt for my husband some years ago that says, "Celebrate freedom. Read a banned book." The shirt then goes on to list ten books that were currently banned somewhere in these United States. Here are a few examples: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Call of the Wild by Jack London, and Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. (For more information, see banned books online , and other sources.) Have you ever knowingly read a banned book? Yes, and pardon the mini-rant here but when are people going to realize that banning anything is pretty much a sure way to get anyone to do it/read it. What really sets me off are the people(usually devoutly...

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" is: What is your most unique/interesting stitching quirk? (This could be something concerning the way you stitch, how you organize your stash, etc.) I don't really know if these things would be considered quirks or not. I have to have my floss organized in numerical order at all times. When I sit down to stitch, I have to have my materials organized: my needle/scrap holder on the left side of the chair, my piece in its q-snap, my floss on my lap, my pattern(depending on how big)held under my scrap bag or on a table or stand to my left. And I'm really careful about storing my pieces when I'm not working on them--they're each in individual zip-locs(I do the same thing with knitting stuff). I don't know if those things are quirks or some form of OCD or maybe they're both the same thing LOL! On the knitting front, I should be finishing my socks by the end of the week. I don't know if I'll be doing...

Of course not!! BUT I have finished this: Ravenclaw Bookscarf My Harry Potter Bookscarf, which Laura was kind enough to share on her blog :) Thanks again for the great pattern; I had lots of fun with it! I got to try the provisional cast on for the first time and it actually worked(I'm always pleasantly surprised when I can make something work). This is a Ravenclaw bookscarf(movie version) which goes along with my Ravenclaw scarf I finished earlier in the year. I have a couple more I'd like to make, but I really have to get more stuff put away first. Thanks, Laura, for giving me a welcome break!! Happy knitting, aloha :)

Children's books With J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince making its sensational debut last weekend I started thinking about children's books. There have been a lot of wonderful ones over the years, The Cat in the Hat, Where the Wild Things Are, Bambi, the Mother Westwind stories, the Chronicles of Narnia, the Chronicles of Prydain, Nancy Drew, and on and on. As an adult, do you own children's books? Most definitely yes! I am a secondary reading specialist so it's kind of my job to read young adult lit. And many of the stories that are out there now are great. I would say that at least one third of my book collection are children's books(maybe more). If you do, do you still read them even when there are no children around? Of course--I read them even before I had my own kids. What were your favorites as a child? Now? As a child I loved books about horses, non fiction and fiction(The Black Stallion especially). Then in my early teens I star...

I went out today and got some perle cotton for my bookscarves(2 Ravenclaw and 1 Gryffindor). The colors I thought were closest were: #336(blue), #498(dark red), #783(gold), and #318(grey). The problem with liking Ravenclaw is that the colors for the house are different in the books and in the movies so that makes it necessary to do stuff in both colorways(at least if you're compulsive like me--LOL). Ravenclaw Scarf and Bookscarf supplies SBQ: Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" is: Have you ever done a color conversion? Yes, I have. It was only a small thing. I changed the hair color of the bride in "Lavender and Lace's--The Wedding". I changed it from blonde to brunette. If so, what did you think about your results and would you do it again? If not, would you like to try someday? I thought my results were okay, but they could have been better. They didn't really blend as well as I wanted them too. I would love to try it again--it...

I finished HP6 earlier today--don't want to give anything away, but I will say that it is getting good and I can't wait to see how JKR wraps it all up(unlike book 5, I will definitely reread this one). In the interest of fueling anyone else's HP mania, I have a couple of links for you: Patch Palace (for HP replica uniform patches-I'm thinking of getting one for a "staff" sweater) and this really cool HP bookscarf (it's a book mark and a very clever/easy gift for the HP fan with everything). I plan on getting the materials for a bookmark when I finally decide to venture out and explore the area. I also would like to make a PoA scarf to go along with my Ravenclaw scarf I made last year. So today I did NOT unpack a single box. I read, looked after the kiddos, and knit. On the knitting front, I have a couple of things that are almost done: the hooded t-shirt front is almost done--which only leaves the hood and sleeves and I am about 1/4 of the way done w...