New stuff! (Warning: very photo heavy!)

So, last weekend was a special "Hogsmeade weekend" in the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup group. Basically, that just meant there were a lot of special events going on for the group. One of the special events was a big sale from some of the vendors in the group; they all offered 10-15% discounts to House Cuppers. I've been doing really well about not buying a lot of stuff, but I couldn't resist -- I found some awesome stuff in their shops, and it was all on sale!

First I ordered a set of snagless stitch markers from PrincessOnica, who just so happens to be the founder of the House Cup. It came with 20 markers, 5 for each of the four Hogwarts houses, and she threw in a special set of 5 markers in House Unity purple.

Gryffindor:

Hufflepuff (!):

Ravenclaw:

Slytherin:

Unity!

They look so pretty all lined up together!

The markers even came in this nifty little storage box:

I also ordered a couple of skeins of yarn. One of them is coming from overseas, so it hasn't arrived yet, but you can see it here: JelliebeanYarns.

I'm considering using it for Sarcelle, but I haven't decided for sure yet. I'm excited to see it in person though.

I received the second skein today. I was REALLY excited about this yarn. It's from Hermione Jean Creations, and I fell in love with some of her colorways when she posted a promo in the House Cup. Initially, I was interested in the Butterbeer color, which is a nice slightly variegated sparkly golden-yellow color. Very pretty, but I just don't do much with yellow, so I managed to talk myself out of that one. (Plus, someone bought the only skein of Butterbeer before I got there, so that helped.) I liked a lot of her colorways, but by the time I got there, she'd already sold out of several of my favorites, so I decided not to buy anything. Then I wandered into her past sales page, and that's where I saw it. Oh. My. God. Ogden's Old Fire Whiskey. It was beautiful: a nice deep semisolid scarlet with golden sparkles But it was sold out. But! I happened to mention my disappointment in missing out on the thread, and she offered to dye another skein just for me. How could I possibly resist? I have a fondness for rich scarlet colors, and sparkles, and by all accounts her base yarns are lovely and squishy, so ... yes. I ordered it. And let me tell me, I was not at all disappointed when I ripped open my package today. It's beautiful and squishy and soft but still feels sturdy enough to be long-lasting. This photo does not do it justice at all, but trust me, it's great. I highly recommend Hermione Jean.

And now, because I'm excited that I finally finished all the knitting for Cookie the Murloc, here's an in-progress photo from a few days ago. Neither of the arms was completed here, and I still had to knit the mouth and the second leg. And obviously, I was still working on the leg pictured here. I was working on the foot. But the photo kind of shows the basic look and layout of the little guy.

Yes, it's sideways, but I'm too lazy to rotate it. Just turn your head sideways. Oh, and the little tutu-looking piece at his butt (it's actually a tail fin) isn't oriented correctly either; it actually goes around his body just like a tutu would. But I couldn't lay it out that way.

Maybe it's just because I'm tired, but with those dpns in his foot and the way his legs are bent slightly, it kind of looks like he's skiing.

I'll post another picture once I get him all sewn up. I'm still waiting for the soundbox to arrive, but I left a small section on his back unsewn. I'll just leave that until the soundbox arrives, so I can shove the box in there and get it positioned and then sew up that little strip. Piece of cake. I hope. Anyway, I should be able to go ahead and get the rest of it done.