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.

Productive day

I found a new yarn store yesterday. We went to The Village Knitter in Newburgh, IN. I love it! They had a pretty good selection of yarn. There were a few notable things they didn't have, like Lamb's Pride, but I can't think of anything notable they don't have that I like, anyway. Nice selection of the stuff I do like, and it's organized by yarn weight, which is kinda nice. Prices are comparable to any other yarn store I've ever been in. And most importantly, the women there were unbelievably nice. I was wearing my Anne Elliot, and they all oohed and ahhed over it. :) I was around the corner from where they were sitting, and I heard one of them make a comment about how the shirt I was wearing was really cute. They discussed it for a minute, debating whether it was handknit or not, and then when I stepped back out into the open they called me over and praised it. It made me happy.

I didn't buy any yarn, but I did pick up some Crystal Palace needles. Size 5, 16" circs. Yay for new hat needles! My old ones had disappeared.

Plus, the store itself is really kinda cool. It's in downtown Newburgh, a block from the Ohio River, in the middle of the antique district. The buildings are all old and cool-looking, and it's a nice little downtown area to walk through. Reminds me a little bit of a much less busy, much smaller Gatlinburg or maybe Pigeon Forge ... lots of little stores to visit, and it's the perfect area to walk through, instead of driving.

I still like Enchanted Yarn and Fiber, too. We just don't get down to Russellville very often. We're in Owensboro all the time, and Newburgh isn't that much farther. We also visit Evansville fairly regularly, and Newburgh is on the way (assuming we take that route). And I like Special Things, too, but it's nice to have a couple of different options.

Pretty happy with my discovery. Luke liked the area too. He didn't care that much about the yarn store itself, not being a knitter, but he liked the area.

In non-knitting news ... Luke and I also stopped by the drive-in on our way home yesterday. That was fun. $8 per person for two new movies, not terrible quality, and it was a nice experience. Plus, I could knit while watching the movie and not offend or annoy anybody, since we were alone in our car.

It was a good day.

Oh, almost forgot to mention, the ladies at The Village Knitter definitely know what they're doing. They had several very nice samples there, including what appeared to be a mohair-blend (I'm thinking maybe Kidsilk Haze) Estonian Lace Garden. That was exciting. I still like mine better, of course. But it made me happy to see the shawl, point it out to Luke and have him recognize it as something similar to my shawl. And it was very well-done. The slightly fuzzy yarn did well with that pattern. Good to know...all the other samples I'd seen were done with smooth yarns with little to no halo.

bad joanns online

So I recently had an unpleasant experience. I ordered a blocking wire kit from joanns. I used their 50% off coupon. After a couple days my kit arrived. I opened it to find that only half the kit was there. The kit was suppose to include 12 of one size wire and 2 of the other. I had 6 of one and 1 of the other. I called customer service to report the problem and to hopefully get the rest of my kit. The lady I talked to was very rude with me. and all she would tell me was that she'd notify the warehouse. Not that they'd fix this problem as soon as possible, not that the rest of my kit would be mailed. Just that she'd notify the warehouse. That's all she told me. A week later I got another something in the mail from joanns. Its very rattly. I open it. Its the rest of the blocking kit (well at least my missing parts. Only they are packaged horribly. The kit comes in a tub. for storage, its to help keep your wires from getting damaged and stuff. When the first half of my kit arrived the tub had become opened in shipping but nothing had fallen out of the tub because the box it ships in is only a couple inches bigger than the tub and the wires are also the size of the tub. In the second shipment (the other half of my kit) the wires were not in the tub at all. They did include a tub but failed to put the wires in it. I'm 100% certain the wires were never in the tub because again the box they shipped in wouldn't have allowed the wires to have fallen out if they'd been in there to start with regardless of whether the tub caps came off or not.

~Jessica

stupid knitpicks

KnitPicks hates me. Its been several months that they've hated me. I'm not sure exactly how long ago this started its been at least the past 9 months that they've hated me. They refuse to let me order anything online. I sometimes manage to squeeze an order in. Usually I have to do it via the phone instead of the internet. Or if the internet does let me order I end up having to call and change things because the internet order got screwed up. The last time I ordered I had Amie order it for me. Because it just wouldn't let me order at all. Today I tried to order Cat Bordhi's new book "New Pathways for Sock knitters". But it wouldn't let me. I guess its not the worst thing since I dont really need to spend the money. But I want the book and I have the $20 to pay for the book. I should be able to get the book, right? sigh.

Maybe I'll break down and call.

~Jessica