hp dh teaser trailer online

OMG. OMG. OMG!!!

Okay, yeah, I'm a little excited.



Advise that you watch it fullscreen.

Excuse me while I go breathe into a paper bag.

*boing*

yet another hbp clip

This one was put up a couple of days (2?) ago, and made me squee! Okay, so all of them are making me squee. Gimme a break.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Exclusive Clip


I'm working on a new project - a shrug based on the Caron Simply Shadows Shrug. It will be dark oxford grey mix with new denim stripes above the wrists and in the opening ribbing. The stripes are fairly subtle, but they show off my Ravenclaw house colors! I'm making it out of Patons Classic Wool. I'll post some pics of it as I go along!

Tomorrow night I'm going to get my copy of Harry, A History signed by Melissa Anelli! Apparently they are coming to St. Louis instead of Kansas City for the PC/Wrock tour, so they'll have a booksigning, a PotterCast show recording, and The Remus Lupins and Whompy! St. Louis County Library Headquarters at 6, people! Come see them, and say hi.

I found out that the closest theatre is going to have HBP for the midnight show, and I'll be getting my ticket for that on Sunday. w00t! 11 days, 23 hours and 25 minutes.

Watching the replay of the game today (we won) - we're tied for first with the Brewers, and Albert rocks. First player in history to get 30 homers in each of his first nine (!!) seasons. Awesome.

Off to sleep soon - working both Friday and Saturday. Yay for holiday pay!

Cheers!

omg final full trailer

I am so freaking excited about this movie. I have been in a state of squee all afternoon - and it's now UP for viewing!



*dances around the room* Did you see the Unicorn in Captivity tapestry in front of Ginny when they were holding hands??!!?? w00t!!!!

You can also download various sized versions at Leaky here, and we've discovered that you can do frame-by-frame on Quicktime by using the arrow keys! Raesive and I spend over 30 minutes going thru each frame...and the trailer is only 2:20 long! Was WAY FUN!! In fact, we're STILL picking it to pieces...and Rae has figured out that the guy that Greyback has in his clutches in Diagon Alley is Ollivander! Holy crap!!

PotterCast did a special - or tried to do a special - recording, but Rae said that there were 300+ people in the ustream chat. I'm sure that THAT was an adventure!

Go....look......don't forget to breathe....

Cheers!!

yarn and quiche and hp

It's been a wicked crazy 2 weeks. First, the yarn.

• 1 100g hank Fire Lizard Studios "Lizard Sock" (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon) in colorway Autumn Woods (dark leaf to forest green, dark gold to burgundy, plum) and #2
• 1 100g hank Fire Lizard Studios "Lizard Sock" (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon) in colorway Julia (bronze-gold, burgundy-berry)
• 1 4oz hank St. Paul's Catholic School by Cherry Tree Hill "Supersock DK Select" (100% superwash merino) in colorway Garfield (black, yellow, cream, orange)
• 2 50g balls Patons "Kroy Socks Jacquards" (75% washable wool, 25% nylon) in colorway Denim Jacquard (sky blue, dark blue, grey, white, charcoal/white check)

Most of those were from DBNY, and sold out very very quickly. The Julia color of the Fire Lizard made me laugh - it's Gryffindor colors. Perfect for PFW Julia!

Today is Day #1 of 5 days off in a row, and the only thing I've done is wash the dishes. Lazy! I'm recovering from last week. I think I took more calls on Friday than I have for the week prior. From what I understand, the DMCA tickets are just going to get worse. Don't share copyrighted files, peeps!

I've started sorting the laundry, so where is the pooch lying? On top of the clothes on the floor of course. *rolls eyes*

I'm making the sausage & salsa quiche into minis for an appetizer on Thanksgiving. I made them as a test case last week, froze them, and then defrosted them in the frig. They were great! I couldn't find the mini shells in the store, so I made the crust myself. First time for me making crust, first time for making anything in the mini pans, total experiment. Mike @ work liked the crust (flour, butter, cream cheese) - he said it reminded him of potpie crusts. I'm so glad it worked!! I can't wait to see what the family thinks.

PotterCast had a review of the new trailer (which is totally totally made of awesome) and posted it on their site. It's a little hard to hear in places, but it was way cool. Too bad the movie couldn't have been out this weekend (*pokesWB really hard*) but I supposed I'll live. The Deathday part on PFW was a lot of fun!! I was auctioned off to Bob, The Squirrel King for an audiobook commission!

The bad news of the week was L-of-the-scarf in Colorado got laid off on Friday. 20 years at the same place, and she's out. I always figured her boss for a crackhead, and this proved it.

Well, on that sad note, I'm off. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving weekend!!

new hbp trailer and a news bite!

A new one *squees muchly*....and get this. It will be screened with Twilight. Meh. 244 days to go.



*bounce*

In other HP news, Leaky has announced that Melissa Anelli's Harry, A History will be premiering on the New York Times Nonfiction Bestseller List at #18! Yay Melissa! For those of you who don't know, Melissa is one of the hosts for PotterCast. I'm just thrilled for her!

No yarn right now, but there is a box coming.....

Cheers!

i'm drowning in yarn

Um...a little too much. What, you may ask? Yarn....:

• 2 3oz balls Naturally Caron "Country" (75% Microdenier Acrylic/25% merino wool) in colorway #0024 Black (black).
• 2 3oz balls Naturally Caron "Country" (75% Microdenier Acrylic/25% merino wool) in colorway #0011 Gilder Age (gold).
• 1 4oz skein Baby Bee "Sweet Delight Baby" (60% acrylic/40% polyamide) in colorway Teddybear Ombre (sky blue, tan, pink, white).
• 1 4oz skein Baby Bee "Sweet Delight Baby" (60% acrylic/40% polyamide) in colorway Blue Baby Camo (medium blue, light blue, tan, chocolate brown, pale blue).
• 1 4oz skein Baby Bee "Sweet Delight Prints" (60% acrylic/40% polyamide) in colorway Green Camo (light green with dark green, medium green, white, and light chocolate brown dots).
• 1 4oz skein Baby Bee "Sweet Delight Prints" (60% acrylic/40% polyamide) in colorway Pink Camo (very light pink with forest green, light chocolate brown, and pink dots).
• 1 6oz skein Lion Brand Yarns "Homespun" (98% acrylic/2%polyester) in colorway Corinthian (red, purple, green, orange, yellow)
• 1 50g ball Red Heart "Heart & Sole with Aloe" (70% superwash wool/30% nylon) in colorway Tequila Sunrise (orange, sky blue, hot pink, red-purple, rust).
• 1 100g hank Araucania "Ranco Solid" (75% wool, 25% polyamide) in colorway Brick Pumpkin (deep rusty orange). #2
• 1 100g hank Araucania "Ranco Multy" (75% wool, 25% polyamide) in colorway Island Retreat (brown, sky blue, cream, aqua). #2
• 1 100g hank Araucania "Ranco Multy" (75% wool, 25% polyamide) in colorway Cocoa Blue (rust, chocolate brown, dark sky blue, cream). #2
• 1 115g hank Handmaiden Yarns "Casbah" (80% merino/10% cashmere/10% nylon) in colorway Merlin (yellow-green, ruby red, purple, jewel blue, black)
• 1 115g hank Fleece Artist "Trail Socks" (80% merino/20% nylon) in colorway Horizon (olive, forest green, yellow, hot pink, red, black, rust, chocolate brown). #2
• 1 115g hank Fleece Artist "Trail Socks" (80% merino/20% nylon) in colorway Paris (dark leaf green, gold, dark purple-red, orange, black, rust, chocolate brown). #2
• 1 50g hank Araucania Yarns "Atacama" (100% alpaca) in colorway #509 (medium brown, dark brown, cream, rust). #2
• 1 100g ball Noro "Kureyon Sock" (70% wool, 30% nylon) in colorway #S226 Reds (red, orange, olive, purple, teal).
• 1 100g ball Noro "Silk Garden Sock" (40% wool, 25% silk, 25% nylon, 10% kid mohair) in colorway #245 Bronzes (deep forest green, leaf green, blue, teal, bronze, grey, purple, rust). #2
• 1 100g ball Opal "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (75% superwash, 25% polyamid) in colorway Hedwig (green, grey, cream, white)
• 1 100g ball Opal "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (75% superwash, 25% polyamid) in colorway Harry and Ron (blue, white, green, orange, yellow, rust)

Good grief. Where did all of this yarn come from?? Okay, well, the first 8 came from Hobby Lobby, the next six came from The Loopy Ewe (including my Groupie hank! w00t!!), and the last 5 are from the Weaving Department.

I need a yarn diet. Seriously. I heard a term the other day that describes my problem:

SABLE

This is an acronym for "Stash Accumulated Beyond Life Expectancy". I don't need a 12 step program for pancakes (okay, maybe I do...) - I need one for YARN.

Time to knit! I am almost finished with the Swan Song socks in Ron - I'm going to knit another pattern repeat, ribbing, and then start the next one. I'm going back and forth between the Fetchings and the socks; it just depends on what I'm in the mood to work on.

Harry, A History is on the bookshelf! I already have my copy!!! Well, I don't know if it's STILL on the bookshelves, as it appears to be selling well. I'm so happy for Melissa (she was on the front page of USAToday!!! Squee!!), and haven't read past the foreword by Jo yet. There was a review on Borders that made me tear up, tho!! Julia has another one on PFW that I haven't read yet, but she told me to find tissues before I read it. :)

Off to read, watch Leno, and knit.

Cheers!

no longer holding my breath *squee*

Well, I made it through the day without totally embarrassing myself! I have to say, however, it was oh, so sweet to find out that MSN had a link to the teaser trailer at a quarter of 8, which meant that I could watch it before I left work, and not drive like a maniac to get home to see it.

Here are a load of places to see it, in various formats and accessibilty (apparently a couple of these are US-only, sorry!):

1. MSN (URL at the end shows the .co.uk address)
2. AOL's Moviefone (US-only, I think, but OMG, HD versions. *flails*)
3. The Leaky Cauldron's Video Gallery (downloadables for WMP and iPod!)
4. Sionwitch's YouTube page
5. Stills - Screencaps from the 1080 HD version on hbpmoviepics LJ
6. HD versions at TrailerSpotting (LJ) - added thanks to Sel

This is (apparently) the teaser trailer, and runs 1:29, so apparently there will be the "full" trailer that will be longer - and that we may not see until September. Alas.

I can't express how excited I am with this movie!

Just....wow. I don't want to blink watching the preview. Same way I was with the long version of OotP.

And just because I can, here's another short fic that I found tonight that I liked....it's called Same Old Tricks, rated a mild 'M' for language and some inuenndo, if you know what I mean. Ahem. it's off of the catchmysnitch comm on LiveJournal.

Heh. I wonder what the PotterCast live show was like with the trailer being released right in the middle of it!

Off to dream about movies....cheers!

5am and i'm awake

I thought only children could make you get up at weird times because of thunderstorms. I was wrong.

The shivering puddle of fur in the corner managed to make me get up. Ah, well, it wasn't like I was asleep anyway.

We're gonna be short and sweet this post, just a couple of Potter-related newsy bits and some yarn.

I did manage to finish listening to David Reidy's Series 3 yesterday while I was folding and stuffing 1200 envelopes. I like David's podcasts - they're chatty and informative, and he likes a lot of the same things I do! He just knits a lot faster than I do. LOL! Anyway, his podcast is Sticks and String, and he's currently wrapping up Series 5 - he breaks them down into groups of 10, and focuses on specific topics - Series 3 had a lot about the Easter Show in Sydney (last year) and had interviews and observations from there and from World Wide Knit In Public Day. His 'casts are about 30-40 minutes long, and are very entertaining. Go listen!

Speaking of WWKIPDay, I've linked the website over in the sidebar, and I hope someone here in town will organize a meetup here!! I have to work, but if there's enough interest, I may ask for that day off in order to go. I'm not sure where they'd set it up - it's in the middle of June, which gets hot here in Missouri, but maybe someplace like Union Station downtown would be nice. We could take over the food court or something!

Onto the yarn:

• 1 100g hank of a superwash merino/nylon blend (75/25) from Dharmafey - the last of the subscription series Potter Covers in colorway Deathly Hallows (sherbert orange, tan, chocolate brown, yellow, cherry red) with a stitch marker (I think it might be a representation of a cloak, but I'm not sure) and the original pattern "Hermione's Purse" - which is really a sock pattern, not a purse!

I've really liked the yarns in this series, and want to thank Carrie for all her hard work!

A little Potter news: PotterCast announced in the newest ep (#144 - The Magic Dragon) that Dame Maggie Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer, has already had the tumor removed, and 'the prognosis is good.' Leaky has an address for well-wishes, and I think I'm going to send a card, stalker!fan that I am.

The House Pouch is blocked, dried, and now I need lining material. Sounds like a trip to the fabric store! Horrors.

Well, the clock on the wall has started it's chiming for the day, so I think I'm finished for now.

Cheers!

happy easter

Busy week...plus a brush with what may have been the flu.

A few yarn arrivals first:

• 2 50g hanks of 100% superwash merino of Stone Barn Fibers' "Gypsy Girl Creations" in colorway Goblin (leaf green, grass green, black, lilac to amethyst)
• 1 100g hank of 100% superwash merino of Sunshine Yarns "Twist" in colorway Horcrux (yellow/gold, rust, black, blue, deep emerald green, grey to charcoal) A very Harry color!

I finally finished the knitting on the House Pouch for my spoilee - it's blocking now. It's a little bigger than I thought it was going to be, which is very good. Mine is next! I'm not overly thrilled with fair isle, because I'm afraid I don't 'float' very well. Practice makes perfect.

I've been working on PK's Twinkle Toes using the Fleece Artist yarn she picked out. I may have enough for a pair of crew socks! I'll have to check the weight when I'm finished with the pair.

No progress on the Big Blue - except a new name. It's now Seeker!

Oh the HP front, the fandom is still squeeing about the announcement last week about a 2 part DH. Theories are flying around about where they will split it...lots of opinions. There was an article that Adri on PFW translated for us from Spanish that covered a visit to the set - there was an excerpt that was posted quoting Dan and the fact that the movie appears to revolve around Harry and his ships. ;-) The H/G shipper in me is, as I posted on the forum earlier, dancing around the room with jazz hands! Squeee! Dan says that this movie has a lot more comedy in it than the others - ought to be interesting to see, since we also have a major character death at the end of it.

PotterCast talks about last week's news on Ep #143: Of Two Minds - linked on the sidebar.

My second squee is that Alton Brown is coming to St. Louis on April 27! Yay!! He'll be at a book signing at the Ethical Society in Clayton at 4PM. The link here shows his schedule, but it has the wrong address for the venue here - it's supposed to be 9001 Clayton Rd. Anyway, I think D and I will be standing in line - at least, I will be. The book tour is for his new book, Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run. *g* I'll bet he has to take a detour through Alton, Illinois! Mwhahaha! We all pronounce the town across the river like "AWLton" instead of how AB pronounces his name (ALton), and we'll have to see what he says to that.

Squee #3 is that the Stitch 'N Pitch date has been set for May 28, which is a Wednesday. It had originally been set for April 28, but that changed three days ago. I'm dragging PK along, and I think I'll take a vacation day for it. We're playing Houston! The link for SNP is on the sidebar - there are a lot of dates set, and I'm sure it will be as popular as it was last year. I'm glad that it's earlier in the season - here's hoping that it won't be 96F again.

Well, I think that's all for me. There are a few pics of PK's Twinkles on the Flickr group and the Ravelry site...oh! The HW now have a group on Ravelry, so if you're a SJHW, and you don't have your name on the list for Ravelry yet, get thee to the website! If you're not a SJHW, you should still go. ;-) I created the group so we can have a place to yak about our projects and yarn.

Chapter 17 of AtE is uploaded on the site - subscribe to the feed for the page on the right side. You can use any podcatcher or iTunes. :)

Cheers!!

fanfic and podcast posting

Just a note (okay, so, it's longer than I thought it was gonna be. Shoot me.):

The latest PotterCast (#140) is up and going, and I'm sad to say that listening to the podcast, I'm just about as smart as John Noe. *hangs head* Altho, I have to say I DID know Babbity Rabbity.

Also up and running is the PotterFicWeekly 'Season Finale', Special Episode #13. All I can say is that I love these guys - I joined the PFW forum about 5 weeks ago, and have been having a blast. I've stopped listening to the podcast (I'm up to #24) because I need to read the fic they are reviewing (A Year Like No Other) and so I'm now able to catch up on all the OTHER podcasts I've been slacking on.

I've also moved most of my podcast subscriptions over to the ZENcast software, as it's much easier for me to transfer stuff to the new player than using iTunes. I've also discovered a few more podcasts - like The Babylon Podcast! OMG, it's run by Jeffery Willerth and company. I very fondly remember talking to him (and other B5 peeps) in the old AOL chat room "The Eclipse Cafe" - he was REELKOSH online. Memories......

Here are a few of my fav podcasts (I'll just link them again for your convenience):

• Lime & Violet
• PotterCast
• PotterFicWeekly
• This Week @ NASA Audio Feed (http://www.nasa.gov/rss/TWAN_podcast.rss)
• Science @ NASA Audio Feed (http://science.nasa.gov/podcast.xml)
• Sticks & String
• FilkCast - Potterstyle
• WZRD
• The Pwncast of Wrock

Yes, those are my favorites this week. ;-) There are a ton more that I get, including an awesome few from Pendant Productions that you should check out if you like old-time radio-style programs.

There is soooo much audio available online, it's quite mind boggling.

Speaking of mind boggling, I have been adding more 'books' to the list in the sidebar - a word of warning, however. The latest entry - #22. Where In The World Is Harry Potter - gave me a bit of a headache. Funny, but very confusing.

I'm going to read AYLNO, and then I think I'd like to sit down with Lauren Willig's newest one, The Seduction of the Crimson Rose. If you like Napoleonic era/early Regency era romances with a twist, you'll like Lauren's books. They have the added bonus of a contemporary romance as well - you'll have to read it to understand what I'm talking about! Her previous books are The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, The Masque of the Black Tulip, and The Deception of the Emerald Ring. I have thoroughly enjoyed all three of her previous books, and don't doubt that the newest one will be just as fun to read.

Okay, I think I've blathered enough. Cheers!!

new (yarn) arrivals

*wraps up in a nice blanket*

Hi all, it's cold. We might have hit 20F today! woot!

Seriously, it's been an odd week. I really don't feel like I got a lot accomplished, and I'm starting to feel 'funk'ish. Gotta try to stay out of it.

On to the yarn! I will probably have another 'review'/stash enhancement to report on tomorrow, but I wanted to get these out :)

• A 100g hank of 100% superwash merino from SeeJayneKnitYarns in colorway Blue Agate Beauty (green, teal, aqua, turquoise, seafoam, ruby. gold) The yarn is sooo soft and the colors are amazing.


• A 100g hank of merino/silk blend (70/30) handpainted "Silky Sock" from Dharmafey, Potter Covers in colorway Order of the Phoenix (green-blues to purple-blues) with the "Prophesy" stitch marker and the original pattern called "Toujours Pur".

There was an 'announcement' posted over on the Weaving Dept Ravelry group that Nancy just got the new Plymouth "Happy Feet" superwash blend in! Yay! Must go look. And probably buy. At least one. :)

I finished the first of my Blues Jaywalkers:

You can't see it very well, but when I announced to the chat room (in the pic) that I'd finished #1, the quote from L in CO was "about time"! and I say again, :-P !!

Nothing much else going on - I'm in the HSKS4 group and am blogging away over there as well as here! I frogged my kit bag I was hand-knitting - I'm going to try it again on the machine and see if I can control the pucker problem a bit better. If not, well, Plan C! I am collecting more bits and pieces as we go along - happily, my swapee is an experienced sock knitter, so I can just about get for her as I'd get for *me*! LOL!

I discovered another Potter podcast this past week, and have been listening to it just about every day - PotterFicWeekly. It's not for children (iTunes has an explicit tag on it) but it's a LOT of fun. I'm way way back on Ep6 or 7 (they're up to Ep 36, I think) and the first fic they reviewed was the monster fic I'm narrating! Glad to see that other people are as nuts about this story as I am. They have a fun forum as well, which is linked off their main page. Come say hi and wish the main podcaster a late Happy Birthday :)

Off to go listen to John Noe's editing....er, I mean PotterCast #134.

Oh! I almost forgot! The Food Network show Ace of Cakes season premiere is this week, and the opener is the cake they did for the LA opening of OotP! PotterCast is doing an interview with Duff (the head dude) on this week's podcast, and the show will air on FoodTV on Thursday. Yes, I already have my DVR set up. LOL!! There are some pics and stuff on the PotterCast site about the interview - check it out here.

The Potter news for the week? There's a rumor (or two) going around that Deathly Hallows may be a two part movie. Egad. Someone needs to tell Warner that we WOULD be willing to sit through a 3+ hour movie - look at LotR! *pokes them*

Off to find something hot to drink - Cheers!

yarny goodness

I had yarn in my mailbox and the invisible UPS guy dropped a box off at the back door after I walked the pooch! Yay! I'm still waiting for the international shipment to arrive, but I know that's on the way.

The haul so far:

• 2 50g hanks of 100% superwash merino of "Louet Gems" in colorway Cabin Fever (red, burgundy, orange, tan, ash brown, charcoal) handpainted by Cherry Tree Hill


• A 4oz hank of 100% superwash merino of "Jumbo Gems" in colorway Rustic Roost (lime green, powder blue, yellow-gold, light terracotta, pink, olive) handpainted by Cherry Tree Hill


• A 100g hank of superwash/nylon blend "Sockittome" in colorway Caribou Creek (deep purple, chocolate brown, wine) from Cherry Tree Hill


• A 4oz hank of superwash/nylon blend from dkKnits in colorway Mother Earth (powder blue, rust to light orange, olive to forest green) that just screams "Ron" at me. Go fig.


• A 4oz hank of superwash/nylon blend also from dkKnits in colorway Partridge In A Pear Tree (burgundy to orange, light emerald green to forest green, gold to yellow) You tell me who it reminds you of. ;-)

I finished knitting on the hooded towel (the first approaching-finished object of the FinishALongaPalooza over on the Lime & Violet Ravelry group) and now it needs to be sewn up. Back to work on the Blues Socks (they won tonight - 4-2 against the Stars! woot!) and then, back to Big Blue.

I've been reading the Harlot's blog (you should too!) and she posted about a yarn from Webs called Valley Yarns Northampton that has a dark blue. *ponders this* I STILL have not heard anything from Brown Sheep about the 2 lone balls of royal purple I need to finish the design sweater, let alone the 8 balls I'll need for the 'production version'. *sigh* Nancy's having issues with them, methinks. I'd like to swatch the Northampton before I commit, but I'm starting to lean in that direction. It costs a little less than Nature Spun (4.99 vs. 6.50), but I really hate to not buy from my LYS. You know how it is.

I've signed up for the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap 4. Last day to sign up is tomorrow (11 Jan), and it's linked in the sidebar if you're interested.

PotterCast #133 is up and running, and has all sorts of news about the movies and the theme park - and I do NOT want to be patient. Want HBP nowwww! arrrggghhhh! I've been listening to other podcasts that are news a fic related - some I like, some I don't, as I'm not a real big fan of Harry with anyone other than Ginny. Sorry! I'm a canon OTP chick. Same goes for Ron and Hermione. I won't listen to slash either. No thanks.

Lastly, the sports! LOL! The Mizzou Tigers were ranked #4 and #5 on two different end-of-season polls. This is the highest ranking the team has ever ended a season. I'm so impressed. :) Great job guys!!!

I'm kinda tired out now, and so I think I'll post. Cheers!

welcome to 2008

Happy New Year!

Now that everyone on the globe is on the same year, I thought I'd post a short entry.

I don't have any yarn to review, but I have some coming from a few places. DBNY has a sale going on at the moment for Cherry Tree Hill yarns, and apparently had a mad rush at midnight EST NYD that made the site inaccessible for several hours. I didn't log on at 11 PM my time because I was somewhere that couldn't get online (grr) and by the time I got home at 1:40, the site was completely frozen. It took about 35-40 minutes to get the page to open! I think I was finally able to place my order about 2:30 or so. Yikes. That was 3 hours after the sale started! I'll review that yarn when it arrives.

I also finally caved and bought a few skeins from dkKnits that were calling to me. J from chat agrees with me - they look Potterish. ;-) You knew that was coming.

Alli (who says she doesn't read my blog :-P ) started a booklist a few years ago, which follows her book-reading over the calendar year. I've decided to be a lemming and follow the leader, so I'll have the 2008 list on the sidebar. We decided that audiobooks do count as books, but that most fanfic doesn't. I'm altering the rules a tad to allow for fanfic, but the piece must be finished - NOT a WIP - and must be at least 50,000 words long. The fic that I'm narrating would count - as a paperback book, it would be over 2400 pages long and has over 590,000 words (!!). 50K would be about 200 pages at paperback size, and would be at the low end of novel sized. I'll be bouncing that stipulation off her tonight, and we'll see what she thinks.

I'm now surrounded by Potter at work - L of the OMG scarf sent me a HP page-a-day calendar (even tho she rolls her eyes at my OCD), and D gave me a HP wall calendar. I suppose I should round out the theme by putting the HP7 poster back up! Heh.

I just listened to the Filky Awards podcast from Filkcast Potterstyle and recommend it to those who like HP filk. Great job to everyone who won!

Missouri won the Cotton Bowl yesterday - they creamed Arkansas 38-7 in Dallas. What was so funny (or not, grrr) were all the commentators covering the OTHER Bowl games (specifically the Rose and the Sugar) who, every time they would do recaps/highlights for the completed games, would comment that Missouri should have been in a BCS Bowl game. The Tigers should have played USC at the Rose Bowl. I mean, honestly. The Illini were annihilated by the Trojans 49-10.

Congrats to Mizzou for taking that trophy home, tho. Sweet after more than 30 years, ain't it?

I think I'm tapped out for the day, so I'm off to listen to PotterCast #132, which I apparently cannot link as the site has not been updated yet! The main site is here.

Hope you're all recovering from the holidays - cheers!

Edit@5:30: The PotterCast podcast is a clip show for the stuff over the last year - was a lot of fun to listen to. They are so silly! Even if they can't count down from 10. LOL!!!!

holiday wrapup

Greetings! Hope everyone had a nice holiday!

Everyone liked the socks - Ash wore hers around the house from the time she opened them until she went to bed 8 hours later! This is a good sign, considering she is always barefoot at home. I finished D's Twinkle Toes on Saturday but forgot to take a pic of the completed pair. Oh well.

I gave my grandparents the crocheted 'sampler' afghan (yes, I do hook!) in the neutrals that was my spring project this past year, and the red/white/blue ripple went to my uncle. He's got long legs and was very happy with the extra long lap robe! Now I have requests for three more...eep! Lancer wants a baby blanket, so I started a pastel Rambling Rows on Christmas Day while watching the Bourne series - all three movies - at my brother's house. I have some time *cough*, as the baby's due in June. Sis-in-law wants one for the upstairs living room, which I have a feeling will be in cream or a very light sage, and I haven't nailed the pattern yet. L&R's will be another Rambling Rows, but in the medium size and in brown shades. She told me her accent was ORANGE! No no no. I refuse to make an orange afghan. Way too 70's for me.

Still working on the yellow and blue Jaywalkers for me. I have been instructed to wear them to the hockey game in Feb - my nephews (and their mom and dad) gave me a Blues 'Away' jersey (!!!!) and two tickets to the game on Feb 17. Jamboy is playing on the Scottrade Center ice before the Blues game, so I'll get to see the Mites as well as the Big Guys. LOL! Roo said the colors in the Jaywalkers were in 'Blues Colors' and that I must wear them to the games. So I must!

Yarn! I did get a ball before Christmas from Weaving Dept and yesterday's present from Dharmafey was in the mail :)

• A 150g (420m) ball of Opal 6-fach "Blues" superwash wool/nylon in color 2020 (blue, yellow, pink, aqua, black, white). It's supposed to be a sportweight, but it seems thin for that. It's a self-striping as pictured.
• A 100g ball of superwash merino/nylon sock yarn in the colorway Goblet of Fire (orange sherbet, light brown, tan, cream, lime green).

The little 'extra' that Carrie added in the Potter Covers shipment was a puzzle at first - but I guessed what they were. They are two tilted 'spikes' threaded onto a black elastic cord. The spikes are about three inches long. At first, I thought they were supposed to be dragon teeth, but they're HORNS! LOL!! They're tilted so that they lean forward on your head. Very funny!!! They'll help keep my halo in place. ;) I'm not certain about the pattern - I think I'll need to knit up a repeat or two to see if the 'scales' are supposed to be pointing up or pointing down. I'm liking the toe-up method at the moment.

The second half of the Jo Rowling interview is up on PotterCast - very interesting stuff!

I WANT HAVE TO GO TO THE THEME PARK.

Nuff said. Also, lots of new songs and stuff on the SwishandFilk site, and you should check out the Christmas Music Extravaganza on Lime & Violet's blog/site/podcast. The Fanboy Christmas II is an absolute laugh riot.

Not much else going on here - we're supposed to go see National Treasure 2 on Sunday, and then do something on NYE. PK says she's off work on NYD, but I may be heading out to see Roo or Jamboy play hockey in Chesterfield. No funky-tasting champagne this year!

Off to do paperwork - we've been having some trouble with one of the programs here, and we're stuck till it's fixed, so we've been doing catch-up on everything else. Yay!

Cheers!

d's twinkles and jkr

Here are some in-process pics for D's Twinkle Toes socks.

These are amethyst. Actually, they're the same purple color as the Big Blue pattern - but as you know, my camera phone apparently doesn't like that color. They look blue! They're not!! ack!

They are about size 8, because they are short on my size 11.5 feet. They look very narrow - it's the lace! They stretch a lot. I did add 4 stitches to either side - that's the ribbing line you see on the side - as the Cherry Tree Hill yarn was a lot thinner than the STR heavyweight that the pattern called for. I was almost 3 stitches smaller than gauge, and if I'd tried to take the needle size up to gauge, it would have been bad. It only took me three days to make the first one - and I had to rip and re-knit the entire heel because I missed a row in the lace pattern, which lost me about 6 hours - and I'm almost 3 inches into the second sock. Yay! Must have these done by Sunday.

On Pottercast news *ducks flying tomatoes*, the PC Trio managed to interview JK Rowling for this week's podcast. Wow. Part 2 is next week. What a great Christmas present!! And I can't wait for The Scottish Book. ;) You know it's got you hooked when you say "wow" at the same time as one of the interviewers...it was a 'wow' moment. Go listen.

I bought Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters - Book One and my head is spinning. I'm going to have to try one of these mind-boggling patterns. They really are amazing.

Okay, that's all from me - minipost! lol

Cheers!

yarn and snow

Just a quickie - I managed to make it over to Knitty Couture on the way home in the snow last night and of course I got yarn:

• 2 50g balls of Interlacements Yarns "Tiny Toes" 100% superwash merino in Stained Glass (burgundy, chocolate brown, dark green, navy, dark yellow, wine)
• 4oz hank of Cherry Tree Hill "Supersock Solids" 100% superwash merino in Amethyst for D. She wasn't too - well, enthused about the light color of the other purple yarn I bought, and so this is PURPLE. The pic shows a very blue yarn, but trust me, it itsn't.

It snowed until about 2 I think (I was asleep) but we ended up with 8 inches of the white stuff! Take a look:

I took Plu for a walk, and ran into 2 other dog-walkers, over across the street in the field, so we let them all loose to chase around in the snow. He lasted about 5 minutes with Chloe and Francesco and then decided enough was enough and took off for home. At least I know he knows where he lives! He was waiting for me at the back gate. LOL!

Thi over at Knitty Couture has a Sunday knit-gather group - I told her I'd come on Sundays after the holidays. I didn't want to go out today because of the roads (would you believe the sun is shining brightly? oi.) and next week is Christmas at D & Co.'s house. I like that shop - and Thi (the owner) is really cheery. :) They have a newsletter out now - it's linked on her blog over at her website. I've got it linked in the sidebar.

PotterCast has a 'blog' contest going on - if you put the player/banner on your blog and then talk about the podcast IN your blog, you can win stuff. So, click on my banner! At the time of this post, they have the Fan Film Commentary for Order of the Phoenix up for download. I haven't had a chance to listen/watch it yet, but that's on the agenda in the next few days. I did post some thoughts about PotterCast #128 over on the Leaky Cauldron forum if anyone is interested.

I've managed to get sucked into the Back To The Future trilogy that's airing on HBO this afternoon - I loved the first one, didn't like the second one, and loved the third one. My mom's favorite line is from the end of the first movie: "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads." She likes Doc Brown! Great Scott! That's heavy. ;-)

I'm gonna go before I sit here and type lines from the movies. Cheers!!

2 more weeks

Less than 2 weeks to Christmas. Yikes!

I finished Kesh's socks - wow, that was fast. I actually did one sock start-to-finish in less than 24 hours. OKay, it was a short sock. Still! I like the pattern - I think I'm going to use the same pattern for D's socks, but hers will be full-sized socks. She likes the crew socks that you fold over but she doesn't fold 'em over - so she's a mid-calf-sock person. Works for me.

We went to Scottrade Center on Sunday to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra -it was awesome! We had some trouble getting there - the traffic was horrid, and there was no VIP parking for this event. We did get into the suite before it started (it started a little late) and got to eat a late lunch while they did welcomes and announcements. We were in the penthouse! The only thing we couldn't see after they raised the light framework/rig was the drums. It was an amazing show! They got started a little late - about 3:15 - and ran over more than a half hour. It finally ended about 5:45, and they had another show at 7! It was way cool with the light show, the snow (!!), the lasers, the fireworks, and the fireballs.

I totally forgot to bring any sock yarn to work with me today, and so I started a Kureopatora's Snake scarf with some Bernat Softee Chunky in Carnival that I had in my bag. I thought the color repeat was longer than it's turning out to be, but it'll still work. It's a little frenetic!

I am now on Ravelry! Yay! It's still in Beta, which means that if you don't have a Ravelry account, you can't see the site yet, but I'm here if you do have the access. I'll still be posting here - don't worry - but the blog is linked over there as well.

My thrill of the day was going to a short Q&A session (along with 90% of the corporate employees) with Paul Allen. For those of you who don't know, I work for Charter Communications, which is owned by Mr. Allen. It's just really ...well, odd to be in the same room with the guy who is the 6th richest man on the planet. We were standing room only, and so I was one person away from the door that they all came in for the presentation. Mostly, it was a rah-rah session - yesterday was the annual board meeting, which is why they were all in town - but it was still pretty cool.

I think that's all from me today. PK managed to give me a slight version of her cold, so I spent most of the day yesterday in bed with a stuffy nose and aches. Meh. I did manage to get up and catalog my DVDs - I have more than 90 movies! Ack! That wasn't counting the boxes of VHS tapes that are up in the storage room. Let's not think about those. Besides, I think they're buried under all the yarn.

Must...finish...Christmas...presents.

Cheers!

PS: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix DVD came out today - guess what's on the schedule for viewing tonight? Yep! Heee.

PPS: 2 new banners on the sidebar: Fight Evil: Knit Socks is a MySpace group for knitting socks for charity and the PotterCast podcast banner is for...well, PotterCast!! Check them out!

socks that rock omg

Hope everyone had a nice weekend (including those who stabbed themselves with steel dblpts - OWWW!! Rachel!) - I did, and the Pirate Fest has one more weekend! Come see us, STL people.

Just a couple things to post about - I bought a ball winder yesterday, and now I need a SWIFT. OMG. Don't try winding 400+ yards of yarn without one if you have any shred of sanity. I like the winder - it's just a simple Lacis - but geeeeeeh. It should NOT take an hour to wind a ball of yarn. I saw some tabletop versions on Etsy that I'm considering. Oi.

I got my Socks That Rock Silkie yarn today in the mail - oh, my god, I'm not sure I want these on my feet. I'm thinking the rest of my body will be insanely jealous. LW here at work wants a BLANKET made out of it. It's totally yummy. I linked to the Blue Moon Fiber site in an earlier post - the colors for Philosopher's Stone are grey, rust, blue (sky and deep), tan, and a foresty green. I may have to pet it for a few weeks.

I consolidated my sock yarns into one place - and I have unknitted socks to last me till MARCH. I use one of those pop-up hamper thingys to put yarn in, and it's HALF FULL. Yikes.

Almost to the heel on the ILG socks - I have 5 days to finish these, and it might be right down to the wire. I'll post when they're finished!

Oh, one last thing: I'm listening to the PotterCast #118 - I love this podcast except for the Scribby part - and recommend it to those who haven't disowned me yet for the Potter obsession. Go listen.

No NatureSpun yet! I'm pondering starting the second sleeve of Teh Blue (but still Purple) Sweater with the yarn I have. What do you think, Pinky? Pinky?

The Cardinals are out of the pennant race - but they did win the last home game. Thanks, Albert and Rick! Great 9th inning heroics :) We can forfet the rest of the games, right? Cuz it's not like we're gonna beat anyone. Okay, maybe the Pirates. Maybe.

Cheers!

updates and squeeeeeing

Ah, autumn, can you please arrive? I want some cooler weather!

Well, the pirate sweater didn't get finished last week *ducks* I know, I know, what about the Pirate Fest?? It's gonna be too bloody hot to wear a sweater over the next 2 weekends. *sigh* Oh, well, there's always Hallowe'en. The thing is about Hallowe'en in STL is that parents have to be able to do everything from waterproofing their children's costumes to making sure that a snowsuit will fit under them if needed. We have wacky weather the end of October!

Anyway, the pirate sweater has a front, a back and one arm all attached. I did knit the crew neck, and set in the first sleeve. The other arm and the side seams needed to be sewn, but I just had to work on something else before I went 'black yarn' nuts. The end of the month deadline is coming for the ILG socks, and I'm only about four inches into the second sock cuff. We've been a bit swamped at work doing projects, and lunchtime has been just that - lunch! Can't knit and eat a messy sandwich :)

I've been bad - again. (I know. This is new how?) PK is now telling me I need a 12 step program for my sock yarn addiction. I think she might be right! Yarn that has arrived or has been ordered:

1. my first HP Potter Covers subscription yarn arrived! squee!! Superwash merino/nylon in the colorway Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone (purple/orange/med brown/white) - this subscription series is based on the Mary Grand-Pre artwork for the US covers.
2. Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Silkies Socks That Rock" - merino/silk blend in colorway Philosopher's Stone (green/white/dark tan/red/blue/purple). Hard to describe, click on the link to see it!

Oh, this last purchase? It's all Lime & Violet's fault. They were drooling over and going on and on about this yarn, so I had to go look.....and saw this colorway (and NAME of colorway) and had to get it. Their fault. They have a podcast - you should go listen. Oh, and um...it's not a kid safe podcast. LOL!

I got the Lion Brand fall/winter 2007 catalog on the mail today. Yes, the "Rambling Rows" afghan is on the cover! And they're selling the pattern! Don't get me wrong - it's a great pattern - but I'm just so surprised to see it being offered by LB. Oh, and Nancy? I was right - it IS in their new line of yarn, "Vanna's Choice". Thought it had to be!! :)

Speaking of podcasts, I'm still hooked on the Potter stuff (hears the groans all around) and have discovered PotterCast! They're the 'offical podcast of the Leaky Cauldron' (thank you, Rupert Grint, for the great intro!) and are up to ep #117. I think I'm in love with Steve Vander Ark's voice. Have I already said that? Mmmmmm. He's the guy responsible for the Harry Potter Lexicon (over in the links list on the right). The HP fanfic site that I've been wandering around in (The Sugar Quill) also has a podcast available off iTunes called the SQodcast - I've only listened to one ep of these gals so far, and they're wacky. LOL! Listen at your own peril.

Lastly but not leastly (??), on the baseball front, we're either a game or maybe two out of elimination, and we got creamed tonight by the Astros. I don't wanna talk about it. It's that awful. I think we're 10 or 11 games under .500. You know it's a bad game when, in the 7th inning, the radio announcer says that the "best thing that can happen in this game is the last out." Ouch ouch ouch. *goes to find chocolate to feel better*

Well, no pics today, I'm afraid. I'll post the ILG socks when I'm finished with them, tho.

Cheers!