I open at the close

I'm bugging my eyes out, trying to make them look all protuberant and Luna-like; Kas went with the classic Blue Steel.


I got all crafty yesterday morning.


Look, it's the symbol of Grindelwald!

I really loved the book. It's my new favorite. I read it in two marathon sessions, six hours long each. I'm not quite ready to read it again.

But oh, was it good.

Seven is heaven? and other such tales

I realized yesterday at some point that I forgot to tell you all about the dream I had Wednesday night.

I was with a group of people in a cozy room set up with a number of small dining tables. People were being served pieces of meat that rather looked like bits of pork. While everyone was being served, Sam Neill (Jurassic Park Sam Neill, no less) was walking around, acting as the host. He was talking about how fantastic this society of people was, and how lucky the newest members were to be joining.

It was around this point I became aware that the society was in fact a group of high-class, civilized cannibals, and that the pork-like meat that was being served to everyone was actually human flesh. I don't recall being terribly revolted by the thought, either, which scares me a little. One woman, however, seemed to be having second thoughts. She told Sam Neill that she wasn't so sure she could actually go through with eating people (and I'm sure she was one of the new inductees.) Well, Sam Neill told her that that wouldn't fly, and that she had to partake. She was the one scheduled to host the next meeting; had she declined, she would have attended as a rather more cooked version of her present self.

Craziness.

---

Gwiffen is back from the vet again. She now has a dashing plastic collar adorning her neck, and glowers at me from wherever I'm sitting. She also has new sutures — heavy-duty ones this time — so that she can continue the healing process.

And, after a day or two of putting it off, I finished the Boobholder this morning. I opted for ties instead of buttons, so the two buttonholes I made can just hang out and act cool. The ties were knitted in garter and are 7 stitches wide and 7 inches long each. (Had to throw in a little book 7 symbolism.)

I have my bag of fun ready for the book launch, sans the socks in progress. I even managed to do a little last-minute extra costuming: plastic 3-D glasses became Spectrespecs, a small handful of Turkish currency became wizarding money, and an odd assortment of items became a charm bracelet. I think I'm ready.

Huzzah!

Not Knitting
Back from the Bulbous Nose — had a fantastic time. Of course, who wouldn't when you're playing on a Catholic school's playground and taking dorky pictures on plastic mountains and stacking people up on slides? That's not all we did; there was also some drunken croquet and a couple rounds of Circle of Death, which is pretty much the funnest drinking game ever. (Although if I figured out how to make cribbage a drinking game, I'm pretty sure that would be even more fun.)

Let's see. I've given away three of the seven kittens. All I have left for people are two peach / cream males. (So hurry up and get your cat-friendly apartment so you can have Bellini, Timmy! And I get full credit for that name. I swear, everything is not about alcohol.)

In exchange for the first kitten I gave away, I got a starter for Amish Friendship Bread. I got a wild hair and turned on the oven last night to bake up a batch, after separating the other starters. I had a little bit about five minutes after it had come out of the oven and boy is it delicious. I was going to bring it to work today, because I had something else on the agenda this morning: kitten abortion.

Really, I'm just having Gwiffen spayed, but I'm pretty sure she's pregnant. I don't think she's far along at all, so I don't mind continuing with the spaying. I really don't want to bring more kittens into the world that may or may not have homes. I find that it's a waste of space. I live by Bob Barker's philosophy: "Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered." I'm pretty sure Gwiffen's temperament will be better, as well.

Knitting
On the way to the Bulbous Nose, I worked on my Boobholder. I got the sleeves finished per the pattern, but decided not to work on them at BAS' house. On the whole, it fits pretty well, but I'm adding a garter stitch short row section at the bottom of each sleeve, just for a little extra room. I've done one sleeve so far, and will probably do the other either tonight or tomorrow night.

I have to decide if I need a little more length on the front, as far as fastening goes. I might just knit some garter strips and knot them, despite the buttonhole that I've already done. (It was only a two-stitch buttonhole anyway.) On the whole, I think it's turning out pretty well. I still don't have pictures of it for you, because I'm a jerk like that. I think I can finish the Boobholder by Friday. There's not that much left to be done, really. A few ends to weave in, finish the sleeves, and figure out how to fasten it, and I'm done!

On the way back from the Bulbous Nose, I worked on my Eagle's Flight socks. I've now got the heel turned on both, and done about one row of the leg. I don't want to do much more until I can try them on, and I just haven't had time. They probably won't be finished by the Friday party, since I've got photos to take at the county fair this week.

I've been spending time on Ravelry a lot, joining groups and chatting in the forums. I've been talking a lot of Harry Potter theory in one of the groups. It's quite a lot of fun.

Anyway, back to work!

I suspect Nargles

Hello, friends!

Harry Potter!
My brother and I hit Order of the Phoenix last night. I was late leaving work, and we got to the theater at about 11:05. I went up to the counter to get tickets, and the checker said, "We sold out three hours ago." (Meanwhile, she'd seen my dork-ass self coming to the counter wearing my Trust Snape shirt, a string of corks around my neck and some weird looking radish-like earrings, and she didn't even give me that "oh, I'm so sorry but I'm going to tell you something you don't want to hear" look.) So off we went to a theater on the other side of town, which had plenty of tickets and seats to spare. They were much more prepared, and much more cheerful. Good for them. (Good for them. Hee hee.)

The movie itself? I don't know how I feel. I don't hate it, but I don't necessarily love it. My favorite character was Luna (of course, since I kind of dressed as her). Evanna Lynch captured the "air of distinct dottiness" that the books describe Luna to have. So that I loved. That and the running joke about Nargles throughout.

Knitting!
I've been working on the Eagle's Flight socks fairly steadily — I worked on them quite a bit Saturday morning at Sister Berte's apartment before everyone woke up, Saturday evening while waiting for Joan Jett to take the stage, and last night while standing in line for the movie. By the by, the photo above is (Harlot-style) one of the socks in front of the stage at the casino. Too bad I couldn't catch the Joan Jett and the Blackhearts sign better in the background!

Between Saturday and yesterday, though, I got very distracted by the Boobholder. I'm working it out of cheap-ass yarn: two skeins of navy TLC Lustre and one of bronze for $1.99 each. Well, and I had to buy another set of needles, so $6 more for that. $12 for a project? I'll take that. By the by, I have no Boobholder pictures, as it pretty much looks like a shapeless blob on the needles.

I worked on the Boobholder Sunday night, doing a lot of the raglan shaping, and then again on Monday night, when I noticed that my increases were off on one side of one sleeve. I dropped some stitches at the mistake and picked them up. It either fixed what I'd messed up or fudged it enough that you can't tell (I think it's the latter, personally, but who's to know now? Oh yeah ... all y'all who read this). I have a few more raglan increases to make before the edges of the sleeves will join around my arms.

Otherwise, I've been spending a lot of my time on Ravelry, where I've joined a multitude of groups. So with that, I'm going to Ravel a little more.

It's been announced!

The end is in sight. J.K. Rowling has officially announced the release date of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be published on Saturday 21st July 2007 at 00:01 BST in the UK and at 00:01 in the USA. It will also be released at 00:01 BST on Saturday 21st July in other English speaking countries around the world.

I'm not entirely sure how that makes me feel. Excited, yes, but sad that the end is near. (Of course, after this summer's movie release, there are two movies left, so that's okay.)

They're called thestrals!

I caught the last 10 minutes of Bravo's Top Designer last night. I have drawn the following conclusions: 1) it's a carbon copy of Project Runway, 2) Todd Oldham thinks he's Tim Gunn (even with the double consonants!), 3) I've found me another show! I don't actually watch a whole lot of tv ... when I do, it's either movies or The Weather Channel. I make the fancy-schmancy digital guide tell me what movies are showing right now, and go from there. Well, unless Mythbusters is on.

I got a couple of fantastic pieces of jewelry yesterday from my mom's co-worker, who makes and sells jewelry when she's not working at the lab. I'll see if I can steal the digital camera at work later today to show off mine. The other is on its way to the Peach State.

Oh, and this post over at Dustro's place made me laugh. I starred it in my feed reader, I was so amused. Sometimes even hardcore muggles will come to the dark side, eh?

If you're at all interested in knitting and / or miniatures, view this slideshow on Flickr.

Speaking of dark side, I've got some swap knitting to do, so after this game of Spider Solitaire, I'm off!