Then when I got home, I walked up to my door to find a package for me from Intarsia Bindoff!  I was a like my landlord’s little boy when he sees Jimbo and Kink – squealing with delight!  I opened it to find 2 skeins of my favorite yarn – cascade 220.  One skein is a beautiful heathered moss green the other is a heathered oatmeal color.  (I’m thinking I need to get more of those colors for a sweater, but we’ll have to see …).  Then a skein of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes worsted weight in a color called Mink Heather.  Also quite lovely and I may also have to look into a project so I can buy more of it   Not one, not two, not three, but 4 patterns!  The stackable kitties from MochiMochiland (and the stuffing,and some brown yarn for the nose and whiskers and some green yarn for the eyes), the Sherbrooke Cowl pattern, the Under the Tree fingerless gloves pattern (and cute little buttons for the eyes of the owl) and the Olive Branch Yoga hoodie pattern!  There was a cool notebook and a small notepad with a robot on it a Doraemon pencil, cute stitch markers (an owl, a ball of yarn with needles in it, and a pair of scissors), a heart shaped tape measure (I seem to be forever losing them!) 2 candy bars – a Yorkie by Nestle and a Cadbury CurlyWurly.  I’m assuming they are not from the US.  Not that it matters…. it’s candy, it’s going to be amazing!  And mystery book called Knit One, Kill Two! I was wondering what I was going to read on the plane ride home and now I don’t have to worry about it!  And most of this came in a cute little handmade bag (that I’ll be using to transport my knitting back east with me for the holidays) that has a magpie on one side and a quote from Jane Austen on the other side (the quote being – How quick come the reasons for approving what we like!).  I am so spoiled!  I love all of it!  I’ll be taking it with me to work so I can take a proper picture of it.  There’s much stuff, I’ve got to have room to spread it all out!

I should get going… I can hear a cat toy skittering across the floor and a poor defenseless paperbag being brutally attacked by Jimbo.

Find the following people among players on your and the other teams. (Each person can only be listed once.)

1. Someone with the same craft as you.  Lily May Clearwater – I knit and while I have some crochet hooks, I haven’t really gotten that into it yet.
2. Someone who was born in the same month. Enna Kirts also born in August – the best month ever… aside from December.  I really can’t compete with Christmas.
3. Someone from a different country. Eugine Nigeno – I believe is in the Netherlands!
4. A new HSKS Quidditch player.  I think Maisy Muddlesticks is new.
5. A player who has been in 3 or more HSKS swaps. Violet Starfire
6. A player who has a bigger stash than you! (And if your stash is the biggest, proudly say so!) – well this one should be easy, as I’m slowly working my stash down.  So I’ll say Selena Starfire
7. A player who both knits and crochets.  that’s easy!  my swap buddy, Bridget the Bloodthirsty!
8. Someone who has the same favorite color as you. Quietus, of course!

There’s more homework to do, but I’m a bit exhausted. I did a nice mile swim this evening and am now going to start sleeve numero 2 on the french braid sweater.  Here’s hoping I can have it done this week!  But I may just grab my book – Tears of Pearls by Tasha Alexander, and go to bed.

Find the following people among players on your and the other teams. (Each person can only be listed once.)

1. Someone with the same craft as you.  Lily May Clearwater – I knit and while I have some crochet hooks, I haven’t really gotten that into it yet.
2. Someone who was born in the same month. Enna Kirts also born in August – the best month ever… aside from December.  I really can’t compete with Christmas.
3. Someone from a different country. Eugine Nigeno – I believe is in the Netherlands!
4. A new HSKS Quidditch player.  I think Maisy Muddlesticks is new.
5. A player who has been in 3 or more HSKS swaps. Violet Starfire
6. A player who has a bigger stash than you! (And if your stash is the biggest, proudly say so!) – well this one should be easy, as I’m slowly working my stash down.  So I’ll say Selena Starfire
7. A player who both knits and crochets.  that’s easy!  my swap buddy, Bridget the Bloodthirsty!
8. Someone who has the same favorite color as you. Quietus, of course!

There’s more homework to do, but I’m a bit exhausted. I did a nice mile swim this evening and am now going to start sleeve numero 2 on the french braid sweater.  Here’s hoping I can have it done this week!  But I may just grab my book – Tears of Pearls by Tasha Alexander, and go to bed.

yeah… it was big.  At least 2 inches.  After he/she was crushed with the bottom of my flip flop at high speeds, I then wiped down the doorframe and the doorjamb with a Pledge wipe.  I read somewhere that spiders have tastebuds on their legs/feet and they don’t like the taste of Pledge.  And doggoneit!  It works!  No spiders have tried to cross the Pledge threshold.  I’ll be wiping down all the windows this weekend.  That’ll learn ‘em!

I also got a cool package in the mail!  My Harry Potter Summer Camp package came!  It had to come all the way from Italy!

There’s a few things missing from the photo – mainly a few more packs of Smarties… they barely made it past the first 5 minutes of me finding them.  And 2 catnip mice for the kids.  As soon as I put the box down on the floor Kink started sniffing around the box until she found them.  There’s also two patterns that were with my kit – the Leaf Lace Socks by the ever popular Evelyn Clark and the Stackable Cats by MochiMochiLand!

And I’ve been slowly but surely working on Interlaken.  I’m about a 1/3 of the way done with it. Here it is, on it’s side.

My hope is to have it done by Christmas/New Years.  I may have to have another project going on along with this one.  Interlaken is a relatively easy pattern.  The only challenging thing is the color changes and the constant turning of the work.    I’ll see if there’s something that I can pick up and leave be for a bit without wondering where I am in the pattern.

And then I started to pull everything out of the box

She must have put an undetectable extension charm on that box because it just seemed like I kept pulling more and more things out of there!  Once I got everything out, I started upwrapping!

You had me at the coffee…. I love it all!  Thank you so much!  The sock yarn came at just the right time.  My friend’s mom is going to teach me to knit socks 2 at a time!  And of course, before I could open the coffee or bust open the candy, it needed to pass thru security.

Don’t let Jimbo fool you.  He’s had several correspondence course in package security.  He’s a true professional.  Thanks again Arriana!  I love it all!

1- Who wrote the obituary of Dumbledore in The Daily Prophet? Elphias Doge
2- What is a Squib? witch/wizard born person has no magical skills for themselves.
3- Who stole the locket Horcrux from the Black House? Mundungus Fletcher
4- What are the Albus Dumbledores’ siblings names? Aberforth and Ariana
5- Where did Hermione leave the money for the eggs and bread that they stole from the lonely farm? - under the chicken coup
6- What is the quote Lily and James Potter have on their tombstone? The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death
7- Why did Gilbert Grindewald leave wizarding school? he was expelled for experimenting with black magic
8- Where does Xeno Lovegood first say that Luna is when Ron, Hermione and Harry visit? at the river looking for plimpies
9- What wood is the wand from The Deathly Hallows supposed to be made out of? elderwood – from a tree near where the brothers died.
10- How did Harry, Hermione and Ron escape the vaults of Gringotts? the same way they did in Oceans 12… I kid… I’m a kidder, they made their way out on the back of a dragon
11- What is the name of the all-female Quidditch team that Ginny has a poster of in her room? Hollyhead Harpies
12- Describe what the Undetectable Extension Charm is. Say you have a soup can.  This charm makes is so that the soup can has endless space in it.
OK now that my homework is done… albeit late, let’s move on to Mad Men. I’ve hear so much so much about this show, that I got online and went to the Seattle Library page and put a hold on the dvds.  You can imagine that the wait for the dvds was a couple of months.  But it was worth the wait.  The cast is amazing, the writing is phenomenal and the sets and the costumes are incredible.  The show reminds me a little of the Sopranos because all the characters are flawed, in some way or another.  And the lead character, Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm) is not always likeable but you are still rooting for him.  Not to mention, he’s one good looking guy.  He’s got that Paul Newman/Gregory Peck/Rock Hudson look about him.   And he was great in his guest starring role on 30 Rock.

John Slattery (seen in this photo with Christina Hendricks, who’ll talk about in a second), who plays Roger Sterling, used to be on a show called Homefront back in ’91 that I loved.  There’s something about him that makes him so well suited for period shows.  He has such a great 40s/50s look about him.  He did show up on Sex in the City where he played a politician who has a strange fetish.  But let’s get back to Mad Men.  The one gal who plays Joan (Christina Hendricks) is awesome.  I don’t know if I love her character or the fact that she’s built like most women with curves.  And her character doesn’t hide them. She uses them.  Not something I’m terribly comfortable with, but then again, I don’t have those kinds of curves.

So now I’m waiting for season 2 to come out on dvd.  I believe it’s sometime in June or July.

As for the knitting that went on this weekend.  Well, here’s what I did.  I had to frog a fair amount because I just wasn’t paying attention to my knitting.  I was paying too much attention to Mad Men.

I’m hoping to get the lace part on the bottom (the peplum) done today or tomorrow and then it’s on to the sleeves and the button bands.

And can I just say this, thank god the first family finally got a dog.  Now we can get back to fixing the economy.  Actually they just showed the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.  I have to say, there’s something somewhat comforting to see the President do some of the same things my dad did for me – reading books and acting them out from time to time, playing games.  Not to mention that you can see how much love there is in that family.  Kinda reminds me of my family.  ‘Cept my dad wasn’t a basketball fan.

PS – way to go Al Franken!

1. On which day did the Order of the Phoenix come to get Harry?
a. Tuesday
b. Sunday
c. Saturday
d. The day of his 17th birthday

2. During all this chaos with voldemort and the Death Eaters, people still had lives to live and Ron’s oldest brother, Bill decided to marry Fleur Delacour? Who were the uninvited guests at Bill and Fleur’s wedding?
a. Voldemort
b. Death Eaters
c. Scrimgeour
d. Grindewald

3. Voldemort had seven Horcruxes hidden in different places. Six of them were hidden at the Gaunt shack, Hogwarts, a cave, inside Harry, inside his snake, Nagini and Tom Riddles Diary. Did Voldemort hide the last Horcrux inside the Malfoy’s vault at Gringotts?
a. Yes
b. No

4. Why did the Dumbledore’s move to Godric’s Hollow?
a. The reason is unknown
b. They were tired of their old home.
c. The father went to Azkaban
d. It was a better place for their children to grow up

5. Harry and Hermione read a part of “Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore,” written by Rita Skeeter. Then they met Dumbledore’s brother Abeforth and he told them the same story, just with a few details changed. Which of the following did Aberforth and Rita Skeeter agree on about Dumbdore’s past?
a. Why the Dumbledore family moved to Godric’s Hollow
b. That Dumbledore was friends with Grindelwald for a while.
c. Why nobody outside the family noticed Ariana much.
d. The reason for Dumbledore’s father’s imprisonment in Azkaban.

6. When Harry and Hermione visit Godric’s Hollow, they visit the graveyard to see Harry’s parent’s graves. Harry walks by a tombstone that we later learn belong to tone of “The Three Broother’. The brother buried there once owned what?
a. The ressurection stone
b. The cloak
c. The wand
d. The sword

7. The Trio finds out that Luna had been kidnapped by the Death Eaters , and that they won’t give her back until they got Harry Potter. Why did they kidnap Luna?
a. Her father sided with Harry and Dumbledore
b. They though he would come to her rescue
c. She was a muggleborn
d. Her father failed as a Death Eater

8. After Voldemort killed Snape, he left the room and Harry came out from under the cloak. Snape gave Harry some of his memories all the way from when he was a child to just months before. Harry dived into the Pensieve and which of the following did he not see?
a. Dumbldore telling Snape that at some point Snape had to kill him.
b. Snape telling Lily she was a witch
c. Snape and Lily having fun in a potions class
d. Snape talking to Dumbledore on a hilltop

9. On the search of the Lost Diadem, Harry finally gets to talk to the Gray Lady. Who was the Gray Lady when she was alive?
a. She didn’t remember because she had been dead for so long.
b. Rowena Ravenclaw.
c. Helena Ravenclaw.
d. A girl who was put in ravenclaw 800 years previously

10. Which of these is not one of Harry or Ron’s children?
a. Rose
b. Hugo
c. James
d. Victoria - I wish… that’s my Harry Potter name!

Pictures!

Lily
Ron
Snape
Luna
Godric’s Hollow

As for the progress of my Aunt’s scarf, well, here it is:

And here’s a close up of the lace:

I’ve used one full skein of Rowan RYC Cashsoft 4ply which is about 200 yards and I got about 22 inches so far.  I’m hoping, now that I’ve got the pattern down and I can get into a bit of a rythmn with it, I’ll have it done by the end of the month, at the latest.

On the knitting tip, Aunt Nancy’s scarf is coming along swimmingly.  I’ll try and take a picture of it tomorrow.  It’s actually a great first lace project.  It’s easy to see the pattern and easy enough to memorize.  I really like it.  I probably won’t ever do it again because there’s not enough change up in it for me.  But I really like the way it’s turning out.

Sure, easy for you to say.  Here’s what I’m realizing about this recent homework assignment -  I will never be a code breaker in Dumbledore’s Army.

Here’s what I think it says -

Snape running wildly; smacked right into  the arms of Delores Umbridge; who had been lying in wait for him.  And before Snape knew it, Delores had swept him, literlaly off his feet and planted one heck of a kiss on him.

Apparently some of my other classmates got this as the answer -

Harry looked around; there was Ginny running toward him; she had a hard, blazing look in her face as she threw her arms around him. And without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her.

I was way off.

As for the sign of the times, today I went to my favorite grocery type store – the Grocery Outlet (or as my good friend Darren calls it, the Gross Out).  The Grocery Outlet is basically the Ross/Marshalls/TJ Maxx/Tuesday Morning/Home Goods of grocery products.  For example, I can get a 4 pack of Kombucha Wonder Drink for $3.  I can barely get one Kombucha drink for that price.  I noticed today, when I pulled into the parking lot, which is usually about a quarter full, was now almost completely full!  The place was packed because everyone is doing their best to save as much as they can of their paycheck.  I also noticed, on the drive home, there were 3 houses on the lake that were up for sale. This is unheard of as any property that sits on Lake Washington is a hot commodity.  But with the taxes for such property being around $20,000 (and I wish I were kidding on that) it seems like people are ready to give up that luxury.