Today I will fly...

If you have younger kids but aren't familiar with Mo Willems, you should be. His books are completely awesome, and Sage is in love with the Elephant and Piggie books.

The other day she saw a modified Kate that was a pig and she wanted something similar. I already had the yarn (Moda Dea's Metro) in the stash and shortly after casting on, Chris asked if it was going to be Piggie. It hadn't even occurred to me (I was thinking Olivia originally, even though Sage has a plush Olivia). but the inspiration for Piggie was then born.

I had to do some modifications - elongating the upper torso for one, decreasing more for a neck, then increasing again for the head (which should have been a bit bigger) were the major ones. The limbs (and ears and snout and tail) were picked up from the main body and knitted on instead of knitted separately and sewn on, and my embroidering skills leave a bit to be desired, but Sage loves Piggie and is wondering when Gerald will join her (I do not have Gerald-appropriate yarn in the stash, so he has to wait until I find the perfect blue-gray).

Before I even want to consider working on Gerald, the blister on my right ring finger from knitting Piggie must heal (it's already callousing a bit). I think the bulky yarn on US7 bamboo DPNs was a bit much, especially since it took less than 2 days total knitting time. Owie.

I never did mind about the little things...

Details. The perfect buttons. A simple but unique pattern. A yarn that behaves how I want it to. All those little details made this set truly fun to knit.



Daisy from Knitty paired with modified Be-Ribboned Booties from One Skein wonders and little mittens to match (no pattern yet, made them up as I went). The yarn, one of the many from the sister-stash, Sirdar Snuggly Fairisle DK in Fairisle Khaki colorway, 3 balls with maybe 10 yards left.





I was worried when I saw other projects on Ravelry that use this yarn, because of the whole "fairisle" bit, but I decided to let it do what it wanted to do, which was thankfully what I was hoping for, a random speckled print instead of a faux fairisle. I hope they are well-received.

HSS2 Contest - Q&A

The newest contest for the Hogwarts Sock Swap 2 is mine. I am doing a Q&A type of contest in an effort to aid communication between swap pals. Since tracking communication via email would be rather shady, the contest consists of some questions that everyone can answer by way of posting to their blog. Here are my answers:

What type of pet do you choose as your companion at Hogwarts?
I would certainly have to choose a cat for my companion since they are very intuitive and magical. Most likely my cat would be all black or dark gray.

While shopping in Hogsmeade you stop by Honeydukes for some sweets. What treats do you purchase for yourself?
Mmmmmmm... Honeydukes. I think I'd pick a fine selection of milk chocolate coated fruits and caramels.

A potion you are preparing needs an ingredient available only at muggle shops. You don't want to stand out in your wizards robes, so you resort to traditional muggle clothing. Describe your outfit in detail.
Since I spend far too much time in the muggle world, I have a fair selection of clothing that enables me to fit in when I need to go out. My ensemble would be a plain black or dark colored t-shirt or tank top, faded bootcut blue jeans and either a pair of casual sandals (Teva or Birkenstock) or sneakers (Vans).

What is your favorite subject to study at Hogwarts and why?
My favorite class would have to be Potions, partly because it is taught by that dreamy Professor Snape, but also because I love to experiment with making magical concoctions.

Likewise, what subject is your least favorite and why?
Ancient Runes. I never was very interested in learning scripts from ages ago.

Back to the potion you were shopping for ingredients for, what type of potion are you making, what color is it, what are the ingredients, and precisely what does the potion do?
My potion is Dulcis Perficio (Sweet Perfume), it is a deep golden amber color made from carefully blending patchouli, blood from a Peruvian Vipertooth Dragon, essence of golden honey, vanilla, and a drop of lavender. Just the tiniest amount applied in precise locations on the female body renders male wizards completely helpless to the wearer's charms. The male wizard will follow the potion's wearer about like a little lost puppy, and will remain under her spell until it is fully washed off the skin.