Unexpected visitor -- Anyone know him?

So I was at the computer catching up on some emails before going to make dinner when one of the boys says that there's a dog at the door to our deck. Figuring that it was just one of the neighbor dogs I didn't think much of it, till I got over there and discovered this little guy scratching at the sliding glass door...



We're calling him Jack till we find out what his real name is, but he seems to like it. His tail is clipped and he had a collar on fairly recently, can still see the indentation in his fur around his neck. He's quite friendly and settled in pretty well after Frank (one of our cats) stopped stalking him, though whenever Frank shows up he's still quite intimidated. Hopefully Jack has a loving home out there waiting to welcome him home, cuz I really don't think that our house or family is ready for a dog.

HLBOES - flying assignment #3

The assignment was to knit a bag with a flying/quidditch related theme to it (or something like that, I'm too tired to go track it down at the moment). Here's what I put together:

Ribbed Fingerless Mitts - Toddler/Child sized

While I've got this fairly fresh in my mind...

Ribbed Fingerless Mitts - Toddler/Child sized

The first picture is with the 2 yr old, the second is with the 8 yr old.





Materials:
Red Heart Super Saver or other worsted weight yarn
size 6 dpns

Size: These were made to fit my 2 yr old, but they also fit the 8yr old so they have a good amount of stretch to them.

Instructions:
CO 28 stitches, distribute evenly across 3 needles, PM and join being careful not to twist the stitches. (That sounds almost cliche doesn't it?)

Knit 20 rows of K2, P2 ribbing.

Row 21 - M1, knit 4 (in pattern), M1, and continue with ribbing across. What I did here was keep the stitches I made in pattern so that the ribbing in the thumb gusset actually twists around. If you want to do something different feel free!

Row 22 - K2, P2 in pattern across

Row 23 - M1, knit 6 (in pattern), M1, and continue with ribbing across.

Row 24 - K2, P2 in pattern across

Row 25 - M1, knit 8 (in pattern), M1, and continue with ribbing across.

Row 26 - K2, P2 in pattern across

Row 27 - M1, knit 10 (in pattern), M1, and continue with ribbing across.

Row 28 - K2, P2 in pattern across

Row 29 - Place first 12 stitches on stitch holder/waste yarn/whatever you want to that will make sure they are still there when we get back to doing something with them later. ;) Then K2, P2 across to the end of the row

Row 30 - M4 anywhich way you want to (in pattern), then proceed to K2, P2 across

Knit another 8-9 rows in K2, P2 then bind off.

Thumb:

Place the 12 stitches back onto your needles, dividing up the stitches across 2 needles. Then slide the last 2 stitches before the gap onto a separate needle. Begin with these stitches (in pattern), pick up 4 stitches across the gap (in pattern). Continue in pattern (K2, P2 or whichever pattern you're using for your thumb) for the next 4 or 5 rows, then bind off.

Repeat for second mitt.

**Note** All my bind offs were done in pattern. I'm not sure if that will affect how stretchy your bind off is or not. I'll need to test this on the next pair I make.

**Additional Note** Please let me know if you have any difficulty with these instructions as I'm fairly new to writing patterns that other ppl might want to follow.

HLBOES - Flying assignment #2

The assignment was to knit a golden snitch! I'm going to add a twist to this assignment. I want you to add your own flare to the snitch. Notice my flare was the blue embroidery. Make it awesome, make it fancy, make it YOU! This assignment will be worth 15 points. Extra 5 points if you show the picture of your finished project early. I would like it if you could post the picture in my classroom so everyone can see what creation you have made.

Here is mine!

HLBOES - Magical Creatures assignment

For this assignment we were to knit or crochet a cat, any size, any application. Here's what I did for mine.



This handy dishcloth will help me to lick the plates clean, just like my dear kitties like to do when given the chance.

HLBOES - Flying assignment

The rules of Quidditch
----------------------

Quidditch is a game played on brooms with two teams, each team consisting of seven players. The positions on the teams are as follows: 1 Keeper, 1 Seeker, 2 Beaters, and 3 Chasers. The Keeper protects the goals (3 rings) for their team. The seeker is primarily concerned with finding and capturing the snitch (a small golden enchanted ball). The Beaters are primarily concerned with protecting their teammates from the bludgers (two enchanted balls that fly around attempting to hit the players). And the Chasers are responsible for obtaining and moving the quaffle (the fourth ball involved in the game) down the field to score goals.

A quidditch game begins when the referee releases all four balls from the central circle. The Bludgers and the Snitch fly off on their own accord; the Snitch to hide itself quickly, and the Bludgers to attack the nearest players. The Quaffle is thrown into the air by the referee to signal the start of play. When the quaffle is thrown through one of the rings, a goal is scored and is worth ten points. After a goal is scored, the Keeper of the team scored upon throws the Quaffle back into play. Capturing the Snitch earns the Seeker's team 150 points, equivalent to 15 goals scored by Chasers. Since the game ends immediately after the Snitch is caught, the team capturing the Snitch is very likely to win the game, though not always. The length of a Quidditch game varies, as play can only end with the capture of the Golden Snitch by one of the Seekers.

I'm still alive!

The last couple weeks have been interesting and by interesting I don't necessarily mean that it was all good, but I think the good outweighs the bad so I can't complain too much except for the horror that is dial-up. There are no words to describe how much I would hate my life if I only had access to dial-up. Sure my life continued on without high speed internet, but I felt so out of touch with the world, my email and Ravelry! Sure I did have "more" knitting time, but much of it was occupied with children who fell prey to our winter trip nemisis, germs! If it wasn't/isn't one sick kid its another or two or three. I'll be glad to finally get home. The reason we're not home yet is quite the saga in and of itself, but I'll save that for another blog, there are kids desperate to feed their Neopets waiting for their turn.

Oh, and I gotta brag a little just cuz I'm proud of myself. I managed to get all the sweater ornaments done for the nieces and nephews! Yay me!