Getting Ready for HP

Monkey Boy loves Harry Potter. And why not, he's interesting, cool, has great adventures, can do magic and shares the same initials with Monkey Boy. So, as you can imagine, there is much excitement here about the next movie. In preparation for the premier, I'm knitting Monkey Boy a Harry Potter scarf. This is made out of standard cheap Red Heart Super Saver yarn that I got at Walmart. Super Saver just happens to come in just the perfect shade of Claret (378) and Gold (321). Normally I would have cast on 40 stitches. But since this is for a child, I just cast on 28. This is a very straightforward K1 P1 piece. I made one of these for one of Monkey Boy's friends last Christmas and he went nuts for it. As soon as I'm finished with this scarf, I'm starting another one as a birthday present for one of out little friends.

I finished the healing shawl I was working on. I'll try to post photos later this week.

Update (otherwise known as "But wait, there's more!"):
When I pick up Monkey Boy after school, I let him play on the playground for a little while. The other mommies and I just hang out and talk. I made the mistake of working on the HP scarf while I was there. Now I have to make a 3rd one!

A Call to Arms (or Heads!)

I was reading the latest issue of Cast On ,magazine and they are asking for knitters to make helmet liners for soldiers (see photo below). They really need them in the coming winter months. Soldiers are issued synthetic ones but they don't keep the soldiers very warm. Here is the site with photos and the pattern, as well as where to mail them: http://www.geocities.com/helmetliner/