Back to Hogwarts we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so super excited! It's time to make a trip to Diagon Alley and stock up on potions ingredients, new spell books and longer robes! Look out Hogwarts, we're coming back! Oh, how I long for the Ravenclaw Tower...And to chat with Knitsy! I can't wait!!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

However you heard that in your head, multiply the pitch by 3 and the volume by 5! I am SO excited!!!!!!!!!! My kit came in today, and it's a fantastic kit!!!!!!!!!!!! With every thing I opened, I squeed louder! LOL I definitely nominate my spoiler for best kit!!! And everyone else is saying they are limiting the pictures they post because they don't want it to be too picture heavy, but a) I don't think I can limit it, and b) even if I could, I wouldn't, because I'm far too excited to not share all the pictures I have! (Hey, just be grateful I'm not sharing multiple angles of each individual object!!! LOL) So without further ado, the purple-y gold awesomeness that is my kit!!!!

Everything all wrapped up:

A package with more little goodies inside!:

I have wanted this yarn cutter since I first saw it! It's so pretty! And I can never have too many locking stitch markers (for crocheted projects) and stitch holders to free up my knitting needles! LOL:

OMGosh, some of the YUMMIEST yarn EVER! Knit Picks Imagination hand-painted sock yarn (50% superwash merino, 25% alpaca, 25% nylon) in the Evil Stepmother colorway (just in time for the Dobby sock-along!):

HOORAY!!!!! for a knitting chart keeper! Maybe this will help me be motivated to finish Percy before starting the sock-along! LOL:



A cute little bag in the most gorgeous shade of purple!!! I siwh I could get an accurate shot of the color, but for now the flash on the camera will have to suffice:



And this hat! I am in love with this hat! It's the first knitted colorwork anything in my house, made by me or sent to me! So pretty!:



Me wearing said hat:



My kit unwrapped (the 2 sock patterns are in the back):

And there is also a cute little purple notepad, 3 packets of hot cooca (I know what I'm drinking tomorrow morning! Not to mention tonight!) and some Bertie Botts Ever Flavor Beans! Yay! :D Thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-thankyou-thankyou, Minerva! I love it all!!!!!

Whoopsie Daisy!

I really and truly meant to blog while we were in the States over the Thanksgiving holidays, but time got away from me! LOL Upon coming home to Italy, though, I found a package waiting for me that nearly completes my spoilee's kit! I was looking at what I had laying around and noticed that it looked sparse...because I forgot about the little tidbits to fill it out! So I'll be working on that over the next couple of days. :)

On another note...I also got into my shrinkydinks! I noticed the ways that Pren had used them and told myself I had to try them! Here's my first attempt:

Using a picture taken while we were in the States, I made a magnet. :) It's far from perfect, but it's still super cute, and I'm betting my BFF will love it. :) (She's the one in the picture with my younger poltergeist.) The settings on my printer are weird and I can't find a way to set the ink at 50%, I just see the "quick print" option, but that puts lines in the final product that make it look less than what it should be...I may be checking out Poppy's printer settings when I'm over there in a couple of days! ;) And now I'm off to scrounge up the material that I was intending to use the shrinkydinks for after this little test run. :D

Counting down!!!!!

Wow! So much that has to be done to go on vacation!!!! Thankfully, Mr. Bagnold is feeling better, and so far I've not had any more symptoms, so I don't think he got me sick. Whew!

My spoilee's kit is coming together nicely! I have most of it all together, but am still waiting on a couple of miscellaneous things to come in the mail to add to it. Unfortunately, that means I'm not going to make the early send dates...But I won't sacrifice the awesome-ness that is Ginny's kit for the early send! :) And now, I'm off to continue getting ready for our vacation and continue to count down the hours until we leave! :D

Oh my, oh my!

Oh, I am so very tired! So much to do in so little time! My spoilee's kit is pretty much done; just waiting on the yarn to get here...and soon I'll be up to my magical ears in preparing for an overseas trip with two little munchkins...the vast (and blessed) difference this time from the Edinburgh trip is that I will not be the only adult! Mr. Bagnold is coming along as well! Side-along apparition with ones as small as that is strongly ill-advised, the MoM doesn't issue portkeys for everyone's leisure trips, the poltergeists can't exactly ride brooms that distance, and magic carpets aren't allowed...so we'll be traveling the good old-fashioned way of Muggle airplanes. I am very excited to get to spend the American holiday of Thanksgiving in the U.S. this year and to see friends and family we've not seen in 2 years! So this coming week is going to be very full for me, preparing to leave...packing, cleaning, arranging schedules for our time there...it's definitely a good thing I was so excited about putting my spoilee's kit together!!! Unfortunately, though, I do believe that as a result of the trip, I won't be making the early send dates. :( But it's for a very good reason, so I can comfort myself with that! :D

Oh! And the next round of shuntbumping was today! It was the final for crochet (I was up against Andromeda, a worthy opponent!), and the second to last round for the knitters. I am proud to say that I won! I am, as Olive dubbed me, the "fastest hooker in HSKS9"!...Er, hang on a second...