Socks for Dumbledore

I've been on a Harry Potter binge.

I'm re-reading books 1-6, so I can be all fresh and prepped to read Deathly Hallows. (I should explain. When I say 'read', I mean listen to Jim Dale read the books aloud to me on CD or cassette. I adore Jim Dale.) I've just started my second read of Half-Blood Prince, and it seems very fresh and new to me.

So, I've been surprised at all the knitting references in the HP series. Besides the house-elf hats, which I do have plenty of, I love Professor Dumbledore's continued reference to knitting. I'm thinking about knitting a pair of Dumbledore socks, given his comment in The Sorceror's Stone that he sees himself holding a pair of thick woollen socks, and "one can never have enough socks."

I like him. I like knitting.

I did enough knitting during my time with my grandfather, following my grandmother's death, and I have set it down for a few weeks. I will pick it up. I have some in the car, some in the bedroom.

I will knit again. I will knit good socks for Dumbledore, and then I will wear them myself. Perhaps I will get some of his intelligence and insight, some of his eccentricity. I'm still hoping for some of his patience and poise in the face of threats or difficult news.

My grandmother died, and my grandfather had an episode related to his heart. I've gotten a lot of knitting done. I apologize for not posting as often as I would wish, but, for July at least, I have this good bereavement excuse.

All my current knitting projects are two-by-two. That is, I'm knitting two pieces at once. A pair of toe-up socks for Dr. Parts. A pair of toe-up socks for me. A pair of sleeves for the Tangle denim jacket makeover idea. A pair of leg warmers for one of the nieces.

I gotta tell you, after figuring out how to do the Magic Cast On (sorry Judy I'm not gonna put a link in today-I'm typing this at the communal station at my grandparents retirement community), figuring out how to cast-on and set up a pair of tubes took some concentration. It was very strange to have to think so hard about it. But I managed it. (Heck, at this station, I seem to be unable to put in a title for my blog post. That's a little annoying.)

Again, at the ER and in the hospital room, many visitors and hospital staff expressed amazement at the high skill of knitting. String and sticks. Pull one loop through another. Hooray.