Less than 8 hours...

... until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows hits book stores! I pre-ordered my copy to pick up in-store, but Chapters has no record at all of me doing that, so I guess I will be buying it tonight at midnight, and hopefully I won't be charged twice for it! (I will be sure to complain if I am, don't worry).

I am currently quite stressed out with leaving for Japan on Sunday; there sure is a lot of work to be done before I leave! My parents gave me a few neat early birthday presents which are great though: an inflatable travel pillow, which will hopefully help me sleep on the plane; an untra-light umbrella which weighs only 138g and will also be useful in my West Coast lifestyle; and some less exciting things such as a suitcase lock and a money concealer.

Two of the big decisions, of course, when embarking on a trip such as this one are (a) what will I knit? and (b) what will I read? I will be knitting the Ballet Camisole on the airplane (it's knit on circular needles, which I feel are less likely to be taken away than straight needles, even though on Canadian flights you are nominally allowed to have either) and Ravenclaw Quidditch Socks from Charmed Knits for my friend Mary (who bought the book for me).

The answer to question (b) is still a little up in the air, but I am definitely planning to take a couple of murder mysteries that my mom is lending me.

I am actually (finally) all set to get started on the Ballet Camisole. I actually knit a swatch, in the round, washed it, and dried it, and for the first time ever, I actually got gauge! I'm hoping that means that the top will fit, but we'll see how that works out. I have actually already knit one project from Charmed Knits:

Isn't he cute (if a little blurry)? He's all packaged up now and ready for his final desination (which is a surprise for the recipient, so I will not mention it here).

Anyhow, I hope you're doing well. Are you reading anything exciting these days? I have been re-reading all the kids' books I left at my parents' house, so that's not too exciting.

Love,

Laura

Re-entry

Dear Laura,

Well. I have no excuse. I am just a bum blogging partner, that's the bottom line. :) However, it's now my turn to hold down the fort while you're on vacation, so I'll do my best!

Thanks for posting in my absence! It was such a super-fun day, and having you there as a bridesmaid made it all the better.

I had six weeks off after the end of med school, during which I got married, went on a honeymoon, and moved house. Despite all that, I found lots of time for crafting! I think I have fodder for at least a few entries on here!

First up is the surprise project that I actually worked on over a few months: the fabulous bridesmaid's handbags! I decided to make a handbag for each of my lovely bridesmaids, all from the same pattern but with different fabrics for each. These bags were my first ever from-a-pattern sewing projects, and I think they turned out pretty well!

The pattern is tiny happy's shoulder bag. I modified it to use fat quarters and be more of a handbag, an idea that I stole from someone who had left a comment on tiny happy's blog post with the pattern. Thanks tiny happy!

Hope you're having a wonderful time in Japan!

Love,

Nikki