But first, I must show you the awesome shoes I bought when I was at the Anew Women’s Expo.

The second I saw them, I knew they must be mine. And buying them made my weekend worthwhile, as I was pretty much stuck in my employer’s exhibit booth there and could not enjoy my usual leisure time activities.

Obviously, I managed to check out the other booths, and I was astounded by the number of exhibitors whose businesses were dedicated to improving women’s looks. Not just makeup and diet clinics, mind you … but hair products, salons, and even plastic surgeons. One booth was offering botox on-site. Get yours today and enjoy a $100 discount!

Pete asked me later, “So … where was the booth where they told people ‘You’re fine just the way you are’?” Not at the Women’s Expo, obviously. Brainwashing works, because I caught myself looking in the mirror in the ladies’ room, wondering whether the creases between my eyebrows made me look old.

Okay, no botox for me, but I do admit the laser hair removal place had its appeal.

Now to feast your eyes on my latest work. My Hogwarts scarves are finished! Notice the lack of Slytherin … I’m tempted to make one just to have a complete set. As you may recall, I started with Ravenclaw (for Moon), followed by Hufflepuff (for Peter, although that’s my house), and finally Gryffindor for Pete.

These scarves make me smile, because they are warm and cozy, and a constant reminder of the goodness that is the Harry Potter series of books and movies. Did I mentioned we saw Goblet of Fire the day it came out? We did. And Moon saw it again two days later. In my opinion, it’s the best movie of the series so far. (And I loved Prisoner of Azkaban, so that’s saying something.) I hope that the deleted scenes include a bit more footage of the World Quidditch Cup, because the tent area was so full of interesting visuals that I wanted to slow it down and check it out more thoroughly. I also enjoyed that the movie makes Neville into a dancing enthusiast (note the bravery of being the first to get up and try — very Gryffindor).

But I digress. Here are two quite uncharacteristic knits that were quick and fun to do:

Yes, fun fur! I normally don’t care a whole lot for the stuff, but the yarn jumped out at me when I was shopping at Michael’s for kids’ art supplies. We picked up a few names from the giving tree at church, and the 9-year-old girl we selected had asked for paint-by-numbers or color-by-numbers stuff. She also wants a Hello Kitty nightgown, so I thought a fuzzy scarf might appeal to her. When I was knitting it, I kept stopping to pet it and check out the color changes of the ribbon that was woven with the eyelash yarn. On the other hand, the bunny was a project I had planned months ago, but never got around to doing. When the scarf was finished, I remember the ball of Moda Dea Aerie that I’d put away with the pattern. He’s stuffed with bits and pieces of leftover yarn that I had been saving in a Ziploc bag, so in a way he’s a talisman for my knitting. He’s got a little dab of all of my projects from the past year inside him.

And hey — I’ve been knitting for a year now! November is my knitiversary.

One more observation: I love my nostepinde. My family gave me a ball winder last Christmas, but I had to return it because I had nowhere to clamp it. All our surfaces were too thick. I wound yarn on my fingers until I discovered the nostepinde — which is inexpensive, completely portable, and does the job. Check out the amazing results!