So…confession time: I’m a huge geek. I love Doctor Who, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Lord of The Rings, anything written by Neil Gaiman, and I’ve had a comic book collection since I was twelve years old. I know this comes as no shock to friends of mine or to anyone who follows me on Twitter or Tumblr. The thing is, though, when I have to explain to my family, new acquaintances, or the nice people at the local  coffee shop that I frequent that the project I’m knitting is for my Care of Magical Creatures or Arithmancy class in the Harry Potter Knitting And Crocheting House Cup…I tend to get a few stares.

This fun and geeky knitting group kicked off the winter term on New Year’s Day and I’ve been a busy little bee ever since. This term I didn’t manage to get sorted into a house, due to being MIA for a month last term. So I’m playing along as an SOS(Student On Sabbatical). Last time I was a first year Slytherin, so I figured I could use this as a chance to check out the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor houses. And just because I didn’t officially get sorted this time around doesn’t mean I don’t get to play along. I intend to finish at least one class a month (essentially a knit or crochet along with a theme instead of a specific pattern in mind), therefore securing myself a spot in a house next time the Sorting Hat comes around.

I’ve also decided to do an OWL (Ordinary Wizard Levels), which just means I’m challenging myself to do a project that takes more than a month but no longer than 3 months. I’m doing option one for my Charms OWL: knit something using a lace pattern and a minimum of 800 yards. And what is it I’ll be knitting, you may ask? I’m doing the Lord of the Rings inspired Evenstar Shawl by Susan Pandorf, naturally. I could write a whole love letter devoted to this shawl. I have wanted to make this beautiful lacy wonder for ages. It clocks in at just about 1500 yards of yarn, so it more than meets the yardage requirement. It also calls for about 3000 size 8 seed beads, but I’m leaving those off since they would make this project more NEWT than OWL worthy. I have already gathered my supplies, knit up my swatch, written my proposal, got it approved, and have started knitting away.

And so far I have to say, other than a VERY fiddly circular cast-on, I am really having fun with this project. I’m using Juniper Moon Farm’s lace-weight Findley yarn in the graphite colorway and I’m using Addi Lace Turbo needles for the first time. One thing I know for sure already is that I’m loving these Addi circular needles. The ends are sharper than most, the cord is nice and flexible, and the needles are light-weight with just enough friction to work with a slippery lace yarn. The only draw-back is the metallic smell it leaves on my hands and fingers, but that’s a very minor draw back if you ask me.

You’ll see more progress pictures here on the blog as I knit away on my Evenstar shawl, and you’ll most likely hear more updates about the Harry Potter group here too. And yes, I realize how much of a silly little nerd I am. But it’s loads of fun.