To England and Around Newcastle (June 27 - July 3)

On Friday, June 27th we drove from Reno to San Francisco. We saw a small patch of blue sky as we crossed Donner Pass, but otherwise it was smoky the entire way. Pretty amazing.

Our flight to London was as good as can reasonably be expected. DD2 slept most of the way, but DS and DD1 slept for only 3 hours. They are quite enamored with on demand in-flight entertainment...

We spent one night in London, and then caught a train north to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. From there we visited Alnwick Castle (used for the outside of Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter movies) and Hadrian's Wall.

Newcastle has a nice Discovery Museum, which is very kid-friendly, and a great mix of hands-on science and local history. DD2 especially enjoyed "washing" her hands at the giant tap in the water and sanitation display.


I had tried to keep our plans simple, since traveling with three young children can be somewhat unpredictable, but we also managed to squeeze in a visit to Durham Cathedral. This building is amazing in it's own right, but was also used in HP. Our tour guide at Alnwick was quite amused by the computer editing done in the movies; "they put Durham Cathedral's towers there, the Quidditch pitch there, and over there was Scotland." Apparently one of the narrow cobblestone streets in Durham was used for Diagon Alley, but we didn't have enough information to get the exact location.

DH enjoyed the local brew.

On Thursday we drove to Edinburgh to catch a plane to Oslo.

Finished Objects and Works in Progress

Here are my first two FOs for 2008, Gryffindor hats based on the house hats in Charmed Knits by Alison Hansel. DS has a Sorcerer's Stone hat. DD1's started out as a Prisoner of Azkaban hat, but she wanted "zigzags and polka dots" as well. I think it's actually pretty cute. These are knit from Cascade 220 superwash, purchased from my lys, Jimmy Bean's Wool, on #5 needles.

I started the hat for DS in December, but was stopped cold by hand pain. Once that was under control, I finished his hat in a couple of days. DD1's took a single day. It was very straighforward knitting, and they love to wear them!

On to a house hat for myself, also knit in Cascade 220 superwash on #5 needles. This is a knit interpretation of Xenophilius Lovegood's Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, based on Toque pattern 5 from 45 Fine and Fanciful Hats to Knit. (Several years ago I knit hats from this pattern for the girls with 2 strands of Dale Baby Ull held together. DD2 is wearing the larger one here.)

Try on the Sorting Hat to find out in which Hogwarts house you belong.

I love to knit socks, really enjoy handpainted yarns, and am a confirmed Harry Potter geek. Here are three future projects; Cornish Pixies, Hedwig and Phoenix from Sunshine Yarns. I am signed up for the Harry Potter sock yarn club, but also succumb regularly to Dani's other Harry Potter yarns. Yum!

This is the poor lonely Jaywalker I knit last fall. As you can see, it still needs it's toe grafted. I'm sure I'll give it some much-needed attention once the Ravenclaw hat is finished. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Funky Stripe 902, purchased on vacation at Mendocino Yarn Shop in Mendocino, CA. We spent a week camping at Manchester Beach in August 2006.