Exciting witches..

Things are getting very exciting in the preparations for the next sock kit swap. Headmistress Wartbobble has set up all kinds of marvellous wheezes for those witches and wizards who will be taking part. She's even going to have knitting duels! Amazing!! I do hope I will be able to have a go at this, although the first one takes place when Clan Wigworthy are camping with the Pendle Witches Institute.

While the group has a rather tragic history we have fared very well since the Statute of Secrecy was introduced, and now number some 200 witches and wizards from Pennine districts. The end of May sees our annual meet which, although it includes some serious political discussion, is mostly a week of fun and games. The boys are practising hard for the under 8s quidditch match! Fortunately we are not affected by the traditional rivalry between Lancashire and Yorkshire that exists in local muggle communities. Well, perhaps we are just a little - last year I caught Terry (5 at the time) hexing a 7-year-old wizard from Trawden who had called him a 'Dirty Tyke' ('Tyke' being slang for a native of Yorkshire).

In knitting news I am glad to report that I have now finished and published my designs for house socks for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. They are for sale in the wonderful witches knitting forum, Ravelry, and in my Etsy shop.

Since my kit arrived last week a spinning friend of mine has suggested that I could make some beaded yarn with the beads that Lily Finnegan had included in the kit. What an excellent idea! So I've bought some beading needles and something called 'nymo' from 'Crafty Witches R Us', and am all ready to have a go. Alas, I think I will have to get the time-turner out to be able to do it, for I feel utterly overfaced just with completing the house sock designs I commited myself to doing. I would also love to do a bag for Professor Wartbobble's current design competition, especially as I've paraded a little as a 'designer', which makes it embarassing not to enter something. Would Gryffindors and Slytherins mind awfully if I took time out from the sock marathon to do so?

Most exciting of all is that my twin-sister, Lizzie Wychwood, has decided to join the sock kit swap. While Lizzie is not much of a knitter (she has already asked if I could knit for her the yarn she gets in her package!), she is keen on muggle crafting in general, and particularly good at quilting. We've discussed how I can support her with the swap, and I've already agreed to dye yarn for her to put in the package for her spoilee! She is quite excited about doing it, and will be setting up her own magical portal soon to aid social communication with other swappers.

Lizzie is an accountant for Gringotts - a much more modern career-minded witch than housewifely me. Despite differences in outlook like this we are actually identical twins, at least as identical as the famous Weasley twins. Luckily as the swap is not conducted in person we won't be encountering the usual confusions and mix-ups that have peppered our lives because of the similarity between us (honestly - I'm scared someone is going to start asking me complicated banking questions every time I pop into Diagon Alley to do a bit of shopping!). I think my friends in the swap will like her, and I'm sure they will make her very welcome.