I'd make my horcruxes out of stash yarn.

Hilariously, Opal is apparently releasing a line of sock yarn to coincide with the release of Half-Blood Prince in the fall. I'm not surprised that the marketing of this movie extends to yarn--I'm more surprised that they haven't thought of it before, frankly--but I will admit to being puzzled by 1) the absence of Hermione-branded yarn (Ginny, Hedwig, and the Weasley twins--or one of them anyway--have a skein*) and 2) the choice to focus on character-inspired yarn instead of doing something more obvious, like house colors. I suppose they thought the appeal would be broader this way. I'm sort of unclear on what the colors have to do with the characters at all--except for Hedwig and Draco, and maybe the Weasley twins if you're generous--but this is one of the most enjoyable consumer fantasy products I've seen in a long time.

*Then again, the choices here are pretty weird too--like, why pick the scene where Ginny's in a bathrobe? (Not sold that that's what's going on there, as the label's pretty fuzzy.) Why choose only one Weasley twin? (Unless the other just isn't visible, but again, not clear.) I'd also think that Snape would be an obvious choice for a colorway (greens and smoky grays and blacks). It seems to me that whoever put this line together got a folder full of promo pics and probably attached them to some yarn that was already in development. Alternate scenario: the pictures were fed into a program that extracted the colors and the yarn was developed randomly that way. The point, in any case, is that it does not appear that a great deal of thought went into this.

20,000 leagues under the sea.

Oh, Reader, I keep starting projects in a bid to avoid my poor sweater. I just keep looking at the thing--I've got about 5-6" done (I think) on the right front--and thinking about how long it's going to take me. I think I'll just have to wait until the mood strikes me to work on it again. I don't want another failed sweater--which reminds me; I need to take apart the Lucy cardigan and the Wicked sweater and repurpose the yarn. I'm surrounded by yarn at my desk. I have the idea that I'll be able to get more organized when I get the giant filing cabinet of my dreams (why, hello there, tax refund), but really I suspect that this will encourage me to get more stuff.

Current projects on tap (take my word for it; no pictures yet):

• I'm working on the Embossed Leaves socks from Favorite Socks out of KP Risata. I'm not finding the Risata splitty, as some have said. It's certainly sturdy.
  
• I finished a hat of my own "design" out of Cascade Pastazza, a llama/wool blend. It needs blocking. It's just a simple zig zag cable from one of the Harmony Guides. The real story of this hat is in the color of the yarn: it's a deep blue/purple that rivals the best of Noro. It's the kind of blue I like to imagine is made out of ground up lapis lazuli--like an illuminated manuscript or a Renaissance painting.
  
• I started another hat--I think the pattern is called "Claudia"--but I'm bored by it. No fault of the pattern.
  
• I'm supposed to be getting a toy cat pattern via the mailz--it's a pretty sweet pattern, but I'm sort of nervous about the skill level I imagine it's going to require. Toys seem to need a lot of "finishing" work to make them look good, and I have little experience with finishing.
  

Well: not much to photograph in all of that, but I'll get you some pictures soon, Reader.