Project Planning

Yes, summer is in full swing...and here I am, planning my knitting projects for fall and winter gifting.  So far, I've started working on this:

photo from Ravelry.com

This is a long-time promised project for my young friend who is obsessed with Harry Potter and the world of Hogwarts.  Apparently, the plan is to be Hermione or someone for Halloween, and since I had oodles of gray yarn from a project I opted not to do, it seemed like the thing to do was to get this sweater done, blocked, and gifted to the girl in question before throwing anything else onto the needles.  (You can check out the pattern here.)

I've ordered in yarn to make two lovely, luscious things for myself:

This shawl by Stephen West, called the Boneyard Shawl--which I'm going to knit up in a delicious silk-merino blend in a rich purple shade called Blackberry:

photo by westknits on ravelry.com

And, this hood in a similar deep rich red-burgundy.  Lord, how I love this pattern, called Through the Woods (one of several in a delightful ebook of pretty patterns):

photo by Kalurah on ravelry.com

Aside from those, there's a handful of other things I am contemplating knitting up.  A lovely and simple christening gown for a dear friend, a pair of Ood face masks for Dr. Whovian brothers, a pair of thick, warm socks for my mom's traditional holiday gift, more industrial strength mittens for winter chores, a host of neckwarmers and fingerless gloves, always good to wear or to gift.  Its a good thing there's plenty of time stretching ahead until these items will be needed, as I always have a long list of things I plan to throw onto the needles.