Thursday, August 30, 2007

HSKS3

I've talked to both of my partners already.

I'm really excited to get this project underway. I've got most of my package mentally prepared for sending. I've just got to get a hold of a few things...

HSKS3 Questionairre

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?
Ravenclaw

2. List your favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length. Or would you prefer circulars?
Susan Bates Silvalume (7") (I have 2 sets in order to have 5+ needles) & Knitpicks (6") - size 2

3. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?
Sure, I would love to. I've never used bamboo needles (except in larger sizes) or and wood ones. I'm afraid that they would break though, I knit very tightly

4. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?
I prefer book colors, but it's not a strong preference. I think both are lovely.

5. Do you have any allergies?
Not to anything concerning knitting...

6. If you are swapping scarves - what is your desired length for the pattern? This will help your partner find the pattern that is just right for you and buy yarn accordingly.
N/A

Sunday, August 26, 2007

My Newest Yarns!


Here are my newest yarns... I didn't need more, but I bought some anyways. I got a hold of some Noro, because it seems everyone raves about so I thought I'd try it out. I like the coloring, but I'll have to see how it knits up. There's also tons of sock yarn (mostly knitpicks, but I ordered a skein of the ravenclaw colors from dharmafey's cosmic fibers), some lion brand novelty yarns (fun fur for my furry slippers and some more ribbon yarn), malarbrigo merino chunky, and cascade 220 (in hufflepuff colors).

I also signed up for the potter covers sock yarn club, and the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap 3.

I am positive that I now have enough yarn and projects to keep me very very busy. No more yarn shopping until my current stash is at least dented.

I'm planning on using the rest of this evening to work on my socks. I'm hoping to get the at least the heel done by the end of the week. I did a swatch to kind of get a gauge for my wrist warmers, but I'm wondering if I should knit them kind of like I would knit socks and use smaller needles. I'm not sure. They are definitely still in the "draft phase" of project making. (Meaning they'll stay on my brain at all times, until I figure out what to do.)

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Perhaps some matching wrist warmers/fingeless gloves to match my hat?

So I've been turning over this idea in my head, and I'm not quite sure whether or not it is a go or not. I thought it would help the idea process to type it up, and I'm curious to what everyone else thinks....

I'm considering making a pair of fingerless gloves/wrist warmers to match my recently finished Ginny Weasley inspired hat.... I have Malabrigo Merino worsted in the same color (tiger lily) that I used on the hat and thought that they would make a good project. I'm thinking that I can even have a couple of purl rows surrounding an eyelet round so that I can have little bows on the top of my hands. In my head and in my sketches this all sounds like a great idea, but in practice it may just look dumb and tacky. I'm thinking that I can keep the underside all in ribbing to keep them nice and snug.... I'm also thinking a picot bind off edge at the top would look nice, but that's partially because I haven't done one yet and would like to incorporate one somehow. That may be scratched in the long run.... I'm think size 8 dpns will do the trick. I've got to make a swatch and determine my gauge and maybe just get to it. I've also got to finish my other WIPs......

Just wanted to post a little about my ideas.... I'm in need to have quick and easy finish projects. School starts Monday. I'm in for a hell of a semester and very little free time. (I also intend to spend nearly all of my free time knitting... lol)

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Ginny GoF inspired hat COMPLETED


I finished my Ginny inspired GoF hat. (As previously mentioned) I love it. I know that it isn't an exact replica of the movie hat but I absolutely adore it. It fits me perfect and looks just the way I wanted it too. I used Malabrigo Merino chunky in "tiger lily" for the hat and used a strand of Lion Brand Landscapes in "pastel meadow" and Malabrigo Merino worsted in "cactus flower" (my personal favorite yarn) to thread through the eyelet rounds. It's not absolutely perfect, but it was what I wanted. The variegations and chunky weight add to the "Weasley-ness" of the hat, I think. I really am very proud of how this hat turned out. Here are some more pictures, and then after the pictures I'll post my pattern. When it came to the decreases, I just did what looked right and what seem to fit my numbers. So my pattern may not be axact when it gets to that point.




And here is my pattern:
needles: size 10.5 16" circular needles, and size 10.5 double points during decreases
yarn: Malabrigo Merino Chunky in tiger Lily (MC), Lion Brand Landscapes in pastel meadow (cc1), and Malabrigo Merino worsted in cactus flower (cc2)
any chunky weight will work for the hat (MC) and any scrap yarn can be used for the bows and accents

Cast on 72 (I used the cable cast on)
K1P1 rib for 6 rounds
eyelet round #1(*k3 k2tog yo* repeat between the *s)
knit 6 rounds
purl 2 rounds
knit 6 rounds
eyelet round #2 (*k2tog yo k3* between the *s)
knit 6 rounds
purl 2 rounds
knit 6 rounds
eyelet round #1 (*k3 k2tog yo* repeat between the *s)
start decreases:
*k10 k2tog* repeat between the *s
*k9 k2tog* repeat between the *s
*k8 k2tog* repeat between the *s
knit 1 round
purl 2 rounds
*k6 k2tog* (repeat between the *s) k2tog the last 2 stitches
*k2tog k2* (repeat between the *s) k2tog k2tog the last 4 stitches
eyelet round #3 (*K2tog k2tog yo* repeat between the *s)
k2tog until only 6 sts remain, break yarn and thread through the top
thread yarn through the eyelets, add a bow at the bottom tier

Chesire Cat coloured - "slipper" socks

These are my first ever sock project... I took directions off of a livejournal tutorial, and combined them with my new sock knitting book (Sensational Knitted Socks). I'm excited to get them finished, and I'm about to start the heel and what not.... Which is actually the tricky part from what I've read/heard/inferred. More to come on this project, but heres some pictures!



After I was working on these for quite awhile, I realized the colors that I picked really reminded me of the chesire cat. I like them. My little brother Logan, who has an irrational fear of the chesire cat, does not appreciate that I've decided to call my socks the "chesire cat" socks.


Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Cross-Over scarf gets the axe

The only new knitting development that I've had: I frogged the "cross-over" scarf. It wasn't the time for it. I'll attempt it again some other day.

I also accidentally pulled it off the needles and made a mess of yarn. OOPS! My immediate thought after that happened was: "oh well, I was thinking of frogging it anyway."

Saturday, August 4, 2007

My ever-growing yarn stash and knitting bag

I just bought 7 more skeins of cascade 220 (in maize and black, I needed some hufflepuff yarn) and 1 skein of Malabrigo Chunky, but this is what my stash currently looks like. Just wanted to add that more was coming...

First I have the Plymouth Encore in 2 colors (dark forest green and dark grey) that I'm using for Luke's slytherin scarf, I bought more than the pattern called for in order to make a matching hat and other things. I also have some cascade cloud 9 in color 112 (one of the discontinued colors) that I bought at the same time from yarn.com. Both were on sale. I am actually going to buy more of the cloud 9 and then knit 2 colors at the same time into a mock-cable scarf. When I get around to it.

Then I have the yarn that I bought at last weekends trip to the LYS, Gail Knits. Where I bought 4 skeins of Adrienne Vittadini Emma. It's a cotton/viscose/silk blend yarn. I bought three in a turquoise color (color #94) and one in a purple color (color #91). I loved the purple, but there was only one left. I snatched it up. I might try and find more of it. I also got one skein of GGH Vamos. It, like the purple, only had one left so I snatched it. I have no clue what I will do with either of these yarns.



I also picked up quite the collection of acrylic yarn also during my weekend shopping trip. (Fiber snobbery aside, I really like some of the nicer acrylics, and they're machine washable which is always a bonus.) There's also some ribbon yarn, I think I may try to make a drop stitch scarf with. They look easy enough to do and are very pretty.

I've also got a shoe box full of yarns that are left over from other projects. Not enough for a project themselves, but too much yarn to just throw out. This collection of yarns has actually come in handy quite a few times.

Then I have a box with 4 skeins of Bernat Masala, 2 of each color: tidal tones and hyacinth hues. There's also 3 skeins of a black 100% cotton yarn, a small skien of black free trade yarn that Aynsley bought in New York. 3 skeins of wool-ease: one in oxford grey, 2 in peacock. Also there's some pink eyelash yarn that Aynsley won on ebay. I've not clue what to do with the eyelash yarn.



Then I have my collection of Malabrigo Merino Worsted. This is absolutely my favorite yarn. It's the yarn that made me see how much better nice yarns are than the cheaper acrylics. I have several different colors. I'm planning on doing my ravenclaw scarf when I get around to it in this yarn (roanoke for the bronze, and azul profundo for the blue). I also might use the tiger lily color for my Ginny Weasley inspired hat.



I have 2 balls that I just wound up yesterday of Cascade 220 in color 9404 (ruby) which was bought because I planned to do the hatmione and matching mittens out of it. (Because that's the recommended color that matches the movie.) I'm think I might do it out of the Jewel Blue Malabrigo that I have instead now. I'm not sure though.I have 10 skeins of chenille that I've bought and yet to use. I have several ideas for it, but haven't put any to the test. This yarn is a bit difficult to knit because of shredding.Lastly I have my collection of Brown Sheep Lambs Pride bulky in several colors. (Including colors to create a couple more Jayne hats.) I also in this picture have several balls of navy wool. I use that wool for simple/test projects.


I also took pictures of my new knitting bag because I was feeling camera crazed and I love this new tote bag!

and now... my current WIPs

These are the new WIPs that I've started since finding my camera. Both of them are scarves. (=bad news since I never seem to actually FINISH a scarf)

First I have the cross-over scarf, pattern taken from the DIY network. I tweaked it a bit to get the size I wanted and the amount of "X's" that I wanted. I'm not sure that I like it though. I'm thinking of just frogging the whole thing and maybe attempting it again later. I really get bored easily with scarves. I don't even think I have enough of the color of yarn to even finish the whole thing, so I'd probably have to do stripes with it.... The whole thing seems to just not want to work out this time around. I think I messed up my Xs as well. They don't seem to actually make an X shape.






The second WIP that I've got is much less frustrating. I've started a simple moss stitch scarf in Caron Bliss yarn (The color is called 'merlot'). It is so soft, and the moss stitch is so easy to knit. It is almost mesmerizing to just sit and knit this. It'll be so nice to have this great big soft scarf. It's also in one of my favorite colors. I can't wait to finish it. I've got 3 balls/skeins of the yarn, I'm just going to knit all 3 of them into the scarf. I really can't think of much else to do with the yarn. I wouldn't like it as a hat.

The first picture doesn't really show the color very well. And none of the pictures can possibly give you any idea of how soft this yarn is. I love it. I'm thinking of getting more to make a throw with, but I really should finish the scarf first!

Finally found my camera! Now for some FOs...

I've got 2 FOs, that I have semi-discussed in my camera-less posts.

My skinny version of a Hogwarts "house unity" scarf
This was supposed to be my skinny scarf that was knit fast and kind of sloppy in worsted weight yarn and size 11 needles that I could wear to the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows release. BUT when it got to be 10:30 and I had 20 rows left, I gave up and went to the party without it. I figure it'll still serve a purpose and it doesn't look too awful considering that most of the color stripes were from scrap yarn (red and yellow both came from leftovers of Stitch's gryffindor scarf, navy came from my monstrosity ravenclaw scarf, and green I cut some off of Luke's slytherin scarf.) I have no clue what type of yarn the black was. It was sitting label-less in my stash forever so I put it to use. The green and navy are both a little dark and hard to see in the black, but I was working with what I had available and on a very short deadline. I believe I started the scarf the Tuesday before the release. And Tuesday was really the only day I had off that week. I only put about 15 hours total into the scarf. I had a very busy work week and just barely didn't finish in in time.

I'm really fond of the fringe. I added flecks of the color stripes so it wouldn't be all black. It's my favorite part of the whole scarf.

It's finished dimensions are:
only 1 3/4" wide and 60" long before fringe, 68" long with the fringe


My Lion Brand Thick and Quick hat
I'm actually not very pleased with this hat. I finished it fairly quickly, but I'm not at all happy with the decreases. The hat also feels stiff because the yarn was too thick to be used on size 10.5 needles. (Reasons for this needle selection were discussed in this post.)

I have enough yarn left, and I just got new addi turbo 16" circulars in both size 11 and 13 so I think that I'll try again. I do love this color and I think that is worked up nice and quick (hence, the yarn name.)