crafty lil' thing: February 2008

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Cats Do However Like Pygmy Puffs.

Cat's Do Not Like To Wear Scarves.

Playing with scarves, big time fun. Wearing scarves, not fun.

This is K's Gryffindor Roll Like a Scroll Scarf. She made up this pattern for her first try at our nifty Bond Fashion Knitter. She used Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Claret and Gold and put 20 needles in the bed. She cast on so that the edge would be stretchy, I think it's called a provisional cast on.

1) Knit 20 rows in Claret.

2) Knit 6 rows in Gold.

3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 until she had 7 more claret and 7 more gold.

4) Knit 20 more rows of Claret.

Add Fringe to ends: 4 10” strands of yarn per fringe. Make 6 claret and 5 gold, placing the claret on the outer edges and one in the very middle and evenly spacing the rest of the claret and the gold in between.

The Fashion Knitter is a one trick pony, it makes stockinette stitch. So the scarf will roll up like a very long scroll . K loved this effect and thought it was very appropriate for a Harry Potter scarf. The finished scarf, with fringe, is about 2 inches wide when rolled and 60 inches long.

If you would like to knit K's scarf by hand, just knit the first row and purl the second, and so on, changing color as indicated above. The gauge turned out to be 4 stitches/inch and 4 rows/inch.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Hogwart's Robe

I made K's House robes last summer for the book release. She was went as Tough Ginny Weasley. She looked great and played the part to a T. I started with Simplicity 4462.

The robe in this pattern is the correct basic shape, though a few modifications were needed. The body needed more fullness and less length. The sleeves were way too pointy and the hood not pointy enough. I found some very good drawings of the final shape of the hood and sleeves here. I used a black peach skinish material which hangs nicely and has a great feel. The robe is fully lined and has a wand pocket hidden inside.

K went to a book release party with a friend of hers and they were the cutest things. While waiting in line to get into the party, I watched a reporter from a local station scanning the line. He stopped dead when he saw K and her friend. They charmed the mic right out of his hand and were featured on the news that night and the next day. They had so much fun!