Thursday, September 13, 2007

Harry Potter Scarves

Harry Potter Scarves

There is actually a new scarf pattern for the Harry Potter fans. It is more different than from the first movie which had alternating colors for the different school groups. I got this from a blog, and I left all of her links. I think she did a great job....if you click on the "it's official" you can see Hermione wearing one of the scarves in the movie.......have fun! Just in case you don't get it....PoA is "Prisoner of Azkaban" The pattern below is by Lauren Kent, and this is from her blog...I found it using a google search... have fun! :)

"The DesignThe Prisoner of Azkaban Hogwarts scarves are really quite different from the old Sorcerer's Stone/Chamber of Secrets scarves. Instead of even-length stripes, they have a light-on-dark trapped bar design; instead of alternating tassels, they have short, dark fringe (it's official!). The general consensus seems to be that there are 14 repetitions of the trapped bar stripe. Unknotted, Hermione's scarf reaches her knees, so the scarf is bigger than I'd anticipated, possibly as long as 85" and about 9" wide. "

"Now that the fringe is confirmed, there's no need to knit the scarf ends closed - although it does make it much easier to get the tube straight when fringing. If you'd like to take advantage of this, use a provisional (or looped) cast-on like this one when you begin, and stop a few rounds short on the first wide MC stripe. Follow the pattern, but use a three-needle bind-off when you reach the end (be sure to keep the inner sides of your scarf together, contrary to the instructions). Turn the scarf inside out and weave any ends (once you close the other end, the scarf is sealed!). Then, slip the loops from your cast-on waste yarn back onto your needle, join your MC, place a marker, and knit a few rows. Bind off this end with the same three-needle bind-off.


There's one nice clear shot of a Hufflepuff scarf during the Hogsmeade visit, and it is indeed black stripes on a yellow field. Knit away, my dear Huffles!


If you'd prefer to crochet your PoA scarf - well, you're more than welcome to email me, but I can't crochet for my life and probably won't be much help. You'll have better luck checking out Luvtocraft's fantastic crocheted PoA scarf pattern.


The ColorsThe PoA uniform colors seem to have darkened and mellowed a bit from the first films. No more scarlet for Gryffindor or bright blue for Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff's yellow is really quite buttery. Everything's moody this time around.

I'm still quite fond of Unger Utopia (100% high-grade acrylic), Plymouth Encore Worsted (25% wool/75% acrylic), and Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted (100% wool), but feel free to substitute whatever your local availability and budget allows. Any colors not listed on Patternworks should be available at Yarnware.

Utopia
Gryffindor - maroon (#187) and maize (#176)Slytherin - forest green (#144) and soft grey (#071)Film Ravenclaw - dark navy (#126) and soft grey (#071)Book Ravenclaw - dark navy (#126) and cognac (#30)Hufflepuff - black (#104) and maize (#176)
EncoreGryffindor - burnt sienna (#0999) and butternut (#1014) or cognac (#175)Slytherin - hunter (#0204) and grey/oyster (#0130)Film Ravenclaw - dark country blue (#0555) and grey/oyster (#0130)Book Ravenclaw - dark country blue (#0555) and cognac (#175)Hufflepuff - black (#0217) and butternut (#1014)

Nature Spun
Gryffindor - brick road (#225) and sunburst gold (#308)Slytherin - tornado teal (#121) and silver sage (#107)Film Ravenclaw - blue knight (#004) and silver sage (#107)Book Ravenclaw - blue knight (#004) and Bev's bear (#094)Hufflepuff - pepper black (#601) and impasse yellow (#305)

The PatternMaterials: 800 yards/400 grams worsted-weight burgundy (Gryffindor), dark green (Slytherin), navy (film or book Ravenclaw), or yellow (Hufflepuff) yarn (MC, main color) 200 yards/100 grams worsted-weight gold (Gryffindor), silver (Slytherin or film Ravenclaw), bronze (book Ravenclaw), or black (Hufflepuff) yarn (CC, contrast color)1 yard scrap worsted-weight yarn (for provisional cast-on only) 12-16" circular needle - US7 for Nature Spun, US8 for Encore, or US9 for Utopia if you plan to knit the ends closed: extra needle (circular, straight, or double-pointed), one size larger than your working circular circular marker (to mark the beginning/end of each round) small crochet hook (about size G, to weave ends in and hook fringe)
Gauge:5 st/1" and 6 rows/1" (or thereabouts)

Knitting:Cast on 90 stitches in MC. Place marker. Knit into your first cast-on stitch to join the scarf, being sure not to twist the cast-on row around your needle. Knit around to the marker; this is one round.Work a total of 27 rounds in MC.*Switch to CC and work 3 rounds.Switch to MC and work 5 rounds.Switch to CC and work 3 rounds.Switch to MC and work 27 rounds.Repeat from * 13 times more, ending with 27 rounds of MC. Bind off.

Finishing:Turn your scarf inside out and, with your crochet hook, weave all ends back into the fabric.Wash the scarf according to your yarn's instructions; dry it flat on the floor/table on top of towels. Be sure to align all the color changes along one crease (they're less noticable that way). Block the scarf by stretching it widthwise until the entire thing is the same width.For fringe, cut approximately 120 8" pieces of MC yarn. Fold 3 pieces of yarn in half and, using the crochet hook, pull the looped ends of the yarn through both layers of knitting. Slip the yarn ends through the loop and pull tight. Place one such tassel every two stitches across the both ends of the scarf. Then, lay the scarf flat and trim the fringe so it's even all the way across.

Extras:If you'd like to put initials on your scarf, you can duplicate stitch them at either end prior to binding off.

FeedbackIf you have any questions about the new scarf design (or you know something I don't!), feel free to email me at scarfpattern(at)atypically.net.


CopyrightThis pattern is copyright © 2004 Lauren Kent. It is an original work and may be used for non-commercial purposes only."

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

September 11th..American remembers



Still working on this,...I did finish one side, after taking it out over 4 times..I think this finally made it after 5 tries...the other side is still proving to be difficult, although I put the markers on first, and it is easier...


i think so far, I have only done a few rows more than once..but, I have to keep checking!!!




This is the lacy lower '1/2' of the sweater, and then the top is a knit row, with every 5th stitch is a slip stitch. That's what gives it that embellished column.








You can see it here....





Today is Patriot's Day. September 11th. 6 years after the date of the Twin Towers coming down. It was the worst day in history, and yet, so many things have changed...we all have changed.....




Stitch...is he laughing?

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Michelle Edwards...the Boyfriend Sweater


The Boyfriend Sweater
OK, all you knitters out there, young and old, here’s a question for you. What always starts out with good intentions and the thump, thump, thump of a young heart? Oh, and of course, a pair of needles, a ball of yarn, and hopefully, a very good pattern.
Guess yet?
A sweater for a boyfriend. Maybe the "one." Maybe not. Volumes could be written on the subject. Every knitter who knows what I am talking about put down your needles a moment. You are not alone. You are part of a sisterhood of women, many who even find the experience slightly humorous by middle age.
Here is my tale: told across time and a vast space and yet still so very clear in my mind. I met Avi (name has been changed) at a garage sale. It was late August in Troy, New York. My mom’s neighborhood was having its annual garage sale featuring tables, chairs, pots, pans, plates, and kitchen appliances. The kind of household goods that foreign grad students like Avi needed to survive in nearby student housing.
The garage sale was a big social event in our neighborhood; everyone popped in and out, sipping coffee and joking around to pass the time while the goods were inspected by the student customers. I had returned from living and working and Israel just in time to join in the festivities.
I heard someone speaking Hebrew: a young, dark and handsome male someone. Perhaps I could help him find something, I asked in my best Hebrew accent. That question was the beginning of my relationship with Avi. The middle is where the boyfriend sweater comes in and the sweater is what this essay is about.
One cool autumn night, Avi and I were talking about winter clothes. It gets cold in upstate New York and he would definitely need to buy some sweaters. "What about ski sweaters?" he asked. I don’t know what possessed me to offer to knit him one, but I did.
"I can knit anything," I told him that night, not feeling that this was an exaggeration. I had been knitting for years, but rarely anything complicated and almost never with a pattern. Still, I felt I was an expert knitter.
Avi was impressed. I don’t know if he had researched ski sweaters, but he asked for one with snowflakes and reindeer.
That was the easy part. I smiled.
Later that week, Avi and I picked out the yarn and the pattern. I set to work. It all seemed so straightforward. I didn’t ask for any advice or help, not even from my mother who had knit lots of sweaters. I finished the front and back. Beautiful. The snowflakes and reindeer were perfect. The fabric was tight and firm. Was I great or what?
I brought the sweater on our next date and could hardly wait for Avi to try it on. But as he lifted the sweater, I could already see it was too small. I told Avi not to worry. It wasn’t a big deal. I worried all night how to fix it.
I brought Avi’s sweater to my in-house expert. My mother’s solution: dump the project and buy him a ski sweater.
I called my good friend Isabel, a wonderful knitter. She was calm, mathematical, and totally understood the concept of the boyfriend sweater. She told me to carefully take Avi’s measurements (decidedly the best part of making the sweater). She mapped out the entire sweater on graph paper so that it was a visual guide for me. I still have that paper. Her basic advice was; watch your gauge.
I stumbled around and fixed the sweater the best I could. The relationship was winding down by then. I had made plans to go study printmaking in Iowa and Avi was going to return to Israel. Still, when I gave him the sweater I told him the following: it was a special sweater. Not only special because I made it, but special because I had made it so that if he looked at other woman or thought about another woman, the neck would grow tighter and tighter, and well, you get the picture. So did he. I never saw Avi wear the sweater I made him.
When I met my husband, I bit my tongue every time I thought I might blurt out an offer to knit him a sweater. In our twenty-some years together, I have made him lots of mittens. Even complicated Scandinavian ones with snowflakes when we lived in Minnesota. He wore them until they could be patched no more. But I never made him a ski sweater with reindeer. That was for boyfriends.
To read more of Michelle Edwards' stories, click here.

Favorites on Etsy - not made by me, but you gotta check it out!!!