Fandom knitting - the Harry Potter edition

I'm a geek. Or a nerd. Or whatever the proper term is these days. I know people tend to argue semantics. At any rate, I make things based on media I enjoy.

While in Japan, I decided I was going to make a Ravenclaw house scarf. Despite being a cosplayer who often bends over backwards for accuracy, I determined that wasn't the point of this scarf. No, I just wanted a gigantic, wooly, geeky scarf. Ravenclaw colors weren't quite as reconizable as Gryffindor either, so it seemed like the type of thing I could get away with wearing on a regular basis.

Given my short attention span for projects, it had to be done in chunky yarn on thick needles if I ever wanted to finish it. The yarn store obliged with Hamanaka Men's Club Master, a 60% wool / 40% acrylic blend, which I worked up on US 10 (6mm) straight needles in a 1x1 rib.



As you can see, it's pretty flippin' big. I finished it during my first winter in Mihama, which was pretty cold, and wore it to class almost every day. Elementary students liked to use it as a leash and drag me around by it ^_^; Also, about 4 of them could share it with me (well, the younger ones anyway).

Of course, the geekiness doesn't end there. Oh no, certainly not. I decided that I would put together a whole Ravenclaw school uniform. Then I came to the conclusion that instead of being "Random Ravenclaw student #156", I'd rather be an actual character. Well, I always liked Ginny Weaseley, so out came the cranberry and gold.


I used the set-in shoulder pullover pattern from The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns, to which I added waist shaping and short-row bust shaping. It was done in Wool-Ease on US 9 (5.5mm) needles. Again, I wasn't aiming for 100% movie accuracy (the color is far to light, for starters). The sweater's finished, but I don't like how the sleeves turned out, too full at the shoulders, so I have to revisit the pattern at some point. Not currently high on the priority list, though.

Lest you think the Potter-palooza stops there, this little guy comes along:


Yes, he is a pygmy puff. He was described as a "psychedelic pygmy puff". His name is Frankie. I was bored one afternoon and had leftover clapotis yarn. The pattern came from yclept djinnj; I think I used the crochet pattern but can't remember hook size or any of that good stuff.

Crafts that aren't made of yarn (and some that are)

Not quite sure what's gotten into me, but I'm on a major beading kick right now. I had been working on a pin which I mentioned in my massive WIP entry, but I hit a sort of mental block about it. It's been years since I've worked with beads, and when I was younger it was mostly in the vein of beaded flower necklaces and things of that nature.

Anyway, I finally finished the pin and made another one as well.



(The DS is there to provide a point of reference on size. Oh, and to show off the nifty Plusle and Minun cover I bought at the Poke-center in Fukuoka).

The one on the right is the one I mentioned in the previous post, the pattern came from a Japanese book called Beads Box. It looks ok if you don't look to closely at it, but it's a little funky if you do. I've decided to keep that one and use the one on the left as part of the present the first one was originally intended for. The one on the left is a star from All Info About Jewelrymaking.

Here's the circular pin in action:


It's now officially the clasp for my Sweet Pea Shawl from SnB:HH. It's made from Denim something-or-other, 100% cotton. I found the yarn at my craft store, petted it, and knew I had to have it, so I bought the last 3 skeins of the purple colorway. Then I crocheted away with my typical disregard for gauge, knowing I wouldn't have quite enough anyway (mine ends with 3 shells left at the bottom instead of 1, and it's not quite as wide). Because it's a bit smaller, tying it is somewhat awkward, and I decided a snazzy pin was the answer, so there you have it.

As an added bonus, here's a scarf I made a hella long time ago:


It's a Yo, Drop It! scarf from SnBN. I made several as gifts out of some Joann brand ribbon yarn but don't have photos of those. This one is made from Lion Trellis on size US 13s instead of the recommended 11s (I was trying to stretch my yarn). It occasionally doubles as a belt.

Scarves! Scarves! Scarves! (and a hat)

I strongly believe that you can never have too many scarves. Or hats. Or armwarmers. Here are three scarves which I've made, a new one each year:



The oldest is the seed-stitch scarf in the middle. It was done back in '04, and the only reason I even know that is because I remember working on it at my mom's old apartment before she moved.



It's knit from that perennial favorite, Lion Wool-Ease, on JPN 10(5.1mm) needles. I can't remember how many stitches I cast on, but there are 20 rows of each color.

When I started trying to expand my crochet knowledge last winter beyond chains and single crochet, I selected a shell and wave scarf pattern from http://crochet.about.com/


It's looking a bit haggard at this point, I've worn it a lot, and I attempted several projects with it before this one so the yarn was already a bit stressed out from being frogged so many times. It's Diamond Diaparterre (50/50 alpaca/acrylic), the same yarn I used for my Clapotis. Strangely enough, as soft and wonderful as the Clap is, this scarf can feel scratchy at times (probably due to all that frogging). The coolest part is how, thanks to the shells, the color pattern comes out in splotches and zigzags instead of stripes.

After that scarf, I fell away from crochet again, went through a few (relatively unproductive) cosplay and (somewhat productive) knitting phases, and didn't come back to it until this winter. I put the purple merino I bought to good use and made the One-Skein Scarf from SnB: The Happy Hooker(which was a misnomer in my case, since it took 2 1/2 skeins).


I never really bother with checking gauges when it comes to scarves and just adjust accordingly to suit my specifications. In this case, I increased the repeats from 3 rows to 5 and added an extra scallop on each end to compensate. I'm still working on my crochet technique and am much better at working in the round than straight; my chain edges always seem to be tight and make the whole piece curve, even when I cast on with larger hooks (as I did in this case). Maybe a good blocking would fix it, but it doesn't matter too much when I wear it, so it's really not a priority.

I had 1 1/2 skeins left over, so I made a hat to match:



It's the Blue Star Cloche from Hook Me Up! Crochet, although the star on it is actually this pattern and made out of leftover Clap yarn. I used an I hook instead of the recommended H since I wanted it to be a bit longer.