Colourways Wrap II
Man, I feel like it’s been ages since I had a Finished Object to report! This is a sample I designed and knit for the shop. We had an original “Colourways Wrap” from a few years ago, but this one uses slightly different yarns (and an extra ball) so the pattern needed to be rewritten. They’re all Anny Blatt yarns, which means this is one of the most expensive items I’ve ever knitted. All seven yarns are carried the full length of the wrap, which means I had to resort to putting the balls in sandwich bags to avoid creating the World’s Biggest Knot. But at last, it’s done! We’ve got the range of yarns in several different colors and we plan on selling them as a kit. So anyway, yeah, from tomorrow my first official pattern will go on sale in the shop! Pretty neat, huh?

I’ve been obsessed for weeks with this 127 Print Italian wool that we’ve got at the shop so I finally bought a few balls last weekend and knitted it up into a scarf. Here’s Snookums modelling the finished product. Isn’t it pretty? The colors just come out like that when you knit it. I tried to combat the dreaded stockinette-curl with a border of garter stitch and regular thin garter stitch bands between the color stripes, but the darn thing still has a tendency to roll into a tube. *shrug* I still like it.

Notes: For those wishing to do something similar, I used three balls in total. Casted on 35 stitches on 6mm needles and did a few rows of garter stitch before starting the pattern. I worked out that I there was enough space between color patches to do three rows of stockinette, then four of garter, and then back to stockinette. It only got irregular where I changed balls.

As you can see, I’ve just finished an old-school Ravenclaw scarf as a commission for a nice Aussie girl named Kat. (Kat went with the “blue and bronze” color scheme from the book as opposed to the “blue and silver” from the movie.) The Snook was kind enough to model for me (as usual). It was knitted with Cleckheaton Country 8-ply 100% wool. Somehow my gauge was off from the last one I did, which resulted in a slightly skinner yet longer scarf. The dimensions on this one were 6″ wide by 76″ long (not counting fringe). That should keep Kat pretty warm throughout this winter!

As expected, I spent most of the Famine on the couch knitting and watching videos. In terms of the latter, I made it through I, Claudius (parts I-II) and Cold Comfort Farm. (I saw something nasty in the woodshed!) With the knitting, I made a good start on the Ravenclaw scarf commission I got last week. (In case you’re wondering, those are the colors from the book, not the movie.) I also cranked out three cotton “Reverse Bloom Flower Washcloths” from the Weekend Knitting book. I’m planning to send them out as gifts to my Famine supporters. Cute, huh? I still need to block them so they lie flat, but I’m happy with how they turned out.

Scarves Galore
The Easter Crafting Marathon continues. I’ve finally finished my red mohair scarf, which you can see below. The other two are scarves I’ve made in the last couple weeks.

    

First you have Snookums modelling my “Rock Star Scarf”, which is knitted out of Faux Fur. It’s this crazy yarn with lots of little hairs sticking off it that actually looks like fur once you knit it up. (Let me warn my fellow knitters: It was insanely difficult to work with. You can’t see any of the stitches so if you drop one, you have to start all over.) The second and third scarves are both made of mohair, which is incredibly soft and fuzzy and beautiful. I did the blue-green one first as a gift for my Dad’s wife Cindy, and I liked it so much I got the red to do my own. Pretty nice, huh? They’re both about six feet long and six inches wide. I can’t wait to wear mine outside (if it ever stops raining)…

Speaking of knitting… It’s done! Yes, that’s me modeling my very first Harry Potter house scarf. (Don’t worry, Sis; it’ll be winging its way to you shortly.) It took me about two weeks to finish. It was knitted double-wide and then folded over and sewn (to avoid having a “wrong” side). That means it’s double-thick and warm as hell. It also ended up a little bit longer than I intentioned… It’s over six feet. (Though the ones in the film are clearly pretty long too.) Here I’m wearing it doubled over and tucked through the loop. Click here to see a larger version and another of me with it just tied.

Avid fans of CouchCam might have noticed that I recently started a second scarf. Here’s the surprise: It’s not intended for anyone yet! In other words, if you want one, I’ll make you one. You’ll have to cough up a little bit of cash though, and I can’t guarantee I’ll have it ready by Chrismtas (in fact, I definitely won’t), but if you want it, just drop me a line. I may even do more than one if there’s interest. (I can, of course, do colors for the other Hogwarts houses too.)

(The second one is darker because I had to stand farther away from the camera to get the whole length in.)