Special Yarn

So Shadow Dyer appeared at Nature's Yarns overnight.... 

I got some.

The yellow will be color #4 in the upcoming Stephen West MKAL; the multi ("Be Happy" colorway) will be the Cosmic Garden Cowl from the most recent ReCrochetions newsletter.

Yay! Yarn!

Felt-Splicing Skeino

So since vacation last week, I've somehow lost a day. Or six. Anyway, yesterday a Skeino Arabella Shawl Kit happened. 

Being me, I decided to splice the whole thing into a ball.

Carefully separate single ply into two for about two to three inches. Put the joins so they fully intersect and soak in water for a second:

Then, use friction between your pans to hear it up and felt it solid. (It's done when the water is gone.)

Then continue...

... and continue...

... and continue.

Here's the full color run and label info:

Left to right, winter gray thru spring greens into summer golds and then the reds and browns of autumn!

I'm going to make a Fall of Leaves cloak, if I can!

New Term has Begun

A new term started today for the Harry Potter Knit & Crochet House Cup. I've already managed to turn in a class:

Magical Literature - make something with a heart or hearts: 

Started another class:

It's the Adela Knitalong run by Kelbourne Woolens, in some TurtleMade Sparkle Soxk, color 341. It's for DADA (use sparkly yarn).

I turned in my OWL proposal. It's Arithmancy, and I'm FINALLY going to make Wolly Thoughts "A New Angle". I even found all the yarn!

Plus, I got my first badge for turning in my OWL proposal, then turning in a class before my OWL was approved:

So, off to a good start! Quidditch warm ups are this week, BROOMS next week... oh boy...!

Ingress stitching

This needs to be turned into some sort of needlepoint or waste canvas on a jacket or something!! #ingress

Photoshare!

Random stuff on my phone from this week. Some is yarn related. 

Habitica has Zombie Eggs, which grow into Zombie Egg Baskets. If you need a productivity app that's also fun, check out Habitica.com 

Signs of Spring: 

Cascade Sunseeker arrived at the store. I might have put 2 skeins each aside of orange, royal blue & white for a Broncos Affection shawl.

We also got a new cotton/viscose blend... 

... and that's enough of that for today.

Knitted Peter Rabbit

I have GOT to find this pattern!

Possibilities

I have a big, blank piece of needlepoint canvas. Trying to choose something for it is... difficult.

Heheeheeee

So, yesterday, this idea was hatched:

Feel free to play along, you don't have to be local!

Dreaming in color

I absolutely did not need to buy a skein of Dream in Color. But this one really appealed to me:

Can't imagine why...

(Yes, my Done a Roving shawl is danged close to the IDENTICAL colorway!)

What you don't see...

So the store got all 14 colors of the new Cascade 220 Superwash Effects. They are gorgeous.

Thirteen are pictured here: 

The 14th, Lava, is already sold out. Not solely because I wanted it for a Six of Swords shawl. But I accounted for at least two....

Future coat-thing

TopShop had this really cute coat-cape thing that will be perfect for my Avalanche sweater. The cloak part will let me do the sw-inspired pattern without seams (hooray!), and the front will actually be jacket-like. 

So this will happen! 

Scarf of Shadows

From the Offical Movie Site:


If you're a knitter and you saw "Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows", you saw the scarf. The scarf that actually managed to be part of the running story, which, for knitting in an action/adventure movie, is rare.


Image from hollywoodmoviecostumesandprops.blogspot.com
YarnYenta has whipped up a quick pattern so you can make your own Scarf of Shadows, and used KnitPicks City Tweed (from the look of it, Snowshoe (white), Larkspur (blue) and Tarantella (brown)). The Rav download of the pattern is here.


YarnYenta wins for one of the coolest props in a pattern pic!
The scarf is already showing up in non-knitting-related pop culture sketches. And it doesn't hurt that brown and turquoise is one of my favorite color combinations.

Image from totallynotabrony.tumblr.com; artist ??

inappropriatelyadorable.tumblr.com, artist Nicole (it's her site - and she does commissions!)

Yeah. I'll be making one of these. I may even have yarn that would work in the stash - but if not, I know where to get it!

I want a knitted motorcycle jacket WITH FLAMES.

Long ago, in a faraway land (Blacksburg, VA), my BFF and I wandered into a Wilson Suede & Leather, and emerged with leather jackets. Specifically, we each got one of these:


We wore them for years. YEARS, I tell you. Mine doesn't quite fit any more (something about "weight gain" might be involved), but I still have it, and it's one of the Six Clothing Items I Won't Get Rid Of No Matter What. (The others being special t-shirts or other jackets; they live in a special box, and I take them out and pat them once a year so they know they aren't forgotten.) Anyway, I hit on the wonderful idea of KNITTING myself I replacement that actually fits. Not out of leather, of course (that would be silly), but out of Shepherd's Wool.

I started to look at what I'd actually want this Dream Jacket to be. I came up with the following list:

1. WITH FLAMES. If I'm making my own jacket, it's gotta have flames.
2. Orange flames. And top-down, rather than bottom-up. Let's have the bright color on top!
3. All the hardware. So I need to learn snaps, grommets, buckles and zippers. There are zippers on the front (two), and each sleeve. Grommets/studs are all over, notably on pockets and the collar. The grommets and buckles are (thankfully) limited to the belt, but it's GOT to have a belt.
4. It really needs facing or lining - so it would be easier to just double-knit the whole thing - which gets into the joys of figuring out how to seam double-knit things so the seams don't show on either side.
5. Then there's the pattern making: what pieces do I actually need?

It was that last question that made me realize: This is not a Muggle Studies OWL. This is a Muggle Studies/Potions/Divination NEWT, at the very least. STRONG dose of Divination, since I really, really want the jacket, and I can (more or less) see it in my head.

I think I'll do a nice Tree Skirt for Potions next term, something big, but relatively easy that I may actually finish on deadline. Because I'm tired of OWLfail.

I really want this jacket, though. It may well turn into my first NEWT (instead of my third), even ahead of my giant Slytherin/Griffindor Chess Set!

Solstice

Happy Solstice, it's now Winter! The days just keep getting longer from here on in, we're past the short part. (At least in the Northern Hemisphere - sorry, Southern Hemisphere, your days will start getting shorter now.)

I know where my knitting is. Or, rather, where my knitting will be, soon: it's hiding in this lovely ball of Blue Ridge sock yarn. Why yes, it is a lovely green/gray combination. No, I haven't the faintest idea what I'll be doing with it - well, okay, I totally know what I'm doing with it: Dee O'Keefe's Ashton Shawlette (available for purchase soon for most of the world - available now to knittingparadise.com members). The shawlette calls for 420 yards of fingering; I'll play with gauge until I get something that will work. But it's sooooo pretty and sooooo Slytherin...



I actually know Dee O'Keefe, by the way, and have gotten to look at her patterns Up Close. She has *fantastic* instructions and legible charts - and the Ashton shawlette has an excellent walk-through for first-time lace knitters - or first time chart readers. If you don't like knitting charts, it's possible you just haven't come up against any *good* ones. Her amazingly lovely Elizabeth Shawl is currently available on Ravelry. (I'm just telling you just in case someone gives you laceweight/fingering yarn sometime soon and you're not quite sure what to do with it.)

Anyway, happy winter! Stay warm!

BROOM progress, or lack thereof

I haven't actually started my BROOM (the Rogue hoodie) just yet. But I did manage to get the four skeins of Miss Babs Yowza! (in the Russet colorway) wound into seven balls. (Yes, seven. It was supposed to be eight, but I got distracted, so there's one megaball.)


It's going to be very pretty, and I'm going to start it as soon as I finish a few more classes for October!

Term Begins, and I'm already hopelessly overcommitted!!

Oh, the joy! Classes dropped! My Astronomy O.W.L. was proposed and accepted! And I changed my OAE goal from Third Class to First Class - which means I have a LOT of knitting coming up. So, I looked at the scheduled classes for the month. For Third Class, I have to knit one thing for each class offered - which means I need to hit Astronomy, Divination and Herbology this month, since they're only offered now and in November. (Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and Transfiguration are ONLY offered in October - eek!). I figured out what I could make from the yarn I had on me...

... yes, I took six balls of yarn, two sets of needles and a crochet hook with me to work, just in case I could start any/all of my classes immediately. THIS IS PERFECTLY NORMAL.

Because I say so.

Anyway, chart:


Once I figured out the classes I wanted to take, then I figured out that I'd be doing original patterns for two, and needed actual patterns for the other two, got them printed out, and got the class requirements printed out. Assembled the classes in alphabetical order, with patterns (as applicable) behind them....

... yes, I put all my classes in a notebook at the beginning of each month. THIS IS PERFECTLY NORMAL.

Because I say so.

Anyway, paperwork:


Then, I realized that the six balls of yarn I'd brought with me would work for four of the classes. I've started Astronomy and Charms, so far... well, okay, I've started all of them, I just won't have all of them done just yet. But I can't believe I'll actually be able to use all the yarn I brought with me! And the Scrap Bag has enough black and silver for Muggle Studies, and enough orange for Defense Against the Dark Arts, too. Again, THIS IS PERFECTLY NORMAL. Everyone has scrap yarn. And I'm being good, and working from the stash!!


So, off to a good start this term. If my O.W.L. doesn't kill me this time (I had double-OWLfail last term), I should be all set. Right?

Right.

Because I say so!

O.W.L. Prep

It's almost time to submit my OWL proposal, so it was time to get all the stuff I'll need to knit the Evenstar Shawl together. Here are my eight balls of silver-shot twilight-blue mohair (Luna), four packs of iridescent beads (which should be well over 3,000), needles, steel crochet hooks, and the pattern.


This is a better photo of the actual color of the yarn; evidently, my iPhone camera isn't quite so into the whole "getting color correction working when faced with a BRIGHT ORANGE background".


You can even see the little bits of silver all through it. My proposal is mostly written - I have to add a few more things about how the lace elements actually represent Venus and lots of little stars even before the twinkly yarn and beads come into the picture - and I'm pretty sure it'll get approved. Mostly since the same shawl was approved for Astronomy last term at least twice, and at least one person (Hi, Headmistress!) is making it NEWT-worthy. I could probably put it in as a NEWT, too, except I'm not NEWT-qualified (not enough OWLs), and I really need Astronomy for the NEWTs I will have in the future. So, um, OWL for now.

O.W.L. Swatch - Evenstar Shawl

I finally did my OWL swatch for the Evenstar Shawl. The yarn is so soft and fluffy and mohair-y... yeah, I'd better not make any mistakes. It doesn't TINK well, to put it mildly. But, on size 3 needles, I was to get a 6" x 4" swatch and I pretty much nailed it. Once I got the hang of the kfb4-k2tog and kfb7-k3tog stitches, things went (a bit more) smoothly.




I added beads to the shawl, too. I wanted them to be *subtle* accents, and they're so subtle they don't show up well on camera. They twinkle ever so prettily in RL, though, so I'll be using them. Three thousand of them, evidently.


I can also use this swatch to turn in for my "S"-is-for Swatch tile in STUFF.


Which will leave me with the "F" for Fix, and the "T" for Tidy. Still have some work to do on both of those!!