Easy Ombré Slouch Hat

The Easy Ombré Slouch Hat is done. It was, in fact, quite easy. The yarn is Rowan Alpaca Merino DK, which was a delight to knit. I may have secured a ball or four for some Fair Owls mitts.

Houndstooth Hat (and, um, cousin?)

So, for each new bit of yarn or whatever I bring into the house, I have to try to use two things I already have. So, as the bedsocks for which my Navy and Orange Hometown USA yarn were intended kept Not Happpening, I turned it into two hats.

Two AWESOMELY WARM hats, which will be great. Next winter, of course, since it's starting to hit the 90s already this summer.

Anyway, I did the orange-on-blue first, and had thought I'd followed the houndstooth pattern, but as you can see, I didn't. On the second hat, though, I got it right:


The navy-on-orange (the proper houndstooth one) can be worn out of the house. The other, with the weird lightning bolt things that clearly aren't houndstooth, will do just fin as a winter sleep hat, since, as you can see, it nicely covers my eyes if I fold the brim all the way down.


Hooray!

Getting on The Crazy Train

So, new year, new term at Hogwarts/HPKCHC (which means regular blog updates again)! I'm a Gryffidor this term (a B-1... guess starting again as a firstie wasn't allowed), and Gryffidor is all about the Badges. The first one up is a Hermione Badge (collecting three of these lets you trade in for a previous train badge you might have missed... um, Gryffindor also has a Crazy Train, with an Engine badge, a Caboose badge, and badges for each month. Hermione badges are not redeemable for Engines or Cabooses.). To get it, you have to finish and turn in a detention project *and* your first class. This was my detention project: the Shadowbox Mitts I dreamt up during the Woolly Thoughs class I attended in October.

Here they are with the pieces all stitched together:

And here's the number of ends that needed to be woven in:

Yeah, that was a little hairy. And may or may not be *completely* finished just yet... but enough so that they're wearable, which is why I'm wearing them today.

(Well, that, and because they look REALLY COOL.)

Time Capsule Cozy

The first Quidditch Challenge, in short, was as follows:

"You must make a memento to leave behind for future civilizations that may visit Earth. Your memento may represent yourself, the wizarding world, or humanity at large."

Since I am BOMBARDED with election things (from both sides, on all sides!) and I can see Congress out the front window, I knew I had to do something related to the craziness that's just heating up. (No, really, it WILL get more prevalent as the year goes on.) I had this left over from my American Flag dishcloth binge:


... and I'm pretty good at glass cozies at this point... plus, I can't find my With Flames wool one. So, here's my turn-in post:

Name: CraftyGryphon
House: Slytherin, Sixth Year
Tags: slyqw12challenge1, sqwin12
Project Page: Time Capsule Cozy
Yardage: Approximately 58, because of multiple stranding

I crafted a cup cozy with an actual Symbol as a symbol of our times. The Muggle world in the lower half of the North American Continent is headed into a major election year (every leap year, those particular Muggles choose new leaders, or keep the old ones, depending on who gets the most votes in the "Electoral College", which, I assure you, is NOTHING like Hogwarts). One of the sides in the election four years back adopted a stylized blue-and-red "O" as its symbol, and no matter which side (I think there are three this time?) a Muggle is on, there's really no avoiding that symbol, as it is plastered on Muggle vehicles, clothing, what-have-you, with more and more frequency as the "Election Year" (which really started sometime in 2010) heats up. It isn't often that a symbol is, itself, a symbol of the times, but this one is!!

The image is actually on the cozy twice: the chart I used is on the 'net, for free, here at emileeknits.com.

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!

Finished Project: STOP SOCK Project Bag

So, here's what I did with the chart from yesterday... and then another chart. I think this little project will actually get written up (by the end of the month?) and put up on Rav. It's a small-to-medium project bag, made from wool and using standard color stranding, and *does* need to be lined if you're actually going to have needles in it. (It's also my turn-in project for Herbology this month, but it's still pretty nifty.)


Front



Back
I started from the bottom center, and made the bottom flat, since I'm fond of bags that will actually stay where you put them/stand up on their own.


Bottom
The drawstring space is made by switching needles for back & forth, and doing a turned hem. It worked out REALLY nicely - to the point that I scavenged the drawstring from the dice bag I'd sewn a few Decembers ago so I'd have a good solid cord. That just happens to be a sparkly red.


Anyway, it turned out great, the pattern's not that hard (begginer-intermediate), and someone else might want one, so I'll write it once I have a block of time (and "writing" involves "test knitting again" - hence the "end of the month/next month").

STOP Sign knitting chart

For Herbology, we have the option of making something that will "repel someone and keep them from approaching you". Since I had red and white(ish) wool on me on Thursday, I came up with the idea of making something with a STOP sign on it. I whipped up a quick little chart (WinStitch - it's AWESOME, it does cross-stitch AND knitting charts), and I'm sharing it with y'all, should you ever need such a thing.

Quidditch #2, and Potions & Muggle Studies classes

So, I had a bit of a turning-stuff-in/finishing frenzy over the last two days.

First up, my Second Quaffle for Quidditch this term was a Deathly Hallows Illusion Dishcloth. I just love illusion stuff, but didn't think I'd be doing any more this year after the Hello Kitty Scarf That Ate 2010. But, for my Snakes, I'll do it. Plus, it turned out pretty cool.

   
Then, for Muggle Studies, here's my turn in post:

Muggles have an absolute fascination with static imagery. Anything (or anyone) can be the subject of one of these images, and they can be found everywhere in the Muggle world. Some are painted, some are photo-graphed, and not a ONE of them moves. (Really, honest! Not at all!) Some of these images even wind up in museums, where lots and lots of Muggles can come and watch the images *not do a single thing*. For example, here is a photo-graph of a sign that caught my fancy:


Snake Sign Photographic Print
(from the Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia)
Now, if it wasn't a Muggle sign in a Muggle in a Muggle museum, the little snake would slither back and forth, hissing at appropriate intervals. But it doesn't. It never, ever looks any different that what you see above! EVER!!

Based on the image above (unmoving though it is), I have crafted this little wrist-cuff. It only took 80 yards (!!) of cotton yarn to make it (roughly 50 of the white, 30 of the red/brown ombre), which is pretty cool, especially since there's more than one strand running behind most of the colorwork.



You can't see the Whole Snake - I forgot to take a photo of it flat - so here is a linkto a tiny moving picture so you can see the whole thing; I could't quite get it to "embed" itself properly, it kept squirming away. (See, proper pictures move!)

Thanks for a fun assignment, Professors! I love my little Snake Cuff, even if my little snake doesn't move!

Now, since Blogger will allow flash videos, here it is embeded.


Last up, a headband for Potions. The idea was to make something with Balanced Colors, so I made a headband cover. And finally found a use for all the bright orange and yellow scratchy acryllic yarn in my house!


  

Not too bad, considering I was just going to do one Quaffle (I've done two) and one Class (I've done four)! And yes, I could've gotten three days of blogfodder out of this, but I'd rather just have it out here and worry about knitting more for next week, y'know?

January - Done!!

Three days later, it's safe to post about THE CRAZEE that was Monday night. Here are my WIP-tracking Countdown Blocks WITH FLAMES for Divination from Wednesday night, January 5:


... and there they mostly stayed until the morning of January 31. (Three more squares happened between the 5th and the 31st, but I can't be certain as to when.) Yes, I got going on these the day they were due. (The more Hogwarts seems like school, the more I'm treating it like school.) I managed to finish an eighth square on the way into work, which boded well for getting at least two more finished during lunch... but I ended up reading the rest of Waiter Rants. I really enjoyed it, and you might too... and if you've never read the Waiter Rants Blog, you should. Especially if you've ever done time in a coffehouse or restaurant.

Back to my homework. By two in the afternoon, I had eight of twelve block faces done (two cubes, six sides each). None of the cross-stitch was done on them, and I hadn't quite figured out how to make them WITH FLAMES. I was going to use yellow yarn for the numbers, and red for the borders - maybe doing some half-stitches after the borders were done? But how, since they were going to be solid?

So, 2pm. The panic still hadn't set in - after all, I had an hour commute home - that should be good for two blocks, and a ton of spare time at home. (Yes, from time to time I forget that I need to eat, work out, bathe, do chores, or otherwise be productive in ways that don't involve yarn. This would be one of those times.) While falling asleep the previous night (at 1am, after turning in classes #6 and #7), I'd figured out how to stitch all the numbers on my afghan-stitch grid - seven tall, five wide, and where to break the "curls" - especially tricky with the "6" and "9", which are one and the same. These countdown blocks are based on Calendar Blocks - there's a "1", "2" and "3" on each block, then one has "0", "4" and "5" and the other has "6/9", "7" and "8".

Now, if you've ever done afghan stitch... it's not the fastest. And you're basically doing each row twice to make the fabric.

If you've ever done cross-stitch, you know that it's one of the slower crafts. Especially if you care about having all your "x"s crossed the same way (I do).

Here's my thought process then: "So... let's say I do get two blocks done during the commute home, and I'm home on time (because of COURSE the weather will cooperate!), and then I get two more blocks done - then it's only 12 numbers, that won't take too long, and seriously - how many seams are in a cube? What, 12, right? Well, that won't take long at all. And I know where my polyfill stuffing is. Pfeh. I'll totally be done by 10pm, take the photos, and be in bed well before midnight."

Here's what really happened.

I managed to get two more blocks crocheted on the train, and figured I'd get another done on the ride from the train to home. However, my mother (who very kindly offered to drive us home from the train) had packed her backseat full of books and milk-crates. My husband, who usually sits back there, didn't fit. So, I tried. I didn't fit (even with my boots off; boots on + tiny backseat = claustrophobic attack that would result in me rolling onto a highway when I kicked the door open in desperation for escape). Mom did. With mom there, though, the seat didn't go back far enough for my husband to get in the driver's seat. So, with no boots (can't drive in the ones I was wearing yesterday), I got to drive home, in the dark, on slightly slick roads. That doesn't sound too bad, right? Well - there were a few issues.

1. Was already having a slight panic attack from *trying* to fit in the tiny space left in the backseat
2. Haven't driven more than 2miles or three times in the past year. Haven't driven after dark in over a decade. Haven't driven on anything resembling "ice" or "slick roads" since I totaled my car - and almost myself - in an ice storm outside Denver in the mid-90s.
3. Wasn't wearing shoes, so grabbing pedals with toes worked best. Not reccomended.
4. Pissed that I was driving, period. If I'd known the car was going to be full, I would have taken the bus without any problems. At this point, the bus is no longer running.

We did make it home (driving under the speed limit, flashers going, and my mom trying to "help" from the backseat). But, being very shaky and wound up, getting right to work crafting didn't work. Instead, I indulged in what can only be described as a panic-induced food frenzy and ate things guaranteed to make me feel like crap for the next three days. After that, my husband very sweetly made cookies, and, whilst nomming a cookie, I began to feel better. Then the crochet frenzy began. I'd thought I'd made 10 blocks by the time I got home, but no, I only had 9. Eventually (10:00 pm) they were finished, and I started the stitching. That took until about 10:45.


Then the assembly - oddly enough, that took LONGER than stitching all the letters! The last bit got stuffed and seamed at 12:03a.m. eastern time, which was with plenty of time to spare (final call is 12am pacific time). Here they are, done. They don't look so big in the photo, but they're 5" cubes as it turns out! That's not all that small!


So, turned them in, then posted my Finished Item Collage to the two threads that required it. Then I knitted on my Arithmancy OWL, just for fun & relaxation, and finally turned in around 1am. So, Mission Accomplished - just with a lot more angst than originally predicted!

September Wrap-Up

Next week, really, I'll have some TKGA Level I progress. In the flurry of month-end and trying to finish all eight classes for HPKCHC, it got left by the wayside this week. But really, I'm working on it. Sorta. Speaking of what I finished for the Cup....


MaggieLo Disguise (Viking Pride Hat, #108), for Defense Against the Dark Arts, turned in September 7; Dust Bunnies (#132), for Charms, turned in September 8; Flying Keys (#169), for History of Magic, turned in September 8; Colorwork Tam (#179), for Flying, turned in September 10; Sneaky Binary Hat (#206), for Arithmancy, turned in September 13; O.W.L Proposal - Herbology (#1004), turned in September 13; Challenge Quidditch Bedsocks (#933), turned in September 25; Quidditch Sweater (#1200), turned in September 27; Quidditch Hat (#1203), turned in September 27; Glass Cozies (#754), for Potions, turned in September 28; Star Stitch Hand Warmers (#593), for Herbology, turned in September 29; and, finally, Who? Hat (#749), for Transfiguration, turned in September 30.

I got some really cute things out of this, as will friends and relations (the glass cozies and half the keys have Other Homes, as will a couple of the hats).

That's all eight classes, Challenge quidditch, regular quidditch, and my OWL proposal turned in. Not too shabby!!

Flying - Done!

So, say you want a stylish colorwork tam... or at least a colorwork tam, and you want it fast. Like this one, say:


Well, it can go *very* fast, if you use a few tricks. One, find some long-color-run animal-fiber yarn (this is Bernat Mosaic in the "Psychedelic" colorway), take a pair of way-too-small needles, and cast on a wee bit of edge to get a gauge. The trick is you're working one ball from the center, and one ball from the outside, so, for the most part, you'll be working two colors - but it's the same yarn. (If it's a really really huge ball, you might be able to work the same ball from end to end - mine required two balls, though.)


It doesn't have to be that much, even - just enough (three? four? inches) so you can multiply up to however far around your head is. Then the fun of ripping out (don't want to waste yarn, now, do you?) and casting on however many stitches you needed, plus just enough more or less to get you to a nice, easily divisible number. I picked 80 for this one. Then do about enough for a brim, and start the increases. Remember those easy-divide numbers? Mine was "10" - so, for each 10 stitches, every other row I increased a stitch -and, simultaneously, every 6th row, I increased an additional stitch. Did this quite a few times... enough to get me up to about 200 stitches - or At Least Double What I Started With.


Called that "the edge", and figured out a nice multiple-of-eight thing to make for the edge (4 rows), and then figured out that, if I ran two rows of Yarn A followed by two rows of Yarn B, I could decrease evenly down to 158 stitches. So, I have a 19 stitch repeat, and I'll be making up something as I go while decreasing 2 stitches in each repeat every other row. Got that? Get it down to 12 stitches, loop *both* yarns through the last 12 stitches and pull tight. (I think by the time I hit the last four rows, I was working a single color only. That's fine - if you do that, you just have to loop that last yarn through the end.) Weave in all the ends, and you have something that looks like a demented cupcake. Add a pompom if you wish - and if you have enough yarn left. (It looks fine without, too.)


I mean, it has all the parts of a tam, but really... It could use some blocking.


Well, you don't want this to take too long either, right? So use what you have on hand. A clean kitchen pot, for example.


Be warned that other family members may be vastly amused that you appear to be cooking a pompom on the stove, though.


Then, get a small (8") plate into the hat - this will help with the next step - which is to get a 12" plate in there. If you're really brave (or much stronger than I am, you can probably just go straight to the 12" plate, but let me tell you, wet wool puts up one heck of a fight!


Then it's just a case of letting it dry - putting it in front of an air vent, still resting on the cook-pot - it catches all the water that runs out of the hat, and you have the pompom up/pompom down option. Then you've got a colorwork tam that didn't take long at all!


Get some pictures (and remember- taking pictures of yourself by yourself is a skill - practice it!) Wheee!


So far, I'm getting a lot of stuff finished in September. Have I mentioned I love HPKCHC??

It's an ACTUAL DALE OF NORWAY (!!!)

I freely admit that at times, I'm a Knitting Herd Follower. Someone on the 'net knits something really cool, and by gum, I'm gonna knit it too. My most ambitious "I wanna!!" thus far is inspired by the YarnHarlot's lovely Whistler sweater. I mean, her sweater looks really great, right? And I've been knitting for a while now. I've managed to make a sweater (well, most of a sweater) with a swatch, and gauge, and all that good stuff, and the sweater fits. So I was gonna track the pattern for this lovely Dale of Norway "Whistler" sweater down.

YEAaaaah, not so much. It's the sweater for the Canadian skiing team from 2005... and slightly out of print, unless through a Special Deal with a Dale of Norway retailer (or by getting the original pamphlet through eBay for an astronomical price - if I could locate it in the first place). Possibly, someone local carried it, but my allergies were getting to me, and it just seemed a lot of trouble to wander around to all the local yarn stores when "wandering" and "wheezing pathetically enough that passers-by asked if I needed help" were interchangeable. (On the other hand, lots of friendly, helpful people in DC, should I ever actually be about to keel over.)

An internet search, however, located the wonderful Kirtland's Yarn Barn here in Virginia, due west of Richmond. There it was: Dale of Norway Book #8501, with the Whistler sweater right on the cover. Woohoo! And... even better - Pat will KIT THE SWEATER!! (Which, as it turns out, is a good thing - the book is totally not available.) I decided that I wanted the "other" version of the sweater, with the "bright" color on the bottom, and the black across the shoulders. My "bright" color is actually olive drab - after a color assessment, I actually look best in neutrals and blacks. (Which is weird - I'm SO not a winter, but I'm somewhere odd between Spring and Summer - bright colors bring out the red in my skin, making me look flushed; pastels bring out the blue, and make me look dead. Neutrals and black make me look like a normal human, which is what I'm mostly going for.)

Anyway, exchanged e-mails with Pat, got my yarn all settled (some had to come in from the warehouse), and on Wednesday, a box arrived at my house!! Loook!!


It's an actual box. Full of ACTUAL YARN.


ACTUAL DALE OF NORWAY YARN.


I am going to knit an ACTUAL DALE OF NORWAY SWEATER using ACTUAL DALE OF NORWAY YARN. This means, I think, that I am actually a Knitter now. Or will be, anyway, once I actually finish it.

Now to find my... oh my gosh, SIZE 3 needles... (*gulp*!!)!!

This sweater is starting to FEEL like a downhill race (complete with crashes)

By Wednesday night (about the time they finally showed Shaun White's 2nd run), I finished the left front of the Argyle Hearts Sweater, and got the right front cast on.


Basically, to have a prayer of finishing this sweater in time to get a medal, I need to have the left front done tonight, and the back done by the end of Sunday. As we all know, sleeves take much longer than they should, and then there's the button band and the collar. And the finishing. AIIIIGH!

Anyway, there's a chance I might do it, but it's going to kill my WIP Dancing entry. Sweater OR Blanket; not both. (I'm really grumbling a lot, just so you know, that the snow week was LAST week, not THIS week, when I really need the time for my knitting.)

Anyway, did get another spectacular finish this week, a wedding sampler (that's going to be a wedding pillow) that's 12 years and another marriage overdue, but by gosh, she wanted it finished, and it FINALLY is. Will be finding time (??) to actually create the pillow-ness of it over the weekend, and will use the extra velvet (if any there be) to do up JJ's Scots Santa ornament. But that's going to need a day all to itself, since it turned out lovely. (Portions of the sampler will be redacted to protect the innocent, of course.)

I leave you, then, with an introduction to this year's Winter Olympic Mascots:

Ravelympics has begun!

Well, I'm doing Ravelympics - I'm a co-captain of TeamResolutions2010. I wish I'd realized there was going to be an "unraveling" event, because I totally would've waited to unravel my sweater until then! What sweater, you ask? Well, long, long ago, my cousin wore a sweater-vest with a cute little "Argyle hearts" motif:


So, I started one. (See this entry from November, 2008.)

But I wasn't really happy with it, so, in January this year, I unraveled it:


Then turned it into nice, happy little balls of yarn:


Once the torch was lit (I counted the first flame going up as "start"), I cast on the front right panel, and I've gotten pretty far. I also made some changes. First, the tiny heart in the diamond over the big heart on the bottom row of Argyle-type stuff is centered. You can see in the old one that it wasn't, and it looks better centered.


New


Old
I'm just shy of the first armhole decreases now, and the left front should go MUCH more quickly, since I won't be trying to figure out the pattern as I go.


Don't know if I'll finish, now that I have to be back at work all day, but I'm going to have fun trying!