Tag Archives: scarf

Addiction

There’s a slight possibility that I am addicted to this pattern.

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In my defense, only the yellow one is mine. The others are going to be Christmas gifts so shhh!

In other news, I keep thinking that once I finish the Big Stressful Thing that is dominating my life, I’ll have more time to do all the other stuff (like blogging more than once a week..). But then the Next Big Stressful Thing comes along and takes a huge dump on that idea.

I’m finally done with all my papers (except for one, but that’s a long story)! And now I have to pack because I’m flying home for two weeks tomorrow. Packing for short trips never seems like a big deal until you’re actually packing and you realize the sheer amount of stuff that you could potentially forget and then have to live without for two weeks and then it’s just a staggering task.

On the bright side, I’m only about three projects away from being done with the Christmas knitting!

Unfortunately, I epic failed on the planning and two of the three projects I have yet to finish are for my mom and sister, who I’m going to be living with for the next two weeks.

Andd back to packing I go.

Busy bee

I’ve been really lame with updating lately, I know.

To make up for it: uber post.

The past few weeks have been somewhat insane. That lovely pile of destruction in my previous post has been sorted/donated/stored and reduced to this:

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(For those who might be wondering, about 1/4 of the middle sized suitcase is yarn. ๐Ÿ˜‰ )

And then there was a Vegas trip! I’m pretty sure I want to live in the Bellagio.

Bellagio

Not in an actual hotel room or anything.

Bellagio

Maybe here!

Bellagio

Did I mention it was 110 F the entire time?

Mandalay Bay beach

I also took about a two week break from all kinds of knitting, which my fingers are now scrambling to make up for.

Behold the current projects:

First there’s Georgia. I’ve been eyeing this for ages and finally gave in. I’m using Knit Picks Stroll in Basalt heather for this and so far it’s turning out lovely. If it fits right I’m definitely knitting it again, possibly in a light green. It looks brown in the photo but it’s really more of a mousey gray with bits of magenta mixed in.

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I only had two skeins of the Basalt heather (they were supposed to be socks) and this project was flying off the needles so whilst I wait for the shipment of four more skeins (on Wednesday!), I worked on my Hermione McRainbowpants v2.0 for a bit. The front is nearly done!

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I’ve also been wanting a cowl for ages and finally decided that I need to have one in my life now. Meet my Stockholm scarf! I loved this pink yarn (Lion Brand Wool-Ease in blush heather, I think) when I bought it but I’m semi-debating dyeing the whole thing a deep magenta/burgundy when it’s knitted. And yes, it’s most likely because the scarf pictures on the pattern are that color and it looks absolutely scrummy.

Stockholm loop

Anddd just to change it up a bit, I started another Damask in Sapphire (also KP Stroll). I’m starting on Christmas presents early!

Sapphire Damask

Andd now back to packing. Five more days until I get to wake up at 5am and fly across the country!

I love you, Mr Fedex Man.

Hermione Fair Isle sweater yarn

After I obsessively refreshed the Fedex shipment tracking site all morning, my yarns arrived this afternoon!

I know I’ve already knitted Hermione’s Fair Isle sweater once, but I didn’t really know what I was doing in terms of Fair Isle knitting, the gauging was completely wrong, and I’m just generally not thrilled with the way it turned out. So we’re going for round two. So far I’m much happier with the color choices I found online and the yarn (Knit Picks wool of the Andes) is simply scrumptious.

Somehow I mustered up the strength and discipline to finish the scarf I was nearly done with before starting the new sweater because I knew that if I didn’t do it then I would most likely be carting around a mostly finished scarf for the next five years.

It’s pinned to the carpet while it dries but the lace turned out pretty cool!

Springtime bandit scarf Springtime bandit scarf

Andd I’m also 24 rows into the sweater. Pictures of that to come when it becomes more interesting because right now it’s literally just a knitted ribbon with some awkward sideways cabling on the ends. I will say though, the gray yarn I bought for the sweater is absolutely perfect. It looks gray when you look at it but it’s heathered with bits of blue so that in certain lights it looks light blue, which is exactly the shade I was going for because for ages I couldn’t figure out if the original sweater was blue or gray.

-dances-

And now, bedtime.

No, really. I need more hands.

I don’t seem to be capable of sticking to only one project at a time anymore.

First there’s the pink dress. I got this far all well and good but then when I sewed the pieces together, it just kind of refused to behave, so we’re officially on a break.ย Then there’s the Gryffindor scarf. I’m on the ninth repeat of the big scarlet stripe and when it’s finished I’ll have to decide if it’s long enough. I think it should be, but it’s a really wide scarf and it might look funny if it’s not extra long as well.

Hermione christmas party dress Gryffindor scarf

I would have finished this already by now if I hadn’t gotten bored with the endless knit/purl repetition and started Hermione’s Fair Isle scarf, which I have been drooling over since I found a lovely pattern for it. The yarn I’m using is too thick, but the colors are exactly what I was looking for. I guess we’ll see how it turns out.

Hermione's Fair Isle scarf

But then even Fair Isle got boring, so I pored through my folder of saved pattern PDFs and decided to make a pair of mittens. These are so adorable they make me want to weep a little. I’m not crazy about the color, since I’m using the leftover marigold yarn from Gryffindor scarf, but I think the owl makes up for it, especially if I can find some really cute buttons to use for the eyes. Plus it’s knitting up so fast that I can easily go out and get a nicer shade to remake them without feeling like I’ve wasted much time. Or maybe I’ll send them to my sister, as orange is totally her color ๐Ÿ˜‰

2011-02-20_14-34-22_164 Owl mitten (back)

I wrote all of this three days ago and then had to save it as a draft because I could not for the life of me get my photos to upload to Flickr. I ended up having to put them on my phone and upload it from there. No idea why. And in the meantime, I started a new project with the leftover gray yarn from my gray stripey Hermione sweater. Meet my first attempt at something resembling lace.

Springtime bandit scarf

So basically the moral of the story is that I can’t wait for my yarns to get here tomorrow. -_-

How to replicate a dress with zero reference images.

Hermione's red dress beads

This picture is from a few days ago, but the red dress is (almost) finished! I want to redo the flower thing in the middle to make it look less flat, and it’s lacking beads but other than that it’s done! I wore it the other night when Boyfriend and I went on a pre-Valentine’s Day date. It’s swirly and lovely and I completely forgot to take pictures. -headdesk-

I’ll get on that.

I think I have an unhealthy obsession with Hermione. In the past month, I have made two of her sweaters, one dress, a hat.

On top of that, I started a scarf the other day..

Hogwarts PoA Scarf

..and I’m in the beginning stages of a second dress.

Hermione's pink dress fabric

This dress is absolutely gorgeous but it’s driving me insane. It was handmade by Jenny Packham for Hermione to wear to Slughorn’s Christmas party, and since the entire scene lasts all of a minute and a half and happens in the dark, there aren’t a lot of reference images. In fact the only ones I could find online were about fifty pixels wide. So I’ve been watching that scene and saving screen captures in the attempt to find one that actually shows me how the seams are done on the bodice. I thought I had it figured out, but after two hours of attempting to recreate a pattern of it, I deemed it impossible and have added a stomach panel under the crinkled bust bit.

Like this, basically:

Hermione's pink dress pattern making

And I may have ordered more yarn to redo the Deathly Hallows Fair Isle cardigan in the proper colors.

I need about eight more sets of hands.