Thistle

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.

I have been working on this Thistle Cap, and I don't like it. I don't know if it's the cheap yarn I'm using (Red Heart) or my brain messing up the pattern, but I hate it. And it looks so good in the pictures! I didn't do all the ribbing on the bottom and was going to opt for more pattern repeats, but I just finished it as is.

OMG, Blogger let me upload a horizontal picture!! =P Anyways, I've got 2 more hats to start and finish in 8.5 days for my OWL. I don't think I'll be able to do it since everything is so busy right now, but I'm going to try!

Yarn used:

Working on my Lotus Hat

I'm working on my Lotus hat today, which I've been putting off to do other things. I've done about 10-15 rows this morning, which is as much as I originally had before I stopped. The pattern calls for 3 pattern repeats (Chart A) for a short beanie, and I planned to do 4 because a lot of people on Ravelry recommended to do so. Now I'm thinking I might need to do 5 since my head is so big. I guess I'll play it by ear when I get there!

I wish I could make this horizontal!

For my OWL in HPKCHC, I'm making 8 hats in 3 months. I'm a bit behind, as we're halfway through the second month and I'm not even half done with my this, which is my fourth hat. So I need to speed it up!

Order of the Phoenix

I'm getting all caught up today! I've been doing Silver's Sock Class to make my first pair of socks. I'm using it for my Order of the Phoenix mission (2 month project) in HPKCHC. I'm using fingering weight yarn for the first time, and it's so small!! I feel like I'm going to break it. This is the first "real" pair of socks I will have made if I finish (since they are the first people-size socks I have attempted). I'm about 3.5" into the cuff on the first sock, which is just k2p2 ribbing... And I am so bored! I can only do a round or two at a time before putting it down. Blogging right now is serving as sock procrastination. =P

This is what they look like so far. Again, the colors are washed out. It's more of a forest green yarn. Wish me luck!!

Hermione's Godric's Hollow Hat

My latest finished hat is from a French pattern called Hermione's Deadly Hallows Hat. It is a version of the hat worn by Hermione during the Godric's Hollow scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. The decreases were hard to understand, so I used another Ravelry user's notes to finish it. I love the hat! It's a meandering 2x2 rib, so it looks like a spiral going around the hat to the top. I finished this hat a few days ago, but forgot to post about it! Here's a picture of the finished hat:

I've been hard at work on my OWL for HPKCHC, and this was number 3 of 8 hats that I am supposed to complete by the end of July. I might be working at a slower pace soon because I'm planning on starting my first pair of socks in a few days using Silver's Sock Class. It's a scary thought!

Milanese Lace Topper

I've started an OWL (Ordinary Wizarding Level, for you non-Potter people) in the HP Knitting and Crochet House Cup, in which I plan to make 8 hats in 3 months. I haven't taken on something of this magnitude yet, so I'm excited for the challenge.

I decided to start with one of the more difficult hats I plan on making. It is a beautiful hat called Milanese Lace Topper. I'm making it using Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes yarn in a beautiful teal color called Calypso Heather. Unfortunately, the wool is irritating my hands and wrists like crazy. I have a feeling that I won't be wearing this hat any time in the future.

I also am angry at both the pattern and myself at the moment. I decided to go against my better instincts and go with the pattern for the brim, which is one row of k1p1 ribbing and 13 rows of stockinette. And guess what? It rolls up like a b$%&! So that was irritating me, the yarn made it worse, and then I spaced out somewhere near the end of the second pattern repeat and now one side looks like a mess. This hat is determined to fail spectacularly in every way...

The good side

Better be... Gryffindor!

I was Sorted into Gryffindor this morning! Rooooooooar!! I can't wait to get started on all the awesome activities including Marauder's Missions, Hallows Hunting, collecting Chocolate Frog Cards, and Horcrux Collecting. I don't even know what half of those are yet, but I'm still excited! They sound so cool...

I found out that I can rack up about 20 Chocolate Frog Cards for participating in break month stuff, so the madness begins!

Here's my new Gryffindor avatar... Or "robes" as they call them in HPKCHC.

WIP It Good!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.

I started an old-style (Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets) Ravenclaw scarf in February and I was planning on using it as an ongoing WIP (Work In Progress) between all of my HPKCHC activities. This way, if I finished all my projects for the month early and didn't want to start anything new, I'd have something to work on that's pretty mindless (meaning great to work on while watching TV). But the NQFYs (and possibly the main group later on in the month) are having a WIP challenge, which means I have to finish it by April 25th... And then save it for Detention in May.

I was only 20% through this scarf in February, but I've been working on it nonstop for about a week now, and I'm currently between 60 and 65% finished. These numbers aren't very encouraging! I hope I can finish it by the end of the month and still have time to swatch for my OWL (I have one out of the 5 swatches I need done so far)! I've also read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on and off while working on my scarf, and I finished the book last night. Onto Chamber of Secrets!

(on a side note... Every time I write CoS I have a problem deciding in my head whether to say Crown of Swords [a Wheel of Time book] or Chamber of Secrets. I might have to start writing the second Harry Potter as HPCoS.)

Yarn used:

  

Stuffed Things?!?

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.

I've been motivated by my buddies in HPKCHC to step out of my comfort zone, and therefore I've learned to do a lot more in the last few months than I would have otherwise. So when my fellow NQFYs decided to host a Penguin Along for all of the HPKCHC members, I decided to do a real penguin... Not just a penguin design on a dishcloth.

So I got out my yarn and my needles, grabbed a few cotton balls from the bathroom, and I was ready to knit a little penguin. I finished him in less than half a day, although I'm not really sure how long I spent knitting because I wasn't keeping track. Not long after I started, I had my first softie or amigurumi... Whatever you want to call it! He's a little wonky because his eyes and wings are on crooked, and he leans a little when standing... But he looks like a penguin, and that's what counts!

Yarn used:

    

Finished Mockingjay

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.

I wrote this last night, and picked up my laptop today to see that it was still sitting unpublished in the editor. Whoops!

I finished my Mockingjay Hat, but I don't like the way the hat fits. =( Also, I didn't carry the gold yarn from the end of one row to the beginning of the next as loosely as I should have, so the Mockingjay design is a little puckered. It doesn't matter though because I hate this hat! There's too much ribbing (and I didn't do it all), there's too much hat (again, didn't do it all), and the design is on the top of my head so you can't really see it. Someone in HPKCHC suggested I try to wear it with the design on the back, so I'll see how that looks.

Yarn used:

  

You can see a Mockingjay!

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.

I've been working on my Mockingjay hat like a fiend today because I was slack yesterday and the day before. I wish I had more accurately imagined the way the chart would have turned out, because if I had I would have filled in some of the holes. They're for effect but totally not necessary. If I ever do this again (or use the chart on something else), I'm going to have a more solid Mockingjay.

I'm going to use this for Charms. I can definitely tie it in with Cedric Diggory for the colors and a lot of other things. Katniss and Cedric have a lot of similar qualities.

Yarn used:

  

Mockingjay Hat

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.

I've decided to start a hat hoping that I'll finish it in time to wear it to The Hunger Games on Saturday. I'm combining a Mockingjay chart with the pattern for a Simple Slouchy Hat. I saw a project where someone else did this and it looked pretty good. We'll see how this one goes...

Now Blogger has flipped it upside down. I give up.

I ended up using my last hat for a class, and this one doesn't qualify for my Quidditch path, so it will be my fifth class (plus a partial) this month. I think I need someone to stop enabling me instead of enabling me. And the excitement of being Sorted soon is mounting... I can't wait to have a new home in HPKCHC come May!

Yarn used:

  

Laurel

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.

I started making a hat yesterday called Laurel. It's my first experience with these things called bobbles, and it's not going particularly well. I think my bobbles are smaller than they should be, and some of them have what looks like a yarn over next to them, so it's a bump next to a hole. Not very attractive... So I'll keep working on it and see how it turns out. You can tell from the nail polish in the photo that I should have posted this before High Line Green, but I never do anything the way I should.

WHY does Blogger insist on flipping my images?

I'm not sure about what HPKCHC class I can use this for, so it might be going to Quidditch. I've already turned in 3 completed classes, a partial class, and 5 badge/contest entries, so I think I'm OK for the month. 😛

Yarn used:

March Begins!

I'm so excited for March because I took a little time off from knitting, which means I spent my time working on my never-ending scarf instead of something I could finish before the 29th. I was so excited for March to start so I could start my next project. I started knitting Parnassus fingerless gloves today, but I'm thinking I'm going to shelve them for the moment so I can do something I know I'll finish in a few days (must get all the badges!). I've already made one mistake and I'm only 28 rows in. I've just been mirroring my mistake on every row and hoping they turn out looking like it was supposed to be that way. The cuff for these gloves is super narrow; I have to stretch it to fit two fingers in! I'm hoping the actual glove part fits, or else this will be a colossal waste of yarn.

Beginning of right glove

Blog and Houses Lurker

I feel like I've been a lurker in my own blog this week, so I guess it's time to post something new. I've been taking a little bit of a break from knitting after finishing all my projects for 3 classes, Quidditch, and Hogsmeade weekend this month. It's the shortest month of the year and I crammed so much into it! And by "taking a break" I mean working on the scarf I started because that will take a while, going to the library to look at books about things I want to learn (sock knitting, toe-up socks, crochet, lace on a larger scale), planning an OWL, and stalking the Ravelry forums. So not really a break at all...

I'm loving the NQFY (Not Quite First Year) forum for HPKCHC (Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup) a little bit more every day, and I'll miss the familiar faces when/if I'm sorted next term. I've been looking at the Houses a lot more since Hogsmeade, when each House hosted a few events and allowed us to participate. At first I had Slytherin as third, but they've climbed up to number 2 since I've had more time to look at the threads. I think of myself as a Gryffinclaw, or Ravenclaw that desperately wants to be a Gryffindor. The HPKCHC houses aren't like their book/film counterparts though, and that took me a little time to get used to. My current preference is as follows:

1. Gryffindor (They have Chocolate Frog Cards. Until another House does something like this, they will be number 1.)
2. Slytherin (used to be Ravenclaw #2, but they don't have as many challenges AKA badges)
3. Ravenclaw (have more events and I'll love you more!)
4. Hufflepuff (Nobody wants to be a Hufflepuff. Sorry. Can't say it on Ravelry, so I have to say it here.)

Hogsmeade Weekend

I was planning on being super busy this weekend for Hogsmeade Weekend, but a stomach virus had other plans for me. =( I managed to get a lot of the stuff done before it hit, but now I'm wondering if I feel well enough to work on some stuff today. I've already gotten a ton of badges, but I want more!! Hopefully I'll be doing the KAL today if I feel up to it.

Badges so far...

        

Rainy Friday

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information read my Disclosure Policy.

It's been raining so far all day today, so not much is going on. The most exciting part of my day so far has been watching the birds playing in the puddles.

I've started a scarf because I basically have nothing else more exciting to do. It will probably take forever, so it will end up being a Detention project for HPKCHC. Maybe I'll wait to finish it until I get sorted so at least I get points for it! That is, unless an interesting badge comes along... ;)

Yarn used: