Hat on Top, Coat Below
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Ta Da!
November 9, 2005
I finished my scarf. I even did the binding off all by myself–admittedly only after studying one of the books Denise recommended (Knitting in Plain English). It’s a smidge over 8 inches wide and about 6 and a half feet long before the fringe, which adds another three inches at each end. That’s a lot of knitting–no wonder it’s been two months since I started it.
I followed the atypically.knit pattern, except I used a smaller needle than it calls for–mine was size 5 U.S. from Inox. The main color yarn is Plymouth Encore (75% acrylic, 25% wool) in shade 204, hunter green, and the contrast color is Plymouth Galway (100% wool) in shade 140, light grey. I only mixed yarns because the shop didn’t have the Encore in a light grey (evidently the shade recommended on the pattern has been discontinued) or the Galway in an appropriate green. I’m glad I went back for the fifth skein of green–I used almost every bit of the first four before I got to the fringe. The patch came from Patch Palace, which I found thanks to my new acquaintances over at Harry Potter Knitting.
Attaching the patch was probably the hardest part of the whole project, and I’m still not 100% happy with how it turned out and may take it off. The particular one I got is designed to be ironed on–they do sell mini patches with a black border that’s there to make it easier to sew them on, but I liked the borderless look better and also could get the non-bordered one in a set with the other houses so I’d have a Ravenclaw on hand for my next scarf (otherwise I would have had to buy two of the Slytherin mini because they come in pairs). I didn’t want to iron the patch onto the scarf–I might melt the acrylic in the yarn and wanted to have the option of taking the patch off or moving it to another spot. I couldn’t sew it on as is, though, because it was too thick to get a needle through easily and just tacking it down in the spots there were already openings didn’t make it secure enough. I ended up ironing it to a piece of plain black cotton–I used the wool setting on the iron and pressed from the underside of the cotton (no directions came with the patches and I couldn’t find any on the website, so I did what seemed reasonable based on other fusibles I’ve worked with)–and then turned the cotton under as close to the edge of the patch as I could before appliqueing it to the scarf. I can still see more of the black than I’d like and it’s slightly out of skew because knitting is not the most stable base for applique, but it’s not hideous.
All in all, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out and I liked doing the actual knitting–it’s definitely more portable and easier to pick up for short stretches of time than my quilting projects. That’s why I already have the yarn for a Ravenclaw scarf–I saw some Plymouth Encore in the discontinued light grey shade (yes, I have been visiting yarn shops unsupervised) and just had to have it, so the book colors idea I was pondering is out, at least for now. I’ve also bought the yarn I’ll need to make the initial in a Weasley sweater; again, a discontinued shade (Rowan Felted Tweed in 136 Corn) and have been looking at hat patterns because I think I might want to make one to match my scarf. Someday I may even consider doing some non-Harry Potter-related knitting.
Last year at this time, I was doing heaven only knows what instead of writing an entry.
Two years ago, I had a good reason for not updating–I was in Japan.
Three years ago, I’d reached a plateau in my weight loss efforts. Oh, how I wish I’d just stayed there forever.