This is a Weasley Sweater with a Gryffindor Lion – as Harry received from Molly Weasley for Christmas in one of the books.
This particular Gryffindor Sweater was knit for my dear daughter who turns 8 today. She’s been reading Harry Potter and just finished book 7 (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) last night. Now we’re getting ready for a Harry Potter party tomorrow, complete with Pumpkin Pasties, Treacle Tarts, chocolate frogs, licorice wands, butterbeer, and pumpkin juice. We’re having potions classes, transfiguration class and playing Quidditch. Should be a blast.
The Gryffindor Sweater was well received, and she’s wearing it today (and tomorrow, if I’m not mistaken…..). The sleeves are a little long, but as it was a surprise I didn’t get a chance to try it on her before finishing. Oh well… something to grow into. 
At the moment I’m working on two separate projects. One is a shawl for a November KAL. It’s knit in 10-2 Tencel from Yarntopia Treasures. My colourway is New York, which is a blend of Lilac, Raspberry, and Eggplant. Here’s a sneak preview of the yarn. It’s really lovely and has an amazing shine to it.
Details on the KAL will follow in the next week or so. It will not start until after the Mystic Earth KAL is completed.
The other one is a present, so I can’t be too specific. If you are really curious, you can see pictures on Ravelry (because I know the recipient is not a member there – but this is an open blog that I know is read by a certain someone). The yarn is Paton’s Classic Merino, and I’m using 4.5 mm needles. Pictures to follow here.
And then a little rant….. I ordered 4 books with knitting patterns from Germany on Sept 4. Of course I’ve been impatiently awaiting their arrival. After two weeks I was checking my mailbox daily, hoping they would come, but no luck. For comparison, I ordered a few things from Sweden around the same time, and a partial shipment arrived within a week. The rest of the shipment came the week after. Anyhow, once a month had passed I emailed the vendor asking what the status of my order was. Apparently she had decided that since she was out of one of the books, she would delay the entire shipment until she received that book from the publisher. She was expecting to receive the book in the middle or end of October. Of course, she made no effort to notify me that she was planning on delaying my entire order for up to 2 months.
I suggested that she mail out the partial order now and the missing book later – as is customary both with Amazon, Chapters, and most other vendors I have purchased from. I received no response to my email except an automated notice today that 3 books have shipped, and the rest of my order has been canceled. Not sure what to make of this, but I suppose I’ll have to find another vendor. And I won’t be a repeat customer at this place.
In other knitting pattern news, I also ordered a copy of “The Best of Interweave Knits: Our Favorite Designs from the First 10 Years”. The Forest Path Stole has an amazing construction. Now I just have to learn how to knit entrelac. I think a small entrelac project is coming my way in the near future (post secret-project-number-2). Perhaps a scarf or a triangle shawl. I saw a few really nice ones on Ravelry. I just have to decide what kind of yarn is appropriate.
And I think I’m almost ready to continue on my Autumn Cardigan. My fingers are really a lot better now, and I’ve had a little bit of Fair Isle knitting to do since the summer, so perhaps it will be ok. If only I can find the right tension again.
The Mystic Earth swatch has been uploaded to the yahoo group.
Most swatches are used for gauge. However, for a shawl, I don’t believe gauge is as critical as for a sweater. This is to say that if your shawl is somewhat larger or smaller than mine, it doesn’t matter – it will still be a shawl.
It is still important to swatch, just to make sure that you like the combination of your yarn and your needle size. Things to look for in lace is if you like the difference between the yarn overs (the holes) and the knits (the solid part).
The blocked measurements of my swatch are 15 cm (6”) wide x 10 cm (4”) tall.
Announcing the Mystic Earth Mystery Shawl knitalong!
This rectangular stole is the third shawl in the Mystic Elements series (following Mystic Waters and Mystic Light). Mystic Earth draws its inspiration from the solid earth beneath our feet. It’s constant presence, and its ever changing seasons.
My shawl is knit on 3.75 mm needles, using 154 g (seven skeins) of Buffalo Down yarn from Cottage Craft Angora (155-160 yds per 22 g skein). The shawl uses approx. 1,100 yds of laceweight yarn. As always, yarn substitutions are encouraged.
The blocked dimensions are approx. 65 cm x 201 cm (25.6″ x 79″).
SIGN UP FOR KAL
The pattern will be made available for a knitalong, starting September 30.
It will be distributed to the members in four consecutive pieces, once a week on Tuesdays.
The last part of the pattern will be released on October 21.
There is a $8 CDN fee to join the KAL. Please place you order here.
The KAL is now completed, but the pattern can be purchased here.
After the first clue has been released, signups will remain open but the price will be the regular pattern price of $8.00 CDN. All members of the KAL will have access to the clues as well as the complete pattern in one nice set at the end of the KAL.
There’s been almost no knitting here, since my fingers still haven’t healed. (Well, I’m not saying I haven’t cheated a little and tried to knit anyway, but it’s not going very well or quickly…..). I have a physio-appointment later this week, and that should give me an indication of how long it will take until my fingers are well. Suffice it to say that the original 3 week estimate (from the doctor in the emergency room) was rather optimistic. It’s been 5 weeks, and my fingers are still swollen…..
In the meantime, I’ve been eying some fancy yarns, and thinking about branching out from the readily available wool yarns. There are so many other interesting fibers out there that I could try. Earlier this year, I discovered Cottage Craft Angora and their wonderful angora yarns (from angora rabbits) and the even more wonderful Buffalo Down (made from the underhairs of the buffalo). Both yarns were luxuriously soft and had a slight “halo” to the yarns, which made the lace-shawls very nice and surprisingly warm, even though the yarn was laceweight.
In my yarn-stash I also have some fingering weight cashmere (from the cashmere goat) which promises to become a very soft and warm shawl as well.
But there is also a whole other category of yarns that has nothing to do with woolly fur. How about bamboo or tencel? Tencel is a lyocell fiber, made from wood-pulp cellulose. Apparently it’s used in making jeans, among other things, and is very strong and durable. The tencel I have encountered has also been very shiny and had a lovely drape to it. And bamboo is also very soft and shiny, and on top of that it is supposed to have some “natural antibacterial properties”. Must be good, right? In any case, I simply must try to knit with it.
I also have some SeaWool in my stash, which is wool and seacell (kelp). I suppose that’s a hybrid yarn – a little bit of animal fur, and a little bit of seaweed. I was considering using that for my Mystic Light, but then the shawl would have been very different as my SeaWool is all blue-tones. I don’t think I would have designed flames in blue…. So I’ll have to make something else out of it.
Well…. I hope you are all getting more knitting-time than I am. I hope to be healed soon.
This rectangular stole draws its inspiration from the flowering midsummer meadows with colourful flowers of every hue.
The finished dimensions are approx. 75 cm by 204 cm (29.5 in x 80 in).
My shawl is knit on 4.5 mm needles, using 8 oz (two skeins) of Prezzie Signature yarn from Brooklyn Handspun (480 yds per 4 oz skein). The shawl uses approx. 960 yds of yarn. As always, yarn substitutions are encouraged.
This pattern is available in .pdf format for $8.00 CDN.
Mystic Meadows comes in two separate files. The MysticMeadowsInstructions contain the beginning and finishing instructions, as well as the legends. All the charts are in MysticMeadowsCharts.
The Autumn Cardigan is coming along nicely. I’ve knit the second row of leaves, and I really like the result. I’m starting to wonder about the sleeves, and how to balance the colours. One thing at a time, though….
The Fair Isle work is becoming easier as well – I guess I’m getting more accustomed to it. I’ve settled on the method of one strand over the index finger and one over the middle finger.
But…. I think I will have trouble working on this project for the next little while. In fact, I think all knitting is difficult at the moment, and particularly Fair Isle.
Instead I’ll have some free time to spend on new designs, and then I’ll be itching to knit them in a few weeks when the splint comes off.
Aside from that, I just want to wish a Happy Midsommar to all!!!!
My Kauni yarn has arrived and it does look lovely. It’s two skeins of EU (top left), two skeins of EZ (bottom left) and two giant skeins of EQ. My daughter was immediately asking for a shawl for herself made out of the EU (red-orange-yellow) yarn. She sure knows how to pick the good stuff.
I have cast on for the Autumn Cardigan with EQ and EZ, and so far so good. It was definitely important to swatch, as I had to go down quite a lot in needle size in order to get gauge. I ended up with 2.5 mm needles instead of the 3.5 mm needles recommended in the pattern. Now I’m worrying that it might be too small….. but I guess we’ll see.
It’s been a long time since I did any fair isle knitting, and I still haven’t found the optimal way to handle the two strands of yarn. I’m open to any suggestions. So far, what seems to work best is to have one strand over the index finger and one over the middle finger of the left hand (I’m a continental knitter). The only problem is that after a while my fingers ache a little from their unusual position.
Actually, I suppose right now that doesn’t matter as I hurt my right hand yesterday and can’t knit at all right now……. I’m hoping this will pass soon, but as it is I can barely lift a tea cup with the right hand. Tragedy of tragedies – no knitting and left handed tea. Maybe it will be better in a couple of days.
The Spiderman blanket is finished. It still should be blocked to make the edges straight, but it has already been claimed by the recipient (my youngest son), so the blocking will have to wait for a little while.
The pattern is available for free at AnneM‘s blog.
I ended up using 3 skeins of true blue Classic Merino, 3 skeins of bright red Classic Merino and 2 skeins of black Classic Merino.
The adventure starts……. The Mystic Meadows Swatch has been uploaded to the files section of the group for the KAL. Here’s your chance to try out your yarn.
If you have already signed up for the KAL (below, using PayPal), but not yet joined the yahoo group – now is a good time to complete the process. There are a few people who have paid, but not continued to the yahoo group. If you are one of them and have lost your invitation, email me and I will resend it. If you have your invitation….. well, you know what to do.
The swatch only uses a few of the stitches used in the shawl, but it should give you a good indication of whether the yarn works with your needles.
The Mystic Meadows KAL is still open for signups. See below for details.
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