Knitting: Inside #23HarryPotterKAL

Yes, it is that time of the year - time for a KAL!

Lovely Katie from MissLavellia is organising a mega-KAL on the Harry Potter theme.  And the response is massive!

... Which means I could not NOT be a part of.  Without further ado, here are my intentions:

(caveats first:  I plan to use stash yarn wherever possible.  Which may mean combining more than one skein...)

1.  Hermione hearts Ron:  this is easy enough, so it should ease me into the spirit of the KAL.  I plan to use a combination of blue and blue-green yarns, probably in alternating rows.  We'll see how it turns out...

2.  Severus Mitts:  I just love those... Have plenty of black yarn lying around, my more pressing question will be - which colour to contrast?  white? grey? red?  decisions, decisions...

 

3.  And now to the unchartered waters:  Snape's Stockings.  I've never knit socks, and that's why this will be at the very end.  I will be counting on Crafty's Knit-along 2016: Socks to get the knowledge that may help me succeed in this mission.  Wish me luck!  (oh, and it will be in red yarn, more than one skein - again)

Interested?  Go over to the Inside Number 23 Raverly Group for more info (spoiler alert:  there will be prizes!!!)

Knitting: mens' scarf

My nephew has a knack for choosing the most intricate designs.  I know that, and, on purpose, when I give him options about a project I (almost) always make certain that there is nothing elaborate.  How I end up with yet another pattern that will test my abilities, I really have no clue... Case in point:

I wanted to knit him a scarf, as I did for my niece.  No problem so far.  I gave him two alternatives, he chose one of them. Again, no problem.  Once I started reading the pattern in detail, it dawned on me -- I had no idea what was going on...

Enter the search for a similar pattern that could provide a way out of this problem: the Array scarf seemed straight-forward and looked fairly similar to the original design.

I cast on 75 stitches, knitting it flat so that I would get the scarf I wanted.  On I went knitting and ... after 18 rows I discovered I was doing it all wrong.  Scratch everything and start anew.  The second time was a charm and I was content.

What I was not content about was the time it took - because each row is basically knit twice (once in black and once in white), it eventually took double the time to finish.  Note to self:  think very carefully before committing to such projects...

The end result is wonderful however:  a great little scarf, perfect for the young man!

Knitting: winter cowl

When preparing for Christmas, I always ask friends and relatives to name any requests for (small) projects I can make:  I almost always have delighted candidates who wish to have something handmade - from me!

This is a cowl for my lovely niece, in the colour she chose.  I knit it flat and weave in the ends.  I reckon the total length of the finished project will be around 2.5 metres, which should be sufficient for a double cowl.

The yarn is really chunky:  Lima+ from Scheepjes (which I believe has been discontinued...).  With it, I use no. 9 needles - and let me tell you, these are huge needles...

One skein gone - 7 to go...

I ordered from from Dolce Lana in Belgium, and I'm really glad they offer such good service: in ordering, I can choose the parameters with which I want to find the yarn I want, and the delivery took all but 2 days!  I think I've found my new best friend...

On to the knitting then: it took me a while to get used to.  As the majority of the projects I knit tend to be more of a delicate nature (see no.2 needles), I initially struggled to get round to using these huge needles.  No need to have worried though: this yarn knits itself really easily, and the first skein was up before long! I really like the fact that the yarn is varied in thickness, and that even though the pattern is straight forward, the change in density adds additional depth in the pattern... Looking forward to knitting the rest of it....