I Finished It!

I've been working on it since last September, it is fitting that I should finish it now, just as that month restarts. It is fitting, also, as it feels like an epic battle, just like a Harry Potter book, all that occurs from one September to the next.... Slow in the beginning with minor struggles. A bombardment in the middle, tailing off again... finishing with frantic knitting,with over a hundred rows being knitted in the last week alone.

This scarf has been with me for so many different steps in the past year, helped me to survive and carry on. Now,as I open a new Chapter, I hope it will follow me as well (unless I'm not placed in the blue house at my new school...)

In celebration of my finishing of this scarf, I will bring to you a new feature every Monday for the next 2months: Knitting in Potter, looking at the various references and gorgeous knitwear pieces that the films have bought to us, finishing with the culmination-I will be visiting The Making of Harry Potter Leavesden Studio Tour at the end of October!

Where, of course, this little(very long) scarf, will take an outing.

In case you haven't latched on yet, this is my Ravenclaw Scarf. Not finished entirely, admittedly - I would like to add tassel's at some point. But, it works well enough without them.

Pattern came from the Book 'Charmed Knits' by Alison Hansel, and is usually available on Amazon. I used the pattern for years 3-4, purely because I like it better. There are a plethora of different pattern is in a range of different abilities, and I thoroughly recommend it for anyone knitting for a Potter fan.

This has been my faithful WIP for the last Year, I really need another one... small projects cannily sustain so much....Back to the drawing board, I guess...



Craft Review: Week 15: Sunday 1st April - Saturday 7th April

As  it is half term, I have had plenty of time to do art and craft. Admittedly, an awful lot of that was taken up by my Art Exam prep, which I have been annotating faithfully, as well as adding the experiments for at least another 6 pages in my book (A3). I haven't done much of my other work though yet, so I'm going to have to try and get that done this week....

Sunday

I made two more hearts. These are not designed to specifically given, but I am beginning to build up my stocks as my Mum says she might let me have a stall at her school's summer fair, to sell my crafts. I'm awfully excited, as it would mean I would have something to prepare for after my exams, and an easy way for me to earn a little bit more money. It's a win-win situation!

If anyone has any tips or tricks they'd like to share, or even any ideas for what I should sell, please comment and tell me!

These hearts are very simple to make, and I've re-adjusted the pattern from the book 'Kirstie Allsopp Craft'. These ones skip out beads and nonsense, and look far more rustic with shorter tails and a knot. Once I've assembled all of the equipment, it takes me only about 5-10 minutes to assemble them, and they really are gorgeous. Perhaps I shall share a pattern later...

Monday

On Monday, I painted little Ida... I love that shade of blue...

Tuesday

I finished the last few rows of My second Fluffy Buckbeak Scarf, and I then spent the entire day doing my Art Exam Prep. I even got my acrylic paints out to do a fair few studies. I love this project so much, but  the exam is looming and I'm beginning to panic...

Wednesday

I knitted another square for My (long-neglected) Harry Potter Blanket! This is a Gryffindor House Scarf Square, and it's a really simple pattern, which I will share when I have finished all 4 of them.

Thursday

I spent the morning knitting, and the afternoon painting. I knitted a fair few more rows of my Ravenclaw scarf, my faithful WIP, and then I painted Erick. Not bad for a day's work in my opinion. 

Friday

Today, twas another art day. But I forced myself (it's such a strain... *sarcasm*) to knit another Hogwarts Scarf Square for my Harry Potter blanket. I hope to do Slytherin and Ravenclaw next week, and perhaps even a couple more, of various descriptions.

Saturday

I had my first experiment with crochet today! And I have to say, it's looking rather successful. It took me a while to to figure out how it works, I'm completely self-taught here, except for the tutorial I was basing it on, and I think I'm beginning to get the hang of it. I chose to experiment here, because I have lots of friends who like bracelets, and I don't, and this seemed a nice way to get rid of the bracelets without making it look too obvious.

My Harry Potter House Bookscarf pattern

This is for people, like me, who are beginner knitters, can't knit on the round, don't even understand the concept of dpns and just want  to knit a nice little Harry Potter bookmark.

You will need:
Wool in the colours of your Hogwarts House (red and gold/yellow for Gryffindor; blue and bronze/silver/white for Ravenclaw; green and silver/white for Slytherin; yellow and black for Hufflepuff)
Knitting needles of choice (I used 4mm, but I'm sure it would work with most needle types (you'd just end up with a bigger scarf))
A  crochet hook (don't ask me what type, I have no idea... I just found a plastic one in the drawer and used it)
A tapestry needle (for weaving in ends)

CO 7 stitches in Main Colour (red;blue;green;yellow)
Rows 1-8  Knit all Stitches

Stripe Pattern
Change to Second Colour
Rows 9-10  Knit
Back to Main Colour
11-12  Knit
Change to Second Colour
13-14  Knit
Back to Main Colour
15-22  Knit

Repeat Stripe Pattern With 8 Main Colour Rows after 3 times more, so that you have four blocks of stripe pattern, and 5 blocks of the Main Colour
Cast Off.

Attach the fringe by cutting 3inch pieces and tying them through the Cast On and Cast Off edges
Weave in all ends (apart from the fringe!)
And place inside your favourite Harry Potter Book.

Ravenclaw card

This is another Craft Tutorial that I created for The Leaky Cauldron Crafts as seen here: http://the-leaky-cauldron.org/features/crafts/othercrafts/ravenclawcard

But I will also post it here for easy access.

 

 

Supplies

A5 Blue card

Blue feathers

Scrap pieces of blue card

Glue/ sticky tape/ foam squares

Letter stickers

Instructions

Fold the A5 Blue card in half.

Attach 3 blue feathers to the front of the card.

 On one piece of blue card, quote the sorting hat when talking about Ravenclaw using letter stickers.

Matt the first blue piece with another.

Stick the quote above the end of the feathers

Hogwarts House Hair Clips

This is a Craft Tutorial that I made for The Leaky Cauldron Crafts, as shown here:http://the-leaky-cauldron.org/features/crafts/othercrafts/hogwartshousehairclips

But I will also post it here because I'm bored.

Supplies

1 sheet of felt for the shield/ background (red, green, blue, yellow)

1 sheet of fabric for the detail (yellow, grey, bronze/grey, black)

Needle

Thread (in colours of either your detail felt or background felt)

Hairclip

Instructions

Lay your hair clip on the back ground felt. Cut a shield shape around it with plenty of room.

Cut another shield shape so that you have two.

From the detail fabric, cut the first letter of the house you’re making the hairclip for, for example ‘R’ and the shape of a golden snitch.

Pin detail to one shield.

Sew detail onto that shield.

On the second shield, cut a small slit so that the back of the clip can come out from the inside.

Take the two shields. Remove the clip from the slot and place both shields right sides together (detail inwards). Sew around the curved parts of the shields.

Turn the shields right way out. Slide the hair clip so that the end hangs out. Sew the top closed.

TaDa!