Quidditch, Round 2

One of the reasons I joined up with the Harry Potter group was to try and use up a lot of my stash. I have lots of bits, one ball here, some scraps there, and I was hoping to kill them all off and go on a massive bender when Bendigo rolls around again this year (July 18, for those of us marking off our calenders).

I had two balls of Morris & Sons Pure, a single-ply Aran weight wool that I picked up for something else, and never used.

Now they're a Stone Circle beanie, the two colours representing the two most famous stone circles in England: Stonehenge and Avebury.  The pattern is called Christian's Hat and it was ridiculously fast. 

Plus Felix gets another beanie. That is never a bad thing.

Quidditch!

One of the really fun things you can do as a member of the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup is play Quidditch. Usually, it's between the four houses, but this is a World Cup year, so it's time for the 18th Quidditch World Cup! GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!

Round One we had to make something representing one of the teams playing. I misread the instructions and though I had to make three items. So first we have an Irish Rose jar cover...

...then we have a Brazilian samba skirt (for the record I did NOT buy the Bratz doll. Ew.)...

...and finally a mini jumper for Romania.

I tend to try to be an overachiever.

A notion for Potions

Next up I made A Very Brady Cowl for my Potions class.

The yarn was brought home from Japan by Joex and I LOVE it. Even better is the name of the yarn: "Olympus make make". The colour didn't match what was allowed in a Girding Potion, but luckily the class copy of the Potions book had some handy hints handwritten in the margins...

For the honour of Slytherin!

Growing up I read a lot of school stories. You know the kind: poor girl wins scholarship to expensive boarding school, or twins go off to school, or a finishing school overseas or any number of ideas. I own a lot of Enid Blyton, obviously. My two favourites growing up were "The Testing of Tansy" and "The Honour of the House". When I went to a high school that took it's house system very seriously I was in my own little heaven.

A few months ago I discovered the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup group on Ravelry. The idea is that you're sorted into houses, you make projects for your classes, maybe knit up an OWL (a three month long project) and compete in the Quidditch. Where do I sign?!?!

As a result I've been having a LOT of fun, and getting a LOT of stuff made. Time to start showing off...

First thing I made was a rose for my Herbology class using the sock wool from my Rivendell socks (I frogged them, they wouldn't go over my heel!). I swore I'd never make another one, but I couldn't resist.

The idea is that it is obviously a mermaid's rose.

Obviously.

Whimsy

When did you last knit something so completely ridiculous it made you laugh out loud?

I'm bringing these back. Everyone, cast on for toilet roll covers, ASAP.

Beanie fever

I hope you all had a lovely long weekend. Ours was a little bit terrible, with two sick kids, but we made some important changes that will pay off in the long run (we hope).

Felix likes beanies. He has a LOT of hand knitted beanies because I like knitting for people who appreciate the end result. His latest is a doozy.

It's called "Skullcracker"  and Felix decided he wanted some grown up colours instead of the usual bright orange and green. I used Cascade 220 for the first time and I now understand why it's so popular. Soft, lofty, lovely colours. The pattern was interesting enough to keep me awake, and I replaced the plzin ribbing with two colour brioche stitch, which is brilliant. I've found my new favourite stitch pattern!