Dr. John Watson’s Scarf Pattern

I made this to see Game of Shadows at the theatre, but the movie had been out for at least a month so there weren’t very many people there to notice and nobody commented. 😦 I suppose they were too dumbstruck at the scarf’s awesomeness. Anyways, here’s the pattern I made up for it.

Yarn:

The scarf seems to use worsted weight in three colours, a heather brown,  light grey, and sky blue. I used the following:

1 skein Lion Brand’s Fishermen’s Choice in Natural brown

1 skein Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn! in Medium Blue

1 skein Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn! in Light Gray

Hobby Lobby sure comes up with imaginative names for colours, don’t they?

Needles:

US size 7, or whatever you think will get the most accurate gauge.

Pattern:

Step 1: Cast on 40 stitches in brown using your favourite method.

Step 2: Slip one stitch knit-wise, knit 1, purl 1, knit 1, purl 1 until end of row (single stitch ribbing)

Step 3: Repeat step 2 until you have 10 rows

Step 4: Switch to light grey and continue for 2 rows

Step 5: Change to blue and continue for 6 rows

Step 6: Switch back to light grey for 2 rows

Step 7: Change back to brown and knit 14 rows

Step 8: Repeat steps 4 through 7 until your desired length. I’m pretty sure that the original has 14 stripe repeats.

Step 9: When you are finished with the last stripe repeat, switch to brown and continue the ribbing pattern for 10 rows.

Step 10: Cast off

Then you have the tedious process of weaving in ends. Because this scarf is knitted in ribbing, the technique is a little different. Here’s a lovely how-to video for it. And you don’t need to weave in the end you have at the ends of your scarf. They can be left with the fringe.

After you finish that, it’s time to add the fringe. For each tassel I used four strands of one color, and each strand was about 8 inches long. This gets a little more than halved when put on the scarf. From what I can see of the order, it goes like this: Brown, blue, grey. Add the fringe on about every second to third row to keep it fanning out too much. If you don’t know how to add fringe, here’s a video.

Happy knitting!

Hogwarts Knit Scarf Pattern Mk. II

After I had made my first Hogwarts scarf, a friend of mine asked me if I could make one for her as well, just not so big (she lives even farther south than I do, so it doesn’t get very cold, even in the winter). I thought about it for a while until inspiration struck me. Why not make it flat? So here’s the pattern for my flat version of my Gryffindor scarf, with a slight stripe variation.

Materials:

2 skeins main color yarn (for my Ravenclaw scarf, I used Caron Simply Soft Dk. Country Blue, and for my Gryffindor, I used Loops & Threads Impeccable Burgundy)

1 skein contrast color yarn (again, worsted weight, I used Caron Simply Soft Heather Gray, or Vanna’s Choice Mustard)

Size 7 needles

yarn needle

Instructions:

Step 1: Cast on 55 stitches of the main color

Step 2: Slip one stitch knit-wise, knit 1, purl 1, knit 1, purl 1 until end of row (single stitch ribbing)

Step 3: Repeat previous step 29 more times so that you have 30 rows of the main color

Step 4: Change to contrast color and rib three rows just as you did with the main color, but don’t slip the first stitch of the first row

Step 5: Switch back to main color and rib five rows without slipping the first stitch of the first row

Step 6: Change again to contrast color and rib three rows without slipping the first stitch of the first row

Step 7: Repeat step 2

Step 8: Repeat from step 3 to step 7 until you have ten sets of stripes

Step 9: Finish up by casting off and sewing in all the ends.

Step 10: To add the fringe, cut many many 6 inch lengths of the main color. Add fringe on about every other stitch using this method.

And there you have it! Feel free to ask any questions, and I welcome observations and tips. And if you can, don’t forget to show me your finished project!

Stockinette, stockinette, STOCKINETTE!!!!!

I think I’m about to explode. I unwisely chose large, simple projects to knit for my friends down south when I see them after Christmas. Unwise because they’re all knit with the stockinette stitch! What is driving me crazy the most though, is the Lord of the Rings scarf that I’m making.

It looks all fine and dandy, right? Well, after these first two bands of Elvish, it’s just plain knitting until the other end. Just. Plain. Stockinette. The worst part about it is that it’s knitted on the round, which means that there isn’t even the every other purl row to help dilute the monotony. But I’m persevering and determined to get it knitted, blocked, and fringed before December 27. (note: the picture was taken in October, it is now much longer)

Another thing strictly stockinette is the bags I’m working on. The finished one I am super happy with. It took me a long time to figure out what I was going to do, then test the pattern, and then finally complete it! At first, I didn’t even want to felt it. I mean, who would want to completely obliterate all signs of knitting? But then I felted a swatch or three, and I was hooked. But I did not know how to compensate for the extra shrinking that occurs to the height of the object during felting, so I asked around on the Ravelry group Felting is My Bag and the people on there gave me some wonderful suggestions, the one looked upon with most favor being needle felting the design on the flap rather than knitting it in before felting. Here’s a picture so you know what I’m talking about.

Well, you’re just going to have to tilt your head because apparently wordpress is “unable to save image edit.” Oh well. So yes, I have another one of these to do with a different symbol on its flap and I will be done with my Christmas knitting! It still seems like a whole lot to knit, though…

Mooncake Knitting Chart

I (finally) finished the Mooncake chart I was working on! For those of my readers who don’t know Mooncake, I highly suggest watching this video. It is very funny. Anyways, I don’t have much else to say, so before I begin rambling about nothing in particular, here’s my chart! (click on it to make it larger)

My Mini Companion Cube

It is finished! I have officially made my own weighted Companion Cube from Portal! It’s even weighted! It took me about a week, which really isn’t very long (especially for me). I got the pattern from a fellow Raveler, but I shrank the given chart to half its size, because I like small things. Some things I like just because they’re small, which is rather strange, but hey, I don’t mind. This was my first project with three colors, so it isn’t perfect, but I’m content, and I hope my brother likes it because I made it for him for Christmas. Yup, that’s right, I’m already knitting Christmas presents. I’m not exactly the fastest knitter, so I’d figure I’d better get a headstart. But enough rambling! Here’s my finished cube!

Harry Potter Scarf

So I began my very own scarf a while ago, not following any of the patterns on the awesome site, The Leaky Cauldron because they weren’t as true to the movies as I would like. I chose a red that wasn’t as much of a purple color as is seen in the movies because it didn’t seem very Gryffindor. I’m about two thirds through the scarf, as of now, but the picture was taken a couple days ago, so it isn’t as long. The pattern is very simple, but the width is pretty large, and the length is very long (but not as long as the Doctor’s scarf!), so it is a time consuming project. A time consuming but thoroughly enjoyable project, mind you. My goal is  to have this completed before November 19, which doesn’t seem like it’s going to be very difficult. I then have some other projects to complete before Christmas, namely two messenger bags, one with the Fullmetal Alchemist symbol on the flap, and the other with the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense symbol. Also it would be nice if the Lord of the Rings scarf in my previous post could finished by then, but that can wait until the receiver’s birthday.

Knitting Notions

Just recently, I’ve rediscovered how much I like knitting. I only knew how to do the garter stitch until I discovered knitting tutorials on youtube. Knit Witch was especially helpful when I was learning how to purl. So since then I have been combing the internet, trying to find patterns that interest me. So far I’ve found a lot of nerdy things like a knitted Companion Cube from Portal, a Golden Snitch and House Scarfs from Harry Potter, Tom Baker’s scarf and plush TARDIS from Doctor Who, and a One Ring scarf and Pippin’s scarf from Lord of the Rings. What I really want to do now is find a simple cloak pattern that can be adapted to look like the Lothlorien cloaks from Lord of the Rings. I got a Leaf of Lorien pin for my birthday last year, and later, after Christmas, my brother played Frodo in a skit, using that pin. He made a cloak out of an old blanket, and I was thinking that it would be the coolest thing to knit one of those cloaks. Bear in mind, I’m a novice knitter that is eager to learn. If anyone has any suggestions at all, or equally geeky knitting patterns, I would be most obliged.