Huzzah!

Fin!



All that's left is to sew on the patch. Well, and to get the tie and the socks and the skirt before Friday. But let's not push it.

In any case, I'm pleased with how it came out, even with having to take in the sides. Not particularly in any rush to make another any time soon, but still...

Anyway, this weekend is a costuming cram session, what with DragonCon starting next Friday. So far, I finished the sweater, and the hard stuff (aka sewing) on zombie Ms. Marvel. There's still a lot left to buy, and a lot left to do, but I think I'll be ok. At least, I hope.

A shortcut to radishes.

I was struck with inspiration this afternoon. You see, I've been struggling with how to make the radish earrings required for any good Luna Lovegood costume. I could've sculpted them out of clay, but that's not exactly one of my strong suits, my search for charms that look like radishes had been fruitless, and any handmade earrings for sale on Ebay were running upwards of $20. I'm already going to have to spend a pretty penny on a skirt and tie, so 20-30 dollars on a pair of earrings I'm going to wear once a year isn't really an option.

Then, while in Joann's, I stumbled upon a set of spherical red buttons, and thought to myself that they could easily pass for a radish. I found some leaf shaped beads (in the process, I also found better red beads for my purposes), and it was as simple as that:



Close-up!



All you really need is two big red beads (1/2"-3/4"), four leaf beads (I used two each of different sizes), two eyepins (you could totally use headpins if you wanted, I had eyepins on hand, and I think it makes the bottom look more like the squiggly radish tail), and french hooks or whatever post you prefer. Put the red bead on the pin, followed by the leaves, make eyes, and attach to the hook.

I'm really pleased with these. Now I just need to get hooks, and then work on the Butterbeer necklace - I picked up corks for that today. They're soaking, and should be ready for stringing up later this week.

Huzzah!

Trinity scarf pattern, at long last!

I knit this scarf YEARS ago, sold it in a yard sale, and had all but forgotten it until I stumbled across the book I had originally found the stitch pattern in. So here we go!



Trinity Scarf

Materials:
Red Heart Soft (100% acrylic)
[MC] White, 2 skeins
Red Heart Super Saver (100% acrylic)
[CC] Monet, 1 skein or less

US size 7/4.5mm needles

Crochet hook

Gauge:
1 bobble = approx. 1 inch in Trinity stitch

Trinity stitch pattern:
Row 1 (and all odd rows): P
Row 2: (K,P,K) all in next st, P3 tog. Repeat across.
Row 4: P3 tog, (K,P,K) all in next st. Repeat across.
(Stitch pattern from Beginner's Guide Knit Stitches & Easy Projects by Leisure Arts Little Books.)

Directions:
In MC, CO 36 sts.
Work Trinity stitch pattern for 248 rows. BO.
Using CC and starting at CO corner, run yarn through eyelets along a diagonal (see photo above), turning to run at a 90 degree angle on ends. Repeat for next two eyelets on CO edge.
Add fringe to CO and BO edges.

Congrats, you has a scarf!

Sox are done!





Hooray! I want to knit, like, ten more pairs!

Publish or perish!

There was a request on Ravelry for a pattern to the Pacman scarf I came up with in 2005. The primary reason I hadn't put it up yet was because I didn't have a decent graphic of the color charts, so I finally got off my duff and made some:


Link to the Past full size.

Ok, here goes. This is my first time writing a pattern, so be gentle.

Pacman scarf

Materials:
Red Heart Soft (100% acrylic)
[MC] Black, 2 skeins
[CC1] Yellow, 1 skein
[CC2] Red, blue, pink, or orange (or whatever color you want your ghostie to be), 1 skein
[CC3] White, 1 skein or less

One 12" circular needle in size to fit gauge

Crochet hook for fringe

Gauge:
18 sts / 26 rows over 4 inches

Pattern Notes:
I knit this in the round using Fair Isle. It can very easily be translated to flat knitting with intarsia. It can also be knitted with the Pacman motif on both sides by placing a marker at 25 stitches and repeating the directions from the marker as if from the beginning of the round.

Directions:
Using MC, cast on 50 sts. Join round, being careful not to twist sts. K ten rounds.

Round 11-27: K 4 sts in MC. Begin Pacman chart using Fair Isle technique and CC1.

Round 28-35: K all sts in MC.

Round 36-39: K 10 sts in MC. Begin pellet chart using CC1.

Repeat rounds 28-39 twenty-nine times, or until scarf is about 4.5 inches shorter than desired length.

K eight rounds in MC.

K five sts in MC. Begin ghost chart using CC2 and switching to CC3 or MC when necessary.

K ten rounds in MC. BO.

Using crochet hook, hook fringe through open ends of scarf to close.

And that's more or less it. Your neck is now 8-bits warmer.

EDIT: Ms. Pacman chart now available! Please note that this chart is 19 rows long instead of 17, and adjust pattern accordingly.

Ravelry user Gelliebean sent me some charts for Pacman's cherry and strawberry (originally from Spritestitch), as well as a Power Pill chart she created. Thanks!

I fell in love last night. With a ball of yarn. I mean, would you look at this? The colors, Duke, the colors! Zomg!

So yes, sox are in order, at least until I can find another ball of one of the yarns I'm using in Pinwheel. Hobby Lobby clearanced it, and now it is hiding from me.

"Have you seen the Crumple-Horned Snorkack?"

My wand came in! But I lost it already. Now where did I put it...



Seriously, tho, I am enamored of this wand. I would definitely suggest this source for all your magic wand needs. Although I can already tell I'm going to have to practice with it before DragonCon - it's hard enough just to hold it for extended periods of time, let alone wave it around convincingly as if you're doing a spell, or stick it behind your ear for safe-keeping...

New project! The Pi blanket went the way of the mastodon, making way for the shiny new Pinwheel blanket:



Ok, it's small yet, and my Denise cords are all over the place, so I can't really transfer it to something bigger at the moment to get a spread out picture, but you get the gist. I'm actually really excited about this project, I don't know why.

Also, here's a picture of my Ravenclaw scarf:



I've had to rip it back twice now, which is entirely too much for such a simple pattern. So here's hoping this time is the last time.

Loads of updates!

One project down! The Who blanket was finished in a fervent weaving-in session last night, and delivered to it's intended recipient: the impending Melspawn.



And much squeeing was had by all.

In goodies expansion news, several Hancock Fabrics are going out of business around town, which, with everything at 90% off, is good news for me:



This is not including the $80 worth of DPNs and size 17 and up straight needles that a friend picked up for me the other night. That's six yards of gorgeous red jacquard and half a yard of fish-scale sequin net, none of which I have a clue what to do with (tho I'm leaning towards a bodice for the jacquard). So I have no need to buy needles for a long, long time.

I got an invite to Ravelry the other day, which is fantastic. I'm already addicted. I think my favorite thing is the ability to queue - saving a to-do list of patterns. For example, this, which I think the Pi blanket may end up getting cannibalized for.

So that's it for now. I have yet another(!) Doctor Who project coming up, now that DragonCon is clearly on the way. Thank God it's not another scarf!

New craft ring

Joined my friend Jen's crafters ring, for real people who can't make crafting their full time job. So plz to check it out. I promise I'll post some real actual knitting content soon.

Would you like some pi?

Well, the swatch blanket is on hold for now, because I've come up with a new project:



"But what is it?", you ask. A beret for Joseph Merrick? Girly dice bag from hell? A yarn pie?

You would be close with the last - it's the start of a blanket pattern I came up with based off of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Shawl. I like the idea of knitting round things. And a round blanket would look very neat on a bed. Alas, I dove right into this one without thinking about color schemes, so it doesn't match my room. I'll probably have to do another one later that goes.

I'm knitting it out of kitchen cotton - maybe not the best choice, texture wise, but I'm planning to sew in a fleecy backing, and kitchen cotton always has the best colorways. I'm using coordinating variegated balls, so there will be stripes as it goes out towards the edge. Not really sure of the circumference right now - it's on 16" circs, but it's obviously outgrown them. I probably won't move up a length until the next increase round, however. For right now, tho, it doubles as a nifty carrying bag for my yarn and doodads!

Ok, so it's been a while. I'm an idiot and forgot my password, what can I say? So lets forget about that and get on with the WIPs! And they're especially geeky!

Firstly, what with OotP movie and Book 7 coming out this summer, we've got the obligatory Hogwarts sweater:



Closeup of the stripe:



I'm using the pattern from Hobbie's House of Wizard Wear using Cascade 220 - the only yarn I could find with an orange that was "bronzy" enough. So far it's going pretty well. I was stupid and didn't get the hanks wound into balls, tho, so this project won't be leaving the house any time soon. Tsk.

Next up, we've got a blanket based on the infamous Doctor Who scarf:



And of course, the main problem with any Doctor Who project, the ends:



There's a reason I don't plan to sell Who scarves...weaving all that in will be a bitch!

I'm also working on a swatch blanket, but that's in a lot of little pieces right now, so it's not being very photogenic. I'll have pictures once it actually is...