Snake Scarf

It's been a while since I last posted. The Winter 2009 term of the Harry Potter House Cup started in Ravelry. For my Defense Against the Dark Arts class, I knitted this scarf. The pattern is called Kureopatora scarf. I used 3 skeins of Noro Kureyon. From a distance it really looks like snake skin.

Norwegian Star Hat

My grandson is modeling my first fair isle type knitted hat. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The hat was made with the same yarn as the 1864 Godey's Shawl.

I got the pattern for the hat through Ravelry. The pattern called for size 7 needles but the yarn suggested size 8 needles. I chose to use the size 8. The hat came out a little large but I'm really happy about that. I don't particularly like tight fitting hats. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Spun Roving & Shawls

I finished spinning my dyed roving. At first I was a little disappointed on how it turned out, colorwise, that is. I was expecting to see more blotches of red. In person it's more of an orange color. But when you look at it close-up, you can see the red. It reminds me of the color of fire so that's what I named it. I have approximately 285 yards. Now to figure out what to make with it.

This week I've been busy doing my "homework" for the Harry Potter Knitting/Crocheting House Cup (HPKCKC) forum on Ravelry. We're basically pretending to be students at Hogwarts. Since most of the sorting hat quizzes put me in Hufflepuff, that was the house I requested and was sorted to. There are classes and even a quidditch team. It was very well thought out. All the participates are having a great time.

I've started making the Danish Tie-Shawl. I'm about three-fourths done with it. I'm making it out of Red Heart Painted Sand. I figured for my first one, I'd chose a variegated so I didn't want to mess around changing colors every few rows. I'm not sure if I'll make another one of these or not.

I finished making a pair of socks that I dyed in my class at Hanks. I'll have to take a picture. They turned out very well.

Latest Activities

I finally finished the 1864 Godey's Knitted Winter Shawl. Although it's a very simple pattern, I had a hard time staying motivated to finish it. It was very boring to work on. The shawl is completely knitted in garter stitch.

I took a beginner's class at Hank's Yarn and Fiber store a few weeks ago on how to dye wool. It was a very interesting class. I can't wait to dye more wool and take some more advanced classes on dyeing. I've started collecting all my supplies. Last night I mixed up the stock of the Jacquard Acid Dye in Cherry Red, Brilliant Blue and Sun Yellow.

The roving is a 100% merino superwash and dyed 4 oz of it. The merino feels like silk. It's definitely much softer than the corriedale wool I'm used to working with. I've spun what I've dyed so far. At this point, I could turn it into 2-ply yarn for socks or dye the remaining 4 oz and ply them all together. I'm leaning towards dyeing the remaining roving. I just hate the idea of hiding this in my shoes.

The Danish Tie Shawl is progressing. It's also knitted completely in garter stitch with yarn overs every other row and has definitely reached the middle of the project boring stage. I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of August.