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august 24, 2005
weasleys' wizard wheezedays Some notes for all the weasley knitters out there.... First, keep me updated on your progress, so I can post progress reports here. And let me know if you find other fun pattern ideas! Who has used the Yarn Warehouse kit and what did you think? Would you recommend it to others? MA's pattern for her weasley sweater is up! It's an adult size written for worsted weight yarn. Thanks so much for sharing, MA! If you're using a basic pattern and planning to adapt it, remember that the key design elements of the weasley sweater are drop sleeves, rolled edges at the bottom of the body and neck, and ribbed cuffs. (UPDATE: How did no-one, including me, catch my error there? I've corrected those pattern details, so look again.) For those of you doing a letter on your own, you can make a letter chart fairly easily with your computer. First, print out some knitters graph paper (knit stitches are wider than they are tall, so if you use regular graph paper, your image will be kinda short and sqat). Put your graph paper back in your printer's paper bin. Using a word processor or an image editing program, type the letter you want in a large size. (Try out all the fonts on your computer or maybe download some Harry Potter fonts.) Print it onto the knitter's graph paper. Voila - chart! You may have to try several different font sizes to get your letter to be a good size for your sweater. And once it's printed on the graph paper, you might just need to go over the chart by hand to neaten things up (sometimes the letter edge is between two boxes, so you gotta kinda decide where you want it to be), but essentially it's all ready. And stay tuned tomorrow for my new little Harry Potter pattern. There's a non-HP version too, for the less obsessed out there. Wink, wink. I am in an absolute quandary about my Harry Potter sweater. It was easy enough to choose the colors for my boys' sweaters since I found the yarn on sale in the perfect-sized bundles for them, but I've having a hard time deciding on the right color for my sweater. Should I try to hunt down the red color I had imagined? Or should I perhaps look for black and make a Hufflepuff version of the sweater? I'm also a little tempted by the ginger color. Help, what do you think?? And finally, over a month after standing in line at midnight to get it, I have begun reading Book 6! I've reread 4 and 5 and have a much better sense of who everyone is and what happened before. So, still no spoilers, please! posted by alison at 8:43 am | in
another weasley
Comments
alison, i'm starting 6 tonight! can't wait. Also looking forward to seeing your pattern. Hi Alison, I used the yarn and pattern from the Yarn Warehouse for my nephews sweaters. The yarn was pretty, and very tweedy, but knitted up a little stiff. The pattern wasn't too bad to follow, there were just a few times I had to think a little bit about what was meant. Mostly just not understanding English! The kit was not expensive and it did ship quickly. However, I did buy Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool to use for my daughter's sweater. I paid quite a bit more and had to adjust for the gauge difference, but she was much happier with her sweater than the boys were! Posted by: Susan at August 24, 2005 9:24 AMThanks for the info alison...I'm dying to start mine! Posted by: heather at August 24, 2005 9:38 AMI think the ginger is gorgeous! Posted by: Michele at August 24, 2005 9:56 AMGinger!!!! I love it! I'm also looking forward to the pattern tomorrow. Posted by: Stacey at August 24, 2005 10:05 AMI think the ginger color is beautiful ... what color would you make the letter? Book Six is so good, you're going to love it. We listened to it during our Marathon Drive Home from vacation this weekend (3 kids, me w/out DH, 1300 miles), and it saved my sanity. I'm about 1/2 way through with my son's Gryffindor scarf. I'm using NatureSpun Sport, because I like the drape of the thinner fabric when knit in the round. Posted by: Ruth at August 24, 2005 10:10 AMI ordered the yarn the other day for the Rowan pattern, so I guess this is notice that I'm joining the KAL! Posted by: Susan at August 24, 2005 10:21 AMOh, I'm getting so excited!!! This is going to be my first ever knitalong and to have it be a HP knitalong ... *sigh* ... bliss! happiness! silliness! fun! Thank you for organizing this! And, for posting all the goodies to get us started :-) Posted by: Kara at August 24, 2005 10:25 AMAn additional thought ... are you making mittens? I have a HP mitten pattern percolating in my head, but perhaps you've beaten me to it ... Posted by: Ruth at August 24, 2005 10:31 AMI'm using the Yarn Warehouse kit (bought two, in order to have enough yarn for a me-sized sweater), and I like it so far. The fabric doesn't seem stiff to me. The yarn is 90% wool, 10% silk. I test washed a swatch, and although it is *not* machine washable, it gets quite a bit softer. ;) (I was trying to figure out what "gentle wool wash" meant, so tossed a swatch in the machine.) The pattern is a photocopy, and a slightly different gague than the Rowan one. (After ordering the YW kit, I got ahold of the Roawn pattern.) The cuffs are ribbed, but the bottom of the body is plain stockinette so that it rolls. By my calculations, I'm 46% done my Weasley. :) (I started the current attempt the week before the book came out.) Posted by: Andrea at August 24, 2005 11:01 AMIf only I had time to knit some weasley sweaters for certain family members in time for x-mas! I am so inspired. But there are too many other projects in pipeline at this point for that to happen... And just to let you know, Book 6 is my favorite so far (I also reread 4 and 5 to get back up to date). So enjoy! Posted by: Sneaksleep at August 24, 2005 1:01 PMThanks for all the tips Alison! I'm thinking I may make Weasley's for my niece and nephew this Christmas. And by the way, you're not the only one geeky enough to take the House Quiz. I'm Gryffindor. It was interesting to see how I compared to the women age 33 demographic - apparently I'm an oddball - very low score for Hufflepuff. Who knew? Posted by: Julia at August 24, 2005 1:33 PMOh! We're starting already? I guess I was waiting for a start date or some trumpets blaring or something. I got the YW kit and did a swatch, , , The wool is a little wooly, but nice to knit with I thought. The pattern, as I posted before, looks like it was photocopied about a zillion times, so I can't even really see the picture. I am just hoping that the directions are accurate! So, I should start this week I guess, then, since I am a slow knitter! Alison, you are such a rockstar. THanks for the H, and for the info on how to make your OWN h! I will try to post pics of my two sweaters. Jacob's has a roll neck and bottom too. Luc's has a ribbed bottom with a vent and will also have a roll neck. I like the idea of a ginger sweater! And harry potter mittens? That idea rocks! Posted by: patti at August 24, 2005 2:48 PMHi, I'm so excited,thanks for adding me Alison. Posted by: cara at August 24, 2005 3:02 PMHi Alison, The red color you want, it's Conker, right? We have a ton of it at my lys: htttp://www.bahrcreek.com . The phone number is on the web site and Brigitte will gladly ship it to you. If you join us for Knitting night you can get 10% off! (grin) That's the color I used for my ds, and I love it. Now I think we ordered some of that lovely dark purple you bought so I can use that color for my dd. I can start her weasley as soon as it comes in... Posted by: Amy Lu at August 24, 2005 3:05 PMI got the Yarn Warehouse kit, I need to start my sweater, but it's on the list for this fall! Posted by: Amber at August 24, 2005 3:48 PMAre the sizes mentioned in the warehouse kits in inches? If so I could make myself the large child size, otherwise I'll have to chart my own. Posted by: Becky at August 24, 2005 5:00 PMI have an M initial pattern coming soon to my blog - sized for my sport weight sweater. I bought the Yarn Warehouse pattern, but needed more yarn than what was in the kit. I found the sleeve portion to be more than a little whack - I had to lengthen the sleeves a good deal so they would fit munchkin's arms. Other than that - it was an okay pattern. The yarn did knit up stiff, but once it was washed it was lovely. Munchkin still loves his sweater. It is in cm's, so it took some getting used to. Posted by: MA at August 24, 2005 5:12 PMOoh, love the Hufflepuff black with those gingery nubs. Do you get comments when you wear needlework with your initial? Posted by: Ina at August 24, 2005 6:15 PMOh MY!! I almost won 10 balls of conker on ebay but lost out at the end. Thanks for the above source. My DS loves red and I will make his first. I am thinking purple or ginger for me. Can't wait to see your pattern Alison. This is my first KAL too! So exciting...gotta get started...I am so pokey Posted by: emmy at August 24, 2005 10:34 PMMy daughter wants a pink Weasley, a notion that I find almost offensive. Can you imagine red-headed Ginny in a pink sweater? Perish the thought! I've been thinking about Ginger as well, but it's so hard to tell what the colors look like in real life. I'm going to use your pattern, I think, since I'm too intimidated to design my own, so I'll hold off on buying yarn until you've posted the pattern. Posted by: Erica at August 24, 2005 10:48 PMHmm...Harry Potter? Hi! Do the GINGER! It is JUST like Ron's sweater. Love Love Love Love Love it! Posted by: knittingnurse at August 25, 2005 10:12 PMAt the risk of joining too many knitalongs, I'd like to join the Weasley along. Please add me! I think I'm going to use a Designs by Judith pattern that gives you different options for yarn weight and edging styles. My son will look so cute in his own Harry Potter sweater! When I go to my LYS next time I'm going to look at their choices of tweedy yarns and see what I can come up with. Posted by: Stephanie at August 26, 2005 12:53 PMNearly finished with the back of my Slytherin House sweater. I'll start a Weasley as soon as our fall Rowan yarns arrive at the store. Posted by: Nathania at August 28, 2005 12:46 PMI just ordered the yarnwarehouse kit yesterday - so I sort of join in, too. |