"Hermione's Tea Cup" Mini Pin Cushion

I used verybigjen's flickr tutorial to make this mini pin cushion for my partner in a recent HP swap on Craftster. I named it "Hermione's Tea Cup", just for cute.


"Hermione's Tea Cup" mini pin cushion:



The "coffee" (or "tea") inside the cup is the mini pin cushion from the tutorial, and then I made a felt "tea cup" to go around it! The cup is a double thickness of felt. The fold at the top of the cup forms a slightly rounded lip.


Embroidered all around, pins in Gryffindor colors up top:






It is very small:



Of course, because its base is a tiny bottle cap! The pins won't go through the bottom of it, and it's a way to reuse.


And here it is again, with some other Gryff goodies:




Craft Info:

Made for: rosesanplacebos
Swap: "I Miss Harry Potter Swap"
Date made: Early June, 2008
Pattern: Bottlecap pincushions HOW-TO by verybigjen for the bottle cap pin cushion (the "coffee" or "tea"); for the tea cup and embroidery, I just winged it.
Materials: Bottle cap, felt (brown and cream), fiberfill stuffing, embroidery thread (brown, cream, red, and gold), straight pins (red and gold) for presentation

Small Gryffindor Items

My dear daughter and I made some little Gryffindor items for a recent HP swap on Craftster.

Mug cozy, crochet flower brooches, tea cup mini pin cushion:




Two crochet flower brooches in Gryffindor colors:



My dear daughter used cotton yarn to make these lovely brooches for me to send to my "Gryffindor" partner. I also used them as an embellishment for the Gryffindor scarf presentation.


Backs of flower brooches:




Both the brooches have lovely vintage buttons:





The buttons are sewn on with the cotton yarn in the contrast color.

I ordered the cotton yarn from Patternworks at the same time that I ordered the acrylic for the scarf. (Summer is not the greatest time to be looking in local shops for autumn colors, so I ordered online and hoped the colors would be "right".) I didn't know when I ordered the cotton what we would make with it, but I'm really pleased with the summery brooches that the DD made with it.


Gryffindor Mug Cozy:



I knit up this mug cozy as an "extra". It took maybe 20 minutes, tops. I used the same red acrylic as I used for the Gryffindor scarf. It also has a vintage button.


The mug cozy, open:



It's knit in a k1-p1 rib, with a crochet border and crocheted tapered ends. The tapered ends help it fit through the mug handle.


The mug cozy, on a mug:




The tea cup mini pin cushion will have it's own post, coming soon!


Craft Info:

Made for: rosesanplacebos
Swap: "I Miss Harry Potter Swap"
Date made: Early July, 2008

Mug Cozy

Needles: size 8 bamboo
Hook: G
Yarn: Utopia worsted-weight acrylic
Color: Pomegranate
Other materials: Vintage button (yellow-gold color)

Brooches

Made by: beauootifulsooooup (DD)
Hook: F
Yarn: Reynolds Saucy cabled worsted-weight cotton
Colors: Cranberry and Butter
Other materials: Vintage buttons (maroon and yellow), brooch pins, thread to sew on brooch pins

Making the Gryffindor Scarf: The S.P.E.W. Tote

I have had a lot of fun participating in the two Craftster HP swaps I've done so far. I have also received some cool stuff! While crafting for the most recent swap, I loved having a HP project tote to use for my HP swap project: the wonderful S.P.E.W. tote that ShardaeDobby made for me in my first swap was my project bag for the Gryffindor scarf I made for rosesanplacebos in the next swap!

S.P.E.W. Tote with Gryffindor Scarf WIP:








Because I love this bag so much, I carry it everywhere. So I've made it my own by adding pin-back buttons!

Craftster Buttons on the front of the S.P.E.W. tote:

Crafty Like Ice Is Cold:


Well, yes. ;-)


Craftster Pirate Pin:


Knit fast, die warm! Arrrgh!


Political buttons on the back of the S.P.E.W. tote:




"Obama '08" and "Women for Obama":


I agree with Norman Solomon on this issue: "The best way to avoid becoming disillusioned is to not have illusions in the first place."


"Freedom Is Participation In Power" and "Ignore Your Rights & They'll Go Away":


I added these to the bag very recently. I've had them for years, but they've been just collecting dust for a while. I decided that if I'm going to keep using the Obama buttons -- and I am -- these need to come back out and play as well. (FISA, anyone?)


American Flag Peace Symbol:


This is the button that is most visible when the bag is on my shoulder: it is positioned so it sits to the front when the bag is worn. This is also one of my earliest political buttons. I bought it way back in 2001 when -- suddenly, tragically -- the peace symbol was obscure and old-fashioned no longer. I chose the one with the flag because peace is patriotic, of course.

Gryffindor Scarf: POA (Trapped Bar) Style

I knit a Gryffindor scarf for my lovely partner, rosesanplacebos, in the recent "I Miss Harry Potter Swap".

The scarf, tied with a ribbon for presentation:




I used the atypically.knit pattern to make this scarf, with some modifications, such as making the fringe a bit longer than the pattern calls for. I also used larger needles and cast on fewer stitches to get the width.

The scarf with fringe, and small Gryffindor items:



The little Gryffindor items were "extras" for the swap: crochet flower brooches made by my DD and a knit mug cozy made with the scarf's MC yarn.

I made the scarf's fringe about six inches, the same as the length of the large MC stripe. The atypically.knit pattern calls for a fringe of about four inches, but I think the longer length is a bit more feminine. Rosesanplacebos encouraged me to use creative license on this scarf (and believe me, before making an item of this scale, I ask a ton of questions!), so this is what I did with the fringe. If I were making this scarf for a guy, I would probably use the fringe length from the pattern.

The scarf, laid out:



It's about 8.5 feet long and about 8 inches wide.

Because it is knit in the round, the scarf is a long tube. Here are some shots of the edge of the scarf (the scarf is folded in half, then rolled up).

The scarf, rolled up:






Rosesanplacebos posted a lovely action shot here in the swap gallery!

Craft Info:

Made for: rosesanplacebos
Swap: "I Miss Harry Potter Swap"
Date: Mid June - Early July, 2008
Pattern: atypically.knit pattern, with modifications: larger needles (size 10), co 72 stitches, made fringe about 6" long (same as length of large MC stripe)
Needles: size 10 bamboo 16" circular
Yarn: Utopia worsted-weight acrylic, Pomegranate (MC) and Maize (CC)
Dimensions: About 8.5 feet long, 8 inches wide


Other posts about this scarf:

My post at Craftster:

• Gryffindor Scarf! POA (trapped bar) style

Rosesanplacebos's posts at Craftster:

• post with action shot of the scarf
• gallery post of the whole package

HP Craft Swap at Craftster: Summary Post

June and the beginning of July was Harry Potter crafting! The "I Miss Harry Potter Swap" at Craftster was lots of fun. My lovely partner, rosesanplacebos, had lots of green items on her wists, so I made her a fun HP shopping tote set:



And some other stuff!

The whole swap package:




More posts to come detailing all the crafts, and other info from the swap!

Swap Info:

Swap: "I Miss Harry Potter Swap" at Craftster
Swap Gallery: "I Miss Harry Potter Swap Gallery"
Crafting Dates: June 2 - July 10, 2008
Date Sent: July 10, 2008


Posted at Craftster: (this section will be updated with links as posts are made on Craftster)

rosesanplacebos's posts (the crafts I made, that she received):

• post with action shot of the scarf
• gallery post of the whole package

My posts:

• Gryffindor Scarf! POA (trapped bar) style