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

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

afghans for Afghans baby blanket - wip

I've been working on a baby blanket for the afghans for Afghans Mother's Day Campaign for Newborns. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to finish it in time for this shipment. It was a bit ambitious: this is my first large crochet project, and, as it turns out, I crochet very slowly. What I have learned is that I need at least a month for a crochet project of this scale. (I knew this about knitting; don't ask me why I thought crochet would be different . . . )

Because this cause is important to me I did make a donation, and I'm going to keep working on the blanket so it will be ready for the next shipment.


WIP photo of baby blanket before adding first green stripe. (By now I am half way done with the first green stripe.)


Craft Info:
Date started: May 4, 2008
Made for: afghans for Afghans, Mother's Day Campaign for Newborns (will not be ready for this campaign)
Blanket requirements: at least 40” by 30”; wool (or other animal fiber); not white or very light colors (bright and colorful encouraged); dense (warm) fabric, not lacy or airy.

Pattern: Bev's Baby Ripple Afghan (with modifications: ch 182 to start; make 2 additional repeats of ripple pattern)
Hook: G
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool (worsted weight)
Colors: Pearl Gray, Sage

Notes:

• I plan to crochet wide stripes (finishing a skein and then changing color). I think the stripe pattern will be gray-green-gray-green-gray, but I’m new enough to crochet that I’m not positive. (That is, it may end up more or fewer stripes/skeins at the target length.)


• I plan to add a ruffle border around the blanket in gray and green. I'm not sure yet what color pattern I will use for that.

May 26, 2008: ETA:

By now (May 26), I am almost ready to add the next gray stripe, so it's coming along. Now that I am not working to meet the previous deadline, the blanket is slotted in among the other crafts I am doing. There is no update on the afghans for Afghans web site about a new deadline, but I will keep checking.

These photos were taken on May 13, shortly after I added the first green stripe, with the blanket wrapped around the green ball of yarn, because I thought it was pretty:

Unsuspecting Cat and the New Hat

This is Unsuspecting Cat:



Unsuspecting Cat suspects nothing, but I have been busy. (She is also known as Should Know Better By Now Cat.) What have I been busy doing? Just look:

Unsuspecting Cat has a new hat:

(Note from Unsuspecting Cat: "Does. Not. Want.")

More pictures:









Crown detail:



Button detail:



As recommended, the fit is loose (the cat is asleep, the hat is falling off):



And Unsuspecting Cat is finally free:




Craft Info:

Date made: April 28, 2008
Made for: Unsuspecting Cat
Occasion: Because good is dumb.

Pattern: How to Crochet a Cat Hat (with modifications)
Hook: G
Yarn: Lion Brand "Vanna's Choice" acrylic
Color: Linen (gray)
Weight: Worsted
Other materials: Vintage button (salmon pink)

Total crafting time: About an hour
Total wearing time: Also about an hour


Important Note:

The lovely afghan was made by my MIL.

Ravenclaw House Scarf, Color Fade Wrist Warmers and Flower Brooch

I made a house scarf for my swap partner in the recent HP craft swap at Craftster. Her favorite house is Ravenclaw, and she prefers book colors. I used the atypically.knit pattern and knit it in the round on bamboo needles.

Ravenclaw House Scarf:



After twenty-one times twenty-two rows, one color and then the next, (and enduring well-intentioned compliments like "Oh, I could never do that! I would want to change colors all the time!") I was ready to either pull my hair out, or knit something fun and quick!

I designed the wrist warmer's color fade as a sanity saver while knitting the scarf. They were an add-on to the swap, but I had to make them.

Ravenclaw Color Fade Wrist Warmers:



The wrist warmers were knit flat on circular needles and then seamed, leaving a hole for the thumb. Using circular needles allowed changing colors each row as needed.

Ravenclaw House Scarf and Color Fade Wrist Warmers:



I noticed only after sending the swap package that the scarf is backwards in this photo: that's the back of the fringe knots. The top photo shows the front.

DD made the crochet flower brooch in the top photo. It's made of wool yarn and felted. The center is a vintage wood and metal button. She also very kindly modeled the items for photos before I sent out the swap package.

Craft Info:

Swap: "Because We Miss Harry Potter" Swap at Craftster
Swap Partner: ShardaeDobby at Craftster

Ravenclaw House Scarf

Date made: March 1-25 2008
Pattern: atypically.knit Hogwarts scarf pattern
Yarn: Lion Brand "Vanna's Choice" acrylic
Colors: Colonial Blue, Honey
Needles: Size 10 bamboo circular needles

Ravenclaw Color Fade Wrist Warmers

Date made: March 25-31 2008
Yarn: Lion Brand "Vanna's Choice" acrylic
Colors: Colonial Blue, Honey
Needles: Size 10 bamboo circular needles (knit flat)

Ravenclaw House Colors Flower Brooch

Made by: DD
Date made: March 2008
Yarn: Worsted weight wool
Color: Blue
Hook: G
Other Materials: Wood and metal vintage button, brooch clasp


Posted at Craftster:
Ravenclaw Scarf, Wrist Warmers and Flower Brooch

HP Craft Swap at Craftster: The Crafts I Sent

These are all the goodies I sent to my swap partner in the recent HP craft swap at Craftster:

• Ravenclaw house scarf
• Ravenclaw colors wrist warmers
• Ravenclaw colors brooch
• Record purse with Weird Sisters albums
  
• "Every Flavour" pouch
• Every Flavour beans inspired shopping tote
• Crochet lollipops
• Luna-esque flower brooch and matching earrings
• House colors perler beads coasters

DD designed and crafted the brooches, and DS designed and crafted the coasters. The whole family was very supportive of this swap, and it was a lot of fun.


At Craftster:

• "Because We Miss Harry Potter" Swap
  
• "Because We Miss Harry Potter" Gallery
  
• My swap partner's post with her pictures of these crafts
• My post of the crafts I received