Commemorative knitting for HP book 7

I want to knit Snake Socks to start my commemorative knitting for HP book 7.

The Naga are mythical snake like gods, the most famous Naga - Mucalinda - was said to shield and protect Shakyamuni Buddha during his enlightenment. You never know when enlightenment is going to strike. For this reason, I believe everyone should have their own pair of snake socks to protect them while walking through this world.

There are good snakes like Mucalinda and bad snakes like Nagini, and I'm ready to explore them both in knitting! I’ve collected six patterns for hand-knitted snake socks.

My favorite is Snake Scales by Nadine. She designed this around a particular special yarn called Snake Venom, but it would work well with any two-coloured hand-dyed yarn, especially ones of Slytherin colours.

I would particularly like to use this yarn



which I am going to dedicate to a certain Potions Master. I think his Slytherin colours would be a bit deeper, a bit darker and more intense than the usual silver and green…

Here are all the possible patterns:

Snake Scales by Nadine - (scroll down)

Snakes on a Sock by Miss Lime of Lime & Violet

Snake River by Judy Becker

Snake Skin Socks by Michelle Fischer

Nagini by Gigi Silva for Socktopia

Naga by Abigail Welbourn

and here is another commemoration, that I wish I had had thought of - The Fred & George Socks


And finally, I leave you with Our Lady of Perpetual Knitting

How is a guinea pig like a sock yarn?

Or… what does this:



Have to do with this:



Well, one is called: “Chocolate Almonds” and the other is called "Chocolate-covered-Almonds"!

The yarn was just sent to me by Julie. It is Panda Cotton by Chrystal Palace. When I saw this yarn at various online stores, I assumed that it would be thick, similar to Cascade Fixation – the yarn I used for the Peaceful Feelings yoga socks. But this is a very delicate, fine yarn – fingering weight like the best sock yarns, and yet it still has the soft, cushy feel that the little bit of elastic gives! I think it will be a favorite sock yarn now! I can't wait to try it out...

And, as for the riddle: when I was very young I had two guinea pigs. One was called “Chocolate Covered Almonds” and one was called “Bullwinkle Baby”.

Bullwinkle Baby looked like this:


My new yarn reminds me of Chocolate-covered-Almonds!

Peaceful knitting

More friend-list knits to show you this morning!

Here are Tethy's Erin Lace socks, made with one skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn in Sherbet (washable) w/ re-enforced heels and toes:

This is a really mellow coral colour - not bright pink. These socks should have used two skeins, but for some reason, these particular skeins were Huge and I used only one.


They were made toe-up (like most of my socks these days) with short-row heels.

Here are the Peaceful Feelings Yoga Socks that I've been talking about for so long.

You can see the double Peace symbol just faintly on the foot.

These were made with one ball of Cascade Fixation cotton/spandex yarn with a little bit of Cotton Classic for the stripes, toe-up and short-row heels. I can picture Karen wearing these to her meditation class...They are incredibly comfy because the cotton is so soft and they hug your foot. I can't wait to make a pair for myself!

lots of HP patterns

Now that the Movie is out (and don’t tell me, please – I probably won’t get to see it until this weekend! I’ve already been closing my eyes and ears as I visit blogs and doing the visual equivalent of “La la la la la!” so I won’t read anything!), the knitting and crochet world is really going crazy with new patterns and ideas for costuming and fandom! I have a couple of patterns myself, but haven’t gotten them tested in time to post them, because I am still going batty over sock patterns I’ve been busy…

Here are a few of my favorites, found as I roll around the internet late at night:

Divination gloves



Horcrux socks (would love to show you but she doesn’t allow picture copying from her blog)

More HP relate sock patterns can be found at http://socktopia.net/ , namely the Bellatrix socks and the brilliant Fawkes socks…

Others:

Hogwarts House Band Cuffs

HP intarsia graph for Cami (link to full sized graph)

House Elf Hat (in costume)
No pattern but very inspiring picture for making your own!

Crocheted Molly sleeves

Gryffindor Crocheted Lap Blanket – no pattern but can be figured out from the photo:

And my most coveted... A Snape knitted car seat cover!

Harry Potter graphs for afghans, etc.

Harry doll with directions:

and lastly... non knitted, but hilarious
Tea and Sympathy with Sock Monkey Friends Snape and Dumbledore (scroll down…way down…)

Now, don’t you feel ready???

no rain in the roses....

This morning I get to show you the Rose Leaf socks that I’ve been designing…

These socks are made from Filatura di Crosa Millefili Fine, a very thin, fine cotton with a natural sheen. They make many, many solid colours from bright to pale, but I chose a variegated skein with lavender, rose, and a little tangerine in it. This was the colour of the roses in my back yard and looked stunning in the ball. When I knit it up, the tangerine colour became more dominant, which is too bad, but I still like them! It took a little less than one ball of yarn for each sock.

This photo shows the colour most accurately. I designed this as I went along, but I did make notes, so when I get the little glitches worked out, I’ll write up the pattern…


As you can see, I made a cuff-down sock with the regular flap-and-gusset heel and a star toe, which is nice and easy and good-looking, but best for very narrow toes. I’ve been using toe-up with short-row heel exclusively for 6 months now, so going back to the “regular way* really tested my memory!


I’m going to try my pattern again with this yarn – Seacoast Handpainted superwash merino in Desert Rose. It was expensive, but I made it a present to myself for figuring out this pattern!




"I am interested in art as a means of living a life; not as a means of
making a living." - Robert Henri

The amount of money one needs is terrifying.
- - Ludwig van Beethoven

"The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all of your time."
Willem de Kooning

"My God! How terrible these money questions are for an artist!" - Paul
Gauguin

Finally - finished knitting pics!

I've finally been able to reconnect with my digital camera and so I can show some FO's from my knitting! I'm so excited! All of these are from weeks ago - the sweaters from back in February...

This first photo is of the sweater that I designed for my sister with Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande - slightly less than 2 skeins - in light ice blue. Its incredibly soft!



My sister Jule has a lot of specific things she likes in sweater - I made it hip length, 27 inches long; I made the sleeves long, too, to 3/4 length; I added a little pocket, with a little button, so a card or ticket won't fall out (my sister often doesn't carry a bag). Isn't it a cute little button? I bought it at the Brimfield antique fair with my friend Mark - its a porcelain button with a handpainted rose on it.





The clasp at the neck is a vintage mother-of-pearl clasp that I found at the thrift shop for $5!! what a great find...and my sister loves it. I have a picture of her wearing it, but its in a disposable camera that isn't full yet, so...later.

This second sweater - the raglan T-neck from Magknits - was also for my sister. It was such a fast knit! I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and lengthened the sleeves to 3/4 length... It's very flattering - just form-fitting enough without looking too tight.



This last photo shows 3 pairs of socks I made for friends:

The Lavender ones are my own Van Helsing design that I showed you earlier, made with Cascade angora wool with a little nylon for strength. They look so much better on her feet!

The yellow ones are a vintage spiral rib heeless sock. I used the Cascade angora again, and paired it with a cheerful orange nylon reinforcing yarn so the heels and toes wouldn't wear through when Holly wore them. I meant them to be worn with Crocs, but I think they are a bit big for her, so she's wearing them as comfort socks...

The blue ones were knit with 2 skeins of Australian Pear Tree merino wool - so incredibly soft! I loved working with this yarn! I used the leaf lace pattern from Favorite Socks, modified a bit.... This was my first pair of toe-up socks, so I made a little mistake on the first toes, but everything else came out well, I think! These were for Mingbutterfly.




So that's it for now. There are more, but I have to take more pictures!